All-out: Starting with the Awakening Special Operations Unit, search, attack, and withdrawal.

"Brother, what's wrong?"

Xia Pingjie looked at his elder brother Xia Pingwei with a puzzled expression, then suddenly fell silent, as if he had seen a ghost.

Upon closer inspection, when he saw the figure in the document photo, he suddenly seemed to realize something.

"This woman... I was really confused today. I'd never met her before, and I don't think I'd ever offended her. She's acting like a lunatic, giving me the look of murder... If the situation hadn't prevented it, I definitely would have taught her a lesson..."

As he spoke, Xia Pingwei, who had been somewhat uncertain, suddenly gasped sharply.

"What did you say? She glared at you? Like she wanted to kill you?!"

Xia Pingwei grabbed his younger brother Xia Pingjie's loose martial arts uniform collar, ignoring the latter's confusion and exclamation, and almost pressed his head down onto the documents in his hand.

"Are you sure?! Are you sure it was her glaring at you?"

"Ah! Big brother, what are you doing? I'm sure! I'm not blind! Let go of me, you..."

Xia Pingwei's face immediately darkened to the point that it seemed as if water could drip from it.

After releasing her struggling younger brother, she looked at Luo Xin's photo again, her eyes filled with icy killing intent.

"Having narrowly escaped death, instead of hiding in a stinking ditch, you actually dare to come to Xialong Base City? Luo Yi... your courage truly impresses me!"

Looking at his elder brother's appearance, Xia Pingjie suddenly seemed to realize something.

"Brother, you...you know her?"

Xia Pingwei took a deep breath and threw the documents in his hand onto the desk in front of him.

"Tomorrow, find a way to go to Tiangong Academy and arrange a meeting with that kid named Chu Hong. Tell him I need to talk to him!"

......

"Over the years, I've been trying to collect the [mutated 'Plague' core]. I even had members of the Black Hole Council approach me, trying to recruit me... but even they couldn't find the materials to repair the source core."

"It's been dragging on like this for ages. At first, repairing the source core only required one [Mutated 'Plague' Core], then it became three, and now, eight years after the source core shattered, I need a full five [Mutated 'Plague' Cores]!"

[Special Operations Division].

When Luo Yi said this, everyone saw that his eyes were full of bloodshot veins, and his face was contorted with a terrifying look as if he were about to devour someone.

He was seen gritting his teeth.

"I inquired about various sources and finally learned that... as long as someone brings out the core of the mutated 'Plague' from the top-secret secret realm [Plague Nest], the Rong'an Earl's Mansion will immediately offer a high price to buy it and then seal it away!"

"Unless I go into the top-secret [Plague Nest] myself to find it, there isn't a single one on the market."

Upon hearing this, everyone present gasped in shock.

That's ruthless... It not only turned Luo Yi into a wanted criminal who was hated by everyone and had colluded with the Black Hole Council.

They were willing to spend a fortune to completely eliminate the already slim chance of the other party recovering.

A look of sympathy flashed in Donald's eyes.

He patted the distraught and furious Luo Yi on the shoulder.

"Hehe, alright, it's all in the past now. With our captain here, all we have to do is register that secret realm called 'Plague Nest' into the 'Special Operations Division.' We have a chance, let alone three or five, even ten..."

Luo Yi nodded upon hearing this.

however.

At this moment, Chu Hong suddenly spoke.

"Didn't he already say that the Rong'an Earl's treasury contains that [mutated 'Plague' core]? And after all these years, there must be more than five. Why bother going to the trouble of searching for it yourself in the secret realm?"

Upon hearing this, the pupils of the group contracted slightly.

Even Luo Yi was taken aback by Chu Hong's statement.

"Captain, you, you mustn't be impulsive! That's the Rong'an Earl's Mansion! Not to mention that if we make a move in Xia Long Base City, it will be difficult to escape. And that bastard Xia Pingwei is no longer the Core Condensation Realm he used to be."

Chu Hong smiled faintly.

"Heh, what does it matter to me whether he's awesome or not? I'm not planning on fighting him anyway..."

Luo Yi and the others were even more bewildered: "Then, Captain, you...?"

Chu Hong tapped Luo Yi's chest with his finger, his smile carrying a hint of cunning and treachery.

"Have you forgotten? Right now, they're in the open, and we're in the shadows! If he could find you, would you still be alive? Whether the Rong'an Earl's Mansion is powerful or not is none of my business, but one thing I'm very clear about... their family is finished!"

The welcoming ceremony for the new members ended quickly.

Everyone dispersed, some running their swords, while Luo Yi was taken by Chu Hong to the [Big Red Collection Room].

When Luo Yi saw the different levels of display cases and their effects, he, who was originally worried about Chu Hong's impulsiveness, was now a little worried about the Rong'an Earl's Mansion.

"Captain, Captain... I want to avenge this grudge myself."

Upon reaching the level 1 display case of the [Mother of the Forest] and seeing the "Resurrect Once on the Spot" effect, Luo Yi hurriedly spoke up.

"Hehe, don't worry, I'll at most help you get what you want. As for your plans after that, I respect all my team members..." Chu Hong smiled slightly, but began to take out the large red collectibles he had touched earlier one by one.

Another batch of display case upgrades and lighting work is underway.

Chu Hong felt as if he were a busy and hardworking large-scale pig farmer.

Every day at a set time, pigsty feed is brought here...

Ding!

In an empty display case, as the [Statue of Guan Sheng Di Jun] was placed inside, another [Statue of Guan Sheng Di Jun] in Chu Hong's hand transformed into a stream of light and merged into it.

[Collectible]: Statue of Guan Sheng Di Jun (Lord Guan)

[Display Case Level]: lv1

[Activation Effect]: Increases in-game strength by 50%.

[Upgrade Requirements]: 500 million Energy Points, [Statue of Guan Yu] *3

Luo Yi's eye twitched violently. He used to think he was a genius, but now compared to Chu Hong, who was a cheater who was not even in the same league, he felt inferior.

He suddenly felt that life was actually quite dull and tasteless.

However, that's not all.

[Collectible]: Mask of the Dead

[Display Case Level]: lv1

[Activation Effect]: Revives a teammate who was killed within 5 minutes in a single game.

[Upgrade Requirements]: 500 million Energy Points, [Vengeful Mask] *3

Luo Yi: "......."

It's almost unimaginable how devastating it must be to be the enemy of someone like Chu Hong.

Then.

[Collectible]: Relics of a Paranormal Observer

[Display Case Level]: lv1

[Activation Effect]: Grants immunity to invisibility or illusion effects on all units within a 50-meter range.

[Upgrade Requirements]: 500 million Energy Points, 3 [Paranormal Observer Relics]

Luo Yi was numb. He could revive on the spot, but now the possibility of a close-range sneak attack was gone.

What's the difference between this and being invincible?

However, after the initial numbness subsided, Luo Yi felt increasingly at ease, knowing he had a captain like Chu Hong and the Special Operations Division as his last refuge.

His and his sister Luo Xin's safety is now 100% guaranteed!

Thinking of this, his previously somewhat dejected state was replaced by a renewed surge of determination in his eyes.

"Captain, what do you need me to do next?"

Chu Hong nodded.

Suddenly, in front of the other person, he took out something.

[The Witch's Punishment Box].

The display case effect of this item is mediocre, reducing damage from demon-side monsters by 20%.

It's better than nothing, and it's currently impossible to upgrade to level 1.

"This thing is much stronger than the [Forbidden Object Capture Cage] you used before. Your strength is currently stuck at the ninth level of the Energy Gathering Realm, and you can't do anything else anyway, so you might as well go back to your old profession."

"By using the Special Operations Division to capture them, we can directly transport them back to the research base, saving a lot of the risk of exposure in the process."

Luo Yi looked at the information on the [Witch's Punishment Box] without any doubt.

He nodded.

Chu Hong then flashed a red light in his hand, revealing a figurine of a bird-beak masked man.

Luo Yi's pupils contracted sharply.

"Place it in your secret hideout. [Sad Raven] can not only serve as your research assistant, but it can also summon corpses to act as daily security for the base. During the research process, you can also have someone help you with some simple tasks."

"This, this is for me?!" Luo Yi gasped.

Almost instinctively, he waved his hands repeatedly.

"Captain, you may not be aware of how rare these collectible figurines are. Let alone red quality ones, even gold quality ones are worth as much as a big red one on the market. Many powerful and wealthy families keep these kinds of things at home, and they can be a huge trump card when necessary."

"It's too valuable, you should keep it for yourself..."

however.

Chu Hong, however, had already shoved the figurine directly into the other person's arms.

"More than these, I hope you can research and develop higher-level [forbidden items] as soon as possible. As you have seen, all the secret realms, even ordinary ones, can generate extremely difficult modes of the top-secret level or even the hell level."

"I hope that one day you can research and develop the [Forbidden Item], the boss of Hell-level dungeons, and mass-produce it!"

Luo Yi gasped.

A forbidden item crafted by a boss from a hellish dungeon?!

You really have wild ideas...