225: An unexpected encounter

However, what interested Gu Qinghan was that Meina mentioned a word he had once understood.

Conglomerate.

Unlike Huaguo, the Conglomerates in Kimchi Country held immense power and influence.

People within the Conglomerates viewed ordinary citizens as mere livestock.

In the current situation, where legal restraints were gone, this dynamic would only intensify.

Life within the Conglomerates might not decline much; it might even become more extravagant.

As for the cost, the lives of ordinary people would be even more miserable than in other countries.

Seeing that the Maimed Demon's descent progress had increased a bit more, Gu Qinghan began to hesitate whether to intervene.

It was obvious that nothing good would happen once the Maimed Demon's descent reached 100%.

However, just as Gu Qinghan was about to act, he suddenly saw a team of well-equipped individuals appear in the distance.

The target of this group was clearly the Maimed Demon; after a brief exchange, they formed a perimeter and surrounded it.

Almost everyone attacked the surrounding demon slaves, leaving only one person to face the Maimed Demon.

Gu Qinghan immediately became interested; this person certainly wasn't seeking death, but what was his confidence based on?

Normal Professionals were almost completely suppressed when facing such an existence.

This guy, confident enough to fight the Maimed Demon alone, must have some trump card.

Gu Qinghan's confusion didn't last long, as the Maimed Demon and that person were already engaged in battle.

Several arms extended from the Maimed Demon's body, unleashing various skills that blasted towards that person.

That person showed no panic, releasing a misty glow that directly enveloped a portion of those skills.

The next moment, something that surprised Gu Qinghan happened.

Those enveloped skills almost instantly reversed direction.

They struck the other skills, actually scattering all the remaining ones!

Using Vision of the Dead, Gu Qinghan could clearly see that the misty glow was wrapped around those skills that suddenly turned against their owner.

"What kind of Profession is this?"

A question suddenly arose in Gu Qinghan's mind, and then he saw those skills, their momentum undiminished, strike the Maimed Demon.

Unlike the usual ineffectiveness of normal skills, all these skills inflicted effective damage on the Maimed Demon.

The Maimed Demon tried to retaliate, but the opponent, with just this one skill, kept the Maimed Demon spinning in circles.

Gu Qinghan, witnessing everything, immediately understood; this should be a Professional who had successfully advanced his Profession.

Unlike the skills of ordinary Professionals, that hazy energy was clearly capable of inflicting damage on entities possessing Demonic Power.

And from beginning to end, the opponent only used one skill, yet was able to completely suppress the Maimed Demon.

This was a complete suppression, and victory was an inevitable outcome.

After more than ten minutes, all the arms on the Maimed Demon's body withered, turning it into a disgusting, bloated ball of flesh.

Seeing this, the surrounding Professionals unleashed their skills, grinding down the Maimed Demon, which no longer had any power to resist.

With the death of the Maimed Demon, a large number of demon crystals burst out and were collected by that group.

As they were leaving, the leader glanced into a nearby window, then led his people inside and dragged out a frail girl.

Gu Qinghan observed their actions; they absolutely could not have come to rescue these ordinary people out of kindness.

So, what was their objective?

Gu Qinghan didn't know, but he could follow them to investigate.

He looked at Meina beside him and asked:

"I'm going to leave for a while. Do you have a way to protect yourself?"

Anna's expression changed at first, but she quickly recovered, nodded, and said:

"Yes, as long as I don't encounter terrifying guys like the one just now, I can protect myself."

Gu Qinghan nodded and tossed her a storage ring containing food and water.

At the same time, he removed the Death Poison Source from Anna's body and casually instructed her:

"I have something to do; you stay here for now.

When I'm done, I'll come back for you."

Meina felt her vitality recovering and subtly breathed a sigh of relief.

What Gu Qinghan was going to do must be very dangerous; for her to stay here was simply the best outcome.

Gu Qinghan summoned Xiao Hei, had it transform to a size just large enough to carry one person, and then lay on it, departing from the area.

There were no Mutated Creatures in the sky; Gu Qinghan summoning the Crow King would only attract attention.

He trailed far behind that team, relying solely on Xiao Hei's tracking ability to ensure he didn't lose his target.

After a long detour, Gu Qinghan saw that those people actually entered a bustling commercial street.

There were many figures around the commercial street, all appearing to be Professionals.

Once those people entered, Gu Qinghan gave up the pursuit.

There was no other way; the area was too densely populated, and blindly following further would easily expose his presence.

However, he still used the effect of the breath concealing cloak to approach a few guards at the street entrance, hoping to glean some information.

After an unknown amount of time, one of the guards yawned and said to a companion beside him:

"Hey, do you think the big shots of the Conglomerate will suddenly turn into those monsters one day?

They're sending people out to clear those descending demons now, probably because they're afraid of being affected themselves, right?"

His companion nudged him with an arm, reminding him:

"Don't talk nonsense. If they hadn't become Contractors, we might not be living such good lives."

The man who spoke first chuckled and explained:

"I was just a little curious, anyway, these big shots won't use us to complete demon tasks."

He stretched and then mumbled again:

"Fortunately, I didn't choose to become a Contractor; now I don't have to live in fear.

Those who became Contractors before, although they had a good life for a while, must be regretting it bitterly now, right?"

His tone was full of schadenfreude and mockery, but he was reminded again by his companion:

"If you keep talking carelessly, something will happen sooner or later.

More than half of the big shots in our Conglomerate are Contractors. If they hear what you said, how many days do you think you'd live?"

After saying this, the person moved a few steps away, seemingly afraid that his loose-tongued companion would bring about his demise.

The conversation ended there, but Gu Qinghan's eyes gradually brightened.

Listening to their conversation, there should be a Conglomerate stationed here.

The Maimed Demon he encountered earlier also seemed to have been a Contractor.

What surprised Gu Qinghan the most was that many of the high-ranking members of this Conglomerate were actually Contractors.

This no longer seemed to be a secret; it appeared these people had achieved everything they had today by relying on the abilities of Contractors.

"These little Xiba, they play twisted games..."

Gu Qinghan thought to himself, but then suddenly saw another team approaching from a distance.

Looking closely, there was only one person in that group.

Because, except for the one in front who was human, all the rest were skeletons.

These skeletons were different from Gu Qinghan's; their skeletons were much larger, and they had black and red markings on their bodies.

Black and red flames burned on them, yet they carried no weapons.

Gu Qinghan was stunned; he hadn't expected to directly encounter the main objective of his trip to Kimchi Country:

Another Necromancer!