“What do you plan to do with me?” Sabu slouched on the ground with a completely fearless expression.
“You say you’re from team Pantheon?” Huo Yin asked.
“That's right.” Sabu glanced at the group.
“Our Pantheon is super powerful, we aren't afraid of your retaliation at all.”
Huo Yin looked inquiringly toward Su Mo beside him, but the latter shook his head to signal he wasn't sure. This stealth user could block brainwaves, especially while invisible, making it impossible to detect him, usually, Su Mo could only intercept fragmented information. If Yuan Chu were willing to lend him a hand...
Yuan Chu looked straight ahead, having no intention of making eye contact with Su Mo. Because even without telepathy, Huo Yin had his own ways of handling it.
“I haven't even tortured you yet, so how did you spill everything so fast?” Huo Yin rested his chin on his hand atop his wheelchair armrest, staring coolly at Sabu on the ground.
“This doesn't fit my style. I've decided to torture you severely for two hours first before thinking about what to ask.”
Hearing this, Sabu’s face twisted in horror: Are you freaking sick in the head??? I already confessed, and you still want to torture me!
The surrounding crowd also looked at Huo Yin with odd expressions.
Huo Yin opened his palm, and a tuft of blue fire popped out with a whoosh.
“Wait, wait, wait!”
Sabu finally lost his composure, hurriedly pleading, “Just ask whatever else you want to know! I'll tell you everything, I swear!”
“Tell me everything?” Huo Yin said casually.
“Without letting you experience the agony and despair worse than death, how could I possibly believe what you say is true?”
Sabu shouted: “I guarantee everything I said is true!”
“No thanks, I prefer violence as an art form.” Under the glow of the blue fire, Huo Yin’s expression looked exceptionally ferocious, his eyes emitting a tangible chill. Sabu lost his nerve, his thoughts falling into complete disarray.
Sabu: Fuck your whole family!!!
💭What to do? Does he actually know something? A piece of information was accurately intercepted by Su Mo.
“Team Pantheon is the number one team on Creation Star! If you dare harm me, they will never let you off!” Sabu threatened, feigning strength despite his inner fear.
“Don't worry, I won't take your life.” Huo Yin remained unmoved.
“Your ability is quite excellent. I believe they’ll be willing to pay a hefty price to ransom you.”
Sabu: ...
💭They would never ransom me, not in a million years!
Su Mo’s brow twitched slightly as he vaguely guessed the truth.
Huo Yin pulled out his handheld device, operating it while speaking: “I'll post a lost-and-found notice first, hanging your information online and waiting for them to trade with me.”
“NO!!!” Sabu went frantic.
💭Lost-and-found my ass! I'm a proud ambush player, if I get posted publicly online, where am I supposed to put my face!
The corner of Su Mo’s mouth twitched.
“Big Boss, you'd better just torture me!” Sabu cried with a long face.
“I think I'm actually very interested in experiencing that agony and despair worse than death.”
💭I'm not even from team Pantheon! If they find out I framed them, the consequences will be unimaginable.
Su Mo turned to look at Huo Yin, filled with admiration. Just a few words had thrown this guy completely off balance. Whether Sabu was lying or telling the truth, Huo Yin had placed himself in the most advantageous position.
If Sabu really belonged to Pantheon, he could use him for profit, if he wasn't from Pantheon, he could use Pantheon's hands to finish him off, who told him to use the name of the top team to intimidate people?
“I suddenly thought of a question.” Huo Yin said thoughtfully.
“If I cripple you completely, will team Pantheon still be willing to ransom you?”
Sabu burst into tears: Big Boss, I was wrong! I'm not from team Pantheon!
💭I'm from Tomb!
Su Mo: Oh.
[Captain, he's from Tomb], Su Mo secretly transmitted to Huo Yin.
Huo Yin closed his fingers, snapping the blue flame out instantly. Turning his head, he called out, “Whistle.”
“What's up?” Whistle trotted right over.
“He's from Tomb, he has nothing to do with Pantheon.” Huo Yin said in a deep voice.
“Spread the news to the outside so others can raise their guard.”
Sabu looked at Huo Yin in utter horror, having no clue how he had figured it out.
“Are you sure?” Whistle asked, caught between doubt and surprise.
“Positive.” Huo Yin’s firm tone brought a wave of warmth to Su Mo’s heart.
For a long time, Su Mo had remained an outsider. Others feared him prying into their minds, and he feared bearing their dark thoughts. But here, he had met the open-minded Huo Yin, the pure-hearted Tali, the lively and playful Feng Chenxiu, and Yuan Chu, who could bring him peace.
Leaning against a tree, a subtle smile floated into Su Mo’s eyes. Perhaps he had finally found a team that truly belonged to him.
“No, no, no, I'm not from Tomb!” Sabu tried to save face, but no one paid him any attention.
Whistle followed Huo Yin’s instructions and spread the news out.
Team Tomb would resort to any means for profit, and countless Evolvers had died by their hands. However, they kept a low profile and had never been caught red-handed. Thanks to Sabu's appearance, their traces were finally exposed.
Sabu’s face turned deathly pale, his eyes filled with terror: “It's over... You don't understand them at all. They are ruthless villains who kill without blinking an eye...”
There were vicious criminals who had committed grave crimes on Blue Star and fled to Creation Star to escape punishment. As long as they managed to survive, most of them became exceptionally capable Evolvers.
Without legal constraints on Creation Star, they murdered, robbed, and committed every imaginable evil, and Tomb was precisely such an organization.
Sabu had originally been just a thief, recruited by Tomb later by chance, or more accurately, through coercion. They held his younger brother hostage, forcing Sabu to trap people for them time after time. Even if he were captured and tortured, he had never intended to reveal their information.
Yet now, everything was ruined. Once they realized his identity was exposed, they would assume he had betrayed them, and his brother would definitely not survive.
At this thought, Sabu couldn't help but wail out loud.
Yuan Chu sat to the side, idly poking at the campfire.
[Your brother has been dead for a long time.] Su Mo unexpectedly received this piece of information and couldn't help but look toward her: “His brother has been dead for a long time?”
“What did you say?!” Sabu’s mind reeled as he stared at him in disbelief.
[He died 15 months ago. (Yuan Chu)]
Su Mo repeated: “He died 15 months ago.”
“Impossible!” [15 months ago? He only joined Tomb 16 months ago! Did his brother die less than a month after staying in Tomb? No, he got to see his brother once every month, he was clearly still alive! (Sabu)]
Su Mo looked at Yuan Chu. Before he could pass along Sabu's inner question, he already heard the answer.
[Tomb has a Puppeteer. (Yuan Chu)]
“A Puppeteer?” It was Su Mo's first time hearing about such a profession.
However, Sabu froze completely.
A Puppeteer... a Puppeteer... He trembled all over, his expression a mix of grief and rage, laced with an unmistakable terror.
A Puppeteer was a branch of mental-type Evolvers capable of stripping away a person's sanity and refining them into an avatar. Each avatar was equivalent to one of his lives, and depending on the level of refinement, he could master 50% to 99% of the avatar's elemental abilities.
Sabu’s brother, like Sabu, had awakened an enhancement-type ability with superb physical strength. Shortly after being captured by Tomb, he had been refined into an avatar by the Puppeteer, they had never intended to leave him alive in the first place.
Sabu had been foolishly kept in the dark, working diligently for them while hoping to escape with his brother once he grew stronger. Yet he had been far too naive, actually believing that those inhuman murderers in Tomb would keep their word.
“Aaaaagh...” Sabu let out a mournful cry. His figure gradually blurred and then vanished, leaving behind only the tied-up outline of a human shape.
Having grasped the general situation, Huo Yin and the others were no longer as hostile toward Sabu. Creation Star brought infinite potential to humanity, but it also endlessly degraded human moral baselines. Humanity was constantly evolving, yet human life was becoming cheaper and cheaper.
Realizing how terrifying and brutal Tomb was, Huo Yin couldn't help but heighten his vigilance.
This group was bound to still be operating inside Strange Rock Canyon, and might even be monitoring their movements nearby, quietly waiting for an opportunity to wipe them all out in one fell swoop.
Yuan Chu cast a casual glance toward a tree, where a small black bird stood, staring motionless at the group below.
Tomorrow was going to be a tough battle.
Seven people from Tomb had come this time, every single one of them immensely powerful. Sabu was merely a trivial pawn sent to scout the way.
Yuan Chu’s dark gaze swept over everyone present, the events about to happen to them playing out one by one in her eyes.
“Yuan Chu.” Tali leaned over, hesitating.
“I see... death Qi.”
On everyone.
Except Yuan Chu.
Yuan Chu raised her hand and fed her a Flashbone egg: “Focus on cultivating and prepare yourself.”
“Mm.” Tali swallowed it with a furrowed brow, then closed her eyes to cultivate without asking further questions.
The next day, Huo Yin led the group as they continued tracking distress signals in Strange Rock Canyon, rescuing dozens of Evolvers one after another. They encountered danger several times along the way, but with Yuan Chu’s subtle assistance behind the scenes, they passed through safely every time.
Jiang Pengfei also officially joined Huagu Team. His first task was crafting a Huagu Team emblem for every team member.
Although Huagu Team was an established veteran team, its low-profile approach meant its reputation wasn't widespread, those who had actually heard of them were basically Evolvers who had been on Creation Star for over five years.
Whistle continued live-streaming the entire journey, attracting more and more followers, making Huagu Team a trending topic of discussion among the crowd.
💬Huagu Team? What a strange name?
💬Aside from their boss and healer, everyone else is weak as hell.
💬Does anyone know what ability that guy named 'Su Mo' has?
💬I know, it's telepathy. He used to be in our team, aside from prying into other people's thoughts, it's useless as shit.
💬Holy crap, that kind of ability is way too annoying.
💬That Tali girl isn't bad, but it's a pity she looks so terrifying.
💬Speaking of which, I haven't seen the Big Boss's woman make a single move these past few days, she hasn't even swatted a mosquito. She's practically a breath of fresh air on Creation Star.
💬Emmm, being able to lie back and win in dangerous situations is actually a talent in itself.
💬They only have two main combat forces (Huo Yin and Tali), while the rest are all weak support, plus one free-loader. If they run into a slightly stronger team, as long as they stall the two main attackers, victory is guaranteed.
The chatroom’s evaluation of Huagu Team was also Tomb's evaluation of them. But they never imagined that soon, they would pay a heavy price for underestimating their enemy...
-----
Su Mo: What's wrong with support? Support needs to save face too, okay?
Feng Chenxiu: A tomb should act like a tomb, wouldn't it be nice to just lie still like a corpse?
Jiang Pengfei: Newbie here, no comment. Yuan Chu: I just want to quietly be a bug.
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