The Sunset Bar was a legend in East Capital.
Before the rebellion that nearly razed the city, the bar—then still called Luoyang—had already made a name for itself. After the reconstruction, to avoid bad omens, it changed its name to Sunset Bar, a play on words and translation.
Now, it was the largest intelligence exchange hub in all of Yan—and possibly the entire continent. Its information network spanned the entirety of Terra.
Here, everyone had only two identities—seller or buyer.
Whether mercenaries, tycoons, spymasters, nobles, or politicians—even the Emperor's breakfast recipe could be sold here, if you had the coin. You could also hire someone crazy enough to try assassinating the Emperor of Ursus himself.
All you needed was money.
And today, Revy was a buyer—specifically, looking for help.
"One glass of 18-year-old Laphroaig. Neat, thanks."
Revy wasn't in a rush to find anyone. Rather, he was waiting to be found.
Unlike Logos, Revy could drink—a lot. Back in the Babel days, "Edge" was infamous as a smoker and a heavy drinker. The smoking habit he had dropped thanks to Theresa's influence, but the drinking? That remained. During his four years as a Catastrophe Messenger, drinking had to be limited—but the cravings never went away. That's why he always carried a flask.
Soon, his whiskey arrived.
Revy didn't drink it immediately. Instead, he held the clear glass up, watching the amber liquid shimmer before taking a small sip.
"—One 'Regulus Harvey', please."
A voice beside him startled the moment.
Revy turned his head casually to find a Kuranta girl at his side. She'd appeared silently, a soft smirk on her lips.
Her deep blackish-green hair gave her the aura of a proper noble lady, yet her outfit was practical, and a folded composite bow rested on her back.
"1.5 ounces of whiskey, 1 ounce of absinthe, a quarter-ounce of lemon soda, garnished with an orange slice, shaken—not stirred, right?"
Revy chuckled."What I said was a quarter-ounce of 'Beast' energy soda. Lemon soda's a decent sub, but trust me—the original hits harder."
The bartender froze—unsure whom to listen to.
"Go with his version," the girl nodded toward Revy. He squinted and sipped again.
The cocktail arrived soon after—Revy's formula wasn't difficult to make, after all.
"Mmm—damn, that's good. No wonder you like it."
The girl downed half her glass in one go, more like she was drinking baijiu than a cocktail."Hard to believe a drink named after a Sarkaz is this popular in Yan."
"It was based on my personal taste," Revy said, calm as ever. "I never thought it'd go viral when I shared the recipe."
"A hero's recipe, after all. The one who saved the Magic City from a catastrophe. Becomes a legend fast."
She laughed.
"'Wolong,' 'Loyal Blade'—every famous cocktail here has a backstory. The newest one? This 'Regulus Harvey' I'm holding."
She drained the glass, coughed once from the strength, and looked at him with bright, keen eyes.
"So—should I say, 'Pleasure to meet you, Prophet Regulus Harvey, my new employer?'"
Revy slowly lowered his glass and looked her over, watching her wink with mischief.
"Didn't expect the old man to pair me with one of Kazimierz's Blue Gold elites."
"As expected... Miss Ifrit's body is showing the same changes as Revy's."
Warfarin offered a bitter smile as she handed the report to Kal'tsit. Kal'tsit skimmed it and passed it along to Shining, then Nightingale, and finally to Silence.
"It seems Revy has mastered some unknown technique—one capable of altering the parasitic relationship between Oripathy and the infected's body, converting it into symbiosis."
Shining's voice trembled with excitement.
Her friend's illness had always weighed heavily on her heart. But if this theory held true, then not just Liz—but all Oripathy patients—could have a savior.
"Revy's method has advanced even further. Ifrit's fusion rate with Originium is even higher than his own past data. And yet, her physiological stats indicate astonishing health."
Kal'tsit remained cool as ever.
"At this point, Miss Ifrit's resilience is enough to meet the entry requirements for a standard Defender operator. Not even her former healthy self had such a body."
"So what do we do now? Revy didn't inform us right away, meaning he likely doesn't want this technology public."
Warfarin voiced the concern shared by everyone in the medical team.
"No... If he truly wanted to hide it, he wouldn't have allowed us to gather this data from both himself and Ifrit."
Kal'tsit closed her eyes, as if reaching a decision.
"…Once he returns, I need to speak with him."