Su Wan spoke slowly, “You can put a knife to my throat.”
“Or use any method you find reliable to completely control me, stripping me of any ability to resist.”
“Then, with me under your control, take me back to the Terminal Station.”
She pointed to the gray building in the distance. “As long as you have me, I won’t be able to play any tricks. After all, with your strength, you could kill me in the blink of an eye.”
“Once we reach the Terminal Station, I’ll take the items out and hand them over to you in full.”
Zhou Hu stared into Su Wan’s eyes, trying to find any trace of a lie in those clear depths.
But he found nothing.
In those eyes, there was only tension and anxiety, along with a flicker of fear and the strained effort to remain calm in the face of a powerful enemy.
“Senior, if you hold me hostage and tell my mother to trade the Space Treasure for me, she will definitely agree,” Su Wan added, stoking the fire.
Zhou Hu remained silent for a moment after hearing this.
He looked at Su Wan, his eyes flickering with thought.
The girl’s words did indeed make sense.
Holding her hostage and forcing the owner of the Terminal Station to bring the treasure out was much safer than venturing inside himself.
“Fine.” Zhou Hu nodded. “We’ll do it your way.”
With his Level 3 Late Stage strength, even if this woman suddenly tried something, he was absolutely certain he could kill her before she could even move.
Zhou Hu had fought for his life in this apocalypse for over thirty years and had killed countless people.
What kind of trouble could a mere slip of a girl cause?
He stepped toward Su Wan, coming so close they could almost feel each other’s breath.
Su Wan stood still.
Zhou Hu reached out with his left hand, grabbing Su Wan’s wrists and twisting them behind her back.
His palm was like an iron clamp, his grip so powerful that Su Wan felt as if her wrists were about to be crushed.
But she bit her lip and didn't make a sound.
Zhou Hu’s right hand slowly moved to her throat.
That hand was rough and hot, carrying the heavy scent of blood and rust.
His fingertips pressed lightly against her carotid artery, feeling the faint pulse.
If he wished, he could crush her Adam's apple in the next second, ensuring her death.
“Move,” Zhou Hu’s voice rang in her ear, carrying the smugness of someone certain of victory.
Su Wan did not struggle or resist; she didn't even make any unnecessary movements.
She simply started walking, step by step, toward the Terminal Station building.
Zhou Hu didn't realize that his first impression of Su Wan was entirely wrong.
People like Zhou Hu did not easily trust others, but they had immense faith in their own instincts and judgment.
If he had known that Su Wan was the actual owner of the Terminal Station, perhaps he wouldn't have been so careless.
Su Wan kept her head slightly lowered, her face still wearing that dejected and anxious expression.
But in her heart, a cold sneer had already begun to spread.
With Zhou Hu gripping her throat, the two of them walked toward the Terminal Station building.
Along the way, Zhou Hu’s mental power remained alert, sensing everything around them, but he didn't stop talking.
“How many people are in the Terminal Station? How many are Ability Users?”
Su Wan, somewhat choked by his grip, spoke with difficulty.
“Seven or eight hundred... people... Ability Users... not many... most are vagrants...”
“Who’s in charge inside?”
Su Wan’s voice was intermittent. “Usually... the robots manage things...”
Zhou Hu felt slightly more at ease.
He had heard about the robots from the Blood Fang Gang’s intelligence.
As for there not being many Ability Users, that was also logical.
If there were a large number of high-level Ability Users, this building would have long been targeted by the major powers of the Inner City. It wouldn't be his turn to reap the benefits.
In his view, this girl was completely under his control, her life held in his hand. She wouldn't dare lie.
One after the other, they arrived at the entrance of the Terminal Station building.
Less than ten meters remained between them and the closed fire door.
Zhou Hu’s footsteps suddenly halted.
His gaze moved past Su Wan to the entrance of the building.
Several people were standing there.
Leading them was a short, stocky man with a scar on his face—Black Rat.
Beside him were several members of the Order Maintenance Team, all of whom were physically fit vagrants.
They had been chatting by the door, but when they saw Su Wan being led over by the throat, they were all stunned.
“Landl—”
Black Rat’s mouth hung open, and the word “Landlord” almost escaped his lips.
But Su Wan’s eyes stopped him.
That gaze was as cold as ice, carrying an unquestionable warning.
Black Rat forced himself to swallow his words, his expression becoming extremely strange.
Zhou Hu’s gaze swept over the group, his brow furrowing slightly.
A bunch of ordinary people.
The strongest one, the scarred man, was barely a Level 1 Ability User.
This was it?
“Tell them to open the door,” Zhou Hu whispered in Su Wan’s ear.
Su Wan spoke with effort, her voice hoarse, “Open the door.”
Black Rat’s perception of reality was crumbling. He couldn't understand why the omnipotent Landlord was being held by the throat.
But his trust in Su Wan led him to automatically interpret this abnormal scene as some kind of unique whim of hers.
He froze for a moment, then nodded hurriedly. “Yes... Yes!”
He turned around and clumsily pushed open the heavy fire door.
The moment the door opened, Zhou Hu’s perception reached into the building like invisible tentacles.
The first-floor lobby was empty.
There were only a few sleekly designed robots standing quietly in the corners, their standby lights blinking.
The energy fluctuations from the robots were weak; they were clearly just ordinary auxiliary machinery without combat capabilities.
Rooms were distributed along both sides of the hallway, their doors tightly shut.
Zhou Hu could sense people inside these rooms, but they were all ordinary people.
The strongest among them were only Level 1 Ability Users.
He couldn't sense even a single Level 2 aura.
Zhou Hu’s frown deepened.
Where was the owner of the Terminal Station?
Where was that mysterious existence who could protect this building from artillery fire and shelter hundreds during a Death Tide?
He suddenly realized a problem—
If he couldn't find the owner, how was he supposed to conduct the trade of “hostage for treasure”?
Did he really have to enter the building and search floor by floor?
Zhou Hu hesitated.
He stood at the entrance, his hand never loosening its grip on Su Wan’s throat.
At this moment, Su Wan was less than five meters from the building’s steps.
She could feel Zhou Hu’s hesitation and sensed that a portion of his attention had shifted away from her, focused instead on searching the building.
Now!
Su Wan moved without any warning!
【Shadow-Hide】!
Her figure instantly became transparent, like a phantom merging into the air!
Zhou Hu’s reaction was incredibly fast!
The moment he felt his hand suddenly become empty and saw Su Wan’s body begin to blur, he realized something was wrong!
His right hand reflexively tightened with immense force, attempting to crush her throat before the phantom completely vanished!
But...
He caught only air.
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