Geng Fu took a drag from his cigarette, feeling a bit stifled. It had been days, and they hadn’t found a single anomaly.

Returning without any results would be hard to explain to his superiors.

But ’hard to explain’ wasn’t the same as ’impossible to explain’. Besides, he had noticed his teammates were growing restless.

After all, they had nothing to show for their efforts besides killing zombies and searching. Of course they’d be dissatisfied.

His squad members were human, not machines; they had minds of their own.

"Alright, let’s head ba—" Geng Fu didn’t even finish his sentence before a massive explosion ripped through the air.

"Enemy attack!" one of the task force members roared.

Geng Fu bolted outside just in time to see a rocket heading straight for his face.

His pupils contracted. So, the enemy didn’t have energy weapons anymore, but somehow they’d gotten their hands on heavy conventional firearms.

However, a savage grin spread across his face.

"Too naive!" He dodged immediately, making no attempt to tank the rocket head-on.

The force of the explosion ripped his clothes, but his timely evasion saved him from even a scratch.

"I’ve found him! Move out!" At his command, all the members of the Rhino Task Force charged toward the point of attack under his lead.

As they charged, their bodies began to swell, undergoing an uncontrollable transformation until they resembled humanoid rhinos.

Wherever the Rhino Task Force passed, anything that stood in their way was trampled to dust.

BOOM!

They smashed into a building, causing the entire structure to tilt and then collapse.

"He can dodge a rocket launcher and even transform."

’So that means Supervisor Chunyu is just like you guys, a Stage Two,’ Qi Suian mused, having already made a smooth escape from his high vantage point before the building fell.

At the same time, he activated his Divine Purification Force Field (Profound). Its current range was rather small—only three meters—but that would be enough.

When Geng Fu saw Qi Suian, a look of contempt crossed his face.

"Running around in a tin can? Did you come here to get buried in it?" Geng Fu didn’t pay any mind to the armor Qi Suian was wearing.

As a task force captain for the Watchman Morning Company, he knew that this kind of armor was mostly useless against people like them, who were enhanced with implanted combat protocols.

"I’m actually curious. Why is Watchman Dawn so dead set on chasing me? Is it just because I... paid my respects to Supervisor Chunyu’s mother?" Qi Suian asked casually.

The moment Qi Suian said this, Geng Fu’s expression turned strange. ’This guy has some serious nerve.’

"Get him!" Geng Fu had nothing more to say. His objective was to capture Qi Suian alive and bring him back to headquarters, not to chitchat about pointless things.

In his eyes, Qi Suian was just a future captive and test subject. There was no need for conversation.

At the command, all the task force members charged toward Qi Suian without hesitation.

Every one of them was confident of victory—right up until they came within three meters of Qi Suian.

The Divine Purification Force Field (Profound) activated instantly. In a flash, their flesh and blood began to annihilate, revealing their large skeletal frames.

But in the next moment, even their skeletons turned to ash. They couldn’t be more dead.

"Wh—" Geng Fu’s face changed. In less than three seconds, more than half of his task force had died from a single careless mistake, and the survivors were terrified.

"Dawn, quick—"

Geng Fu immediately tried to contact Dawn, the Watchman Morning Company’s AI, to tell Chunyu Bao to come for a rescue.

His men had died so easily; his own fate wouldn’t be much different.

However, all he heard from his earpiece was a busy signal. He couldn’t connect to Dawn.

"Dawn, the Watchman Morning Company’s AI, right? It’s quite impressive, but its abilities are limited," Qi Suian said calmly, advancing toward them.

Since he had made his move, Qi Suian had naturally cut off their communications first thing.

However, this would also indirectly signal that the Rhino Task Force was in trouble, and Chunyu Bao would notice immediately and rush over.

But Qi Suian’s real goal wasn’t to stop them from calling for help. It was to prevent the transmission of intel and avoid exposing his own abilities.

Otherwise, if the Watchman Morning Company found out about the power of his Tai Sui Divine Armor and the Divine Purification Force Field (Profound), they would definitely take precautions.

The latter, in particular, could make Qi Suian’s threat level outweigh his value to them.

After all, the Watchman Morning Company was involved in the arms trade and even possessed nuclear weapons.

If the Watchman Morning Company decided to disregard everything and just drop a nuke on his location to eliminate him, the Tai Sui Divine Armor definitely wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

Seeing Qi Suian approach, Geng Fu turned to flee without a second thought.

’Getting close means death. Why would I stick around and ask for it?’

"You can’t escape," Qi Suian said as two Floating Cannons materialized beside him.

After the Tai Sui God had evolved once, its modules had naturally gained some of their SSS-rank power.

So not only had the number of cannons increased by one, but the original three-shots-a-day limit had been upgraded to five.

With multiple Floating Cannons, many new strategies became available. They were designed to function as a swarm, after all, and required numbers to be truly effective.

The two Floating Cannons fired their Dark Energy Beams simultaneously, weaving an interlocking net under the control of the AI that instantly blocked all escape routes for the Rhino Task Force.

One squad member who refused to believe it charged forward and was instantly disintegrated by the Dark Energy Net.

With multiple Floating Cannons, the Dark Energy Beams were no longer single shots but could be fired continuously, though the duration was limited by the Tai Sui God.

But that was fine. It was long enough for Qi Suian to deal with the Rhino Task Force.

As the Dark Energy Net closed in, their escape was truly cut off.

And watching Qi Suian draw ever closer, fear naturally bloomed in their hearts.

"I was only planning to leave one or two alive. Now I’ve got a few extra," Qi Suian said, looking at the seven men trapped inside the Dark Energy Net.

"Wait, this is a misunderstanding, I—" Geng Fu began to speak without hesitation.

His goal, of course, was to stall for time. ’As long as I can hold out until Chunyu Bao arrives, this guy is dead meat.’

"I know it’s a misunderstanding. But at this point, it’s too late for words," Qi Suian said, instructing the AI to lower the intensity of the Divine Purification Force Field (Profound).

When the seven men were enveloped by the force field, their bodies went limp, and they collapsed to the ground.

At its lowest intensity, the field couldn’t kill the Profound Virus, but it could render it inert, even dormant.

Without the Profound Virus, these men lost everything.

"It’s a shame anesthetics don’t work on you," Qi Suian said, taking out a vial of inhibitor serum.

This was an improved version of the Secondary Profound Virus Serum he had obtained from Jin Linyun.