Chapter 1166:

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Ian’s face drained of all color. “Did it fail again? Why? Why does every single thing I attempt end in failure?”

He let out a roar of pure anguish, the sound echoing off the basement walls.

When Theo had died, Lyndon had moved heaven and earth to recover his body, preserving it in cryogenic storage all these years, waiting for the day when the Rebirth reagent would finally be perfected.

But now the formula had been destroyed, and with it, their last shred of hope had shattered into nothing.

In the city of Azuril.

“Ah!”

A figure bolted upright in bed, gasping for air, eyes wild with shock and disorientation.

The man’s gaze darted frantically around the unfamiliar space. He was in a plain, modest apartment — nothing like anywhere he remembered.

“I died,” he whispered to the empty room. “I know I died.”

R𝗈𝘮а𝘯cе 𝗮ո𝖽 р𝘢ѕ𝘀іo𝗻 oո 𝗀𝗮𝗹𝗇𝗼𝗏e𝘭ѕ.с𝗼m

He stared down at his hands, flexing his fingers, feeling genuine warmth and strength coursing through them. A slow, incredulous smirk spread across his face. “Unbelievable. I’ve actually been reborn.”

He swung his legs off the bed and walked unsteadily to the bathroom.

When he caught sight of the reflection staring back at him — a young, unfamiliar face, maybe mid-twenties — his expression twisted with confusion and anger. “Whose face is this? I should have been reborn in my own body! Why the hell am I trapped in someone else’s?”

He returned to the bedroom, and his eyes immediately landed on a termination letter and an empty prescription bottle of sleeping pills sitting on the nightstand.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. I got reborn into the body of some pathetic nobody who killed himself?” His voice dripped with contempt. “But no matter. I’m alive again — that’s what matters. Brayden, Gracie… I wonder if you’re ready for my grand return?”

Meanwhile, Gracie emerged from the fortune teller’s place in a daze, her mental state clearly rattled by the man’s ominous predictions.

The driver quickly stepped out of the car and moved toward her with concern. “Are you feeling alright? You look pale. Should I drive you directly to the hospital?”

Gracie shook her head mutely and climbed into the back seat.

She pulled out her phone with trembling hands and found a new message from Eaton.

“Since you’ve completed our arrangement, come to Holt Group headquarters immediately.”

The car pulled away from the curb and merged smoothly into traffic, heading toward the city center.

At Holt Group, Eaton sat in his leather chair, waiting.

On his desk, his phone screen glowed with the message Gracie had sent two hours earlier confirming the reagent was complete.

“Some people need to be pushed to the very brink before they’ll act,” he murmured to himself.

He picked up a photograph of himself and Theo. “Soon, I’ll bring you back, Theo. And this time, I swear I won’t let you make the same mistakes. I won’t let you choose the wrong path again.”

A sharp knock interrupted his thoughts, and the office door swung open.

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