At first, the sound was faint. THUMP—THUMP—

It sounded like a heartbeat, but a subtle ticking was interwoven with the thumps.

What was even stranger was that, as the sound pulsed, everyone’s hearts seemed to fall under its control, beginning to beat in time with it.

They had no control at all.

The strain on their hearts grew heavier and heavier, and soon, some couldn’t bear it any longer.

Everyone clutched their chests, their faces contorted in pain. The few ordinary people from the research team turned deathly pale and collapsed. Even some of the superpower users began to vomit blood and tremble...

Instinctively, everyone formed a circle, gripping their weapons tightly as they scanned their surroundings.

Zhou Yue walked up to Gu Xi. "Miss Gu, what’s going on?"

His tone was harsh, but you could still detect a hint of restraint.

"Don’t you know?" Gu Xi turned to look at him, her question sudden and strange.

For some reason, hearing Gu Xi say that gave Zhou Yue a bad feeling. ’Did she bring us here to force *that person* to appear?’

But he dismissed the thought. It seemed impossible.

’After all, how could Gu Xi possibly know about something so inconceivable...?’

"What should I know?" Zhou Yue’s reaction was swift. He frowned slightly at Gu Xi, his expression perfectly normal, as if he genuinely didn’t understand her question.

Gu Xi stared at him, saying nothing. In the underground space, the sound—like a heartbeat pulsing through blood—grew louder and more oppressive.

More and more people were collapsing.

Even Qi Xiang and her group were starting to succumb.

The Little Green Sprout silently emerged from Gu Xi’s fingertip and discreetly circled Qi Xiang and the others.

The eerie sound in her ears vanished abruptly. Clutching her chest, Qi Xiang breathed a shaky sigh of relief. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

The THUMP—THUMP— grew more and more rapid, even creating a strange echo within the confined underground space.

Under the influence of this echo, even those who had already collapsed unconscious began to twitch inexplicably.

The situation grew increasingly bizarre.

In the blink of an eye, everyone had collapsed unconscious, twitching intermittently. The only ones still standing were the few people Gu Xi was secretly protecting, Zhang Wen and a few other members of the Special Service Team, and Zhou Yue himself.

"Miss Gu, I believe you owe me an explanation," Zhou Yue said, his anger apparent.

Qi Xiang didn’t appreciate his tone. She couldn’t resist retorting, "No one begged you to come. Weren’t you the ones shamelessly insisting that Gu Xi let you in?"

Zhou Yue adopted an air of righteousness. "We are here as a matter of duty. This is City A’s territory, after all. With something this significant happening, I, as a member of City A’s administration, cannot simply stand by and do nothing..."

Qi Xiang rolled her eyes elegantly and replied sarcastically, "As I recall, Mr. Zhou, you’re the head of the logistics department, aren’t you? Since when is charging into the fray a matter for logistics?"

Zhou Yue frowned slightly. Just as he was about to say more, a sound came from the silver metal door behind him.

He turned to look, and as the door opened, he saw Ye Junhan leading a few people, striding toward them.

’Ye Junhan?’

The look in Zhou Yue’s eyes changed in an instant, but it just as quickly returned to normal.

But since he was turned toward the door with his back to everyone else, no one noticed this momentary abnormality.

Gu Xi, however, who had been prodding her Little Green Sprout, paused and lifted her gaze to him.

’In that moment, Zhou Yue’s aura had been distinctly different. But that familiar feeling vanished as quickly as it came. So fast it was almost like an illusion...’

But Gu Xi knew it wasn’t.

Just then, Zhou Yue walked toward Ye Junhan.

"Mr. Ye, you’re just in time. The situation here is a bit off. I suspect Miss Gu deliberately led us in here..."

His words were clearly meant to sow discord.

Ye Junhan, however, didn’t even glance at him. He walked straight to Gu Xi. "Reinforcements from A City Base have arrived, but the helicopter team was attacked by unknown creatures while landing. I’ve already sent Zhao Qingxiao with a team to rescue them..."

’Something about that felt wrong to Zhou Yue. Weren’t the people from City A sent to support Ye Junhan? How had it turned into the Special Service Team needing to rescue the City A forces?’

’What the hell were the research institute and the Liu Family playing at?!’

’They couldn’t even handle something so simple?’

’Zhou Yue had a gut feeling something was afoot; he might have walked right into someone’s scheme.’

His gaze shifted between Ye Junhan and Gu Xi. Suppressing a frantic anxiety, he took a step forward. Just as he was about to move past Ye Junhan and toward Gu Xi, a silvery blade flashed before his eyes.

The cold steel reflected a chilling light that Zhou Yue found inexplicably glaring.

Ye Junhan abruptly retracted his scimitar. "Move," he said.

Zhou Yue’s expression turned thunderous. He clearly had no intention of moving.

But just then, the eerie sound echoing through the underground space grew heavier.

The look in Zhou Yue’s eyes changed again.

’The fingertips hanging at his side twitched. This body is just too pathetic, and the puppet’s abilities are too weak. I can’t maintain control for long...’

Ultimately, Zhou Yue stepped aside.

Ye Junhan’s gaze discreetly swept over Gu Xi. "Are you okay?"

Gu Xi slowly shook her head. Her gaze went past him and landed on Zhou Yue, filled with a complex emotion no one could decipher.

After a long moment, she slowly spoke. "Yun Ye."

When those present who knew the name heard Gu Xi say it, their expressions changed drastically.

Those who didn’t know the name were baffled.

Yun Ye? What did that mean?

Why was Miss Gu calling Mr. Zhou "Yun Ye"?

Was it some kind of special code?

As for Ye Junhan, Shen Yue, and Wei Heng, the moment Gu Xi called out that name, the three of them were already standing by her side, their gazes fixed intently on Zhou Yue.

Nearby, Qin Yi frowned deeply and quietly asked Qi Xiang, "Who is Yun Ye?"

Qi Xiang looked over at Zhou Yue, her gaze meeting his instantly distorted face. She quickly raised her finger and shouted, "Look, his face!"

Everyone followed her finger...

"Holy crap, what is that thing!" Liu Hao yelped in shock, and the metal blades he had been preparing shot out in a massive volley.

But bizarrely, the metal blades, manifested from his superpower, vanished in midair the moment he launched them.

Liu Hao was dumbfounded.

He had been with Ye Junhan fighting enemies outside and knew nothing about the bizarre phenomenon in this underground space that devoured superpowers.

"Captain," Liu Hao said, instinctively looking to Ye Junhan.

Ye Junhan’s gaze was fixed intently on Zhou Yue.

The other Special Service Team members who had been about to attack also instinctively raised their guard, forming a tight circle around Zhou Yue.

It was mainly because Zhou Yue’s appearance was now so bizarre, as if several different faces were being forcibly merged and consumed on his own.

He was like a face-shifting monster, and it was a horrifying sight.

But the most terrifying part was his eyes. The whites were rapidly consumed by black, and in the blink of an eye, everyone was staring at a pair of pure black orbs emanating a dark aura.

Zhou Yue slowly raised his head, meeting Gu Xi’s deep, calm gaze that seemed to have known everything all along. The corners of his mouth slowly curved into a stiff, strange smile. "Xiaoxi, long time no see."