Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

The basement remained deathly silent, with only the dim yellow light flickering in the shadows.

Han Xiao took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the surging emotions from his nightmare back into his heart.

He looked up at the bed in front of him.

Xu Suyuan was still lying there, unconscious.

The girl was pale and her brows were furrowed; she was clearly experiencing some kind of painful nightmare.

She was covered in dust and blood, looking like a butterfly with broken wings in a storm.

But Han Xiao knew that this was no delicate butterfly.

This is a poisonous moth, a monster that dares to fly into the flames and detonate itself.

He saw her eyes with his own eyes at the dismantling site.

He knew that look all too well; it was exactly the same look he had—a look that could burn anything, including himself, for revenge.

Sudden.

"No!"

A short scream broke the silence of the basement, and Xu Suyuan sprang up from the bed.

Her hands flailed wildly in the air, trying to find even a straw to use as a weapon.

It wasn't until her fingers traced the side wall that the sense of reality pulled her out of those fragmented nightmares.

This is not a laboratory filled with the smell of disinfectant, nor is it a vehicle dismantling yard filled with the smell of engine oil.

Xu Suyuan's gaze gradually focused, locking onto the gray-clad man sitting in the chair in front of her.

The one who appeared in dire straits and shattered Iron Hand's heart with a single punch.

"woke up?"

Han Xiao's voice rang out.

Xu Suyuan did not answer, remaining in a defensive posture, the dark silver light in her eyes flickering intermittently.

"Don't be nervous, it's safe here. At least for now."

Han Xiao stood up, picked up a cup, poured a glass of warm water, and placed it by the bedside.

"My name is Han Xiao." He sat back down in his chair. "We saved you because we have a common enemy. And you've got guts. You dared to go back and kill Lin Zhenghua, which suits my taste perfectly."

A hint of pleasure flashed in Xu Suyuan's eyes when Lin Zhenghua was mentioned.

"But he's just a knife," Han Xiao said again. "You broke the knife, but the person who ordered it is still safely drinking red wine."

Xu Suyuan was taken aback: "What do you mean?"

"Chenxi Biopharmaceuticals is secretly controlled by the Wei Group. All of Lin Zhenghua's funds, equipment, and even the 'samples' used for experiments were secretly provided by the Wei Group. And the Iron Hand that chased you at the dismantling site was the personal security captain of Wei Donghai, the chairman of the Wei Group."

Han Xiao stood up and walked to the wall covered with photos. "Take a look. See what your real enemy looks like."

Xu Suyuan looked up once again at that intricate and complex network of relationships.

Red threads connect the photos like blood vessels, and each photo is labeled with densely packed small print indicating the photographer's identity, address, and even daily routine.

At the very center of this network is Wei Donghai, the city councilor and philanthropist who once appeared in the news of Chenxi City.

"Wei Donghai..." Xu Suyuan murmured to herself, "I thought my only enemy was that perverted doctor..."

"Lin Zhenghua is just a mad scientist, but he doesn't have the power to block the news, nor the ability to get the police to cover for him." Han Xiao's finger jabbed heavily on Wei Donghai's photo. "This old bastard is the one at the top of this entire cannibalistic chain."

Xu Suyuan's gaze followed the red line and landed on the "Chenxi Biomedicine" section.

Besides Lin Zhenghua, Zhou Wenbin, and others who had already been killed by her, two other names were highlighted in red.

Xu Changming, Head of the Biotechnology Division of Wei's Group.

Wu Guodong, Director of Chenxi Biotechnology.

"Xu Changming was an early promoter of the Wei Group's involvement in 'biological research' and the direct person in charge of the Chenxi Bio project. He was the one who signed off on the initial screening plan for people like you with no background."

"Wu Guodong was Wei Donghai's eyes and ears in the lab, responsible for keeping an eye on money and... handling trouble."

"They're all going to die. They're all going to die!" Xu Suyuan said through gritted teeth.

Han Xiao turned his head, looked at the girl covered in wounds, remained silent for a moment, and then pointed to the other side of the corner.

There were several unfamiliar faces of Xu Suyuan posted there.

"This is my line." Han Xiao's voice became somewhat erratic, as if he was suppressing immense pain.

"Liu Mingyuan is currently the deputy head of the tax bureau's inspection department. He used to be my apprentice, but later, in order to climb the ranks, he sold my and my family's travel itinerary to the Wei family."

"Zhao Cheng, Public Relations Director of the Wei Group. Wei Donghai's front man, specializing in using money and power to smooth over all official matters."

Finally, Han Xiao's finger stopped on a photo of a middle-aged man who looked somewhat sinister.

"Gao Tianyou. Deputy Director of the Security Department of the Wei Group. The Iron Hand you encountered was just a thug charging into battle, while this person is the true 'cleaner' of the Wei Group's dark side."

A hint of apprehension flashed in Han Xiao's eyes. "He orchestrated the car accident against my wife and daughter six months ago. He's meticulous, never leaves anyone alive, and is extremely ruthless. I tried twice, but I couldn't get close to him either."

Xu Suyuan turned to look at Han Xiao, and she finally understood why there was such deep despair in the man's eyes.

"Your family..."

"A car accident," Han Xiao interrupted her briefly, clearly not wanting to rub salt into the wound, "that was murder."

"My grandma was the same," Xu Suyuan said softly. "Lin Zhenghua kidnapped me to do experiments, and my grandma had no one to take care of her. She died of illness at home..."

Silence fell again in the basement.

At this moment, two people burdened with a blood feud need not say more.

Hatred is the best adhesive, binding these two souls that were originally completely unconnected together.

"Since we share the same goal, let's talk about how to kill them."

Han Xiao turned around, pulled out a thick book on human anatomy and a book on basic physics and mechanics from the pile of messy books, and threw them in front of Xu Suyuan.

Xu Suyuan caught it instinctively, looking bewildered: "What's this for?"

"You're very capable, but you've used your abilities terribly," Han Xiao said bluntly. "At the convention center, you almost drained yourself dry trying to kill Lin Zhenghua. If Tie Shou had brought two more people with him, or if the police had acted more decisively, you'd be in the morgue by now."

Xu Suyuan was somewhat unconvinced: "I killed Lin Zhenghua, that's enough."

"It's not enough." Han Xiao pointed to his temple. "Our power isn't limitless. Every time we overdraw, we're burning our souls. I've seen your condition; that 'imprisonment,' even if you only use it for a few seconds, it's accompanied by a severe headache, right?"

Xu Suyuan remained silent, tacitly acknowledging this.

"That's a sign of mental exhaustion. If you keep going like this, you'll go brain dead before you even get your revenge."

Han Xiao unbuttoned his shirt collar, revealing patches of purplish-blue bruises on his collarbone and chest—marks from countless practice sessions where he was injured by the recoil of kinetic energy deflection.

"Ability is a weapon, but having a weapon doesn't make you invincible. What we need to learn is how to achieve the greatest results with the least cost."

He picked up a pencil and gestured on the table.

"Your immobilization ability doesn't need to freeze the entire person. Just freeze the key parts, such as the finger pulling the trigger or the foot pressing the brake. Even if it's only for 0.1 seconds, that's the difference between life and death."

"And your penetration ability." Han Xiao looked at Xu Suyuan, "If you can precisely blur only the heart area so that the bullet passes through it, instead of blurring the whole body, the energy consumption can be reduced by at least half."

Xu Suyuan looked thoughtfully at the book in her hands: "So... I have to study anatomy?"

"Yes, we also need to learn how to predict the trajectory of moving objects." A glint of light flashed in Han Xiao's eyes. "Moreover, our abilities can be used in combination. We can work together to create surprises."

"Accident?"

"For example, while the target is driving, briefly restrain his body and slightly swerve the car to make him 'go' off the cliff."

Han Xiao suddenly swung his hand, and the coin drew a strange arc in the air, accurately hitting the center of Wei Donghai's forehead in the photo on the wall, embedding itself deeply into the wall.

"The state apparatus is very powerful. If we don't want to be besieged by the military, 'creating an accident' is the best cover."

Xu Suyuan looked at the coin embedded in the wall, and the confusion in her eyes gradually faded.

She gripped the book tightly in her hands, and the flame of revenge from the depths of her soul once again found its direction.