The female esper felt like a thorn in her back. She knew she didn't possess the same strength as their boss and was no match for the man in front of her, let alone fight back.
"Don't try to escape. Perhaps I can be gentle. Otherwise, I'll have to get rough?"
Ren Yuanhao exhaled a puff of smoke. The rising smoke and his roguish, carefree demeanor unexpectedly caused a strange glint in the female esper's eyes.
"What exactly do you want?"
"Answer my questions honestly, and I won't make things difficult for you."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Because you're a kind-hearted woman. However, I can't agree with your methods. What you're doing will only harm these people. Do you understand what I mean?"
The female esper chuckled. "What do you understand? These people have to struggle just to survive. When they're on the verge of death, taking this gold ore to buy something they like to eat means they can at least die as a well-fed ghost. Guys like you, who have lived a life of privilege, wouldn't understand."
"Alright, but have you ever thought about why these people live such difficult lives?" Ren Yuanhao retorted.
"The times are turbulent. As long as the issues between the Nanming and Tianyu are not resolved, these people will have no stable income and will be discriminated against everywhere. They live in such misery, is that the reason you wanted? Are you satisfied?"
The female esper's emotions ran high, but Ren Yuanhao had already understood the reason this woman was working for Nanming from her near-howling words. In such chaotic times, only by relying on their own strength to end the chaos could they see hope.
"Then let me ask you, have your actions achieved your goal?" Ren Yuanhao understood one thing: standing on the wrong side not only wouldn't end the chaos but would only stir the waters further.
The female esper paused slightly, her tone tinged with dejection. "No, there's nothing more I can do."
"No, you can do more." Ren Yuanhao's eyes exuded a warmth that could melt ice and snow.
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
Ren Yuanhao organized his thoughts and said, "Do you know where the Mandala gene came from?"
"Is there any need to ask? Our Nanmen has never had a devourer. This thing must have come from elsewhere."
Ren Yuanhao sneered, "Then let me ask you another question, how much do you know about the Mandala gene?"
"I only know that it can activate a person's potential. If successful, they will become an acquired esper, possessing various powers beyond ordinary people, but the failure rate is extremely high."
The female esper's understanding of the Mandala gene was reasonable. Ren Yuanhao then countered, "Very good, you're not completely ignorant. But don't you find it strange? Since the inner city has the Mandala gene and has destroyed so many people, have you ever seen an acquired esper in the inner city?"
The female esper was slightly taken aback, then murmured, "Indeed, I haven't."
"So, doesn't this situation strike you as strange?"
"It's not strange, is it? It's quite reasonable to stockpile acquired espers as combat power without us discovering them."
Ren Yuanhao wagged his finger. "Then, in the eyes of Tianyu, who is more important, acquired espers or innate espers?"
The female esper immediately understood his meaning. "Indeed, if they want to accumulate strength, preserving innate espers is the absolutely correct choice."
A hint of an unusual expression finally appeared in her eyes. Then, as if she had figured it out, she unconsciously sped up her speech.
"I heard that innate espers can freely devour the energy cores of acquired espers, while acquired espers can only devour those of their own kind. Therefore, it's not about the quantity of espers, but their quality! Creating espers is likely just to sustain more powerful espers, like Mastiffs; nine dogs for one Mastiff. Let them fight amongst themselves, and the one remaining might devour everyone else's abilities."
Ren Yuanhao heard this concept for the first time and was equally shocked. At least before this, he had never considered anything like 'nine dogs for one Mastiff.' And, frankly, this method was quite effective, so he couldn't rule out this possibility.
"Even if that's a possibility, why do you think it's definitively something Yu Tian did? Couldn't the Nanming Group have done something like this?"
When Ren Yuanhao said this, the female esper burst into laughter. "How is that possible? If they wanted to cultivate espers, wouldn't it be better to do it in our Nanming? Why would they risk entering the inner city to do such a thing? Wouldn't that be redundant?"
"That's a good question. Then think about it, if this situation were happening in your Nan City, where would the living people used to cultivate espers come from? Nanming's own citizens, or inner city citizens?"
The female esper thought for a moment and then said, "Kidnap people from the inner city? But it's not as simple as taking away devourers. So, they can only use the citizens of Nan City. But this is just a guess; it doesn't equate to reality."
"Wait a moment, assuming it is reality, if, as you say, they captured people in Nan City and used them to cultivate espers, wouldn't that incite your anger?"
"Is there any need to ask?"
"Then, assuming Nanming shifted the mission location to the inner city, what would happen?"
The female esper seemed to grasp Ren Yuanhao's meaning. "It's not too difficult for people from Nan City to enter the inner city. And if these people were subjected to the Mandala gene inoculation upon entering the inner city, all accusations would be directed at Yu Tian!"
The female esper laughed wildly. "Hahahaha, you're so good at fabricating! This, this is utter nonsense!"
Ren Yuanhao remained unfazed. "If you don't believe me, you can come with me and see."
...
For some reason, though the female esper could have ignored Ren Yuanhao's wild ramblings, she still followed him to the van.
"Do you know the common characteristic of the so-called devourers you brought back?"
The female esper didn't reply, allowing the man who was talking nonsense to continue.
"They have actually formed incomplete energy cores, but because their vitality is too weak, they couldn't survive in the inner city, so they had to be transferred to the outer city. I believe your boss knows this, otherwise, he wouldn't have tried so desperately to escape just now."
Ren Yuanhao shared all his thoughts, including using injections to enhance heart resuscitation and prolong life for plunder. Moreover, he personally compared two different 'devourers,' which finally made the female esper slightly believe Ren Yuanhao's deductions.
Just then, a terrifying pressure descended!