Why is his holy light red?

Mercury didn't answer the phone, but instead glanced at the black egg beside him.

Black Egg understood, reached out and took the phone. After a few manipulations, it was as if several threads were pulled out of the phone, projecting the conversation screen in front of Mercury.

This wasn't Mercury deliberately showing off; he simply didn't know there was anything fishy about the phone call.

I remember reading in a news report by my father when I was a child about a famous superhero who was killed because he answered a phone call. The person on the other end of the line had mind control abilities and hypnotized the superhero, making him kill and commit arson before committing suicide.

This superhero was completely disgraced. If Mercury's father hadn't believed in the superhero's character and continued the investigation, he would probably have carried the infamy for the rest of his life.

To kill someone is not enough; to destroy their spirit is equally devastating. This is the ruthless method of criminals.

First, let the black egg filter the sound, and then Mercury uses red holy light to protect his spirit.

After making sure he was ready, Mercury answered the phone.

"Mr. Mercury Anderson, you must be curious about who I am." A monotone electronic voice came from the speaker.

"People from Immortal Life Technology?" Mercury asked bluntly.

The other party didn't respond, but calmly offered their bargaining chip: "Your trial has been moved up to tomorrow, which you probably don't know yet. Your lawyer is indeed very capable, but given the sudden early start of the trial, he probably can't win this case."

"Want to settle out of court?"

The synthesized voice chuckled very softly, with a condescending mockery: "The Federation needs you to plead guilty. As long as you admit that the injury was caused by a loss of emotional control, your sentence will definitely not exceed three years. You've been living quite comfortably at Black Olive, these three years won't be difficult. If you agree, your family will never be harassed again, and we can also give you a generous compensation in other ways..."

"One hundred billion." Mercury leaned against the iron railing, not even lifting his eyelids.

"...What did you say?"

"One hundred billion after taxes, deposited directly into my account." Mercury said casually. "Once the money's in, you can make me plead guilty to crimes against humanity. One price."

"It seems you lack a basic understanding of money and have no sincerity in negotiating. The Federation's annual military budget is only eight hundred billion."

"Everyone needs to have some confidence. I believe my personal commercial value exceeds that of an aircraft carrier," Mercury sneered. "Besides, you initially chose armed kidnapping and silencing. If I didn't have some skills, I'd be riddled with holes by now. And now you want to talk to me about sincerity?"

He abruptly changed the subject, his gaze sharply fixed on the suspended ripples: "I'm curious, the black market for enhancement agents is everywhere, and others who have taken the agents haven't been wiped out, so why are you so fixated on me? Tell me the answer, and I might consider your proposal."

"Your worth?" The synthesized voice was even more mocking. "Mr. Anderson, you've misunderstood. From beginning to end, you yourself are worthless. The one with real value is the 'Angel of Light.' You got lucky and caught his attention."

Mercury's eyes darkened slightly; it was that compassionate old father again.

"His greatest weakness is that he possesses god-like power yet adheres to mortal rules," the synthesized voice coldly analyzed. "As long as you obediently confess and complete the legal process, once the case is closed, he will stop there. At the very least, the federal authorities can smoothly absolve themselves of responsibility."

Oh, so it wasn't Immortality Technology, but people from the federal government.

Mercury guessed that the federal agents wanted to do Immortals Technology a favor by dealing with Mercury privately, but they didn't expect it to escalate so much.

Therefore, the Angels of Light don't care whether they continue investigating Immortal Technology. As long as Mercury confesses, those federal agents will get away smoothly, and it will be none of their business afterward.

"Little friend, do you think you're participating in a game? You're just a wrench on the rails. The moment you turn the rails, you decide the train's direction, but the second the verdict is handed down, you're no longer relevant, because our next opponent will be the Holy Angels. While you're still somewhat useful as a 'wrench,' you should face reality and make some demands that can be fulfilled."

Mercury stared at the pulsating synthesized sound waves for a long while before scoffing, "Your negotiation strategy is just relying on paternalistic psychological pressure? You really think that spouting a bunch of grand principles will make me cut my offer from 100 billion to 20 billion?"

"Our original asking price was 500,000, after tax, of course, which is much higher than your family's income."

"Then there's nothing to talk about." Mercury hung up the phone immediately.

They were probably not real federal government representatives; they were just federal agents who didn't want to take the blame, and they found someone to threaten Mercury. You can't squeeze anything out of such a small fry.

After hanging up the phone, Mercury looked at the group of members of the Beast Gang in front of him and beckoned to the jaguar: "You heard it too, I have a court hearing tomorrow, and I'm currently lacking intelligence and evidence."

The jaguar, puzzled, asked, "What do you mean by that?"

A crimson holy light enveloped Mercury's entire body as he slowly threatened, "Actually, because of my upbringing, I'm someone who really wants to follow the rules. People always told me that there are no rules in this world. So, tell me who that person was, or I'll blow your head off!"

The roars of wild beasts suddenly erupted all around.

The muscles of the Beast Gang members began to spasm and swell, their skin stretched open, and rough scales and keratinous layers grew out. Just like the tattoos on their bodies, the bodies of most of them were rapidly transforming into reptilian features.

But Mercury isn't some kind of anime villain; he doesn't have the habit of watching the transformation before attacking.

The red halo, like a rapidly moving afterimage, instantly cut into the mutated crowd.

Dull, resounding thuds of flesh colliding echoed one after another. Heavy punches and whip kicks, imbued with red holy light, sent those grotesque bodies flying like rag dolls.

A few seconds later, all around fell silent.

Mercury stood still, the sole of his military boot firmly planted on the head of the jaguar that had just completed its beast transformation.

He lowered his center of gravity slowly with a blank expression.

The jaguar lay sprawled on the cold concrete, hissing in pain. He could clearly feel his skull slightly deforming, his bones cracking. If Mercury had pressed down just a little harder, his head would have been crushed like a ripe watermelon.

The jaguar pounded the ground in despair, letting out a hoarse cry: "All I know about him is his code name, Jerry!"

Mercury's pressure on his feet didn't lessen in the slightest: "What's the point of a code name? I need useful intelligence."

"I really haven't seen him! They've been contacting me one-sidedly!" Jaguar spoke extremely fast, as if afraid that if he hesitated even for a second, his skull would shatter.

Why are they providing you with enhancement potions? What is the purpose of forming the Beast Gang?

"To do dirty work! Murder, robbery, even being sent abroad to fight against regular troops!" Jaguar gasped, his voice trembling with fear. "Once we leave Black Olive, we become undocumented, illegal immigrants. No matter where we die, they'll never be traced back to us!"

"Evidence," Mercury's voice was completely flat. "Proof of what you just said."

"Yes! I have records!" Jaguar pleaded, its face pressed tightly against the hardened concrete. "Every private transaction, every assigned task, I've secretly recorded it all!"

Mercury quickly obtained a rough notebook from the Beast Gang.

Mercury flipped through the slightly curled paper notebook, his gaze sweeping over the dense handwriting. He had initially intended to mock the jaguar's spelling, which was worse than that of an elementary school student, but as he read the contents, his anger, which had just subsided, surged again.

Jaguar meticulously recorded a series of heinous crimes—genocide, child murder, terrorist attacks, and more—in his hasty handwriting, like keeping a running account. The blood-stained numbers and names were haphazardly crammed onto the paper.

The dark red holy light that had just been absorbed into Mercury's body shone brightly once more.

"Are you even human?!"

With a strange cracking sound, a brilliant flower of blood bloomed beneath Mercury's feet.