Zuo Jin

Inside the cage, Zuo Jin collapsed again.

However, compared to his previous strange Zuo Jin, Zuo Jin's current posture is no longer odd.

The large flower on his head shrank back, and his hands and feet were no longer wriggling roots, but returned to the state of a fleshy body.

However, Zuo Jin's appearance showed signs of aging, his hands and feet were like tightly clenched chicken claws, and his body trembled uncontrollably inside the cage.

"Hey, Zuo Jin? Ba'er Gu? Is this something that gathers lucky charms, and can you use it right away?"

Zhang Xuezhou exclaimed.

He defeated Zuo Jin in a guerrilla-style battle, and then obtained four chips.

The chip had a luster that Zhang Xuezhou was familiar with, but the chip was not a lucky charm, nor could it be shared equally among many people.

Looking at the chips in his hand, he felt that not only could these chips not be allocated, but whether they could even be used properly was also unknown.

"Hello?"

Zuo Jin was slumped in the cage, did not respond, which forced Zhang Xuezhou to reach his hand into the food delivery slot again.

Once his hand had stretched out a bit, Zhang Xuezhou was able to grab Zuo Jin's Zuo Jin, which was now lower than before.

He grabbed his greasy hair, feeling utterly miserable, and even more so that the four chips from Zuo Jin hadn't worked at all.

"Time is tight, so please cooperate," Zhang Xuezhou advised. "If you want us to strike at Huang Daoxian, we at least need to be lucky enough to find him before we can wage war against him, or even find the gem that holds his immortality!"

"Hit... hit... Associate Professor Zhang?"

The head that was lifted up stared straight at Zhang Xuezhou for several seconds, mumbled a few words indistinctly, and then hesitantly called out a name.

This made Zhang Xuezhou narrow his eyes slightly.

He looked at Zuo Jin, his brow furrowing.

He hadn't heard anyone address him as Associate Professor Zhang for several years.

In today's society, even if he is an associate professor, most people will still address him as Professor Zhang out of courtesy. Only those with whom he has a casual relationship or whose status is significantly higher than his will call him that.

He currently holds the title of honorary professor and is also a candidate member of the committee.

He was addressed either as Professor Zhang, Committee Member Zhang, or Director Zhang using his official title from Dongshan. If the relationship was not very close, he was addressed as Alternate Committee Member Zhang.

Zhang Xuezhou is not currently referred to as Associate Professor Zhang; he was only addressed as such two years ago.

He stared Zuo Jin, then looked into the other's confused eyes, and a sense of unease began to rise within him.

"Zuo Teng?" Zhang Xuezhou asked hesitantly.

"Where... where is my son?"

As the intermittent sounds came, Zhang Xuezhou felt that his premonition had been confirmed.

"Would the war effort have collapsed so quickly?"

Compared to the current Zuo Jin, Zhang Xuezhou would rather see Zuo Jin with a distorted mind, since the former is of no use to the current situation.

"Zuo Teng should still be lying in the medical center," Zhang Xuezhou replied quickly. "We're in the middle of a battle, the power's out here, and we're also affected by the rocket explosions from the camp. We can't come to rescue you for a while, so you should stay in bed!"

"We need to break their cores... the flowers are their functional core," Zuo Jin gasped. "Once their cores are broken, their strength will rapidly decline."

"Um?"

"Their greatest strength lies in their greatest vulnerability!"

Zuo Jin panting heavily, then gradually fell into a low voice, as if he had used up all his strength.

Just like before, he collapsed again, seemingly without any strength even with Zhang Xuezhou holding his head up, and even making a sound was difficult.

"Just hang in there, hang in there... Hey, Zuo Teng..."

Zhang Xuezhou initially intended to abandon Zuo Jin, as he didn't have time to examine Zuo Jin's body. However, a few seconds later, he still dialed Zuo Teng's communicator.

"The sound of rocket artillery bombardment just stopped here. The building is in complete chaos. I don't even know if I'll survive, let alone take care of your father. An Ran is contacting me now. I'm hanging up!"

The security center lost power, and everything descended into chaos. Even though this was the Scarlet Alliance State Special Operations Center, the situation had not yet been restored.

However, even without a power supply, the communication equipment could still function normally.

Zhang Xuezhou disconnected Zuo Teng's communicator and quickly connected to the call from Ren Anran.

"I feel like the thorn bushes are alive. They're specifically attacking our side, but they don't seem to be harming the Zhao family. I can't get in touch with my father. Could you please pass this message on?"

Ren Anran sounded very anxious during the communication.

Clearly, the thorny area is not a good place for combat.

This thorn is different from the ornamental rose thorn of the Zuo Household. It is a fast-growing seed thorn that can be used in actual combat. The thorn is not only covered with barbed thorns, but these thorns can also cause swelling when they pierce the skin.

Thorns that remain stationary are fine, but thorns that can attack in combination will undoubtedly cause all sorts of trouble.

Any oversight will lead to mistakes in the duel.

As for the others, Ren Yisheng, who specializes in mental intimidation, undoubtedly lacks physical agility and is even inferior to Zhang Xuezhou, a close-combat novice.

As the main force against Huang Daoxian, if Ren Yisheng were to be injured by thorns and become physically inconvenient, it would become a joke.

"I'll try to find the professor as soon as possible," Zhang Xuezhou replied quickly.

"The people who infiltrated the security center are likely not just from the Zhao family. I've observed that about a hundred people have taken advantage of the thunderstorms to sneak in. There should be others arriving later. Be careful of these people while you're searching for Huang Daoxian, and be sure to avoid their stray bullets!"

Before hanging up, Ren Anran couldn't help but give a final word of advice.

In a melee, which is not a one-on-one duel, the method of attack cannot be determined by perception and judgment.

For example, Zhang Xuezhou couldn't avoid the various flying objects in the explosion, and currently, when targeting sequence masters, the attack is also carried out with a large-scale coverage, leaving no room for escape.

Top-tier strength is irreplaceable in battles, but it doesn't guarantee a mindless, all-out victory in chaotic combat.

Gathering the Zhao family members to storm the guard center area may seem like a mayfly trying to shake a tree, but the effect of gathering a crowd is still useful.

After Ren Anran hung up the call, Zhang Xuezhou heard continuous gunshots in the distance, and for a moment he couldn't tell whether it was the Zhao family or the special task force from the guard center firing.

"I wonder if Huang Daoxian went to the bombardment site to look for the bronze tortoise?"

The bronze turtle at the rocket launcher's landing point was bait; unable to lure out Huang Daoxian, Zhang Xuezhou had no choice but to suggest destroying it.

If the bronze tortoise is heavy enough, it might be able to lure out Huang Daoxian, thus ending the repeated probing and preventing them from falling into a passive position.

If the bronze tortoise is not enough, all investigations and actions will come to an end once all those who attacked the security center are dead.

Zhang Xuezhou pondered for two seconds, then glanced at Zuo Jin, who was slumped in the cage and only breathing, before stuffing the four chips into his pocket and disappearing into the messy corridor.