131: Chapter 131 I know they are pitiful people

The interrogation lasted two hours, and after sealing off all the meridians in Li Hao's body, Zhou Qingtian finally sat down on the steps at the entrance of the Martial Education Bureau with Chen Mo.

Zhou Qingtian lit a filterless cigarette, and the pungent smell of low-quality tobacco wafted around Chen Mo's nose.

"Want one?"

Zhou Qingtian took one from his cigarette case and handed it to Chen Mo, who waved his hand to indicate he didn't smoke.

"Do you think I'm very cruel?"

"For tearing apart a perfectly good family, leaving a wife without a husband and children without a father?"

Chen Mo didn't speak; he was thinking about how much pressure Xueni would face if her identity were exposed.

"This is what we at the Anti-Abyss Department do."

"For the happiness of the vast majority, we have no choice but to sacrifice that small portion of pitiful people."

"We won't abandon them, either. Those two children will live under the strict surveillance of the Anti-Abyss Department from now on, but at the same time, their living expenses and tuition will be covered by the state."

"They are victims after all, and we cannot let victims get hurt again."

That filterless cigarette burned extremely quickly, reaching its end in just three or four puffs.

"The Abyssal Race is never worthy of trust. After we clear out the Abyssal Race infiltrator stronghold in Anci City, I will hand Li Hao over to the executioner squad to deal with."

Chen Mo snapped his head around and stared fixedly at Zhou Qingtian.

"You… lied to him?"

"He is going to die in the end, isn't he?"

Zhou Qingtian pulled out another cigarette and lit it, but this time he didn't smoke it as anxiously.

"Yes, the Abyssal Race all deserve to die."

"You are still inexperienced and don't yet know what the Abyssal Race is capable of."

"Once your cultivation rank increases and your horizons broaden, you might even be more ruthless than me when you take action."

The grey-white smoke drifted away with the wind. Zhou Qingtian crushed the cigarette butt with his fingers and tossed it into a trash can nearby.

"Those who have completely integrated into human society like Li Hao are, in the end, a very small minority."

"We cannot use such a small minority as an example to underestimate the malice the Abyssal Race holds toward humanity."

Zhou Qingtian stood up and looked back at Chen Mo.

"Principal Ouyang values you highly, to have let you come and experience these deep-level matters so early."

"Kid, although I can't beat you, I can still be your teacher in some matters."

"Never sympathize with the Abyssal Race. They are fundamentally a bunch of beasts, and killing them all is the only correct choice."

As he spoke, Zhou Qingtian patted Chen Mo on the shoulder.

This time it worked out well; sitting down, Chen Mo was finally about the same height as the standing Zhou Qingtian.

"What about those two mixed-blood children? What will they face in the end?"

Chen Mo finally asked the question he was most concerned about. He wasn't concerned about the children's fate, but rather…

"Them? I've already made that very clear."

"They will live their entire lives under the surveillance of the Anti-Abyss Department and will need to undergo a socialization assessment after reaching adulthood."

Zhou Qingtian looked up at the sky; a faint trace of blood-red flashed across the azure blue expanse.

"If they don't pass the socialization assessment, we will end our surveillance."

"And we will imprison them; they will spend the rest of their time in the Deepwater Prison."

"Of course, they only lose their freedom; we won't end their lives. This is also for the sake of the vast majority."

"Alright, chatting time is over. It's time to get back to work."

"This time we've pulled up the radish and brought out the mud; let's plan to uproot the entire stronghold in Anci City."

Chen Mo nodded, stood up, and followed Zhou Qingtian back to the temporary underground base.

Behind the two-way mirror, Li Hao, whose limbs were nailed into the ground and whose every energy node was tightly sealed, suddenly looked up.

He seemed to have seen Chen Mo behind the two-way mirror and said something with an almost pleading look in his eyes.

The soundproofing of this temporary prison cell was excellent, so Chen Mo couldn't hear what he had said.

Opening the prison door, Chen Mo squatted down beside Li Hao.

"Do you have anything to add?"

"Am I going to die for sure?"

Li Hao's expression was dim; it seemed he had long since guessed his own fate.

"If you don't have anything to add, don't bother trying to chat with me when you have nothing better to do."

"I'm not familiar with you."

Seeing that Li Hao was just trying to pull him into idle chatter, Chen Mo turned off his voice recorder and prepared to leave.

"Wait! Please, wait!"

Seeing Chen Mo preparing to leave, Li Hao immediately began to struggle frantically.

"What exactly do you want?"

Chen Mo frowned and stood at the prison entrance, waiting for Li Hao to speak.

"I know, I understand, I won't survive."

"I, I have a batch of cultivation resources hidden in the stronghold."

"I have no other requests. Between you and me, it is a war of races, a life-and-death struggle. Just being able to give me a chance to speak is something I am already very grateful for!"

Li Hao's tone was sincere, but Chen Mo had no intention of believing him at all.

"I'm not trying to use those resources to bribe you; I just want to say…"

"After I am executed, could you tell my daughter and son that their father has joined a secret organization and will need a long time to return?"

"And give those resources to them, so they can also embark on the path of a martial artist, at least to possess… the power to save their lives under my own kin, and to protect their mother!"

"We'll talk about it afterward."

Chen Mo didn't immediately agree to Li Hao's request; all decisions had to be based on safety considerations.

"Thank you, thank you…"

Hearing this, Li Hao was not disappointed at all; instead, he laughed.

"The strongest in the stronghold is an Abyss War General. His talent is called Ossification, and he can withstand three strikes from a War Commander without dying."

"Furthermore, the bone spikes he manifests are extremely powerful; they can instantly penetrate that thing you humans call a tank."

"You must be very careful if you encounter him."

Chen Mo didn't say anything more; he just turned and left, locking the door.

"What did he say?"

Outside the door, Zhou Qingtian stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall.

"He knows he won't survive, and he asked me to take the cultivation resources he saved up and bring them to his children."

"Also, the strongest person in the stronghold is an Abyss War General equivalent to a 5th-rank Steel Bone Realm Martial Artist, and his talent is Ossification."

"Are you sure you don't want to request reinforcements from above?"

Chen Mo told Zhou Qingtian everything they had just talked about and asked the question that had been puzzling him.

"I've already requested reinforcements, but it will take some time for them to arrive."

"The fact that Li Hao was captured has likely already been exposed, and we must race against time to take down that stronghold."

"Therefore, we can't wait for reinforcements for now; we have to take action ourselves first."

Zhou Qingtian opened the black case he was carrying, which contained a full set of equipment specially supplied by the Anti-Abyss Department.

"You… you shouldn't go, right?"

After putting on his black armor, Zhou Qingtian turned to look at Chen Mo before putting on his demon mask.

"A 5th-rank Abyss War General has extremely high destructive power, and you are only a 2nd-rank Martial Artist. If you get hurt, I won't be able to answer to Principal Ouyang."

Chen Mo knew Zhou Qingtian had his own concerns, but to put it bluntly, this guy wasn't as good a fighter as he was.

Besides, it was just a 5th-rank Abyss War General; he had even fought 6th-rank and even 7th-rank Venerables.

Would he be afraid of that one little Abyss War General?

"Fine, but you must remember: once the lockdown device is activated, it will be a fight to the death."

"The lockdown device will last for two hours."

"After two hours, either we kill them all, or we all die, and then reinforcements arrive to kill all those Abyssal scum."

Putting on his demon mask, the smiling middle-aged man from before vanished, replaced by a man-devouring demon.

"Let me know when you're ready."

"Of course, you don't have much time; we have to set off in half an hour at most."