Chapter 433: Eight Million

Xu Pin immediately asked, "Who are the two people Yang Jin brought?"

Sufeng and Qinglong were sworn enemies, so Sufeng's scouts were very familiar with the main members of the Qinglong squad. "They're Wang Liang and Tang Zhou from the Qinglong squad."

Level-four speed evolver Wang Liang and Level-six elasticity evolver Tang Zhou were both Yang Jin's trusted confidants. They often took missions with Yang Jin, and their coordination was extremely seamless.

Xu Pin felt something was off. "What about the two refugees Yang Jin took away?"

The scout operating the scout bird replied, "We haven't found any trace of them yet."

Tang Zhengsu immediately ordered, "Form a team right now, prepare to intercept Yang Jin. See how much money he wants—as long as it's not too outrageous, agree to it. Get the evidence first."

After Xu Pin went out, Sufeng's Level-four visual evolver Bao Zhengchao invited Tang Zhengsu into a soundproof chamber inside the territory, and pointed the spear straight at Xu Pin. "Zhengsu, I think Liehuo approached us for cooperation just to weaken our strength and let Yang Jin rise."

Tang Zhengsu's expression was very ugly, but Bao Zhengchao, who had followed him for over twenty years, had long figured out his temperament: when Tang Zhengsu didn't open his mouth to curse someone righteously, it meant he thought what you said made sense.

So Bao Zhengchao continued, "Liehuo really played a brilliant game. Maybe when the Fire Phoenix had us take in the refugees, that was already the plan."

Tang Zhengsu still had some brains. "No. If the Fire Phoenix had wanted to frame us from the start, she wouldn't have sent Liehuo's team members to hunt bears."

Bao Zhengchao reminded him, "Yang Jin didn't bring those two refugees back. Who can prove they were from the Liehuo squad? People will only say they were refugees taken in by Territory Two. I thought this plan was too bold from the start—openly defying the national ban. Isn't that just handing Yang Jin a handle against us?"

Tang Zhengsu stared at the mountain map on the table, his expression growing uglier and uglier.

"If Liehuo's squad hadn't colluded with Yang Jin beforehand, how did Yang Jin find the bear cave so quickly? Why didn't he bring back those two 'refugees' who could prove Liehuo was involved? His relationship with the Fire Phoenix must be unusual—otherwise, back in March this year, the Fire Phoenix wouldn't have produced unpolluted spring water to save Luo Pei."

"When Liehuo approached us for cooperation, I felt something was off from the start. According to what Liehuo said, cultivating cordyceps bacteria requires unpolluted spring water, Gao Yi-element green-light vegetable seeds, professional technical personnel, plus Zhang San's cultivation and pharmaceutical skills. We don't have the spring water or the seeds, our technical personnel aren't as good as Liehuo's, and our relationship with Zhang San is so strained. So what exactly is Liehuo after by cooperating with us?"

The more Bao Zhengchao spoke, the lower his voice and the slower his words became. "I don't want to suspect Xu Pin either. After all, he's the person you trust most right now. But this time, I really can't figure out what he's trying to do."

Tang Zhengsu shook his head. "I know you and Xu Pin don't get along, but he's not the problem. I agreed to cooperate with Liehuo not because of Xu Pin."

Bao Zhengchao gave a bitter smile. "I understand. Our plane being blown up had nothing to do with Xu Pin—it was our night watchmen not being dutiful enough. Shaojiang's and Xu Li's deaths, and Fanming's injury, also had nothing to do with Xu Pin—it was all because they themselves lacked ability. You can't blame Xu Pin. It's my problem. I'm jealous of the talented and can't tolerate capable people."

Bao Zhengchao, Hu Shaojiang, Xu Li, and Kou Fanming had all followed Tang Zhengsu over twenty years ago; they were all founding figures of Sufeng. Now, only Bao Zhengchao remained by Tang Zhengsu's side—the other three were two dead and one injured.

Tang Zhengsu called out to Bao Zhengchao, who had already reached the door. "Chaozi, we've been brothers for so many years. If you have something to say, just say it straight. No need to beat around the bush."

"Alright." Bao Zhengchao turned back. "Brother Su, including myself, many people in the team feel Xu Pin is unworthy of his position. The brothers don't accept it."

Bao Zhengchao opened the door and saw Xu Pin standing right at the doorway. He gave a cold snort and asked, "Who's the vice-captain planning to send to intercept Yang Jin this time? Me? Fine, I'll get ready to leave right now!"

After Xu Pin entered the room and saw Tang Zhengsu looking at him with an appraising gaze, he pretended he knew nothing and only asked, "Captain, the team is assembled. Do we set out now?"

Tang Zhengsu asked, "Who's leading the team?"

No matter who led the team, they couldn't possibly intercept a top-tier speed evolver like Yang Jin. So whoever went would get cursed out. Xu Pin had originally planned to send Bao Zhengchao, but mentioning it now probably wasn't appropriate. "Not decided yet. What do you think?"

"You lead the team."

Seeing Xu Pin's expression change, Tang Zhengsu's face grew even uglier. "What? Your old man can't boss you around anymore?"

Xu Pin immediately shook his head. "No. It's just that Territory Two is sandwiched between Qinglong and Liehuo, so it's not safe. If I go, the people around you..."

Tang Zhengsu waved his hand. "This is a good chance to prove your ability. Once this crisis is resolved and we're back in the safe zone, I'll set the engagement between you and Lulu, so you can become a proper member of the Tang family."

Tang Zhengsu had said as much as that, so Xu Pin could only brace himself and go.

Watching Xu Pin lead the team out, Bao Zhengchao, standing by the window, exhaled a puff of evolution smoke. The thick smoke obscured his face.

Xia Qing, inside Territory Three, immediately relayed the information to Yang Jin and Xin Yu.

Xin Yu put down her phone, stroked the little head of the evolution crow dozing on her shoulder, stood up, opened the safe, and took out high explosives and a timer.

"Wow~~" The evolution crow cheered, flapped its wings onto the table, and preened its feathers with its sharp beak, ready for battle.

On the beast path of Mountain Fifty-Five, Tang Zhou used the spring of a leaning tree to leap high into the air, raised his gun, and fired at a crow circling overhead.

"Bang."

"Damn!" Tang Zhou landed and cursed under his breath.

Wang Liang roasted him. "What the hell are you cursing about? You think you're Brother Luo?"

"This Sufeng scout bird is pretty good." Tang Zhou caught up with Yang Jin and suggested, "Boss, should we head into the woods to dodge the scout bird's tracking?"

Yang Jin, under the tree, put away his phone. "Take the dense forest route through Mountain Fifty-Two. Stall until dark before coming out."

Inside Territory Two, Sufeng's scout promptly reported Yang Jin's position change to Xu Pin. "Yang Jin's squad spotted the scout bird and has taken shelter in the dense forest of Mountain Fifty-Two. They're wearing heat-resistant suits, so we can't track them for now."

"Copy. Keep monitoring and report in real time." Xu Pin hurried along while calling Yang Jin.

"Hello."

He hadn't expected the call to actually go through this time. Xu Pin immediately signaled the people in the car to be quiet before speaking. "Yang Jin, where are you? Let's talk."

Yang Jin slowed his pace and asked, "Talk about what?"

Xu Pin didn't beat around the bush with Yang Jin either. "I'll give you eight hundred thousand credits for the evidence in your hands. All of it."

Yang Jin simply added a zero. "Eight million."

Xu Pin's face darkened. "Quoting that price means you don't want to talk at all."

Yang Jin replied coldly, "From the moment you made a move on the evolution bear, you should have known this isn't something a negotiation can settle."