Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

"Perilous situation?"

Lei Zhen, who had been silent all along, suddenly let out a cold laugh, a laugh filled with frustration and anger.

"Director Zhao, it's a joke for us to be talking about 'dangerous situations' right now."

Lei Zhen stood up and paced anxiously back and forth. "We've lost track of Wei Donghai for over five hours! A full five hours!"

Zhao Jianguo's face darkened. Although he already knew the report's outcome, it was still a thorn in the side of the Special Investigation Office.

"At 9:30 last night," Lei Zhen gritted his teeth, repeating the time that he felt most ashamed of, "Wei Donghai's son, Wei Zi'ang, suddenly appeared at the villa's entrance with a group of lawyers and bodyguards, using the pretext of 'illegal surveillance and invasion of privacy' by the police, and got into a fierce physical altercation with our brothers on the periphery."

"That was just a ruse!" Lei Zhen's temple veins throbbed. "While our men were being held up by these bastards, Wei Donghai had already slipped away!"

"This old fox isn't running away," Zhao Jianguo said, stubbing out his cigarette. "Knowing that two 'abnormal' assassins were watching him, he still dared to shake off our 'protection' and disappear on his own... What does that mean?"

Zhou Ming picked up the conversation, his voice chilling: "That means he's setting a trap. He's using himself as bait to lure Han Xiao and Xu Suyuan into the trap."

The meeting room fell into a suffocating silence once again.

The current situation is an absolute nightmare for the police.

They knew perfectly well that a brutal battle was about to take place, or perhaps was already underway.

They knew perfectly well who the two sides involved were—on one side were Avengers with superhuman powers, and on the other side were ruthless tycoons with private armies.

But they were like blind and deaf people, completely unaware of where that damned "battlefield" was.

"Damn it..." Lei Zhen clutched his hair in anguish. "The diary... If only we knew what was written in that diary, even just a place name..."

Zhao Jianguo suddenly stood up, and the imposing aura of a veteran criminal police officer instantly erupted from him.

"Stop wallowing in self-pity! Since Wei Donghai orchestrated this whole thing, he must have mobilized a massive amount of manpower and resources. Where did those people come from? All the possible hidden strongholds under the Wei Group?"

He stared intently at the map, his eyes blazing: "Even if we have to turn Chenxi City upside down, we must dig out this old fox! We absolutely cannot allow them to cause a second Jin Mao Tower incident in our jurisdiction!"

------

3:21 a.m.

Han Xiao leaned against the wall, his eyes fixed on the small patch of ground in front of him.

The opportunity is here.

The "Black Stone" member on the right, who was being protected by a riot shield, showed signs of letting his guard down due to the prolonged and intense standoff.

As he changed magazines, he leaned slightly out of cover, revealing half the side of his helmet.

The half-open hospital room door behind him seemed to be a crack leading to a way out.

Without exchanging any words, Han Xiao simply gave Xu Suyuan a look.

The next instant, the two moved simultaneously.

"collapse!"

The soft snapping of the rubber bands was almost inaudible during the intervals between gunshots.

A steel ball flew out of his hand. Han Xiao's eyes were bloodshot as he precisely corrected the trajectory with his mental power.

The steel ball traced a strange arc in the air, bypassing the edge of the riot shield and precisely slipping into the gap between the team member's helmet and mask.

"puff!"

Blood splattered, and the man collapsed to the ground without uttering a sound.

At the same time, Xu Suyuan gritted her teeth and activated [Void Imprisonment] on the firing point on the left that was trying to peek out and fire.

Even a half-second freeze is enough!

"Walk!"

Han Xiao grabbed Xu Suyuan and the two of them shot towards the newly opened gap, intending to break open the half-closed door.

However, just as their fingers were about to touch the doorknob—

A chilling sensation shot from Han Xiao's spine straight to the top of his head.

That's a veteran's instinctive sense of danger of death traps.

"retreat!!"

Before Han Xiao's roar had even finished, the door that seemed to represent a way out was kicked open from the inside.

The four dark gun barrels, like four venomous snakes ready to devour their prey, spewed deadly flames.

This is not an escape route at all; it is a deadly trap that was designed to kill them by anticipating their escape route!

"Da da da da—!"

A barrage of bullets rained down, sealing off all space.

Han Xiao abruptly stopped, pulling Xu Suyuan backward with all his might, while simultaneously activating [Kinematic Deflection] to try and deflect the bullet aimed at his vitals.

He can block one, but not a whole bunch.

"Hmm!"

A muffled groan, suppressed by intense pain, came from beside me.

Xu Suyuan's body trembled violently, and a cloud of blood mist burst from her left arm.

A bullet grazed her humerus, and although it didn't shatter the bone, it ripped open the muscles of her upper arm like a blunt knife.

The excruciating pain and blood loss caused Xu Suyuan, who was already exhausted, to black out. The stun gun she was holding fell to the ground with a "thud".

"Sowon!!"

Han Xiao's eyes were bloodshot. Ignoring the burning pain from the stray bullets that cut his cheek, he dragged the swaying Xu Suyuan and rolled back to their original cover in a sorry state.

This time, they were completely blocked.

The gap had been filled by more Blackstone members, and an even fiercer crossfire network completely covered this small corner.

------

Meanwhile, on the screen in the command center on the third floor.

Seeing Han Xiao and Xu Suyuan being subdued again, Wei Donghai's eyes were filled with the satisfaction of revenge.

"Yes, that's it, nail them right there! I want them to feel, little by little, what true despair is!"

Zhong Heng gently stroked his chin and said, "With the breach closed, their space to maneuver has been compressed to its limit. Xu Suyuan is a wound that is constantly bleeding, and Han Xiao's protection has become a shackle for her. Councilor Wei, they will soon reach their limit."

"Hmph, I want them to be exhausted and desperate, like insects caught in a spider's web, knowing full well that they are doomed, yet still futilely flapping their wings."

Wei Donghai looked at Zhong Heng with a cruel smile. "Then, Mr. Zhong, you'll get the most 'fresh' research material, won't you?"

"Of course." Zhong Heng smiled and nodded, his gaze returning to the screen as if he could already see the sample waiting to be analyzed under the precision instruments.

"Physiological and psychological data obtained under extreme conditions are always exceptionally valuable. Representative Wei not only avenged his father but also provided an excellent window for scientific progress, achieving two goals at once, which is admirable."

The two looked at each other, their eyes reflecting a sense of composure and smugness that they had complete control over the current situation.

The room was filled with a relaxed atmosphere before a victory celebration, as if the gunshots and bloodshed that had been a matter of life and death were nothing more than an insignificant background noise.

------

The center of the battlefield.

The enemy is no longer in a hurry to attack.

The dense gunfire gradually thinned out, replaced by bursts of gunfire, like a cat playing with a mouse.

They are waiting.

Like a pack of wolves that have smelled blood, they patiently wait for their prey to bleed to death and collapse on its own.

Behind the cover, Xu Suyuan's face was ashen.

She pressed her right hand tightly against the wound on her left arm, but blood still gushed out from between her fingers, dripping onto the floor and pooling into a shocking dark red stain.

But her back remained straight, and her eyes, though shrouded in a shadow of pain, stubbornly refused to waver as she looked at the enemy.

Looking at her bloodless face, Han Xiao felt as if his heart was being gripped tightly by an invisible hand.

Some fragmented images suddenly flashed into his mind at this critical moment:

In the basement, her eyes were earnest and stubborn: "Uncle Han, can you teach me these things? I want to be of real help."

Before leaving, she lowered her head and asked softly, "After all this is over... will your repair shop need someone to help with the bookkeeping?"

……

On this path of revenge destined for destruction, this clumsy yet determined companion who appeared unexpectedly was the only warm thing he could touch after falling into darkness.

But now, that warmth, right before his eyes, is rapidly cooling because of his decision and the enemy's trap.

I don't want to lose it again.