Negotiations Break Down

After Li Aoz finished speaking, all that remained was the howling of Frost and Snow, snow, and sand.

"... Are you fucking making fun of us?!"

"The mechanic Yin Xifeng roared, and then the displeased driver Zhang Shengnan immediately turned the machine gun around and aimed it at Li Aoz on the ground."

"What a pity—it seems that men will take advantage of you once you've been given a little benefit."

The captain of the Uzda train shrugged:

"Mr. Li Aoz, it seems you don't know what it means to be tortured to the point of near death and no one will discuss it."

"Really?"

Li Aoz chuckled, then changed the subject. "So it seems you don't want any hostages alive."

His voice was magnetic, his handsome face was captivating, and every word he uttered was clearly imprinted in the minds of the crew members.

With an actual benefit of up to 88.4, the extraordinary charm is almost equivalent to a kind of Aoneng or bewitching magic for ordinary people.

"--hostage?"

The wolverine's crew looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Du Zexin, a Beta-rank [Mechanic], an elite agent of Law Enforcement Division Three."

Li Aoz said calmly, "Your intelligence should know that I am an Aoneng. I have used my Aoneng to create a blood clot in his brain. Once I die, my Aoneng will become ineffective, and the blood clot in his cerebral blood vessels will immediately burst, causing his death."

This statement was half true and half false. Li Aoz had noted down Du Zexin's injury symptoms, so he had a ready-made draft to lie to.

While these soldiers may not be as quick-witted as Du Zexin or the professor, they are far more cautious than the agents of Law Enforcement Division Four when it comes to serious matters.

"Of course, I am willing to surrender and hand over the hostages. I don't expect to escape, I just want to get away from the Outland."

Li Aoz said, "You have destroyed the railway, and I have nowhere to escape. Please take me away from here. I don't want to die in this Outland wilderness."

He didn't have high hopes of tricking the enemy into dismounting their Mobile Armor; he just wanted to buy them a little more time.

In particular, it would be best to wait Mouldy Crotch are removed.

Mouldy Crotch's injuries were severe, and this was an opportunity to send him back— Li Aoz believed that with Du Zexin's intelligence, it would be easier for him to get away with it than for Meibi.

Furthermore, he had already told Du Zexin some information about Elf Island. Li Aoz was careful and deliberately did not tell him the exact location. This way, Du Zexin would act on his own, gather his organization, and collect intelligence. In the end, after he discovered the truth about Elf Island, he would still have to rely on him again.

This not only paved the way for him, but also allowed Dai Weilin, upon his release from prison, to immediately establish a makeshift team.

Li Aoz remembered clearly that during the first Tianshuang War, it was only thanks to Dai Weilin's calm and strategic command that Frostplate was able to withstand the onslaught of the Heavenly Ring Warrior. However, due to the backlash from extreme female forces within the country, Dai Weilin was assassinated, which led to the full-blown civil war within Frostplate.

Completing the "White Frost Gold Bones" mission is very difficult at this stage. Some things can only be done by uniting the people of the Four Nations and the entire Azure Planet. Li Aoz must cultivate a deep network of connections.

Du Zexin must return to Frostplate.

The crew members on the Wolverine Mobile Armor firmly believed Li Aoz's claims.

"Damn it... those bastards from Law Enforcement Division Four have withheld mission information again!"

Uzda clicked her tongue. Although it was common knowledge that the Law Enforcement Division Four Agency often concealed information to avoid scandals, it was still somewhat ill-intentioned to hide something as important as hostage-taking.

The Law Enforcement Division Four Agency, after all, is an internal law enforcement agency responsible for intelligence gathering and suppressing terrorism; its operational mindset is quite different from that of the military. Some matters might involve scandals or even vulnerabilities of bureaucratic groups and high-ranking officials—but the military doesn't care about such things.

"That's why I hate politics the most."

Uzda raised her hand and pressed the microphone button, connecting with Nimoting:

"Hey, aren't you guys done yet?"

As soon as she finished speaking, dozens of parachutes bloomed in the sky. The agents of Law Enforcement Division Four carefully opened their parachutes at the appropriate airspace and altitude, and immediately formed a combat formation after landing smoothly. The female agents, who were highly cybernetically modified, quickly surrounded the locomotive. Nimoting sent a team to check the combat carriages behind, and then turned around and came to Li Aoz.

"Law Enforcement Division Four Agent Team, Nimoting Group, 40 people were expected, 40 people are present."

She made a casual comment over the communicator and turned to look at the man in front of her.

Although Li Aoz was unarmed, looked somewhat aged, and had a harmless smile, Nimoting still dared not be careless—she remembered how Li Aoz had tricked her, then turned around, got into the car, and fled, easily killing the pursuing troops along the way.

There are also Infant Eater... those are genuine Beta-rank [Biochemists], and even if they are not combat specialists, their strength is quite terrifying.

Thinking of this, Nimoting stopped in her tracks. Out of fear, she even quietly distanced herself from Li Aoz by more than ten meters.

"Are you serious about taking half a step back?"

Soldiers' mocking voices came through the communication channel, but Nimoting didn't care. His life was his own; he earned at most ten thousand derbies a month, why risk his life?

"The target is very dangerous, don't let your guard down," Nimoting said casually. "I need to interrogate him here. Only with the Mobile Armor present can I be sure he won't cause trouble."

"Heh, they all have Mobile Armor, and they're not even Gamma Rank powerhouses, do they think they can escape?" The mechanic couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The Mobile Armor is designed for war. So what if you're Beta-rank powerhouse? On the battlefield, enduring tens of thousands of shells, you might survive a few minutes longer than other armored units—is there anything more intimidating? "Well, I can't say for sure," Nimoting retorted coldly.

"Instead of this, let's go and take over the hostages."

"You don't need to remind me."

Nimoting waved her hand, signaling Ya Wen, who was following behind her, to step forward and lead the group to the driver's cab of the Youth to retrieve the people.

The military and the law enforcement agencies have been at odds for a long time; they belong to different systems and both want funding.

According to the 《Frostplate Constitution》, Law Enforcement Division Four is the President's eyes and ears, and is responsible only to the President. Law Enforcement Division Three Agency is loyal to the Frostplate Congress. The military is nominally under the President's command, but in reality, the Frostplate Ministry of Defense is responsible for its specific activities.

Although Nimoting wasn't very intelligent, she could still distinguish right from wrong in this kind of situation: the Governor had fitted her with a prosthetic body, but if he wanted her to work for him, he would have to pay her more.

"It's better to lose face than to lose your life," Nimoting thought, his gaze toward Li Aoz becoming even more complicated.

"How have you been lately, Captain Nimoting?"

Li Aoz, on the other hand, appeared completely nonchalant, chatting with an old acquaintance about what to have for breakfast. However, the man's demeanor and achievements were still vivid in Nimoting's mind. Even though he was incredibly charming and his gentle smile seemed like a Terror demon to Nemotin.

She shook her head, forcing herself to remain calm, and asked in a deep voice:

"You've finally fallen into our hands. Now it's time to confess—who exactly are you? What's your connection to the Red Arrow Empire? And where are you hiding all those confidential documents...?"

As Li Aoz listened to her barrage of questions, he calmly gave some answers that were a mix of truth and falsehood. Out of the corner of his eye, he kept an eye on the situation inside the vehicle. Du Zexin was placed on a makeshift stretcher and carried out by agents of Law Enforcement Division Four. As he was leaving, Li Aoz saw that he had his eyes closed and was pretending to be weak and powerless.

Well, Mouldy Crotch, her acting skills are just as good as mine.

Zhou Lie Feng, the driver of the Subway Brotherhood, also raised his hands, giving up the fight, but he refused to get off the train and got into an argument with the leader Agent Ya Wen.

"I have already filed a complaint with the Central Station, and you will pay the price for this."

With his Exoskeleton Armor removed, Zhou Lie Feng knelt on the ground, his hands cuffed. His face flushed red, he glared hatefully at the agents of Law Enforcement Division Four: "Attack the trains left over from the Old Era, destroy the railways of the Old Era —do you know how grave this sin is? Your ancestors Frostplate Citizen, built this underwater tunnel. Even after the ocean has condensed, it still brings hope to countless people. The subway line is a lifeline. You are digging your own grave. This is an act against humanity!"

Bang! A female agent slammed the butt of her gun into Zhou Lie Feng's back without any politeness, spitting out, "Shut up, you white man, what right do you have to talk nonsense? It's you guys who start the most wars."

"Stop! He's a neutral party." Ya Wen frowned and immediately stopped him, saying, "What you're doing violates the convention."

"The convention? The convention protects people, the weak. What are men anyway? It doesn't matter how many die."

The female agent glanced at Ya Wen with disdain and sneered, "Ha—you're a woman, wearing an elite agent's uniform, yet you're protecting a man. I highly suspect your political leanings!"