Ma Youcai, who was sleeping at the Times Hotel, was awakened by a phone call.

"Hello, who is it? Lian Yue? Quick, run away?... Why, what happened? Oh... "

He couldn't keep up with the fast pace of Heize Lian Yue's speech, and had no idea what was going on. But he could hear the urgency in Lian Yue's tone.

Sitting on the edge of the bed in a daze, it took Ma Youcai a while before he suddenly jumped up from the bed, his face filled with fear.

Is the Hope Association a terrorist organization? Zhang Xinyuan and Lian Yue ran away? Is the President coming to arrest them?

"Oh my god, don't fool me with something so terrifying!" Ma Youcai called Lian Yue again, but couldn't get through.

...

On the East Coast villa, the Association's stronghold.

In the conference room, the projection screen displayed a twisted knot map.

Verley sat in the center, with Emilly, Josiah, Anli and others spread out in two rows. Except for Nagi and the newcomers, all members were gathered here.

"Master Verley, I have checked Kenna's computer, and there are indeed traces of stolen information." Gruut placed Kenna's notebook in the center of the table.

"I know."

Verley smiled as he looked at Kenna. Behind the smile, there was a hint of coldness. Following the President's gaze, the others also looked at Kenna coldly.

Kenna knelt in front of Verley, head bowed and trembling fearfully. Her golden hair cascaded down to the ground, and her delicate body couldn't stop trembling.

The leaked information of the Association came from Kenna, and she needed to take full responsibility. Kenna was terrified to the extreme, she knew very well that as long as Verley had a thought, she would be wiped out without any chance of resistance.

Due to her major mistake, even if she were killed, no one would object.

"I'm deeply sorry, Master Verley! Please forgive me. I will do my best to make up for my mistake!" Kenna's voice trembled, tears almost streaming down her face.

"What are your thoughts, everyone?" Verley surveyed the others in the room.

"Kenna is incapable of contacting the newcomers. I suggest we demote her and not give her any important tasks in the future," Anli expressed his opinion. Although Anli disliked Kenna, he could discern what was important. The Association needed a balance of power, and her death would not benefit him.

"Punish her with a certain percentage of points," Josiah said briefly.

"Master, I suggest we leave the punishment till later. We need to resolve the current issue as soon as possible," the green-haired elf spoke up.

Verley remained silent for a moment, then nodded. "Kenna, we'll discuss the punishment later. Let's deal with those few newcomers who betrayed us first. You may return to your position."

"Yes!" Kenna felt a wave of relief. Judging from Verley's attitude, her life was probably not in danger.

The President was capricious, and no one could guess his thoughts. This was the first major mistake, and Kenna was not sure what punishment she would receive. She regretted putting such important information on her hard drive.

"President, our contact with Zhang Xinyuan and Heize Lian Yue has been cut off. We can't reach them by phone, but Ma Youcai is still available, though he hasn't answered our calls," Mo Lan said.

Mo Lan appeared to be around twenty years old, with curly hair and heavy dark circles under her eyes. She always looked sleepy and could never seem to fully wake up. But no one in the Association dared to underestimate her, because only she dared to exploit bugs in the Horror Novel Web and study the Horror Novel Web, which was Mo Lan's important task.

"According to the map, Zhang Xinyuan and Heize Lian Yue have taken the high-speed train to Washington, and are expected to arrive within three hours. Ma Youcai, on the other hand, took a bus in the opposite direction to Boston and is expected to arrive in four hours. They are fleeing separately," Jerute said as he shrunk the map, centered around the twisted knot, showing the positions of the three individuals.

"Emilly, can you predict the location of the cached files?" Verley looked at the elf beside him.

"It's difficult, at least let Nagi bring Zhang Xinyuan's computer over first," Emilly replied.

"Can you calculate the new contact information?"

"That shouldn't be a problem, my master."

...

On the other side, on the high-speed train.

Zhang Xinyuan and Heize Lian Yue chose not to take a plane. On one hand, the journey was dangerous, and on the other hand, they couldn't connect to the internet at any time. They were holding the "Deterrent Device" high, walking in the dark.

In recent months, Yuan Yue had made a successful gamble. The "gag curse" only worked on newcomers and had no effect on high-level authors. She and Zhang Xinyuan couldn't open the "deterrence device" switch, but they could use Nagi to do it.

In this way, Kana's data was submitted online, controlling the release time of the data with a countdown. Of course, Yue could extend the time to keep the deterrence going - after all, it was Nagi who voluntarily submitted the data, not them newcomers. By doing so, she was actually protecting the association's secret.

The other authors in the association couldn't chase after them recklessly. If Zhang Xinyuan and the others died without winding up the deterrence, the association could just wait for notoriety!

Zhang Xinyuan anxiously waited for the latest chapter to be approved so he could sign the contract. By his side, Yue Lianxiang was typing on her laptop at lightning speed, encrypting the data to make it even harder to be discovered.

She had accumulated fifty thousand words in her novel, but hadn't published any yet. As long as she published five chapters, she could meet the signing standard and use the setting column, but for now, she didn't have such intentions.

After arriving in Washington, it was already afternoon. Zhang Xinyuan and Yue Lianxiang found a nondescript hotel.

"Miss Yue, I successfully signed the contract, now I can use the setting column!" Zhang Xinyuan finally received the notification from the novel website. "What should I write?"

"I hope the association won't let us off easily. Then you should write 'eradicate the existence of the association' and save us from being chased," Yue Lianxiang said without hesitation. "I'll treat your illness after we're completely out of danger."

"Okay." Zhang Xinyuan had complete trust in Yue Lianxiang and followed her advice, using the setting column.

However, in the evening, his manuscript was rejected.

[Sorry, your setting of 'eradicating the existence of the association' violates the rules of the world and cannot be passed. 1 point will be deducted from the author's account. Please modify and resubmit.]

After seeing the message, Zhang Xinyuan felt lost and confused. It was the first time his manuscript was rejected… Was it because the requirement of the setting column was too high?

"Involving authors, the setting column may not be applicable," Yue Lianxiang pondered for a moment. "Xinyuan-kun, let's lower our conditions so that the association won't pursue us anymore."

"Let's give it a try." After being rejected once, Zhang Xinyuan wasn't as confident anymore. He even felt that his illness might not be curable.

Another sleepless night passed. They booked train tickets for different time periods and prepared to escape at any time.

The association remained eerily quiet, showing no signs of anger or relentless pursuit. They didn't even freeze their accounts, although Yue Lianxiang had withdrawn the money. It was as if the association was telling Zhang Xinyuan and the others, "Run away, the farther the better, the boss doesn't care."

During this time, Zhang Xinyuan received a call from Ma Youcai, learning that the latter had arrived in Boston and was currently safe.

Ma Youcai was carefree as always and only now realized the "gag curse" on him. Panicking, he expressed a desire to meet up with Zhang Xinyuan, scared to be alone. However, Yue Lianxiang heartlessly refused, stating that it would be more dangerous to gather together.

In the early morning, Horror Novel Web brought bad news - Zhang Xinyuan's second submission also failed, indicating that using the setting column to resist the association was unrealistic.

Both of them felt disheartened.

The next morning, just when Zhang Xinyuan was tired and wanted to sleep, he received a video call from a stranger, whose ID was "Hope Association."

When did he add the association as a friend? What was happening?

Zhang Xinyuan hesitated and looked at Yue Lianxiang.

"Answer it, but pretend that I'm not with you. We need to show our stance and prioritize peaceful negotiations," Yue Lianxiang said.

Zhang Xinyuan agreed and pressed the answer button.

The video connected, and a handsome brown-haired man appeared on the screen - it was Weili. He crossed his fingers under his chin, looking in a good mood, not at all annoyed by Zhang Xinyuan's defection.

"Hello, Zhang Xinyuan, and the hidden Yue Lianxiang," Weili said.

Yue Lianxiang's pupils suddenly contracted but she remained unmoving, not appearing in front of the screen because of Weili's words.

"Hello, Chairman," Zhang Xinyuan nodded slightly.

Zhang Xinyuan had mixed feelings about the association. On one hand, he had taken their money and knowledge, but on the other hand, he was being controlled by the association and in constant mortal danger. In the end, Zhang Xinyuan chose freedom and left without permission.

At this moment, the chairman's calm greeting showed his magnanimity. Perhaps the chairman didn't intend to make things difficult for these newcomers?

With this fortunate mindset, Zhang Xinyuan said, "We apologize for leaving without saying goodbye. Please forgive our lack of manners. We feel unsafe staying in the association, so we plan to leave the United States for a few days. Chairman, could you please make an exception..."

"Of course, we never restrict the freedom of our members." Mr. Weili smiled and said, "However, I hope you delete Kena's data and do not let it appear on the internet."

"If you could lift the curse on us first, I would be happy to do so."

"It seems that you have already found out." The chairman shook his head, "I have something to say to Heize Lianyue. Can you give her the phone?"

Zhang Xinyuan hesitated for a moment, then glanced discreetly at Heize Lianyue.

Lianyue shook her head repeatedly.

He understood what Lianyue meant, so he pretended to be reluctant and said to Weili, "I'm sorry, but Miss Lianyue is not with me. If you like, maybe..."

"That's okay." Weili interrupted Zhang Xinyuan, "Mr. Zhang Xinyuan, it seems you don't understand your own situation. You have been constantly deceiving the association, harming its interests, and I have been tolerating you... I want to tell you that your life and death are in my hands-"

Weili suddenly snapped his fingers.

Snap! The sound of snapping fingers.

Thud!! The sound of a phone falling to the ground.

Zhang Xinyuan's phone dropped to the ground, with the screen facing down.

A sharp pain engulfed Zhang Xinyuan's nerves. He turned his head in astonishment and found that his hands had disappeared at some point, and blood gushed out!

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!!"

Zhang Xinyuan fell to the ground, letting out a heartbreaking scream.

"Mr. Zhang Xinyuan, the association will give you one more day. If you don't delete the data, the next thing that disappears will be you..."

Heize Lianyue picked up the phone and threw it out of the tenth floor, believing that it would shatter upon hitting the ground.

"It hurts! It hurts! Ah! Ah! Ah!"

Zhang Xinyuan rolled on the ground, the excruciating pain of his severed arm almost making him pass out.