Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

Song Mingzhang stared at Han Dongcheng's number on his phone screen for a long time, but ultimately did not dial it.

No one told Han Dongcheng, "You've been abandoned."

No one told him, "We'll watch you die."

But from that day on, Zhong Lin transferred a high-orbit reconnaissance satellite controlled by the Five Mountains Society headquarters, Wang Hongyuan used his connections to coordinate this hidden building as an observation center, and Song Mingzhang arranged for technical agents to set up optical equipment on the mountainside.

From that day on, Han Dongcheng's life or death was converted into the price of intelligence.

And now, what's being delivered on the screen is the intelligence they traded their lives for.

For two whole hours, the three of them did not utter a single word.

It wasn't until the surveillance footage from the underground parking garage showed dense vines sprouting from the ground and tightly binding Han Dongcheng's two-ton bulletproof car that Song Mingzhang, sitting in the middle, finally spoke slowly.

His finger pointed at the image of Jiang Jianping lying on the screen, his fingertips trembling slightly as he suppressed a certain fervor: "Jiang Jianping was wearing the highest level of insulated combat suit. I've seen the test report; it can withstand 500,000 volts of high voltage for three seconds without breaking down."

"But look at his death—there were no signs of electric shock or burns on his body, his pupils were dilated, and he exhibited the typical characteristics of cardiac arrest."

He looked up at the other two, his voice filled with undisguised shock: "His ability isn't just ordinary electrical discharge. He's manipulating the body's own bioelectricity. Insulating suits can block external currents, but they can't block the electricity generated from within your own bones."

Sitting to Song Mingzhang's left, Wang Hongyuan remained silent. He swiped his finger across the touchscreen, bringing up a map of the entire Jingyuan Villa's power grid, and then overlaid Liu Zhen's movement trajectory on it.

Those tracks almost perfectly followed the direction of the high-voltage power supply line, and each stop was at the intersection of underground cables.

"Look at his route," Wang Hongyuan said in a deep voice. "He's not just wandering around randomly; he's using the entire building's electrical grid to power himself."

"The coupled electric field attack that dealt with the eight security guards previously consumed the equivalent of ten minutes of the entire building's total load. If it relied solely on its own biomass energy conversion, it would be impossible to support such a high-intensity release."

He tapped the location of the power distribution room on the screen with his fingertip, his eyes cold: "Isolate him from the power grid, and his abilities will be at least halved."

Zhong Lin, who was sitting in the main seat, nodded. He was wearing a black combat uniform with no insignia on his shoulder straps. His face was hidden in the shadow of the screen, with only his hard jawline showing.

He was a special envoy sent to Lieyang Province by the headquarters of the Five Mountains Society. He took over the extraordinary affairs of the entire province and was ruthless in his actions. Even Wang Hongyuan, a powerful figure in the region, had to give him some leeway.

"To deal with him, cutting off the power is the basics," Zhong Lin said. "And we can't let him get close to the power distribution room. He's been an electrician for fifteen years, and his familiarity with the power system is ten times greater than the security guards we've hired. If he manages to get his hands on the main distribution cabinet, the entire power grid of the resort will become his weapon."

The three men's gazes returned to the screen, which just then cut to the moment when the eight security guards fired simultaneously—the ceramic warheads whistled towards Liu Zhen, only to be blocked by the vine shields that suddenly exploded from the ceiling.

Those dark green branches grew wildly at a visible speed, intertwining to form an impenetrable wall. Eight bullets fired at them only splashed a few drops of dark green sap.

Wang Hongyuan's pupils contracted slightly as he zoomed in on the image. The cross-section of the vine fibers torn apart by the bullet was clearly visible: "Half a second. From breaking through the ground to completing a half-meter-thick shield, it only took half a second. It can even penetrate concrete; how deep can its roots go?"

"It's not about manipulating existing plants, it's about stimulating their growth." Song Mingzhang's face was also very ugly. He remembered the phone call Han Dongcheng had made to him a few days ago, saying in a panicked tone, "I always feel like there are countless eyes watching me." At the time, he thought Han Dongcheng was just being paranoid, but now it seems that those "eyes" were the plants all over the mountains and fields.

"As long as there are seeds and soil, he can make weapons anytime, anywhere. Han Dongcheng's feeling of being 'spyed on' is not an illusion; these plants are seeing and hearing for him."

Zhong Lin tapped his fingers on the table, making a crisp sound: "Plants are his eyes, his ears, his hands. To catch him, you must first blind him."

These words were like a stone thrown into calm water, plunging the secret room into silence once more.

None of the three were fools. Having lived to this position, their hands were stained with blood no less than any of the Avengers'. They understood better than anyone what the "unknown" meant.

Electric abilities are already troublesome enough, able to ignore insulating suits and manipulate power grids, and now there's another plant-type ability user who can grow plants and is omnipresent.

What's even more terrifying is that these two weren't fighting alone; their cooperation was seamless—one charged in the open, while the other covered them from the shadows. Even the most elite security teams were like paper in front of them.

"Look at their division of labor." Zhong Lin reached out and tapped the two screens on the left and right at the same time. The heat source representing Meng Zhaowen on the left screen was always moving on the periphery, while the heat source representing Liu Zhen had rushed to the door of Han Dongcheng's bedroom.

"The plant-based character didn't enter the main battlefield at all; he stayed outside, providing vision, blocking retreat routes, and collecting corpses. The electric-based character just kept killing; he knew someone was covering for him, so he dared to charge and fight, not even dodging a volley of eight guns."

Zhong Lin's tone turned serious: "This isn't a hastily assembled ragtag group. They have coordinated training, a clear division of labor, and a tacit understanding that's bound to face death together."

"And that plant-themed one has never shown her face." Song Mingzhang pulled up all the pictures of Meng Zhaowen. In each one, the person was either wearing a high-necked trench coat that covered half of her face, or standing in the shadows, so her features were not even visible.

"He was too cautious; he didn't reveal any identifiable features throughout the entire process. We still don't know what he looks like, how old he is, or what his identity is."

Wang Hongyuan frowned even more deeply: "What if there's a third one..."

The three remained silent.

Song Mingzhang slid his finger across the touchscreen and brought up Liu Zhen's file. The man in the photo was wearing work clothes and had a kind and honest smile, completely different from the murderous god surrounded by electric arcs on the screen.

"The electrical engineering department has identified Liu Zhen, a former senior electrical engineer at Longteng Power. Three years ago, an accident occurred during the power renovation project in the new district that he was in charge of. His wife and son died on the spot. He was subsequently wanted by the police and has been out of contact ever since."

Song Mingzhang paused, his tone complex, "The source of the ability matches up: extreme hatred, coupled with a lifetime of professional accumulation, which is completely consistent with the awakening logic of Han Xiao and Li Rui."

"What about the plant-based one?" Wang Hongyuan asked.

Song Mingzhang shook his head and pulled up a list of all the people involved in the power grid renovation project three years ago: "No matching file can be found. But he acted with Liu Zhen, and the targets were all participants in the project back then, which means he was also a victim of that project. He's either a family member, a witness, or someone involved in that incident back then. If we follow this line, we'll eventually find him."