Build an ancient-level power in the nightmare world

Chris's biggest concerns—his nightmares and headaches—have not yet been resolved, but there are initial signs of improvement.

He was certainly not prepared to undergo any further examination as the other party had suggested.

Chris didn't completely trust the other party just because they had an official background. The reason the other party chose to talk to him was entirely because the matter of Lawrence and the brooch that Chris had just brought up had affected the other party's judgment of his value.

Moreover, through his conversation with Valentine and the various reactions Chris observed between the two, Chris realized that they seemed to regard him as some kind of dangerous being.

The fact that the other party has not made any further move and is still stalling for time suggests that they have some other tricks up their sleeve.

There is still no trust between the two sides.

This is normal, and Chris wasn't surprised.

"So, did you acquire your supernatural abilities after joining the Torchbearers, or were you chosen to join the Torchbearers because you possessed supernatural abilities?" Chris continued to ask.

But Valentine did not answer Chris's question immediately this time; instead, his gaze became as calm as it had been at the beginning.

Chris, who had been staring at Valentine, suddenly felt his vision blur.

The distorted and mottled double images overlapped and intertwined, replacing the original scene in Chris's eyes.

An invisible sticky sensation covered every inch of Chris's skin almost instantly.

This prevented him from even performing simple actions like blinking and swallowing, let alone speaking or moving.

"You're always like this, overly cautious, Valentine."

In the quiet room, a somewhat neutral voice suddenly came from the corner.

"Look, I didn't even have to lift a finger, and you easily subdued this guy using the formation here."

Valentine's gaze shifted from Chris for the first time, turning to the figure slowly emerging from the shadows in the corner.

"For people like us, it's never a bad thing to be cautious," Valentine said calmly. "I didn't expect it would be you coming to help this time. Weren't you injured and on leave recently, Axel?"

"Heh." Axel, dressed in a black bodysuit with a matching black trench coat over it, and wearing a white mask with only a small hole for his left eye that barely revealed his pupil, slowly walked up to Chris.

"Do you think the Hand of Eternal Silence is held by you torchbearers? You're all so idle."

Axel first sized up Chris as if admiring an object, then looked at Valentine standing to the side and said with a slightly sarcastic tone, "The only one available for deployment from the Eternal Hand branch in Rom City right now is me, a wounded soldier who has just been reinstated."

Axel emphasized the word "wounded" slightly.

Valentine sensed the sarcasm in the other person's tone, but instead of being angry, a smile appeared on his face, and he sincerely said, "Thank you."

As the longest-serving captain among the torchbearers in Rom, he always puts the safety of himself and his team members first.

Therefore, compared to other teams, their team applied for relics and various forms of support the most times.

However, they did not handle more extraordinary incidents than other torchbearer teams, nor were the incidents they handled more serious than those handled by other teams.

Over time, it became increasingly difficult for their team to apply for relics and other support.

Valentine was genuinely grateful to Axel for arriving so quickly this time, as they were old acquaintances.

"Oh."

Axel's gaze shifted from Valentine to a flat, oval, dark blue compass that had suddenly appeared in his hand.

This specially made compass has two circular dials placed side by side, with different colors used to depict different types of markings.

Two pointers, one red and one black, slowly rotate on two different dials. The red pointer hovers between 0 and 1, while the black pointer remains completely still.

Valentine's gaze also fell on the compass in Axel's hand.

A moment later, Axel put away the compass, his gaze swept over Chris again, and then looked at Valentine, saying with a hint of sarcasm, "He looks like an ordinary person no matter how you look at him."

"That's good," Valentine said calmly.

His gaze fell on Chris again. He hesitated for a moment, but still did not tell Axel about Chris's dream about the 3-036 relic or what happened when Lawrence interrogated Chris in his dream.

Although Axel is the deputy minister of the Rom City branch of the Hand of Eternal Silence, and has a higher rank and greater authority than him, they are ultimately two different systems. The intelligence obtained by the Torchbearers needs to be reported before it can be shared with other agencies, depending on the circumstances.

After all, the authenticity of this intelligence, and whether it may contain any hidden contamination, are unknown until assessed by the Torchbearer's superiors.

Such incidents have occurred before, where a piece of true intelligence, but which itself was a source of pollution, led to the near annihilation of a city's Torchbearer branch.

Valentine had to be cautious about this.

Because of Chris's previous description, Valentine was no longer prepared to let Lawrence interrogate the other party, as the potential danger of this matter might be beyond the scope of their team's ability to handle.

Although Chris does seem like an ordinary person, that's precisely why we can't let our guard down. This is a lesson Valentine has learned over the years.

Of his colleagues who joined the torchbearers around the same time, some died and some went missing. He was the only one still alive, thanks to his caution.

"So, should we still interrogate this guy?" Lawrence, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up and asked Valentine.

Although based on his understanding of Valentine, he knew that the other party would most likely not let him use his abilities to interrogate Chris, he still wanted to give it a try.

Chris had been repeatedly confirmed by Axel and Valentine to be just an ordinary person, so the danger of interrogating him was greatly reduced.

As for the dream about himself that the other party mentioned, Lawrence was initially a little worried, but after confirming that the other party was just an ordinary person, his desire to make a contribution took the lead.

Although he has only been with the Torchbearers for three years, he is already the vice-captain of the team.

It was the power he gained after becoming a messenger of the Holy Spirit on the path of the Echo Wall.

That ability to evoke memories deep within a person's mind, even memories that have been forgotten, allowed Lawrence to uncover unexpected information during his interrogations.

Valentine shook his head and rejected Lawrence's proposal without hesitation.

Their main reason for monitoring Chris was the original owner of the apartment building at 037 Nottingham Street that Chris had inherited, Beron Stave.

This former torchbearer joined the torchbearer team fifteen years ago under the name Otis Walsh, and became the captain of a torchbearer team in just three years.