He is the leader of the Tantric sect in Chagdu.

In the end, the group couldn't find a place to eat, but they did find a bar.

In the far suburbs, this is the only place where food might be sold.

However, this appears to be an underground bar.

...

"Do you really have to leave Nie outside?" Seeing the girl clinging tightly to her clothes, Eileen felt a pang of pity and asked again, "Can't you let her stay with us? I'll protect her."

The group stood in front of an iron curtain, next to a row of container-style modular buildings. The signboards used as storefronts read "Moonlight Bar" in large characters. Inside, there was a dark, vertical passageway, with a dim light shining from the deepest part, and strange noises could be heard coming from it...

"It's not a safety issue..." Virtin said, rubbing his forehead in exasperation. "I don't know the specifics down there, I've only heard rumors about what kind of entertainment venues are in the suburbs... Anyway, it's definitely not something a child should see. Let Sherlock stay and take care of her, we'll just go down there—"

"But Sir, you and this young man don't seem to be adults either..." Sherlock tried to protest. His teammates were going to a booth to spend money, and it wasn't right for him to be left alone to look after the child. "I'm quick-witted. If there's anything inappropriate for children, I can blindfold this little girl in an instant—if she can't see, then nothing will happen!"

He pulled out a pair of sunglasses from somewhere and put them on, looking like a strangler gang leader: "Then, we took swift and decisive action to deal with those indecent behaviors on the spot."

"...Fine." Veltin glared at him, but still gave in. "This is the Nest; there are some things we have to face."

The gate made of sheet metal was opened by Lin, who was walking in front. A strangely shaped elevator slowly rose to the platform, and everyone filed in, making room for Ellen, who was the last to enter.

"What are you daydreaming about?" Lin, squeezed to the back, watched Eileen stop at the door and impatiently urged, "Weren't you starving to death?"

"Hold on……"

Eileen suppressed the ripples of red fluid rising from her head. This feeling was especially strong when she stood in front of this bar, as if the original owner's memories were resonating with this place.

This place... seems familiar to me?

Running her hand over the greasy sign, Eileen flipped it over and saw a line of small print on the back—

"Silence Club"

His gaze lingered on those five words for a long time, until Lin began to urge him on impatiently again, at which point he turned his head and softly called out, "Coming."

Once everyone had arrived, the elevator slowly descended, making a clattering sound as it hit the walls. Tiny dust and stones were shaken in from the cracks in the corners, then slid off the uneven floor with the vibrations. As it descended, the adjacent walls were a strange dark red, giving them an eerie appearance.

"Is this really a bar...?" Lin felt uneasy. She picked up some clods of earth and crushed them into red fragments, which scattered like ashes. "Why is it built underground—and why is there an elevator?"

"I do recall those cults... well, they're not even esoteric sects, they're just a bunch of unlucky guys who've witnessed mysterious events, who get together for some ridiculous reason, find a dark place to huddle together for warmth, and talk about this god and that god all day long."

Wilting offered his opinion: "That's not even a suburban faction. They can't even get into the Countermeasures Bureau's archives. They just like this kind of rhetoric—choosing a cheap or even free basement as their headquarters and making it look all mysterious..."

Perhaps it was the instinctive tension that made people talk more in the confined space. In addition, the elevator was unusually slow, and while everyone around was chatting, only Eileen stood quietly in the corner near the door, without saying a word.

Nie leaned against his thigh, seemingly unintentionally tilting her head back, her dark red eyes meeting Ellen's gaze—"Brother?"

"?" Ellen was stunned for a moment. Just now, Nee's lips hadn't moved, and the sound seemed to come from his own head.

Is this also the power of the Ash Criterion?

"Is something on your mind, brother?" Nie grabbed his finger and shook it, then pointed to her own brow. "Our cinnabar fluids flow together, and if you think about it carefully, I can hear it."

"Amazing." Ellen had lost count of how many times she had been amazed. Nie kept surprising her. Faced with this mysterious little guy, she didn't know how to act, so she could only be a little gentler—"I feel like I've been here before."

It's not just that they've been here.

In a daze, Eileen took a deep breath as usual: "Why do I feel like I created this place..."

Nie tilted his head, and his voice echoed from the void: "Brother, have you remembered something?"

Looking at the hint of expectation hidden deep in Nie's inorganic pupils, Ellen hesitated for a moment, as if she was about to nod, but in the end she shook her head: "No, I can only see many blurry shadows."

Glacier stone carvings, a mahogany round table, a cabinet with a musty smell, yellowed books...

A black cat lying upright in the shadows, a raven standing still like a statue on a stone wall...

A deer-headed prime minister hanging on a black brick wall, a chaotic and obscure painting, and a silent man sitting around a candlelight.

I know this place very well.

Eileen continued to ponder:

The Quiet Club, the quiet, sounds closer to the Ashes' Criterion, perhaps it was some secret society that the original owner used to join... but why did it turn into a bar?

What happened in this place...?

"You're acting a bit strange today..." Lin's sudden words brought Eileen back to her senses. She then realized that the elevator had stopped, and everyone had already walked around her and gone outside. Lin was left rambling on and on, "You must be exhausted. You probably drained all your energy last night at Big Sister's place. You didn't eat a single meal and still had to run around with us. You must be worn out—do you need me to carry you?"

Lin bowed slightly: "Young Master Ai?"

"Get lost." This guy's taunting skills were so high that Ellen almost couldn't handle it. She quickly pulled Nee to catch up with the group. When she looked up, Sherlock was already at the front, pushing open the wooden door of the bar.

"..." Ellen silently covered Nie's eyes, and casually brushed away Lin's hand that was trying to cover her own eyes.

The deafening noise, almost blasting you away, flooded your ears, carrying with it an air of unrestrained debauchery, and an indescribable scene before your eyes.

"So this is Hive City?" Ellen thought for a moment, finding it quite normal, except there was a pregnant woman drinking at the bar, and a group of people drinking baby food. A bunch of unrecognizable figures lay on the ground—sugar dolls who had lost consciousness from too much Skomar, the kind that would die if their stomachs weren't pumped immediately, but nobody seemed to care. In another booth, a guy was putting on a breeding show, and the one he was pressing down on looked like another guy.

It was obvious that Virtue blushed deeply; even her top hat couldn't hide her bright red earlobes. The next moment...

"boom--"

The female executive officer fired a shot towards the ceiling, then held the identity card in mid-air: "Foundation Extermination Order. Unrelated personnel. You have ten seconds to disappear from my sight. Ten, nine..."

For the first two seconds, there was a deathly silence. Then, the crowd scattered and fled like cockroaches whose curtains had been lifted. In just a few breaths, only a few scattered figures remained in the entire bar.

Eileen stared at a young man lying on the bar not far away. While everyone else was running for their lives, he remained calm, one hand supporting his chin, motionless in his original position.

So arrogant?

Ellen stepped forward and patted the guy on the shoulder, only to see his entire body collapse like rotten wood.

My buddy's body was already stiff.

Sigh, going to bars is definitely a dangerous activity.