Lin Beichen tilted his head to observe the changes within the halo.
To be honest, this was unexpected for him.
Because before he parted ways with Flying Eagle and the others, he specifically verified Dr. Zhou's identity.
And later, as Dr. Zhou remained with Flying Eagle and his group, Lin Beichen hadn't anticipated he would be swapped.
So, when exactly did Li Qiao swap Dr. Zhou?
It was when they blindfolded Flying Eagle and the others. Lin Beichen could see through everything in the passage, but Flying Eagle and the others couldn't see the swapping process.
"If you have anything to say, it should only be questions... Are you one of the competitors for Five-Nine's inheritance?" Lin Beichen asked, looking at Li Qiao, who was confident of his victory.
Li Qiao smiled faintly and calmly sat back in his chair.
"The uncle who brought you here was once Five's right-hand man. Later, in order to prevent me from killing him, Five handed him over to me."
His face remained full of confidence.
The muzzle of Lin Beichen's gun was always aimed at his head.
"What kind of person do you think Joseph is?" Lin Beichen suddenly asked.
Li Qiao's fingers lightly tapped the armrest of the chair.
"He... is indeed a very powerful person. I think perhaps only I can barely keep up with his pace in this world." Li Qiao paused, as this sentence felt very insincere.
He detested Joseph but also knew that Joseph and he were the same kind of person, except that Joseph's talent was much stronger than his own.
Outsiders didn't know, but as Joseph's brother-in-law, Li Qiao knew exactly how old Joseph was when he crossed that threshold.
Joseph crossed the threshold at twenty-five and was already acknowledged as the world's top solo fighter by thirty. Li Qiao felt a wave of irritation, and the calm expression on his face finally changed.
Lin Beichen laughed as he saw Li Qiao's expression.
"What's so funny?" Li Qiao's face gradually returned to calm.
He found Lin Beichen's laughter piercing.
"Nothing." Lin Beichen put away his gun and glanced around.
"I just thought... even though you're trying hard to approach Joseph, your strength... doesn't even match a tenth of his." Lin Beichen said.
Li Qiao exuded a formidable killing intent.
"If Joseph wanted to kill me, he wouldn't tell me how many methods he used or how strong his forces are." Lin Beichen spoke.
"What do you know?" Li Qiao sneered, "This is just boredom after being invincible for too long."
Lin Beichen looked at Li Qiao with sympathetic eyes.
"Boredom after being invincible? I feel like you're just a dog that's been suppressed for too long and is now starting to bark madly." A moment of fury flashed across Li Qiao's face.
"Kill him." Li Qiao closed his eyes, unwilling to let Lin Beichen disturb his emotions any further.
He didn't want to give Lin Beichen another chance.
Around them, gunfire suddenly erupted. But Lin Beichen's figure had already vanished.
During the conversation with Li Qiao just now, the Teleportation Talisman tightly clutched in his pocket had already taken effect.
And after Lin Beichen disappeared, all the bullets hit nothing.
Naturally, no one would aim at a place where their comrades were—after all, they clearly saw Lin Beichen's Shapeshifting skill just now.
But now Lin Beichen was truly gone. Li Qiao slowly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with anger. Yet the anger soon disappeared. He didn't glance towards Xia Luyao's group because he knew Lin Beichen surely had a way to resolve the problem there.
Otherwise, Lin Beichen wouldn't have dared to leave.
As expected, at some point, everyone at the table had disappeared without a trace.
Only the chopsticks on the table and the unfinished dishes remained.
The fugitives Siphet and Asia began investigating who issued this task, only to uncover some anomaly.
Just as they were about to delve further, they were abducted to a strange place.
There, only slaughter and death existed; everyone fought for survival. Siphet never saw Asia again, as they were taken away by some "big shots" before reaching the end.
Siphet, due to her beauty and ruthlessness, was given to someone whose name couldn't even be spoken aloud.
At least Asia didn't know who Siphet's master was.
Asia knew that the person who controlled most of this country's black market was subservient to Siphet's master.
So, Asia realized he had been abandoned when he learned he was sent to partake in an event orchestrated by Siphet's master. No one is immune from being abandoned, even if Asia was the most capable assistant of the master behind him.
Jealousy drives people insane and irrational. Siphet's master envied Asia. And the person envied by that master shouldn't live in this world.
...
At this point, Asia fell silent.
Ma Yi's background wasn't particularly tragic, so he found it hard to empathize with their words.
But Paxton, who had also been used as cannon fodder by a master he once swore loyalty to, sympathized deeply with Asia.
In this seemingly ordinary seven-story earth building, the atmosphere was exceptionally tense.
A middle-aged man, clearly the leader, was observing the bound Ji with great interest. He spoke with a few traces of surprise, "I'm surprised you managed to find me. Even that old man couldn't track my whereabouts. How did you do it?"
Ji's hands were tightly bound as he knelt on the ground, yet he showed no fear or anger. He looked up, his eyes as calm as water, and replied, "It's not important. I came here to discuss a deal with you."
The middle-aged man was intrigued by Ji's words, curious about what kind of intriguing trade this seemingly ordinary prisoner could propose. However, Ji's next words made his expression change slightly: "Don't think your petty tricks can elude Joseph; even Miss Li has already noticed."
The surrounding subordinates glared at Ji with angry eyes but, due to the presence of the middle-aged man, they had to suppress their rage.
The middle-aged man was confident in his methods for training his subordinates and didn't worry about them leaking secrets.
He pondered for a moment and then said, "In that case, tell me the content of your trade."
Ji, however, shook his head: "There's no need for you to test me. Since I'm here, I obviously come in good faith."
Just then, a loud crash broke the stalemate.
Someone fell from above, crashing through the ceiling and landing in front of everyone. Lin Beichen awkwardly chuckled, having intended to teleport away, only to end up entangled in this dispute.
The middle-aged man's eyebrow twitched, clearly displeased by Lin Beichen's sudden appearance. Even Ji frowned at this individual who disrupted their plans.
Lin Beichen, realizing the situation, lamented internally, knowing he might have gotten into serious trouble this time.
Indeed, the middle-aged man spoke up: "Lin Beichen, is it? Since you dared to come here today, you might as well stay and accompany me." Lin Beichen hesitated, and in that momentary pause, his Flying Carpet was destroyed. Helplessly, he released a Talisman, causing the surrounding bullets to halt in mid-air.
Lin Beichen landed lightly, striving to maintain his graceful demeanor. He looked at the middle-aged man and asked, "May I know who you are? How did you come to know my name?" The middle-aged man replied indifferently, "I am a big figure."
Lin Beichen's heart stirred, suspecting this middle-aged man might also be vying for Joseph's inheritance. However, he remained outwardly calm and said, "Then what is your purpose in keeping me here?" The middle-aged man sneeringly said, "Isn't it funny that you come here to provoke me and then ask me why I'm keeping you?"
Lin Beichen realized he had been misunderstood and quickly clarified: "Actually, I escaped from Li Qiao; I didn't intend to come here." However, the middle-aged man did not let him off because of that. He sneered and said, "But I won't apologize to a mere special forces soldier."