Rover recounted everything about John.

Not too long-winded.

He spoke about the first side mission at the psychiatric hospital, about the strange bus, about the people who had participated in the mission at the time, about John who always kept a cheerful smile on his face, and also the hard-to-describe feeling that man had given him.

"John doesn’t resemble an ordinary Survivor."

Rover sat on the sofa, both hands resting on his knees, his gaze slightly deepening.

"I had that feeling at the time. He was too calm, too familiar with those strange things. Moreover, he didn’t seem like the type of person who survived on luck alone."

Morie stood beside him and softly asked: "You suspect he belongs to some organization?"

"Possibly."

Rover thought of a word.

"Lamp-Bearer."

When he said this name, the atmosphere in the room went slightly quieter.

Nanami had just been resurrected and didn’t yet understand too much about this world, so she only blinked with curiosity. But everyone else understood that if John truly was a Lamp-Bearer, his identity was certainly not simple.

Nanoe sat across from Rover, her fingertips gently stroking the rim of the tea cup.

"Based on what you’ve said, he took the initiative to invite you to meet privately. This has two possibilities. One is that he wants to pull you into something. The other is that he wants to exchange information or benefits with you."

Rover nodded.

"I think so too."

"What about the possibility that he wants to kill you?" Rilia suddenly spoke up.

Her voice was still cold, but no longer carried the clear hostility from when she had just been captured.

Rover looked at her.

"That’s also a possibility I’m considering."

Nanoe shook her head.

"If John truly wanted to kill Rover, he had the opportunity at the psychiatric hospital. During that side mission, the rules were more chaotic, information was less, and people hadn’t yet figured each other out. If he wanted to make a move, that was a better time than now."

Morie gently nodded.

"Rover is now much stronger. Room 2705 is also no longer the weak room it was before. Choosing this moment to kill him doesn’t make sense."

Selina leaned against the chair, her hand resting on her sword hilt.

"Unless he has absolute confidence."

Nanoe looked at her and smiled.

"That’s right. But if he had absolute confidence, he wouldn’t need to use a message and a vehicle to invite Rover over. He could just appear at room 2705’s door."

Rover fell silent in thought.

Nanoe’s analysis was very reasonable.

John was certainly not an ordinary person, but his using this method to set up a meeting actually indicated he had something he wanted to say, not that he wanted to directly kill anyone.

Of course, that didn’t mean he could be fully trusted.

Rover had never liked leaving his life to luck.

Nanoe stood up and walked in front of Rover.

She reached out, her fingertips lightly touching his chest.

A very thin strand of energy, warm and soft, slowly seeped into Rover’s body. It didn’t resemble Nanoe’s flames of destruction, nor was it like the dangerous energy she had placed in Rilia’s body earlier. This strand of energy was much gentler, like a thin thread connecting her to Rover.

Rover sensed it slightly.

"What is this?"

"A sensory seal."

Nanoe softly said.

"If your life status suddenly fluctuates strongly, I will know. If this energy is destroyed, I will also know."

"Does it have a protective effect?"

"A little." Nanoe smiled: "But don’t expect too much. If the enemy is strong enough to kill you in an instant, this small protection can’t save you."

Rover: "..."

She truly had a way of making people feel at ease.

Nanoe looked at his expression, her smile becoming even softer.

"But I don’t think John will do that. He wants to meet you, which proves you have value to him. A smart person won’t casually destroy something they still want to use."

Rover breathed out.

"That’s also reasonable."

Nanoe straightened his collar.

"Go. But if something feels off, come back immediately. Don’t gamble your life out of curiosity."

Rover nodded.

"I haven’t lived enough yet. I don’t need you reminding me."

Selina stood up.

"I’m coming with you."

Rover shook his head.

"John said not to bring too many people. I’ll go alone first. If something really happens, Nanoe will sense it."

Selina frowned, clearly unhappy.

Rover walked over and rubbed her head.

"Don’t make that face. I’m not going to fight. I’m just going to see what the person wants to say."

Selina let out a soft grunt.

"Master had better remember these exact words."

Rover smiled.

Then he looked around at everyone, and finally his gaze settled on Nanoe.

"While I’m gone, the room is yours."

Nanoe gently nodded.

"Don’t worry."

Rover trusted this sentence very much.

Because when Nanoe said "don’t worry," it didn’t mean she would gently reassure everyone.

It meant she had already started calculating.

Rover left room 2705.

The door closed.

After his silhouette disappeared, the atmosphere in the room changed very slightly.

Nanoe was still Nanoe.

She was still gentle, still smiling, still holding Nanami’s hand as if she couldn’t bear to let her younger sister go for too long. But when she turned her head to look toward Rilia and Sunako, within those brown eyes there was now an added layer of sharpness that was very hard to ignore.

Nanami noticed the change first.

She blinked and looked at her older sister, then softly asked: "Sister?"

Nanoe turned to look at her, and her smile immediately softened.

"It’s fine. I just have a few things I need to ask."

Sunako, standing behind the sofa, suddenly felt a slight chill run down her spine.

She had a very strong intuition.

Rover was gone.

The person standing at the apex of the power pyramid in the living room had now changed to Nanoe.

And compared to Rover, Nanoe seemed even harder to fool.

Rilia also looked at Nanoe.

She said nothing, but her sitting posture became slightly more serious.

Nanoe walked to a chair and slowly sat down. Nanami very naturally sat beside her, curiously looking at everyone. The speed at which she was assimilating made even Monica feel surprised. Just a few minutes ago, Nanami had still been crying in Nanoe’s arms, yet now she could already laugh with Sunako, ask Thunder Dragon whether it liked having its scales polished, then seriously apologize when Thunder Dragon looked at her with a confused expression.

Seeing this, Nanoe’s heart softened.

But only for a moment.

Rover wasn’t here. She couldn’t just be an older sister.

She also had to be the manager of this room.

"Sunako."

Sunako immediately stood straight.

"Present!"

Nanoe smiled.

"No need to be so tense. I just want to ask about your tribe."

The smile on Sunako’s face stiffened very slightly.

Very slightly.

But Nanoe still saw it.

Rilia also slightly raised her eyes.

Sunako laughed awkwardly.

"My tribe... there’s nothing particularly special about it."

"Is that so?"

Nanoe’s voice remained gentle.

"But just now, when you saw me and Nanami reunite, you thought of something. Your gaze changed."

Sunako fell silent.

The cheerful atmosphere from a moment ago suddenly slowed.

Nanoe didn’t press immediately. She only continued in a very soft voice: "Rover doesn’t like trouble, so before trouble finds him, I want to prepare in advance. If your tribe is in difficulty, if they could become allies, or if they have something Rover needs, then I need to know."

Sunako looked at Nanoe.

A sudden clarity appeared in her heart.

This woman wasn’t just asking out of curiosity.

She was calculating.

Calculating what value Sunako had, what Sunako’s tribe could bring, and whether saving that tribe could be turned into a favorable chess piece for Rover.

What was frightening was that Sunako didn’t feel too uncomfortable.

Because Nanoe wasn’t hiding it.

She said directly this was for Rover’s sake, and also said directly that if there was value, preparations could be made. In this world, one clearly stated calculation was sometimes more trustworthy than ten false words of comfort.

Rilia at this point slowly said: "Do you also want to ask about the Ice Wolf Tribe?"

Nanoe looked at her.

"That’s right."

"My army has been eliminated."

"The army within the round has been eliminated." Nanoe corrected very gently. "But that doesn’t mean the Ice Wolf Tribe truly has only you left."

Rilia fell silent.

Nanoe leaned back in the chair, her eyes gentle but very deep.

"I have awakened part of the memories and knowledge within my bloodline. I don’t dare claim to fully understand the world beyond the fog, but I know one thing. The races pulled into the game aren’t necessarily all the final original entities. Sometimes it’s only a projection, a branch, a fragment, or a group taken from a larger tribal community."

Morie stood beside them, listening very attentively.

Monica was also slightly tense.

Nanami’s eyes went wide, clearly finding this both frightening and fascinating.

Nanoe continued: "Rover is still in the apartment complex right now, but after level 5, we can’t always rely on this room. If we have to leave in the future, we need locations, resources, information, people, allies, and even races that can be traded with."

She looked at Rilia and Sunako.

"So, I want to know what your tribes could become for Rover."

Sunako swallowed.

Rilia looked at Nanoe for a long time.

Finally, the Ice Wolf General slowly said: "You truly don’t resemble an ordinary Tenant."

Nanoe smiled.

"I’ve never said I was ordinary."

At the same time, Rover had already made his way down to the basement garage.

The air in the basement was colder than he had expected.

The ceiling lights flickered. Several bulbs had gone out completely, leaving only dim light spread across the damp concrete floor. Fog lingered at the end of the corridor, as if something was breathing out from within the darkness.

Rover walked slowly.

His [Intuition] detected no clear danger, but that didn’t make him fully relax. After the incident with Amed, the cursed doll, and things that could slip past his perception, Rover had come to understand one thing.

Not sensing danger didn’t mean there was no danger.

It only meant the danger hadn’t yet shown its face.

He walked past several old dust-covered vehicles, and finally spotted a black car parked in a corner of the garage.

The license plate was very clear.

NN77-2910.

Rover stopped in front of the vehicle.

The rear door automatically opened.

There was no one inside.

Rover looked for a moment, then laughed softly.

"Hopefully this isn’t a hearse."

He stepped in.

The car door closed.

Right after, the vehicle started on its own. The engine didn’t make too much noise, but the body of the car gently vibrated, then slowly pulled away from its parking spot.

Rover looked out through the window glass.

The vehicle drove through the basement, turning into a passage he had never paid attention to. The garage door ahead automatically lifted, and fog immediately flooded in like seawater.

The vehicle plunged into the fog.

Visibility outside disappeared almost immediately.

Rover could only see the dense gray-white covering everything around him. Occasionally, within the fog, what seemed like very large black shadows swept past, but the vehicle didn’t stop, and wasn’t attacked either.

It seemed to know the way.

Or more precisely, the fog was making way for it.

Rover sat in the vehicle, his hands resting on his knees, his gaze much calmer than his outward appearance suggested.

He didn’t like this feeling.

The feeling of being led somewhere by someone else.

But if he wanted to know more about this world, he couldn’t always sit in room 2705 waiting for information to run to his door on its own. John had proactively contacted him. That was dangerous, but also an opportunity.

About ten minutes later, the vehicle slowly came to a stop.

The car door opened.

Rover stepped out.

This place wasn’t far from the apartment complex. At least from a distance, he could still see the faint silhouette of the massive building through the fog. But this area was very quiet. On the ground, a row of small lights had been arranged in a half-moon shape, their warm golden light pushing the fog back into a small open space.

In the center of that open space, John was standing.

He still wore the slightly worn outfit from Rover’s memory, his face keeping the cheerful smile as if greeting a friend he hadn’t seen in a long time.

"Rover."

John raised his hand in a wave.

"Long time no see. Looks like you’re doing even better than I expected."

Rover didn’t immediately answer.

His gaze fell to John’s side.

There hung a lantern.

The lantern wasn’t large, its design antiquated, with a pale yellow flame burning very steadily inside. Its light wasn’t strong, but wherever the light touched, the fog drew back, as if unwilling to get close.

Rover looked at that lantern, his gaze narrowing slightly.

Sure enough.

Nanoe had guessed correctly.

John truly was a Lamp-Bearer.