Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

Old Ding pulled the sleeve and simultaneously took a step to the left to create distance—there were no cracks underfoot, so Shen Hanzhou did not launch a ground attack at the same time.

Shen Hanzhou twirled the five fingers of his right hand in the air.

The shotgun barrel began to turn to powder from the muzzle, with the iron-gray powder spreading down the barrel to the receiver and stock.

Old Ding looked down as the gun in his hand turned to dust inch by inch, the dust dripping from between his fingers.

He discarded the remains of the rifle butt and drew his spare pistol from his waist.

No refund.

Shen Hanzhou pressed down with his right hand.

The terrazzo floor beneath Lao Ding's feet collapsed entirely.

The moment the crack appeared beneath his feet, Lao Ding jumped to the right, but the crack spread much faster than he had anticipated—it wasn't just one crack, but a circular collapse zone with a diameter of two meters burst open simultaneously.

He landed in the collapse zone and fell downwards.

Cement powder surged up from the bottom of the pit, enveloping his legs, waist, and chest.

Old Ding gritted his teeth as cement engulfed his chest, without screaming, his eyes fixed on Shen Hanzhou.

"You killed—twelve people—for one woman—"

That woman is my life.

The cement engulfed Lao Ding's neck, mouth, and head.

Old Ding was trapped inside the elevator lobby floor, with only his face looming on the terrazzo floor.

His eyes were still open, and his expression was one of resentment.

Shen Hanzhou looked down at Lao Ding's corpse and took out a photo of his senior sister.

"Senior sister, the thirteenth."

He squatted down and reached out to close Old Ding's wide-open eyelids.

"You've paid back what you owed Zheng Daoyuan. He still hasn't paid back what he owes me. Rest in peace."

He stood up and stepped over Old Ding's body.

Shen Hanzhou did not go up to the ninth floor.

He turned and walked quickly up to the third floor via the fire escape.

In the third-floor corridor, Liang Weigang climbed onto the balcony.

He had a bloody gash on his leg from a cement cone on the inside of the balcony railing. Seeing the cement cones scattered all over the ground, he realized that Shen Hanzhou knew he had climbed over the wall.

He jumped over the concrete cones and crept along the wall toward the stairwell.

He held the stun gun in front of him and a flash trip mine in his left hand.

When I reached the corner of the stairs on the third floor, the wall suddenly cracked.

A piece of cement was forced out of the wall and hit him.

Liang Wei leaned back to avoid it, and a piece of cement grazed his nose as it hit the opposite wall and shattered into powder.

A second piece of cement fell from the ceiling and hit his right shoulder, causing him excruciating pain in his shoulder joint and causing him to drop the stun gun.

He picked up the stun gun, switched to holding it in his left hand, and continued uphill.

Upon reaching the corner on the fourth floor, the walls of the stairwell cracked continuously, and four cement cones shot out simultaneously from different directions.

He dodged two of them to the side, and the third grazed his ribs, tearing his coat.

The fourth needle pierced his left thigh, and he knelt down on one knee.

Shen Hanzhou walked down from the corner of the fifth floor, his right hand with the five fingers spread open.

Liang Wei knelt on the steps, his left leg nailed with a cement cone, blood flowing down his trouser leg.

He raised the stun gun with his left hand.

"You knew you were going to die when you climbed in."

"Know."

"Then why did you come up here?"

"Brother Ding is dead. He owed Mr. Zheng a life, and I owe Mr. Zheng a life too. Brother Ding has repaid his debt, and I can't owe Brother Ding anything."

"What's your name?"

"Liang Wei".

Shen Hanzhou pressed down with his right hand.

The step where Liang Wei was kneeling crumbled and collapsed, causing him to fall downwards.

Cement powder surged up from the bottom of the pit, covering his knees, waist, chest, neck, mouth, and head.

Liang Wei was trapped in the fourth-floor staircase, with only his head sticking out from the edge of the steps.

His face was covered in cement dust and tears, but his expression was calm.

Shen Hanzhou stepped over Liang Wei's head and headed towards the ninth floor.

The fourteenth. One died to pay off a debt, the other died for loyalty.

These are all consumables for Zheng Daoyuan.

Shen Hanzhou stood at the door of Room 902.

The old injury in my left shoulder was throbbing with pain. I had killed fourteen people in a row by using my abilities, and both my mental and physical strength were being depleted.

He raised his hand and pressed the doorbell.

Jiang Yubai discovered three hours ago that Xiong Bei's scheduled communication had been cut off.

Since the early hours of the morning, muffled sounds have been coming from downstairs—the ground is collapsing, people are screaming, and there are occasional gunshots.

She moved the kitchen knife rack to the door and sat on the sofa, clutching her phone.

The phone still has the last message Shen Yan sent three years ago, but the draft reply has never been sent.

Doorbell rang.

"who."

"Teacher Jiang, my name is Shen Hanzhou. I'm Shen Yanhui's junior brother. My senior sister asked me to come find you."

How can you prove it?

Shen Hanzhou took out his senior sister's photo from his inner pocket and slipped it under the door.

The photo was face down, and Shen Yanhui's faded handwriting was clearly visible under the corridor light—"Jiang Yubai, Chaoyang Biosynthesis Department. Hanzhou, if anything happens to me, go find her."

Jiang Yubai picked up the photo, and his eyes reddened the moment he saw the handwriting.

She recognized that the last horizontal stroke of the character "白" (white) would hook upwards slightly at the end, and she hadn't changed it in seven years.

She turned the photo over.

The photo shows Shen Yanhui in a white lab coat, smiling back in front of a fume hood, her goggles pushed up to her forehead. The edges of the photo are curled and stained with dark red marks.

Jiang Yu opened the door.

Shen Hanzhou stood outside the door. He was thin, with prominent cheekbones, his face covered in dust and dried blood, a crack in his left eyeglass lens, and cement powder residue on the five fingers of his right hand.

"Those people downstairs—"

"They're all dead. The fourteen men Zheng Daoyuan sent to watch you. Time is running out; Xiong Bei's rapid response team could arrive at any moment. I need you to help me finish the potion my senior sister left behind. Come with me."

Jiang Yubai stepped aside and said, "Come in."

Shen Hanzhou entered the house and closed the door behind him.

Experimental notes and a laptop were spread out on the sofa, and the screen of the molecular formula editor was still lit up.

Jiang Yubai stood against the wall, arms crossed.

"How did Yan Hui die?"

Shen Hanzhou truthfully stated, "The Five Mountains Society injected her with the batch of drugs she had synthesized herself—an incorrect version, with a dosage three times higher than recommended. She died on the autopsy table, her fingernails scratching out an unfinished character for 'escape'."

Jiang Yubai closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and when he opened his eyes again, the tears were suppressed.

"She sent me her last message before she died. 'The data is on the USB drive, give it to him. Take care of him for me.' I didn't reply—I thought she was just saying it in anger. Three days later, I saw the news and realized she was giving her last words."

Jiang Yubai's voice suddenly rose: "She asked me to take care of you—but for the past three years, I didn't even know how she died! I thought she died in a lab accident! It wasn't until Xiong Bei's people came to my door three days ago that I learned she was murdered!"

Shen Hanzhou took out the USB flash drive from the inner pocket and held it in his hand.

"You don't have her correct parameters, so you can't stop the Five Mountains Alliance. Senior Sister asked you to take care of me, not to avenge her. Revenge is my business. What you need to do is help me complete her potion."

Jiang Yubai suppressed his emotions and loosened his arms.

"You came to me because only I can understand her synthesis process."

"Yes. Senior sister's synthesis route reflects her personal thought process, and the parameter annotation method can only be deciphered by those who have worked with her in the same group. You are the only candidate."

Without hesitation, Jiang Yubai turned and went into the bedroom, taking out a sealed file folder and a spare cell phone.

"This is my privately backed-up experimental data, which can be compared with Yan Hui's experimental records. Xiong Bei doesn't know about it."