"Hun Yuan Thunderhands Cheng Kun, Lord Stanley is summoning you."

Draco, a Level 9 Warrior and direct superior of the three players, called out to Hun Yuan, Thunderhands, and Cheng Kun, who were leading 30 intermediate professionals to carry out a mission.

"Good day, Lord Draco," said Hun Yuan, the brains of the trio, who was always the one to deal with these cunning NPCs.

"Why is Lord Stanley looking for us this time?" Ever since they helped capture the dwarves a few days ago, the entire Dark Pact had become extremely busy.

Yet the ones who had actually done the work received no further notice. At most, Draco assigned them some simple tasks like inspecting Dark Pact properties.

Hun Yuan knew for sure it all had to do with those dwarves. Getting involved might lead to high-level missions, but they had no way to approach the higher-ups in Dark Pact and could only watch from the sidelines.

Their current status was too low. Even as so-called Undying, no one cared about them without power.

Now, hearing that Stanley had summoned them, his heart immediately stirred.

"It should be something very good," Draco said with a faint smile. "Just now, Lord Stanley seemed to be in a very good mood."

The three of them exchanged glances, eyes filled with anticipation.

Stanley was their patron, after all. Without this NPC with absurdly high intelligence, how could they be living so comfortably?

---

Back courtyard of the Black Rose Manor.

This manor, named by Li De when he left the Dark Pact, was now serving as their temporary headquarters.

A fixed base might make an underworld organization an easy target for enemies, but it also came with advantages. At the very least, it gave their members a sense of belonging, they knew where their stronghold was.

"Lord Stanley, Hun Yuan Thunderhands Cheng Kun have arrived."

Stanley, dressed in black priest robes, twitched the corner of his mouth at the name. Though he’d heard it many times, it still gave him an almost irresistible urge to slap someone.

These Lost Plane commoners didn’t even remember their ancestral surnames. Truly disgraceful.

Shaking his head, he set aside the documents in his hand and looked up at the three figures peeking about the study.

Their vibrant demeanor stood in stark contrast to the people of the Glory Main Plane.

"Good day, Lord Stanley," the three greeted in unison upon meeting his gaze.

In this world of strict hierarchy, they’d learned the hard way over time how dangerous ignorance of status could be. Now they were much wiser.

Stanley gave a slight nod. These Undying from the Lost Planes were crude, but not foolish.

"A few days ago, you assisted Lord Iro in capturing the dwarves. He was very pleased. Is there any reward you’d like?"

The moment he spoke, the trio’s eyes lit up.

Hun Yuan said. "Lord Stanley, do you have any hidden classes we can change into? Like Dragonblood Warrior, or Dragon Knight?"

Stanley stared at him in silence, stunned.

"Dragonblood Warrior?? Dragon Knight??"

Thunderhands added. "Yes, Lord Stanley. If that’s too much, just give each of us a dragon egg. That would be enough."

Stanley turned his head toward Thunderhands as if he’d been cursed by a Necromancer, his face twisting into a complex expression.

"Dragon egg?"

Cheng Kun said. "Lord Stanley, these things must be trivial for you. I won’t ask for much. Just give me a semi-divine artifact. If you feel guilty, a divine artifact would be acceptable too, I wouldn’t mind."

Stanley’s face looked as if he’d been poisoned. His lips turned pale, and his voice trembled.

"Semi-divine artifact?? Divine artifact???"

After a long pause, Stanley took a deep breath, barely restraining the urge to kill these three fools cursed by demons.

"If you want those things, you can go rob the Nolan Empire’s royal treasury. Now let’s get back to business."

Sensing Stanley’s terrifying aura flaring up, the three clowns shuddered and immediately shut their mouths.

Their eyes flickered with panic.

"Holy crap, what a powerful aura. I almost pissed myself."

"Man, this NPC really has no sense of humor."

"Seriously."

"When he got excited, I almost thought he was actually going to give us divine artifacts."

Stanley took several deep breaths before regaining composure, his voice becoming solemn.

"Hun Yuan, I’ve previously learned a bit about the Lost Plane, but not in detail. Today, I want a deeper understanding."

Without waiting for a response, he started asking questions.

"What kind of world is the Lost Plane you come from? How did you descend into the Glory Main Plane? Do you know the reason why you can resurrect?"

Hun Yuan hesitated. Many NPCs had asked similar questions recently, but the system always altered his answers when he tried to explain Earth, so he no longer cared.

"Lord Stanley, our world is called Earth. It’s a technological plane. The world you’re in is just a game to us. We entered it through a gaming pod.

As for why we can resurrect, it’s because it’s a game. If we died once and couldn’t come back, who’d even want to play?"

As expected, the message Stanley received was completely different.

"So it’s true. The Lost Plane is an alchemical plane, no wonder there’s no magic there.

But what I didn’t expect is that after entering the Main Plane, you could still return to the Lost Plane. The plane’s teleportation arrays must be incredible."

He ignored the trio’s strange expressions and continued slowly, "Hun Yuan, you should know why I founded the Immortal Souls."

"Lord Stanley, you want us to fight against other adventurers," Hun Yuan said calmly. "With your guidance, I believe we won’t fear any of them."

No kidding. They’d been favored by a major boss right from the start. Their development was miles ahead of other players.

How many people started a game with ten subordinates who were all over Level 5 intermediate professionals?

The three of them were now squad leaders in the Immortal Souls, each commanding a team of ten.

If they couldn’t dominate other players with this advantage, they might as well quit the game.

Stanley nodded. "Very good. I admire your confidence. But that’s not what I meant."

His deep gaze fixed on Hun Yuan. "The future Immortal Souls should be composed entirely of you Undying from the Lost Plane. Just the three of you isn’t enough.

You’ve said before that countless Undying from the Lost Plane will enter the Glory Main Plane in the future.

I don’t need that many. I just need you to recruit a few elite ones into Dark Pact."