The captain's voice was icy cold and utterly detached. His gaze on Zhang was rciless, indifferent, the way one might look at sothing beneath them, sothing not even of the sa species.
Zhang trembled uncontrollably at that voice. It was as if he stood before a ferocious beast; the very blood in his veins seed to freeze under the man's presence. He knew that if he didn't tell the truth, this man would kill him without hesitation. So he spilled everything he knew.
"I... I only know that Mr. Lu is from Hu City. He's rich—supposedly a second-generation heir. That's all I know," Zhang stamred.
He dared not hide a thing. Deep down, he understood that the n before him were Awakened—people who had stepped onto the path of evolution—and they were not to be trifled with.
"I see..." Wang Xing, captain of the Longevity Genetics squad, narrowed his eyes slightly. "Are you sure that that's all you know?"
"Yes, yes. That's all." Zhang nodded frantically.
"Captain Wang, looks like that's the extent of it," one of the squad mbers said as he stepped forward, his eyes glinting with the sa eerie green light.
Wang Xing didn't reply. He paused in thought, then shot his teammate a aningful glance before stepping aside.
The man understood the unspoken instruction imdiately. He strode up to Zhang, clamped a hand around his throat—
—and with a small squeeze, a sharp crack echoed in the air. Zhang crumpled to the ground.
The killer's face remained expressionless. There was no guilt, no hesitation. It was as if he'd simply crushed an ant. After all, in his eyes, Zhang wasn't a lifeform on the sa level as he, so he wouldn't really care even the least.
"Captain Wang, what's our next move??" another team mber asked.
"We head to Hu City," Wang Xing answered in a flat tone. "That man, Lu, is cautious. Left no traces behind. Which only proves he must have seen or taken sothing on the day of the teor rain. The deaths of our n may be tied to him as well.
"The higher-ups have given the instructions that we have to bring him back—dead or alive."
Just as Lu Yuan had guessed, Longevity Genetics wasn't about to let the matter rest. They would dig until they unearthed the truth.
"But Hu City is different," another teammate said, concern edging his voice. "It's a big city. If we kill soone there, it'll be a problem."
After the Global Awakening opened the path of evolution, the world plunged into a state of temporary chaos. In ti, under Huaxia's leadership, order was slowly restored. Plans were laid to build several supercities—fortresses of the New Era—to shelter ordinary civilians. Hu City was one of these planned safe zones.
Everyone knew greater changes were coming, and countless people would be trapped and thrown into endless dangers. Under such circumstances, the authorities couldn't sit idle. They had to protect civilians at all costs. At the sa ti, they began drafting regulations to keep the Awakened in check.
Even with Longevity Genetics' vast influence and the extraordinary abilities it gained after the Awakening, the squad still had limits. There were lines they couldn't afford to cross.
"You an the plan? It's still just that—a plan," Wang Xing said with a cold chuckle. "We're in the New Era now. New rules. The law of the jungle has returned—strength is law.
"The company grows stronger by the day. Complete this mission, and we'll all profit.
"Secure the right resources, keep evolving, and maybe even walk the path to godhood.
"Too much hesitation is bad. We need to seize the opportunity."
At Wang Xing's words, the squad mbers exchanged glances. A hint of light sparkled in their eyes. They clearly agreed.
"Captain's right. I'm in," one of them said, before smirking. "Still, the company's being overly cautious. That Lu guy's just a regular man at best, yet they're sending us, Elite Squad Nine, after him. Like swatting a fly with a warhamr."
The other five team mbers nodded in agreent. They, too, felt that the mission was overly simple. It was just a matter of spending so ti to track a man down.
"The company has several major plans in motion, with many already underway. At the sa ti, we're competing against other forces—Wuzhou Group, Skygod, Polaris—for people with special bloodlines. Manpower is stretched thin, so they're sending us. Be glad we didn't get assigned sothing far more dangerous.
"Take Elite Squad One, Two, and Three, for example. I've heard they're headed to so... unusual places. The rewards are high, but so is the chance of dying," Wang Xing said, his tone carrying a hint of mystery. These were secrets only soone of his rank would know, and his words were a subtle reminder for the team to be content with their assignnt.
"Unusual?" The others perk up. "Don't tell ... you an the imperial tomb in Mount Li?
"Okay, enough. Shut your mouths." Wang Xing snapped. "Don't gossip about things like these in private."
The squad caught the warning imdiately. They ended the discussion on the spot, promising to put their full focus on the mission ahead.
With further delay, the Longevity Genetics' Elite Squad Nine set the villa ablaze and left.
***
Hu City.
In the courtyard of his villa, Lu Yuan sat cross-legged on the ground, his entire body drenched in crimson blood. From within him ca a strange, thunderous roar, and his heart pounded like a resounding war drum.
The fusion with the Eleven-Tier Blood Pagoda had likely strengthened every organ in his body to an extre.
Leading them all was his heart—no longer rely human, but like a primordial dragon, vast and mighty. Blood surged through his veins like a raging river, brimming with boundless vitality and burning as if molten rock flowed within him.
Every organ—his liver, lungs, spleen, kidneys—had undergone the sa tempering and transformation.
It could be said that Lu Yuan’s five viscera and six bowels were now terrifyingly strong.
The pain from the fusion slowly ebbed away, until it was gone entirely.
Just a few more days, and the assimilation of the Eleven-Tier Blood Pagoda would be complete.
Lu Yuan thought as he felt the changes within his body. His excitent swelled. This overwhelming power was intoxicating. He felt as if he had evolved into an entirely different kind of lifeform.
After the Global Awakening, all living beings had stepped onto the path of evolution. Many perished along the way, but those who succeeded shed their mortal shells, transford, and reaped benefits beyond imagination.
They could wield powers once found only in myth, and truly achieve feats like scorching the heavens, boiling the seas, seizing the sun and moon, and plucking the stars from the sky.
With that thought, Lu Yuan cast aside all distractions, focusing wholly on the fusion and adapting to the changes within him.
Days slipped by once more.
Finally, the strange fluctuations running through his body vanished. The surging tide of power settled.
Lu Yuan’s eyes snapped open, a sharp glint flashing within.
He stood up and stretched slightly.
And in that instant, an overpowering aura exploded outward. It was wild and savage, like a feral beast loosed from the wilderness.
At the sa ti, the bloodforce within him roared, its power so dense it beca visible. The flagstones beneath his feet cracked inch by inch beneath the pressure.
Faint streaks of gold coursed through the crimson energy as it gathered behind him, taking the shape of an eleven-tier blood-red pagoda. His presence rose to an even greater height—majestic, domineering, like a true dragon.
Boom!
The weight of his aura slamd down, shaking the earth.
Bloodforce like a pagoda—unity of internal and external!
In that mont, Lu Yuan’s cultivation realm leapt forward once more. The billions of cells in his body sang in jubilant exhilaration.
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