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Inside the hotel room, Illumi looked at the golden mask placed on the bed, his eyelids lowered.
"What exactly is the ability of this mask?"
Illumi picked up the mask and examined it carefully. Except for a chipped corner on the bottom right of the jaw, the golden mask was perfectly intact.
The golden mask wasn't cast, but rather assembled from individual pieces of gold, with black lines in every seam between the gold pieces.
Large numbers of black lines formed a complex pattern. Each piece of gold was seamlessly integrated, and the manufacturing process was extremely precise.
With a slight turn of his wrist, the golden mask emitted a faint chill.
Illumi held the golden mask, tossed it into the air, transformed his right hand into a blade, and swung it forcefully.
"Clang!"
First, a metallic clash sounded on the golden mask. Then, with a "bang," it slammed into the wall, a third of the mask embedding itself within the wall.
"Crack, crack..."
Illumi stepped forward to remove it from the wall. It had withstood a blow with fifty percent of his strength, yet it showed no trace of damage.
"How about finding someone to test it on."
Illumi glanced at the news anchor on the TV, gripped the mask, and walked towards the door. As he moved, a white light shimmered from his feet, sweeping upwards over his head.
"Click."
When he opened the door, he had completely transformed into the news anchor currently broadcasting on TV.
Illumi left the hotel and headed straight for the gray area of the city.
Blanca City was a border city in the southern part of the United States of Edin. It was a hub for criminals, smugglers, drug dealers, and gangsters from various countries.
"Thump..."
On the brightly lit street, Illumi, in the guise of the news anchor, strode along, his footsteps crisp and clear.
"Hahahaha..."
Three small-time thugs were gathered ahead, laughing raucously. Illumi brushed past them.
"Hey!"
Suddenly, a thug with a punk hairstyle stopped laughing and turned to shout at Illumi, his voice hostile.
"Hey, you, don't you say sorry when you bump into someone?"
Illumi paused, his back to them, but he said nothing. An unnamable sense of oppression hung in the air.
"Paul, forget it."
The other two thugs sensed the eerie atmosphere. One hand pressed on the man's shoulder, trying to dissuade him.
The person called Paul also felt his eyelids twitch. He sensed an inexplicable aura emanating from the person in front, making it difficult to breathe.
"Gulp..."
The thug's throat bobbed. The longer Illumi remained, the more oppressive the space felt to them.
"Th-then, that was my fault just now."
The thug named Paul swallowed his saliva, his voice weak and trembling.
"I have something."
Suddenly, Illumi, who had been silent, turned around and held up a golden mask.
"This is an ancient secret treasure with over a thousand years of history, worth at least 50 billion Jenny."
Illumi stood in the shadows, colorful neon lights shining on him, his face a mere silhouette.
"It's a gift for you."
Illumi directly tossed the golden mask at their feet. The moment the three thugs focused on the mask, he instantly vanished.
"Where'd he go?"
The three thugs suddenly reacted, scanning their surroundings, but couldn't find the person who had thrown the golden mask.
The thug named Paul bent down and picked up the golden mask. Using the light from the street lamp, he carefully examined the mask in his hand.
"It seems real."
The three thugs gathered, each touching the golden mask.
"Let's get it appraised and sell it. We'll split the money three ways."
One of the thugs suggested. The other two nodded in agreement.
"But, this wouldn't be some kind of troublesome item, would it?"
"For example, being fought over by some desperate outlaws."
"We'll hide it well and quickly get rid of it, won't we?"
The three thugs discussed, hid the golden mask, and furtively left the street.
"They still have some self-control."
Illumi walked out from a nearby alley, watching the three figures rapidly striding into the distance, and commented.
"Thump-thump-thump..."
The three walked quickly, naturally nervous as they carried a valuable treasure.
However, the thug named Paul, for some unknown reason, his face began to show struggle. He reached into his embrace and pulled out the golden mask.
"Paul, quickly hide it."
The thug on the left saw him take out the mask, and his face tightened.
"Quick, hide it! This is the Prescott family's gang territory; it'll be stolen."
The thug on the right also changed his expression. He reached out and pressed on Paul's arm, trying to force the mask back into his embrace.
But to his surprise, he couldn't push Paul's arm down.
Without thinking further, he directly reached for the mask in Paul's hand, intending to take it and put it in his own embrace.
"Whoosh..."
An even more astonishing scene occurred. Just as he was about to touch the mask, Paul's arm rose and pressed on his body, directly pushing him away.
"Finally, he couldn't hold back anymore."
Illumi's figure appeared on the edge of the rooftop above the three, watching the three thugs below who had started arguing.
"Paul?"
The thug on the left watched his companion's struggling face, felt something was off, and slowly retreated.
"Quick, quick, help him get rid of that mask!"
The thug who was pushed to the ground by Paul, however, had a flash of insight. He immediately thought of the reason why his companion was acting this way.
"No one touches it!"
Paul, however, roared at them with a ferocious expression, holding the mask with both hands, his eyes red.
"Hoo~ hoo~"
His breathing became heavier and heavier. In an uncontrollable urge, Paul slowly pressed the golden mask to his face.
"Paul?"
The two thugs looked at their companion, who had put on the mask, and called out softly in fear. Their steps slowly retreated.
At this moment, they were even more certain of the mask's strangeness.
It was clearly just a simple mask, without even a fixed strap, so how was it worn on his face?
"This... what kind of feeling is this?"
Paul, wearing the mask, trembled. He felt something burning within his body, incredibly warm.
"Crack, crack..."
At the same time, he clenched his hands into fists. Due to the force, his knuckles popped with a crisp sound.
"Power."
"Power I've never felt before."
His two companions, seeing that he showed no signs of aggression, exchanged glances and tentatively asked Paul.
"Paul, how do you feel?"
"Feel?"
Paul took a deep breath. His entire being seemed to let go completely. He exaggeratedly spread his arms.
"This feeling... better than ever before."
"I found that I love this feeling."
Saying this, Paul looked left and right, seemingly searching for a target.
He fixed his gaze on a street lamp by the side of the road, walked towards it, and punched the lamp post.
"Boom!"
A loud bang.
Under the incredulous gazes of his two companions, the steel lamp post was actually shattered by his punch, and fell to the ground with a "bang."