Vera, standing nearby, suddenly giggled. "Helena, the winters here are too long, and it can get boring just hanging around. Why don't you visit Oskia instead? I'm sure you travel to Southern Europe or tropical countries during winters here too, right?"Helena smiled, not expecting the sudden invitation."We do travel to Southern Europe or tropical countries where we have property and are friendly with the local governments. That way, we'd have more privacy, and passing through customs is easier, but not Oskia. I can go on an official visit, but without any property, having a vacation there might not be easy."Vera said, "It's not a big deal, actually—just a sister city relationship between Oslo and Aurous Hill. You can use that as an excuse to go to Aurous Hill, and there will be a suite waiting for you at Shangri-La for further convenience. Charlie owns it, and you could tell the local government that you don't want publicity. There's no problem with that at all."Helena's eyes lit

The next day, a private jet usually used by the Norwegian royal family for official duties took off from Oslo and landed straight in Aurous Hill.Aside from two groups of flight crew, there was no one else besides Charlie and Vera.Along the way, Charlie received a report from Porter through satellite links.Right now, multiple ships loaded with dead soldiers, armed cavalry guards, and their families from Duca Mines had already left the Strait of Gibraltar, meaning that they were completely free from the Qing Eliminating Society now.Since the Mediterranean Sea was the only thing that stood between Syria and the Strait of Gibraltar, they would arrive at Ten Thousand Armies' base after the 3,000-kilometer voyage that would last about a week.Still, Charlie would like to send Penny to Aurous Hill as soon as possible, where she would meet Ruby.Turning to Vera, he asked, "Do you have any connections who could help get Penny to Oskia? I mean, without leaving any immigration records.

As if suddenly awakening from a deep slumber, the hostile Reiki that Charlie had generated with hand seals and had been unable to control sprang to life, instantly engulfing Charlie's own normal Reiki and gushing out of him like a raging tide.Charlie was as surprised as he was delighted. Presuming this to be a good opportunity for taking control over the hostile Reiki, he willed his own Reiki to bring the hostile Reiki to bear, so that both sets of Reiki would be infused into the ring.But to his shock, the hostile Reiki was still beyond his control, while his control over his own Reiki was gone too!Charlie's fingertips tightened ever so slightly around the ring.His plan had been to send his own Reiki through his fingers and into the ring, but both portions of Reiki were now combining. After leaving his elixir field, the Reiki wasn't moving up his arm at all as he wanted, instead rushing directly into Charlie's brain—into his sea of consciousness. Though shocked by the dramati

Charlie was never stingy, but it still really hurt to lose his Reiki.Moreover, this scam was like no other, as the Reiki he originally had, the hostile Reiki generated from the hand seals, and the five cultivating pills' worth of Reiki had been devoured clean!It hurt more than losing a trillion USD to a scam!Vera was surprised that even five cultivating pills' worth of Reiki was gone with the wind and exclaimed, "There's no way it'd just disappear into thin air, right? Could the ring have absorbed it?"Charlie shook his head, sighing unhappily, "It's not responsible this time—heck, I was trying to direct my Reiki into it, but the hostile Reiki went out of my control."It was almost like it had a will of its own as it engulfed my own Reiki, and I couldn't even control my own Reiki as it brought everything to bear and started charging up my brain."Whenever you fed me the pills, it noticed the new surge of Reiki and promptly turned to catch the new Reiki every single time."I'm

#Charlie immediately agreed with Vera's suggestion to visit the Four-Sided Treasure Tower. Even if he wasn't sure if anything linked the hostile Reiki generated from the hand seals with the Four-Sided Treasure Tower, there was no question that the hand seals pattern that appeared in the aurora that day shared the same cultural origins as the Four-Sided Treasure Tower.Charlie wasn't all that knowledgeable about such things aside from his encounters with the fake nun at the Quiant Monastery, which was why he suspected the Four-Sided Treasure Tower now.There was also something else he hadn't told Vera, since he couldn't be sure if it had anything to do with the Four-Sided Treasure Tower and the hostile Reiki.But one thing was for sure: the entity that had stolen his Reiki was still in his sea of consciousness.He would have nothing to worry about if the entity simply absorbed his Riki like the ring had—all he had to do was make sure he didn't fall for it again.But not this enti