Suya dispatched four people to escort Amandine back to Tanzania. He attempted to contact the city-state’s first Holy Virgin, Gero, a woman with whom he had fought alongside. Although they had previously had conflicts, with a greater threat looming, those past grievances had become unimportant. However, Amandine didn’t realize that Gero and some loyal elder council members were in dire straits; they had all been placed under house arrest. The messages he sent out seemed to vanish without a trace. What should he do? He was growing increasingly anxious, feeling utterly helpless.
At that moment, he recalled the invisible robots that had been with Norforth. After Norforth's death, these robots had become ownerless. If he could obtain them, he could potentially turn the tide in his favor. The only people who knew of their existence were himself and Norforth, so they should be untraceable. To locate these robots, he needed to journey to "Ardabusha Island," the site of the sub-city. This would not be easy, but just as he was racking his brain over it, the arrival of a certain person brought him hope—Bald Qiang.
“How did you find me here?” Amandine asked.
Bald Qiang smiled, “You just arrived in Tanzania, and the Illuminati already knows about it. The president wants to have a word with you. Are you interested?”
“What does he want with me?”
“That, I can’t say. You’ll have to ask him yourself.”
“What if I refuse to go?”
“That’s not really up to you.” At that moment, Bald Qiang noticed Amandine was missing an arm. “Hey! Where’s your left arm?”
Amandine replied coldly, “My son cut it off.”
Bald Qiang did not care about Amandine's troubles; he had only asked out of curiosity. “Let’s go; no need to turn this into an unpleasant encounter.”
“Are you really devoted to Corey now?”
“What? Are you thinking of resisting?” Amandine lowered his voice and said, “I have a trump card that Norforth left behind. If we collaborate again, we could kill Corey.”
“What is it?” Bald Qiang asked, but in his mind, he was becoming anxious. He had lost faith in Amandine after their last collaboration ended poorly when Amandine got captured by the Illuminati. Amandine hesitated over whether to reveal the truth, and Bald Qiang grew impatient. “Are you going to tell me or not?”
“There’s an invisible robot with Norforth. After he died, only I know how to find it, but we need to return to Ardabusha Island.” Amandine held back part of the truth; the invisible robots he referred to numbered sixty and were called "Guardians," created by his father, Ronnie, during the establishment of the city-state.
Bald Qiang’s face lit up with excitement. “Really?”
“Of course, why would I lie to you?” After a brief pause, he added, “But can you help me get back to Ardabusha Island?”
“That’s absolutely no problem. The president is waiting for you on the island.” Amandine did not bring anyone along and followed Bald Qiang alone. Along the way, Bald Qiang tried various indirect questions to pry information about the invisible robots, but Amandine feigned ignorance and dodged the topic. This created a rift in their trust. The secret of the invisible robots was a core mystery of the city-state, and now that Bald Qiang was aware of it, Amandine felt the urge to eliminate him once he located the robots. Bald Qiang had similar thoughts; he wanted to kill Amandine and monopolize the robots. Thus, both of them set out for Ardabusha Island with their own hidden agendas.
As they plotted against one another, Corey had different plans in store. Upon their arrival at the island, Amandine was captured and locked in the city-state prison. It took two weeks before he saw Corey again, this time in the center of “Dream Square” in the sub-city. Corey greeted him with a laugh, “Amandine, this is our fourth meeting, and each time you come as a different person. The first time, I invited you to join the Illuminati. The second time, you were my subordinate. The third time, you stormed out in anger from the Illuminati, and now you’ve become my prisoner. Your fate is certainly quite tragic.”
Amandine held no sentimentality; his expression remained impassive. “Did you kill Norforth?”
“What if I did? Do you still want revenge for him? Don’t forget you’re just a disabled individual now.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I know that you and Norforth are both from the future. Look at this item first.”
Amandine was taken aback when he saw what Corey held. “The Time Phone!” he blurted out, instantly regretting his impulsive remark.
Corey chuckled. “So you do know about it. I suppose your stock trading skills come from this device, right?”
Amandine neither nodded nor spoke. He had already figured out what Corey wanted. Corey continued, “I’ve made many calls. The first person I connected with was a girl, but I haven’t been able to reach her since. I want to know what kind of person she is to you and why she only shares future information with you.”
“What did she tell you?” Amandine couldn’t help but ask.
“Not much. She only asked who I was. As soon as I answered, she hung up.”
“Well! Then your calls are useless; she must have put you on her blacklist.”
Suddenly, Corey's demeanor changed. He pointed at Amandine. “Search him.” As he finished speaking, four guards from the city-state rushed in.
Amandine felt powerless as they stripped him naked to search him, like a bird with a wounded wing. They found some Thai baht and a few thousand shillings from him. “Where’s your Time Phone?” Corey demanded angrily.
Amandine had given the Time Phone to Uwa, and he certainly wasn't going to reveal that, so he clamped his mouth shut.
“Not willing to talk? Or do you want to test my methods?”
“Even if you find my phone, do you think the girl on the other end will help you?” Amandine retorted.
“So it seems only your mouth can guarantee anything?” Corey replied.
“Of course.” Amandine emphasized his importance as a means of survival.
Corey began to grow impatient. “Stop wasting time. Where’s your Time Phone?”
“I lost it a long time ago; otherwise, I wouldn’t be in this situation.”
“It appears you’re of no use anymore and have lost your chance at survival.”
Hearing this, Amandine quickly called out, “My Time Phone was taken from me in Thailand by someone named Ludes. You Illuminati people should know him.”
“Alright, I’ll look into it, but I hope you’re telling the truth.”
Once their conversation ended, Amandine was locked back in prison. At that moment, regret washed over him; he felt like a sheep entering a tiger's den, anxiously hoping for Bald Qiang to come to his rescue. Perhaps sensing his despair, Bald Qiang did indeed appear, but instead of rushing to save him, he proposed a condition. “Tell me how to summon the robots, and I’ll bring them to rescue you.”
“Bald Qiang, it’s not that I don’t trust you, but the robots will only respond to commands from their master. You won’t be able to do anything.” This time Amandine spoke the truth, but Bald Qiang did not believe him.
“Then I can’t help you.” Bald Qiang turned and walked away.