Delta: Who are you saying has suffered a loss of strength?

The atmosphere in the meeting room was oppressive, and with each new arrival, the atmosphere seemed to grow even more somber.

It seemed that everyone was quietly waiting, hoping that this inexplicable meeting would start soon.

Not long after, footsteps sounded again outside the door. Unlike the previous ones, this time the footsteps were not only dense and noisy, but also interspersed with rough sounds, as if someone was singing while walking.

The sound came from the direction of the stairwell, and could still be heard into the conference room through the corridor and several walls.

The voice was high-pitched, with an operatic bel canto quality. Although the specific words were not clearly audible from a distance, the melody clearly sounded like a fragment of an ancient piece.

"Mentr'io fremente～ (I am trembling～)"

Han Che lifted his gaze from the table and turned towards the doorway; the voice was getting closer.

The distinct footsteps accompanied the rhythm of the singing, the male voice was deep and resonant, and each syllable was drawn out.

"L'ora è fuggita ～ (Time has flown by ～)"

Footsteps approached from the stairs, and the man's beautiful singing gradually became more passionate.

Han Che raised an eyebrow and looked out the glass wall, and sure enough, he saw the tall and muscular figure of a man coming up the stairs from one side.

The man wore a red beret and a pair of dark red sunglasses perched on his nose. The lenses of the sunglasses were so large that they covered most of his upper face, while the lower half of his face was covered with a thick, bushy beard.

He had a cigar about the thickness of a thumb dangling from his mouth, the end of which glowed red, and a thin wisp of grayish-white smoke was rising from it.

He wore a dark military overcoat draped over his shoulders, the collar standing up and the hem swaying slightly as he walked.

Unlike the others who were led by only one Hafk squad leader, he was followed by a whole squad of Hafk soldiers on both sides of the corridor.

He stood in the middle of the group, seemingly unconcerned, singing opera and waving his hands in the air like a conductor.

Han Che turned to look at Qi Yuzhe, who shrugged, spread his hands, and had an expression that said, "This feels right."

"E muoio disperato! (And I will die in despair!)"

"E muoio disperato! (And I will die in despair!)"

The high notes of the song came right outside the conference room door, which was then pushed open by the lead soldier, Hafk.

The person who walked in appeared much taller and larger through the glass, with broad shoulders and a thick back, filling the doorway completely.

That's right, the person who came was none other than the map boss of Longbow Valley, Hellish Black Shark - Reis.

As the last soaring line of his song faded, Reis stopped singing, looked at the Hafk soldier holding the door for him, nodded slightly, and said, "Mille grazie (Thank you very much!)"

Then he turned around and strode into the conference room, spreading his arms and scanning the room from side to side. "Hey! Look who's here! A gathering of luminaries! Hahahaha!"

His laughter echoed in the conference room, instantly dispelling the oppressive, almost stagnant atmosphere.

Reis first walked over to Said, stopped beside him, put a hand on Said's shoulder and patted him on the shoulder, "Isn't this old Said! Long time no see, did the dam explode yet? Hurry up!"

He spoke in a casual tone, as if chatting with a friend, but Saeed's shoulder visibly tensed the moment he was tapped.

Reese continued, "I've already taken Longbow Valley, and the Tidal Prison Ravens have messed things up too. You can't forget about your dam!"

Said's shoulder slumped slightly from the pat on the shoulder, and he shrugged impatiently, shaking Reis's hand off his shoulder.

The red mask lifted slightly, casting a warning glance at Reis.

Rhys wasn't angry at his reaction; he just smiled and said, "Ugh, how boring!"

He said it was boring, but his actions showed no sign of restraint. He pulled out the chair next to Saeed and plopped down in it without any regard for Saeed's disgusted look.

The chair creaked slightly under his weight.

After sitting down, Reis's gaze swept across the table to the row opposite him, then settled on Qi Yuzhe.

"Hey! Raven! These are all Hafk's men sitting over there, what are you doing sitting there? Come, come sit down!"

As he spoke, he reached out and pulled on another chair next to him, making it more open so that it faced Qi Yuzhe, and then made a warm invitation gesture.

Qi Yuzhe was stunned for a moment, looking at him with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot. Everyone was pretending to be aloof, so why did this guy who was so outgoing show up?

Seeing that Qi Yuzhe remained unmoved, Lei Si leaned his body slightly towards Qi Yuzhe and glanced to the side.

Then, in a tone that sounded like a whisper but was actually loud enough for everyone to hear, she said, "Wait, don't you know who's next to you? Why are you sitting next to him? I'm afraid he'll jump on me one of these days!"

Now it was Han Che's turn to be confused. How did I get dragged into this again?

These words broke the rapt silence of Raven, who had been holding back. "I say, Reese," Raven chuckled, "what's the point of saying all this when we're already on Hafk's territory?"

Reese paused for a moment upon hearing this, then braced himself against the table and leaned forward, lowering his voice, "It's alright, we're just playing along! We three brothers were originally after the Tower of Babel anyway, so let's just go for it!"

Upon hearing this, the raven couldn't help but roll its eyes and then said nothing more.

Is this Reese interfering with the plot?

The Raven Riot, Reis burning the mountain, and even urging Said to blow up the dam—this part of the story does exist, but it's clearly out of place right now, isn't it?

Seeing that Raven was ignoring him again, Reiss had no choice but to sit back in his chair. His gaze swept around the now quiet room again, finally landing on Demulan, who was sitting at the far end.

He nudged Said next to him with his elbow again, "Old Said, Old Said!"

Saeed, annoyed by the blows of his elbow, finally snapped, "What do you want?"

Reis kept his gaze fixed on Demulan without looking away, while leaning closer to Said, "Old Said, who's that woman over there? She's not the old lady, is she?"

Said was speechless. "Who else could it be?"

Reese exclaimed in exaggerated surprise, "Wow! This old lady is so young? I could do this!"

"..." Said seemed to have a gasp, and finally managed to choke out, "I don't need to bother with you."

He moved his chair half an inch to the side, creating some distance between himself and Reese.

Demulan, who was opposite Reiss, heard his words but remained silent, though her gaze had grown even colder than before.

But that look didn't scare Reese at all; instead, it made him grin and whistle rudely, "Hey beautiful, come to Longbow Valley sometime! I'll snipe you a bit! Hahaha!"

Demulan's face was ashen, and he remained silent.