Ka Yan?

"Silent Court is an organization made up of superhumans. Interested in joining?" The girl looked at Bai Ye with her light brown eyes.

Bai Ye raised an eyebrow. "Does Silent Court recruit people this casually? It's an organization of superhumans, yet instead of recruiting superhumans, you're recruiting me?"

He glanced at Li You beside him, suddenly realizing something. He tested the waters. "Ka Yan?"

A trace of thought flashed through the girl's eyes. Clearly, she did not understand what Ka Yan meant. She spoke again, "I observed you before."

The moment she said that, killing intent flickered through Bai Ye's heart. She had observed him? Did that mean she knew the secret of time stop?

Time stop was his greatest secret. He would not allow anyone else to know about it.

However, the girl's next words dispelled his killing intent.

"Although you aren't a superhuman, you're a good person. I heard everything you said when you faced the hyena pack earlier."

Huh!?

No, was she giving him a good guy card the first time they met?

"Silent Court is indeed an organization of superhumans, but we value character even more. We seek like-minded companions."

Bai Ye frowned slightly. From the sound of it, combined with how the girl had saved people, Silent Court was some righteous organization?

Since it was a righteous organization, then...

"I'm not joining." Bai Ye refused without hesitation. He was not some selfless saint. He was already short on time—if he wasted it carrying out justice, he would be dead meat sooner or later!

"Alright." The girl nodded calmly, without the slightest ripple in her eyes.

Her light brown gaze swept over the crowd as she said flatly, "The mutated beasts of Black Mountain are running rampant. The hyenas and gray sparrows were only the first wave. This place is no longer safe. If you want to live, evacuate."

With that, the girl turned and left. Her valiant suit of knight armor gradually vanished from everyone's sight.

The news she left behind left the people who had survived the tragedy at a loss. They stared blankly at the corpses and bloodstains scattered everywhere. Of Gray Soil Town's eight hundred residents, only a little over three hundred had survived the beast disaster.

Watching familiar people collapse one after another before their eyes, they did not even have time to grieve before fear swallowed them whole.

"B-Black Mountain... what exactly happened there? Are more mutated beasts coming out of Black Mountain? You've got to be kidding!" Tan Jie said shakily.

Before the mutated beasts, the leader of the East District had truly felt just how tiny and powerless his own life was.

"People from Silent Court wouldn't joke about something like this. A powerhouse like her has even less reason to lie to us." King Snake forcibly suppressed the terror in his heart and swallowed. "Gray Soil Town can't be stayed in anymore!"

The two exchanged a glance, both already having reached the same conclusion.

"Tan Jie, you and I have fought for years and had our share of friction, but we never had any deep-seated grudge. In a situation like this, only by joining forces can we live longer. What do you say?" King Snake lowered his voice.

Tan Jie nodded gravely. Of course he understood that.

"What do you plan to do?"

"The mutated beasts are on the move. None of the settlements nearby are safe. We were lucky that someone from Silent Court rescued us this time, but we may not be so lucky next time. In my opinion, if we want safety, we can only go to Dawn City!"

King Snake's thoughts coincided with Tan Jie's, but Tan Jie worriedly said, "Dawn City doesn't accept wastelanders at all. The only way to get legal identities is to pay, but that woman took all our money. And even if she hadn't, we wouldn't have enough. As for the people under us..."

"Hmph! At a time like this, what are you still fantasizing about? Do you still think you'll have crowds flocking around you after reaching Dawn City? These abandoned pawns can only be discarded. Money isn't a problem. Have you forgotten that we still have the taboo item?" King Snake sneered.

At the mention of the taboo item, a shadow crossed Tan Jie's eyes. "There's something wrong with Bai Ye. After the battle with the gray sparrows, he was still full of vigor. He didn't look like someone whose vitality and blood had been drained at all. We were both fooled by that brat before!"

"You only noticed now? There's something seriously off about that brat. It's not just him who fooled us—Li You fooled me too. I saw enough during the fight just now. Li You should have become a superhuman, and those two have been working together in secret for a long time!"

"Then what do we do?" Tan Jie was shocked. "How are we supposed to seize the taboo item now?"

King Snake did not seem to care. "A newly advanced superhuman—after only a few days, how strong could he possibly be? If he were truly that powerful, why would he need to work with Bai Ye in secret? He would have come for revenge against me long ago.

Besides, I saw that his face was deathly pale just now. He had clearly overexhausted his mental power. He's nothing to fear.

As for Bai Ye, I guess he achieved the legendary perfect containment."

"Perfect containment?" Tan Jie froze. It sounded familiar somehow, as if he had heard someone bragging about it before. But after injecting the gene serum, his brain had become less functional, and he was always forgetting things.

"Using a taboo item usually requires paying a price, while perfect containment requires no price. But few people can accomplish it. Perfect containment is just some vague legend—no one knows whether it's real. It's like a gun: once you contain it, you know how to use it. Perfect containment means the gun develops feelings for you. Who the hell would believe that?

But so what if Bai Ye has achieved perfect containment? No matter how powerful [Breath of Bones] is, it still needs bullets. Without bullets, it's just scrap metal.

So now is the best opportunity. Dawn City needs superhuman test subjects, and a superhuman can fetch a huge price. When the time comes, Li You is mine and the taboo item is yours. With that, both of us can enter Dawn City!"

Tan Jie's eyes grew brighter and brighter. A crisis was approaching, but as long as the plan worked, they could turn danger into safety and enter Dawn City as esteemed city dwellers!

"Let's do it! In a moment, we'll take our men and capture Bai Ye and the others. We can even let our subordinates put their last bit of usefulness to work!" His vicious gaze discreetly swept over his clueless men before shifting toward the East District. Then he froze.

"Where are Bai Ye and Li You!?"

King Snake looked in the direction of his voice, only to see that the two men who had been standing in the East District had long since disappeared.

"Damn it, they're trying to run! Chase them!"

"Which way did they go?"

"I don't know. Let's split into two groups and pursue them from both sides, blocking them front and back in case they split up to escape."

King Snake and the others hurriedly called their underlings into action.

"Run! If we don't run now, it'll be too late!" Li You clutched his right hand as he ran, urging the unhurried Bai Ye along.

"We can't get away." Bai Ye said calmly, "They have vehicles. Do you? They're only a few beat-up off-road vehicles, but four wheels are still faster than two legs. Instead of wasting energy running, we should recover our strength and prepare to fight."

"But we can't just wait here to die! My mental power is exhausted, so I can't use my superhuman abilities. You're out of bullets too. What are we supposed to fight with?"

Just then, the rumbling of wheels came from not far behind them.

Li You's already pale face turned even whiter. He turned around and saw an off-road vehicle speeding toward them, its thick tires crushing the dry dirt road and kicking up a skyful of yellow dust.

"It's over! We're completely finished this time. Mom, your son has failed you..."