Chapter 407 – The Imprisoned Woman

In the wilderness danger zone, within a neglected perilous area.

This was a hazardous region located deep within the continent, some distance from Tianfeng City.

All around the danger zone, various Phantom Demons ran rampant. Although no upper-tier Phantom Demons appeared here, this wasn’t a place ordinary Professionals could casually enter.

Coupled with the treacherous terrain and remote location, almost no one would think to come here.

It could be said this was a human forbidden zone – aside from Phantom Demons, no one would want to come and go here.

Yet, within such a perilous area, deep inside a mountain range, there actually existed a base.

The base was located in the deepest part of the mountain range, its entrance blending with the cliff face like a cave. At first glance, it resembled the entrance to a tomb, giving off an eerie feeling.

Near the entrance, figures of Professionals draped in black robes faintly appeared, holding weapons as they stood guard, patrolled, or kept watch from the shadows – the security was quite stringent.

No one would have imagined that in such a neglected human forbidden zone, there actually existed such a base, and such a group of Professionals maintaining security.

Of course, from the attire of these Professionals, it was clear they weren’t exactly upright characters.

Underground Professionals.

These people were all Underground Professionals.

Within the base guarded by these Underground Professionals, Li Wu slowly walked through an underground corridor, heading toward the most luxurious and spacious room in this base.

Before long, Li Wu reached his destination, pushed open the door, and entered.

Upon closer inspection, the room was decorated like an office, with something of a conference room feel, making it clear at a glance that this was a place only someone of considerable status could use.

In the office, a figure stood with his back to Li Wu, gazing at a wall, lost in thought.

Seeing that figure, Li Wu stopped in his tracks.

“Brother.”

Li Wu called out to the other with a hint of respect.

Only then did the other’s back move as he slowly turned around to face Li Wu.

It was a man who bore some resemblance to Li Wu in features, but unlike Li Wu’s burly build, he was rather slender.

Though the man had a slender physique, his Aura was quite imposing, even overwhelming Li Wu’s, making Li Wu’s sturdy frame appear somewhat diminished before him.

“Back?”

The man spoke indifferently, his voice hoarse as if weathered by time.

“Yes, brother.”

Li Wu nodded.

From Li Wu’s attitude, it was evident he held great reverence for the person before him.

This was only natural.

After all, the man before him was his elder brother.

The Commander of 『Sin』, a Seven-Star Professional, the one who had personally raised Li Wu, carved out a fearsome reputation in the underground world, thus establishing 『Sin』’s position and making it the largest mercenary group in the underground world – an underground titan almost without equal — Li Feng.

This greatest authority and strongest member of 『Sin』 had finally made an appearance.

And this place was 『Sin』’s headquarters.

Li Wu had returned to this headquarters, and upon arriving, had immediately come to see the Commander, his elder brother.

“I’ve already received the news.”

Li Feng’s tone remained quite detached.It wasn’t the kind of detached indifference devoid of emotion, but rather the kind that treated lives as worthless—viewing human lives as roadside weeds or ants in the corner, something to be casually trampled without a second thought.

Just this voice alone was enough to tell others what kind of person Li Feng was.

At the very least, this was undoubtedly a ruthless character who had killed so many that he had become numb to it.

Compared to him, Li Wu seemed like an immature child, all ferocity but lacking true ruthlessness.

This was one of the reasons Li Wu held such reverence and fear for his elder brother.

If it were anyone else, merely standing before Li Feng would bring immense psychological pressure, to the point where they wouldn’t even dare to lift their heads.

Li Wu was already doing relatively well.

However, this time, he still lowered his head.

“I’m sorry, elder brother. It’s all my fault.”

Li Wu was deeply ashamed.

He knew exactly what his elder brother was referring to.

“The operation in the Midnight Labyrinth, while it taught Tianfeng City a harsh lesson, our side also suffered heavy casualties. Almost all the Underground Professionals I brought with me died inside.”

Li Wu didn’t dare to hide anything, reporting the casualties with a pained expression.

The losses for 『Sin』 in the Midnight Labyrinth expedition were indeed severe, even worse than the previous incident in Longyao City.

During the Longyao City operation, Li Wu had mostly brought lower-rank Professionals, with very few upper-rank ones.

This time, however, all the Underground Professionals Li Wu took to the Midnight Labyrinth were upper-rank.

Over a hundred upper-rank Professionals represented a significant force even within 『Sin』.

Yet, due to Su Ming and Qing Qing, almost all of them were lost in the Midnight Labyrinth, resulting in devastating losses.

For this, Li Wu had mentally prepared himself for punishment from Li Feng.

Unexpectedly, Li Feng didn’t seem concerned about the matter.

“We’ll discuss the losses later,” Li Feng brushed aside the important issue with a single sentence and asked indifferently, “What about the Hell Beast? How did that go?”

“It went… alright,” Li Wu breathed a slight sigh of relief and quickly added, “Although there were quite a few mishaps, we successfully captured the Hell Beast. But for some reason, it died when we left the Midnight Labyrinth.”

“Died?” Li Feng frowned, looking at Li Wu. “What about its blood?”

“The blood is fine,” Li Wu replied. “I secretly extracted all the blood during our retreat.”

Hearing this, Li Feng’s tightly furrowed brow relaxed.

“If the blood is intact, then whether the Hell Beast is alive or dead doesn’t matter,” Li Feng said calmly. “Blood capable of recreating the lives it has devoured, reproducing their forms and powers from when they were alive—with that blood, we can use it as a substitute for the direct bloodline of the Longyao Wang Family, serving as the ‘blood’ required for the unsealing ritual.”

“Exactly,” Li Wu nodded. “From what we know, that creature had devoured the ancestors of Longyao City’s tomb-guarding clan—the powerful members of the Tianfeng City Wang Family’s branch responsible for guarding the Seal.”

“In that case, its blood can recreate those powerful individuals.”

“Though only in form, if our research is correct, the Hell Beast’s blood has an extremely high replication rate—it can even reproduce human bloodlines.””In this way, the blood of Hell Beasts can completely replace the direct Bloodline of the Longyao Wang Family as the ‘blood’ required for the unsealing ritual.”

This was the reason why ‘Sin’ had invaded the Midnight Labyrinth to capture Hell Beasts this time.

Everything was to compensate for the consequences of their failed operation in Longyao City.

Of course, Li Wu himself found this quite troublesome.

“Compared to catching Nightmare Species Mutants in the Midnight Labyrinth, I still think directly capturing that little girl from the Wang Family would be easier.”

This was a perfectly normal thought.

However, Li Feng shook his head.

“Our informants planted in Tianfeng City have long reported that the old fogey of the Wang Family keeps the ‘blood’ by his side at all times, hardly allowing her to step beyond the clan grounds, and never letting her leave his sight for long,” Li Feng said. “Those old fellows already know our objectives and our plans. Given that, they won’t give us any opportunity to touch that little girl.”

Under such tight defenses, it had become extremely difficult for their ‘Sin’ to obtain the ‘blood’ as a sacrifice again.

If their opponent were just the Wang Family alone, it might be manageable.

The problem was, the Wang Family was located in Tianfeng City. For ‘Sin’ to move against the Wang Family, they would inevitably need to deploy significant force.

And how easy would it be for such a force to invade Tianfeng City, known as the Human Sanctuary?

That place was nothing like remote rural Base Cities such as Longyao City. Forget assembling a substantial force; even a single ordinary Underground Professional would find it difficult to infiltrate.

Tianfeng City held a deep-seated hatred for Underground Professionals, viewing them not only as failing to contribute to all of humanity but also as consistently hindering progress for personal gain—essentially, a cancer on humanity.

Therefore, Tianfeng City had always been hunting down all exiles. Anyone who was banished and had the potential to become an Underground Professional would end up on their blacklist.

The fact that ‘Sin’ managed to plant informants in Tianfeng City was only due to bribing some unscrupulous Professionals; they dared not use their own people at all.

Under these circumstances, attempting to recapture the sacrifice from Tianfeng City’s grasp and from the Wang Family was undoubtedly fraught with difficulties.

Rather than challenging Tianfeng City, it was better to take on the Midnight Labyrinth.

At the very least, Hell Beasts fought alone. With the Great Sin Blade on their side, their chances of subduing that beast were not small. They could even seize the opportunity to wreak havoc, weakening Tianfeng City’s forces to some extent. At worst, they could plunge Tianfeng City into temporary chaos, diverting its attention away from them for a while.

This way, they could take advantage of the situation to act.

“By the way,” Li Feng suddenly said, “how is Qing Qing?”

“…Not well,” Li Wu fell silent for a moment before sighing. “The signs of losing control are becoming more and more apparent. We can still barely restrain her with the ‘Collar’ for now, but in a little while, I’m afraid even the ‘Collar’ won’t be able to stop Qing Qing from going berserk.”

These words plunged Li Feng into silence as well.

“Big brother,” Li Wu then cautiously said, “should we stop letting Qing Qing continue to use the Great Sin Blade?”

“No,” Li Feng broke his silence, his tone cold and resolute. “At this point, we must utilize all our strength, especially the Divine Artifact.””But Qingqing is your own daughter,” Li Wu attempted to persuade. “If this continues, she will completely fall into madness. Even without contact with the Great Sin Blade, she will be beyond saving.”

“If that truly happens, it is that child’s fate,” Li Feng said coldly. “Our strength is ultimately insufficient. Even though both you and I are Seven-Star Professionals, we don’t even have a hundred percent chance of victory against a single top-tier Super Family, let alone opposing all of humanity.”

“Some of those Super Families possess more than one Seven-Star Professional.”

“Perhaps in terms of lower-level strength, we are stronger after gathering most of the underground world’s power. But in top-tier strength, we don’t hold much advantage.”

“And what we aim to do is overthrow the entire human world, overthrow the entire continent.”

Li Feng turned his gaze to Li Wu.

“If we can’t even guarantee victory against a single Super Family, how can we speak of opposing all of humanity?”

Li Feng’s words left Li Wu speechless.

“Since that child Qingqing has the aptitude to wield the Great Sin Blade, this power is crucial to us,” Li Feng snorted. “It’s a pity we don’t have anyone who can use the Demon Emperor Sword. Otherwise, how could your operation in Longyao City have failed?”

Although Divine Artifacts can be used by anyone, even ordinary people, not everyone can wield them equally.

If an ordinary person were to touch the Demon Emperor Sword, their mind would be eroded instantly, driving them mad into a berserker who only knows destruction. How could they possibly wield it?

Only those with special conditions, those whose nature aligns with the power and characteristics of the Divine Artifact, can use it for prolonged combat without quickly having their minds eroded and falling into madness.

Li Qingqing is such a person, quite compatible with the Great Sin Blade. To outsiders, this appears as having gained the Divine Artifact’s recognition, passing its trial, and being able to wield it in combat without immediately going mad.

The first Divine Artifact 『Sin』 obtained was the Great Sin Blade.

As for the Demon Emperor Sword, it was acquired later by chance, but there has never been anyone capable of wielding it.

Under these circumstances, Li Feng used the Demon Emperor Sword as a catalyst, sending Li Wu to bring it to Longyao City to break the “King’s” Seal.

Unfortunately, that operation failed.

“This time, we cannot fail again.”

Li Feng declared this in an indifferent voice.

“Next, all of 『Sin』 will mobilize together and head to Longyao City to break the ‘King’s’ Seal.”

This is 『Sin』’s next move, and also 『Sin』’s ultimate operation.

Succeed or die trying.

“Go prepare.”

Li Feng instructed Li Wu.

“Very well,” Li Wu could only accept. “However, it seems Crow was quite shaken by this operation. He left the base alone and went to an S-class Strange Realm, planning to use life-and-death trials to achieve his Breakthrough and take the final step.”

“That might be for the best,” Li Feng paused. “If he can take that step, our side’s power will become even stronger.””That’s what I thought too, which is why I didn’t stop him.” Li Wu spoke with some frustration at this point: “But even if he takes that step, he’ll definitely go after that Su Ming first. Facing someone who possesses a Divine Artifact, his chances of winning are still too slim.”

“Su Ming?” Li Feng narrowed his eyes and said indifferently: “Recently, I acquired a gift that happens to be perfect for dealing with him.”

“What?” Li Wu was momentarily stunned.

Li Feng didn’t respond, merely turning his back to look through the window toward a basement.

There, a woman was shackled and imprisoned.

“My great benefactor…”

The woman murmured these words before slowly closing her eyes.

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(End of Chapter)