His senses traveled along his body as he enjoyed the changes his body went through. His breathing was deep and composed, his thoughts were particularly clear, and he felt as if a veil was taken out of his brain. Even in the dark, his eyes saw as clear as in daylight, and his hearing was accentuated to the point he could hear his subordinate talk from his current position.After a few seconds of enjoying the changes he had gone through, he looked at the masked figure and expressed his need for leaving the room as he wanted to breath fresh air. They left the room with silent steps and walked back through the maze like treasury before appearing near the gigantic door. His subordinate had been talking between them. As time pa.s.sed, they formed small group and tried to pa.s.s the time with the means they had at hand. Joe and the masked figure reappeared near the treasury entrance; several members of Joe"s force noticed them and grabbed their rifle by reflex. The pressure they felt when the masked figures appeared near them made want to flee, but in their mind, their boss was still in the treasury and shouldn"t take long to come.
Richard saw the two men appear out of nowhere, he grabbed his rifle in a split second and aimed at them before howling in an aggressive tone. "This is Filthy Jade Palace! Who are you guys?!" his heart beat through his chest as he felt like he couldn"t look at the two individuals in the eyes. His vision would plunge deeply in their mask, and he felt like it would only take a single moment before he lost himself in their abyss like gaze. Then as he avoided their eyes, he paid attention to what they were wearing and noticed that one of them was wearing Joe"s clothes. His rifle trembled slightly as the weapon"s barrel was turned toward the ground, he mumbled while feeling the strangeness of the matter.
"Joe? Is that you?" he exclaimed while avoiding meeting the eye of the man following Joe. He clearly remembered that their leader had entered the treasury alone, and that fact made him panic as he couldn"t comprehend from where came the masked figure following Joe. And why was his boss wearing a mask. Those kinds of questions constantly appeared in his mind as he waited for his friend"s answer.
Blank-Faced Joe quietly gazed at his friends; his boosted sense of a.n.a.lysis showed him Richard"s emotions in the open. He couldn"t help but let a silent sigh as his sight traveled from one subordinate to the other. Their emotions were shown in such an obvious way that he doubted that they were faking it, but his heart told him that he should trust his senses and that everything was real. As his sight moved from one individual to the other, he couldn"t help but pause on one individual. That was the one who had voiced his discontentment when he had entered the treasury alone, and a c.o.c.ktail of emotions were revealed to him without any difficulty. Greed mixed with anger and jealousy, he couldn"t help but have his heart skip a beat when he looked at the man who used to work under him. Joe"s heart didn"t skip a beat due to fear or anger, but it was due to blood l.u.s.t that had taken form in his mind as soon as he noticed the ma.s.s of negative emotion in his subordinate.
He ignored the call from his body and continued gazing at his subordinate with an emotionless gaze as he learned how to use his newfound power. Thankfully for him, there was only a single one of them who showed negative emotion that was aimed personally at him. The others weren"t angry nor greedy toward his behavior; what was apparent to him was the waves of incomprehension that showed on their face. They couldn"t put their minds at rest and were clearly oblivious to what was happening. He sighed silently again before he opened his lips as he tried to express himself in a warm tone to express his intention of breaking the group.
"Filthy Jade Palace is finished!", contrary to his intention, the voice that left his throat was morphed by the mask. And mixed with the chaotic energy his body contained, his voice turned into a cold and deadly voice that made his subordinate clench their weapon tighter. A few of them couldn"t help but take a step back as their legs shook from panic. If it wasn"t for the fact that he was their boss, they would have trusted their bodies and would have made a run for their life.
"Our journey has been great, and we have achieved many grand deeds!" another wave of coldness spread through the room as his speech expressed a wholly different intent than what he wanted. "Thanks.", he ended as he tried expressing his feeling toward his subordinate with clarity. But again, what left his mask was a twisted tone that made his subordinate panic even more. The only one who didn"t retreat toward the stairway was Richard, who stood shocked in place, although the voice left him trembling from fear. A fear that was intrinsic to his mortal nature, he couldn"t help but feel more perturbed by his friend"s speech.
"Why is thanking us? Is he… leaving?" he couldn"t help but think as he knew that he was probably right. The moment that thought took over his mind, he couldn"t help but shiver as he gazed at his now old boss.
As soon as he finished speaking, Blank-Faced Joe and the masked man approached the sides of the room. They walked toward a broken window, and Joe looked one last time toward his subordinate before jumping through the window. The masked man following him didn"t look at the mortal under Joe at all and only stood in place during the whole course of action. It was as if they didn"t exist at all.