"Brother Long, you’re a true man of honor!" Carmen quickly started to suck up to him, kneading the shifty-eyed man’s shoulders. He then asked, "Brother Long, when are the big shots from the Poisonous Sore Gang going to get here? We’ve been waiting for half an hour... You’re not going to make us wait even longer, are you?"

"What do you know!" the shifty-eyed man sneered. "The big shots are definitely observing from the shadows. Don’t forget who you are, and don’t forget what the five major gangs did to our Poisonous Sore Gang. It’s not that easy to get our leaders to accept you. They have to test you first, of course."

"Yes, yes, what Brother Long says makes sense... But why do I hear a helicopter?"

The sound of rotor blades churning the air grew louder as it approached from the distance. A violent gust of wind swept over, blasting everyone in the face.

The pitch-black night sky was instantly illuminated by several intense searchlights. Five or six attack helicopters circled above the abandoned factory in a massive show of force.

"Wh-wh-wh-what... What’s going on?!" The shifty-eyed man leaped up from his chair. The Poisonous Sore Gang doesn’t have any attack helicopters!

"It’s the goddamn Government Army!" Carmen saw the insignia on the attack helicopters and instantly understood everything. He roared in anger, "The Poisonous Sore Gang sold us out! Run!"

He turned tail and ran, charging toward one of the factory walls. But in the next second, a fragmentation grenade was thrown over the wall, heading straight for his face.

BOOM—

A flash of fire erupted, followed by a succession of explosions. Fully armed Government Army soldiers stormed into the abandoned factory, opening fire indiscriminately on the gang members. The roar of gunfire, like a torrential downpour, engulfed the hundreds, even thousands, of people gathered there.

Meanwhile, the true main force of the Poisonous Sore Gang began to move.

"The cross-river bridge is the only one connecting the city center to the poverty district. You have to cross it to reach the city center. The Government Army has set up a checkpoint partway across. Vehicles coming from the poverty district are subject to strict searches. However, we have men among the inspectors. With their help from the inside, we can kill everyone at the checkpoint within a minute and replace them with our own people."

Inside the cargo bay of a moving refrigerated truck, Plague Doctor was explaining the plan to "Siegfried."

"Once we’re through the checkpoint, we’ll officially be in the city center. The vehicle will drive directly to the municipal government building. At that time, our other members hidden in the city center will start a riot at the opportune moment. We’ll take advantage of the Government Army’s manpower shortage and storm the building."

"I suggest delaying the riot for a few minutes. Let me see if I can use Mind Control on the members of the Hand of the Empire," Zhou Chen said.

"We’ve already thought of that... Uncle Ze, give Siegfried the file on the Ascenders among the mayor’s bodyguards and the Hand of the Empire squad."

Uncle Ze, who was carrying a briefcase, took out a file from it and handed it to "Siegfried."

Clearly, the Poisonous Sore Gang didn’t trust "Siegfried," only showing him the file on the enemy Ascenders now. This was understandable. What the Poisonous Sore Gang was about to do was outrageously audacious. The slightest misstep would lead to their complete and utter doom. Bringing him on board at the last minute was already a huge gamble.

Zhou Chen quickly flipped through the file, memorizing the Abilities of the Ascenders listed. Aside from one Ascender with the Extraordinary Ability "Rapid Speed" who required some caution, the others could be ignored. Their Abilities were all too lame.

An Ascender’s Abilities weren’t all powerful, flashy, or useful Skills. In reality, most Ascenders had exceedingly ordinary Abilities. But in a modern era with such advanced technology and Alchemy, even an Ascender with a useless Ability could possess formidable combat power when enhanced with various armaments and Artifacts.

Soon, they reached the checkpoint in the middle of the cross-river bridge.

"Boss, something’s not right..." the driver’s low voice came over the comms channel. "I don’t see our guys. The defensive force here is also double what we expected."

"Stay on high alert," Plague Doctor ordered in a low voice.

Everyone in the cargo bay held their breath, their hearts in their throats.

In the silence, the passage of time seemed to slow down.

In the nearly suffocating silence, Zhou Chen suddenly spoke. "It’s done."

"Boss..." the driver’s trembling voice followed immediately. "Those inspectors... they suddenly saluted me..."

Plague Doctor froze for a moment, then snapped back to his senses and turned his head to look at Zhou Chen. "Was that you? You... controlled them?"

Zhou Chen rubbed his temples, feigning exhaustion. "Eight inspectors, twenty-two Government Army soldiers. They all belong to the Poisonous Sore Gang now. There are two Ascenders among them. I suggest we take them along as cannon fodder."

The group fell silent. A few of them opened their mouths to speak, but they didn’t know what to say. Everyone knew that Spiritual Type Ascenders were strange, but they never imagined one could be *this* strange—controlling thirty people, including two Ascenders, with a single thought. On top of that, Siegfried had said he wasn’t even a Spiritual Element... What in the world was his Extraordinary Ability?

"The plan proceeds as scheduled. Send a few of our guys to take over the checkpoint, and get those two Ascenders on the truck," Plague Doctor ordered calmly, having quickly regained his composure.

A few minutes later, several trucks carrying members of the Poisonous Sore Gang passed through the checkpoint smoothly. Plague Doctor and the main force didn’t waste any time there, leaving the investigation to the men who stayed behind.

Before long, a voice seething with rage came over the comms channel. "Boss, we found our brothers’ bodies. They... they were tortured horribly... Someone must have leaked the plan! That goddamn bastard!"

Plague Doctor sighed softly. He had suspected as much the moment he heard there was a problem at the checkpoint.

"The traitor is that man."

Zhou Chen pointed abruptly to a man in the cargo bay. He was in his thirties, with his hair slicked back meticulously, not a strand out of place.

He had directly identified the hidden "Werewolf" by making a wish.

"Gavin?" Plague Doctor sounded surprised.

The companions next to Gavin shifted slightly away from him, but his expression remained unchanged. "Siegfried, don’t you dare make baseless accusations... I am the traitor!"

He had changed his tune so suddenly that no one had time to react—even he himself looked completely stunned and shocked.

"He can only speak the truth now," Zhou Chen said, maintaining the detached air of an unconcerned bystander.

’What a terrifying Ability... If Siegfried were framing Gavin, Gavin wouldn’t even be able to deny it. This can’t be handled rashly...’ In his mind, Plague Doctor raised Siegfried’s threat level by several more notches. He then questioned Gavin, "Gavin, were you the one who leaked the intelligence?"

"It was me," Gavin admitted freely. This time, even his expression became candid.

"Why?" Plague Doctor asked, confused. "You were one of the first members of the Poisonous Sore Gang. You once dared to fight the upper class to protect those at the bottom. You did so many things that even I admired... I can’t believe you would betray us."

"Why? Hah, Plague Doctor, what other reason could there be?"

Gavin sneered. "Plague Doctor, everything you’ve done, everything the Poisonous Sore Gang has done, everything the Salvation Army has done, and the ideals we’ve held onto for so long... they’re all a Joker’s fantasy. They don’t stand a chance against North Carolina!

Look at us! After all these years, what have we gotten? Nothing! We’re already Ascenders, but we still have to live hard lives every day. What kind of bullshit Ascender is that?

I’ve been to the city center, and I’ve enjoyed how a real Ascender should be treated. Do you have any idea how incredible it is? Women a hundred times more beautiful than the most beautiful woman you’ve ever laid eyes on, waiting on you hand and foot. You can have as many as you want. You can get anything you desire—exotic delicacies, mountains of gold and silver, power, status... That’s when I started thinking, if the city center of Poverty City is this extravagant, what must the cities where the rich live be like?

After I came back, I started to reflect. What kind of behavior is it to give up the luxurious life an Ascender deserves for some unrealistic ideal?

Then it hit me. It’s the kind of moronic shit that only a complete fucking moron would do!"