Hero? I'm just here to borrow power!

"Oh? Tell me?"

Bai Ye put down the half-eaten hot dog in his hand, and then drank the cola in his cup in one gulp.

Have you ever heard of 'White Emperor City'?

At this moment, Bai Ye's expression became somewhat subtle.

Of course he had heard of it.

After all, Bai Ye had just left the "White Emperor City" that was submerged underwater, and then took a sixteen-hour flight to this city called Chicago.

"I heard something."

Bai Ye controlled her expression well, simply nodding slightly to signal him to continue.

"Hehe! I heard it's a huge bronze ruin, filled not only with priceless ancient artifacts, but also with gold and all sorts of powerful alchemical relics. The job I got this time is to go there and retrieve an alchemical relic called something like 'the bottle.' Two million US dollars will be deposited into my account immediately after the job is done! And all the treasures found inside the ruins will be ours! I've already talked to the boss who posted the job; he'll allow me to bring a partner. We'll split the two million dollars—one million each! And we'll split all the treasures we find 50/50!"

The more Old Tang talked, the more animated he became. He seemed incredibly proud that he had found such a lucrative job for himself and for his brother who had saved his life.

"Of course, this job won't officially start for another month. Brother Baiye, your work should be finished within a month, right? After all, although I don't know exactly what you're here in America for, it's probably not some kind of tomb exploration... After all, America is only a little over two hundred years old. Where are we going to find some thousand-year-old tombs? Are they Native American ones? Haha!"

Old Tang even thoughtfully considered Bai Ye's working hours.

After all, for a qualified hunter, integrity is the most essential virtue, regardless of the richness of the mission reward.

However, he was completely absorbed in his dream of making a fortune and didn't notice Bai Ye's increasingly subtle expression.

"Once this is all done, you and I, brothers, won't be eating at roadside stalls anymore! I'll treat you to the best restaurants in New York, with top-quality Kobe beef, caviar, and that damn black truffle—eat as much as you want!"

Old Tang's shouts were so bold and unrestrained that they seemed to reach the heavens.

His confidence was certainly justified, because upon hearing the name "Baidi City," a vague, almost instinctive premonition arose in his blood.

The instinct was strong; it told itself that "Baidi City" was definitely not a dangerous place for it.

As a hunter, he has relied almost entirely on his invincible instincts to escape danger in various ruins throughout his more than twenty years of life, so he has great faith in his instincts.

Since it wasn't a dangerous place, the two million US dollars were easily within his grasp.

For him, who had spent more than 20 years in poverty and hardship, two million US dollars was clearly not a small sum.

However, he remembered Bai Ye, who had saved his life, and then decided without hesitation to give him half of the reward for the mission.

For Lao Tang, these past twenty-odd years as an orphan and a vagrant have undoubtedly been a lonely one.

Hunters are a dangerous and selfish group of people.

Old Tang knew he was an oddity among the hunters.

Bai Ye is the only friend he has made through work in the past twenty years.

Yes, Bai Ye is his friend.

Therefore, if there is an opportunity to make money, you must share it with him.

Old Tang thought so.

The Tide of the Black Moon: Chapter 82 The Board of Directors (Part 1)

Meeting with Lao Tang was just a small episode in Bai Ye's mission.

After agreeing to meet again back home after the mission, Bai Ye and the slightly tipsy mixed-race hunter parted ways.

The chilly autumn wind of Chicago swept through the alley. He tugged at the collar of his cheap tracksuit and dialed an unfamiliar number. The phone was answered after only one ring. The caller only asked for Bai Ye's current location and didn't ask for any other information.

Instead of a low-key black sedan, he was picked up by a Bentley Continental GT, dazzlingly white in the autumn sunlight. It was a typical American business car, but it had clearly been heavily modified. The body lines had been given a more aggressive, muscular look on top of its original elegance, making it look like a killing machine that could transform from a sports car into a heavily armored machine at any moment.

But the most important thing is the small badge on the front of the car, a half-decayed World Tree.

Kassel College, the emblem of the Peruvian Party.

Bai Ye's real mission has only just begun.

Chicago, USA.

The fluttering red maple leaves resembled countless blood-red butterflies, painting a poignant hue over this steel jungle. The white Bentley glided silently along the roadside of Lake Michigan, eventually driving into a secluded estate that didn't even exist on the map.

Deep within the estate lies a hotel built beside a lake, standing alone, untouched by any other lights for kilometers around, like a forgotten island.

The hotel's exquisite parking lot was almost entirely filled with the world's most luxurious vehicles. Black Lamborghini Aventadors resembled dormant bulls, and heavily modified Mercedes-Benz S-Classes gleamed with a cold metallic sheen. Each car was like a silent steel behemoth, silently proclaiming the power represented by its owner.

The Bentley's driver was a man in a black suit and white gloves. He was expressionless and looked like a precise robot.

After getting out of the car, he opened the door for Bai Ye, then bowed slightly and politely invited Bai Ye... or rather, this distinguished guest named "Siegfried" to get out of the car.

At this moment, Bai Ye had changed out of the cheap sportswear that clashed with his surroundings. Just as Lu Mingze had promised, a handmade custom-made suit from Savile Row in Italy had been delivered to the car in advance.

How did Lu Mingze know his size? Maybe it was because of that "spiritual vision"? If that guy could memorize a person's entire body shape just by scanning them once with his inhuman eyes, Bai Ye wouldn't be surprised.

Although Bai Ye disliked Lu Mingze's self-centered style in everything he did, he had to admit that Lu Mingze's gifts were always so precise that they were annoying.

The suit fit his body perfectly, not too much or too little. He looked at himself in the reflection of the car window. A young man in a sharp suit appeared in the reflection, with neat short black hair and sharp, chiseled features. In the depths of his dark eyes, however, there was a kind of chilling majesty that was somewhere between the indifference of a superior and the ferocity of a beast.

At this moment, he truly looked like a mixed-race nobleman with a thousand-year-old lineage and noble blood.

Speaking of which, since Bai Ye obtained the system, his appearance seems to have been frozen in time. Four or five years have passed, but time has not left a trace on his face, as if time has lost its meaning on him.

Well, at least I look pretty good at pretending.

Bai Ye withdrew his gaze, his heart remaining calm.

"Is that the rumored seventh board member? He injects astronomical sums of money into the college every year, but he has never shown his face in person. I thought he would be an old man on his deathbed, but he looks so... young."

In a room on the second floor of the hotel, a girl who looked no more than sixteen or seventeen years old was peering through a gap in the curtains, scrutinizing Bai Ye below with an almost scrutinizing gaze. Her long, light golden hair was elegantly piled on top of her head, revealing her swan-like neck. Her slightly chubby face held a serious expression, as if she were examining a document concerning the future of the world.

Behind her, a middle-aged man who looked like a butler stood tall, like the most loyal knight guarding his exquisitely crafted princess doll.

“Strictly speaking, Miss, he is not the school board member himself, but merely the agent of that mysterious school board member.”

The butler's voice was steady and clear, with the accent of an old-fashioned British aristocrat. "As for why Mr. Z suddenly sent an agent after years of silence, the reason is unknown, but he must be a young talent secretly cultivated by some mixed-race family."

Downstairs, the driver led Bai Ye to the hotel entrance and bowed before stepping away. Then, a figure stepped out from the hotel's heavy revolving door.

The visitor was none other than Hilbert Jean Angers.

This man, who should have been over 130 years old, had the upright posture of a 30-year-old. His brilliant silver hair fluttered slightly in the wind. He strode over, each step leaving a clear footprint on the land of the manor.

The years have left on him not with age, but with a richness and danger akin to aged spirits.

"Hi! You must be Mr. Siegfried?"

Angers smiled like a hospitable old neighbor and extended his right hand to Bai Ye. "Welcome, welcome. You've arrived just in time. Since you're representing Mr. Z at the Board of Directors meeting, you represent the Board of Directors himself here. I hope everyone can get along well during the meeting."

Bai Ye nodded slightly, said nothing more, and reached out to shake his hand.

That hand was old, yet it contained a terrifying power like a volcano, dry yet warm.

As the White Night entered, the massive door slowly closed. With four heavy clicks, four giant locks powered by alchemy simultaneously engaged, completely isolating the building from the outside world. All the windows were then sealed with thick metal plates, instantly transforming the place into an impenetrable fortress.

The conference room was located underground, with a huge black table that looked as if it were polished from a single piece of obsidian, coldly reflecting the light from the crystal chandelier overhead.

After Bai Ye took his seat in the only empty seat at the conference table, Angers, who was sitting at the end of the long table, spoke. His voice echoed in the silent conference room: "Although I think everyone has received the notification, in order to avoid unnecessary speculation, I would like to formally introduce Mr. Siegfried, as the representative of our seventh board member, 'Mr. Z.' He comes from a long-standing Chinese mixed-race family. At this meeting, he will fully represent Mr. Z's will... I hope everyone will give him the respect he deserves."

Bai Ye's gaze calmly swept over everyone present.

Besides him, there were six others: four men and two women.

Sitting next to Angers were two men who looked much older than him. Of course, the age of a mixed-race person can never be judged by their appearance. They were both wearing well-tailored black suits with dark red silk handkerchiefs stuffed in their jacket pockets. One of them was leaning on a cane inlaid with an unknown blue gemstone, while the other was slowly twirling a string of sandalwood prayer beads in his hand.

The other man seemed out of place. He was probably in his thirties, wearing an oddly bright yellow sweater, and a baseball cap with Michael Jackson's image on it was sitting on the table. He was lounging in his chair and looked nothing like a school board member of the secret society, but rather like a pizza delivery guy who had accidentally wandered into the G8 summit.

The remaining two women were completely different from these men. One of them possessed breathtaking beauty, so stunning that even Bai Ye's extraordinary eyesight could not determine her true age. It was as if the innocence of an eighteen-year-old to the mature charm of a thirty-eight-year-old woman was perfectly frozen in her. The other was the blonde girl who had just been spying on him from the second floor.

Even downstairs, Bai Ye had already noticed her scrutinizing gaze.

As the first agent sent by the mysterious seventh board member in over a decade, Bai Ye's appearance undoubtedly attracted the attention of everyone except Angers.

However, he looked too young. After Angers' introduction, the school board members only glanced at him with scrutiny or contempt before paying no further attention.

In the arena of power, youth often means being inexperienced and lacking experience.

“And the Gattuso family, still my old friend, Frost Gattuso, is attending in place of his brother.” Angers pointed to the old man with a cane beside him.

“Since no one objects, everyone is present.” Angers picked up the small brass bell on the table and shook it gently. The clear sound echoed in the conference room. “I hereby declare the annual Board of Trustees meeting officially open.”

Ringing the bell to speak is an old tradition of the Board of Trustees. Angers explained to him on the way that it was to prevent these high-ranking guys from interrupting each other like they were arguing in a market.

As soon as Angers finished speaking, the old man named Frost Gattuso impatiently picked up the brass bell in front of him and shook it vigorously, producing a series of rapid and shrill sounds.

"What's going on with the report about the 'Kuimen Project'?" Frost's voice was hoarse and accusatory, his sharp old eyes fixed on Angers. "The Board of Trustees approved a huge sum of money to send the 'Moniach' all the way to the Three Gorges of China, in order to excavate the legendary Dragon King ruins of 'White Emperor City'! But the report submitted by the Executive Department concludes that... they discovered 'Kamen Rider' underwater?"

The Tide of the Black Moon: Chapter 83 The Board of Directors (Part Two)

The meeting was filled with tension from the very beginning.

Although it wasn't the first time Bai Ye had attended such a meeting, he still didn't really like the atmosphere in the meeting room.

As Frost Gattuso's undisguised questioning echoed in the closed meeting room, the air seemed to thicken.

The other board members all opened the report printed on snow-white coated paper, their fingertips tracing over the tedious data and process analysis, ultimately stopping at the conclusion on the last page, which was like a dark joke.

A suspicious entity, temporarily named "Kamen Rider," appeared like a ghost underwater in the Three Gorges and, with an almost overwhelming force, killed a powerful next-generation creature.

Although Kassel College has made Chinese a compulsory course since its inception, this does not mean that the board members present have any understanding of Eastern popular culture.

They came from different countries and spoke different native languages. At this moment, the word "Kamen Rider" on the English report in their hands seemed particularly glaring and ridiculous, like a serious opera that cost millions of dollars, but ended with a clown in a cheap costume jumping on the stage.

Faced with this absurd result, the conference room fell into a deathly silence for half a minute, with only the faint hum of the air circulation system.

The old man who was holding the sandalwood prayer beads paused for a moment, his eyes slightly closed, seemingly lost in thought.

The man in the yellow sweater curled his lips into a mocking smile.

Finally, it was the blonde girl who couldn't hold back any longer. Her face, which had been tense for so long, trying so hard to maintain its noble dignity, burst out laughing. Her clear laughter sounded like a gunshot in the oppressive atmosphere.

She immediately realized her mistake and quickly covered her mouth with her hand, forcibly suppressing the laughter that followed, her little face turning bright red.

The laughter seemed like a signal, and Frost rang the brass bell in front of him again, the sound more urgent than before.

"This kind of battle report cannot be called a report; it's just a joke!"

He slammed the end of his walking stick into the ground with a dull thud. "We have to seriously question the professional competence of the Kassel Executive Department! Angers, you need to give us an explanation!"

Frost was right.

The report's conclusions were so bizarre that even Angers himself, who submitted the report, was unwilling to believe it when he first saw the conclusions from the front lines, let alone the school board members who held the highest positions of power in the Secret Service.

But there's nothing we can do; facts are facts, no matter how much of a joke they may seem.

However, Angers remained calm. He did not respond immediately, but instead took out a thin document from the dark black leather briefcase beside him.

He pinched the corner of the document with his fingers and gave it a gentle push. The document slid silently across the smooth, mirror-like black tabletop like an ice hockey puck, stopping precisely in the center of the long table.

All the board members except Bai Ye exchanged glances, and in the end, it was Frost who reached out his wrinkled hand and picked up the document.

He narrowed his sharp old eyes and began to read aloud in a low voice.

On July 3, 2005, Chu Tianjiao, an S-level executive officer of the Executive Department of Kassel College, mysteriously disappeared for unknown reasons.

"In September 2008, Chu Tianjiao secretly gave birth to his son, Chu Zihang, in China. In order to find his father's whereabouts, he took the initiative to contact him and was admitted to Kassel College."

"Chu Zihang... really likes Kamen Rider."

At this point, Frost's tone paused strangely.

"Based on deep hypnosis of Chu Zihang, we have reconstructed the truth of the night Chu Tianjiao disappeared. Chu Tianjiao and Chu Zihang once mistakenly entered a realm that resembled 'Nibelungen,' an alchemical space constructed by the power of dragon language. The 'Odin' they encountered there displayed a power level that resembled that of the first generation of beings, or even... the Dragon King."

The air in the conference room suddenly cooled down.

"And the 'Kamen Rider' who appeared in this 'Kuimen Project', according to Chu Zihang's eyewitness testimony, defeated the powerful 'Odin' in 'Nibelungen'."

"Conclusion: Based on cross-validation of the existing information, we have strong reason to infer that the being known as 'Kamen Rider' is actually a... humanoid Dragon King."

Frost finished reading the last sentence, his voice hoarse as if sandpaper was being rubbed.

He put down the document, and the conference room fell into a deathly silence. Everyone was stunned by the amount of information contained in the document.

"An S-class executive has gone missing in the battle against the first-generation species? Angers!"

Frost rang the bell sharply, his voice shrill, "Why have you never reported this to the Board of Trustees!" He pushed the documents to the other trustees. Bai Ye glanced at them from the side and saw a photo tucked inside: a badly damaged black Maybach, the very same one Chu Zihang's father had driven four years ago.

Angers gracefully shook his brass bell, the clear and melodious sound seemingly soothing the restless atmosphere.

"His disappearance has never been definitively determined. The Executive Department cannot confirm whether he died in battle or was recruited and defected by other forces."

Angers' tone was as calm as if he were discussing the weather. "Besides, the list of specialists who sacrificed their lives in the Executive Department every year is compiled into a document and submitted to the Board of Directors. Ultimately, the reason is probably that even someone as strong as an S-rank is just a frontline specialist... Do the bigwigs on the Board of Directors really care about their lives?"

He raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of mockery in his eyes.