The car continued driving for about half an hour, circling around the congested traffic for quite some time before it finally entered an old residential building.
The car came to a halt in front of a flight of stairs. The two men got out of the car, looking back to see if anyone had followed after them. After making sure of their surroundings, they went upstairs cautiously.
At the third floor, the three of them checked the corridor again. After confirming that no one was following them, they began to knock on the door rhythmically.
A little more than ten seconds later, the door opened and a head popped out. "You are back. How did it go?"
"Let's talk inside!" Carolus answered.
The door was closed immediately after they made their way into the room.
The interior of the house was of an ordinary residential building. Someone served hot tea to both of them.
However, they didn't take it. Instead, they asked, "Is Mr. Li here? We have something to report to him."
"The general is inside," someone stated.
"Let's go in!" The two men looked at each other and walked to the bedroom on the side.
He knocked on the door and said, "General, I'm Carolus. We're back. I have something to report to you."
After a pause, a husky middle- aged man's voice sounded, "Come in!"
The door opened and it was dark inside. There was only a bed and a dim yellow lamp at the bedside.
A middle-aged man in his fifties, who was wearing a windbreaker, sat on a chair right beside the desk lamp. He was Thanos Li.
Under the light, his face was thin and sallow. He seemed sick.
However, when the two saw him, they immediately knelt on one knee and saluted in unison. "Greetings, General."
"Get up." Thanos looked at the two men and his voice was gentle. "Go ahead. What do you want to report to me?"
The two men looked at each other before saying, "General, we found something interesting from Lion Hall. We met a master today. Originally, we wanted to recruit him to our side, but in the end..."
Then, the two described the events of meeting Fade in detail to him.
After they finished, Thanos pondered and asked, "So, the young man is very powerful and he is from Capital City, am I right?"
"Yes, that should be it." Carolus nodded.
Thanos stated, "A young martial arts master from Capital City. This reminds me of a person, Master Chen!"
"Master Chen!"
They pondered on the name for a while, then they seemed to have come to a realization.
"General, are you referring to the infamous martial artist who attended the Youth Martial
Arts Competition in Micovia last year?"
"Wasn't it said that he was seriously injured and had returned to his hometown to recover? How could he be here now?"
Thanos replied, "I'm just making an assumption. I don't know who he is yet."
At this point, he heaved out a sigh and looked a little disappointed.
Seeing this, Carolus said hurriedly, "General, we will find a way to bring the young man here to help you accomplish your goal."
Thanos was shocked and a hint of nervousness flashed across his face.
However, he had been through a lot after all. He quickly regained his composure and sized up the young man behind him with prying eyes.
A few seconds later, he smiled knowingly and said, "If I'm not mistaken, you should be the young man whom Carolus mentioned earlier, am I right?"
Fade smiled faintly and responded honestly, "I am!"
After confirming his suspicions, Thanos' face relaxed a little and he said, "Carolus said that they saw you leave. It seems that they have underestimated you. I didn't expect you to follow them here without anyone noticing."
Fade said faintly, "I have to take precautions after what had happened in Lion Hall. Please forgive me, General."
"I understand." Thanos smiled. "Since you are willing to show up, I suppose it means that you want to talk to us."
Fade smiled faintly and replied, "I hope I can learn more about you, sir."
Thanos stayed silent for a moment. Then, he looked up at Fade and nodded. "Sure. What would you like to know, Mr. Chen?"
"Your identity, your forces, and why do you want to cooperate with me?" Fade asked.
Thanos stared at him and answered, "My name is Thanos Li. Although my forces are not extremely strong, I still have some connections on Star Island."
"What about the Zhou family?" Fade asked.
The general paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "The Zhou family has been developing quite well on Star Island these few years, but at most, they can only be considered as a second class family. My power may not be the best, but I'm still a bit stronger than the Zhou family."
Upon hearing this, Fade was somewhat surprised.
Initially, he only expected that this man's influence would be half of the Zhou family's. Yet, it turned out that he was even stronger than them.
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