As long as you have the courage, fierce ghosts go on maternity leave.

Selena’s comment left Alexander and Edward a little embarrassed. Alexander quickly rationalized, "I wanted to be low-key, but the reality didn’t allow for it. That ’Endless Abyss Ghost King’ clearly wasn’t new here; he knew the place much better than us.

We couldn’t afford to wait. Each extra minute he stayed posed an unknown risk. Since he and his brother were so close, I thought I’d do them a favor."

"A favor that sent him straight to oblivion," Selena retorted, raising a thumbs-up in irony.

"What should we do next? Should we leave now?" Edward inquired.

"No rush," Alexander dismissed the idea with a shake of his head. "If we go out now, we’ll be too exposed. We need an opportunity where everyone else is distracted."

"What are we supposed to do in the meantime, keep watching the movie?" Edward gestured towards the paused film on the computer screen, featuring a blood-soaked saw.

"Don’t you dare!" Selena’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

Much like a gory horror film that mixes blood and guts with suggestive, lemon scenes, the situation was a cocktail of discomfort and risk.

Selena, while portraying Jinx, was not actually her. Naturally, she had no interest in joining the two men in indulging lemon.

"Women, pfft," Edward snorted dismissively, affecting an air of arrogance.

"Wait, you’re not into women?" Alexander subtly distanced himself, which made his position on the bed beside Selena a bit awkward, especially as he brushed against her soft backside.

Selena, not inclined to move, left Alexander in an awkward limbo: retreating would be inappropriate, but staying put felt just as wrong.

"What’s with the attitude? I’m not into men either!" Edward spoke up, pulling Alexander out of his uncomfortable dilemma.

"My life is committed to reaching new heights, to break the mythical shackles of the Ghost Emperor. My heart belongs to this ultimate pinnacle, with no room for anything else."

Since Edward had relieved him of his awkwardness, Alexander decided to forgive his tendency for dramatic flair. Ignoring Edward’s self-aggrandizing comment, he said,

"Besides ’breaking the deadlock’ and being low-key, didn’t Flame Imperial also mention the importance of accumulating ghost energy? I’m going to store some now."

Alexander spoke, his fingertips brimming with a ghost aura. With a swipe across the back of his hand, a tattoo of data materialized. As he focused his thoughts, the ghostly energy inside him surged towards the tattoo, making the numbers on it rapidly escalate.

Finally, the ghost energy meter settled at a whopping 180,000. Drained of all ghost energy, Alexander felt a crippling weakness suffuse his body.

Within seconds, he popped a few candies into his mouth. The intense, ghost energy surged within him, replenishing the consumed ghost energy.

In the blink of an eye, his reserves were refilled, and he went about recharging them. Such is the might of ghost food!

Edward, despite already knowing the power of ghost food, still found himself stunned by the spectacle. "This is absurd! It’s as if he’s cheating!" he thought.

Recovering ghost energy through special items was not unheard of in this horror world, but such items were exceptionally rare. Who else could squander resources as Alexander did?

Even the mighty Flame Imperial, despite his strength, had a much higher cap on his ghost energy, requiring enormous amounts to replenish. He too had to accumulate it over a lengthy period.

Yet here was Alexander, restoring his reserves in under five seconds by eating jelly beans. If this wasn’t cheating, what was?

Edward had experienced Alexander’s strategic prowess in previous battles. He had served as a ’cold storage’ for Alexander, storing copious amounts of ghost corpses.

After thirty minutes and the consumption of over 100,000 ghost food candies, Alexander’s ghost energy reserve finally hit 500 million, a figure nearly four times greater than Edward’s.

"A hundred thousand ghost food candies! How did he even manage to swallow them all?"

No one could fathom how Alexander could ingest such an amount—stuffing his mouth until his cheeks swelled, nearly breaking his teeth.

"I swear, never again will I make them edible," he resolved internally. "Why not make it a drink instead? Pour it straight down the mouth. Quick and easy. I’ll even make it blue and call it ’Magic Potion.’"

Yes, and perhaps he could produce a red version for the members of the Fierce Ghost Association. After all, in some sense, these ghost food could rapidly heal injuries even for ghosts. He would call that ’Healing Potion.’

Imagine the members of the Fierce Ghost Association going into battle with other rival associations, machetes in their left hands, steel pipes in their right, and pockets filled with red and blue potions. They would be unstoppable!

"You’ve finally stopped!" Edward sighed in relief when he saw Alexander cease his frantic candy-eating. "Watching you was exhausting."

"Care for some? I’ve got plenty," Alexander offered, holding out a handful of jelly beans to Edward.

"I’ll pass, thank you," Edward declined, shaking his head vigorously. He had been witness to Alexander’s absurd candy-eating marathon and had no desire to experience swollen cheeks himself.

Besides, as a Ghost King, his base ghost energy was already over a hundred million. Consuming these candies would serve little purpose.

"Suit yourself," Alexander said, turning to Selena who also declined with a polite shake of her head.

"No worries. If you ever need some, just ask."

Selena’s enigmatic nature was a mystery Alexander wasn’t particularly worried about. If his hunches were correct, she would be the last one to need any help, even if Edward and Kassadin were both in danger.

"Alexander, should we continue waiting? We have no way of knowing when something of interest might happen here. Surely, you can’t expect another person to jump off a building!" Edward queried.

Bang!

No sooner had Edward’s words escaped his mouth than a shadow flickered past the window, followed by a familiar thud.

"Isn’t that something?" Edward exclaimed, astonished. "Do I also have the makings of a prophet?"

"Let’s go down and find out!" Alexander declared, standing up to leave the room. As if recalling something, he abruptly grabbed Selena’s hand.

The door swung open to reveal a familiar face. "Someone’s jumped off the building, Draven. I knew you’d be interested in the spectacle!"

"Cycle," the same word surfaced simultaneously in the minds of all three.

As Imperial of Flame had once said, the entire Ghost City was a labyrinth made of numerous cycles—large cycles containing smaller ones, constructing a maze of endless loops. Clearly, they were now stuck in one such loop.

Alexander’s mind was a little foggy. Imagine living in a community where someone jumps off a building every hour, and everyone keeps repeating what they’ve done in that hour, back and forth, forever.

The term ’cycle,’ as spoken by the Imperial of Flame, was just a word, but experiencing it first-hand brought an eerie realization.

"Why are you interested in this, Jinx? You never liked being part of any commotion," the young man’s eyes narrowed as they fell on Selena. His expression grew stern, almost menacing.

Smack!

Without another word, Alexander slapped the back of the young man’s head. Both Edward and Selena were stunned by this abrupt action.

"Talk about being volatile! So much for nobody understanding subtlety better than you," Edward murmured.

Ignoring their reactions, Alexander snapped at the young man, "Enough talk. Don’t you see I had to drag her out? Now let’s go see what’s happening!"

"Sure thing!" the young man responded, seemingly unoffended, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

A hint of a smile crept up the corners of Alexander’s mouth. He had been testing the waters. Although he was 90% certain, there was always a slight risk involved.

Fortunately, it appeared that he had succeeded.

Judging from the young man’s initial tone and address, it seemed that Alexander, in his role as Draven, still commanded some respect. Alexander had by now figured out Draven’s personality and modus operandi—at least on a superficial level, he was unlikely to go wrong.

From his dress to his demeanor, Draven appeared to embody youthful tendencies: rebellious, trendy, thrill-seeking, and fond of spectacle. His girlfriend, Jinx, clearly a companion since their school days, was introverted, inarticulate, and even a bit conservative.

In light of these traits, it made sense that they had been watching a film that was both gory and erotic—a choice that was obviously Draven’s. One could infer deeper, darker behaviors from this, possibly extending to abuse.

Fortunately, Edward and Selena’s appearance alongside him had effectively replaced the two individuals most likely to reveal inconsistencies. This round of probing was Alexander’s attempt to gauge whether multiple participants could effectively cover up each other’s slip-ups in this bizarre cycle.

The previous cycle had shown this to be possible: the young man’s attention had been successfully diverted by Alexander, albeit using a slightly more aggressive, Draven-esque tactic. And clearly, this approach seemed to be even more effective this time around.

"It’s so dreadful," lamented an older woman holding a vegetable basket among the spectators. "Buou’s wife ran off with another man again, didn’t she? This makes the sixth time; no wonder he took his own life."

"Do you think Buou was impotent? Why else would he have had six wives who all left him in just a few days?" another woman conjectured aloud.

Same people, same incident; even the two gossiping older women were repeating their conversation. Alexander filed away these snippets of chatter in his mind, considering them pieces of a larger puzzle.

Should he gather enough information about this perplexing scenario in the future, and should they find themselves back in this cycle, perhaps they could experiment.

If his guess was accurate, the key to breaking this deadlock likely lay with the suicidal man, Buou. Six wives leaving in a matter of days was a glaring anomaly.

Somewhere in that tragic tapestry of failed relationships and desperate actions, Alexander suspected the thread that, if pulled, could unravel this seemingly endless cycle.

Now wasn’t the time for grand gestures or risky moves. Alexander was painfully aware of two things: First, his own power was limited. Second, his understanding of this mist instance was far too scant.

If he possessed the strength of a Ghost Emperor, or even just a physique of that caliber, he’d have no qualms about attempting to break this eerie deadlock.

Though their adversary might wield forbidden powers, those would be useless if they couldn’t touch him. Speed, after all, trumped many a formidable skill.

There was another crucial question to resolve: Were these ghosts as devoid of natural talent and unfamiliar with combat techniques as he suspected? If that was indeed the case, Alexander felt they could be more daring in their actions.

As Alexander pondered, the neighborly youth sidled up to him, admiration shading his hushed words. "Buou is one lucky guy, Draven. Rich as Croesus, he’s had six beautiful wives in just a few years.

Especially that Sarah—she’s got curves in all the right places. Imagine being able to enjoy all that, wouldn’t it be heavenly? It’s a shame, though..."

"Buou?" Alexander chuckled and playfully retorted, "Didn’t you hear? Buou jumped off because he’s impotent. Is that the life you aspire to?"

"Come on, no one else may know, but you’ve been leading us to eavesdrop on them having sex all the time. You know better than anyone whether Buou’s capable or not."

Perhaps it was Alexander’s jesting tone that kept the youth from sensing anything amiss. His face was alight with mirth. Eavesdropping on intimate moments? The Draven character he was portraying certainly had an array of hobbies.

And from the youth’s reaction upon seeing Selena, it was clear he wasn’t considering her as Jinx; most likely, Edward was playing the role of Ryze.

Embracing the moment, Alexander mustered a lecherous grin and lifted an eyebrow, "Shall we go again tonight?"

"Go and see what?" The youth was naive, if not entirely guileless. He pointed at Buou’s lifeless body on the ground. "The man’s dead. What, are we going to watch ghosts have sex now?"

"Having sex with ghosts—is that even considered strange?" Alexander mused inwardly.

On the surface, his smile only broadened. Thanks to his current guise as Draven, his lewd expression seemed fitting. Raising an eyebrow, he retorted, "Who says we can only eavesdrop on one person?"

"You mean... the one who lives upstairs?" The youth’s eyes brightened, but his enthusiasm faded almost instantly. "That young woman is indeed beautiful, nearly as much as Sarah, but she’s always on high alert. Her doors and windows are locked tight!"

"That’s an easy fix. We’ll get some tools to break in. You cover for me, make sure nobody knows what I’m up to. We wouldn’t want to raise suspicions, now, would we?" Alexander finally revealed his ultimate aim.

"What are you looking for? Can I come with you?" The youth questioned.

"Did you not hear me? Tools to pry open windows. If you come along and we leave traces, even an idiot would know it was us. I’ll go with Ryze and Jinx. With a woman accompanying me, suspicions are less likely to point in my direction."

"True, you’re known for being a lively sort. If you were to suddenly disappear from such a lively scene, people would surely suspect you’re up to no good," agreed the young man, nodding.

Satisfied, Alexander motioned for Selena and Edward, whispering a few words into their ears before heading out.

"Where are you off to, Draven? You’re usually the life of the party. What’s got you rushing off today? You still owe me for pouring all my pickles into the toilet the other time!" a voice from the crowd interrupted him.

"And what about my precious dog! How could you kick such an obedient little fellow?" another voice chimed in.

"Yeah, and that Ryze by your side is no good guy either. Last time, he got into a fight with a customer at the restaurant. If it wasn’t for Jinx begging on your behalf, both of you would have been fired by the boss!

Are you up to no good again? And you’re dragging Jinx into it as well?" The crowd’s murmurings evolved from mere gossip to full-blown accusations against Alexander.

"You’ve all misunderstood Big Brother Draven. I heard there was a major car accident on West Street, a bus exploded and everything!

Jumping off a building versus a bus explosion, Which would be more sensational? right?" Alexander’s quick thinking was backed by the timely intervention of the young man, who provided him with an alibi.

"Exactly! I don’t have time to chat. If I don’t leave now, I’ll miss all the action!" Alexander nodded vigorously. Sensing that some in the crowd were beginning to take an interest, fearful they might offer to accompany him, he quickly grabbed Selena and Edward and made a beeline for the exit.

Of course, he ran at a speed that would be considered normal for a human being.

Fortunately, no one shouted out anything like "Wait for me!" which let Alexander breathe a sigh of relief.

But just as they stepped out of the neighborhood, that mechanical voice once again resounded in his ears: "Warning! Warning!"