Yes! He's the god of acting

After Sam spoke those words, he walked away.

William stood frozen in place, his mind involuntarily replaying the image of Carl's downcast head, his fists clenching slightly...

Carl had bowed his head.

But what about him?

If this were his previous life, William might not have been any different from Carl—only by bowing his head could one carve out a path for survival in society. But this time...

William slowly turned his head toward the surviving half of Frost Spring Street, his gaze cold as ice.

You want me to bow my head?

Heh...

District Three.

The Basement.

A bone-chilling gale swept up from the void, howling as it slammed into Fred!

The oil lamp on the ground shook violently before extinguishing completely. As the entire basement plunged into deathly darkness, Fred let out a muffled groan and crashed heavily to the floor!

He raised his head in shock, his eyes filled with disbelief and terror!

Just moments ago, when he had activated his [Eye of Origin], he seemed to glimpse countless crimson pupils gazing at him from the endless void beyond...

That single glance had made his divine pathway tremble!

"This... this is..."

Fred remained stunned for a long while before snapping back to reality.

He immediately scrambled to his feet and rushed up the stairs, bursting into the convenience store!

"What happened to you, [Seven of Spades]?" The woman frowned slightly, seeing Fred's frantic and disheveled state.

"...I saw it."

"What?"

"'World's End.'"

The woman paused, momentarily confused by his meaning.

"That guy is a 'World's End' catastrophe!" Fred declared with certainty.

"That's impossible." The woman shook her head immediately. "No one can merge with 'World's End.' Even the current leader of the Fusion Faction couldn't... You must be mistaken."

"I absolutely was not mistaken! Its gaze even made my divine pathway feel terror!"

"This..."

"We must notify the Red King and Gray King immediately."

Fred moved to the counter, pulled out paper and pen, and began writing rapidly.

"If this is true... then we're in serious trouble." The woman immediately grasped the severity of the situation. "Even if the Red King and Gray King both come, we might not be able to handle him, unless Aurora Lord also joins forces with us..."

At this, Fred's pen paused.

"What is it?" the woman asked.

"A 'World's End' level catastrophe possesses the power to annihilate an entire human domain." Fred slowly turned to look at her, madness flickering in his eyes. "But what if... what if we kill him and release 'World's End'... wouldn't that mean we wouldn't need to execute that plan?"

The woman was stunned.

"That's a 'World's End'! Are you insane?!" The woman caught herself mid-sentence and shook her head. "I almost forgot—you official members are all lunatics to begin with..."

"I was just thinking aloud." Fred adjusted his glasses, his mood settling as he spoke calmly. "Let's consult the Gray King and Red King first..."

Fred finished writing the letter and handed it to the woman. She glanced at him.

"By the way, weren't you supposed to conduct a recruitment evaluation on him? Are you still proceeding?"

"...Proceeding."

"Then as his sponsor, your rating for him is...?"

"S+." Fred's expression was unprecedented in its seriousness.

"Extremely dangerous."

Knock—knock—knock—

The crisp sound of knocking echoed through the room. The numerous District Two enforcers who had been leisurely drinking tea looked up in confusion.

"Who would come at this hour?"

"No idea..."

Sam spoke as he opened the teahouse door.

William stood quietly outside. Seeing the door open, he smiled and waved at the enforcers inside.

These were the District Two enforcers who should have been responsible for Frost Spring Street, but instead they were holed up here drinking tea, leaving everything to William and Carl. This in itself revealed certain truths... It seemed Carl had been right.

These enforcers were all in cahoots with the people from Frost Spring Street. Their decision not to investigate personally, instead sending only two rookies, was purely for show.

This way, if headquarters in Aurora City came asking questions, they could claim they were short-staffed and that Frost Spring Street matters were handled by William and his partner, thereby shifting blame while maintaining good relations with Frost Spring Street—killing two birds with one stone.

Seeing it was William, the enforcers immediately lost interest and lowered their heads to drink tea, showing no intention of making conversation.

"It's you? What brings you here?" Sam looked at William with surprise.

"I need some clarification from you gentlemen regarding my work."

"What about?"

"My task is to question the Frost Spring Street survivors about catastrophe intelligence, correct?"

"Correct."

"Then what if they don't cooperate?"

Hearing this question, Sam sneered inwardly while maintaining a patient facade: "If they don't cooperate, you make them cooperate... We are enforcers. We have enforcement authority."

"So I can use force?"

"Of course."

William heard the other enforcers in the room suppress their laughter.

"Then I understand." William nodded. "If they don't cooperate, I'll drag them here for you gentlemen to deal with."

"Good that you understand. Now go. Your evaluation ends tomorrow, so you must complete the task today."

As William left, Sam closed the door behind him, and unrestrained laughter erupted from within.

"That kid's really stubborn..."

"Even more naive than that Carl."

"Did you hear that? He's actually going to use force... Does he really not know what kind of place Frost Spring Street is?"

"Well, he's from some backwater place—where would he get that kind of information? Don't mock him... Let's drink our tea."

The faint laughter seeped through the door cracks and reached William's ears, but he paid it no mind.

His attention was focused entirely on the notifications flashing before his eyes:

[Audience Expectation Value +1... +1... +1]

"William's Directorial Principles, Article Thirteen:"

"When existing conflicts are clearly established, character relationships can be appropriately used to add emotional flashpoints, manipulating audience emotions and enhancing the satisfaction when the original conflict erupts, even adding delayed conflict payoffs."

William could have simply gone to Frost Spring Street and caused a scene directly, but that would have made the conflict too singular, and the [Audience Expectation Value] wouldn't have increased much...

So he chose to draw the enforcers into the game.

William walked through the ruined front half of Frost Spring Street and arrived at the place where most survivors had gathered... the Black Axe Tavern.

This had always been the most popular gathering place for Frost Spring Street residents. Now, with half the street reduced to rubble, it served as temporary shelter for some. Yesterday, this was where Carl had been humiliated.

But William was not Carl...

He held the investigation forms in one hand and pushed open the tavern door with the other. As the harsh creaking sound echoed, the entire tavern fell into deathly silence.

Countless vicious, cold gazes swept toward the doorway, converging on William.

"Hello, I am Enforcer William..."

"Are you ready to answer my questions?"