Who said this card is outrageous?

Zhang Che turned his head and saw Ah Li leading Wang Xinran and the other two, who were still unconscious, into the living room.

"Master, there are reinforcements outside, I dare not fight them."

Ahri carefully placed the three people on the sofa, then bared her teeth and claws as she looked towards the door.

If it were a one-on-one situation, Ahri would certainly not be afraid of her enemy, but now that she has three sleeping enemies to carry on, it's too much of a burden for her.

"Oh dear, little brother, you're so naughty."

Zhao Lanzhi maintained her alluring demeanor, rose, and walked with cat-like steps to the door. She glanced outside, then turned back, her tone tinged with helplessness.

“We’ve wasted too much time here. If we continue, it will be very difficult to leave Hezhou City.”

As she spoke, she turned around, her smile fading slightly, and finally revealing a serious expression.

"So, I won't play with you anymore, let's get down to business."

"The purpose of our trip is to invite you to join the Eye of Truth."

Chapter 201 Coercion

The living room fell silent for a moment.

Zhang Che did not answer, but simply sat there quietly watching Zhao Lanzhi, waiting for her to continue.

“We’re likely to be comrades-in-arms in the future, so we certainly won’t hurt your family and create unnecessary enmity.” Zhao Lanzhi’s tone changed again; the allure from before disappeared, replaced by a businesslike calm.

Then, she changed the subject—

"But if they're not our comrades, we don't need to worry so much when we make our move."

As soon as he finished speaking, two more people walked in from outside the door, both of them mid-level fourth-tier extraordinary beings.

Their positioning was very strategic: one person blocked the doorway, and the other guarded the window, working in conjunction with Zhao Lanzhi's position to completely block Zhang Che's escape routes.

"You really think highly of me."

Zhang Che sneered, showing no sign of being threatened. His gaze swept across the three faces, finally settling on Zhao Lanzhi.

"Aren't you afraid that if I leave with you, I'll wipe you all out?"

His tone was calm, so calm that it didn't sound like he was making threats, but rather like he was stating a fact.

Zhao Lanzhi wasn't angry; instead, she chuckled softly.

“Hehe…” Her laughter was soft, with a sense of composure that said, “I knew you would say that.” “Of course I know that Mr. Zhang Che still has a trump card that can turn the tide.”

A fourth-tier card maker with such high talent has been secretly working for over a month. If you said he hadn't prepared some good cards for himself, nobody would believe it.

However, Zhao Lanzhi and the others were not worried about this, and simply continued to invite Zhang Che to go with them.

Otherwise, if a real fight broke out, it's hard to say whether the girls would die, but Wang Xinran and her two grandchildren would most likely not survive.

"So, little brother, do you dare to trade the lives of these three for ours?"

Zhao Lanzhi stopped laughing; her expression was serious, and her eyes were calm.

This is an ultimatum!

Zhang Che hesitated for a moment.

His gaze swept over the three people sleeping on the sofa, and he finally nodded.

Faced with this subtle, manipulative tactic from the enemy, he clearly had no other choice. Otherwise, continuing the stalemate would only bring unnecessary disaster upon Wang Xinran and the others.

They clearly had a chance to survive, but their stubbornness led to irreversible consequences.

Zhang Che will never forgive himself in that time!

"Ali, take Xinran and the others back to their rooms."

Zhang Che said this, then took out paper and pen from his pocket, indicating that he wanted to leave a message for his family.

Zhao Lanzhi said that Zhang Che could write whatever he wanted, but he shouldn't take too long, otherwise her two partners might not have the patience.

Zhang Che wrote quickly, and the contents of the letter were very simple. He said that Zhao Lanzhi, the commander of the city guards, was an undercover agent sent by the Eye of Truth. He had discovered her whereabouts and had no choice but to go with her.

At the end of the letter, he added a special note: "Don't worry about me, I'll be back soon."

He folded the letter and placed it under the water glass on the coffee table, in a very obvious spot, so that Wang Xinran would definitely see it when she woke up in the morning.

Zhao Lanzhi didn't care about this, after all, once she was used as a pawn in this way, she was destined never to return.

Everything she has built up over the years in Hezhou City will be irrelevant to her after tonight.

However, given Zhang Che's remarkable talent recently, the mere Hezhou City is indeed not that important compared to him.

Small cities of this size are a dime a dozen in the Federation; no one cares if one more or one less. But true geniuses are incredibly rare, and they might not even be given the chance to be recruited.

"Let's go." Zhang Che stood up and dusted off his clothes, which were not actually dust. "Now I'm quite curious about what you want to do to me."

He recalled all the summoned creatures except Ahri, and then he followed Zhao Lanzhi and the other two out of Wang Xinran's house.

The streets were deserted late at night, with only the streetlights casting dim yellow halos in the darkness.

Zhang Che was taken to a secluded corner nearby, where a military vehicle was parked. It was painted dark green and had the insignia of the Hezhou City Guard printed on its body.

With the pass issued by Commander Zhao Lanzhi, even though it was late at night, they could pass through several checkpoints in the city without any hindrance and leave the territory of Hezhou City.

……

The night was as dark as ink, and a dark green off-road vehicle bumped along a dirt road in the countryside.

The clattering of the alchemical array's gears and the rustling of wheels rolling over the dirt road became the only background noise on this journey.

It's hard to believe that there were four mid-level superhumans in this car, one of whom was the driver.

Zhao Lanzhi sat in the second row, in the middle, and occasionally glanced back at Zhang Che and Ali in the back seat.

Zhang Che and Ah Li sat in the last row. The latter appeared calm on the surface, but in reality, she was already eager to try.

"Master, we should be quite far from the city now, let's make our move!"

As Zhang Che's most trusted confidante, Ahri naturally knew about the existence of the [Black Rhino Armor] and the [Hawk Lady - Armor].

With myself, Fitz, and Megalodon added to the mix, dealing with these three mid-level transcendents would be more than enough!

You've offended your master and you still want to run away?

However, Zhang Che was no longer in a hurry. While calming the irritable little fox spirit, he looked at Zhao Lanzhi and the other two in front of him with a deep gaze.

He was now genuinely curious about the destination of his trip.

Moreover, as the saying goes, "You can be a thief for a thousand days, but you can't guard against thieves for a thousand days." Who can guarantee that these people haven't left any tricks up their sleeves in Hezhou City?

All he can do now is wait, at least until dawn today, so that Wang Xinran and the others can discover the information they left behind and receive protection from the higher-ups in Hezhou City.

As for these guys, Zhang Che was very curious about what they were really up to.

Ideally, they would be leading me to their lair so I could wipe them out in one fell swoop and completely eliminate any future troubles!

Just as Lin Jiming had told him before, the Eye of Truth was indeed powerful, but in the current Federation, the power of the official government still reigned supreme.

These rats in the sewers might hop around occasionally, but they can't possibly focus their energy on one person or one city all the time.

Zhang Che's situation was purely coincidental, causing these guys to concentrate the manpower that should have been used to deal with Hezhou City on him.

If it weren't for his appearance, the Eye of Truth's arrangements in Hezhou City would have been some other plan.

Or perhaps, like the Heart-Eating Demons of Binhai City, these harpies are also likely their doing.

It was only because of his sudden appearance that they were forced to change their original plans.

Chapter 202 Deep into Enemy Territory

The car continued into the darkness, gradually entering the dense forest where visibility became even darker.

The trees on both sides were tall and dense, their canopies forming a continuous expanse that blocked out the moonlight. Only the two beams of the car's headlights cleaved a narrow path ahead, the edges of which were the receding tree trunks and bushes.

Fortunately, a bright light suddenly appeared in the distance, and it grew larger and larger as the distance closed.

Zhang Che squinted, relying on his fairly good eyesight, to confirm that it should be the entrance to an underground cave—

The cave entrance is quite large, at least three or four meters high, with jagged edges, as if it were naturally formed. However, the neat stones around the entrance indicate that it has been artificially restored.

Could this be their hideout?

However, before Zhang Che could think about it further, a strange sense of constraint suddenly descended upon him.

The once incredibly active mental energy in Zhang Che's mind seemed to have been sedated, quickly becoming still and stagnant, like a pool of dead water, completely unresponsive.

At the same time, Ahri also noticed this.

Her tail suddenly snapped open, and she sprang from her seat, grabbing the roof of the SUV with both hands and tearing it apart with all her might—

"Shoot-"

The sound of metal tearing rang out in the night sky. A large hole was ripped open in the roof of the car. Ah Li grabbed Zhang Che by the collar and jumped out of the car with him, landing steadily on the ground.

"Master, we must run!"

Before she could finish speaking, and before Ahri could make any further moves, a tall figure blocked their way.

He was definitely over two meters tall, with bulging muscles all over his body, like a moving small mountain.

"A distinguished guest has arrived!"

The man's voice was deep and resonant, as if it were being crushed from his chest, echoing through the dense forest.

"If we don't even drink a cup of tea, wouldn't that be impolite of us?"

On the other side, Zhao Lanzhi and the other two had also gotten out of the car and blocked Zhang Che's retreat.

"Stop struggling, little brother."

Zhao Lanzhi's voice came from behind, her tone tinged with smugness.

"This is a 'mind-stabilizing array' that we prepared especially for you. No one can use their mental power inside. I advise you to behave yourself and not put up any futile resistance."

What is this? I can't believe such a thing exists in the world!

Zhang Che's heart sank; he had never imagined he would encounter such a situation.

A card maker who cannot mobilize their mental energy will have little advantage when facing a superhuman of the same level.