Chapter 225: Wow! You

"Sean Solens, keep going! I'm listening to you here."

Feng Wenyu held up the camera, zooming in on Sean's vital body parts.

Feng Wenyu's service attitude toward Sean was clearly better than toward other poaching gang members or spies.

A beast-transformed warrior like Sean was considered valuable property even within the Longevity Club.

In Feng Wenyu's heart, Sean's value had shifted from prisoner to Longevity Club currency.

After extracting intelligence, Sean's value could be used for purchasing goods or exchanging prisoners.

"What am I supposed to say?"

Lying on the ground, Sean gritted his teeth and spoke to Feng Wenyu: "I'm from the Club—don't you all know that already? I demand you treat me according to the agreement. My ass hurts."

The Longevity Club's influence is vast, but ultimately it is merely a commercial alliance.

For example, peripheral intelligence about the Club, its founding reasons, and its ideology—anyone with money can easily obtain basic information.

But true core and internal intelligence? No mere beast-blood warrior could possibly know it. Those matters, and the Longevity Research Division, are known only to core members.

"Right, I know all that. But just talk like we're chatting," Feng Wenyu nodded. "Say as much as you can. Black powder isn't in my ass—I'm not in a hurry."

"You—" Sean instantly grew furious, but could do nothing.

After all,

His mission was simple: find the White Snake. But he had yet to locate it, and if they stayed in Xia Country too long, the risk of exposure would rise.

Just then, Fuli appeared. After Sean's report, adhering to the principle of "never leave empty-handed," their employer ordered them to capture her—even though she disliked fox spirit beasts, she could trade her for snake spirit beast extract.

Who could have imagined this fox was so tough?

A single whimper summoned all three: black, white, and gray.

That fox was no boss-level spirit beast.

"Mm-hmm, keep going, I'm listening."

Feng Wenyu nodded slightly as he listened to Sean, calmly recording the conversation.

Feng Wenyu understood everything Sean said.

Within the Longevity Club, beast-transformed warriors were nothing but workers, tasked with hunting spirit beasts worldwide to extract Longevity Extract for the elite.

The elite prioritized spirit transformation, using only the most advanced American medical technology.

The technology for beast transformation had already taken shape in the 1980s, originating from the crude science of the Red Bear. After the Red Bear's collapse, America tricked and coerced the Bear into opening its spy network's doors, and this early beast transformation tech fell into American hands.

Within the Longevity Club, the technology enjoyed by the elite and the warriors was completely different.

The former considered themselves born noble.

The latter were merely high-level workers; the only path for a beast-transformed warrior was to earn enough wealth for their family and their own retirement medical care before the next generation replaced them.

Feng Wenyu understood all this, but routine interrogations were mandatory.

The recorded conversations and footage here would be submitted to relevant intelligence logistics organizations, who would cross-reference this data with other intelligence.

Intelligence organizations aren't built overnight—they piece together their knowledge from tiny, seemingly insignificant fragments.

"What? You make ninety thousand dollars a month, but after medical and tax deductions, you take home only about forty?"

"What? Twenty thousand dollars a month for health insurance?" An Sheng sat on a camping chair, sipping iced cola, using Jin Wanlin's translation app to eavesdrop on Feng Wenyu's interrogation of the hyena—and grew more and more astonished.

The hyena earned ninety thousand dollars a month.

His year-end bonus was seventeen times his monthly salary—earning over one point five million dollars a year.

But they couldn't declare income through the company; they had to hire lawyers to report under the "Other" category on tax forms.

The so-called "Other" category was the line for declaring income from gangs and other illegal activities.

After paying heavy taxes, they had to buy Club health insurance—twenty-three thousand dollars a month.

They had no choice: the insurance giants were themselves senior Longevity Club members; ordinary insurance companies refused to cover beast-transformed warriors.

Without health insurance, medical costs were self-paid, because the Longevity Club was a nonprofit organization—all members joined voluntarily; there were no formal hires.

One point five million dollars minus seventy thousand in federal tax, then another thirty thousand for health insurance.

Then, his property tax was thirty thousand a year, and his mortgage used a predatory nine-out-seventeen-in repayment scheme.

"Alright, let's go."

An Sheng had still been dissatisfied—he hadn't gotten to beat him properly, and he'd wanted another sip of iced cola before returning to beat him again after the Anquan Bureau finished questioning.

After all, he'd tried to kill An Sheng and Aqing.

He deserved to die.

But after hearing the hyena's income, debts, and the Longevity Club's countless inhumane practices and legal loopholes,

An Sheng did a rough calculation.

To maintain even a semblance of dignity for himself and his family, the hyena had to scavenge cigarette butts every month-end.

No money meant taking more jobs; taking jobs meant getting injured; getting injured meant higher insurance premiums. It was insane.

It just felt like—

The hyena lived worse than death.

He hadn't even accounted for state sales tax yet.

If every superpowered person lived like this hyena, it'd be better to just get a regular job.

Who'd dare take out a mortgage with a nine-out-seventeen-in scheme?

Yeah, that mortgage was from the Club's bank—because they couldn't prove stable income to regular banks, they had to borrow credit loans from the Club's financial giants.

After hearing the hyena's story,

An Sheng felt grateful he'd found himself a caretaker early on.

He ate and drank purely by begging and mooching off cuteness.

Otherwise, if he'd lived like the hyena, which little fox could possibly endure it?

"Aqing! Aqing! I'm back!"

"Wow! You wouldn't believe what I just saw—it's hell on earth!"

"Earn one point five million dollars, but seventy thousand goes to federal tax, thirty thousand to health insurance, and after three years of mortgage payments, he hasn't even paid the interest."

An Sheng rushed back to Changping Village and immediately jumped into Aqing's arms, venting about what he'd just witnessed.

As for other matters, the Anquan Bureau could handle them.

"Wah-wah—Master, Master, Fox Fox can't believe what she just saw!"

"There's a dog in the mountains—it's eating shit! Big mouthfuls of rotten shit!"

"???"

Aqing, who had just finished lunch and was live-streaming, stared at Xiang Xiaoan with a black expression, raised her hand, and pried open his mouth to inspect his teeth.

"Don't tell me—you actually ate some out of politeness? I swear I'll scrub your mouth with a shoe brush!"

"Mmm?"

An Sheng stared blankly at Aqing.

(End of chapter)