The captain's voice was frigid, thoroughly indifferent.
He looked down at Boss Zhang with unfeeling eyes, as though gazing upon an entirely different species rather than a fellow human being.
"I—I only know that Boss Lu is from Shanghai. He's very rich, supposedly some second-generation heir, but other than that, I don't know a thing!" Hearing that icy tone, Boss Zhang could not stop his body from trembling.
The sensation was like standing before a ferocious beast; it felt as though his very blood had run cold.
He knew that if he did not speak the truth, the man would strike him down without hesitation. Thus, he blurted out everything he knew, daring not withhold a single detail.
He understood all too well in his heart that the people before him were likely Awakened who had embarked upon the path of evolution—individuals not to be crossed.
"Is that so?"
Wang Xing, the captain of this Longevity Genetics squad, narrowed his eyes slightly upon hearing this and asked, "Are you certain that's all you know?"
"Yes, yes, absolutely!" Boss Zhang nodded repeatedly in assent.
"Captain Wang, it seems that really is all he knows," a squad member stepped forward, a green glow similarly flickering in his eyes.
Wang Xing said nothing. After a moment's contemplation, he refrained from asking further. Giving the squad member a look, he stepped aside.
The member understood implicitly. Striding up to Boss Zhang, he reached out and clamped a hand around the man's throat.
With a slight squeeze of his fingers, a crisp crack resounded.
Boss Zhang slumped to the ground.
Having done this, the man felt no psychological burden whatsoever, as though he had merely crushed an ant. After all, they were no longer life-forms on the same level; he did not care in the slightest.
"Captain Wang, what should we do next?" another squad member walked up and asked.
"Head to Shanghai."
Wang Xing answered directly, "That man surnamed Lu is extremely cautious and left behind very few clues. Yet the more cautious he was, the more it proves that he definitely saw or obtained something on the day of the falling meteor. The sudden death of our operatives last time might very well be connected to him as well. A prominent figure in the company handed down direct orders: whether dead or alive, he must be brought back."
Just as Lu Yuan had suspected, Longevity Genetics had no intention of letting the matter drop; they wanted to uncover the truth.
"But Shanghai is different. It's a major city. If we kill someone there, it might cause some trouble," one of the squad members noted, a faint trace of worry in his voice.
After the global mutation began and the path of life's evolution opened, the world had plunged into a period of chaos. Yet in the end, under the leadership of the Huaxia authorities, the situation had begun to stabilize. Several mega-cities were to be established as bastions of the New Era to take in ordinary civilians, and Shanghai was one of them.
Everyone knew that immense upheavals still lay ahead. Countless people would fall into peril and live amidst constant crises. Under such circumstances, the Huaxia authorities could not simply stand by; they would do everything in their power to protect ordinary people. At the same time, they would enact various regulations to rein in certain Awakened.
Formidable though Longevity Genetics was, and even with the various supernatural powers they had acquired after the mutation, there were still lines they had to respect; some things could not be taken too far.
"You know it's just a plan, don't you? Has it even started yet? We are in a New Era now, and there are new rules. The law of the jungle has returned—might makes right."
Captain Wang sneered and continued, "The company is constantly growing stronger. If we complete our missions, the benefits will be immense. Once we obtain resources in the future to keep evolving, we might even walk the path to godhood. Being bogged down by too many reservations will only hurt us; we must seize the opportunity."
As soon as these words were spoken, the squad members exchanged glances, a gleam appearing in their eyes as they clearly agreed.
"The captain makes sense. I stand with the captain."
One squad member voiced his support, though he soon chuckled and could not resist adding, "Still, the company really went overboard. That guy Lu is an ordinary person at best, yet they dispatched our Ninth Elite Squad. It's like using a butcher's cleaver to kill a chicken."
The other five squad members nodded in agreement, feeling that this mission was far too simple—little more than spending a bit of time tracking down a man's location.
"The company has several major initiatives underway right now, with countless moves on the board. On top of that, they have to contend with factions like Wu Zhou, Tianshen, and Beidou, competing with them for talents who possess special bloodlines. They were short on hands, which is why they deployed us. But you should count yourselves lucky that you weren't assigned a more dangerous task.
"Take Elite Squads One, Two, and Three, for instance. I hear the place they're heading is extraordinary. The rewards are immense, but it's just as easy to lose your life there,"
Captain Wang said cryptically, divulging secrets known only to someone of his rank, urging his squad members to be content.
"Extraordinary?"
Hearing this, the others chimed in with questions. "It wouldn't happen to be that imperial mausoleum on Mount Li, would it?"
"Enough, shut your mouths. Such matters aren't to be discussed in private," the captain barked, warning them not to speak recklessly.
The squad members caught on immediately and shut their mouths, saying no more as they resolved to focus entirely on executing their current mission.
Without lingering any longer, the Longevity Genetics elite squad set the villa ablaze and departed straight away.
***
Shanghai.
In the courtyard of the villa.
Lu Yuan sat cross-legged on the ground, his entire body soaked in crimson blood.
Yet from within him came a mysterious roaring sound, and his heart thudded like a war drum.
Likely as a result of fusing with the Eleven-Tier Blood Pagoda, every single one of his internal organs had grown extraordinarily powerful.
The heart, most of all, was no longer like that of a mortal. It was like that of a true dragon from primordial antiquity—mighty and robust. The blood surging through his vessels flowed like a raging river, brimming with boundless vital essence and burning as hot as magma.
Furthermore, his liver, lungs, spleen, kidneys, and six hollow organs were also undergoing transformation and tempering throughout this process.
It could be said that Lu Yuan's internal organs were now terrifyingly formidable.
Meanwhile, the agonizing pain that had accompanied the fusion gradually subsided, until it vanished entirely.
"In just a few more days, the fusion with the Eleven-Tier Blood Pagoda will be complete." Sensing the changes within his body, he felt a surge of exhilaration.
This sensation of sheer power was exhilarating, as though he were evolving into an entirely different echelon of life.
Following the mutation, all living beings across the globe had embarked upon the path of evolution.
Though many fell along the way, once one succeeded and continued to undergo successive transformations, the benefits were beyond imagination.
One would attain power akin to myth and legend—truly capable of burning the heavens, boiling the seas, holding the sun and moon, and plucking the stars.
Lu Yuan cast aside all stray thoughts, focusing entirely on the fusion and adapting to the changes.
At last, several more days went by.
On this day, the strange disturbances around him vanished completely, and the raging surge of power settled into stillness.
Lu Yuan opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing across them.
He rose to his feet and stretched his limbs slightly.
Instantly, an overwhelming presence, akin to that of a primordial beast, surged forth from his body.
At the same time, the blood and qi within him rampaged outward, bearing down so heavily that the stone slabs beneath his feet shattered inch by inch under the strain.
This blood and qi carried a faint golden luster. As it converged behind Lu Yuan, it formed a blood-colored eleven-tier pagoda, and his aura intensified yet again, resembling a true dragon.
Boom!
As the aura descended, the very ground quaked.
His blood and qi formed a pagoda; inner and outer united as one!
And at that very moment, Lu Yuan's cultivation realm advanced with a resounding boom, as countless billions of cellular particles erupted into jubilation!
Chapter 31