SSS-level catastrophe? That's my wife!

"After the old man escaped from them, he was confused for most of the time. When he was lucid, he would only say a few words, in a broken and intermittent way. I couldn't get the truth of what happened back then from him at all."

"And that battle 25 years ago directly disrupted the peak combat power of Zhen'eting. None of those who knew the truth survived."

"The reinforcements that followed were all new recruits, thankfully..." He looked at Lin Mu, "thankfully, you're still alive."

Gu Canggang lit a cigarette, took a puff, and frowned: "Why am I getting more and more confused? I've never heard you mention these things before."

Qinghe was completely bewildered; he had never heard of these things before.

"You've said so much, but what exactly happened 25 years ago?" Lin Mu pressed, his tone serious.

Zhao Shanhe glanced at the three of them and said seriously, "I don't know."

Gu Cang coughed violently from the smoke, Qing He's lips twitched, and Lin Mu's face turned dark.

"But what happened last night made the Green King feel threatened, and the forces behind him will definitely slowly surface."

"Unless absolutely necessary, our identities must not be revealed. What we lack is time," Zhao Shanhe said in a deep voice.

Lin Mu sighed: "Is there really no way to get the old man completely sober?"

Zhao Shanhe shook his head: "We've tried everything... It's probably because of what happened back then; the trauma it left on him is too great."

"Let's put this topic aside for now," Zhao Shanhe changed the subject, "During this period, the forces formerly under the Red King have been active in various places."

"Two things surprised me: First, they never hurt ordinary people."

"Secondly, with the Red King dead, who are these forces taking orders from?"

Lin Mu paused for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Mutants are also human beings, and they can be good or evil. Since they haven't harmed ordinary people, we can ignore them for now."

"That's true," Zhao Shanhe said with a smile, trying to smooth things over. "Alright, let's eat and chat. We'll finally get to taste Chef Gu's cooking!"

Gu Cang looked completely bewildered: "Me?"

Zhao Shanhe looked at Lin Mu with a puzzled expression: "Hmm?"

Qinghe interjected at the opportune moment: "Chief, the vegetables are all chopped."

Lin Mu smiled and turned to look at Gu Cang: "Let's begin, Chef Gu."

"Make whatever you want, we'll eat whatever you make."

"Holy crap!" Gu Cang was stunned, then quickly made an excuse: "I suddenly remembered I have something to do today..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lin Mu had already placed his hand on his shoulder, his tone sincere: "Brother, you're the only one among the four of us who can cook."

"Haha, if you have something to do, just cook the food before you leave," Zhao Shanhe added.

"I second that," Qinghe nodded in agreement.

Gu Cang's face darkened completely. He got up and walked towards the kitchen, leaving without looking back, saying, "Just wait and see if I'll use some serious stuff on you!"

……

10:30 PM, Mingcheng, the core area of ​​Xiangyun District.

The five-story Weihu Shopping Mall stands quietly.

The mall had just closed, and staff were leaving one after another with their bags, the glass doors slowly closing behind them.

A moment later, the lights in the mall went out one floor at a time, with only the top floor still lit by a dim, warm glow.

At that moment, three hurried footsteps echoed in the fifth-floor corridor, and the three people stopped almost simultaneously outside a door.

"Knock, knock, knock!" A person quickly knocked on the door with their fingertips.

"I already told you, there's no need to knock if it's urgent!"

A deep voice came from inside the room, and the door was immediately pulled open from the inside. The three of them quickly squeezed in.

"Tiger, the mall is surrounded!"

One person spoke urgently, slamming their laptop down on the desk and pointing at the monitor screen, adding, "Judging by this, there must be several hundred people!"

Qiu Hu's face suddenly darkened, and his eyes were fixed on the footage on the monitor.

The gray-robed figures surrounding the mall were gradually approaching in a fan shape.

"Is this Zhen'erting or Bai Zhou's people?" He slammed his hand on the table before he finished speaking. "No! These people… damn it, how did we suddenly get exposed?"

He glanced at the three men, his tone grim: "Have you recruited any new members in the last few days?"

The man on the left quickly bowed and replied, "Brother Tiger, I gained another person under my command yesterday."

"Get this man here right now!" Qiu Hu said coldly, his knuckles cracking as he clenched his fists.

"Yes!" The man immediately took out his phone and dialed, but after making three calls in a row...

His face grew even paler, and he looked at Qiu Hu with guilt: "Brother Hu... he's gone."

The air fell silent instantly. Qiu Hu stared intently at the surveillance footage as the gray-robed figures drew closer and closer to the mall…

One of them broke the silence: "Tiger, should we choose a way to escape?"

"Escape? I'm Qiu Hu!"

Before the words were finished, a loud bang came from outside the window—"Boom!"

The glass main entrance on the first floor of the mall was smashed open, and amidst the flying debris, a dense group of figures in gray robes surged in.

The leader exuded the pressure of a seventh-level initial realm cultivator and said in a deep voice, "This operation requires no survivors; leave no one alive."

"Up! Up there!" a gray-robed man roared, pointing to the ceiling.

Nearly a hundred figures suddenly leaped down, their bodies twisting in mid-air, their skin peeling back, their fangs protruding, instantly transforming into calamities.

"Leave not a single one alive? I'll return that compliment to you!"

Qiu Hu leaped down from the fifth floor, and two gray tail wings suddenly unfolded on his back. With the flapping of his wings, hundreds of gray light blades blasted towards the gray-robed man, but they were all blocked by the two people in front of him.

Qiu Hu's pupils constricted slightly: "Just two early-stage seventh-tier cultivators? I'll take them on by myself! Follow me and fight your way through!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the three people behind him transformed into three giant monsters, their roars instantly echoing throughout the entire mall.

"Chou Hu, a remnant of the Red King's forces, today is your death day!"

"boom--"

The longsword clashed violently with the gray tail fin, sparks flew, and the stench of blood instantly filled the entire mall.

……

After a while.

Zhenbei City, the top floor of Wunian Building.

Yu Ning quickly pushed open the door, her voice slightly breathless: "Sister, Qiu Hu has sent back a message!"

She breathed a sigh of relief and added, "But only a small number of people escaped with Qiu Hu's serious injuries; the rest..."

"It was a new recruit from Mingcheng who betrayed them yesterday."

Su Nianhe's face suddenly darkened, and a terrifying killing intent burst forth from her eyes: "After Xiong Hei met them, he brought them to Zhenbei City. The world is very unstable these days."

"Also, give the order that, for nearly a month..."

She paused, her voice cold: "In the past two months, all the new recruits under my command have been placed under strict control and thoroughly investigated."

"From now on, we will no longer admit any new people."

"Yes!" Yu Ning bowed and quietly closed the door.

Su Nianhe was the only one left in the room.

She slowly rose, her red dress swaying slightly with each step, her silver-white high heels clicking crisply on the marble floor.

She walked to the flower stand by the window, where the bouquets were carefully tended and in full bloom, with water droplets still clinging to the petals.

"It's the kingdom's doing again."

Her voice was low: "What is their ultimate goal?"

"What was the meaning of the Black Queen's dying words, 'forced into a corner'? Given the current state of the kingdom, who could possibly have driven her to that point?"

"Even a national envoy could not possibly possess such power that she would be so afraid of him."

Her eyes held a complex expression: "In this absurd world, truth is falsehood, and falsehood is truth."

"When people climb to the top, they are only stepping into an even bigger cage."

She gently touched the petals with her delicate hand, her voice growing increasingly cold: "There must be an even more terrifying dark hand manipulating this world."

"Ha... In an era where human life is as worthless as grass, only those who stand at the top and become the rule-makers can truly be free."

As soon as she finished speaking, her gaze returned to the bouquet.

The coldness in his eyes faded away, his expression softened, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

Her red lips parted slightly, her tone tinged with a hint of reproach: "You, Lin Mu, always putting on a stern face. Your heart is practically pounding out of your chest, yet you pretend to be calm. Humph!"

As she spoke, she picked up one of the flowers, which was still wet with water droplets, and gently flicked the petals with her delicate hand, her voice soft: "Next time you see me, smile at me more, okay?"

"Okay!" Lin Mu raised his glass.

His gaze swept over the three people opposite him, a smile playing on his lips: "Today, I'll do as you say—we won't leave until we're drunk!"

Zhao Shanhe laughed heartily: "Haha, that's right! The so-called three or five close friends, drinking and chatting happily, is one of the greatest joys in life."

Gu Cang smiled faintly, raised his wine glass, and asked in a hoarse voice, "What are we toasting this time? How much should we drink?"

Qinghe immediately raised his wine glass, his tone serious: "I'll follow Chief Ting's lead! Whatever Chief Ting drinks, I'll drink!"