Wei Na retorted, "If he's a Spiritual Ability User, would he be threatened by the Black Fire Gang? Is the Black Fire Gang seeking death by offending the Thirteenth Institute? Did he use a slingshot or some homemade kinetic energy weapon?"
"No good, I must find his whereabouts! Can't let him run around with a gun!"
Zhou Zhengde's expression turned somewhat fierce:
"The Black Fire Gang firing guns on my turf has already crossed a serious line. I've arranged to meet with the BOSS of the Black Fire Gang three days from now at Joyful City on the forty-sixth floor."
"In these three days, the Black Fire Gang should behave themselves a bit more."
"If the situation gets serious, it will attract the attention of higher-ups, and it might become something beyond my control!"
"Don't worry, I will settle this matter as quickly as possible."
Wei Na frowned and said, "Don't risk yourself for me, my ex-boyfriend."
"It's not just for the friendship that we've shared since we were kids."
Zhou Zhengde picked up his military cap, tipped his head to put it on, and straightened his clothes in the mirror, with the corners of his mouth slightly downturned:
"This also includes that damned hypocrisy and false justice you spoke of!"
Zhou Zhengde turned to leave, but Wei Na suddenly called out to him.
"Umm, would you stay a few more minutes?"
"Hmm?" Zhou Zhengde asked with a frown, "What's up? Do you need me to stay and chat more? You've never seemed so fragile in my memory."
"That's not it," Wei Na pointed at the doorway, then pointed at the clock on the wall, clicking her tongue lightly, "Earlier I heard your men discussing, the last time you were here for five minutes, excluding taking off and putting on clothes as well as grooming, the actual mission time might have been less than fifty-five seconds..."
Zhou Zhengde felt a surge of embarrassment and cursed as he walked out:
"The gangs of Lower City are bullying us now! You have no shame, but I still do!"
"Everyone get moving! Let me know who took benefits from the Black Fire Gang, I'll finish them!"
Then, he turned back, locked the door, casually walked to a corner to sit down, and began reading a paperback book, using a simple communicator to message his assistant from Upper City, Lin Tao.
[Contact me no earlier than half an hour from now.]
Wei Na smiled and reminded, "Won't your current girlfriend mind?"
"I broke up with her in secret before coming down here, she won't let it be public yet, she has her lofty political ideals," Zhou Zhengde responded with a dismissive sneer, "Women are just obstacles preventing me from achieving my dreams... Stay away from me! Obstacle! We are already done!"
Wei Na gave a rueful smile, rolled her eyes, and walked back to her oil drum to continue her beauty bath.
There were actually many routes to Lower City.
The location where Wang Jixuan found himself now was an already abandoned fire escape, which served as a common pathway into Lower City, leading straight to the forty-sixth floor.
These zigzagging staircases made of reinforced concrete had obvious collapsed areas, and one had to be extremely cautious when walking on them. Since the power had been cut off, sufficient lighting equipment had become a prerequisite for entering this passageway.
Though Wang Jixuan had once again become a Qi Refining Realm little cultivator, he lacked night vision for the time being, and could only spend 'ten million points' of Lan Yuzai's universal credit to buy a few flashlights.
There was one thing Captain Zhou hadn't noticed.
Wang Jixuan not only took Lan Yuzai hostage but also ransacked Lan Yuzai's den, moving out the emergency food supplies that the thugs had collected over the past few days.
Now, those food items along with various valuable belongings were packed into two large bags, hung over Lan Yuzai's shoulders.
Wang Jixuan, with his right hand in his pocket pointing a gun at Lan Yuzai, held a flashlight in his left hand to light the way.
The emergency passage meandered downwards, with a steel-structured platform every thirty meters in vertical height.
Wang Jixuan looked down and saw a faint light on a steel-structured platform far below, where someone was resting.
The vertical height of each fortress floor was greater than thirty meters; from the thirteenth floor in the upper part of the fortress to the very bottom, the vertical height was close to one thousand four hundred meters.
The two had rushed down almost twenty floors along the emergency passage, reaching the floor area of over thirty floors in the fortress.
Lan Yuzai's legs were trembling nonstop.
Pointing to an unoccupied platform nearby, he asked softly, "Boss, can we, can we go up there to rest? I really can't walk anymore."
"Sure, you go first."
"No worries, this won't collapse... alright, I'll go first."
Lan Yuzai walked up with his head down and unloaded the two large bags he was carrying off his shoulders as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
On the steel-structured platform, there were a few simple folding chairs, a couple of oil lamps with dim light, and several buckets of water that probably hadn't been replaced in years.
"You can't drink the water here, it stinks, and some have been tainted with urine."
Lan Yuzai skillfully unfolded a chair, lit an oil lamp, and began massaging his legs after sitting down.
Wang Jixuan pulled a folding chair into the corner and closed his eyes to rest.
The 'fierce battle' before had depleted more than half of the Qi within him, and now was a good time to absorb some Spiritual Energy in preparation for any vicious battles that might come later.
Although Wang Jixuan was resting with closed eyes, every move of the gang leader three meters away remained within his sensory awareness.
Lan Yuzai watched Wang Jixuan with a complicated expression that gradually became clearer.
In his mind, an image kept circling—screws flying through the air, his gang members collapsing after being hit, and this boss flicking his fingers right in front of him, causing a camera dozens of meters away to explode.
Lan Yuzai felt his new bruise on his face and the more he thought about it, the more it seemed unbelievable.
After a while, Lan Yuzai attempted to mimic the finger-flicking motion, making "whoosh whoosh whoosh" sound effects with his mouth, then resumed pondering with his head down.
Was his posture wrong?
Quite some time had passed.
Wang Jixuan, without opening his eyes, said, "When you're rested, we'll continue on our way."
"Alright... Boss, can I ask a question?"
"How do you do that, it's amazing! Did you really flick that screw? How did you manage such force! Are you a Spiritual Ability User from the legends? Holy shit... could you teach me, boss? I can pay tuition!"
Wang Jixuan suddenly raised his hand, gesturing for Lan Yuzai to keep quiet.
Lan Yuzai instantly shut his mouth.
Looking down, he saw that a few more sources of light had appeared about ten meters below them, as four or five people left the fire door and entered the abandoned emergency passage.
In the fleeting light, he could make out that a man and a woman had their hands tied, were wearing helmets with lights, and were followed by three young people looking like gang members, holding flashlights and uttering vulgarities.
Then, a beam of light shone upward, hitting Lan Yuzai directly in the face.