Half-step Purgatory

Durin stroked the black cat on the armrest of his chair, sitting on the black leather sofa. Through the glasses perched on his nose, his gaze passed over the long table in front of him and settled on the man kneeling on the carpet:
"I understand, you've made money in Naples, your business has been very successful, and you've led a happy life. You've had those secret police, friends in both the law and the underground, and even the Royal Family speaking on your behalf."
"You don't need a friend like me, I know that. You're afraid of owing me a favor, and you don't want to get involved in troubles."
"But now you come to me and say, 'I beg you, Mr. Durin of the Corleon family, please help me seek justice, so that my life and my family will not suffer and sink into despair.'
Yet, in your eyes, I was nothing more than a second-rate artist involved in movies and music. Even at the brink of death, you still show me such disrespect, not even willing to call me by my title... Keeper of Secrets."

Durin's Diary

Standing at the intersection waiting for the traffic light, Melinda curiously observed the dense maze of billboards on the building across the street. The neon signs displayed characters she couldn't recognize, vastly different from the chaotic visual bombardment she had experienced in the Western Lands.


"Durin, what are all those?" Melinda asked. Her long ears, tilting upward, flopped down to rest behind her head.


Durin pointed at the billboards and replied, "Billboards. All sorts of them."


"I've never seen anything like this in the Western Lands. Are they powered by electricity? How can this city provide so much power?" Durin's Rabbit Spirit inquired with a mix of curiosity and disbelief.


The answer was simple. Beneath Shangjing City lay an ancient research facility, managed by an AI system akin to Eleven. A massive nuclear power system steadily supplied electricity to the city above.


Chapter 381: Inviting the Bright Moon