Tang Wan: “...You...” Faced with the somewhat deranged Zhou Shirong, she was at a loss for words. Of course, she couldn’t understand the pain of a man whose heart’s cinnabar mole turns into mosquito blood.

Zhou Shirong offered Tang Wan a proposal: "Get ready, I’ll make the old master Ji die young, just like my grandfather, and then your husband will also die young. Finally, you and your child will inherit everything from the Ji family. I originally didn’t plan to marry or have children, but now I’ve changed my mind. I can quietly have a child with you, and that child can inherit everything from the Ji family. This will also make up for my regret of not getting married."

Tang Wan gaped, staring at the man in front of her, and then looked at the equally stunned Ethan Shaw beside her.

Ethan Shaw suddenly burst out laughing, slapping Zhou Shirong’s shoulder heavily in approval: “Good idea! You’ve become my disciple, and even surpassed me a bit.”

Zhou Shirong knew Tang Wan’s confusion and explained: “I couldn’t do this alone, of course. There’s an expert. This person isn’t an employee of our Crescent Wellness, but a true master. He knows all my secrets, and of course, he also knows the most hidden secrets of our future.”

Tang Wan became a little irritated and amused: “Why do you think I would accept such... a conspiracy?”

Zhou Shirong gazed at her with a deep, abyss-like stare: “You will accept it, because this is the only way to extinguish the anger in my heart. Even if you don’t accept, I’ll still get my revenge using similar methods. If I were just an incompetent illegitimate son, it’d be one thing, but now that I have this power, I will never degrade myself. Many people think those with power are inherently evil—wrong. They just have the power to release their evil.”

This hit right at the heart of Ethan Shaw. He gave Zhou Shirong a thumbs up in approval.

Zhou Shirong looked into Tang Wan's eyes and said, “Our methods will be something no one could ever think of. It’s a form of black magic that transcends what most people understand. You should know, even if you report this to the police, it’s useless. They won’t have any evidence.”

Just then, a table of guests arrived and chose a tea table near them. Zhou Shirong decided to end the conversation for today, as some things weren’t suitable to discuss in front of Ethan Shaw. He would speak with Tang Wan in private later.

“We’ll discuss the details slowly later.” Since Zhou Shirong said this, Ethan Shaw understood and left with him from the Tea Pavilion.

Outside, Ethan Shaw smiled at Zhou Shirong: “You really impressed me today. Looks like you might actually become my friend.”

Zhou Shirong: “I knew it, you’re really lacking friends. The guy who gave me the Gray's Kiss last time—I’ve looked into him. He’s just a migrant worker who crossed paths with you.”

A cold gleam flashed in Ethan Shaw’s eyes. He waved goodbye to Zhou Shirong and got into a self-driving taxi he had summoned.

After staying in the taxi for a few minutes, the chip communication module in his brain sent a message from Algernon: “The punishment for your last rampage at Allison Hospital has been decided. A high-level hunter is coming to take you down. However, I’m still allowed to provide you with technical support, which is essentially a ‘combat trial.’ If you survive this assassination attempt, you’ll be allowed to atone for your sins. Don’t return home, as your previous residence isn’t a secret anymore.”

Ethan Shaw had already prepared for this outcome. Algernon had not abandoned him, and that was already the biggest surprise. He wasn’t afraid. He replied calmly, “Is that so? Well then, it’s a good opportunity to solve this problem. If I hide outside, I don’t know when I’ll get a chance to encounter this high-level hunter. Do you know what skills he has?”

Algernon responded: “High-level hunters are assigned three types of weapons. The Gray's Kiss you possess is a weapon that can cause large-scale damage without harming buildings. It’s a military-grade weapon. The ‘Explosive Dragon Road’ is a world-destroying weapon, a city-grade weapon. It’s hard to say which is better; each has its own application scenario. The weapon sent for your ‘combat trial’ is a countermeasure to military-grade weapons: a human-grade weapon. While not as powerful as military or city-grade weapons, it’s much more covert and difficult to evade. Based on past data, your probability of being killed is 70%.”

Ethan Shaw: “…Human-grade weapons are that powerful? Help me analyze how I could possibly die.”

Algernon: “It’s best not to meet anyone with a human-grade weapon. When it comes to agility, stealth, speed, and strength, you probably won’t stand a chance. Once their eyes are on your every move, you won’t have a chance to use the Gray's Kiss. It takes several minutes to kill them with the Gray's Kiss, but they could kill you in less than 0.1 seconds.”

Ethan Shaw: “Looks like... I really should go hide. I’ll go say goodbye to Nicole first.”

Just as he reached the entrance of his neighborhood, Algernon’s message came through: “I’ve detected a second high-level hunter within 500 meters. It should be him. His exclusive AI will also detect your presence.”

Ethan Shaw said lightly, “Looks like he’s already here. I was planning to catch him off guard, but since they’re able to detect each other, even if I kill him, he’ll strike back before I can react. Help me get in touch with Zhou Shirong and have him send as many bodyguards as possible. They should be in plain clothes, with helmets; if they don’t have helmets, they should wear masks. I’ll go upstairs with these bodyguards. No matter how powerful he is, he’s still just a human-grade weapon. It’ll be impossible for him to tell who I am in the chaos. And I’ll take the general’s head in the midst of the battle.”

After a round of communication, Zhou Shirong sent 48 bodyguards from headquarters. They were all added to a work group, and Zhou Shirong introduced “Yubing Shaw” to them, instructing them to follow the orders of Mr. Xia for today’s operation.

After organizing the command system, Ethan Shaw checked Nicole’s location through Algernon’s positioning system and was relieved to see that she was still at the hospital guarding Bai Ya. Algernon had a powerful positioning system that could pinpoint anyone’s location as long as their phone number was known—though this only applied to ordinary people. High-level hunters wouldn’t carry regular phones, especially when they knew their opponent was also a high-level hunter.

As for whether Ethan Shaw carried a phone, ever since he learned that Algernon could track his location, he had stopped carrying one. Everything was communicated through the chip in his body, indirectly through Algernon. It was said to be a method that couldn’t be detected, so he had to trust it.

The high-level hunter coming for Ethan Shaw wasn’t ordinary. His physical fitness was already exceptional, and after undergoing Red Umbrella’s modifications, he became even stronger. His combat suit was designed for close combat, with a Colorless Sword, a razor-sharp blade that could spring out of the knuckles like Wolverine’s claws, but even more powerful. The blade was 60 cm long, like a katana, and could extend or retract between 0 and 60 cm. Its strength was enough to pierce through a skull. What made it truly terrifying, however, was the invisibility coating, making the sword nearly undetectable.

Close combat has one weakness: dealing with firearms. So the suit’s other glove can deploy a transparent, spherical shield that covers the vital parts above the waist. Bullets that hit the shield freeze in mid-air like in The Matrix and are absorbed by the shield after 3 seconds.

This high-level hunter was a formidable opponent, nicknamed “Trinity the Great.”

Many close combat experts struggled with attacking and defending, but Trinity the Great specialized in exploiting opponents’ weaknesses, delivering a lethal blow.

To ensure fairness, Trinity’s AI operated in a separate process from Algernon’s, keeping them in competitive isolation, unaware of each other’s actions. However, Trinity already had a suspicion that the incident at Allison Hospital was connected to him. His AI had been tracking Zhou Shirong’s every move, especially after discovering Zhou Shirong’s sudden rise. It was clear that Zhou Shirong was likely Ethan Shaw’s puppet, so Trinity’s AI had been monitoring all employees at Crescent Wellness.

Trinity’s AI tracked the bus carrying the security guards, observing through the window as three cars gradually arrived at the entrance of the community. Five of the individuals confronted the guards at the door, while the other forty-three bypassed them and entered the building. By the time they reached Building 30, the group was no longer visible. When they reappeared in the line of sight, Trinity the Great noticed that the number of people had increased from forty-three to forty-four, and they were now heading toward Building 15, where he was.

A dangerous smile tugged at the corner of Trinity’s mouth. He knew Ethan Shaw had infiltrated the group of forty-four. He immediately sent an order to his AI assistant, Qinglan: "Analyze the features of the forty-three individuals and identify which one is an intruder."

Trinity the Great had been wearing smart glasses for years, enabling him to instantly convert whatever he saw into video and send it to his AI assistant for remote assistance.

Qinglan replied, "Understood. I'll find the most suitable AI agent to handle this task."

A group of security guards, all wearing helmets and masks, were following instructions from their workgroup, wandering aimlessly through the Xiangmanting community. Among them was Ethan Shaw, who had infiltrated the group. He didn't carry a phone, but his contact details could be traced through his external communication devices. At that moment, he received a message: "Hello, high-level hunter."

Ethan Shaw, unfazed, continued walking along with the rest. The stranger’s message continued: "I was watching as the group of forty-three became forty-four, and now you count: it's forty-five. Want to guess why?"

Ethan Shaw, wary that the stranger might be bluffing, didn’t dare to count for himself. Instead, he replied through his communication chip, "Go ahead."

The stranger responded, "I am Trinity the Great, equipped with a set of unmatched gear for attack, defense, and agility. Unfortunately, I used to waste my advantages. Even though I killed five high-level hunters, all I earned was the worthless title of 'killer.' You're lucky; I know who you are, and I can send you to meet your maker in half a second. But I'm more interested in your artifact, so how about we make a deal? Hand over your artifact, and I'll spare your life."

Ethan Shaw replied, "Oh? Can’t you just kill me and open the box afterward?"

Trinity the Great retorted, "No, it requires the cooperation of a high-level hunter's AI partner. I can only obtain your artifact if you’re alive; otherwise, the equipment will self-destruct."

Ethan Shaw asked, "How can you prove you control my life and death? In fact, I think you’re nearby, and I’m getting closer to discovering you. Are you afraid?"

Trinity the Great chuckled, "Heh, you can choose anyone, and I’ll instantly kill them to show you my power."

Ethan Shaw thought for a moment and then said, "If I survive, wouldn’t that mean you fail your mission?"

Trinity the Great responded, "There’s no time limit on the mission, and no punishment either. However, the system may send someone else to deal with you later. If you cooperate with me, I might even protect you in secret."

Ethan Shaw mused, "Sounds interesting."

Trinity the Great added, "Of course, you’ll have to swallow a pill as a gesture of cooperation. Only if you show sincerity. This pill has no side effects—only if you betray me will it complete my mission for me."

Ethan Shaw replied, "Oh? Such a wonderful thing? How interesting. Wait a moment, I’ll check with my partner."

Trinity the Great waited for five minutes while Ethan Shaw deliberated, sending three reminders. Finally, unable to hold back any longer, he was about to leave when a wave of nausea hit him. He instinctively crouched down, and halfway through, he realized that his target had suddenly turned and run. Clearly, Ethan Shaw had activated the death ray five minutes earlier. How had he been discovered? Just as this question arose, he noticed that everyone around him had started showing symptoms—some were vomiting, others had nosebleeds, some were coughing, bent over, groaning... It became clear that Ethan Shaw hadn’t targeted him specifically but had hit everyone in the group. This was the terrifying power of the military-grade artifact—it could overturn everything. Trinity the Great was ruthless in his killings, but he had never imagined that his opponent was mad enough to send all his allies to their deaths as well. He had fallen into the trap!

His rage was beyond measure as he activated his Achilles' Heel boots and pursued Ethan Shaw. Though his speed had slightly decreased from his peak, he was still much faster than Ethan Shaw, who was running at full speed.