Ka Yan?

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

Bai Ye raised an eyebrow slightly. "Is Silent Court really this casual about recruiting? It's an organization of Transcendents, yet instead of recruiting Transcendents, you're recruiting me?"

He glanced at Li You beside him, suddenly realizing something. He asked tentatively, "Ka Yan?"

A thoughtful look 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 flashed through Bai Ye's heart. She observed me? Could she know the secret of Time Stop?

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

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

"Although you aren't a Transcendent, 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 person card the first time they met?

"Silent Court is indeed an organization of Transcendents, 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 kind of righteous organization?

Since it was a righteous organization, then...

"I'm not joining." Bai Ye refused decisively. He was not some selfless person. He already had too little time as it was—wasting more of it carrying out justice would get him killed sooner or later!

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

Her light brown gaze swept over everyone 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."

After saying that, the girl turned and left. Her valiant Knight Armor gradually vanished from everyone's sight.

The news the girl left behind left the survivors of the tragedy somewhat at a loss. They stared blankly at the corpses and bloodstains covering the ground. Of Gray Soil Town's eight hundred people, only a little over three hundred had survived the beast disaster.

Watching familiar people fall 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? What kind of joke is this?!" Tan Jie said in a trembling voice.

Facing the Mutated Beasts, the leader of the East District had truly felt just how small and helpless his own life was.

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

The two exchanged glances, their minds already made up.

"Tan Jie, you and I have fought for years and had our share of conflicts, but we never had any true blood feud. In a situation like this, only by joining forces can we live longer. What do you think?" King Snake lowered his voice.

Tan Jie nodded gravely. Naturally, he understood that.

"What do you plan to do?"

"The Mutated Beasts are acting up. None of the settlements around here are safe. We were lucky this time that someone from Silent Court saved us, but we might 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 worried, "Dawn City doesn't accept Wastelanders at all. The only way to obtain legal status is to spend money, but that woman took all our money. And even if she hadn't, it wouldn't have been 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 following you after reaching Dawn City? These abandoned pawns can only be abandoned. Money isn't a problem—have you forgotten that we still have Taboo Objects?" King Snake sneered.

At the mention of Taboo Objects, a shadow flashed through Tan Jie's eyes. "There's something wrong with Bai Ye. After the battle with the gray sparrows, he was still full of life. He didn't look like someone whose Blood Qi had been drained dry at all. We were all fooled by that brat before!"

"You only noticed that now? There's a huge problem with that brat. It's not just him who fooled us—Li You fooled me too. I got a rough look during the battle just now. Li You should have become a Transcendent, and those two have been secretly working together for a long time!"

"Then what do we do?" Tan Jie was alarmed. "How are we supposed to seize the Taboo Object now?"

King Snake did not care. "A newly advanced Transcendent—how strong can he be after only a few days? If he were truly exceptionally powerful, why would he need to secretly cooperate with Bai Ye? He would've come to take revenge on me long ago."

"Besides, I saw that his face was pale just now. He was clearly suffering from excessive mental exhaustion. There's nothing to fear."

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

"Perfect containment?" Tan Jie was stunned. It sounded familiar, as though he had heard someone bragging about it before. But after injecting the Genetic Potion, his brain had become a little sluggish, and he was always forgetting things.

"Using a Taboo Object usually requires paying a price, while perfect containment requires no price at all. But very few can achieve it. Perfect containment is nothing more than an elusive legend; no one knows whether it's real or not. It's like a gun—once you contain it, you know how to use a gun. Perfect containment means the gun develops feelings for you. Who the hell would believe that?

"But even if Bai Ye has achieved perfect containment, so what? 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 Transcendent Test Subjects, and a Transcendent can fetch a hefty price. When the time comes, Li You will be mine, and the Taboo Object will be yours. With that, both of us can enter Dawn City!"

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

"Let's do it! In a while, we'll bring our people to capture Bai Ye and the others. We can even let our subordinates squeeze out their last bit of usefulness!" His sinister gaze covertly swept over his clueless underlings before he looked toward the East District—and froze instantly.

"Where are Bai Ye and Li You!?"

King Snake looked in the direction of his voice and saw that the two who had originally been standing in the East District had long since disappeared.

"This is bad. They're trying to run! Hurry and chase them!"

"Which way did they go?"

"I don't know. Let's split into two groups and pursue them, blocking them from the front and rear in case they split up and flee."

King Snake and the others hurriedly called their lackeys 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.

"We can't get away." Bai Ye said calmly, "They have cars. Do you? They're only a few beat-up off-road vehicles, but four wheels are still faster than two legs. Rather than waste our strength running, we might as well recover our stamina and prepare to fight."

"But we can't just stand here and wait to die! My mental power is exhausted, so I can't use my Transcendent 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 across the dry dirt road and kicking up clouds of yellow dust.

"We're done for! It's all over now. Mom, your son has failed you..."