For the time being, Meng Chao did not have the time to deal with Golden Tooth and Leprosy Village's "good will".
However, to stabilize Golden Tooth and Leprosy Village's morale, he still came to an agreement with Song Jinbo and Su Mulian.
Based on the agreement, Meng Chao would prove that Song Jinbo had noticed Su Lun's strangeness a long time ago and contacted him in secret. Then, they worked together to overturn the enemy's scheme.
With this agreement, Golden Tooth, with Song Jinbo as the leader, could finally catch a breather.
Naturally, they acknowledged Meng Chao even more and were grateful to him.
Golden Tooth, Poison Scorpion, and Black Bone were all dealt with, so the other middle-sized and small gangs naturally followed their lead.
But even if the gangs were united, it did not mean that the chaos would subside on its own.
The fire at the borders of the lair was still spreading, and the number of refugees and injured kept increasing. Quite a number of densely populated residential areas, factories that stored dangerous goods, and warehouses were still facing major threats.
Leprosy Village, which was located at the center of the lair, was completely enveloped by billowing black smoke. It looked like a black volcano had risen from the ground.
There were only five hours left before the "death line" Meng Chao and Wild Wolf agreed on.
And Meng Chao reckoned that the Leprosy Village villagers who were ravaged by the flames and poisonous smoke would not last for five hours.
At that moment, the lair was like a building that had a fire extinguished on the surface, but was still burning under the complicated ruins.
If they were careless …
There was a high possibility that the fire would rise again.
They had to gather all their forces within the shortest amount of time to get rid of the fire and set up a large number of temporary hospitals and shelters. They had to distribute medical and disaster relief resources equally in a fair manner.
Only then would they be able to restore order and completely destroy the source of the fire.
Even though Su Mulian could represent Leprosy Village and communicate with the gangs, the decades of estrangement and friction between them could not be resolved with just a few words.
And they had to set up a firewall, temporary hospitals, and shelters around Leprosy Village. They also had to ask the lair citizens, who could not even protect themselves, to bring out a large amount of resources to help the troubled villagers.
There were a lot of things to do, and it was a mess. They needed both sides to bring out their greatest patience and kindness to solve it slowly.
Fortunately, with Broken Sword Ye Xiaoyue's suppression, Lu Siya's Queen Bee's threats and temptations, and Meng Chao's act as a middleman, the general direction was good.
The entire lair was like a machine that was pieced together and had parts that were not compatible with each other. It started operating slowly.
Even when the parts collided, there was still noise and sparks.
In the end, things got smoother and smoother, and he was gradually on the right track.
Now, there was only one problem left.
Supernatural Entity Vortex.
This crafty beast was still lurking in the darkness. It was unknown if it had a deeper plot.
Based on Red Brows Su Lun's instructions, the Vortex could only mobilize the former Reaper Squad members and the robbers who had taken Deification Capsules to form a temporary army. And the monster puppets who had betrayed humanity were all killed in one go.
Ever since the ambush on Noble Descent Hotel, the Survival Committee decided to make amends. They also set up an airtight security network under Dragon City to ensure that the monster civilization could no longer use super large sandworms or other underground creatures to dig large tunnels and move organized groups of fierce beasts deep into Dragon City without anyone noticing.
The Vortex was left alone.
And it was an intelligent abnormal beast. Aside from being able to stick to humans and change into all sorts of forms, its fighting strength was not so terrifying that it could destroy the world, so it should not be able to cause any trouble.
But for some reason, when Meng Chao remembered the Vortex's identity as a Supernatural Entity, his heart shuddered.
It was as if there was a poisoned needle hanging at the back of his head and poking him.
Even if the Vortex had run out of tricks, Meng Chao could not tolerate it.
Meng Chao could not allow this bastard to escape just like that and roam free.
This bastard actually dared to disguise himself as him, commit a perverse crime, and put mouthfuls of steaming hot feces on his head.
No one, no monster, could do such a thing to him and not pay any price!
Meng Chao swore that he would tear the Vortex into pieces and expose it under the sun for 180 days. Then, he would burn it to ashes, grind it into powder, pour cement over it, and throw it to the bottom of Red Dragon River.
But no one knew where the Vortex was hiding.
Red Brows Su Lun did not know either.
Based on what he said, every time, the Vortex would appear on its own to make a request or give him an order.
Besides, every single time, the Vortex would appear with the most unexpected identity and at the most unexpected time and place. It was elusive, and no one could fathom it.
Hence, when Meng Chao pretended to be the Vortex and himself to trick Su Lun, Su Lun did not suspect anything.
Su Lun was a smart person, and he knew his situation very well. He had already told Meng Chao everything, so Meng Chao did not think that there was any need for him to hide anything.
However, to capture Wandering Specter Zhong Li and the other former Reaper Squad members, Meng Chao did not interrogate Su Lun in detail. There were plenty of details that he did not mention.
Now, Su Mulian, Song Jinbo, Phantom Bear Xiong Wei, and the others went to coordinate the manpower and resources of the gangs in order to put out the fire and provide disaster relief.
Lu Siya personally interrogated Wandering Specter Zhong Li and the others, who she had just captured, in hopes that she could figure out the truth behind them accepting monster modifications.
Broken Sword Ye Xiaoyue levitated above Mutual Gold Coliseum and looked down at the entire lair. She intimidated the rascals who had ulterior motives and wanted to take advantage of the situation to increase the morale of the one million lair citizens so that they knew that the Survival Committee and the Supernatural Tower had not given up on them.
He also expanded his vitality magnetic field to the max and scanned for the Vortex.
Meng Chao decided to retry Red Brows Su Lun.
Su Lun was imprisoned under Mutual Gold Coliseum in a cage that was connected to high-voltage electricity. It was originally used to imprison monsters.
Even though his organs had shifted because of Phantom Bear Xiong Wei's attack, his legs had disappeared from below his knees, and not a single spirit flame could be ignited under his blood-red eyebrows.
But the gang members still put shackles that weighed hundreds of kilograms on him, as if they were venting their anger. They even put three self-destruct collars on his neck.
They were treating him like the most ferocious and cunning monster.
Red Brows Su Lun was covered in wounds, and his hair was disheveled. At that moment, he looked neither like a human nor a ghost. He did not have the high-spirited and high-spirited air he had when he was the temporary commander of the lair three hours ago.
Meng Chao naturally did not pity this person who only had himself to blame.
He would rather pity an insect that struggled under the scorching sun than a traitor who betrayed his comrades, home, and civilization.
He was just curious.
During the Noble Descent Hotel ambush, the Demonic Abyss Eye had also bewitched some humans and made them its puppets.
Meng Chao could also find a lot of humans being corrupted by monsters and turned into puppets in his previous life.
But these people were either mentally attacked by the abnormal beasts and were completely hypnotized and brainwashed.
Or they were implanted with bacteria, viruses, and spores, as if they had been poisoned by the legendary Gu.
Some parasites even crawled into their brains and physically controlled their central nervous systems. When they had no control over themselves, they became accomplices to the enemy.
But Su Lun was completely clear-headed, and he was absolutely rational.
After Phantom Bear Xiong Wei and Broken Sword Ye Xiaoyue's double tests, they eliminated the possibility of him having any Gu worms or parasites in his body, including the possibility of organic diseases in his brain.
In other words, he willingly joined the monsters and destroyed Dragon City under the control of his own free will.
This was undoubtedly more terrifying than any hypnosis, brainwashing, or parasites.
Meng Chao had to understand Su Lun's motives.
He also had to make a judgment. Were there more people like Su Lun? They were not brainwashed or parasites, but they were willing to fall into depravity and become ticking time bombs that were hard to get rid of in the depths of Dragon City?
"Su Lun?"
Meng Chao crouched down in front of the pile of rotten flesh that gave off a thick stench of blood.
When the former vice gang leader of Golden Tooth heard his voice, he lifted his head with great difficulty while carrying the magnetic shackles that weighed hundreds of kilograms. He grinned at Meng Chao.
When Meng Chao saw Su Lun's twisted smile amid the coagulated blood, his heart let out a loud thump.
After a few hours of calm contemplation, Su Lun seemed to have broken free from his crushing defeat. He regained his usual calmness and sharpness. In fact, he had become even sharper.
When a person realized that they were definitely going to die, they would either break down due to despair or squeeze out a power that surpassed their limits from the depths of their souls. At the final moment, they would become a brand new version of themselves.
"Hello, Meng Chao. By the looks of it, you've already captured Wandering Specter Zhong Li, but you haven't captured the Vortex yet."
Since Xiong Wei had knocked out half of his teeth, Su Lun's words had a lisp. His tone was a little strange, but his tone was filled with sincerity. "Unfortunately, I've already told you that I really don't know where the Vortex is hiding. It's meaningless for you to continue wasting time on me.
"I'm a person who is willing to admit defeat. I won't have the foolish thought of dragging the entire lair down with me even if I die. The Vortex and I are purely using each other. There's no need for me to hide anything for it."
"I know," Meng Chao said.
"That's why I stopped Gang Leader Xiong and the others from torturing you. You have to understand that right now, there are thousands of people in the gangs who want to tear you to pieces and eat you alive. You have more than fifty kilograms of flesh and blood, and it's not enough for them.
"I don't want to lie to you. Based on the crimes you committed, it wouldn't be too much for you to be cut into pieces one hundred times.
"And as Dragon City shifts from passive defense to tactical offense, the model of putting death row criminals into the Reaper Squad will gradually become unsuitable and will be slowly removed.
"You will definitely die. I can't, and I don't want to, save you.
"But there's a huge difference between dying painfully and having your head shot in the head or being tortured by Gang Leader Xiong and the enraged gang members for a year and a half so that you can neither live nor die. What do you think?"
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