After AFK for five years, I returned to be number one in the entire server.

He is tough and ruthless, and is known as the "Butcher" within the Polar Day organization. Any dangerous mission entrusted to him can be crushed by him in the most violent way.

But Raymond on the screen looked extremely disheveled. He clutched his head tightly with both hands, and his muscles were trembling violently.

Those once sharp, hawk-like eyes were now completely unfocused, filled with an unfathomable fear.

"They're all dead... they're all dead..."

Raymond's massive body shrank into a huge ball, as if he was trying his best to avoid some kind of gaze that didn't even exist.

Suddenly, he abruptly raised his head.

Those bloodshot eyes were fixed on the clean white metal wall of the isolation room, as if they saw some terrifying source that could even erase the soul on that empty wall.

"The battle for the title... is unavoidable..."

He frantically scratched his short hair with his thick fingers, his sharp nails carving conspicuous bloody marks into his hard scalp, blood sliding down his cheeks.

Even though he was in physical pain, he did not stop this self-destructive outburst, and sobs came from his throat.

"Makino...Makino..."

As he uttered those two words haltingly, the physiological monitors on the walls of the isolation room emitted a piercing red alarm.

His heart rate and adrenaline surged to dangerously high levels in an instant, and he fainted from the extreme fear, crashing heavily onto the pure white floor.

A deathly silence fell over the office. Arthur stared intently at the unconscious Raymond on the large screen: "Muye, the name that suddenly appeared at the top of the list a few months ago?"

"Yes, Your Excellency."

"Did you have a high-level mentalist player read Raymond's subconscious?"

"We've already had a Yao-level player try it out. Raymond's soul seems to have been branded with some kind of mark. As long as that player tries to guide him to touch that part of his memory, or simply wants to explore the meaning behind 'The Battle for Kingship' and 'Muye,' Raymond and that player's mental defenses will collapse instantly. Just like what we saw on the screen just now, his physiological signs will break through the lethal threshold within seconds, and we can only forcibly interrupt the reading."

"Continue to have people monitor his condition 24 hours a day. As soon as he regains consciousness, try to stabilize his emotions with medication." Arthur stared at the unconscious Raymond. They had investigated Mu Ye before, but to no avail. "Activate all our hidden contacts within Xia Shang and intensify our investigation into this Mu Ye. I need to know what this guy really is... and what this 'battle for the throne' really means."

……

……

The corridor on the second floor of the villa is covered with hand-woven carpets, so you can hardly hear anything when you step on them.

Fang Cheng led Su Nian to choose the two outermost rooms first, while Gu Qingxin chose a room in the middle.

Since it was a single room, Lin Ye and Shen Yi weren't at the point of sharing a bed yet, and with so many other people around, they naturally didn't choose to sleep together.

After everyone had put away their simple belongings, they gradually went down the wooden spiral staircase back to the spacious living room on the first floor.

Fang Cheng pounced into the huge leather sofa without any hesitation, enjoying the comfort of being enveloped in softness: "Qingxin, your family must be super rich. I saw online that villas like Qiyun Manor with private hot springs cost a lot of money for a whole day on the weekend."

Gu Qingxin placed the fruit tea on the coffee table in front of each person, a faint smile appearing on her gentle and kind face.

"No." She gently shook her head, composed and serene, without offering further explanation on the topic.

Seeing that Gu Qingxin was unwilling to say more, Fang Cheng wisely refrained from pressing her for details and took a sip of the warm fruit tea.

Su Nian sat on the other side of the sofa, holding a water glass, her gaze lingering briefly on Gu Qingxin.

Gu Qingxin introduced herself in the car, and Su Nian could sense the composure that Gu Qingxin possessed after years of experience, which was definitely not that of an ordinary girl who had just graduated from university and started working.

Soaking in hot springs when you're tired can easily lead to insufficient blood supply to the brain, so they rested for a while to get their bodies back to a good state before doing the important business of their trip.

The area on the first floor of the villa leading to the backyard has been meticulously renovated. Instead of a common public entrance, it is divided into two distinct corridors.

At the end of the corridor, each room connects to a spacious changing room, leading to the men's and women's baths respectively.

The entire backyard open-air hot spring is divided in two by a thick, towering solid wall of blue bricks, with carefully trimmed vines climbing on the wall.

Lin Ye walked alone down the left-hand corridor. Shen Yi followed him for a couple of steps, stopped at the intersection, and waved to him.

"See you after you've finished soaking." Shen Yi's eyes were filled with a bright smile.

Lin nodded and turned to push open the door to the men's changing room.

He carefully put away his clothes and changed into a pair of black men's swim trunks.

The romantic scenes often seen in movies, TV dramas, or anime, where the protagonists go into the water completely naked, only partially covered by a thin white bath towel, are actually rarely seen in Xia Shang's current real life.

For basic hygiene reasons and conventional social etiquette, even in such a private villa, a proper and well-fitting pair of swim trunks is the only reasonable standard when there are members of the opposite sex present.

Lin Ye pushed open the heavy frosted glass door at the end of the changing room, and a wave of warm steam, rich in minerals, rushed in, colliding violently with the cold winter air at the doorway and turning into a large expanse of white mist.

The open-air hot spring pool is irregularly surrounded by a ring of naturally shaped bluestone, and a layer of lingering white steam floats on the surface of the water.

Lin Ye followed the slightly rough stone steps and stepped into the pool.

He found a smooth bluestone on the edge, its surface polished by the water, leaned against it, casually rested his arms on the underwater stone, and gently closed his eyes.

Not long after, sounds came from the other side of the thick blue brick wall, coming from the women's bath.

"Niannian, come down quickly, you'll catch a cold if you stand on the steps in the wind."

Then, Su Nian's cool and aloof voice drifted over.

"Don't pull me, the rocks at the bottom are slippery, I'll go down myself."

"Fang Cheng, stop splashing around in the water! You're going to get my hair all wet!" Shen Yi's voice carried a hint of coquettish laughter, like a string of clear wind chimes.

"There's buoyancy in the water, so make sure you're firmly on your feet before you move forward," Gu Qingxin's gentle and refined voice reminded them.

Lin leaned quietly against the bluestone, listening to the laughter and chatter coming from the other side of the wall.

Several girls with very different personalities brought a touch of life to the otherwise quiet hot spring resort.