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"You're saying your daughter's missing? Daria, don't cry! Where are you? I'm coming right now."
Hanging up the phone, Roy turned to the four girls beside him.
"Something's up with Daria. I need to head over there."
Mary, who was close with both Daria and Ceci, looked worried.
"Roy, do you want us to help look for her?"
"No, no, it's probably fine. You guys keep having fun here. If you get tired, head back to the Beverly Hills villa."
With his Hound Ring and familiarity with Ceci's scent, Roy could transform into his ghost wolf form and track her down quickly.
Who knows, he might even find Ceci before Jennifer, Nidie, and the others were done partying.
"Alright then! Roy, come back soon!"
Each of the four girls gave him a passionate kiss, drawing envious glances from those around them.
Daria's neighborhood wasn't far from Santa Monica Beach, so Roy decided to run there.
But the streets were packed with people, making it impossible to move quickly.
No choice—Roy climbed onto the rooftops of nearby buildings and started parkouring through the crowd.
He'd never actually trained in parkour, but he'd watched some videos. With his superhuman physique, he could mimic the moves well enough.
And even if he didn't, it's not like falling from a thousand meters would hurt him with his current durability.
So, naturally, some onlookers spotted a guy in a Captain America costume sprinting across rooftops like it was nothing.
Roy was moving so fast it caused a wave of gasps.
"Oh my God! Look up there—it's the real Captain America!"
Heads turned, and in just a moment, dozens of people caught sight of Roy's figure.
Luckily, he quickly darted into the city, vanishing from view.
By tomorrow, LA would probably be buzzing with fake news about a "leaked federal super-soldier program."
After about ten minutes of running, Roy reached Daria's location. He found her sitting on a park bench, tears streaming down her face, dressed in an odd white gown. Two men stood beside her, looking extremely awkward.
"Daria, why are you still crying? Who are these guys?"
One of the men quickly explained.
"Mr. Black, we're FEA agents. About half an hour ago, we mistook Ms. O'Connor for a suspect, which caused her to lose track of her daughter."
Roy pieced together what had happened and waved them off.
"Got it. It wasn't intentional. I'll take care of Daria. You guys head back to your duties."
This book is first released on 101kan.com, offering you an error-free, well-organized reading experience.
The two FEA agents, looking relieved, bowed to Roy and left the park.
"Daria, stop crying. I'll take you to find Ceci right now."
Daria stood up, wiping the tears from her face.
"After what happened last time, I swore I'd never let Ceci be in danger again. And now, today…"
Roy patted her back, trying to soothe her.
"Don't beat yourself up, Daria. We all know it was just a misunderstanding. Ceci's only been missing for half an hour—she'll be fine. I'll find her right now!"
Roy activated his Hound Ring, but Ceci wasn't within the hellhound's detection range. He turned to Daria.
"Daria, did Ceci pass through here earlier?"
Sobbing, Daria nodded.
"Yes, she was sitting on this bench about half an hour ago."
Roy shifted into his ghost wolf form and started sniffing for Ceci's scent.
Since she'd been here so recently, her scent was still strong. Roy quickly picked up the trail and pinpointed the direction she'd gone.
"I know where she is. Follow me!"
When Roy and Daria found Ceci, she was happily trailing behind a figure in a yellow clown outfit, holding a balloon with a clown design.
"Ceci!"
Daria called out her daughter's name, overjoyed. In that moment, her eyes were only on Ceci, completely ignoring the yellow clown beside her.
"Mommy!"
Ceci, equally thrilled, ran toward her. The yellow clown didn't stop her.
The mother and daughter embraced tightly.
"Mommy, why are you crying?"
"It's nothing, sweetie. Probably just some sand in my eyes from the wind. Ceci, didn't I tell you not to go to places with so few people?"
"I didn't mean to! I was just walking and ended up here… Oh, Mommy, this clown uncle saved me!"
It was only then that Daria noticed the strange tension in the air. She realized the yellow clown standing across from them was the same one that had terrified her before.
And Roy? He was now facing off against the yellow clown.
The two had clashed six months ago, when Roy failed to catch the clown and let him escape. Now, here they were again.
Daria quickly scooped up Ceci and stepped back behind Roy.
Ceci was confused. In her eyes, the yellow clown was a good guy.
"Mommy, Uncle Roy, what's wrong?"
Roy didn't answer her directly, instead addressing Ceci.
"Ceci, you said this uncle saved you?"
Ceci nodded.
"Yeah! There was a group of weird clown uncles trying to take the candy I worked so hard to get, and this uncle stopped them!"
Roy was taken aback.
In his mind, the yellow clown was the type who loved forcing people to watch his performances, like some mainstream comedian who'd perform whether the conditions were right or not.
The yellow clown was staring at Roy, clearly recognizing him.
How could he not? Last time, Roy had sent his head flying with a world-class kick.
The clown's white mask, with its hollow black eyes, locked onto Roy.
"Daria, take Ceci and step back. I'm gonna have a little chat with our clown friend."
Daria obeyed, carrying Ceci back a good ten meters.
"Hey! Remember me?"
The yellow clown leaned on his cane, nodding slightly.
"Good to know. Last time, our little magic duel didn't have a winner. Wanna go another round?"
The clown tilted his head, seemingly considering Roy's offer.
A few seconds later, he nodded and gestured for Roy to go first.
"Here we go, then! Time to witness a miracle!"
Same old line, same old routine.
Roy stashed his Captain America-painted shield into his inventory.
A massive round shield disappearing into thin air? Anyone could tell something was up.
The yellow clown had seen Roy pull similar tricks before, so he wasn't fazed.
Since Roy was playing with supernatural abilities, the clown didn't hold back either. He pulled a silk scarf from his pocket, gave it a casual flick, and it burst into flames.
Roy was certain there was no lighter hidden in the clown's hand—his perception was far sharper than it had been six months ago, and no ordinary magic trick could fool him.
So, the yellow clown was definitely using supernatural powers too.
The clown's trick wasn't over. The flames quickly spread up to his dirty white glove, but the glove didn't burn. When the fire died out, a flower appeared in his hand.
It was a classic magic trick, but normally, magicians use specially treated scarves soaked in chemicals that burn out quickly, allowing them to swap in a flower.
Not this guy—he let the scarf burn for a full minute before it was gone.
"Hmm… decent trick. My turn!"
Roy pulled the shield back out of his inventory, making it appear in his hand out of nowhere. The clown's eyes flickered briefly.
Then, Roy held the shield with one hand, acting like he was straining with effort.
A second later, the shield floated up, circling around him as if it had a mind of its own.
But compared to pulling items out of thin air, this trick was quickly seen through by the clown.
He could clearly sense an invisible, humanoid figure holding the shield and spinning it around Roy.
It was Roy's soul stand-in ability—pretty useless in a fight, so he was using it for magic tricks.
Even though the clown could tell what Roy was doing, outdoing him in flair wouldn't be easy.
The clown scratched his head, clearly trying to come up with a trick to top Roy's.
A few seconds later, a lit lightbulb appeared above his head—a cartoonish effect that made Roy's eyes narrow.
The last time he'd seen such a cartoonish character was a month ago with that underworld sorcerer, whose abilities were also wildly exaggerated.
Roy started to realize the yellow clown might be just as tough to deal with.
Cartoonish characters have one thing in common: they can hold their own against anyone, completely ignoring stat differences.
A mouse can beat a cat, a woodpecker can thrash a hunter…
The clown took off his top hat, reached inside, and pulled out a classic magician's cape.
Then, with a snap of his fingers, the cape floated up on its own, covering everything below his chest, leaving only his feet visible.
Man, this guy's not even pretending anymore!
The clown, holding his cane, started tap-dancing.
And you know what? His tap-dancing was actually pretty good. Clearly, this guy wasn't just about magic tricks—he had other talents too.
But as the clown danced, Roy noticed something off. The clown's upper body started moving left, while his feet went right.
So that's the trick!
Roy immediately recalled old Hong Kong movies he'd seen in his past life, where similar dance routines were common.
But in those films, the dance was usually done by two people—one in front, one behind—using visual tricks to fool the audience. The yellow clown, though, was doing this solo, meaning his body was likely split in half for real.
Daria and Ceci rubbed their eyes in disbelief, their jaws practically on the ground.
After a two-and-a-half-minute performance, the clown folded up his cape and bowed to Roy and the others.
"Not bad, that was kinda interesting. My turn again, right? Lend me your cape!"
The clown didn't refuse. He rolled up the cape and tossed it to Roy like he was shooting a basketball.
"Watch closely—I'm only doing this once!"
Roy wrapped the oversized cape around himself, covering his entire body.
The next second, the cape fell to the ground, and Roy was gone.
Daria and Ceci's jaws dropped even further—this was beyond their comprehension.
Even the yellow clown struck a shocked pose. He could tell Roy hadn't used any spatial abilities to teleport. Roy had genuinely vanished.
The clown dramatically clutched his head, picked up the cape, and started inspecting it, as if trying to find Roy hidden inside.
A moment later, Roy reappeared behind the clown and tapped his shoulder.
"How's that?"
The clown froze, as if he'd been dealt a massive blow.
After a long pause, he stiffly raised his hands and clapped for Roy, seemingly admitting defeat. He couldn't come up with a trick to top Roy's, nor could he figure out how Roy had done it.
Roy hadn't expected his deception space ability to make the clown concede. Truth be told, he was running out of tricks himself.
After clapping, the clown bowed to Roy, took off his top hat, and pulled something out, pressing it into Roy's hand.
"For me?"
Roy opened his hand to find a multicolored black diamond.
Yeah, that sounds like a contradiction, but to Roy, the diamond was indeed black yet shimmered with a spectrum of colors.
[You have obtained the Heart of the Universe!]
Heart of the Universe? Sounds pretty epic.
Wonder how it stacks up against the Heart of Africa? (XD)
After handing over the diamond, the yellow clown turned and walked off into the distance.
Roy didn't stop him. Though the clown loved forcing performances on people, he didn't seem like an evil dark creature. After all, he'd helped Ceci.
Maybe his sense of good and evil just didn't align with human standards. So Roy hadn't attacked him, opting instead for a second round of their magic duel.
Win or lose, Roy wasn't going to make things hard for the clown.
But he hadn't expected to win—and get a reward out of it.
As the clown vanished into the darkness, Roy picked up the Heart of the Universe to inspect it.
[Heart of the Universe: A diamond containing the ultimate mysteries of the cosmos. Its true power can only be unleashed when order and chaos are in balance.]
Well, that's cryptic, but it sounds pretty awesome.
Daria…