“Boss, it should be just ahead, but our people can’t get in.”
A few figures appeared on a hill not far from the small town where Liang Chuyin was fighting. Ye Zhongming stood in the center with three people standing a step behind him.
One of the three wore a camouflage cloak, blending almost perfectly with the surroundings. The middle figure was clad in black leather armor, wearing a mask, and had a slender build. The one speaking to Ye Zhongming had long hair that covered his face, with only a pair of cold eyes visible through the strands.
“For some reason, the area is shielded by something. We missed it twice, and after discovering it, we were blocked by some mysterious force. We can’t confirm the situation inside yet. This is our intelligence department’s fault. I’m sorry, boss.”
Knowing who the woman trapped inside was, the head of the intelligence department felt deeply ashamed for taking so long to locate her.
Ye Zhongming sent the intelligence department to Ying City and its surrounding areas early on to monitor every movement. But this time, not only did they fail to detect the alliance of various forces in the area, but it also took them a considerable amount of time to locate Liang Chuyin after the order was given. This was almost a series of mistakes.
Ye Zhongming and Cloud Peak had invested heavily in the intelligence department. They were given access to some of the best resources, which even core members couldn’t. Funding was abundant, and they had a high degree of autonomy. They were free to act independently as long as they completed their tasks and didn’t harm Cloud Peak.
Their development was guaranteed, and they could use their free time to strengthen themselves through various means. Despite the intelligence department’s strict rules and survival style, they had an easier path to becoming stronger than ordinary evolved.
But all of this was based on their usefulness to Cloud Peak.
For the intelligence department, which held many secrets, Ye Zhongming would never allow them to defect to others. Being eliminated meant being wiped out.
They were afraid because Ye Zhongming controlled their physical coordinates, and oath scrolls bound key members. Anyone who betrayed Cloud Peak would not escape its pursuit.
“Have you figured out who these people are?”
Ye Zhongming ignored their apologies and instead asked this question.
“We just captured someone but haven’t had time to interrogate him yet. Another person escaped.”
The head of Ying City’s intelligence department felt his face burn with shame. His eyes, hidden beneath his long hair, could only look at the ground.
“Boss, the main responsibility lies with us. Capturing targets is our operation team’s job,” the masked man and the man in camouflage admitted their fault to Ye Zhongming.
“We’ll discuss this later. Bring the captive here first.”
Upon Ye Zhongming’s order, the two Ying City’s operation team members immediately sent a signal. Soon, someone brought forward a man.
It was the snake-tongued man who had left earlier.
He was in even worse shape than before. Already severely injured by Liang Chuyin, he had resisted fiercely when captured. The captain and vice-captain of Ying City’s operation team—the man in camouflage and the masked man—had left deep, bone-exposing cuts on his limbs, rendering him completely unable to resist.
“Tell me who you are, who your people are, and who is inside that town. If you do, I won’t kill you.”
Ye Zhongming looked down at the man, who was slumped on the ground.
“Heh.” The snake-tongued man chuckled, his eyes staring forward as if waiting for death.
“Sometimes, death isn’t the scariest thing. The real despair comes when you’re waiting for or even anticipating death. I have countless ways to make you wish you were dead. You’ll believe me when I say this because you probably have many such methods yourself, right?”
Ye Zhongming crouched down, gripping the man’s chin with one hand. “The person you tried to kill is my woman. Revenge can wait. Right now, I just want to make sure she’s safe. Tell me everything you know, and then get as far away as possible. I’ll act as if nothing happened today. If you don’t answer, enjoy the last moments of your life. I guarantee it won’t be less than a year.”
“The fact that you didn’t kill yourself the moment we captured you shows you don’t dare to commit suicide. So don’t act tough… tough guys suffer.”
The snake-tongued man listened to Ye Zhongming’s words, swallowing hard. He knew Ye Zhongming wasn’t lying. In the apocalypse, there were too many ways to torture someone. If Liang Chuyin were really in danger, Ye Zhongming wouldn’t let him go regardless of whether the real culprit was found. He would use every method to torment him.
After all, he had been captured.
“Heavenly Stem and Earth Branches,” the snake-tongued man finally spoke. “We are the Heavenly Stems and Earth Branches, an assassin organisation. We existed before the apocalypse and continue to exist now. I am Earth Jia of the Heavenly Stems. This time, someone paid a huge sum to have us kill Liang Chuyin. If possible, we were also to kill anyone who came to rescue her. We receive a seven-star evolution potion for every core member of Cloud Peak we kill.”
“Earth Yi, Earth Bing, and I were defeated by Liang Chuyin. Now, she’s been moved to this town by Heaven Chou of the Earthly Branches—the space mage who escaped earlier. Inside, Heaven Bing of the Heavenly Stems is waiting for her. Heaven Bing is an eight-star evolved.”
Although his explanation was a bit convoluted, Ye Zhongming understood. This was an assassin organization from the apocalypse, divided into the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. Each branch had two series: the Heaven series and the Earth series, corresponding to the ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earthly Branches. This meant twenty members were in the Heavenly Stems and twenty-four in the Earthly Branches.
“How strong is Heaven Bing?” Ye Zhongming stood up, looking toward the distant town.
“In our Heavenly Stems, he ranks third. He’s a ranged attacker with a powerful mechanized armor. I’m unsure about his ranking in the Earth Branches, but he’s probably around fifth. The Earth Branches are stronger overall. Their Heaven Son and Earth Son, along with our Heaven Jia and Heaven Yi, are the organization’s leaders.”
Since he had already started talking, the snake-tongued man decided to spill everything. As for whether Ye Zhongming would keep his promise and let him go, he wasn’t sure. But the worst that could happen was being killed; at least, it would be a quick death.
“Boss!”
The operation team members grew anxious upon hearing that Heaven Bing was an eight-star evolved. They requested permission from Ye Zhongming to take their people and head over.
After hearing Heaven Bing’s brief introduction, Ye Zhongming seemed in no hurry and even started asking about the internal situation of the Heavenly Stems and Earth Branches.
“You have so many eight-star evolved? How did you manage that?”
The snake-tongued man chuckled. “We’re assassins. We don’t follow rules. We ambush teams, rob caravans, or simply guard wheels, attacking anyone who comes near. That’s how we get most of our level eight demon crystals.”
Ye Zhongming nodded. No wonder.
“Who have you robbed?”
“Heh, we’ve robbed Resistance Zone, Glory Army, and others.”
Hearing this, Ye Zhongming’s face showed a hint of a smile.
This Heavenly Stems and Earth Branches group was quite interesting.
“Boss!?” The members of the intelligence department grew anxious, wondering why Ye Zhongming wasn’t worried.
Ye Zhongming looked at the town, which was shrouded by something, and smiled. “If that Heaven Bing is really as this person says—an eight-star evolved with a ranged job relying on some mechanized armor—then… I think they’ll pay the price for underestimating Liang Chuyin.”
The others didn’t understand what Ye Zhongming meant, but they figured that since the boss was so confident, there shouldn’t be a problem.