The lanky man watched the Elder slowly approach, released the man with the flat cap he had pinned, and suddenly leapt up, charging at the Elder.

The flat cap man stared wide-eyed at the scene, unable to comprehend why the lanky man still had the courage to attack the Elder at this moment.

But he got up, signaling a thumbs up to the back of the lanky man.

Then he watched as the lanky man, just before reaching the Elder, slid to his knees, skidding several meters forward, stopping before the Elder, "Master Hawke, I surrender, I surrender! I’ll do whatever you say!"

¿

The flat cap man stared blankly at the scene, momentarily forgetting to run.

The Elder passed by the lanky man, expression unchanged, merely reaching out to gently pat the lanky man’s shoulder.

The lanky man seemed to relax instantly, lowering his hands.

The Elder passed him by and walked towards the flat cap man.

At that moment, the lanky man suddenly leapt up, an invisible utility knife blade appearing in his palm, carrying a terrifying force, stabbing towards He Ao’s neck from behind.

The blade carried a suffocating chill, flickering between illusion and reality, seemingly both tangible and intangible. As it sliced through the air, even the moisture seemed to crystallize into ice.

In that instant, the speed and strength exhibited by this blade far exceeded the lanky man’s limits.

Yet, the Elder continued forward without turning back. In the moment before the blade was about to pierce the back of his neck, an elderly hand reversed direction, grasping the lanky man’s cheek.

In an instant, a blaze engulfed that hand, burning it to bone, then spread to the lanky man’s horrified face and head, and finally, his entire body.

Within moments, the lanky man was reduced to a drifting pile of ashes.

A hundred million federal coin bounty, truly tempting.

Accompanied by the sound of something heavy falling to the ground, He Ao withdrew his hand, slowly moving forward.

The flat cap man was already terrified by the sudden change, his half-stepped foot halted mid-air, trembling as he watched He Ao.

"Sir, I don’t think we have any grudges, do we?" the flat cap man swallowed, looking at He Ao. "I don’t even know you."

He Ao simply gazed at him quietly, reaching into his pocket to pull out a hardware wallet.

The flat cap man looked at the hardware wallet, swallowed quickly, and said, "Sir, there’s eight million in cryptocurrency in that wallet. If you like, you can have it all."

But He Ao seemed not to hear him, merely glancing at the wallet before slowly, forcibly crushing it.

The flat cap man watched the fragments fall from the Elder’s fingers, swallowing hard, appearing somewhat regretful.

Soon after, he turned his head towards He Ao, smiling thoughtfully, "Sir, if there’s anything you need me to do, I can do anything. I’m not like those two fools, I absolutely won’t resist you."

At this moment, He Ao lifted his head, calmly glancing at the flat cap man, speaking softly, "You’re younger than I thought. You look just a bit older than my son."

"Yes, young, young," the flat cap man nodded quickly, "I was lucky to obtain a C-level Talent Sequence and was promoted by chance."

He said this without hearing a response from the Elder. He looked up to see the Elder gazing at him, falling into a brief silence.

"Do you know Erian?" the Elder asked softly.

"Erian?" The flat cap man was taken aback, then smiled at He Ao, "The name sounds familiar, but it doesn’t seem particularly rare. I might have run into someone like that."

"Do you need me to remind you?" He Ao asked quietly, looking down at the flat cap man.

The flat cap man lowered his head, smiling awkwardly, "What’s your relation to Erian? You might not find him now."

"You should know where he is," He Ao continued calmly.

"I really don’t know," the flat cap man’s face grew more awkward, his head hanging low, muscles tensing slowly, "Do you have to find him? Other people? Erian’s status wasn’t high, nor the bounty. If you’re interested, I can introduce a few with higher bounties—"

"He’s my son."

The Elder’s calm voice echoed in the somewhat deserted space.

In that instant, the flat cap man’s pupils contracted sharply, and almost simultaneously, he sprang up, darting to the side.

But at some point, a hand pressed down on his shoulder, rendering him motionless.

"Let’s chat," He Ao stood calmly beside him, asking hoarsely, "What did my son say at the end."

"I don’t know either," the flat cap man stated awkwardly, "He was in another room at the time, handled by my subordinates. I didn’t handle it."

He hesitated a moment, slowly adding, "Erian wasn’t particularly central in the operation, nor was his bounty high."

"Anything else?" He Ao inquired calmly.

"I just heard from my subordinates," the flat cap man hesitated before continuing, "that the resistance in that room was quite fierce; they held out for a long time."

Hearing this, He Ao was silent for a moment before asking, "And his remains, do you know where they went?"

"I don’t know about that," the flat cap man shook his head, glancing slightly upward at He Ao before continuing, "The Intelligence Bureau told me to gather the bodies and transport them together. Where they were taken, I don’t know— even the Intelligence Bureau officer I interfaced with didn’t know,"

He kept his head down, whispering, "Probably only the bureau head knows where they went."

"What do they want with these young people’s bodies?" He Ao asked hoarsely.

"I don’t know either," the flat cap man shook his head, "But they seem to be collecting those bodies. The higher the status, the more critical, the more they want them."

"Are they collecting from other cities too?" He Ao suddenly asked.

"I don’t know about that," the flat cap man said, looking cautiously at He Ao, tension in his voice, "But from the attitude of the officials I interacted with, it seemed like they are."

Then he looked up at He Ao, swallowed, and whispered, "Sir, I’ve answered all your questions. Can I go now?"

"What do you think?" He Ao lowered his head, looking at him.

The flat cap man’s face sank, and without hesitation, he raised his hand, throwing a punch at He Ao’s face.

Simultaneously, his body twisted sideways, hoping to escape He Ao’s control, relying on the distraction of his feint.

But his fist ultimately didn’t strike He Ao’s cheek. Just as it was a narrow distance away, the fist reached its limit.

Throughout the process, He Ao’s face was expressionless, the hand holding the man’s shoulder remained still, merely pressing against his body, restricting his movements.

His hand was a section too short; no matter what, he couldn’t touch He Ao’s body.

He immediately switched to grabbing He Ao’s wrist, trying to turn He Ao’s body, but his hand felt like it was touching mountains, immovable.

He then attempted to turn around, but due to the body’s restriction, he couldn’t move at all.

"Old Geezer, what do you want?!" Ultimately, the man raised his head, angrily roaring at He Ao, "I only killed your son, why are you being so aggressive? Can’t you be a little more magnanimous?"

He Ao:

The hand gripping the man’s shoulder suddenly exerted force, causing his entire body to tilt and kneel down with a thunderous crash, shattering the ground beneath him.

At this moment, He Ao released his hand, reached for the man’s wristwatch, and took it off.

"What are you doing?" The man in the baseball cap raised his head, looking at He Ao, instinctively trying to grab the wristwatch.

But his forward movement paused instantly, tilting forward, he fell to the ground.

Blood with a yellow gleam seeped from his knee, soaking into the shattered ground, staining it red.

His knee was shattered at that moment, unable to move at all.

He Ao calmly opened the man’s wristwatch, unlocked it with facial recognition, opened the cryptocurrency app, and logged into the account.

Then he crouched down, showing the account interface to the man in the baseball cap, "Your eight million federal coins, here, right?"

"What did you say, old man," the man stared hard at He Ao, "my hardware wallet has been destroyed by you."

"Hmm,"

He Ao nodded slightly, opened the hidden interface of the app, displayed the numbers, and looked at the man, "Not only the eight million federal coins, but also the money earned from dirty work over these years, all here, totaling twelve million federal coins."

The man in the baseball cap gazed at the long string of numbers, his eyes gradually widening, "What do you want to do?!!!"

After a brief pause, he swallowed quickly, "Old man, old man, you’re formidable, I can give you the money, can you spare me?"

His thoughts raced at that moment, only he knew the password to his money, and it was set with a two-step verification. As long as he survived, he could transfer the money before the old man could.

Then, he could flee freely across the vast skies and wide seas.

"You really love money," He Ao calmly gazed at him, "you’re willing to do anything to earn it, even if you know you’re hurting people, killing people, even if you know their protests are right, but you don’t care, you just want money."

"What do you really want to do?!!!" The man in the baseball cap’s pupils abruptly contracted.

He Ao picked up the wristwatch and quickly operated it.

Then, he turned the wristwatch towards the man in the baseball cap, making him look at the contents on the wristwatch.

The numbers rapidly danced on the wristwatch, the eight-digit number visibly reducing.

"What did you do?"

The man in the baseball cap stared wide-eyed, somewhat confused at He Ao, momentarily unsure of what to say.

"Did a good deed," He Ao calmly gazed at him, "donated the money to the aid societies for homeless children in various cities."

"You’re crazy! You’re crazy!" The man in the baseball cap stared wide-eyed at He Ao, "That’s twelve million! That’s twelve million! Do you know how much money that is?!!! It can elevate the humble, enrich the poor, give courage to the timid, and respect to the incompetent, allowing someone to live ostentatiously, worry-free,"

His eyes widened, filled with fresh red blood streaks, as the long string of numbers slowly dwindled to zero in his field of view, "Do you know how much money you gave away?"

He looked at He Ao, his voice growing hoarse and hysterical.

Yet, no matter how he described the wealth, the elderly facing him remained calm, without empathy or sarcasm, only a tranquility like water.

The elderly didn’t seem to care how much money or how much was spent, he only wanted to see him in pain, witnessing his fury and madness at losing the most important thing in his life.

"You’re insane! You’re insane!" At this moment, he angrily rose up.

The bloodstained knee exploded with terrifying power, like an arrow aimed at He Ao.

Talent Sequences 109: Ascetic, the more injured, the stronger the combat power.

Originally, he planned to wait for the elderly to attack him again, injuring him further, to gather more strength and launch an attack against the elderly, seeking a chance to escape.

But now, he couldn’t hold back anymore, he was so angry, so hateful, he wished to tear the foolish and insane elderly before him into pieces.

This old geezer didn’t understand how much money that was, how much effort he paid for it.

If this old geezer sought these funds, he would understand, but he donated all the money, donated it!

How could these funds be donated! Doesn’t he know how much that is?!

He Ao quietly observed the man in the baseball cap charging at him frantically, watching the bloodshot eyes.

At this moment, he finally curled his lips, revealing a slight smile.

Blazing flames ignited instantly, engulfing the swiftly approaching figure, fueled by hatred, igniting the fire of rage, burning the soul.

Ding——

Scattered ashes floated down to the ground from the void, leaving only a molten head-like Bone Pearl on the ground, stuck in the fractured surface, showing a face of flattery and bitter smile.

Aged hands passed through the dispersing ash, grabbed the Bone Pearl, and picked it up.

The elderly’s steps faltered and slowly moved ahead, picking up the Bone Blade from the ground, heading into the depths of the crowd.

"Ah——Explosion——fire——"

A scream pierced the silent space, startling the crowds coming and going.