"That I couldn't say either, but Wei Zhao and Wang Xinyan sit together in every class, always as a pair, so there's surely something between them!" You Panhu said. "And everyone says those two are involved... I'd say it's very likely true!"

"Don't stick your nose into this matter. Wei Zhao is not someone to be provoked, and we still have use for him—we mean to get those materials from his hands. So as for the grudge between him and Kang Zhaolong, stay out of it. We'll see how things stand when the time comes," the old master You said after a moment's thought.

"Fine, I know where the line is!" You Panhu nodded.

……………………

In the suburbs of Donghai City, inside a heavily guarded manor compound.

An Jianwen was lounging about playing with his phone, reading a novel called The Predecessor of Very Pure and Very Ambiguous. The more he read, the more delighted he became—there was a villain in it named Li Boliang who was simply too formidable, and he truly worshipped the man...

Just as the blood was racing through him, Big Mule came in. "Brother Wen..."

"Oh? Big Mule. What, you have good news for me?" An Jianwen asked. "Has Dr. Yin made some breakthrough on his end?"

"Brother Wen sees all! Good news indeed..." Big Mule raised his thumb in admiration. "Dr. Yin had me tell you that the flaws you raised before—he and his fellow disciples have found ways to fix them all, and the trials succeeded!"

"Oh? Not bad. So that means even Wei Zhao's pressure-point tricks won't work on our test subjects anymore?" An Jianwen's heart stirred, and he asked with some excitement.

"Yes. Formula No. 01 has been fully refined, and the new formula has been named No. 02. Test subjects injected with or fed the formula are tougher than before, and pressure points no longer affect them—the formula has destroyed the acupoints altogether!" Big Mule said. "That amounts to strengthened defense. At present they can withstand at least ten consecutive blows from an early Heaven-Rank expert! But the sacrifice is obvious too: the test subjects' attack power is about the same as before. Against experts below early Earth-Rank, they can kill with ease; against early to mid Earth-Rank, they can just barely kill; against mid to late Earth-Rank, they can take them down together at the cost of their own lives; against peak late Earth-Rank and above, they cannot kill for now, though they can tie them up in combat for a while..."

"Very good!" An Jianwen felt no regret on hearing this—on the contrary, he was overjoyed. "The attack power hasn't improved, but so long as the defense is strengthened, that's enough!"

"Indeed. Wei Zhao is only a mid Earth-Rank expert, and even if he's a bit stronger than the average, our test subjects can still do him harm!" Big Mule nodded. "It's just that Formula No. 02 is still at an early stage, and the production success rate isn't very high..."

"No matter, refine it slowly! By the way, have the test subjects been produced? If so, give one to Li Biaohan and test his level," An Jianwen said. "That kidnapping plan of mine from last time can also get underway!"

"Yes, Brother Wen! I'll go tell Dr. Yin to turn out a test subject right away..." Big Mule answered. "And as for Li Biaohan..."

"Once you've got the test subject, I'll contact Li Biaohan myself!" An Jianwen said.

"Understood!" Big Mule nodded and withdrew respectfully.

A cold smile flickered at the corner of An Jianwen's mouth. Wei Zhao, oh Wei Zhao, don't get cocky—sooner or later I'll finish you off, and sooner or later Gu Mengyao will be mine!

As Dr. Yin's research went on scoring one breakthrough after another, An Jianwen's ambitions swelled ever greater, no longer content with the status quo. These test subjects were only a beginning; there would surely be No. 03, No. 04, No. 05 in time, and when that day came, annihilating Wei Zhao in a single blow would be no dream at all...

When Li Biaohan received An Jianwen's call, he was at the boxing club soothing his underlings. Because of the trouble when Wei Zhao had come kicking at their doors last time, the whole club was on edge. Watching that Audi Q7 parked brazenly downstairs every day, plenty of the boys were frightened out of their wits, afraid Wei Zhao would come looking for trouble again.

What could be done? Who could blame them, when even Li Biaohan had been humiliated? Though he had done his best to reassure them, some new members had still quit the club. Watching this fresh blood walk away, Li Biaohan was furious, yet helpless.

With fewer people to collect protection money for him and force sales on his behalf, Li Biaohan's income had naturally shrunk. Peddling to freshmen in their dorms, extorting them—all of that took manpower. Seeing his take dwindle, Li Biaohan was in a foul mood.

The phone rang. When Li Biaohan saw the caller ID, he was instantly excited! He knew An Jianwen had been planning some big job for him lately, and a call now surely meant something had come together!

"Brother Wen!" Li Biaohan answered respectfully.

"Come over here now. That matter I mentioned to you last time can proceed," An Jianwen said.

"Yes!" Li Biaohan was wild with joy and hastily agreed.

Half an hour later, Li Biaohan appeared respectfully in An Jianwen's room. "Greetings, Brother Wen. Greetings, Brother Big Mule!"

"Enough, no need for courtesies. Sit and talk," An Jianwen said with a wave of his hand. "What I need are people who can get things done, not flatterers. The work ahead will require your wholehearted cooperation with Big Mule and the others! Finding and investigating the targets is your job; as for the snatching, Big Mule will arrange for test subject No. 02 to handle it!"

"Yes!" Li Biaohan nodded excitedly. "Brother Wen, I've actually already picked out the first target!"

"Already picked? What does the family do? How much can we squeeze out of them? Let me tell you, with this kidnapping business of ours, the starting price is ten million at the very least—any less and it's not worth the trouble!" An Jianwen's appetite was vast; long accustomed to big ventures with no capital outlay, he named tens of millions without a blink.

"It's Wang Xinyan!" Li Biaohan said.

"Wang Xinyan? Who's that?" The name was somewhat unfamiliar to An Jianwen. "What does her family do? How much can they pay?"

"This Wang Xinyan is Wei Zhao's girlfriend at school. Her family's in the pharmaceutical business—coughing up ten million would be easy for them!" Over this time Li Biaohan had dug up Wang Xinyan's family background. His hatred for Wei Zhao was bone-deep, so for his first job he wanted to strike at the people around Wei Zhao!

"Wei Zhao's girlfriend?" An Jianwen was taken aback, thinking, weren't that bastard's girlfriends named Tang Yun and Feng Xiaoxiao? Where had this Wang Xinyan suddenly come from?

For the fastest updates and pop-up-free reading, please visit.