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The wind howled outside the window, but inside, only the faint crackling of charcoal fire could be heard.

Chen Fan pulled over a chipped wooden chair and sat down. With a calm expression, he took the kettle from the wooden table and filled the rough pottery bowl with water.

"Brother... have they left?"

Chen Xi huddled in the corner of the bed, hugging her knees, her small face still bearing traces of tears, her voice as soft as a falling leaf.

Chen Fan looked up at her, his cold gaze softening instantly. He reached out and ruffled her hair. "They're gone. They were just a pack of stray dogs scavenging in the mud, barking a few times and that's it."

Chen Xi sniffed, looking timidly at the torn black and gold card on the table. "They said... Doctor Chu will send a monster..."

"I'm here."

Chen Fan interrupted her, handing her the warm ceramic bowl. "The sky won't fall. Even if it does, I'll hold it up for you."

The girl held the ceramic bowl, the warmth of the water seeping into her limbs and bones through her palms.

Looking at Chen Fan's calm and profound face, the fear churning in her chest strangely subsided little by little.

That unwavering certainty that as long as he stood behind Chen Fan, there would be no storms to weather, transformed into an indescribable sense of peace, quietly rising from the depths of his heart.

Just as Chen Xi's mind settled down, a brilliant, flawless pure white light suddenly shone from the depths of Chen Fan's Sea of Consciousness.

The dormant, suspended Red Dust Dao Seed trembled slightly, like parched seedlings receiving sweet rain, greedily absorbing this pure and unadulterated attachment. From the cracks in the Dao Seed, rolling waves of mortal dust transformed into spiritual liquid, pouring into the Taiji Vortex within the Qi Sea.

Boom!

Chen Fan's muscles, bones, and internal organs Qi Ming violently.

The vital Qi and Blood particles, which had become slightly agitated due to the continuous battles, were purified at an alarming rate under the influence of this pure life force.

The remaining cracks after the Third Genes Lock broke completely healed, and the 40,000 jin of pure physical strength surged like a great river, rising step by step, all the way to the physical limit of 48,000 jin!

He could even vaguely sense that the fourth layer of Genes Lock barrier, which lay deep within his Mortal Body, had developed a clear crack under the impact of the massive Qi and Blood.

"Though the world is vast and complex, my heart remains unchanged."

Chen Fan murmured to himself, slowly concealing the strange light in his eyes.

For the next seven days, the entire Black Street fell into an eerie silence.

The Chamber of Commerce's heavily armed assassins guarded the street corner like an iron barrel, not only blocking the prying eyes of outsiders but also keeping several probing harassments from the underground research institute at bay from a kilometer away.

Every morning, the freshest radiation-free chilled meat, dehydrated vegetables, and snow-white flour specially supplied from the inner city are respectfully placed in front of the small building's threshold.

Chen Fan did not refuse.

He used these ingredients to start a fire and cook, and accompanied Chen Xi to identify the rare green plants in the courtyard.

After seven days, Chen Xi's complexion finally lost the sallow color caused by years of malnutrition, and a healthy rosy glow appeared. Her clear blue eyes were once again filled with the liveliness that belonged to a fourteen-year-old girl.

The eighth day, dawn.

The cold wind blowing from the direction of the Wasteland carried the pungent smell of sulfur. Before the morning mist had dissipated, a soft and rhythmic knocking sound came from outside the small building.

Tap, tap, tap.

After the three calls, the person outside the door stood quietly with their hands at their sides, without uttering a word.

Chen Fan pushed open the door and walked out. He saw Elder Song standing alone in the courtyard, wearing a dark gray overcoat. He was not accompanied by any attendants or guards. In his hand, he was carrying a silver-gray high-pressure condensate safe, the surface of which was covered with a thin layer of frost.

"Chen Keqing."

Elder Song bowed slightly, his tone and expression showing three times more heartfelt reverence than seven days ago.

The fact that the black gold token could stay in the room for seven whole days put his mind at ease.

Chen Fan stood with his hands behind his back, his expression indifferent. "Speak plainly. I don't like beating around the bush."

Elder Song smiled, gently placed the heavy high-pressure briefcase on the stone table, and said in a low voice, "I've come today to ask Guest Elder Chen to look at something and hear about a business deal."

"No interest." Chen Fan's gaze swept past him, landing on the Wasteland. "I told you, if you're only here to be a watchdog for your merchant guild, you can go back now."

Elder Song remained calm and composed, placing his hands on the combination locks on either side of the briefcase. "If it concerns the Second Base City two thousand kilometers away, Chen Keqing might indeed not care. But if it concerns whether Chen Keqing can... break through the Fourth Life Chasm within half a month?"

Chen Fan's gaze sharpened slightly as he looked at the box.

Click.

The crisp sound of the mechanism snapping open was particularly clear in the morning mist.

The high-purity lead- Titanium Alloy shell, half an inch thick, slid open to both sides, and twelve high-pressure condenser pipes spewed out thick, piercing white air, instantly freezing the blue bricks within ten steps around them into a layer of pale white ice shards.

In the center of that churning, frigid white mist, a fist-sized, heart-shaped, deep purple crystal core floated silently.

Crack!

A thin, pale golden arc of lightning exploded on the surface of the crystal core, creating visible ring-shaped ripples in the air.

Even through the condensation barrier, an overwhelming and terrifying pressure, enough to suffocate an ordinary Third Tier Qi and Blood Esper on the spot, still spread out like a tide!

"Peak of the Fourth Tier, the Companion Source Core of the Wasteland overlord 'Thunder Dragon Lizard'."

Elder Song took a deep breath, a glint of fanaticism flashing in his eyes, "It took me three years, the loss of three Peak Third Tier guest elders, and the use of a tactical heavy artillery piece to dig it out from the depths of the Wasteland. The purity of the Thunder Tempering Factor inside is as high as 92%. Looking across the entire Third Base City, there is no other top-grade breakthrough item that can compare with it."

Inside Chen Fan's body, the previously dormant Miniature Divine Kingdom Tai Chi Millstone suddenly emitted a muffled roar uncontrollably.

That's the body's Genes' instinctive craving for the most intense and yang energy!

Elder Song closed the briefcase, locked the tyrannical Lei Wei back inside, and went straight to the point. "We escorted the Worldbreaker Heavy Armored Land Cruiser of the Merchant Guild across eight hundred miles of Silent Wasteland, safely delivering an important figure to the gates of the Second Base City."

"Upon delivery, this Thunder Core Crystal will be Chen Keqing's reward."

A morning breeze whistled, and the courtyard fell into a brief silence.

A moment later, Chen Fan's lips curled into a mocking smile, "The Wasteland stretches for eight hundred miles, teeming with Anomalous Beast tides. Even with all the experts from your merchant guild mobilized, you dared not protect yourselves, yet you come to me?"

"Because Old Freak Chu's brain has completed its cold core reorganization, half of the members of the Inner City Council have sided with Prometheus."

Elder Song's expression was more solemn than ever before.

"The people we're sending away possess the core blueprints for the high-energy reactor in the Second Base City. Old Freak Chu will never let this convoy leave alive; he might even use his dormant 'God's Chosen Phase Four' half-step Fourth Tier bio-weapon to intercept and kill them en route."

"The Chamber of Commerce's top combat force needs to keep the Council's spies occupied within the city. On the Wasteland, the only person I can trust and who has the ability to tear apart God's Chosen Phase Four... is you."