Nanjiang City Biopharmaceutical Factory.
Yun Hai held his breath, currently hiding behind a load-bearing pillar in one of the workshops.
The sound of Shadow’s footsteps scraping against the ground felt as if they were right next to his ear.
Shadow let out a cold laugh.
As an Awakened with the **[Shadow]** Talent, he could automatically detect any abnormalities within any object that cast a shadow whenever he was near it.
It was as if every patch of darkness served as a miniature surveillance radar for him, though the cost was the constant expenditure of mental energy to fuel the talent’s use.
“Come out. Hiding within the shadows was the greatest mistake of your life.”
Yun Hai gritted his teeth.
Seeing that he had been discovered, he decided to strike first, starting once again by tossing several lighters.
Just as Yun Hai was about to manipulate the vacuum to trigger an explosion, Shadow acted.
His eyes narrowed, and multiple **[Shadow Spheres]** completely encased the lighters.
“Is this the extent of your tricks?”
Yun Hai slowly stepped out from behind the pillar.
His blood-red eyes and clenched fists were trembling slightly.
At this point, he had no way to retreat.
Behind him lay a vast expanse of darkness; stepping into it would be no different from walking into the enemy’s domain.
Now, he had only one choice: to completely defeat his opponent in a head-on confrontation.
With that thought, Yun Hai’s gaze grew resolute.
His aura surged abruptly as he shouted, “I’d like to see what tricks you have left!”
As the words fell, Yun Hai stepped forward, twisted his waist, and thrust his hips.
He simultaneously detonated a vacuum area beneath his feet.
Like a bullet launched from a casing, he charged toward Shadow with violent momentum.
Shadow’s eyes narrowed slightly.
He crossed his arms in front of his chest, intending to withstand the impact, but he hadn’t expected the vacuum zone to arrive a step ahead of the physical blow.
The sudden loss of breath caused Shadow to lose his rhythm for a split second, and he ended up taking the full force of the punch.
Shadow spat out a mouthful of blood, murderous intent surging wildly in his eyes.
Since the opponent had chosen to get serious, he had no reason to hold back either.
Large patches of shadows within the workshop began to writhe, spreading continuously toward Yun Hai until he was completely surrounded by darkness.
However, not a hint of panic could be found on Yun Hai’s face.
He was certain that the other man wouldn’t dare take another step closer to him.
Shadow looked at Yun Hai in the center of the darkness with a complicated expression.
He had reached the limit of his shadow manipulation; to go any further, he would have to step into the other man’s vacuum zone.
Setting aside whether he could hold his breath for that long, the way the opponent could apply pressure through the vacuum was enough to cause his body to explode from the inside out.
After the two had remained at a standstill for a long time, Yun Hai, who was at the Fifth Evolution, was the first to falter.
His face began to turn pale.
Shadow let out a soft laugh and spoke.
“I imagine your people in Beijiang must have learned of our Midnight Society’s operations by now, haven’t they?”
“So what if we have?”
“Join us. You will witness history.”
Yun Hai curled his lip in disdain, his tone cold.
“Do you really think the people from The Official are a bunch of fools?”
“I never said that.”
“Gathering our kind like this will not only bring a devastating blow upon you all, but it will also affect the situation for our kind in the future. I don’t believe you aren’t aware of that.”
Shadow burst into a fit of laughter.
Now he finally understood the purpose behind this man’s arrival.
“There is something I think you need to know. Our situation has never been good. To those above, we are nothing more than frogs being boiled in lukewarm water.”
“Is that why you chose to gamble everything?”
“No. We never fight a war we aren’t prepared for.”
Shadow pulled a medicine bottle from his robes and murmured, “This is the capital we’ve chosen to change the world with.”
Yun Hai’s brow furrowed in confusion.
“What do you mean?”
“As long as humans continue to take this potion, they can be converted into the Blood Race and be cured of every disease on their bodies. I believe no Human would refuse the chance to welcome a new life.”
“And the price? Becoming your puppets?”
Shadow looked at Yun Hai with great interest before speaking.
“As expected of someone who has made a name for himself in Beijiang. You truly are extraordinary.”
Yun Hai sneered mockingly.
“Only people like you could come up with such a low-life scheme.”
“Since you refuse to join us, then die!”
The moment Yun Hai’s aura weakened, Shadow lunged forward, manipulating countless **[Shadow Spikes]** to thrust toward him.
Yun Hai leaped into the air, attempting to escape toward the rafters, but he hadn’t expected a dark spike to have already snaked around his ankle.
A biting chill surged up from the sole of his foot.
Despair appeared in Yun Hai’s eyes.
He should have realized it sooner; anyone who could drain him for this long and still find his location so easily had to have an Evolution level far beyond his own.
Shadow manipulated the shadow spike to yank downward, and Yun Hai’s body instantly plummeted into an endless forest of dark thorns.
*Puchi…*
The stinging pain did not arrive as Yun Hai had expected.
Instead, waves of numbing, icy coldness invaded his body through the punctures.
Yun Hai struggled desperately, but the numbness gradually stripped him of control over his body.
Shadow looked calmly at Yun Hai, who was trapped deep within the shadow spikes.
His task was likely finished.
Next, he should head underground to check the progress of the transfer.
Just as Shadow let down his guard, a sharp pain erupted from his chest.
He looked down to see a slender, black spike accurately pierced through his heart.
“Mu Qingxin?!”
With a single glance, Shadow recognized the source of the spike.
This was Mu Qingxin’s **[Barrier]**.
‘How dare he betray us?!’
“Mu Qingxin? Do you mean the man who proactively offered his talent to me?”
Looking toward the source of the voice, a pair of eerie, midnight-blue eyes emerged.
As the figure approached, Shadow finally saw clearly that the newcomer was Shen Ji.
‘Is A Ran not about to leave this place with the King Seed and Ye Xi?!’
“Tell me, where is the experimental data?”
Shadow looked at Shen Ji with a complex expression.
The way things were developing had far exceeded their expectations.
Since this person could find this place, it meant he must have gathered a significant amount of intelligence regarding them.
The man from earlier might have even been sent by Shen Ji’s group.
Seeing Shadow remain silent, Shen Ji proactively released the pressure of a King Seed.
Shadow merely let out a muffled groan and forcefully snapped the spike formed by the **[Barrier]**.
“King Seed, it is not yet time for you to make your entrance.”
Shadow’s nonsensical words startled Shen Ji, but he knew that with his current strength, it would be difficult to take the man down alone.
Therefore, stalling for time remained his best option.
“What do you mean?”
Shadow did not choose to answer Shen Ji’s question.
Instead, he dispersed the shadow spikes surrounding Yun Hai and kicked him toward Shen Ji.
“He’s one of your men, isn’t he?”
Shen Ji nodded suspiciously and immediately checked Yun Hai’s injuries.
Bloody holes of varying sizes covered his body.
Relying on his blurred consciousness, Yun Hai gradually recognized Shen Ji’s face.
He let out a bitter laugh and spoke.
“If four bottles of Blood Plasma aren’t enough, I won’t let you off even if I become a ghost.”
Shen Ji quickly handed him a bottle to let him recover from his injuries.
Yun Hai took it with trembling hands and bit the glass bottle open.
He poured all the Blood Plasma into his mouth and spat out a few shards of glass.
His aura began to recover, and the blood flowing from the holes in his body started to congeal.
“You may leave.”
Shadow’s casual sentence set off a storm in Shen Ji’s heart.
Shen Ji questioned him sharply, “What exactly are you plotting?”
Shadow remained expressionless, his tone calm.
“I do not have the right to tell you. But if you insist on investigating all of this, I will stop you.”
Shen Ji’s expression was grim.
His intuition told him that the Midnight Society was far from as simple as it appeared on the surface.
Even he himself might be part of their calculations.
Otherwise, why would the man have said those words?
He didn’t have time to overthink it.
The most important thing right now was to obtain the key data regarding the Blood Race conversion.
He didn’t want Xiao Wan to completely degenerate into one of them.
However, the disparity in their strength meant he would certainly be unable to force an answer.
Currently, there was only one way: to fish for useful information.
“Rallying the Blood Race, gathering Blood Plasma, and converting humans… Is the Midnight Society really going to fight a desperate battle to the death against humanity?”
Shadow was initially surprised that the other man knew so much about their operations.
Then, as if he had realized something, he said indifferently, “We have no choice. And neither do you.”
Veins bulged on Shen Ji’s face.
Those words felt as if they had struck his deepest secret.
Ever since awakening the System, he truly had no room for choice along the way.
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