Eren swept an inconspicuous glance at the fallen crowd, then began removing the soundproof equipment strapped to his body, letting his hearing return to normal.
Seeing this, Coulson and the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents followed suit, taking off their gear.
"Much better," Coulson said with a faint smile. He pointed to the old-fashioned record player behind Eren and asked, "So, does this mean the containment was successful?"
Eren turned to look at the record player and nodded. "It's contained for now."
"However, my abilities are limited, so I can't guarantee how long the containment will last. If you want to avoid future incidents, I suggest constructing a completely soundproof space to store it."
"A soundproof space, huh? Noted." Coulson nodded thoughtfully, then cast a troubled glance at the hundreds of people lying lifelessly in the Morningstar Bar. "And what about them…"
Eren shrugged. "I'm no doctor. If you want to help them, you could try sending them to a hospital—"
Before he could finish, a soldier in tactical gear approached Coulson and whispered, "Sir, the people inside the bar, including the team that went in earlier… none of them have a pulse."
The words struck like a thunderclap.
Eren, Coulson, and the others froze.
They're all dead?
Eren sighed internally.
So even Uncle Yuan didn't make it…
Uncle Yuan, who had tried to help him, had left a positive impression on Eren. This crisis was indirectly caused by Eren, and part of his reason for cooperating with S.H.I.E.L.D. was to try to save Yuan.
But in the end, he still failed.
After a moment of silence, Coulson personally went to check on the people in the bar.
To his shock, he found that not only were they without a pulse, but their bodies were unnaturally cold and rigid. If he hadn't witnessed it himself, Coulson might have believed these people had been dead for days.
"So this is what a forbidden item does…" Coulson muttered grimly.
In a single incident, over a hundred casualties. If they hadn't acted quickly, the toll could have been even higher. Truly, a devil's relic.
Eren, standing nearby, softly murmured, "The thousand-year shift is upon us. The gears of fate have begun to turn. All that was hidden in history will soon resurface…"
Though Eren's voice was low, Coulson's sharp ears caught every word.
Before Coulson could question him, Eren preemptively said, "So many people died here today. You've got your hands full, Agent Coulson. As for me, containing the forbidden item drained me. I need to rest."
Without waiting for a response, Eren turned and left, his weary expression making it clear he had no intention of staying longer.
Coulson hesitated. He wanted to stop Eren, to ask about what he'd just said. But the sight of the lifeless bodies sprawled across the bar pulled his attention back.
Eren was right—there were more urgent matters at hand.
Over an hour later, Eren finally managed to hail a taxi and relocated to a new place to stay.
After carefully checking the room for any abnormalities, he took a deep breath and entered a meditative state.
Moments later, Eren found himself once again in the space of the Scales of Fate.
Standing before the scales, Eren summoned his personal fate panel.
[Name: Eren]
[Fate Compass: 100 Fate Points required for one spin]
[Fate Manifestation (Unlocks items from the River of Fate): Unlocked]
[Talent: Unpredictable Fate]
[Skills: Driving (Beginner), English (11th Grade), History (11th Grade), Mathematics (11th Grade), Chemistry (11th Grade), Antique Appraisal (Novice), Programming (Advanced)…]
[Combat System: Sequence 9 (Diviner)]
[Strength Evaluation: A novice with basic knowledge of the mystical arts.]
[Fate Points: 1000]
The new section titled Combat System caught Eren's eye, likely a result of advancing to Sequence 9 and consuming the Diviner's potion. His strength evaluation had upgraded from "complete amateur" to "novice," which… wasn't much of an improvement.
Moving on.
Eren's gaze shifted to the 1000 Fate Points displayed on the panel.
This was far more than the 100 Fate Points he'd started with as a newbie gift.
With this amount, he could spin the Fate Compass ten times. Additionally, the Fate Manifestation ability was now unlocked.
However, after a brief review of the ability, Eren grimaced and dismissed it.
Way too expensive.
For instance, manifesting a simple Desert Eagle handgun cost 100 Fate Points. Advancing to the next potion, Clown, under the Diviner Sequence? A whopping 2000 Fate Points.
Compared to that, spinning the Fate Compass felt like a much better deal.
What's more, Eren didn't urgently need the Clown potion—he had barely begun digesting the Diviner potion. A series of ten spins seemed far more appealing.
With that decision, Eren activated the Fate Compass.
A massive ethereal image of the compass appeared before him, spinning rapidly.
Click!
As the compass needle stopped, a white orb of light materialized before Eren.
Instead of checking the reward immediately, Eren continued spinning. Nine more times, he drained all his Fate Points.
When the compass vanished, ten glowing orbs hovered before him: one purple, one blue, two green, and six white.
The colors likely indicated the rarity or quality of the rewards.
With a mix of curiosity and anticipation, Eren reached for the purple orb.
(End of Chapter)
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