Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

Even from several meters away, Liu Mingyuan could clearly see that the little finger of Han Xiao's right hand was empty.

That severed finger served as a silent warning, demonstrating the price this man had paid for his revenge.

In the shadows beside Han Xiao, a slender figure leaned against something.

The girl blended almost into the darkness; only when Liu Mingyuan's terrified gaze swept over her did he catch a glimpse of a fleeting dark silver light in her eyes.

That's a look that no human being should have.

It's like watching livestock being slaughtered.

"Liu Mingyuan".

Han Xiao's voice was hoarse and deep, "You've had a good six months, haven't you? You got promoted to deputy section chief, bought a new car, and I heard your wife's cooking skills have improved too?"

What should have been a friendly reunion between old friends sounded to Liu Mingyuan like a death sentence.

"Brother Han...please let me explain...I...I had no choice at the time..."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Liu Mingyuan wished he could bite off his own tongue.

Damn it, isn't this tantamount to admitting it?

Panic overwhelmed him instantly, and the instinct for survival drove his legs.

At the very moment he had the thought of running away, a faint, dark silver glint silently flashed in Xu Suyuan's eyes.

【Void Imprisonment】.

Liu Mingyuan suddenly felt as if he had been poured into cement.

His feet were stuck to the ground, unable to move an inch.

Even more terrifying, his vocal cords seemed to be tightly gripped by a large hand.

"Uh...uh..."

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't utter a single complete syllable.

Fear, boundless fear, completely consumed him.

What is this?!

Han Xiao slowly emerged from the shadows and approached Liu Mingyuan step by step.

He stopped two meters away from Liu Mingyuan, staring at the young man who had once called him master with the look one would give a dead man.

"I've taught you a lot."

Han Xiao slowly raised his crippled right hand and pointed to the dim space above Liu Mingyuan's head.

"But I seem to have forgotten to teach you the most important point—what you gain by selling your soul will eventually come at the cost of your life."

Almost at the same time Han Xiao finished speaking—

A creaking, metallic scraping sound came from directly above Liu Mingyuan's head.

What was that sound again?

Liu Mingyuan's mind was frozen by fear, and he could only instinctively catch the strange noise, but he could not immediately identify its source in his panic.

"Go to hell and repent!"

Han Xiao's loosely clenched right hand suddenly exerted force.

[Kinetic deflection].

Push it for me!

Inside the ventilation duct, the airflow that was originally flowing was forcibly reversed in that instant by a domineering will.

All the air pressure was twisted into one, vertically downward, and slammed hard into the inside of that maintenance metal cover!

"Bang! Bang!"

Two crisp sounds.

Under the immense wind pressure, those fixing bolts finally gave way and broke completely!

Just then, a scene finally flashed through Liu Mingyuan's muddled mind—

It's that ventilation duct in the garage ceiling and the access panel at its bottom!

But it was too late.

The heavy metal cover was freed from the confines of the pipe.

Under the influence of gravity, it plummeted straight down with a whooshing sound.

The target—is precisely yourself, trapped in place, unable to move an inch!

"puff!"

A muffled thud.

It's like a cleaver chopping into a watermelon.

That was the sound of a metal edge severing a cervical vertebra.

Liu Mingyuan's body trembled violently, and then, as if his bones had been removed, he collapsed limply to the ground.

The blood instantly stained the epoxy floor paint, like a red spider lily blooming in hell.

The metal cover lay quietly on the back of his head, covered in red and white substances.

The scene looked like an extremely unlucky passerby who happened to be walking by when he was hit by a falling maintenance cover and died instantly.

A perfect "accident".

……

The garage fell silent once more.

The eerie light in Xu Suyuan's eyes slowly faded, and she took a slight breath.

"He... doesn't seem to be on the police's list of people they're closely monitoring."

Xu Suyuan glanced at the motionless corpse on the ground.

"Of course not."

Han Xiao glanced coldly at his former apprentice, then pulled his hat down again. "He betrayed me very discreetly; no one knows we have this history. In the eyes of the police, he's just an innocent bystander."

He turned and disappeared into the darkness.

"These minor characters are just trash we can easily clean up. The real tough nuts to crack are yet to come."

"Next?" Xu Suyuan followed and asked.

"Xu Changming," Han Xiao uttered a name, his tone heavy with the stench of blood, "Head of Wei's Biotechnology Division, the initiator of the Dawn Biotechnology project."

"But..." Han Xiao paused, "He's different from Liu Mingyuan. He's a core member of the Wei family, and the police are definitely watching him. After the Gao Tianyou incident, the enemy must already know our goals and methods. So if we want to take revenge on Xu Changming, we need a more meticulous plan."

------

In the eighth district of Chenxi City, there is an inconspicuous six-story apartment building.

The blackout curtains blocked out the midday sun, and the room was filled with the hum of the cooling fan.

This is a temporary secret surveillance point of the "Special Investigation Office for Major Public Safety Incidents"—abbreviated as "Special Investigation Office".

Zhou Ming was leaning over the high-powered binoculars by the window, his eyes bloodshot.

Through the camera lens, the line of sight spans two hundred meters in a straight line, locking onto room 1203 of the upscale apartment building across the street.

"Still in the study?"

A rough voice came from behind; it was Lei Zhen.

He was holding two cups of black coffee. He placed one of them on the table next to Zhou Ming and then pulled out a folding chair to sit down.

"Yeah, from 11 p.m. last night until now, he hasn't left that spot except for going to the bathroom twice." Zhou Ming didn't turn around, maintaining his observation posture. "That old guy is busier than before."

Lei Zhen took a sip of coffee, his brows furrowing into a deep frown.

Since the shocking gunfight at the Jin Mao Tower, the police department has undergone a major reshuffle.

As a witness to the unusual events, Zhou Ming was promoted to the newly established "Special Investigation Office," while Lei Zhen, who had extensive criminal investigation experience and had contact with Chen Guohua, was also seconded there.

Their only task was to keep an eye on the man named Xu Changming on the other side.

And, waiting for the possible "abnormal" events involving Xu Suyuan and Han Xiao.

Just then, Zhou Ming's phone, which was on the table, vibrated.

The screen lit up, and a brief notification from the city bureau's internal system popped up.

Zhou Ming glanced at it, his eyes suddenly turning cold.

"What's wrong?" Lei Zhen noticed the change in the atmosphere.

"Wei Donghai's residential surveillance has been lifted. The Municipal Procuratorate has just issued an official document stating that, given insufficient evidence and his significant meritorious service, it has decided not to prosecute him."

"Grass!"