The rain came down even harder, hissing as it struck the burning flames and sending up clouds of white steam that blurred everything before their eyes.
Shen Wu pulled a highly concentrated ability stabilizer from the inner pocket of his clothes and jabbed it cleanly into the side of his neck.
Without giving himself even a moment to recover, he pressed his fingers against his temple again. Brow furrowed, he extended his mental power to track the signal.
But this time, he pressed so hard that his knuckles turned white.
Jiang Nuan’s heart tightened.
Shen Wu had used his mental ability at an intense level repeatedly in a very short time.
Not long ago, he had already suffered a severe depletion of mental power while breaking through the mental defensive shield formed by three high-level mental ability users on the opposing side.
After that, he had conducted a large-scale search.
Now, the stabilizer probably had not even had time to take effect before he began another round of overexertion.
His condition was likely very poor.
Looking at his bloodless face, drained by the overuse of his mental power, an idea rose from the depths of Jiang Nuan’s heart.
Just as he had done for her before.
She tried to draw upon the ceaseless river of energy within her body, guiding out a gentle thread of power.
Unnoticed beneath the torrential rain, it drifted toward Shen Wu. Then, tentatively and tenderly, it wound around the wrist of the hand he was pressing against his temple, soothing him.
The furrow between Shen Wu’s brows finally eased a little.
A few seconds later, he lowered his hand and gave Jiang Nuan a long, searching look.
“Ye Que and Qi Sui’s life sources are both moving, but in opposite directions.”
“Qi Sui is southeast.” His voice carried a hint of fatigue. “Ye Que is northwest. Both life signals are rapidly moving away from their current positions.”
“They’re being moved.” Jiang Ce immediately reached a conclusion, his arm still locked firmly around Qinian. “The Cleaners are up to something. They were seriously injured in the explosion just now.”
Severe injuries were the only explanation for why members of Zero Squad would be captured and taken away against their will.
Qinian spat out the remnants of the candy in his mouth, mixed with blood. Slowly, he straightened and wiped the blood from the corner of his lips.
His eyes gleamed with the savage darkness of a beast driven to the brink.
“So,” he said, drawing his lips into a cold, cruel smile, “are you planning to stand here until dawn and wait for their bodies to grow cold? Or are you waiting for headquarters to issue a wanted notice, so we can all be arrested together?”
“It’s an obvious trap.” Shen Wu lowered his eyes, concealing the emotions within them. “They designed all of this to lure us there. With the captain gone, if we rush over now, we’ll be walking straight into their hands.”
Jiang Ce tried to defuse the tension that was on the verge of erupting. “Qinian, Shen Wu is right. There are only a few of us now, so we can’t act recklessly. We need to come up with a plan first—”
“A plan?”
Qinian cut him off with a low laugh.
There was not a trace of warmth in it—only endless violence and despair.
“My plan is to find my brother right now.” He lifted his eyes, his gaze slashing viciously across Jiang Ce and Shen Wu’s faces. “Anyone who gets in my way is my enemy.”
Before the words had even faded—
The energy still remaining within Qinian exploded without warning. He kicked off the ground behind him with tremendous force.
Bang!
Mud erupted beneath his feet as he broke free of every restraint and shot toward Qi Sui’s location.
He moved so fast that even Jiang Ce could only catch a fleeting afterimage.
“Damn it!” Jiang Ce cursed and chased after him.
Shen Wu swore under his breath and immediately followed.
Their top priority had now become restraining the out-of-control Qinian.
If Qinian charged alone into the trap the enemy had prepared, he would be walking straight to his death.
As for Ye Que—apart from the captain, he was Zero Squad’s strongest combatant. His fighting ability was extraordinary.
They had an instinctive faith in him, trusting that he would not go down easily.
After rushing forward for some distance, Jiang Ce instinctively glanced back.
Only to find that Jiang Nuan had not followed them.
At the same time, Shen Wu’s communication terminal received an encrypted message.
Sender: Jiang Nuan.
There was only a single line:
[The Cleaners won’t hurt me. I’m going to save Ye Que. Protect Qinian.]
Shen Wu’s steps faltered. He lowered his head and looked at the terminal’s glowing screen.
His first instinct was to turn around.
But the burst of fire and the furious howls coming from Qinian ahead held him firmly in place.
“…The Cleaners won’t hurt her.” Shen Wu gritted his teeth. “Control Qinian first! Make it quick!”
*
At the other end of the ruins, Jiang Nuan shut off her communication terminal and let the rain pound against her pale face.
She stood where she was, watching Jiang Ce and Shen Wu’s backs disappear bit by bit into the curtain of rain as they pursued Qinian’s crazed afterimage.
Three people were enough.
With Jiang Ce restraining Qinian and Shen Wu’s mental abilities providing support, even if Qinian ran into the trap, he would at least not be going to his death alone.
And Ye Que…
Her gaze turned toward the deeper darkness in the northwest.
Ye Que was truly alone.
The Cleaners had specifically found an ability user who could alter the trajectory of bullets—someone who could counter a sniper.
They had set up such an enormous operation to trap one of Zero Squad’s strongest fighters. Now, they were even in the process of moving him.
Moving a seriously injured man.
Jiang Nuan bit down hard on her lower lip.
She remembered what Shen Wu had said while analyzing the scene: four spent casings, only one shot off target.
Ye Que never missed. Even with an ability user present who could alter bullet trajectories, every shot he fired had been fatal.
It was only by the fourth shot that he had finally been unable to hold on.
Jiang Nuan clenched the thin silver bracelet around her wrist, the one set with a gray-blue stone.
The ability of the mastermind behind the Cleaners to devise such a plan sent a chill through her.
They had cut off reinforcements, split up their forces, and even exploited Qinian’s shared senses to force him into a rampage—tearing a well-coordinated squad apart with brutal precision.
What kind of situation was Ye Que facing against such a terrifying opponent?
She was terrified to confront an enemy this powerful.
But…
How bad were his injuries? Was he still fighting, or had he already…
She bit down on her lower lip and forced the terrifying thought back down.
She couldn’t think about that.
The Cleaners would not harm her. At least, she could still use this protective charm.
She ran toward his location.
Ye Que, hold on.
This time, the prey would come looking for the hunter.
