The system is four years ahead of schedule, but Weird is still a cub.

This undisguised threat instantly exploded in Chen Su's mind.

All his political maneuvering, all his powerful connections, and all his carefully prepared rhetoric vanished into nothingness at that moment.

Cold sweat instantly soaked through his back, and a primal, instinctive fear surged up his spine to the top of his head.

Chen Su finally awoke from his arrogance of power and clearly realized a most basic fact that he had overlooked—

The Shen Ge standing before him was still the same man who could be manipulated at will three years ago. Three years ago, he dared to disrespect headquarters; three years later…

He could even slap the headquarters to death!

This is a terrifying being who has just returned from another world filled with corpses and blood, someone who can easily decide his life or death, someone who... cannot be fathomed or bound by existing rules!
Chen Su tried to force a smile that looked worse than a grimace, wanting to say something polite to ease the tension, but his lips trembled violently on their own, and he couldn't utter a single word.

Shen Ge didn't make a move, not even applying any force with his hand on Chen Su's shoulder. He simply and silently attached a tiny, almost negligible amount of supernatural energy to the special alloy plate that served as the wall of the exhibition hall next to Chen Su.

The next second, an unbelievable scene unfolded in the reflection of Chen Su's pupils, which contracted sharply with fear.

That sturdy wall, half a meter thick and strong enough to withstand a full-force attack from a fifth-order bizarre monster, began to twist and deform silently, as if it were clay being gripped by an invisible giant hand.

The hard metal exhibited a soft texture that defied the laws of physics. Finally, under the extreme force, it turned into a handful of fine, shimmering, silver-gray powder with a soft "poof" sound, which fluttered down.

The entire process was eerily quiet.

This silent destruction brings a chilling, bone-deep dread more than any earth-shattering explosion.

"Gudong."

Chen Su swallowed hard, his legs buckled, and he could no longer support his weight. With a thud, he almost collapsed to the ground. His carefully maintained high-ranking official uniform was now wrinkled and disheveled.

"Captain Shen... Captain Shen..." he said in a trembling voice, no longer able to maintain his "smiling tiger" facade, his words tumbling out incoherently.

"Let's talk things out... everything is negotiable!"

"Oh?"

Shen Ge withdrew his suffocating aura, and the playful smile on his face returned to its "gentle" state. He even kindly bent down and personally helped the terrified Director Chen up from the ground, brushing the dust off his clothes.

"See, isn't this better?" Shen Ge's tone was as if she were talking to an old friend.

“If you had been so understanding from the beginning, why would we have wasted so much time? Come on, Director Chen, let’s renegotiate that ‘special response force’ plan.”

In the face of absolute power, any hypocritical politeness is superfluous.

Shen Ge directly tailored a "more reasonable" cooperation plan for Chen Su and the Dajing headquarters behind him:

First, in the spirit of prioritizing the overall situation and sharing the nation's burdens, Fuzhou City is willing to "fully assist" the headquarters in establishing this crucial "special response force."

Its headquarters, R&D center, and training base will all be located in Fuzhou, the city with the most advanced technology and the most experience, and will be personally led by Shen Ge to ensure maximum efficiency.

Secondly, considering that Rongshi will have to invest a lot of manpower and resources to form this unit, the headquarters will not need to provide any additional resources.

All that is required is to pay a reasonable "exclusive technology licensing fee" to the Rongshi Special Policy Department each year, as well as to purchase the corresponding "advanced security service fee".

Finally, to show its sincerity, Rongcheng City is willing to "gift" the first batch of "living alloy"... "youth version" formula to the headquarters, so that they can also experience the charm of future technology.

Every word of this agreement felt like a sharp knife piercing Chen Su's heart. This was no cooperation plan; it was clearly an unequal treaty, a blatant act of "technological blackmail"!
However, looking at Shen Ge's gentle smile and the pile of fine alloy powder beside him, Chen Su had no choice but to nod.

"I understand, Captain Shen."

He forced a smile that looked more like a grimace: "I will... I will definitely convey your proposal to the Supreme Committee at headquarters exactly as it is, and make this happen!"

"That's right." Shen Ge nodded in satisfaction. He patted Chen Su's shoulder again "thoughtfully."

"I know that if you go back like this, Director Chen, there might be some things that are difficult to 'explain'. How about this, to avoid any unforeseen complications, and to help you 'properly explain' the 'reasonableness' and 'necessity' of this agreement to the leaders at headquarters, I will personally lead a team to 'escort' you back to Dajing in three days. I hope that this cooperation can conclude as 'successfully' as it did three years ago."

A negotiation surrounding power and the future has come to a dramatic end.

When a dejected Chen Su left the conference room, his departing figure resembled that of a defeated general who had just signed a humiliating treaty.

Seeing this scene, Deng Yuqi felt both incredibly relieved and somewhat amused and exasperated by Shen Ge's "brutal" way of doing things.

Looking at her expression, Shen Ge said calmly, "Minister, it's futile to reason with a hungry wolf no matter how much you try. Only when it sees clearly that your muscles are harder than its teeth will it obediently sit down and listen to you."

"Moreover, the source of the 'polluters' is very likely in Dajing. Instead of waiting for them to come to us, we should take the initiative to visit them."

"Rongshi cannot remain passively guarding its small territory forever. Some threats must be addressed proactively and nipped in the bud."

In the three years since Shen Ge left, the Rong City Special Operations Department has lacked the "confidence to speak" and has been under constant pressure from the Da Jing headquarters. Deng Yuqi has endured this for so long with a heavy heart.

Now that he's back, it's time to get revenge!
After forcibly reaching a "consensus" with the Dajing headquarters using absolute power, Shen Ge did not give the other party much time to react or restrain him, and preparations for going to the north were quickly launched.

A few days later, on the main helipad of the Rongshi base, a state-of-the-art high-speed transport aircraft sat quietly, its streamlined black fuselage reflecting a cold, hard luster in the morning light.

In front of the cabin, an elite special operations team had already assembled.

Captain, Shen Ge.

He wasn't wearing any anti-cheat equipment, just a simple black casual outfit, and stood with his hands behind his back.

The accompanying team members were Yoona, Fang Mingyue, and Yu Tiexiong.

Yoona stood silently behind Shen Ge, like his most loyal shadow. As a half-human, half-monster, her perception of supernatural powers far surpassed that of ordinary people, and her speed and claws were the most deadly sharp blades in the night.

Fang Mingyue is now an elite captain in Rong City, holding a state-of-the-art sniper rifle with a focused expression. Her rich experience in urban combat and her tacit understanding in unconditionally executing Shen Ge's tactics make her an indispensable and precise firepower point in the team.

During the three years that Shen Ge "disappeared," Fang Mingyue had already killed more than double-digit Tier 5 monsters, and even successfully stopped a monster that was undergoing Tier 6 mutation.

The third person accompanying them was Yu Tiexiong. On the one hand, compared to the two "delicate" female captains, this team also needed a "fierce" face.

Before setting off, Li Xiang personally led his team to equip this "elite" team with the latest experimental equipment.

"You freak, regular equipment is pretty useless now." Li Xiang complained as he handed Shen Ge a uniquely shaped earring that looked like black dragon scales.

"This is a communicator I modified earlier. It has a built-in subsystem that integrates the AI ​​technology of 'Xiaoqi Tongxue', which can achieve encrypted quantum communication across regions. Most importantly, based on the 'polluter' sample you brought back, I have preliminarily analyzed a unique energy fluctuation frequency. This thing can play a certain early warning role against similar 'energy erosion'."

Yoona, Fang Mingyue, and Yu Tiexiong, on the other hand, collectively changed into the "Qilin Type I" power armor, the first-generation experimental mecha based on the "Raider" design concept and incorporating the cutting-edge technology currently available in Rong City.

Although this power armor does not yet use the expensive "living alloy", its core frame and energy conduction system are based on the design of the "Raider", making the armor's flexibility, defense and crooked energy output efficiency far exceed the current "Azure Dragon" class, representing the most advanced combat power in Rong City.

The most important piece of equipment is a device the size of a suitcase.

“This is a ‘high-precision eerie energy detector’ that was reverse-engineered based on the eerie energy fluctuations emitted by the spiritual core of that ‘polluter’.” Li Xiang’s expression turned serious.

"It can detect extremely faint and unusual energy fluctuations with mental corrosive properties, which are different from the usual ones. I set it up as a mother machine and three daughter machines."

He placed a bracelet-shaped mother machine on Shen Ge's wrist.

"Once a 'contaminant' enters your 500-meter radius, both the mother and daughter units will issue an early warning. Of course, these may not be as effective as your own detection capabilities, but it's always good to be prepared."

Although its detection range is still limited and it is easily affected by complex environments, this instrument is undoubtedly a revolutionary step forward for humanity in the covert battle against the invisible enemy, the "polluter."

The equipment has been distributed and everything is ready.

At the edge of the tarmac, Cheng Shengnan, Lin Yin, and others came to see them off.

Cheng Shengnan didn't say much, but silently stepped forward and carefully straightened Shen Ge's clothes, her eyes filled with reluctance and deep-seated worry.

The road north is destined to be bumpy.

"rest assured."

Shen Ge held her slightly cool hand and whispered a promise: "I'll come back after I've dealt with things over there. You know, I'm immune to these kinds of promises, nothing can stop me from going home. I even came back from another world, let alone back home."

Beside him, Chen Su, his face ashen and eyes lifeless, looking like a hostage held by kidnappers, staggered onto the transport plane under the "escort" of two guards.

Finally, under everyone's watchful eyes, Shen Ge led his elite team onto the plane.

The heavy hatch closed slowly, and the massive engine roared, creating powerful gusts of air.

The transport plane, carrying the city's top combat force, took off and sped toward Dajing, the "activity center" of the Neo-God Cult, as reported in the latest intelligence report.

……

After several hours of flight, the transport plane smoothly pierced through the thick, leaden-gray clouds over Dajing and slowly landed on the heavily guarded headquarters military airfield.

The heavy hatch opened, and a stuffy atmosphere, completely different from that of Rongcheng, rushed out.

However, the expected scene of headquarters officials coming to greet them did not occur. Shen Ge and his group stepped out of the plane to find an eerie, deathly silence.

In the vast airport, apart from a few ground crew members chatting idly while leaning against equipment boxes, not a single officer could be seen coming to hand over duties.

The long tarmac appeared empty and desolate, as if they were being greeted not by reinforcements from other units, but by a group of unwelcome intruders.

This carefully planned, silent cold reception had an obvious purpose—to dampen their spirits and give them a warning first.

Having regained some of his official composure, Chen Su awkwardly wiped his sweat, not daring to utter a single word. He knew this was the headquarters leadership expressing their dissatisfaction, and the beginning of a new power struggle.

Shen Ge, however, didn't care at all; instead, a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"The headquarters' hospitality is truly...unique."

"I've been here at least two or three times, and the treatment has gotten worse each time."

"It seems that in the three years I've been gone, some people have almost forgotten that I'm a very stingy person."

He ignored Chen Su and led his team down the gangway. A junior officer, who had been waiting for some time and had an arrogant expression, reluctantly stepped forward, gave a standard salute, and mechanically said, "I have been ordered to come and guide you. Please follow me."

Led by the officer, the group walked across the vast airport toward the reception building in the distance.

Along the way, Yoona keenly sensed a subtle hostility in the air. And in Shen Ge's [Strange Eye] vision, the scene was even clearer.

Hidden atop the towering towers surrounding the airport, in mobile bunkers disguised as shipping containers, and even in the ventilation shafts of underground passages, are at least a dozen energy-locking signals that flicker faintly, as well as several eerie energy detection fluctuations that silently probe in.

The headquarters in Dajing was not only ignoring them, but also treating them like the most dangerous enemy, secretly assessing their strength in all aspects.

"A bunch of... stubborn fools who won't learn until they're faced with a fatal blow." Shen Ge sneered inwardly, without making a sound on the spot. He simply sent a tiny, insignificant wisp of eerie energy back along the "paths" from which the spying had come, and returned it silently and without much force.

In an instant, from those unnoticed corners, a few faint alarming sounds from medical equipment and suppressed groans of pain quietly rose up. (End of Chapter)