" That monster's gone completely berserk! It's charging northwest at extreme speed—Chen Fan is over there! Get moving and support him!"Zhao Ling's voice cracked through the comms, urgent, sharp… and carrying a trace of worry she couldn't hide.
"Understood! We're on it!"Liu Wei snapped back, then shot a look at his two teammates. His tone brooked no argument:"One of you comes with me. The other stays and handles casualty checks—coordinate with the hospitals and start emergency treatment!"
"Yes, sir!"
The two nodded. Liu Wei cast one more cold glance at the shattered wall, snorted, and vanished from sight in a flicker of violet light. One of the purple-suite combat operatives sprinted after him, while the other pulled out a portable comm device and began contacting the med units.
Northwest lay the outskirts of Blazeflame City—an almost fully automated industrial zone. Towering chimneys exhaled white smoke into the sky, and the thunderous rumble of machinery could be heard even from miles away.
Wind tore past Chen Fan's ears.He was straddling the mutated beast's neck, both hands wrapped tightly around a power cable the monster had ripped from a wall—twisted, frayed, and swaying violently. The creature's breakneck sprint jolted him so hard his vision shook.
"Damn it… this thing is obviously being controlled by someone. But who has the power to manipulate a creature at this level?"Chen Fan's expression darkened, eyes like a brewing storm.
"Wang Yong! It's his formula!"The realization struck him like lightning.
The mission he had taken earlier—Wang Yong was an expert in biochemical augmentation. If this pet-turned-abomination was tied to mutagenic drugs… then the connection was too obvious to ignore.
"But Wang Yong was already captured. If he's locked up, his stuff shouldn't be out on the street. That means—someone else is behind him. Someone powerful."
He clenched his jaw.
"Wang Yong's formula wasn't the only one… it was only one piece of a larger chain."
A single name surfaced in his mind, cold and sharp.
"The Sirius Group."
His gaze locked on the sprawling industrial complex in the distance.The beast beneath him accelerated—faster, fiercer, as though something ahead was calling to it, drawing it like bait soaked in madness.
And that place… was Sirius Group's industrial park.
The Sirius Group dominated pharmaceuticals and nutritional biotech. Their brand was in nearly every household in Blazeflame City, trusted, famous, unavoidable.
" Hahaha… Welcome, honored guest. We've been expecting you."
The voice drifted from the middle of an abandoned sector—decaying buildings and rusted silos that stood in bleak contrast to the modern facilities around it.
Chen Fan stiffened. The voice was both unfamiliar and familiar at once.
"Lone Wolf…"
His eyes narrowed.Recognition hit him—and his face changed instantly.
"Chen Fan, never thought we'd meet again this way."The beast skidded to a stop, panting heavily.But floating in midair at the entrance of the derelict factory was a man—upright, steady, eyes locked onto Chen Fan as if greeting an old acquaintance.
Because they were.More than once, they had intersected paths—sometimes as rivals, sometimes as temporary allies.
"I didn't expect we'd ever cross paths again," Chen Fan said, voice low, heavy with emotion. "Even less did I expect you to be working with the Sirius Group."
His tone turned sharp—painful, almost pleading."Tell me… why? Why choose this path?"
Lone Wolf stared at him quietly. A faint breeze brushed the white-dyed strand of hair that fell across his forehead, revealing eyes that flickered with madness.
"You know me, Chen Fan. I'm a mercenary. I do anything for money."His smile was calm, almost gentle—too gentle.
"But after you let me go last time… I ran into another of your Alliance's detectives. A three-star. Do you know what he did to me?"His voice tightened, trembling with restrained fury.
"You know my background. I took risky jobs, yes, but I never crossed the line. I never committed a crime that went against the Alliance."His eyes reddened."Yet your people slaughtered all my brothers. Every last one of them. They pinned fabricated crimes on them… just for those damn promotion points."
He jabbed a finger at Chen Fan, voice cracking."And I was cornered like a dog!"
"This is what your Alliance did to me. So tell me—why did they do it? Why!?"
The raw hatred hit with the force of a physical blow.Chen Fan stared at Lone Wolf—at the scar hidden beneath that strand of hair, pale and jagged, like a wound that never healed.
"The Sirius Group pulled me out of that hell," Lone Wolf whispered."So why shouldn't I work for them?"
Chen Fan's voice shook."So that justifies hurting innocent people? They had nothing to do with your past!"
"And my brothers—did they deserve to die?"Lone Wolf's roar echoed through the empty factory grounds.
"Chen Fan… I didn't attack anyone. I only used a small dose of the serum to mutate a cat… just enough to lure you here."His next words were ice."Because today, you die."
A killing intent so sharp it felt like a blade pressed against Chen Fan's throat burst from Lone Wolf's body. Chen Fan instinctively stepped back—Lone Wolf's murderous aura had evolved far beyond what he remembered.
What hell had this man walked through?
"Lone Wolf! What are you waiting for? Kill him!"
Two men in brimmed hats appeared at the gate, moving with eerie subtlety—light steps, slow strides, yet arriving almost instantly.
"Don't forget who you are now," one said coldly. "Chen Fan is only a Level-2 esper. Crushing him is nothing to you."
Lone Wolf snapped.
"Shut up. I agreed to work for your 'leader'—but I never said I couldn't accidentally kill you in the process."
A surge of killing intent locked onto the two newcomers.
"Don't forget—both of you together still wouldn't be my match."
Their expressions didn't change.If anything, their smiles grew colder.
"Lone Wolf, defy our leader if you like… but kill us, and even the Alliance won't let you live."
Their confidence sent a chill through Chen Fan. Something about their smiles felt wrong—unnervingly wrong.
Lone Wolf turned back to Chen Fan, voice hollow.
"I can't go back. And I still have unfinished business. So today… you die."
But Chen Fan's face hardened like steel.
"Kill me? You alone don't have that ability. All three of you—come together."
Lone Wolf snarled."Against a mere Level-2 esper? I alone… am enough."
He lunged.A blur of killing intent and power.