Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

Shen Hanzhou stood in the middle of the corridor, cement dust still clinging to his fingertips.

He looked at the five people in front of him—Xu Suyuan's coin was still hanging in front of Lu Chen's forehead, and the electric arc on Liu Zhen's fingertips had not yet dissipated.

The vines in Meng Zhaowen's hands were still slowly tightening, and the faint light left after the illusion faded still lingered in Lin Shen's pupils. Shen Qinghou's zither strings vibrated out their last tremor in the air.

The resonance of the Seed of Souls resonated slightly among the six, like an invisible thread connecting them.

Shen Hanzhou did not immediately respond to Xu Suyuan's invitation. He turned around and walked towards Zhao Si first.

Zhao Si was still lying on the ground, his whole body convulsing from Liu Zhen's electric shock. His ten fingers were spasming uncontrollably, and white smoke was still coming out of his mouth.

His pupils were unfocused, his lips were pale, and he looked as if he had been pulled out of the water, his combat uniform soaked with cold sweat.

Shen Hanzhou squatted down and placed his right hand on the floor beside Zhao Si's feet. Driven by his ability, the cement floor slowly rose up, wrapping around Zhao Si's calves like a living thing, spreading upwards inch by inch.

A cold sensation crept up his shinbone, and Zhao Si's pupils constricted sharply. Fear abruptly pulled him back from his dazed state of mind.

"You can live," Shen Hanzhou said, "but you have to give me a reason not to kill you."

Zhao Si's lips trembled as he glanced at Su Man, whose face was turning purple from being strangled by vines, and then at Lu Chen, who was pinned to the wall and whose eyes were starting to roll upwards.

He recalled the photo of Duan Peng sealed in the sinkhole, the head of Team Leader Fang, which was now lying askew on the terrazzo floor, out of the nine members of the rapid response team, and the fourteen corpses sealed in cement in Cui Ting Yuan.

He didn't want to become like that.

"I...I'll talk..." Zhao Si's voice shattered like broken glass. "What do you want to know...I'll tell you everything..."

"Who killed Zheng Daoyuan?" Shen Hanzhou stared into his eyes.

"Lu Chen killed him. He put a nerve agent in Zheng Daoyuan's wine. When Zheng Daoyuan died, he was bleeding from all seven orifices, and his body was frozen in the ice storage of the underground palace."

Zhao Si blurted out in one breath, "Lu Chen said he'd give you his life as a gift, to subdue you first, then recruit you. He wants your abilities, he wants you to work for Xiong Bei."

The cement stopped at Zhao Si's knee level and did not spread further upwards.

"How much do you know about Yan Tingyao?" When Shen Hanzhou said this name, Zhao Si clearly felt the temperature of the cement at his feet drop a few degrees.

"He...he transferred a Red Wolf squad from the Five Mountains Alliance headquarters." Zhao Si tried his best to keep his voice from trembling, but his teeth still chattered.

"Twelve men, all mercenaries who had retired from the African battlefield. They fought there for ten years and killed more people than I've eaten meals."

Xu Suyuan frowned. She put away the coin that was hanging in front of Lu Chen's forehead, and with a flick of her finger, she placed the coin against the back of Zhao Si's neck. The cold metallic touch made Zhao Si stiffen.

"What's the background of the Red Wolf Squad?" Xu Suyuan asked.

With a coin pressing against his head, Zhao Si dared not move, speaking rapidly: "They are assassins trained by the Five Mountains Society for ten years! Each of them must serve in war-torn areas of Africa for at least two years, and recently they have also received special anti-supernatural tactics training."

Their equipment is completely different from that of ordinary mercenaries. They are equipped with specially made thermobaric bombs, one of which can collapse an entire building. They also have neurotoxin spray specifically designed for ability users like you; spraying it on the skin will block nerve signals, instantly neutralizing your abilities.

He took a breath, sweat dripping from his chin onto the concrete floor: "There were some rebellious independent armies in Africa before. As a result, the Red Wolf Squad sent five people to trap them in an abandoned factory with thermobaric bombs and blew them to death."

No matter how capable you are, you can't withstand overwhelming firepower. Yan Tingyao transferred them to Lieyang Province specifically to capture you.

Shen Hanzhou looked up at Lu Chen, his pupils devoid of emotion: "Where is the Red Wolf Squad now?"

"In the underground training ground of the Five Mountains Alliance's Lieyang Province branch," Lu Chen swallowed hard.

"Yan Tingyao even specially renovated the entire branch building, covering all the walls with a special polymer material. You can't remove the cement and metal; going in is a dead end. He's laid a trap for you; going now is like walking right into it!"

"Oh?" Shen Qinghou raised an eyebrow, his fingertips slightly tightening the strings of the zither, the sound waves vibrating so that the surrounding glass emitted a faint hum. "I'd like to see whether his net is harder or my sound waves are harder."

"Don't believe his nonsense," Meng Zhaowen pushed up his glasses, and the vines tightened a little. Su Man groaned in pain. "No matter how strong the Red Wolf Squad is, they're still just ordinary people. If the six of us go together, let alone twelve people, even a hundred and twenty, we can break through."

Liu Zhen nodded in agreement, an electric arc leaping in his palm, scattering tiny sparks: "I can directly paralyze the entire building's power system, and all their electronic equipment will become scrap metal."

"I'll bring in the electricity from the whole building; a voltage of 100,000 volts—no bulletproof vest could withstand that."

Lin Shen smiled and tapped his temple with his fingertip: "I can make them shoot at each other, killing all their own people. Even if they're wearing anti-hallucination helmets, I can directly interfere with their visual nerves, making it impossible for them to see where they're going."

Xu Suyuan's fingertip was already pressed against Lu Chen's carotid artery, and the cold metallic touch made Lu Chen's heart rate instantly soar to 180 beats per minute.

"You seem very afraid that we'll cause trouble for Yan Tingyao?" Her voice was soft, yet chillingly cold. "What, do you and Yan Tingyao have a deal?"

"No! Absolutely not!" Lu Chen quickly denied, sweat streaming down his face. "I just don't want you to go and die!"

The Red Wolf Squad's combat capabilities far exceed your imagination. They not only have thermobaric weapons, but also shoulder-fired rocket launchers with a coverage range of 500 meters. No matter how strong you are, can you withstand their shells?

"Whether you can withstand it or not, we'll only know after we try." Shen Hanzhou stood up, walked to Lu Chen, and pressed his fingertips against the chest of his suit jacket. "You've said so much, are you trying to get us to let you go?"

Lu Chen's breath hitched for a moment, and he quickly nodded: "Yes! I can give you all of Xiong Bei's resources in Lieyang Province!"

"The two billion in cash in the account, the entire weapons arsenal, and the entire intelligence network of the province—it's all yours! Just let me go, and I promise I'll never set foot in Lieyang Province again!"

Su Man, struggling to breathe from the vines, quickly chimed in, "I can help you too! I know all of Xiong Bei's undercover agents, and the transaction records between Yan Tingyao and the Five Mountains Society headquarters! I can tell you everything! Please don't kill me!"