Forgath gave Ning a curious look. "I arrived here a little while ago. It will be a week tomorrow."
"Thatās interesting," Ning said. "You see, that happens to coincide with the date when I was poisoned and nearly killed. Would you know anything about that?"
The group went silent. Forgathās expression hardened as he stared at Ning with no mirth to his face.
"Do I hear an accusation?" the Imp asked.
"You can hear what you want. Iām just saying there is a coincidence," Ning said.
The Imp scoffed. "Thatās a grave accusation if youāre making one. Itās even teetering on racism, wouldnāt you say? Calling me, an Imp, for being at fault that someone tried to poison you, just because I happened to arrive in this city around the same time."
Ning smiled. "Maybe. Is your assistant here? I would like to meet her. What was her name again, Jolly Savant?"
"Sheās not here."
"Ah, is that so?" Ning asked, taking out his cellphone and called a number. He waited a few seconds and smiled. He could hear a tiny buzz coming from the imp before him. He had expected to find his assistant, but it seemed he was wrong about who had the phone.
Forgathās face twisted in panic, but he tried not to show it.
"What?" Ning asked. "Are you not going to take that call?"
Forgath waited a moment before grabbing his phone out and ending the call. He looked at Ning, the panic changing to anger. "Ok. I see youāve found my number somehow. I donāt know how you got it, but I will ask that you delete that number. I do not want you calling me again."
Ning chuckled. "Thatās fine. I really just need one answer. Are you Number 5, or do you just work for him?"
The few billionaires and heroes there couldnāt understand the context behind their talk, but they could sense a conflict brewing. They turned toward Forgath, looking forward to seeing how he would respond to Ningās question.
"I have no need to answer your question. I donāt like the way you talk to me, I will ask to be excused. Please do not contact me again," the Imp said and turned around to leave.
"Iām afraid I canāt comply, Mr. Forgath. You see, once you leave this venue, we will meet again," Ning said. "And this time, I wonāt be as friendly." He gave the widest smile he could give the imp as he turned around with an ugly look.
Ning raised his glass. "Enjoy the rest of the party."
Then he walked away.
The people were left watching in stunned silence as they just realized that Ning had explicitly threatened one of the richest men in the party.
Emily quickly caught up to him. "What the hell are you doing?" she asked.
"Just taking care of some business," Ning said.
"By threatening the head of a media conglomerate? Do you understand what this means for your rating? Not a single reporter will ever want you on their show. Not a one will let your news flow through their station. You will effectively be banned from all news, and your ratings will plummet. Think what that will do to your ranking."
Ning shrugged. "I kinda donāt care," he said, turning to look at her. "Tell me, if someone tried to kill you over and over, would you stand down just because theyāre a billionaire?"
The woman froze, shock filling her. "Are you saying that he..."
"Iām not sure if he is the one who ordered it, but Iām now sure he is part of it," Ning said. "Iāll find out more soon enough."
Emily seemed to find it hard to stay with him after what he had done, so she stepped away from him and excused herself for the time being. He could understand her worries, so he didnāt think much about it.
Ning walked around the party, meeting other people that had arrived later. Prism-Eye walked toward him, with a strange look on his face.
"Hey there! We meet again."
Ning smiled. "Hey. Thanks for your help back then."
The man shook his head. "That was no big deal. Honestly. I wish I knew who you were back then. I wouldāve helped you a lot more."
"Itās even better that you helped me while you didnāt know who I was," Ning said. "Iām even more thankful."
Prism-Eye couldnāt help but smile.
"Whatās up with your costume? I expected to see more colors than this."
Prism-Eye was wearing an event-appropriate suit and tie. The suit itself was blue, but aside from that, there wasnāt much color at all.
"I only need colors for my power. Whatās the point of that in this place where everything is suppressed?" the man asked.
"Is that so?"
He talked with the man for a while longer before the president walked by Ning, taking him away.
"Why am I hearing rumors of you threatening Forgath?" the man asked.
"Because itās true," Ning answered. "I did do that."
The president nearly tripped in his steps, catching himself in time and turning toward Ning. "What did you say?"
"I said that itās true. I threatened him."
The president was speechless. He stared at Ning for a good few minutes before he even had the thought to question him.
"But why?"
"Because heās the one thatās trying to kill me," Ning answered. "You have heard about the incident in the hotel and at the hero trial, right? My lifeās been targeted twice, and this man is behind it."
The president couldnāt believe it. "How do you know that?"
"That one gnome in my press conference today that asked me that weird question, he was asking if I wanted to join their secret organization; the same one which the vampire chick I killed above the river belonged to. I followed him, saw him call this number, and tracked it to Forgathās assistant, only to find that he actually carries that phone."
The president didnāt know what to say. "But... why? Why would they kill you?"
"Because theyāve seen the future and know that Iāll kill them all."