Chapter 97: 97, Reassess the danger level!

Ren Xiaosu's battle with the test subjects had finally drawn the attention of the Qingshi Consortium, for fierce fights always make noise, and though the consortium had lost track of Ren Xiaosu, they had been searching back and forth through the woods.

When someone detected the sounds of combat, they immediately issued a call to arms on the communication channel.

Like black iron sand drawn by a magnet, the Qingshi Consortium, led by Xu Man, swiftly converged on the scene, only to find that when they arrived, their target had vanished.

It was bad enough that they had mistaken Xu Xiance for Ren Xiaosu at first, but now they had lost Xu Xiance too, leaving Xu Man in a foul mood.

After all these years, this was the first time Xu Man had encountered so many unexpected events during a mission.

Xu Man trudged forward through the woods, stepping unevenly, the rotten leaves and twigs crunching underfoot, and as he pulled down his visor, he suddenly inhaled sharply.

Ahead, the bodies of several test subjects had been sliced apart by blades, their pale yellow blood splattered on the ground barely noticeable, yet the shattered corpses were enough to make one's heart race.

Xu Man said, "Gather the bodies and see how many test subjects were involved in the fight."

According to Xu Man's speculation, Xu Xiance must have encountered these test subjects shortly after retreating, leading to the battle.

At this point, the combat team had already collected all the nearby remains, piecing them together.

"Four test subjects," someone said. "One of their arms is missing, but it should be nearby."

"Only one set of footprints from someone wearing shoes. The test subjects are naked, so we suspect only Xu Xiance participated in the fight," someone analyzed.

Xu Man nodded, then activated the public channel and said, "Boss, Xu Xiance's abilities need to be reassessed. He killed four test subjects alone."

As he spoke, Xu Man looked down at the ground and continued, "But Xu Xiance was wounded too. There's his blood here."

Qing Zhen stood in the light of the searchlight, the area as bright as day, and after a long pause, said, "It's truly surprising that someone could kill four test subjects single-handedly. Adjust Xu Xiance's danger level... B-class. Make sure to collect his blood sample and file it away."

"Understood," Xu Man replied, immediately arranging for his men to take samples of the blood on the leaves.

In this era, DNA in blood is crucial.

Qing Zhen stood with his hands behind his back, puzzled. "Xu Xiance and Yang Xiaojin have both appeared, and Luo Xinyu has revealed her identity as a brute. But what about Ren Xiaosu? Has anyone seen Ren Xiaosu?!"

They did not know that Ren Xiaosu had successfully shifted the blame onto Xu Xiance. In their perception, the B-class superhuman was none other than Ren Xiaosu himself.

What is B-class? Those marked as B-class by the Qingshi Consortium are already extremely dangerous individuals.

Xu Man answered on the channel, "I haven't seen Ren Xiaosu. He probably never breached the blockade."

"That's possible," Qing Zhen nodded. If they returned to their original assumptions, Ren Xiaosu was just an F-class nobody, and it made sense that he would instinctively retreat under the Qingshi Consortium's blockade.

Liu Bu had said earlier that Ren Xiaosu had always insisted on avoiding the Qingshi Consortium.

Qing Zhen smiled. If they could capture Ren Xiaosu, it might even become a bargaining chip against Zhang Jinglin someday.

Everyone in the Northern Sai knows Zhang Jinglin values loyalty above all.

However, it wasn't a great loss if they didn't catch him. Whether it was the 112th Bastion or the 113th Bastion, both were under Qingshi's control. When Ren Xiaosu returned, the consortium could easily manipulate him.

Xu Man gazed toward the forest ahead, where Ren Xiaosu's footprints stretched northward toward the volcano, as if he had already fled north.

He didn't pursue further. Based on the amount of blood at the scene, "Xu Xiance" couldn't have been seriously injured, and chasing him now would be too late.

Still, Xu Man was stunned. During the day, so many people had surrounded a single test subject, resulting in three deaths and thirteen injuries, yet someone had managed to kill four alone!

Moreover, the wounds on the test subjects were remarkably clean. They had tested before—even sharp tactical daggers required great force to pierce their skin.

The secrets of this "Xu Xiance" were far more than anyone had imagined, and Xu Man had already decided to hold the 113th Bastion's private military officers accountable. They had no idea their private forces harbored such a terrifying superhuman.

At this moment, Xu Xiance himself had no idea what awaited him. Unlike Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin, he was the one who had never breached the blockade...

Xu Xiance did want to know what had happened inside Jing Mountain, but he hadn't seized the chance to break through the blockade at first. Later, he thought, once inside, he might not come out again, so he simply took a detour toward the 112th Bastion.

He had ridden his shadow all the way, and by the time Ren Xiaosu went for the gold, he had almost circled around the entire city to Qingshi's rear. Thus, Xu Xiance knew nothing of the city's affairs, nor that he had been placed on Qingshi's danger list, ranking high on it.

If he had known, he would have turned back and fought Ren Xiaosu on the spot.

Riding his shadow's back, Xu Xiance always felt something was off, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was...

"Withdraw," Xu Man said. "Prepare to fortify the line. The test subjects' active period is coming, and we still can't determine where they're hiding."

It seemed Xu Man understood that even though four more test subjects had died, this was far from the end. Their numbers were far greater than others imagined.

Yet at that moment, Xu Man suddenly heard hurried footsteps about fifty meters to his side front. Someone was sprinting wildly!

He immediately shone his tactical flashlight in that direction and was shocked to see Ren Xiaosu clinging to his shadow, racing away.

Xu Man froze. What the hell? Why had "Xu Xiance" come back? Hadn't he already fled?

Ren Xiaosu, spotting Xu Man's group from afar, began to detour, planning to circle around the combat team's left flank.

But Xu Man didn't hesitate. He quickly cocked his gun and raised it to fire.

However, Ren Xiaosu, hearing the click of the gun being loaded from afar, panicked. "You're really gonna shoot me? Check out what's behind me!"

Xu Man, puzzled, looked toward Ren Xiaosu's back, only to see shadows writhing in the woods, chains clinking incessantly.

Xu Xiance suddenly felt terrible. You went and stirred up the test subjects' nest, didn't you?