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

With a flourish of his hand, Alexander stood before the tombstone, channeling the ghostly energy within him into the ring adorning his finger.

A kaleidoscope of colors swirled on the ring’s surface, where infinitesimally tiny, unreadable characters flickered like stars in a midnight sky. With a slight gesture, it was as though he tore open the fabric of reality itself.

Like unzipping a colossal pocket, the spaces on either side of him unfurled like two pieces of torn cloth, revealing a community so deeply familiar to Alexander. As he stepped into this pocket, the tear in reality sealed shut behind him.

As his gaze swept across the neighborhood, it struck him that nothing had changed from when he had last been here.

A pair of black, sexy lace panties billowed in the wind on the balcony of a second-floor apartment near the entrance. An unfinished game of Go lay abandoned on a table at the community square.

Each step he took through this eerily abandoned yet intimately familiar locale felt as if he were walking back into a time of warmth and harmony. However, a sense of disquiet pervaded the atmosphere.

The entire community appeared as if it had been violently torn from the tapestry of space and time, enveloped in an unsettling void. This emptiness was marked by the presence of countless tiny runes, swirling in an ominous dance.

"What exactly are these runes?" Alexander muttered to himself. Intrigued yet cautious, he took a vial of red potion and extended it toward the abyss of floating runes, finally daring to immerate his hand as well. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

The moment Alexander’s fingers ventured into the void, it was as though they encountered a substance of incomparable viscosity, thwarting his advance.

The further his fingers moved, the more the resistance mounted. He could only proceed half a hand’s distance before encountering what felt like an insurmountable wall of iron and copper, barring him from making even the slightest headway.

Not just that, Alexander even felt his palm slowly losing sensation, as if merging with the gelatinous matter and arcane symbols before him. He hastily pulled his hand back.

Fortunately, the moment his palm left the mysterious boundary, his tactile senses immediately returned to normal.

Alexander decided not to continue his exploration of this enigmatic matter; he was short on time. He walked step by step to the room he once inhabited, took out a key he hadn’t used in a long time but always kept on him.

Inside the room, everything remained precisely as it had been before he vanished—down to the half glass of water on the table that hadn’t evaporated. It was as if time itself had been frozen the moment Alexander left, even the dust seemed to have suspended its gathering.

As memories of the past flitted through his mind, Alexander snapped back to reality. A surge of ghost energy erupted from within him, rapidly dispersing into the surrounding air. Soon enough, he had expelled all the ghost energy from his body in the most straightforward manner.

Sitting on the sofa, eyes tightly shut, he took out a piece of Ghost Food and popped it into his mouth. The Ghost Food quickly transformed into a pure form of ghost energy and integrated into his body, which he easily controlled.

"No discovery whatsoever!" Frowning, Alexander could feel his internal reservoir of ghost energy slightly recovering.

He wasn’t entirely disheartened, as producing ghost pills on a large scale wasn’t going to be straightforward. For now, his primary goal was to uncover the hidden ’forbidden power.’

Fortuitously, Alexander had ample supplies of Ghost Food and was not concerned about waste. Starting with the soldier grade, he began to consume them continuously.

One Ghost Food after another disappeared into Alexander’s mouth, as the ghostly energy coursing through his veins ebbed and flowed—depleting, refilling, depleting, and refilling once more.

Alexander felt like a water glass: filled to the brim only to be emptied, then filled again in an unending cycle. Astonishingly, his body showed no adverse reactions as he kept up this delicate dance of consumption and replenishment.

Eyes still closed, Alexander focused intently on the moments each Ghost Food dissolved inside him. Once, twice, a hundred times, a thousand times...

Time blurred as days slipped by. In the odd, static space where he resided, no suns rose or moons set. An inexplicable light kept the place perpetually bathed in daytime, while just beyond the walls, a void of endless darkness loomed, punctuated by tiny runes encircling the area.

Time had become nebulous for Alexander, and all he knew was that the ten-day timer he had set on the coffee table had yet to buzz. He had exhausted his supply of lower-tier Ghost Food and had consumed over 200,000 soldier-level ones.

His attributes had soared, nearing three-digit numbers—a feat only top-tier ghost generals could boast of.

"Wait, just now..." Suddenly, as if he’d stumbled upon a hidden treasure, Alexander’s eyes shot open.

He muttered to himself, "Something seemed to accompany the ghostly energy as it integrated into my body. Maybe it’s time to experiment with bodily enhancements."

Prior to this, Alexander had refrained from using Ghost Food for physical augmentation due to the finite tolerance levels of his body. Overconsuming Ghost Food in a short time span could wreak havoc, a limitation that had long impeded his rapid progression.

But now, sensing a newfound nuance in the way Ghost Food affected him, he threw caution to the wind and downed a general-level Ghost Food.

One, two...

Finally, his attributes broke the three-digit barrier, elevating him to the level of a Ghost Prince. The joy of progress was tainted by the sensation of his flesh and bones tearing apart—a searing, unbearable pain.

Yet with the pain came a fleeting flash of a pale substance, barely discernible as it vanished.

"Screw it, I’m all in!" Gritting his teeth, Alexander threw a prince-level Ghost Food into his mouth. Like a tsunami, the accumulated ghostly energy erupted within him. Given the ample supply, the energy flooded into his cells, causing every fiber of his being to scream in agony.

With this surge of pain, Alexander again sensed that elusive, rich whiteness hidden within the ghostly energy. Everything is hardest at the beginning, but the moment he discovered this forbidden power, all became clear.

Indeed, the Ghost Chef skill did not completely eliminate the forbidden energy; rather, it concealed it within the ghostly energy, masking it to ensure that it could not affect those who consumed it, whether human or ghost.

Alexander discovered that as his body gradually absorbed the ghostly energy, the hidden forbidden energy was also being absorbed by something—astonishingly, directed toward his brain.

With extreme concentration following the flow of the ghostly energy, Alexander could vaguely perceive two orbs of light—one large and one small—in his mind.

One was milky white, resembling a gigantic crystalline cloud. The other was transparent, standing beside the vast cloud like a tiny grain of sand. All the forbidden power was swallowed by the enormous milky-white orb.

The moment Alexander saw these two orbs of energy, he instantly understood what they were—even though he had never seen them before. They were his innate talents!

Alexander now possessed two talents. One, naturally, was the Blink ability he had seized from the female ghost, which allowed him to teleport instantly.

The other was Unobstructed Social Communication Charm Syndrome—an innate talent he had since entering this horrifying world, and the primary reason for his rapid development to his current state.

Clearly, that massive milky-white cloud was the embodiment of the Unobstructed Social Communication Charm Syndrome.

What Alexander never expected was that his talents were consuming the forbidden energies. The ghostly aura from the Ghost Food was absorbed by his body, while the forbidden energy within the aura was devoured by his innate talents.

Alexander’s body and talents behaved like two ravenous beasts, voraciously consuming everything within the Ghost Food.

The forbidden power, an element feared and coveted by countless ghosts, became mere forage in the face of Alexander’s terrifying talents.

Indeed, it’s no wonder Alexander felt this way. His talent inherently had the ability to influence the emotions of those around him, gaining their favor just by giving them a flower.

Initially, Alexander believed that this was a system rule, much like how one grinds for "friendliness" in video games—a purely data-driven mechanism. But now, he realized that this was an innate ability he possessed, simply manifested as a talent.

"So it is," he mused, feeling the locus of his talent’s energy for the first time. If his talent could devour the ’forbidden’ energies, could this devouring be controlled?

It was like the previous owner of the Ghost Apartment who had gone to great lengths to refine ’forbidden’ energies that could be absorbed, meticulously removing the clinging sentiments and impurities that were hard to assimilate.

If Alexander could control this devouring capability, he could potentially bypass James’s refining process entirely. Likewise, the purification step for the ghostly energy could also be eliminated.

His Ghost Chef skill already converted the Ghost Food into the purest form of ghostly energy. The only issue was that Ghost Chef separated ’forbidden’ energies from the ghostly energies, then concealed them, nullifying their effects.

For ghosts, this made it possible to consume Ghost Food to enhance their strength. The ’forbidden’ energies were merely masked by the ghostly energies or bodily tissues and were naturally expelled later.

For human "Chosen one," however, a part of the absorbed Ghost Food would flow into their bodies, enhancing their physical strength. Ghostly energy transformed upon entering human flesh and blood, no longer serving as a containment field for the ’forbidden’ energies within.

Therefore, only Alexander could utilize Ghost Food for bodily enhancement. Other humans could only savor its taste, receiving no other benefits. Hence, despite the fact that ghostly and ’forbidden’ energies were still mixed in the Ghost Food, they had become completely separate entities.

What was needed for the Ghost Pill was a true fusion, using the ghostly energy as a bridge to enable ’forbidden’ energies to integrate fully into the intended target. In this way, they could be controlled.

Therefore, the Ghost Food Alexander had already made was useless. He would need to use a large number of ghost corpses for conversion.

During this process, he could attempt to devour the ’forbidden’ energies before transforming them directly into Ghost Pills, not Ghost Food.

"It seems a second trip to Cangshan City is inevitable. But I do have my advantages," Alexander muttered to himself.

To say he had advantages would be an understatement. Compared to James, Alexander’s edge was colossal.

If his concept worked—combining his talent with Ghost Kitchen—he could directly turn ghost corpses into Ghost Pills without undergoing any complicated refining process or significant loss.

And the Ghost Pill was merely a key to harnessing the ’forbidden’ energies. Possessing even a sliver of this power would make one immune to the damaging effects of the mist, enabling gradual absorption of the ’forbidden’ energies to compensate for one’s deficiencies.

In other words, James had to use hundreds of thousands of ghost corpses, even destroying a Blood Moon Town, to create just one true Ghost Pill. Alexander, however, could potentially enable hundreds of ghosts to gain ’forbidden’ energies with a single low-level ghost corpse.

Plus, thanks to the effects of Ghost Food, one could not only obtain ’forbidden’ energies but also absorb the ghostly energies to enhance one’s strength.

Of course, the key to all of this was finding the method, requiring extensive practice and an ample supply of ghost corpses. So, another trip to Cangshan City—or any other misty city—was now unavoidable.

Unless, of course, Alexander already possessed overwhelming strength sufficient to unite the entire Dark Hell and wage war against other Ghost Realms.

But,that seemed a bit too far-fetched, even for him. In the world of mist, all terrifying realms could be considered allies, and all ghosts were essentially friendly forces.

Picking up the timer on the table, Alexander noted that only 22 hours remained in the ten-day countdown. The auction was almost upon him. With a resolute grasp, he picked up the timer and headed for the door. Lingering any longer would be meaningless.

Just as before, his exit was a straightforward affair. Channeling ghostly energy into his ring, he slashed it through the air before him.

The ring acted like a razor-sharp blade, ripping open a portal that led to a graveyard in the real world. With a single stride, Alexander found himself once again standing before James’s tombstone.

Without lingering any longer in the real world, Alexander immediately teleported into the terrifying world. He summoned Full Moon, who had now reached the pinnacle of Ghost King status, and made haste towards the Fierce Ghost Association’s headquarters.

The Fierce Ghost Association was undergoing a closed-instance training session that lasted for 15 days. Due to time dilation, this equated to merely five hours in the real world.

As a ’chosen one,’ Alexander had previously barged into instances midway through; this time was no different. He stormed in with the audacity only a chosen one could muster.

His sudden arrival at the Fierce Ghost Association’s headquarters, astride the Full Moon motorbike no less, left no room for doubt about his identity. In an instant, numerous members of the Fierce Ghost Association turned their gaze towards him.

Like a streak of lightning, Alexander and Full Moon zipped to the rooftop of the highest building within the headquarters.

Here, besides Tony, there were high-ranking members like Red-Haired Ghost, Purple-Haired Ghost, and several others, along with ten chosen ones who were all familiar faces, such as General Henry.

Clearly, these chosen ones were here to train in conjunction with Tony. Of course, they weren’t doing this out of charity. A glance at their near-soldier-level or general-level strength made it evident that they had also reaped generous rewards under the Fierce Ghost Association’s cooperation.

Alexander, for his part, was currently only at soldier-level as well. But that was merely because he had more pressing matters to attend to and could not be bothered to rob havoc on the instance ghost lords anymore.

"Alexander! We’ve mostly met the conditions you set. The Fierce Ghost Association has doubled in size these past days. We’ve recruited a large number of ordinary ghosts, bringing our total numbers to over 30 million. Particularly from the Evil Ghost Association, two-thirds have joined us! With the Ghost Food you provided, we now have over six million soldier-level members!"

"Excellent!" Just as Alexander was about to offer some praise, a message appeared in his mind—a notification he hadn’t seen in quite some time:

"Respected participant, Lord Alexander, due to your status as the honorary chairman of the Fierce Ghost Association and your reputation in Dark Hell, the City Lord’s Mansion has extended an invitation to you and Tony. Would you like to attend the meeting at the City Lord’s Mansion?"

"Special note for participants: You will participate in the form of a ghost citizen. There are no additional rewards, but this is related to the first phase of the main quest, ’Ghost City Domination’ Please make your choice carefully!"