"Slowly, be careful," several medical staff from the Yuyang Hospital carefully lifted Yan Qiushan into the car.

The car was equipped with all necessary medical supplies in case Yan Qiushan's condition changed on the way.

Two modified ordinary minibuses, one in front and one behind, were filled with Wind God guards along the way.

The three cars left the special hospital and made a detour to the sub-bureau to say hello to Du Ruo.

Several people from the aftermath department had just finished their work at the beach and Luo Cuicui was good at networking. He recognized the Wind God car and immediately went over to say hello with a smile.

Yang Chao peeked and whispered to Ping Qianru, "Why don't they take a private plane? The rest of us could hitch a ride on the plane back."

The three members of the aftermath team were urgently called in to clean up the mess left by their leaders.

They worked tirelessly, collecting bodies, clearing the sea, and dismantling the tsunami warning system.

When they returned, they were surprised to find that their director, who had just arrived, had already left, leaving only a note of encouragement.

The three of them felt like lost children abandoned by their unreliable parents at a train station. They were at a loss as to what to do.

According to regulations, they couldn't get a private plane, so they sadly scrambled to get a few red-eye flights during the peak tourist season.

"Captain Yan said that a private plane is too expensive," whispered Ping Qianru. "He doesn't have any urgent tasks or official duties, so he's just a witness. It's not worth the cost to waste the people's money. Besides, the Yuzhou underwater tunnel is now open, and it's not far away. It's even smoother to drive on the road."

As they spoke, someone helped Yan Qiushan sit up and look out the window, catching Yang Chao and Ping Qianru stealing glances in their direction.

Perhaps due to weakened qi and blood, Yan Qiushan's face lacked vitality, his thin body showing prominent bones, and his thick eyebrows pressing down on a pair of eyes containing shadows, like a gloomy oil painting.

Yang Chao and Ping Qianru stood at attention, watching the convoy exchange greetings with Du Ruo before slowly driving away.

Suddenly, Yang Chao groaned, clutching his chest and bending over in cold sweat.

"What's wrong?" Ping Qianru was startled. "Stomach ache? Indigestion?"

"My chest..." Yang Chao gasped for air, as if suffocating, struggling to breathe. "It's so tight, I can't catch my breath..."

Ping Qianru was stunned for a moment, and exchanged a glance with Luo Cuicui. She looked up and watched as the Wind Gods drove away in their car.

Yang Chao, although sensitive and empathetic, didn't take everyone's emotions to heart. Only the strongest and most intense emotions could affect him...

Was that Captain Yan just now?

"Captain Yan, let me know if you get tired of sitting," Zhang Zhao carefully placed a cushion behind Yan Qiushan's lower back, "Don't get carsick later."

Yan Qiushan slowly shifted his gaze towards him.

Three years ago, when he left the Wind Gods, Zhang Zhao was not even twenty years old and had just been recruited into the Wind Gods team. Now, he could stand on his own.

Zhang Zhao's parents were both sacrificed as Wind God field agents. He grew up with a group of Wind Gods and awakened his special abilities at the age of eleven, allowing him to enter the "Youth Training Institute."

While still in elementary school, he trained at the institute and carried his backpack to complete his nine-year compulsory education. During that time, his Yan Qiushan and Zhi Chun took turns to attend his parents' meetings - they had s clear division of labor. If Zhang Zhao's grades were good, Zhi Chun would go, but if he failed, Yan Qiushan would go.

When facing Yan Qiushan's cold face, the teachers lacked the courage to scold him and often just went through the motions before sending him back.

"You've grown up so much," Yan Qiushan seemed to be struggling to catch his breath, his voice shallow. "You entered the Wind God before I had a chance to bring you in."

Zhang Zhao's eyes turned red, and he lowered his head fiercely, struggling to hold back his tears and forcing out a nonchalant smile, "Why don't you take me with you now? I can still go back to the furnace several times, right, sister?"

Gu Yuexi wasn't as sweet-tongued as him. She was like a gourd with a big belly and no mouth, and her emotions were so turbulent that she couldn't speak.

She could only sit stiffly on the side with a cold face, feeling like a prison guard escorting a prisoner with deep resentment.

Yan Qiushan struggled to lift the corners of his mouth and looked around at the familiar faces, feeling that many people had changed.

The children had grown up, and the young people had weathered the storms of life. The great waves that shook the Bureau had probably changed the entire building and its people.

Even he himself had changed.

Before meeting Zhi Chun, he always boasted about his deep and mysterious facade, but in reality, he was just a lazy homebody. His frequent business trips and overwhelming workload drained his social energy, and traveling was torture for him.

He wouldn't even go if someone paid him to do so.

He wished he could spend all his free time at home, buying groceries and cooking. His favorite "sport" was cleaning the house, and he could watch his favorite old movies over and over again.

When he left for work, if he saw a neighbor he knew in the elevator, he would suddenly "realize" he forgot something and take the next one.

Even when a delivery arrived, he seemed paralyzed on the couch, only willing to text Zhi Chun in the study and ask him to answer the door.

But after three years of crawling and fighting in the underground world, he learned to speculate, to observe every detail, to remain calm and hide his true intentions, and even learned the art of speaking differently to different people.

He had many skills, but he had forgotten how to "paralyze" himself.

The car had excellent shock absorbers as it slowly drove out of Yuyang City. Yan Qiushan closed his eyes and tried to sort out his thoughts, but he couldn't stop thinking about Zhi Chun.

However, thinking about Zhi Chun was a luxury he couldn't afford right now.

He didn't have the energy for it and planned to save it for when he was on his deathbed.

Before the convoy got on the highway, they turned into a secluded gas station.

Suddenly, urgent footsteps could be heard outside and Yan Qiushan opened his eyes, wide awake. Then, Gu Yuexi opened the car door from inside.

Du Ruo, who was supposed to be at the Yuyang branch, was standing outside. The Wind Gods showed no surprise, indicating that it had been pre-arranged.

Du Ruo wore big sunglasses and dressed like a colorful tourist.

Without any pleasantries, she lowered her voice and spoke rapidly, "The gas station belongs to my husband. There are no outsiders now and the surveillance cameras are off. The replacement car is at the back. Quickly - Mr. Yan, let me help you..."

Yan Qiushan waved his hand and the severely injured person who had just been lifted onto the car stood up on his own.

As he looked around, all the metal objects surrounding him seemed to have disappeared into thin air. Yan Qiushan's forehead was covered in cold sweat, and the last bit of color drained from his face.

He quickly got out of the car, moving like a nimble zombie.

"Mr. Yan," Du Ruo withdrew her hand and took off her sunglasses, tapping her heels together as she gave him a formal salute. "You are the backbone of the Wind God. Have a safe journey."

Yan Qiushan glanced at her and silently returned the salute.

With a wave of his hand, the former members of the Wind God team, like his own limbs, split into two groups without a word and headed in different directions.

One group joined the original convoy and continued on the same path, while the other followed Yan Qiushan onto the business car that Du Ruo had prepared in advance, quietly heading towards the pier.

After the completion of the Yuzhou underwater tunnel, most private cars heading north would take the underwater highway. Only some cheap freight trucks would still use the old method of transporting their vehicles by ship across the strait.

At dusk, an inconspicuous cargo ship docked at the pier and shortly after, it pulled away with a shabby business car, slowly blending in with the fleet of cargo ships and heading towards the mainland.

The ship was in fact carrying a Wind God team who had been waiting there. As soon as Zhang Zhao got off the car, he finally felt like he was on his own turf and breathed a sigh of relief.

He half-supported and half-carried Yan Qiushan off the car and whispered, "Captain Yan, how deeply has the True Nature Sect infiltrated the bureau? Do we really need to be this cautious?"

Yan Qiushan replied softly, "It's beyond your imagination."

Zhang Zhao asked, "Are you worried about the idle people in the sub-bureau? No, that's not it..."

"Why not sneak away in the middle of the night if you don't trust the people at the sub-bureau? Why go out of your way to visit during broad daylight and pretend to be saying hello to Du Ruo?" Zhang Zhao asked, trying to hide his nervousness.

Yan Qiushan chuckled and patted him on the back of his head, just like he used to do when Zhang Zhao was a child.

Instantly, Zhang Zhao felt like a trained dog that had just answered a question correctly at the circus.

In front of Yan Qiushan, his mental capacity seemed to have regressed to that of a minor overnight. Gu Yuexi couldn't help but frown as she used her X-ray vision to see that the metal plates supporting Captain Yan's injured bones and joints had not been removed.

While it was true that the metal could help him forge a "golden body," having these things inside his body would definitely not be comfortable.

Moreover, maintaining the shape of the metal required a constant expenditure of energy, and Yan Qiushan's shirt and coat were already soaked with sweat.

Captain Yan didn't relax, as the events of this journey were far from over.

Gu Yuexi's intuition was astonishingly accurate.

By the time they crossed the strait, it was already dark outside. The business car hit the road again, following Yan Qiushan's instructions to drive further away under the cover of night.

Then, they changed cars once again. This time, the people preparing the car for them were obviously ordinary people without any special abilities.

Zhang Zhao couldn't help but wonder where Yan Qiushan found them. The first time they changed cars, it was agreed upon within the Wind God organization, but even the members were confused about the second time.

Reflexively following Yan Qiushan's instructions, Zhang Zhao's mind was buzzing.

He thought to himself, "Even Manager Du isn't trusted by Captain Yan."

In the next moment, the young man suddenly realized something and his whole body trembled. Wait, it's not just Manager Du that Captain Yan doesn't trust in this car change operation, but even the members of Wind God...

The Wind Gods had reached this point, and there was nothing left to be misunderstood.

The atmosphere suddenly fell silent.

Yan Qiushan remained silent, his face calm and serene.

His dark eyes were like frozen dead water, like a lone wolf grinding his teeth and sucking blood.

He didn't entrust anyone with his back, nor did he explain anything to his former brothers.

He absorbed more metal support into his body and had become almost half a robot.

For a moment, Gu Yuexi realized that Captain Yan might really not want to return to the Wind Gods.

But even with such caution, something still went wrong on the road.

The northbound convoy had been driving for a day and a night, entering a mountainous area. They were less than 300 kilometers away from Yong'an, and it was just before dawn, the time when people were most tired.

Yan Qiushan, who had been propping himself up with a crutch, suddenly opened his eyes. The special agents of the Wind God were always alert.

As soon as he moved, the people around him immediately flipped over.

Zhang Zhao said, "Cap..."

Yan Qiushan raised a finger and warned him to be careful.

Without hesitation, Gu Yuexi grabbed the walkie-talkie and quickly reminded the guards and drivers. Before she could finish, a sudden brake pushed her forward, and Gu Yuexi was thrown back hard by the seatbelt.

Then, with a loud bang, her pupils shrank as she saw a huge mutated tree suddenly sprout from the ground in front of them. The mutated tree rapidly expanded, its branches and leaves reaching towards the sky like a python, and its roots broke through the road surface, causing the smooth road beneath their feet to crack rapidly.

The car's abnormal energy alarm blared loudly, and the entire convoy was forced to stop. Yan Qiushan sneered, showing no surprise on his face.

He thought to himself, 'This person really has a lot of patience. If he came any later, he would've ended up in Yong'an.'

He opened the car door and got out first. Zhang Zhao didn't manage to hold him back, and the next moment, Yan Qiushan had already rolled out of the car.

A vine happened to hit the spot where he had just been standing, separating him from the rest of the team.

Zhang Zhao felt like a block of ice had settled in his chest, making him shiver all over. They changed cars twice, and the first time only Du Ruo and the Wind God's own people knew about it.

The second time, even the Wind God didn't know, and the route they took was completely improvised by Yan Qiushan.

In other words...

"Contact headquarters! Report our coordinates!" Gu Yuexi pushed Zhang Zhao hard.

"What are you waiting for? Go after Yan Qiushan!" With a start, Zhang Zhao scrambled down the slope, barely managing to keep his footing before a teeth-grinding "crack" sounded from the ground.

Suddenly, a massive creature emerged from the earth, its stench reminiscent of a hundred slaughterhouses. It was a snake, nearly a meter in diameter, and it lunged at Zhang Zhao with jaws agape.

"Watch out!" cried a quick-thinking field agent, waving his hand.

A large boulder tumbled down from the nearby rocky outcropping, striking the snake in the face and knocking it off course.

Zhang Zhao narrowly avoided being bitten, but he didn't have time to dwell on his close call.

He looked around frantically, but Yan Qiushan was nowhere to be seen.

After Yan Qiushan got off the car, two rows of roller skates emerged from beneath his seemingly worn-out and shabby rubber shoes.

These roller skates were made of a special alloy that was particularly suitable for being powered by metal-based abilities, and could reach a peak speed of about 40 kilometers per hour, similar to a small motorcycle.

He directly flipped over from both sides of the national highway and plunged into the dense forest by the roadside.

Yan Qiushan had been working as a frontline field agent for many years, and later he had been wandering between wanted criminals and various dangerous individuals, familiar with all kinds of tricks.

If someone wanted to take him down halfway, the first step would be to turn off the metal-based ability that protected him.

"It's not difficult," he thought. "All I need to do is choose a place with a lot of people coming and going, and throw some terrifying, indiscriminate attacks. The national highway is like an artery, with cars flowing constantly from north to south. If there's a sudden obstacle, all the passing vehicles will be forced to brake suddenly. The field agents won't have time to react, and the giant snake and mutated tree will be exposed to everyone's sight.

"But a scene like that could cause panic among the bystanders," Yan Qiushan said as he unbuttoned his coat and rubbed the metal buckle in his palm.

The metal melted in his hand and condensed into an extremely thin, flat blade, resembling a cicada's wing.

It was the wee hours of the morning, and although there weren't many vehicles on the national highway, there were still some.

A long-distance coach happened to be not far from them. After screeching to a sharp halt, over a dozen sleepy heads popped out from the coach, staring at the big snake in disbelief for ten seconds, wondering if they were dreaming.

It wasn't until the big snake opened its bloody mouth that the heads instinctively followed suit, taking in a deep breath of fresh morning air. Then, the big snake lunged towards the coach and bit down. The heads finally woke up and let out a deafening scream in unison.

In a panic, the coach driver made a U-turn and tried to go in the opposite direction. However, during the turn, the coach collided with a passing small car and was then pushed out by a large cargo truck with poor steering.

The sounds of people screaming, mutated creatures roaring, and car alarms blaring filled the air. In a moment of desperation, Zhang Zhao hit the pause button for a second.

Several field agents rushed to the side of the passenger bus and pushed it away with their hands. The giant snake snapped at the air, angrily thrashing about.

At that moment, Gu Yuexi used her X-ray vision to see through the snake's head and discovered that it was not a real snake. Its skeleton was clearly made of a metal frame, without flesh or blood, and covered in stitched-together snake skin.

Something inside its throat was flashing. "Be careful!" she warned.

But before she could finish speaking, the snake suddenly stood up, opened its mouth wide, and sprayed a pungent mist from its mouth. It was a cloudy day in the area, with no wind and high humidity.

It felt like a natural fog machine, with the mist spewing out of the big snake's mouth seeming alive, swirling around and picking up dust and moisture from its surroundings. The mist rolled and spread like a whirlwind, rapidly reducing visibility in all directions.

Something was lurking in the mist, as the car's fog lights couldn't penetrate it, only casting a few inches of dim light.

"Call the traffic department and close the road immediately!"

"I can't see you guys! Gu, how many snakes are there? It feels like they're dancing in a frenzy!"

The mutated tree grew taller and taller, its whip-like vines thrashing about aimlessly and smashing everything in their path.

The field agents closest to the giant snake were trapped in a thick soup of chaos, dodging and weaving blindly through the vines. At this point, only those with X-ray vision could see anything clearly.

Gu Yuexi had intended to follow Yan Qiushan, but found herself caught in a dilemma and trapped on the scene.

"This place is going to be a mess," Yan Qiushan thought to himself as he sped towards the freezing cold depths of the mountain forest.

The field agents from the Bureau were responsible for any harm caused to innocent bystanders, so in chaotic situations like this, their first instinct was always to try and control the scene and evacuate the crowd, minimizing casualties.

However, with all the vines and chaos, anyone by his side, even with the Wind God Squad, would only be a hindrance.

Luckily, he was the target.

As long as he could distance himself from the crowd, the other party wouldn't waste energy killing innocent bystanders.

The Wind Gods could handle it.

He had no intention of relying on them for protection, as the ones who betrayed his whereabouts were most likely among these "brothers." He didn't want to be caught off guard.

The sound of the motorcycle engine roared to life. Several figures appeared out of nowhere and headed straight for Yan Qiushan.

This stretch of road was located in the mountains, with various rugged mountain roads and hidden forests surrounding it. The location chosen by those who wanted to intercept him was very strategic. Even the helicopters of the Bureau would have nowhere to land in these geographical conditions.

Yan Qiushan lightly tapped his foot on the ground and deftly turned a corner, diving into the dense forest. The dry branches scraped his bare face and neck, leaving behind bloody marks, but they also blocked the path of the motorcycle rider.

However...

In the next moment, the ground beneath his feet began to crack, and two artificial giant snakes emerged, charging towards him in a frenzy.

Just as the snakes were about to surround him from both sides, the two giant snakes suddenly writhed in agony and roared in unison.

Their massive heads twisted and deformed as the metal frames inside transformed into sharp blades, piercing through their skin and slicing them open.

If they wanted to kill him, they would have to do better than that.

Yan Qiushan swiftly turned around and stood his ground, swallowing the metallic taste of blood in his mouth.

He wiped the cold sweat off his forehead with his thumb and chuckled weakly, his voice trembling with exhaustion.

"Didn't your Old Lady Yu teach you that metal is the nemesis of these phantom puppets?"