Chapter 1

The yellow-green chlorine gas billowed into the safe room, its density greater than air, creating the illusion of a yellow-green waterfall cascading over the doorframe.

Li Ang waved his hand, signaling his companions to step back. He pinched the rubber hose with his left hand and casually retrieved a full-coverage respirator from his backpack, putting it on.

His voice muffled by the respirator, he shouted, "Open the door if you want to live!"

The metal door to the side room, shattered and twisted by the grenade blast, was rapidly filling with toxic gas.

Soon, strained breathing and coughing echoed from within.

"Cough, cough."

"Cough, cough, cough, cough."

"Hiss... hiss..."

The safe room, located below the warehouse and factory, was equipped with seven different types of gas masks, anticipating potential toxic gas leaks—a testament to Tama Riadhi's self-preservation instincts.

However, the problem was that the room contained not only Tama Riadhi and his trusted men but also a dozen others, including Santos...

Soon, the room erupted in Filipino shouts, curses, and the sounds of a struggle.

"Bang, bang, bang."

Gunshots rang out as the side room's metal door was forced open, and three or four men tumbled out.

With a limited number of gas masks, those who hadn't managed to grab one had no choice but to fight for their lives, opening the alloy door and surrendering to Li Ang in exchange for a chance at survival.

Their faces contorted, eyes narrowed, and mouths and noses covered, the men staggered toward the main door.

Gathering their last bit of strength, they twisted the ring-shaped handle of the alloy door, opening it wide.

The door swung open, letting in fresh air.

Li Ang removed the rubber hose, closed the valve, and stored the chlorine gas container in his backpack, retreating behind the wall next to the door.

The men who had opened the door, disoriented and unable to open their eyes, could only stumble and fall beside the doorframe.

Before they could savor the sweet, clean air, a volley of bullets from behind riddled them.

The shooters were, of course, the loyal henchmen of Tama Riadhi, emerging from the side room.

These thugs wore gas masks but were inwardly despairing.

Ten brothers had died inexplicably, while their opponent was merely a small, fragmented S.. squad.

Now, they were the ones trapped.

"Da da da da."

The gunmen fired at the open door while dragging Tama Riadhi and Santos Aquino, both wearing gas masks, toward another room on the right side of the safe room.

Unfortunately, Li Ang wouldn't give them the chance.

He pulled out the grenade launcher, rested it against the doorframe, and fired a grenade at the henchmen.

The grenade soared through the chlorine gas and exploded, sending the gang members flying like ragdolls.

Li Ang put away the grenade launcher, pulled out his rifle, and leaned against the doorframe, accurately headshotting the surviving gang members one by one.

He left only Tama Riadhi, with his Mediterranean hairstyle, and Santos Aquino, dressed in a black suit.

Tama Riadhi, hit directly by the blast wave, felt several ribs break and lost sensation in one arm and both legs.

He struggled to turn over, breathing heavily, as he watched Li Ang slowly walk into the room and raise his gun.

Four gunshots rang out, and bullets pierced Tama Riadhi's elbows and knees.

Agony overwhelmed him, and beads of sweat instantly appeared on his forehead.

How long had it been since he felt pain like this...

With that thought, he lost consciousness.

Li Ang lowered his gun. He had completed the mission of eliminating 100 gang members, and it was only a matter of time before Tama Riadhi died from blood loss.

Now, the only matter to be dealt with was Santos Aquino, also affected by the blast wave, who was lying on the ground, struggling to breathe.

Step.

Li Ang stepped on the back of Santos's hand, applying slight pressure with his military boot. With a "crack," Santos's little finger and ring finger were fractured. Li Ang continued to twist his foot, grinding the fractured areas.

The pain shot through Santos's body, causing him to curl up like a shrimp. His face flushed red, his eyes widened, and his mouth gaped open, unable to make a sound.

Li Ang slowly lifted his foot, bent down, grabbed Santos's suit collar, and coldly asked, "Tell me, what is your value?"

"I... I have a lot of money."

"I don't care about money." Li Ang shook his head. The $300,000 in cash that Liu Wudai had given him was enough to last him a while, and Santos wasn't carrying much cash on him.

"My brother is Cruz, Cruz Aquino, cough, cough. Isn't your S.. team trying to hold me hostage to threaten my brother?"

Santos said in a panic, enduring the pain, "He loves me very much, believe me. As long as you send him a video of me, he will postpone the attack on Marawi City..."

"Sorry, I don't care about that either."

Li Ang tilted his head, scrutinizing Santos, his sharp gaze constantly scanning the latter's neck, as if considering the best angle to make a cut.

"I... I know a lot of powerful people, understand? Very powerful."

Santos swallowed with difficulty, struggling to say, "They are truly standing at the top of the pyramid, ruling human society, managing human society, and setting the rules for its operation.

Financiers, industrialists, monopolies, oligarchs, tycoons, capital behemoths, top dignitaries... I serve them.

A little bit of insignificant resources from this network of relationships can help you rise to the top."

"Oh?"

Li Ang had to admit he was somewhat interested. He said calmly, "I don't believe that the brother of a trash rebel leader from a backwater can have connections with so-called 'top dignitaries.'"

Santos breathed a sigh of relief. Not daring to lie, he honestly said, "That would naturally be impossible in the past.

But half a year ago, through a wealthy heir I met while studying in England, I joined a highly secretive transnational organization.

That organization is called the Ephemeral Flower."

"..."

Li Ang narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "Continue."

Santos exhaled, enduring the pain in his fingers, and said, "The organization has a very long history, and its members are top dignitaries scattered all over the world.

Someone like me, who is only connected to a rebel group in the Philippines, naturally cannot become a formal member.

But,"

Santos paused and continued, "Those who are high above always need people at the bottom to do some dirty work that they can't do themselves."

Li Ang raised an eyebrow. "Such as?"

"Producing compounds."

Santos said frankly, "As an outer member, I am responsible for contacting gang leaders like Tama Riadhi in the Philippines and entrusting them to produce some special compounds called 'Ephemeral Flower.'"

Then, Santos told Li Ang about the characteristics of Ephemeral Flower and its secondary products one by one.

"The lowest quality product is called Ephemeral Flower 1, which is what you saw in the factory and warehouse downstairs. The organization requires us to sell it to the lowest of the low in society. We only seek to spread it, not to make money."

"The higher-end product is called Ephemeral Flower 2. The preparation conditions for this compound are more stringent, and only a little can be produced each time, but the effects are much stronger. It's stored in those metal boxes in the next room."

"The organization attaches great importance to each batch of Ephemeral Flower 2 that is produced, and there are special arrangements."

"But because of his own actions, he disrupted the organization's arrangements, which is why my brother came to the rescue, determined to seize this batch of goods."

Li Ang interrupted, "Wait, if it's true that the dignitaries who rule the world are asking you to produce Ephemeral Flower 1 and 2, then why don't they use their own networks to set up a few ultra-large factories somewhere in Africa or South America, and then ship all the goods around the world?

Instead of scattering all the production factories around the world like this?"

"The organization's only requirement for the Ephemeral Flower series of products is to spread and disseminate them as quickly and efficiently as possible."

Santos replied, "Due to geographical and transportation factors, a large number of low-level processing plants scattered around the world are far more efficient in terms of dissemination than a few giant factories.

Moreover, the prerequisite for the preparation of Ephemeral Flower 2 is the need for a large amount of Ephemeral Flower 1 to purify it.

Therefore, each batch of Ephemeral Flower 2 produced in low-level processing plants is limited and special."

So that's how it is.

Li Ang understood in his heart and asked, "Where was this batch of goods in Tama Riadhi's hands originally supposed to be sent?"

Santos hesitated for a moment and said, "Yin City."