Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

Wei Donghai took a deep breath, opened the drawer, and stared at the garbled number on the screen with no clear origin. His heart began to pound uncontrollably.

He knew what the phone call meant.

It was a legend circulating in the most secret corner of the top capital circles, a behemoth that he had longed to contact countless times, even spending a fortune to find a way in but never succeeding in entering—the "Five Mountains Society".

After hesitating for two seconds, Wei Donghai pressed the answer button with trembling hands.

"Mr. Wei."

The voice coming through the receiver had been electronically synthesized, but it still carried an air of superiority: "You've messed up your game. The sunlight in Dawn City is about to reach all those bottles and jars you've hidden in the sewers."

Wei Donghai felt a chill run down his spine and straight to the top of his head.

The other party had clearly taken notice of him and was fully aware of his current situation.

"...Your Excellency is well-informed." Wei Donghai tried his best to calm himself and tentatively asked, "What advice do you have for me?"

"I wouldn't call it guidance," the electronic voice continued. "The research data and residual samples you have about 'special individuals' still have some value. But your people and your methods are too crude and too conspicuous. Now, they've become trouble, and also... the ticket to success."

"Tickets?" Wei Donghai's pupils contracted sharply.

"Join us, or be wiped out along with your group. You have no third option." The other person's voice left no room for negotiation. "What you're pursuing now is not something a local businessman like you should or should be involved in, nor is it something you can handle."

Wei Donghai gripped the phone tightly in his hand.

This is a blatant takeover and absorption.

"72 hours." The voice issued its final ultimatum. "Hand over all of Dawn Biotechnology's core research data, the remaining biological sample slices of special individuals, and all the original records and surveillance footage you possess regarding the Chen Guohua and Xu Suyuan incident. In return, we will help you deal with those troublesome loose ends, and your Wei Group can survive, and may even go further under our protection."

At this point, the voice paused, then offered Wei Donghai an irresistible bait:

"And you yourself will be eligible for 'alternate membership'."

Wei Donghai's heart clenched.

Candidate for membership!

Even if he's just a substitute, it means he's finally touched the edge of that world, that circle that truly controls the dark side of the world and pursues the truth of the world.

In comparison, what does a Dawn Creature, or even his little bit of influence in Dawn City, amount to?

The sense of humiliation vanished instantly in the face of immense ambition.

He realized that although he had lost this game, he had inadvertently gained a ticket to a larger chessboard.

"...I understand." Wei Donghai's voice lowered, a gesture of submission. "I will prepare everything."

"Don't try anything funny. We're watching you."

Wen Yan lay on the bed, clearing his mind of the "sensory echoes" filled with bloodshed and violence.

First, there was feedback from Heo So-won.

The screen was shaking, accompanied by extreme tinnitus.

That was Lin Zhenghua's last scene—his face finally changed from excitement to astonishment.

Until his death, Lin Zhenghua only regarded Xu Suyuan as an "experimental sample," rather than a member of some known supernatural system.

This means that even in the eyes of a powerful organization like the Wei Group, which has deep ties to the underworld, supernatural powers are still a completely new field.

Immediately afterwards, a completely different feedback flooded into my mind.

This time, the touch felt heavy yet explosive.

That's the vibration of a bullet leaving the barrel, the viscous resistance of air being forcibly distorted by will, and... the sensation of a fist slamming into a human chest cavity.

That was the death of Iron Hand.

Wen Yan carefully savored the emotional fluctuations of Tie Shou at that moment.

Horror, bewilderment, and an instinctive fear of facing incomprehensible violence.

Iron Hand's team wore insulated suits and carried net guns and tranquilizer guns.

This is a special configuration designed to counter Heo So-won's "electric shock" ability.

This response is tactical, based on the logic of "fighting special criminals" rather than "fighting mages".

This actually relieved Wen Yan.

These details, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, piece together the true nature of this world today:

There are currently no secret magical societies, no ancient cultivation sects, and no mature supernatural regulatory agencies like S.H.I.E.L.D.

Both the police and the Wei Group exhibited typical "cognitive dissonance" in the face of this sudden, extraordinary power.

In their panic, they tried to explain using existing scientific frameworks and to suppress the unrest using conventional methods of violence.

It's safe for now.

But it's only temporary.

Officials and capital have already entered the fray; they are a group of sharks with the keenest sense of smell, and they will soon recover from the chaos and begin to establish a new "order".

Wen Yan took a deep breath, adjusted his breathing, and once again sank his consciousness into the depths of his soul.

In that boundless void, the once desolate darkness is now trembling slightly.

He could clearly sense that, in some corner of the city, two intense flames of emotion were burning.

A dark, cold silver color—that was Xu Suyuan.

Her murderous intent lessened slightly, but the chilling sorrow intensified.

The other mass was a grayish-brown color, surging with magma.

That was the third "suitable candidate" for the Seed of Souls.

Wen Yan's thoughts drifted back to a few days earlier, when Xu Suyuan was being chased to the point of desperation and accidentally fell into that basement covered with photos.

Through his soul connection with Xu Suyuan, Wen Yan "saw" the revenge plan against the Wei Group covering the walls. The red threads and the secretly taken photos all revealed the hatred and obsession of an undercover agent.

At that moment, Wen Yan keenly sensed that above the basement, through a floor slab, a pair of eyes were silently and warily watching the intruder.

That emotional fluctuation was neither as explosive as Chen Guohua's, nor as frantic as Xu Suyuan's driven by despair.

It's like a dormant volcano, enduring a long period of silence in preparation for its eventual eruption.

That was the perfect "breeding ground".

Therefore, after the new "Seed of Soul" was generated, Wen Yan did not hesitate to use the information from that basement as an "anchor point" to lock onto that repressed soul.