My Substitute CEO Bride (Nash Calicraft) novel Chapter 1963

"No, it's as if they've vanished into thin air, but we did find some clues."

Battlestar suddenly raised his eyebrows, a glimmer of light in his eyes. "Oh? What is it?"

Artoile took a shallow sip of tea and then calmly mentioned a name, "Stellar Orwell."

"The colonel of the North Territory."

Battlestar asked, "So, you suspect it might be internal to the North Territory?"

Artoile rested one hand on his chin, thinking for a moment before responding, "It's not impossible. The main concern is that if the Church of the Netherworld is indeed colluding with the Illuminion, the North Territory could be very dangerous.

"The Warden's disappearance is no small matter. It could even jeopardize the North Territory's border defenses. In any case, we need to find Stellar Orwell. Records indicate he has some connection to the church."

…

"So, what now?" Clint looked at Zaafea, clearly annoyed by his indifferent attitude.

Zaafea remained unperturbed as he replied, "Mr. Melton, don't be impatient. Let's wait a bit longer, just a bit longer."

Perhaps due to his eagerness to save someone, Clint did not notice the faint crimson true energy slowly spreading outward.

At this moment, Nash tried to use the gems' power to assimilate that true energy, but the moment he came in contact with the murderous energy, he realized the danger of doing so.

"His true energy is constantly leaking out. Could it be a problem with his energy center?"

"That's correct," Zaafea replied.

"This is the biggest risk posed by the demonic taming techniques. The most direct manifestation of deviation into demonic influence is damage to the energy center. Demonic energy would invade and eventually take over the entire body.