As long as you have the courage, fierce ghosts go on maternity leave.

Chapter 206: Undead Bar

"Mist Instance?"

Alexander instinctively looked towards the storage compartment. There, a notice from a mental hospital sat, dated three months later.

"Tell me! What is this mental hospital, and what is the ’Mist Instance’? What’s your objective?" Alexander, with a frown, fixed his gaze intently on Selena and inquired.

The Mist Instance and the mental hospital – Alexander couldn’t help but feel these two incidents were interconnected.

Based on the words of the chosen one who managed to escape the mental hospital shortly before dying, the area surrounding the mental institution was shrouded in mist.

"Why are you asking me like this?" Selena responded, her eyebrows knitting in confusion. "You don’t think I’ve brought you into this instance to set you up, do you? Actually, the invitation to this instance was left by my brother. The main reason he quickly reached the Emperor level was because he entered the Mist Instance ahead of time!

My goal in bringing you to the Mist Instance is to find clues about James. Plus, it’s the only place that produces Abyss Ghost Crystals. If you get your hands on one, your strength will skyrocket."

"The Abyss Ghost Crystal?"

Images of the black crystal that Louis had given Tony after the Dominance Tournament flashed through Alexander’s mind. That single black crystal allowed Tony to become a Ghost King in less than half a day.

The temptation was immense. What Alexander needed now, more than anything, was ghost energy.

"It’s an invitation to the Mist Instance. Whether you trust me or not, I’ll leave it with you. If you want to increase your strength quickly, meet me at the Mist Instance in a week!" Selena, seemingly running out of patience, waved her arm, and the black and white invitation floated towards Alexander.

"I have a question," Alexander spoke after glancing at the notice. "The Blood Queen said that James was an orphan without any siblings. How do you explain that?"

"You might want to ask her about that," Selena responded, slightly frowning. "My brother and I were left at an orphanage’s doorstep when we were young. The Blood Queen doesn’t know about it because James didn’t entirely trust her. Just like Dolly by your side, some people are not as simple as they seem."

"Fine, I’ll accept this invitation," Alexander reached out and took the notice in front of him.

Mist Region Train Express Pass:

Congratulations! By receiving this notice, you are qualified to participate in the Mist Instance. The real world of thrills will open up to you.

Instance initiation countdown: 7 days.

Instance duration: 15 days.

"You’ve made a wise choice. See you on the train in seven days!" Selena smiled and turned to leave.

Alexander, holding the notice, was lost in thought. Accepting the invitation was not just due to the allure of the Ghost Crystal.

Selena felt too familiar, and she clearly harbored no ill intentions. Her repeated insinuations warning him to be wary of Dolly were not something a malicious person would do.

More importantly, Alexander suspected that Selena might be related to a neighbor from his old community.

Selena had come directly to the community where he lived when she initially sought him out.

And about that video — if Isabella was capable of stealthily extracting her own data, how could she leave such an oversight for Selena to capitalize on?

If before such a thought was just a vague guess, this time, Selena’s appearance solidified Alexander’s judgment.

From the time the psychiatric hospital instance appeared, Alexander had suspected that its emergence was not mere coincidence. The disappearance of the community where he once lived confirmed this.

So, when he received that postponement card, he handed it over to the psychiatric hospital instance without hesitation. It was out of caution, exploration, and strategy.

Before the start of the Ghost Street Competition, Alexander never encountered anything related to the psychiatric hospital instance and assumed it was entirely over.

Yet unexpectedly, it was now presented to him through Selena.

Alexander wouldn’t believe Selena’s claim of being James’s sister for a second. Blood Queen had just mentioned James living in an orphanage, and Selena quickly offered an explanation that both siblings were abandoned at the orphanage.

Alexander even suspected she had been watching him in some manner.

With this notice, he was even more convinced.

There’s something about Alexander’s past life, something unique. Both Sofia and Isabella likely have a mission, and sending him into the fog instance is surely a part of it.

While living in the community, Alexander was evidently under some kind of cognitive blockage, failing to notice many peculiarities among the neighbors.

Ever since the community disappeared, Alexander’s thinking returned to normal. Thus, he deduced many details he had overlooked before.

If he’s right, regardless of the dangers this instance may hold, he’s bound to obtain the ghost crystal and experience a surge in power.

The rapid growth in Alexander’s strength, though attributed to his social prowess, also had much to do with the 3,000 ghost coins Sofia had gifted him. Without those, he wouldn’t have raised Su Rong’s favorability to 100 and become a Ghost Lord.

Similarly, without the notification from the Ghost Restaurant, he wouldn’t have gained Blood Queen’s favorability reward and leveraged his Ghost Chef talent to enhance his strength swiftly.

There was even that classmate’s voucher that got him the bottle of red wine.

Linking all these together, the intention behind these gestures became clear.

They want him to gain strength and regain memories of his past life.

This also explains why he accepted the notice without hesitation. What Alexander cares about isn’t the memories of his past life; he’s concerned with the enhancement of his strength.

As the Blood Queen said, strength is the essence of everything.

"This Mist instance seems so eerie, with only seven days left. I must boost my strength to the soldier level! Seems like I have to trouble some ’old friends’ again."

Murmuring to himself, Alexander silently pulled out a black notebook from his pocket.

The notebook recorded numerous instance names, and nearly a hundred of the topmost ones had been crossed out.

Alexander took out a pen and drew a line through one of the names.

Undead Bar!