Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

Friday night, inside the temporary stronghold of the Five Mountains Alliance.

The ashtray was overflowing with cigarette butts, and the acrid smell of burning cigarette butts mixed with the spiciness of strong liquor permeated the airtight study.

Wang Hongyuan held half a cigarette between his fingers, the ash falling onto the spread-out documents, but he was completely unaware, his gaze fixed on Meng Zhaowen's face in the photo.

The photo is from seven years ago. The man is wearing black-rimmed glasses and a faded shirt. He stands at the entrance of the courthouse, holding a file bag that is half his height in his arms, with a stubborn look in his eyes.

At that time, Song Mingzhang reported to him: "Committee Member Wang is just a teacher, he can't cause any trouble. He'll behave himself after three months in a mental hospital."

Now this rock has taken root, pierced the bulletproof glass of Jingyuan Villa, nailed Song Mingzhang to the ruins of Yunyin Villa, and brought three deadly ghosts with them, sneaking all the way to his doorstep.

The documents on the table were spread out all over the table. Liu Zhen's wanted poster was marked "Controls electricity, can use the electric grid to create a range of killings, once penetrated the insulated combat suit and killed eight security guards";

Below Xu Suyuan's photo, there is a red circle that reads, "Space penetration, ability to make the body invisible, ability to throw objects from a distance to break through defenses, and the ability to kill seventy-two Black Stone elites in the battle of Yunyin Manor."

Wang Hongyuan picked up his glass and took a big gulp of the 52-proof liquor. The liquor burned his throat, but he couldn't suppress the chill churning in his stomach.

He has been in politics for over thirty years and has trampled on more people than he has seen ghosts. He has always been the one who has ruined other people's families and caused their deaths. When did it become someone else's turn to hold a knife to his throat?

"Have you found their hideout?"

Zhong Lin's voice came from the doorway. He was wearing a black trench coat, the cuffs damp with the dew of the night, and the coldness on his face was even more intense than the moonlight outside the window.

"We've deployed all the law enforcement forces in the province, checking hotels, rental houses, abandoned factories, and under bridges one by one." Wang Hongyuan stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, the metal sizzling softly from the heat. "It's been three days, and we haven't found a single clue. They don't travel by car, don't stay in hotels, don't use cell phones, and don't pass through any checkpoints. The official law enforcement forces can't find them."

Silence fell over the room.

The clock on the wall ticked away, each tick like a blow to Wang Hongyuan's nerves.

He recalled the corpses scattered all over the ground at Yunyin Manor, and Song Mingzhang, impaled by tree roots, his eyes wide open, dying with his eyes wide open.

"The horse farm tomorrow afternoon, is it absolutely necessary?" Wang Hongyuan stood up and walked to the window. He pulled the curtains open a crack, and the streets outside were deserted, without a single shadow. Yet, he felt as if countless eyes were watching him from the shadows.

"You absolutely have to go." Zhong Lin's tone left no room for negotiation. "The people from Xiongbei Company are arriving tomorrow. They have some interesting things related to the supernatural. Headquarters is very interested, and both of us must be there."

The name Xiongbei Company hit Wang Hongyuan like a stone.

He was certainly aware of this force entrenched in the northern part of the Federation. Their biological laboratories were among the best in the country, and they held many drug samples that were coveted by various countries.

If this cooperation succeeds, his status in the Five Mountains Society will rise another level. If he doesn't go, he will ruin the headquarters' plans, and his fate will not be much better than Song Mingzhang's.

"I've increased security." Wang Hongyuan tapped lightly on the window frame with his fingers, each tap corresponding to a point in the security deployment. "Three layers of defense, eight bodyguards, all veterans transferred from Blackstone International."

"Two snipers are stationed in the guard tower, using anti-materiel sniper rifles with an effective range of two kilometers. There are twenty-four patrol posts, which complete a round every half hour. All vehicles entering and leaving undergo three checks: license plate, face, and trunk. Signal jammers are installed in the rest area, and drones are prohibited from flying within a two-kilometer radius."

He paused, then lowered his voice, "But these things can't stop them."

The security at Jingyuan Villa was even tighter than here, with insulated combat suits, all-polymer firearms, and electromagnetic jammers. And what was the result?

Liu Zhen's electric arc pierced the entire power grid, and Meng Zhaowen's vines sprouted from the ground, blocking all the exits. More than a hundred mercenaries didn't even have a chance to retreat and all of them became fertilizer.

"We have to stop them even if we can't." Zhong Lin walked to his side, also looking out the window. Moonlight fell on his profile, half bright and half dark. "Headquarters' order is to capture the samples alive. We don't care how many lives we lose."

His younger brother, Zhong Heng, died in the explosion at the Nanshan Nursing Home; his body was never recovered, not even a single fragment.

The abilities of those extraordinary individuals were like a fire, keeping him awake at night. More than anyone else, he wanted to capture them, dissect their brains, and see what was inside, and how they could have disrupted the Five Mountains Alliance's plans so thoroughly.

"Do you think they'll come?" Wang Hongyuan turned to look at him, his eyes filled with barely concealed fear.

Zhong Lin remained silent for a moment, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the black token in the pocket of his trench coat. It was the highest emblem of the Five Mountains Society, personally bestowed upon him by the leader, and the patterns on the edge of the token had been worn shiny by his touch.

"They will definitely come." His voice was steady, with an almost obsessive certainty. "I don't know when they will make their move, or where they will do it. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next month, maybe here, maybe somewhere else."

He turned his head, his gaze falling on Wang Hongyuan's face, his eyes as cold as ice. "But as long as they dare to show their faces, I want to see with my own eyes what these extraordinary individuals are capable of."

Neither of them spoke again.

Moonlight streamed through the window, falling on the documents on the floor. A corner of Meng Zhaowen's photo was lifted by the wind, revealing Liu Zhen's wanted poster underneath. The man in the photo had cold eyes and was clutching a family photo in his hand, with bloodstains on the side that had dried to a dark brown.

Fear and greed mingled in the air, like two serpents flicking their tongues, coiling around the necks of the two men, suffocating them.

------

At 2:50 p.m. the next day, a dilapidated van turned off the provincial highway onto a side road leading to Qingyun Horse Ranch.

The paint on the truck body was chipped, and the front of the truck was covered with dead mosquitoes, making it look like a long-haul freight truck.

Liu Zhen gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white from the force.

He pressed the accelerator steadily, the engine hummed softly, and his gaze swept across the security checkpoint ahead. A barrier stood across the middle of the road, and two officers on duty stood outside the guard post.

Meng Zhaowen, sitting in the passenger seat, had her eyes closed, her palm pressed against the car door. Thin, hair-like vines sprouted from between her fingers, climbing down the car body and probing for any movement by the roadside.

In the back row of the cargo pile, Xu Suyuan leaned against a piece of cardboard, twirling a coin that had been polished to a shine between her fingers. The serrated edges of the metal grazed her skin, providing a distinct tactile sensation.

Lin Shen sat next to her, his face still a little pale. The wound on his left arm had been dressed and the gauze was wrapped neatly. He closed his eyes, as if he was resting, but the silver-white seed deep in his consciousness had already lit up, ready to spread at any time.