Iron Bone and Cold Wind exchanged looks. Zhou Hu was a Level 3 Late Stage expert and the strongest person present; they did not dare to take his judgment lightly.
“I’ll go with you. We can look out for each other if anything happens,” Iron Bone spoke first.
Cold Wind’s expression was solemn and his eyes were filled with wariness as he watched the ruins to the right without saying a word.
Zhou Hu nodded, and together with Iron Bone, he left the convoy and headed toward the cluster of ruins on the right.
The two figures soon disappeared into the collapsed buildings.
Deep within the ruins, Su Wan had already chosen her ambush spot.
It was a relatively open space surrounded by broken walls that had been sheared in half by artillery fire. Rubble and twisted rebar were scattered across the ground.
She stood in the center of the clearing, her back to the direction they were coming from, remaining motionless.
Zhou Hu was the first to step into the clearing, with Iron Bone following close behind.
Iron Bone immediately spotted the slender figure in the center of the open space. He paused, stopping warily. “Who is that?!”
Su Wan slowly turned around.
When that excessively young face appeared before them, Iron Bone was momentarily stunned.
He hadn't expected to see such a woman deep within these uninhabited ruins.
In the instant that countless thoughts swirled through Iron Bone’s mind, without any warning, Zhou Hu’s massive frame suddenly spun around. His right fist, carrying the sound of whistling air, slammed ruthlessly into the side of Iron Bone’s face!
Iron Bone’s reactions were incredibly fast. In that split second, his skin began to take on a metallic luster—the 【Metalization】 ability had been activated!
But Zhou Hu was too fast.
A full-power strike from a Level 3 Late Stage gene-modified organism carried enough strength to punch through a concrete wall.
Iron Bone’s metalization only had time to cover half of his face before Zhou Hu’s fist slammed into his jaw!
“Bang!”
With a dull, heavy thud, Iron Bone’s burly body was sent flying like it had been hit by a truck. He sailed through the air sideways and smashed heavily into a broken wall.
The wall collapsed with a roar, and rubble buried half of his body.
However, Iron Bone was ultimately a Level 3 Mid Stage defensive Ability User.
The moment he hit the ground, his finger had already pressed a black button on the watch on his left wrist.
An emergency contact signal used between Ability Users within the City Defense Force was sent out silently.
At the same time, Su Wan’s mental power surged out like a tide, transforming into countless invisible tentacles that wrapped around Iron Bone’s limbs and head.
Iron Bone had just struggled to rise from the rubble when he felt as if his body had been cast in cement, making him unable to move a muscle.
His metalization now covered his entire body, but under the pressure of Su Wan’s Level 3 Late Stage mental power, his sturdy alloy-encased frame was as sluggish as an old man in his twilight years.
“You—!” Iron Bone roared, attempting to break free from the restraint, but Zhou Hu had already lunged at him.
Zhou Hu pinned Iron Bone’s chest down with one knee while his hands, like iron pincers, clamped onto Iron Bone’s wrists, pinning him to the ground.
Although Iron Bone’s metalization was sturdy, he could only barely endure in the face of Zhou Hu’s absolute strength, unable to launch a counterattack.
“Who… who are you?!” Iron Bone glared with bloodshot eyes, his gaze moving past Zhou Hu to stare fixedly at the excessively young woman.
Su Wan did not waste any time and once again retrieved a Slavery Collar.
A few seconds later, Iron Bone lowered his head, his voice respectful.
“Master.”
Su Wan glanced at the watch on Iron Bone’s wrist; the red emergency signal light on the dial was still flashing.
“Who was that signal just sent to?”
Iron Bone looked down at it and replied calmly, “It was sent to Cold Wind. This is the City Defense Force’s internal emergency contact signal. He will rush here immediately upon receiving it.”
Before he could finish speaking, a slender figure darted out from the ruins!
Cold Wind had already arrived!
The moment he stepped into the clearing, he came to an abrupt halt.
The scene before him made his heart tighten.
Zhou Hu and Iron Bone were standing side-by-side, and not far away stood a young woman.
The woman was beautiful and clean, looking like someone who didn't belong to this world.
Both Zhou Hu and Iron Bone had very calm expressions on their faces.
“Iron Bone?” Cold Wind did not approach. He stood where he was, alert. “What happened with the signal you sent?”
Iron Bone looked at Cold Wind and said flatly, “It’s nothing. Just a slip of the hand.”
Cold Wind’s gaze swept back and forth across the three of them, and the unease in his heart grew stronger and stronger.
The intuition he had honed through years of struggling in the apocalypse was screaming a warning.
Cold Wind did not hesitate.
A sheet of ice suddenly condensed beneath his feet, and he shot backward like an arrow toward the direction he had come from!
His reaction could not be called slow, and his judgment could not be called imprecise.
But someone was faster than him.
The moment Cold Wind turned around, a lean figure appeared silently behind him like a ghost peeling away from the shadows.
It was Shadow Blade.
Cold Wind had nowhere to run…
Su Wan looked at the four men standing in a row before her—Zhou Hu, Shadow Blade, Iron Bone, and Cold Wind.
Four Level 3 Ability Users: one Late Stage and three Mid Stage.
If this force were placed anywhere in Panshi City, it would be a combat strength that could not be ignored.
And now, they were all hers.
“Who is currently the strongest Ability User within the City Defense Force?” Su Wan got straight to the point.
After a brief silence, Cold Wind’s voice rang out. “Master, the strongest publicly known Ability User within the City Defense Force is Commander Pei Su, who is at the Level 4 Early Stage.”
“Publicly known?” Su Wan keenly caught the deeper meaning in his words.
Cold Wind explained, “In the power structure of the City Defense Force, Commander Pei Su is the top commander. His Level 4 Early Stage strength is well-regarded throughout Panshi City.”
“But beneath him are two Vice Commanders. Zhuang Heng, who is in charge of the Outer City and the Ruin Zone, is at the Level 3 Late Stage. Nie Zhen, who is in charge of Inner City defense, is also at the Level 3 Late Stage.”
“And what about in the shadows?” Su Wan pressed.
Cold Wind was silent for a moment. “Within the City Defense Force… there should be hidden experts, though I cannot be one hundred percent certain.”
“However, to my knowledge, the City Defense Force once had a veteran general at the Level 4 Mid Stage. He retired behind the scenes three years ago, and it is unknown if he is still alive.”
Su Wan frowned slightly, then looked at Zhou Hu and Shadow Blade. “What about the Panshi Company? How much do you know about their background?”
Zhou Hu spoke, his voice low. “Master, although I have been in the Panshi Company’s Outer City branch for many years, the company’s core secrets are never shared with those in the Outer City.”
“My direct superior is the head of the Outer City branch, Zhao Mingyuan. As for who is above Zhao Mingyuan, I am not sure.”
Shadow Blade added, “I have only vaguely heard that the Panshi Company’s Inner City headquarters has Ability Users at Level 4 or higher presiding over it.”
“But as for their specific strength or how many there are, I have no way of knowing.”
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