Dragon Roar Daoist took a sip of tea. He couldn’t forget its endlessly fragrant aftertaste.

He had thought he’d enjoyed plenty of luxuries, but it was clear now that he’d been far too naive.

Modern technology and its incredible creations provided this ancient man with sensory pleasures he had never before experienced.

He wasn’t worried about what would happen next; for him, all that was left to do was wait.

As for the state of the war, he himself was caught in the thick of it. Since Speaker Zhongling had decided to use their own kind as hostages, what could he do?

Besides, Taiyin Celestial Monarch was tied up and couldn’t intervene, leaving them with no solution.

So, all they could do was endure the stalemate.

"Mr. Dragon Roar, it seems you’re living a very comfortable life." Qi Suian tore through the roof from above and swaggered inside.

Stealth was no longer an option. As a ’violator’, the moment he got within one kilometer of a survivor, the survivor would receive a warning from the apocalypse game.

He might as well make a flashy entrance.

But he didn’t have to worry about anyone interfering. He had already deployed his Floating Cannons, which had cleared out a large, empty space around the building.

Anyone who wanted to get close had to get past the Floating Cannons first.

However, the Dark Energy Beams and Ghost Energy Storms were no joke; absolutely no one could break through.

"Who are you?" Dragon Roar Daoist stared in confusion at Qi Suian, this Iron Armor Man. He didn’t recall knowing this person.

"You don’t need to concern yourself with that. You’re coming with me," Qi Suian said, and the Tai Sui God was already moving.

It closed the distance instantly, knocked him out with a light tap, then injected him with an anesthetic, fitted him with an oxygen device, and tossed him into the Subspace Pocket.

With Dragon Roar Daoist dealt with, next came the other "Type-3s."

The entire process went very smoothly. Just as he was about to leave, however, he found himself surrounded by a large group of survivors.

Their leader, Zhongling, had a thunderous expression. The other high-ranking survivors had all rushed to the scene.

None of them had expected the ’violator’ to actually abduct Dragon Roar Daoist and his companions.

In reality, Qi Suian was the one person they hadn’t guarded against.

After all, Dragon Roar Daoist and the ’violator’, Qi Suian, had no direct connection.

"Leave Senior Dragon Roar and the others behind, and I’ll grant you the mercy of an intact corpse!" Zhongling said, suppressing his rage.

The moment he heard that, Qi Suian knew the man’s intelligence had been nerfed by his own plot armor.

’Would any normal person say something like that?’

’I’m the one with all the leverage. He shouldn’t be threatening to leave my corpse intact; he should be asking what my demands are for their release.’

So, Qi Suian decided not to waste any more time on him and simply turned to leave.

Seeing Qi Suian’s dismissive action, Zhongling was absolutely livid.

"Attack! Shoot him down for me!!!" Zhongling roared.

At his command, a barrage of missiles soared into the sky, further depleting their already strained reserves.

The next moment, the Floating Cannons’ Dark Energy Beams fired in unison. The missiles were disintegrated in midair before they could even get close to Qi Suian.

They didn’t even explode, simply vanishing completely.

Before Zhongling could issue a second command, Qi Suian’s figure had vanished.

Seeing this, the expressions of all the high-ranking officials changed drastically.

"Speaker, I propose we divert our forces to hunt down the ’violator’ and retrieve Senior Dragon Roar and the others as quickly as possible," one of the council members suggested.

"Correct. Otherwise, we’ll have a hard time explaining this to the Taiyin Celestial Monarch. The war front can wait," another member added.

"You’re right. The ’violator’ must be eliminated. He’s more dangerous than the Cold Energy Monsters!" Zhongling agreed.

If they lost the war, they could just withdraw from the Ice Continent. They could recoup their losses at the expense of all of humanity.

But losing Dragon Roar Daoist jeopardized their immortality. This wasn’t a matter of simple benefits anymore; this was a direct threat to their ultimate interests.

"The Speaker is wise! The Ice Continent wasn’t ours to begin with; we’d just be returning it to the Cold Energy Monsters."

"But Senior Dragon Roar is one of our own. We can’t just abandon him."

"We will not abandon any of our kin, nor will we allow any of them to be treated unfairly."

Soon, many council members were chiming in with more high-minded, self-serving justifications.

This brought everyone onto the same page.

"Notify... to see me. We need to discuss a change in war strategy, and how to rescue Senior Dragon Roar and kill the ’violator.’" Zhongling immediately rattled off a long list of names.

These individuals were mostly the commanders-in-chief, staff officers, and other key figures leading the war against the Cold Energy Monsters.

Because their interests were aligned, not a single council member objected this time. Various orders were methodically issued and carried out.

’Violator, let’s see how you get out of this one.’

"Hmph!" Zhongling snorted.

They had previously let Qi Suian go because they couldn’t agree on how to divide the spoils, but they never expected the ’violator’ to have the gall to show up at their doorstep and provoke them.

’He’s simply courting death.’

「Elsewhere」

Qi Suian quickly left the Ice Continent and arrived at a safe house he had prepared beforehand.

The AI had planned numerous safe houses for Qi Suian; he could find a secure hideout in virtually any location across the globe.

After landing, cleaning, and getting organized, he took out all the "Type-3s" and placed them under further restraints.

Only then did he begin the dissection and experiments.

In the process, they all regained consciousness, but they were unable to move or speak.

"You know, you aren’t the first ’Type-3s’ I’ve encountered. The last one I captured alive called himself the Tiger Roar Daoist," Qi Suian said casually as he began to dissect Dragon Roar Daoist.

Dragon Roar Daoist’s eyes twitched, as if trying to convey something.

"You and this Tiger Roar Daoist must be connected somehow, but I don’t really care."

"He’s dead now, anyway." Qi Suian had no intention of interrogating Dragon Roar Daoist for information.

’He, like Tiger Roar Daoist, is surely a tough nut to crack.’

’So, my goal is to make an example of him.’

’First, I’ll intimidate the others, then I’ll use various means to slowly break down their psychological defenses.’

’That’s why choosing their leader, Dragon Roar Daoist, is essential.’

As he rambled on to Dragon Roar Daoist about the process of dissecting Tiger Roar Daoist, he was, in parallel, dissecting Dragon Roar Daoist himself.

The focus of his research was Dragon Roar Daoist’s core. The primary data wasn’t much different from that of Tiger Roar Daoist.

You could say he was just another version of Tiger Roar Daoist, differing only in personality and thought processes. In addition, because they practiced different Qi Cultivation Methods, their evolutionary paths had diverged.

Other than that, there was little difference.

This proved that both Tiger Roar Daoist and Dragon Roar Daoist were assimilated avatars of the same mastermind.

"Who are you?" In the midst of this process, Dragon Roar Daoist had recovered slightly. He still couldn’t move, but at least he could now speak.

So, his first words, just like Tiger Roar Daoist’s, were a pointless question.

"Someone you don’t need to know," Qi Suian shot back with his own pointless reply, giving away nothing about his identity.

This group wasn’t composed of survivors, so they had no idea that Qi Suian was a ’violator’.

Furthermore, since they had been subdued and rendered unconscious in an instant, they were completely unaware of the ensuing chaos and thus had no way of knowing Qi Suian’s true identity.

"Of course, if you’re willing to tell me about the Taiyin Celestial Monarch, and if I’m in a good enough mood, I might just tell you who I am," Qi Suian said sarcastically.

The AI had previously used its reconnaissance network to lip-read their conversations, discovering that their so-called "method of survival" came from the Taiyin Celestial Monarch.

This implied that the one who had assimilated them was very likely the Taiyin Celestial Monarch.

Therefore, there was a ninety percent chance the Taiyin Celestial Monarch was not human.

Beyond that, Qi Suian knew nothing.

"You want the method of survival, too?" Dragon Roar Daoist said suddenly.

There were generally only two kinds of people who sought out the Taiyin Celestial Monarch: those who wanted the Taiyin Refining Technique, and those who wanted the method of survival.

Since Qi Suian had gone to such lengths to abduct him, it had to be the latter.

"That’s right. Everyone wants to survive the period after the Cold Energy disappears."

"Zhongling read your farewell letter, Dragon Roar Daoist. And so have I."

"Unfortunately, Tiger Roar Daoist was too stubborn. He refused to talk, right up until his death. I wonder, Dragon Roar Daoist, if you would be willing to introduce me to the Taiyin Celestial Monarch."

"I’m not asking for much. I just want to live." Qi Suian’s tone was full of heartfelt sincerity.

It was all thanks to the AI’s help; otherwise, Qi Suian wasn’t sure he could have put on such a convincing performance.

Dragon Roar Daoist, however, fell silent. He was certain that Qi Suian was hiding something about Tiger Roar Daoist’s death.

As for the matter of an introduction to the Taiyin Celestial Monarch, it was certainly possible. After all, with Qi Suian’s immense combat power, he would be a huge asset if he joined their ranks.

But there was a problem: Qi Suian was too strong, especially in that strange suit of iron armor.

He worried about what would happen if Qi Suian was only pretending to want to meet the Taiyin Celestial Monarch, only to launch a surprise attack.

The man had been able to abduct them from under heavy armed guard without sustaining a single scratch; he was undeniably powerful.

It wasn’t impossible for him to pose a threat to the Taiyin Celestial Monarch.

"Of course, I can. It’s just that Taiyin is occupied at the moment. It will take some time," Dragon Roar Daoist could only agree for now. He wasn’t lying.

Qi Suian believed him, but he had no intention of letting him go.

’After all, he’s just the chicken I’m killing to scare the monkeys—a tool to break the other ’Type-3s.’ I never planned to let him live.’

"Heh. That’s what Tiger Roar Daoist said last time, too."

"I let him live a few extra days because of it, and I got absolutely nothing."

"You, Dragon’s Roar, are truly a pair with Tiger’s Roar. Even your excuses for brushing me off are identical." Qi Suian’s voice suddenly turned grim.

This made Dragon Roar Daoist’s heart sink. He was now certain that Tiger Roar Daoist had indeed tried to recruit Qi Suian, but had probably misspoken and caused a misunderstanding.

He was about to open his mouth to explain, but found he couldn’t. Qi Suian had just physically shut him up.