Come Down and Talk?

"What?!"

Luo Hong frowned and hurriedly pressed, "What kind of monster? A Blade Mantis?!"

An uncertain reply came through the headset. "Uh, no. It looked like an oversized hornet. Never seen one before, but it definitely wasn't a Blade Mantis."

"Oh, good. As long as it isn't a Blade Mantis..."

Luo Hong let out a subconscious sigh of relief.

Even she had not realized that, during this brief encirclement, the roles of hunter and prey had quietly reversed.

"Head toward me as quickly as possible. Once everyone's together, we'll withdraw."

Before her words had even faded, several screams suddenly rang out through the headset.

Luo Hong froze, cold sweat faintly seeping from her forehead.

She tried calling out the names of several team leaders, but received no response.

"Why did something suddenly happen to all of them... Was it Lu Li? No... it probably wasn't Lu Li. Maybe some other monster ambushed them..."

Luo Hong's voice trembled, and her eyes slowly filled with fear.

She suddenly remembered something.

The monsters around First High School seemed to have long since been mostly cleared out by the survivors inside the school.

Then what was harvesting lives in the darkness?!

Luo Hong abruptly looked out the car window.

Outside was pitch-black.

Not the kind of darkness with faint light, where one could make out the outlines of things with enough effort.

The darkness beyond the window seemed tangible, as though it had condensed into an impenetrable wall.

As if it were alive...

No.

It really was alive!

To Luo Hong's horror, the "darkness" outside the window wriggled!

A deep voice suddenly came through the headset, startling her so badly that she nearly screamed.

"You're Sister Hong, right? Why don't you get out and talk?"

"Y-you, who are you?"

The moment she asked the question, the answer involuntarily surfaced in Luo Hong's mind.

Other than Lu Li, who else could it be?

"I'm the person you came to kill."

The deep voice sounded relaxed, as though this were the most ordinary introduction in the world.

Luo Hong forcibly calmed herself, swallowed, and said, "I admit that you're strong—far stronger than I expected. But if you want to take my life, you'll definitely have to pay a huge price!"

Luo Hong was not merely bluffing.

Although her own talent had no combat power whatsoever, the subordinates accompanying her in the car were no pushovers.

"Old Black, Xiao Ba, A Kun, level up!"

At Luo Hong's command, the three subordinates in the car immediately took out Origin Crystals and absorbed them.

Their levels rose, instantly reaching Lv.4.

Luo Hong had thought that doing so would at least make Lu Li wary.

But to her surprise, the voice through the headset remained as calm as ever. "Looking at you, I guess you don't intend to talk?"

Before Luo Hong could respond, Old Black, sitting beside her, opened the car door first. "Sister Hong, stay in the car. We'll get out and kill that brat!!"

"Yeah! Someone who isn't even on the Ranking List must be putting on an act!"

Xiao Ba and A Kun echoed in unison.

Before Luo Hong could say a word, the three had already gotten out of the car, their figures vanishing into the thick darkness.

"Old Black... Xiao Ba..."

Luo Hong's eyes widened as she tried to find some sign of victory through the car window.

Yet nothing happened.

The darkness outside remained thick and clinging, like a pool of stagnant water.

Luo Hong could not even hear the slightest sound of fighting.

The only sound was her own panicked breathing.

"...You really don't plan to come down and talk?"

Lu Li's voice rang out again, like a thunderclap exploding in Luo Hong's mind.

"Impossible! This is impossible!"

As if she had gone mad, Luo Hong threw open the car door and lunged outside.

She saw that there was still light outside.

A streetlamp with unstable voltage flickered in the distance, its faint glow illuminating a small stretch of road.

But it failed to light up Luo Hong's face, which was full of fear.

Because a circle of bizarre monsters stood around the vehicle.

Some were large, some small; some tall, some short.

The only thing they had in common was that there was not a trace of color on them, their blackness unnaturally pure.

Combined with their sheer numbers and tight formation, they had created the illusion of complete darkness around the vehicle!

Lu Li stood amid the monsters, watching Luo Hong with a calm expression.

"S-so many... What Talent Abilities did you awaken?!"

Luo Hong screamed, clearly on the verge of a mental breakdown.

"Secret." Lu Li curled his lips into a smile. "But if you want to know, I might tell you after the deal is completed."

"A deal?"

Luo Hong froze, and her mind, which had been on the verge of collapse, regained a little clarity.

That was right.

If Lu Li truly wanted to kill her, he could have done so long ago.

Why did he still want to talk? Why did he still want to make a deal?

He was still afraid of the Zhao Family behind her!

With that thought, Luo Hong immediately found her confidence again.

She raised her chin, returning to her usual lofty demeanor.

"What makes you think you're qualified to negotiate a deal with me?"

Lu Li found it amusing. He stepped back half a pace, revealing the three corpses behind him.

They were Luo Hong's three subordinates.

Their bodies were covered in wounds. They did not look like warriors who had died in battle at all.

Instead, they looked more like mangled flesh that had been thrown into a meat grinder and only half processed.

Luo Hong's expression changed. She simply hardened her heart and said stiffly, "If you're going to do it, then hurry up! But don't blame me for not warning you—if you kill me, you'll be making an enemy of the entire Zhao Family!"

"When that happens, you'll never know peace under the Zhao Family's pursuit!"

Lu Li shrugged.

"I never said I wanted to kill you. I only wanted to discuss a deal with you."

Seeing that there truly was no killing intent in Lu Li's eyes, a flash of delight passed through Luo Hong's gaze.

It worked.

This man really did fear the Zhao Family!

As long as she confirmed that, Luo Hong could take the initiative in the coming negotiations!

"What deal?"

Luo Hong feigned indifference, though she was listening with complete focus.

"Mana Crystals."

Lu Li smiled. "Eighty-six Second-Order Mana Crystals, and twenty-eight Third-Order Mana Crystals."

Hearing those two numbers, Luo Hong went completely blank.

Because the number of Mana Crystals Lu Li named was exactly the entire stock Zhao Jin had collected over the past three days.

Of course, there was also a large number of First-Order Mana Crystals.

But since Lu Li had not mentioned them, Luo Hong was not stupid enough to expose them herself.

"I can't produce that many. At most, thirty Second-Order Mana Crystals."

Luo Hong furrowed her brows, pretending to be troubled.

The Origin Crystal stockpile was classified information. Even among Zhao Jin's subordinates, very few knew the exact amount.

So she was certain that Lu Li was making an outrageous demand, and had only gotten it right by sheer luck.

But the smile on Lu Li's face did not change.

He did not repeat himself. Instead, he pulled up the Data Panel, quickly edited a message, and sent it.

A dozen seconds later, a message from Zhao Jin popped up on Luo Hong's panel:

"Hong, have you been captured by Lu Li?!"

Luo Hong wore a bitter expression and helplessly replied, "Yes."

She had thought Zhao Jin would at least show some concern for her, but instead, he directly asked:

"How did Lu Li know the exact number of Origin Crystals in storage? Did you tell him?"

Luo Hong felt deeply wronged, but she still replied calmly:

"How could I? I don't know how he learned the exact number either. He probably just guessed right by luck. Just give him 30 Origin Crystals. Tell him there aren't any more."

She had thought the matter would be resolved just like that.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Jin's next message made Luo Hong's heart go cold...