"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..."
Inside an apartment in downtown Los Angeles, California, several women and a little girl were singing "Happy Birthday" to a woman with a chocolate complexion. The atmosphere was very lively.
Today was April 28th, Sultana's 29th birthday. So, Keller, Molly, Amy, Dahlia, and Dahlia's daughter, Ceci, had gathered to celebrate with her.
However, there was still a hint of sadness in Sultana's eyes because the most important person in her heart hadn't shown up.
The birthday song was halfway through when everyone suddenly went silent, which Sultana found very strange.
Then, a familiar voice entered her ears, and Sultana's face lit up with surprise and joy.
"Happy birthday to you!"
That's right, it was Roy. He had sung the last two lines.
Sultana covered her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Did you guys plan this?"
Keller nodded.
"Are you surprised?"
Sultana was indeed very surprised and felt incredibly happy.
"Thank you, everyone!"
That night, Roy, Sultana, Amy, and Dahlia had a good get-together.
It had been over a month since the three women had seen Roy, and it felt like a long-awaited rain after a drought.
The stamina of the older sister is just different. Roy didn't leave Sultana's apartment for two whole days. Except for meal times, he was busy "fixing the pipes."
So much so that when Roy left Sultana's apartment, he was holding his lower back, feeling like the sun had turned green.
Of course, 48 hours of hard work also earned Roy another conquest treasure chest.
[Ding! Obtained Sultana Rivera's conquest treasure chest! Open it?]
Roy's hard work was worth it.
After celebrating Sultana's birthday, Roy originally planned to drive his Bumblebee back to Waterfall Town, but he suddenly received a call from Gerald.
"Mr. Black, you should be in Los Angeles right now, right?"
Roy raised an eyebrow, feeling a bit odd.
"How do you know that?"
"I saw that Rivera took three consecutive days off, so I figured it must be you visiting."
Logical and convincing!
"Mr. Orrin, you must have called me for a reason, right?"
"Indeed, there's something I'd like to discuss with you. I was wondering if Mr. Black would be interested in talking at the Dolphin Hotel?"
Gerald had helped Roy out quite a bit before, so he couldn't really refuse.
"Alright, I'll be there in a little while."
At the Dolphin Hotel, in Gerald's office.
"Mr. Black, welcome! Please, have a seat!"
Roy yawned as he sat down. He really didn't have the energy for small talk with Gerald.
"Mr. Orrin, what's this all about?"
"Mr. Black, do you remember that haunted mirror from before?"
After the haunted mirror incident, the magical mirror was contained by the FEA and was currently under Gerald's control.
"What's wrong with the mirror?"
"Recently, the haunted mirror has been exhibiting some unusual energy fluctuations that make me very uneasy, so I wanted you to take a look."
Unusual energy fluctuations? Could it be that the creatures in the mirror world have discovered this world?
That would be quite troublesome!
"Mr. Orrin, my suggestion is that it would be best to destroy that mirror, otherwise I can't say what might happen."
Hearing this, Gerald gave a wry smile.
"I'd love to destroy that mirror too, but a deputy director was just parachuted in to monitor me. It's not like I can just do whatever I want."
This newly appointed deputy director was Paxton Felter, whom Sultana had mentioned before.
Speak of the devil!
Just as Gerald finished speaking, there was a knock on the office door, and Paxton Felter walked in.
"Director, 089 is showing unusual energy readings again. We should probably go take a look."
Roy sized up Paxton Felter. He was a man in his late 20s or early 30s, with an ordinary appearance that didn't stand out, fitting the image of an agent.
From the guy's tone, it was clear that he didn't have much respect for Gerald, talking to him like he would to a regular colleague.
"I understand, I'll be right there!"
Paxton Felter nodded and left.
"Mr. Black, you see what I mean?"
"What's the deal with this guy?"
Gerald sighed.
"I have no idea. I had someone at headquarters try to dig up some information, but there's nothing. This guy is like he just popped out of nowhere, no background at all."
Roy raised an eyebrow. This situation meant either Paxton Felter had some serious backing, or he truly had no past.
So, what kind of being would have absolutely no past?
Gerald stood up.
"Mr. Black, let's go take a look at the haunted mirror problem. Maybe you can figure something out."
Gerald led Roy to the secret underground base where the haunted mirror was contained. Paxton Felter frowned when he saw Roy.
"Director, who is this?"
"Roy Black. He's also an agent with the Bureau."
Paxton Felter looked thoughtful.
"That name sounds familiar. Weren't you involved in the Boston witch incident?"
This guy was pretty well-informed, even knowing about that.
You have to remember, Roy had tried his best to keep a low profile during the Boston witch incident, but Paxton Felter still knew about him.
This showed that Paxton Felter had very strong connections at FEA headquarters, no wonder Gerald felt troubled.
A newly appointed deputy director with such strong connections would make any director uneasy.
"Yes, I was!"
Paxton smiled and extended his hand to Roy.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Roy Black. I'm Deputy Director Paxton Felter."
"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Paxton Felter."
After a few pleasantries, the three of them arrived at the observation room.
Through the transparent glass, Roy saw the haunted mirror.
The surface of the mirror shimmered with an eerie light. Even with the naked eye, you could tell something was wrong with it.
"Mr. Orrin, how did the mirror get like this? Have you guys done anything to it?"
Gerald shook his head.
"No! After we contained the mirror, we only conducted some basic research, mainly to prevent accidents."
Gerald was clearly still scared from the previous cosmic demon incident, so he preferred to be cautious and avoid any more surprises.
"Then why did the mirror become like this?"
"About a week ago, this mirror started emitting this eerie light, and the frequency of the light has been increasing, which is very worrying. Since you were in Los Angeles, I thought I'd have you take a look."
"Didn't you have Elise take a look at the mirror?"
Elise was Uriel, and she had officially started cooperating with the FEA after the Devil's Late Night Show incident.
Gerald gave an awkward smile. He really didn't dare to let Elise see this thing. If she saw it and thought the mirror shouldn't exist and destroyed it, Gerald wouldn't be able to explain it to FEA headquarters.
"Okay, I think I understand your predicament."
Roy rested his chin on his hand, observing the eerie light on the mirror's surface. He noticed that the frequency of the light was fixed, with an accuracy down to the millisecond. This situation seemed like some kind of signal.
This gave Roy some ideas.
Could it be that this eerie light was actually some kind of signal?
Seeing Roy's expression, Gerald asked anxiously, "Mr. Black, have you thought of something?"
"Well, I just have some half-baked ideas! I once entered another world through this mirror. That world was the same as ours, except everything was reversed. So, here's the question: in our world, this mirror is located in the FEA's containment facility. Where is the mirror in the mirror world?"
Gerald's eyes widened.
"Are you saying that in the mirror world, this mirror is also in a place similar to our base? So, this eerie light could very well be something in the mirror world testing this mirror?"
This conjecture was simply too crazy. For a moment, both Gerald and Paxton were a bit overwhelmed.
But they also had to admit that this possibility existed.
If there were indeed intelligent beings in the mirror world, how could they not test a mirror that suddenly appeared in their base?
"Is there any way to verify this conjecture?"
Paxton frowned at Roy.
"I know very little about that world, and I don't know what kind of intelligent beings exist there. But if it's just to verify this conjecture, I do have an idea. Have you guys considered moving this mirror again, putting it in a house where people live, and then monitoring it?"
Gerald and Paxton's eyes lit up. This method, although a bit troublesome, was indeed a very suitable approach.
Instead of passively observing the haunted mirror, it was better to try Roy's method.
"Felter, find a relatively secluded neighborhood, have the residents temporarily leave, and then arrange for FEAR to move in and set up. Let's try Mr. Black's method."
"Yes, Director."
Paxton hurried off to make arrangements. Gerald put his arm around Roy's shoulder.
"Mr. Black, I watched your World Qualifying Series in New York. Your performance was absolutely outstanding!"
Looking at Gerald's somewhat fawning smile, Roy was speechless.
"Mr. Orrin, just say what's on your mind!"
"Mr. Black, I hope you can stay in Los Angeles for a few more days, until we get the results of the haunted mirror test before you go back."
Roy shrugged.
"I can, but... you know!"
Of course, Gerald understood what Roy meant. It was about the money!
"Mr. Black, the compensation will definitely satisfy you. Regardless of whether anything happens in the end, I will offer you a reward. You can absolutely trust me on this!"
Roy nodded. He had cooperated with Gerald so many times that there was a certain level of trust.
"Alright then, I'll go back to the Dolphin Hotel and catch some sleep. Just call me when you guys are ready."
"No problem!"
Fighting those three hungry older sisters for two days and two nights had really exhausted Roy. All he wanted to do now was get a good night's sleep.
He slept soundly, as if the world had turned upside down. As Roy slept, he dreamed that he had fallen into a tropical swamp.
His body was surrounded by the warm, humid swamp, and no matter how much Roy struggled, he couldn't climb out, sinking deeper and deeper into the mud.
At the same time, terrifying crocodiles seemed to be lurking beneath the swamp, their mouths making terrifying "splish-splash" sounds.
This dream was truly terrifying!
Roy was directly startled awake and then saw Sultana "servicing the gearshift."
"Uh, Sister Sultana?"
Sultana replied to Roy somewhat vaguely.
"Good night, Roy! Did I wake you?"
"Not really, I just had a nightmare."
After a good sleep, Roy's energy had mostly recovered, so he closed his eyes and began to enjoy Sultana's hospitality.
"Sister Sultana, what are you doing here?"
"Mmm! The Director's side is almost ready, so he sent me over to wake you up."
Roy: ???
This is your wake-up service? Well, that's just... fantastic!
More of this next time!
"Then hurry up, don't keep Mr. Orrin waiting."
Hearing this, Sultana immediately started shifting gears, quickly moving from first to second, then to third, then to fourth, and finally reaching fifth gear.
This speed was already terrifying for a junkyard car, even causing Sultana some pain, but she was happy to do it. She was willing to do anything for Roy.
Of course, Roy wouldn't let Sultana work so hard for nothing and offered her extremely nutritious protein.
Sultana didn't waste any and swallowed it all.
"Let's go. I'll grab a bite to eat first, and then I'll go find your director."
Completely refreshed, Roy went to the Dolphin Hotel's restaurant, ordered some food, and after a quick meal, headed to the location set up by the FEA.
Surprisingly, Paxton had chosen the San Fernando Valley as the location for the experiment, which was quite imaginative.
Some strange noises in this community wouldn't raise suspicion, which was why Roy had also chosen the San Fernando Valley for his bloodline fusion ritual.
At this time, it was already 11 PM. In a certain community in the San Fernando Valley, the houses here were all professional film sets. Usually, no one lived here, so evacuating them was relatively easy.
Perhaps this was also one of the reasons why Paxton chose the San Fernando Valley as the experimental site.
The American people have always distrusted government agencies. If you want to requisition their houses, they might not agree.
But with film sets, there's no such problem. You can just rent them out for some money.
FEAR had heavily blockaded the entire community, not even a fly could get in. All FEA agents had been recalled from leave and were on standby to prevent any accidents.
It was under these circumstances that Sultana brought Roy to the FEA command vehicle.
"Mr. Black, you've finally arrived!"
[Movie Poster]
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