I changed the world.

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Seeing Lord Wheeler's thoughtful expression, Joryn added, "The process is simple. It just requires taking a few photos and entering some basic information. It shouldn't take too much time."

What will your foundation use this information for?

“Our database will be accessible to certain individuals. If they take a liking to a particular item, we will arrange for its purchase, just like this transaction…”

"Furthermore, rest assured that we will not grant access to the database to any government agency."

“Since Mr. Joe says so, I can’t refuse. Okay, Mr. Joe can come and film whenever it’s convenient for you.” Wheeler thought for a moment and agreed. In his opinion, it was not a big deal. He was happy to do Joe Ryan a favor. In addition, he was also looking forward to reaching a new deal because of this.

However, just as the atmosphere in the storage room was harmonious, the lights above their heads flickered a few times, as if the voltage was unstable. But after a moment, the voltage seemed to stabilize again.

Joryn and Loeffler didn't see anything wrong with it. Instead, Lord Wheeler glanced at an indicator light on the wall and then explained to the two of them somewhat embarrassedly, "It seems there's a power outage outside. My collection room has a backup power supply, so we're using the backup power right now."

Joryn nodded, not taking it too seriously. After all, this was a fairly common situation. Backup power was a common feature in the homes of many great collectors, since some delicate collectibles usually needed to be kept in a constant temperature and humidity environment to avoid secondary damage.

However, not long after, another unexpected event occurred: hurried footsteps came from outside the door, along with shouts and gunshots.

As soon as the gunshot rang out, everyone in the collection room changed their expressions drastically. Lord Wheeler was stunned for a moment, then, as if he remembered something, he quickly walked to a wooden cabinet on the side and reached out to open the cabinet door.

Meanwhile, Jon Ryan and Loeffler's first reaction was to crouch down and try to find a place to hide.

The footsteps outside the door approached rapidly, and within a few breaths they were at the door of the collection room. Then, three armed men dressed as deliverymen, wearing masks and baseball caps, rushed into the collection room. One of the men was holding an elderly man dressed as a butler hostage. Joe Ryan recognized him at a glance as the old butler of the house.

As they rushed into the collection room, Lord Wheeler had already taken a pistol from the cabinet. Holding the pistol in one hand, he walked forward while aiming the gun at the three men who had stormed into the collection room.

However, the men were clearly faster. One of them pulled the trigger of his pistol first, firing three shots in quick succession. The first shot missed, shattering a glass display case of collectibles nearby. The second shot struck Lord Wheeler in the shoulder, causing him to stagger. The third shot struck his right hand, which was holding the gun. Lord Wheeler dropped his pistol and staggered backward, his face contorted in pain. He clutched his wounded shoulder with his left hand, while his right hand hung limply at his side, both hands stained with blood.

The gunman was about to fire again when his accomplice quickly pushed the muzzle of the gun, causing the fourth shot to miss. The gunman seemed to realize something and stopped pulling the trigger.

Lord Wheeler staggered back to the wall, where he leaned against it before stopping. Right behind him was the mural "The Crimson Sacrifice," for which the deal had already been made.

In the midst of the chaos, no one noticed this detail. Lord Wheeler was panting heavily, his face contorted in pain. Blood had soaked through his clothes, and even the mural behind him was stained a dark red by the blood...

“Your Excellency, this is not good. We are only here for money and do not wish to cause any trouble that no one wants to see,” a man with a gun said, then gestured to the old butler beside him, “Go and bandage your master. Look how much pain he is in…”

The old butler was then released, and he approached Lord Wheeler with a sob in his voice. Lord Wheeler was already sitting on the ground, wounded by a bullet. The old butler glanced at him and then pleaded with the robbers behind him, "He needs a doctor, please, he's badly injured..."

“If you cooperate enough, we’ll let you find a doctor…” The robber frowned, then said, “Now, bandage him up first. Stay in this room, don’t go anywhere else…”

Chapter 461 The Crimson Sacrifice

The old butler dared not say much, but he was clearly untrained in this kind of thing, appearing flustered and disorganized...

The robbers ignored his instructions, leaving one armed man to keep the others inside the collection room from moving, while the other man left. A short while later, they quickly dragged a small cart in from outside. Then, they smashed the surrounding glass display cases and began moving the items inside…

Joryn and Loeffler had been standing by with their hands raised from the beginning, but seeing the butler's flustered state, they mustered their courage and went to help. The guard, perhaps genuinely worried that Lord Wheeler was dead, didn't stop them, watching as they took off their clothes, tore them into strips, and used them as makeshift bandages to bandage Lord Wheeler's wounds...

Just as the collection room was in a state of chaos yet order, a faint, rhythmic drumbeat came from somewhere.

The drumbeats carried a primal, untamed quality, as if piercing through the dust of time, awakening a deep-seated memory within those present, causing an instinctive shiver to run down their spines…

In that instant, everyone involuntarily stopped what they were doing, looked up and glanced around, trying to find the source of the unsettling sound.

The rhythmic drumming continued, growing louder and louder, each beat seemingly striking their hearts. Finally, everyone's gaze focused on the mural hanging on the wall not far behind Lord Wheeler.

To everyone's astonishment, the abstract figures painted on the mural seemed to come alive, waving their arms rhythmically and making exaggerated gestures, as if performing some kind of bizarre dance...

"What...what is this?!" one of the robbers muttered instinctively.

Before anyone could understand what was happening, the world around them suddenly began to spin, turning upside down and inverted left and right, as if they had been swept into a turbulent current. Everyone exclaimed in surprise.

At the same time, the huge mural hanging on the wall suddenly expanded in all directions, continuously expanding and growing larger and larger...

The crowd, like chess pieces thrown into a game of chess, was swept up in the rapidly expanding mural...

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"Where...is this?" Rubbing his slightly drowsy face, Joryn propped himself up and looked around.

A gray mist filled the air, and the surrounding area was a chaotic wasteland. Collapsed buildings were everywhere in sight, and flames were still burning on the wreckage of buildings not far away. The corpses lying on the ground in the distance all told him that this must be a town that had just been destroyed in the aftermath of a war.

Judging from the architectural style of the surrounding building ruins, it was unlike any architectural style he knew. It was neither the traditional architectural style of the Zhao Empire that he was familiar with, nor the style of the Western Continent. These buildings had relatively complex decorative reliefs and were mainly a mixed stone and wood structure.

Jon Ryan quickly found his partner, Loeffler, not far away. The young man was sitting on the ground, looking around in alarm.

"Sir, what's wrong with us? Where are we?" As soon as their eyes met, Loeffler couldn't wait to get up and come forward to ask.

“I don’t know either…” Joryon frowned and shook his head, equally bewildered.

"Damn it, what kind of place is this?!"

"I don't know, hey old man, where is this place?"

Not far from him, several robbers dressed as deliverymen had also stood up, looking around. One of them was holding a rifle and questioning the old butler.

The old butler, still supporting Lord Wheeler, stared fearfully at the gun pointed at him, clearly bewildered by the situation. He simply shook his head, repeatedly saying, "No...no, I don't know either..."

Clearly, everyone who was in the collection room has now arrived here.

“Lord Wheeler, where exactly is this? Don’t try anything funny, or even if you’re a nobleman, one shot will only leave you a corpse…” One of the robbers looked around irritably. The completely out-of-control situation made him uneasy. He ripped off his baseball cap, revealing a shiny bald head, then walked up to Lord Wheeler, brandished his pistol, and said in a deep voice.

Lord Wheeler, seemingly dazed from his injuries, leaned against the old butler, scanning his surroundings with the same blank gaze. He then shook his head, stammering, "I...I...I don't know either..."

Just as the group was staring at each other, not quite understanding what was happening, a scream suddenly came from the side. Everyone looked over and saw that a robber had been grabbed by some kind of monster that swooped down from the sky and shot into the air.

The monster flew incredibly fast, and all that could be seen was the robber screaming in panic in the air. However, in the darkness of the night, his condition was not clearly visible. All that could be heard was his scream, which quickly turned into a pitiful wail, hoarse and exhausted. After screaming a few more times, it suddenly stopped, and the screaming disappeared...

This sudden turn of events immediately put everyone on edge. They all realized that the surrounding darkness was clearly not so safe, and perhaps many unknown dangers were lurking there.

There is a very high probability that the culprit behind these ruins is still alive...

At that very moment, the bald robber suddenly shouted and pointed his gun at the shadowy spot to his right.

Everyone hurriedly looked in the direction of the sound and, to their astonishment, saw a figure in a black cloak appear beside a burning building ruin about fifty meters away, illuminated by the flames. In the darkness, his features were indistinct, only his somewhat hunched figure was visible.

"Who goes there?!" The bald robber pointed his gun at the mysterious man in the black cloak. He held the gun in his right hand, supported his right hand with his left, and adopted a classic gun-holding posture, shouting loudly.

However, before he could make his next move, the man in the black cloak seemed to flicker and disappear from everyone's sight. No one could tell how he vanished!

Chapter 462 The Crimson Sacrifice (Part 2)

"He's there!!!" Just then, another robber suddenly shouted, pointing to the top of a collapsed ruin about 30 meters to the left, where the man in the black cloak was crouching.

This place is at least thirty meters away from where he was just now, and the terrain in between is uneven. This is obviously not a speed that a normal person can achieve!

The black cloak disappeared again in the next moment, but this time, the remaining three robbers, who were highly focused, caught his movement. It turned out that the black cloak did not really "disappear," but approached with an agility beyond that of a normal person, like a nimble cat leaping through complex terrain.

"Da da da..." Seeing the situation was not good, the two robbers opened fire at the same time. The bullets kicked up dust behind the black cloak, but because his movements were too fast, none of them actually hit the other.

"Boom!!!" Debris flew everywhere, and the ruins behind one of the robbers suddenly exploded, from which a huge creature rushed out. It was a giant that was four or five meters tall, with skin covered with layers of thorns and scales, looking uneven. It was covered with strange and crude armor. Although it was tall, it was not slow at all. It grabbed at the robber on the ground.

The robber was startled by the commotion behind him and quickly turned around. Seeing such a monster appear behind him, he realized with some despair that it was too late to run. So he roared and raised his rifle, pulling the trigger at the giant.

Bullets struck the giant's armor, penetrating it and piercing through. The giant let out a painful howl, but this did not stop his movements. He grabbed the robber in his hand, and with a single squeeze, blood flowed from the robber's mouth and nose, and his eyes almost popped out of their sockets...

Then, the giant opened its massive mouth, filled with jagged, sharp teeth, and stuffed the robber directly into its mouth. With just one bite, only half of the robber's body remained...

Meanwhile, the other two robbers screamed in terror. However, just as one of them turned his gun to shoot the giant, the black-cloaked figure swiftly appeared behind him and struck him down with a single blow, his fate unknown.

The other robber, caught in this pincer movement, was somewhat bewildered. Before he could react, the giant grabbed him and was about to crush him to death when the black-cloaked figure suddenly shouted a few words. The giant immediately stopped, though still looking angry and unwilling, he did not continue to stuff the robber into his mouth...

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The drumbeats began, and Joryon, his hands bound, knelt on the ground. He cautiously looked up at the black-cloaked figure not far away, who was raising his hands and chanting words he couldn't understand at the top of his lungs. A chill ran down his spine.

Just now, thanks to the opportunity to get close to the man in black after being captured and brought here, he finally got a glimpse of the man's true appearance.

What a twisted and hideous appearance it was! He was even certain it wasn't a human face. The skin, covered in thorns and wrinkles, was uneven and rough; the eyes were a dark, gloomy color, with no whites visible; and as for the rest, he dared not look any further…

Not far from him, Lofler, who was kneeling on the ground with him, had already begun to cry uncontrollably. Also kneeling beside him were the last two robbers and the old butler, who were also trembling.

As for Lord Wheeler, he was now being dragged forward by a man in a black cloak, who had grabbed him by the neck like a dead pig. The man pulled out a dagger and slashed his throat, causing blood to gush out...

Lord Wheeler was seen convulsing like a bleeding chicken, struggling to stop the bleeding from his slit throat, but to no avail. Blood continued to gush out. After a short while, Lord Wheeler stopped struggling, only occasionally twitching...

He's dead...

Seeing this, Loeffler covered his mouth tightly with both hands, trying his best to suppress his sobs. However, the tears still flowed uncontrollably…

The old butler was trembling all over, his body almost limp on the ground, his private parts soaked, clearly indicating that he had lost control of his bladder.

The drumbeats around them grew increasingly intense, and further away, countless figures in black cloaks stood indistinctly, along with bizarre, luminous figures—some enormous, some distorted—like a chaotic dance of demons. Everyone, including Joryn, dared not look any longer, keeping their heads bowed to the ground, as if a single glance could lead to their throats being slit…

As Lord Wheeler died, several black-cloaked figures simultaneously raised their hands, and a low chanting began to rise, creating an unusual harmony with the language uttered by the first black-cloaked figure who had chanted so forcefully. It was like some strange scripture.

Strangely, even though Jon Ryan couldn't understand the language, he found that he could clearly and unmistakably comprehend its meaning...

"Glory to Leonis!"

A tyrannical and greedy prince,

He is watching.

He watches over in eternity.

His crown was made of thorns and blood.

He is the master of all people.

Carrying the stern whip.