119: torture

Locke kept his eyes fixed on the raven, ensuring the creature wouldn't lie; even if it did, he would be able to detect it immediately.

Of course, it was mainly because he was in control of the current situation that he was so composed.

"Who is your master?"

"My master is Time, the envoy of the Goddess of the Night, Time!"

When the raven mentioned Time, its tone was clearly filled with immense pride, and even while being held and dangled upside down by Locke, the little expression on its face still carried an inexplicably haughty air.

"Time?" Locke frowned slightly.

"Are you sure that old guy, Time, sent you?"

"Lord Time is not an old guy; he is an envoy, the most noble envoy under the Goddess of the Night."

Upon hearing Locke refer to Time as an old guy, the raven immediately retorted.

It seemed to have forgotten its current predicament.

"Oh? I'm going to call him an old guy, what are you going to do about it!"

A playful smile hung on the corner of Locke's mouth as he stared at the raven; he was still quite annoyed that this creature had actually dared to use an illusion technique on him earlier.

"You..." The raven wanted to continue retorting, but after feeling the large hand gripping its feet, it didn't dare to say anything more.

"You what? You're going to follow me and say 'Old Man Time' right now, or I'll roast you and eat you in a moment."

"I already told you that I was sent by Lord Time, why do you still want to roast and eat me?"

The raven's voice shifted from sharp and haughty to somewhat aggrieved, though it seemed to have forgotten what it had done earlier.

Locke smiled.

"You seem to have forgotten what you did to me earlier. Do you need me to help you recall?"

"Caw... I-I was just trying to play with you." The raven immediately became somewhat timid.

The reason it had cast an illusion on Locke the moment it arrived was mainly because it often heard Time mention Locke back home, and seeing the person it admired most display a love-hate attitude toward Locke, it became interested.

Therefore, after accepting the delivery mission, it had come with the intention of testing Locke.

However, it hadn't expected that its pride and joy, an illusion technique even praised by Time, would be so easily broken by Locke.

"Hmph, playing, huh?" Locke gave a light snort, his tone clearly dissatisfied. "Then I'll put you on the fire and roast you to play for a while later."

"What... exactly do you want?" The raven looked just like an aggrieved little girl at this moment.

"I told you, call Time an old guy for me." Locke had a playful expression, while simultaneously quietly turning on his phone's recording function.

The raven thought for a moment, then turned its head to scan the surroundings, ensuring that what it was about to say wouldn't reach its master's ears, before whispering very quietly.

"Time is an old guy..."

"Too quiet, I can't hear you."

The raven was stunned. "Y-y-you're cheating."

"If you don't say it, I'll hang you over the fire to warm you up."

"Old Man Time." The raven shouted, closing its eyes and giving up.

There was no other way; between living and dignity, it wisely chose to live.

"Very good, it seems you know what kind of attitude you should have when talking to me."

At this moment, the raven looked just like an innocent girl being toyed with by a scumbag like Locke.

Serena, watching from the bed the entire Time, felt that Locke was acting like a scumbag, toying with a little girl.

However, upon seeing that the one speaking was a raven with a pair of huge, cartoonish eyes, she completely abandoned that thought.

Then, she asked with some curiosity:

"Locke, who is this 'Old Man Time' you both keep talking about?"

"Oh, a business partner." Locke turned his head and smiled as he explained to Serena,

"The technique for controlling the Extraordinary Factor that I practice daily was sponsored by him."

"Oh, oh, oh, so it's him. He really is a kind-hearted person."

Serena thought of how Locke had become incredibly wild in bed these past few days due to practicing the secret technique, and her face couldn't help but turn red, then she sent heartfelt praise to Old Man Time who had provided the secret technique to Locke.

A kind-hearted person?

Locke shook his head and didn't respond.

After fulfilling Locke's request, the raven immediately cried out:

"I've already done as you asked, can you put me down now? Being hung upside down like this is really uncomfortable, and it's very bad for my brain."

Locke gave it a deep look, then placed it on the coffee table.

"Speak, why did Old Man Time send you here?

Don't tell me the Secret Cult is about to hold a gathering, and that old guy sent you to notify me?"

"Master actually invited you to join the Secret Cult!"

The raven ignored the first part of the sentence, and upon hearing the words "Secret Cult," it appeared extremely surprised.

"What's wrong? Is the Secret Cult some kind of amazing organization?"

"Caw, of course!"

Having regained its freedom, it returned to its haughty state once more, raising its head with a somewhat arrogant air:

"The Secret Cult is the most powerful extraordinary organization in all of Terra; others don't even get the chance to join if they want to.

You, a mere Sequence 9, how did you get Master's favor?"

When the raven said this, its tone was inexplicably filled with a trace of jealousy.

"A mere...?"

Locke heard these four words and shot it a cold glance.

The raven had a stress reaction upon seeing that look, and it hopped back a few steps, not daring to look at him as it explained guiltily:

"There isn't a single person in the entire New York branch of the Secret Cult who is below Sequence 8. I don't understand why Master would break the rules for someone like you, a... Sequence 9."

It had originally wanted to continue calling Locke a "mere Sequence 9," but thinking of Locke's look just now, it immediately changed its phrasing.

Locke's gaze flickered as he pondered silently.

The information revealed by the raven was massive.

An extraordinary organization branch where not even a Sequence 9 existed—how powerful must the headquarters be?

And for Old Man Time to hold a high position in such an organization, it seemed he was truly not simple.

After all, only those who make the rules can break them.

So, his eyes shifted slightly, and he deliberately tested it:

"I don't believe your master is that powerful."

"Hmph, my master is a powerhouse of Sequence *, and he is the strongest in the entire New York branch."

Locke frowned slightly; he clearly saw the other party open its mouth, but in the end, he couldn't hear which Sequence Old Man Time was.

This made him somewhat confused, so he tested it again: "You said your master is what Sequence?"

"My master is Sequence *, what's wrong? Scared, aren't you? If you're scared, hurry up and apologize to me."

The raven thought Locke was scared, so it held its head high, wings behind its back, striking a pose like a person puffing out their chest.

Locke confirmed it again, but still couldn't hear clearly.

Although he didn't know the reason, he guessed that Old Man Time might have placed some kind of restriction spell on the raven.

That was why he was unable to hear it clearly.

It seemed that Old Man Time's cultivation had already gone very far on this path of extraordinary sequences.

Locke's eyes flickered; if that was the case, he couldn't understand even more why Old Man Time wanted to cooperate with him, asking him to kill William and Marcus.