Feng Yun, a piece of milk candy in his mouth, leaned over to a Level 3 superpower user ahead of them, whispered a few words, slipped something into the other’s hand, then pointed at Jiang Le. A moment later, he quietly raised his hand and gave Jiang Le the OK sign.

When multiple high-level superpower users travel in a group like this, they usually bring along some ordinary people to handle the physical labor and menial tasks—like cleanup—that superpower users wouldn’t normally do.

Jiang Le was assigned a heavy backpack and, along with several other ordinary people, brought up the rear of the group. Keeping pace with his companions, he walked for several kilometers until he could barely make out the backs of the superpower users ahead.

However, two superpower users trailed behind them—it was unclear whether their primary purpose was to ensure the group’s safety or to keep an eye on the supplies they were carrying.

After walking for over an hour, Feng Yun grew exhausted and slowed his pace, falling back into the group of ordinary people. He even found a moment to wink at Jiang Le.

People like Feng Yun were accustomed to hovering on the fringes of various groups—keeping a low profile while still managing to snag a few small perks. It was a common path for superpower users like him, whose mutant abilities lacked practical utility.

Another hour later, the group finally came to a halt in a clearing that had just been cleared. The superpower users headed straight for the mission site, while the ordinary people began unpacking the supplies they’d brought from the base, pitching tents for rest, lighting a campfire, and setting up cooking gear to boil water.

Jiang Le was assigned the task of washing vegetables.

Since this team was comprised of Hope Base’s top-tier superpower users, the supplies they brought were top-notch. There was no shortage of rice, flour, cooking oil, meat, or vegetables—there were even a few blocks of fresh, white tofu.

If one ignored the small, malnourished-looking greens in his hands—which would never appear on the shelves of a modern supermarket or at a farmers’ market—the scene, with the tents and small tables set up, could almost be mistaken for a picnic outing.

These were vegetables grown right here at the base, usually tended by plant-type superpower users. However, the land infected by mutation clearly wasn’t suited for modern seeds, and even with great effort, the results were often meager.

Jiang Le’s fingertips gently rubbed the leaves as he washed them, his gaze occasionally lifting toward the direction where the team of superpower users had disappeared. It was an ordinary-looking slope, but his view was quickly blocked by the incline. He’d heard there was a cave at the bottom of that slope, and the suspected mutant was said to be inside.

Jiang Le lowered his gaze, watching the stream of water flowing through the gaps between his fingers. The water appeared clear, yet it had a slightly sticky texture that most people would struggle to detect, and it carried a faint fishy odor. It was as if this stream wasn’t flowing water at all, but rather a transparent mucus that had been peeled off some creature.

Feng Yun hadn’t followed the main group down the slope; his abilities weren’t suited for combat, so he’d been assigned, along with another superpower user, to supervise the ordinary people. Now, with nothing better to do, he wandered over to Jiang Le, holding an apple in his hand. Right in front of Jiang Le, he dipped it into the stream and swirled it around.

Jiang Le watched him pick the apple out of the water, hesitating to speak. The fishy smell almost made him wrinkle his brow.

Feng Yun looked at Jiang Le curiously. “Why are you staring at me like that?” He tucked the apple against his chest. “Hey, this is the only one I’ve got. I don’t have any to spare for you, so just watch me eat it. I know you’ve got a sweet tooth.”

Jiang Le: “……” Never mind; he couldn’t be bothered to say anything.

Feng Yun seemed completely oblivious to the fishy smell of the stream water. He took a big bite on his own, grimacing as he ate.

“Damn, this is sour.”

But even as he complained about the sourness, he kept eating. There was nothing to be done—most fruit trees were like this after mutating. At lower levels, they didn’t have any special attack power, but they still bore fruit. In fact, they often looked absolutely perfect on the outside, yet eating them was like playing Minesweeper. If the taste was just sour, that was actually the better outcome.

Jiang Le ignored him, shook the water off the washed vegetables, and placed them in the colander beside him. His gaze returned to the entrance of the deep cave at the foot of the slope.

Drip, drip. Water droplets kept seeping down from the cave’s ceiling, like a ticking alarm clock.

Cooking smoke rose as the rice grains swelled in the boiling water, releasing the fresh fragrance of grain, and were kept warm over a charcoal fire. Sliced meat was stir-fried until the fat rendered, blending with the other ingredients to create a rich aroma. The tofu swayed gently in the pot as the broth boiled, its delicate texture gently rippling.

In the damp, gloomy cave, the light at the entrance was swiftly swallowed by the deep, narrow passage behind them. Gusts of cold wind blowing from within carried an indescribable, fishy stench. The only source of light came from the sparse, mutated moss growing on the rock walls, emitting a dim, eerie green glow, barely outlining the jagged contours of the rocks, which only served to make the darkness within the cave even more blinding.

“Better to be safe than sorry. We don’t know what kind of monsters lurk inside,” warned their leader, Meng Changming, in a cold tone. He was a Level 4 superpower user with a specialization in freezing.

Amid the sound of flowing water in the listeners’ ears, his tone was filled with composure. Such an environment helped him strengthen his own abilities. With every step forward, the moss beneath his feet would freeze slightly.

Behind him were the three others who had entered the cave with him: Li Ming, a Level 3 superpower user who could temporarily transform his skin into a metallic substance to ward off external attacks; Zhang Kai, a Level 3 strength superpower user capable of punching through rock walls; and Yi Bin, a Level 3 speed superpower user who was currently leading the way, his body occasionally moving like a fleeting streak of light.

At the end of the narrow, downward-sloping passageway, a vast, open cavern suddenly came into view. As Meng Changming’s flashlight swept across the damp, dampened walls, countless protruding rocks were revealed.

“Gurgle… croak.” A muffled frog’s croak echoed from the depths of the cavern.

Zhang Kai’s foot slipped, causing him to lose his balance. He braced himself against the rock wall with both hands, trying to regain his footing, but the sensation on his palms wasn’t the expected hardness—it was wet, slippery, and soft.

At the same time, that “gurgle… croak” sound emanated from beneath his palms. Zhang Kai cursed under his breath and hurriedly grabbed the flashlight from his waist.

When the flashlight illuminated the cave wall up close, Zhang Kai finally saw clearly that the countless protrusions were not rocks as he had assumed. They were distinctly translucent bulges, each containing a pool of blackish-green liquid and tadpole-like creatures as large as bowls. The eyes protruding from beneath the bulges were staring intently at Zhang Kai, their throats pulsing rhythmically as they emitted that distinctive “gwaa” sound.

The light shining on the nearby rock wall seemed to disturb these hatching mutant tadpoles, and the once-silent cave was immediately filled with a wave of gurgling sounds.

Meanwhile, deep within the cave—where the first “gurgles” had originated—water splashed as a massive, roughly two-meter-long mutant frog leaped from the foul-smelling, slimy pool. It propelled itself onto the rock wall above the pool, its limbs clinging tightly as it hung upside down, watching the intruders.

Its slimy body resembled a massive mountain of flesh, its dark-green skin rough and uneven. Its protruding eyes were cloudy and yellowish, occasionally shifting to change its angle of observation, as if assessing which intruder to attack first.

Meng Changming calmly gave orders: “Yi Bin, shine the light where it’s needed.”

“Roger.” Yi Bin pulled out the high-intensity flashlight he’d prepared earlier from his backpack and moved swiftly through the cave. With a few clicks, the oppressive darkness was dispelled, revealing most of the scene inside.

Just as Yi Bin set down the last flashlight and was about to stand up, the mutated frog suddenly opened its mouth, and its tongue shot toward Yi Bin’s position at a speed almost invisible to the naked eye.

Fortunately, an icicle suddenly jutted out from the rock wall midway, forcefully intercepting its attack; otherwise, Yi Bin would likely have been swallowed whole by its tongue.

Yi Bin looked up and saw this, his heart still pounding with fear as he quickly got to his feet and retreated to a safe spot.

“Attack,” Meng Changming ordered. He raised his hand, channeling his powers to form countless icicles that blocked the mutated frog as it kept leaping and changing direction in an attempt to continue its assault. At the same time, he released a blast of cold air that froze the moisture on the mountain wall, starting from the stream at his feet. In an instant, the mountain wall beneath the mutated frog’s feet became bone-chillingly cold, forcing it to leap back down to the ground.

Zhang Kai seized this opportunity, striding forward and raising his fist to smash it into the mutated frog’s hind leg joint. The force of the blow was enough to snap its leg clean off on the spot.

The mutant frog let out a croak and dodged in pain. Yi Bin seized the moment, using his speed advantage to draw the dagger he’d prepared in advance and circle behind the mutant frog, ready to stab it in the eye.

However, the mutant frog’s speed was no joke. Its evasive maneuver caused Yi Bin’s blade to miss, only slicing open its cheek and exposing a gruesome wound. Enraged by the attack, the mutant frog sprayed dark green venom from its mouth, aiming straight for Yi Bin’s face.

Li Ming stepped in front of Yi Bin, his skin rapidly hardening like iron. The moment the dark green venom touched his skin, it emitted a sizzling, corrosive sound, yet failed to penetrate Li Ming’s defense.

“Its skin is too tough, and it heals way too fast!” Yi Bin looked at the gash he’d just cut into the mutant frog’s cheek and saw that it had already healed more than halfway.

“Then attack its mouth! Intensify the assault and wear down its regenerative capacity until it no longer has the strength to heal!”

While issuing orders, Meng Changming continuously released cold energy, constantly creating icicles and altering the terrain to strip the mutant frog of its home-field advantage.

The remaining three joined forces in the assault. Zhang Kai relentlessly pounded the mutant frog’s body with his fists, shattering its bones. Yi Bin used his dagger in conjunction with his high speed to pierce the creature viciously every time it extended its tongue to attack. Li Ming, meanwhile, kept a close watch on the venom the mutant frog sprayed, always shielding his teammates behind him.

Finally, after several rounds of coordinated attacks, the mutant frog’s speed gradually slowed until it was too weak to escape. Meng Changming then drove ice shards through its limbs, chest, and abdomen, pinning it to the mountain rock.

Meng Changming stepped forward, thrusting his blade through the mutant frog’s brain, carving out a hole that revealed the fluorescent green nucleus crystal inside.

“We finally did it!” Li Ming raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his face, grinning widely as he released the defensive ability he’d been maintaining for so long. Meng Changming turned and smiled back at him.

But the next second, Li Ming’s smile froze. A searing pain shot through his back. He turned around in disbelief to see Zhang Kai’s cold, impassive face.

A fist pierced through Li Ming’s chest. In the next instant, his heart was ripped out. He convulsed and collapsed to the ground, losing all signs of life within seconds.

Zhang Kai casually smashed open Li Ming’s skull, pulled out the still-warm nucleus crystal, weighed it in his hand, and then tossed it to Meng Changming.

He then casually shoved Li Ming’s body into a pool of venom spat out by a mutated frog on the ground.

“There are always casualties on a mission. Li Ming just happened to get burned to death by the mutant frog’s venom,” Zhang Kai chuckled.

“Isn’t that a bit heartless? Li Ming protected you several times just now,” Yi Bin said, twirling the dagger in his hand as he walked over to Zhang Kai.

“What’s there to be considerate about? He’s done this kind of thing himself before,” Zhang Kai said indifferently. “He’ll understand.”

Yi Bin nodded, and at the same moment, the dagger in his hand swiftly slit Zhang Kai’s throat. “So you understand, don’t you?”

Zhang Kai clutched his bleeding throat and looked at Meng Changming in disbelief. But all he could see was Meng Changming’s face half-hidden in the darkness, watching it all with indifference.

Only then did Zhang Kai realize that this was Meng Changming’s tacit approval—or perhaps even a premeditated plan—to use him as a pawn and then silence him as well. Yet no amount of resentment could stem the natural ebb of life; Zhang Kai’s consciousness slipped from his body, and he finally collapsed heavily to the ground.

The sounds of the fight in the cave had ceased several minutes ago.

Feng Yun calculated the time, finally rising from his slumped posture. He gave Jiang Le a light pat on the shoulder, chuckled, and said, “It’s my turn to go find a chance to pick up the scraps.”

Crouching low, he followed the Supernatural Squad’s footsteps into the cave.

Feng Yun walked briskly into the cave. Light from outside illuminated the entrance, allowing him to make out the moss on the rocks and the occasional flash of an unidentified, darting fish. The stones under his feet were smooth and rounded, as if polished by countless hands.

“If I can pick up a few useful trinkets, trading them at a base might net me enough supplies to last me ten days or even half a month.” With this thought in mind, Feng Yun clattered deeper into the cave.

He mistook the scent of blood wafting toward him for the trumpet of victory, but when he rounded a corner inside the cave and saw the scene before him, he immediately gasped in horror.

Two corpses lay sprawled on the ground, and the two men standing beside them turned to look at Feng Yun when they heard the sound.

“Holy shit…” Feng Yun stood frozen in place, his face etched with shock. He hadn’t expected such heavy casualties on this mission.

Zhang Kai and Li Ming were Level 3 superpower users with extensive combat experience.

Yi Bin, seeing this good-for-nothing, wore a pained expression. But before he could even begin to fabricate an excuse to brush the matter aside, Feng Yun’s expression shifted slightly. He turned around, laughing awkwardly, and said, “Um, I’m a bit squeamish. I’m going to step outside. I don’t want to get in the way while you clean up the mess.”

But before he’d even turned halfway, a cold voice cut through the air: “Stop acting. Stop him. His ability is mind-reading.” Alerted by the warning, Yi Bin quickly composed his expression.

Feng Yun tried to run, but how could he outrun a speed-type superpower user? Yi Bin practically teleported in front of him and spoke with a forced smile:

“Mind reading? That’s a pretty rare ability.”

“I-it’s actually hit or miss…” Feng Yun’s heart was racing; fear made him stutter.

He still tried to find an opening to escape, but the dagger in Yi Bin’s hand had already plunged into his thigh. The dagger was coated with the venom of a mutated frog; a dull ache mixed with a burning sensation caused Feng Yun to scream in agony, leaving him writhing on the ground.

Yi Bin looked down on him as if he were an ant. He raised his hand, intending to finish Feng Yun off casually, but a sudden yet utterly calm voice interrupted his movement.

“What’s going on here?”

Yi Bin frowned and looked over, discovering that a figure had appeared in the narrow passageway several meters away—an ordinary person.

The figure was half-shrouded in darkness, making it impossible to see his face. Even more astonishing was that Feng Yun had no idea when the man had appeared there.

Feng Yun, however, recognized Jiang Le’s voice. He fought through the excruciating pain and forced the words out from the depths of his throat, “Hurry, run!” Jiang Le didn’t listen, though. Instead, he lifted his foot and walked over. “We’re all on the same side here. Go easy on him.”

Yi Bin looked as if he’d heard a joke, his expression turning slightly comical. “Kid, he’s telling you to run for your own good, you know, though running won’t do you any good.”

“Die.” He instantly teleported in front of Jiang Le, intending to slit his throat just as he had Zhang Kai’s. Yet the moment he raised his hand, he felt his wrist being seized with precision.

To pull this off, the other person had to be faster than him. A bead of cold sweat suddenly appeared on Yi Bin’s forehead as he belatedly realized his situation was dire.

“Sorry, I’m not quite ready to die yet,” Jiang Le said.

With just three fingers, he twisted the bones in Yi Bin’s wrist, forcibly redirecting the dagger. Using Yi Bin’s own momentum, he casually slit his throat—the wound deep enough to expose the bone.

Yi Bin collapsed heavily. His wide-open eyes locked onto Feng Yun, whom he had just moments ago regarded as an ant. In the terror reflected in the other man’s pupils, he saw the countdown to his own death.

Meng Changming had already reached out to retrieve the nucleus crystal from the mutant frog’s head when he heard the thud of Yi Bin’s body hitting the ground and the hissing sound of air escaping from his throat. Only then did he frown and look at Jiang Le.

Feng Yun had barely begun to recover from the excruciating pain when, in the face of this situation, his instinct for survival kicked in. He struggled to crawl to the outer side of the cliff and found a safe corner for himself.

“You’re not an ordinary person, but why haven’t I sensed any traces of energy from you?” Meng Changming showed no sign of panic; instead, he looked at Jiang Le with keen interest. “You must have something valuable on you.”

Jiang Le clutched Yi Bin’s dagger, saying nothing. But deep down, he knew this was a matter of life and death. Sure enough, for a small base to produce a Level 4 superpower user so quickly, there must be some unsavory, underhanded dealings behind the scenes.

“I love good things. Why don’t you hand it over, and I’ll let you go?”

“Stop the nonsense. If you want to fight, let’s fight.” Jiang Le said.

Meng Changming gave a low chuckle, and in the next instant, his body darted toward Jiang Le like lightning. His movements created afterimages, moving so fast that his form barely registered as a complete silhouette on Jiang Le’s retina.

From the moment he lunged to the moment his fist struck, it took less than half a second.

Jiang Le turned his head, and in the next instant, an icy fist whizzed past his face, the ice shards between his fingers slicing across Jiang Le’s cheek.

It turned out that Meng Changming possessed more than just the ability to freeze. During his upgrade process, he knew how many nucleus crystals he had stripped and stolen from others to fuel himself.

Jiang Le raised his arm to counterattack. Their arms collided like hard stones striking one another—the sound was dull, yet every blow landed with force. Within seconds, they had exchanged over a dozen punches, sending shards of ice flying as they moved.

After a heavy exchange, their figures separated, each landing on the ground, having gained a deeper understanding of the other’s strength. Meng Changming’s expression relaxed; he unclenched his fist. “You’re no match for me.”

A faint trickle of blood seeped from the wound on Jiang Le’s cheek as he rapidly analyzed every one of Meng Changming’s previous moves in his mind.

“It’s actually fine. I just wanted to test you,” Jiang Le said calmly.

Using the rock face for leverage, he leaped upward again, the dagger clenched tightly in his hand. Changing his angle and technique, he launched another attack at Meng Changming.

Seconds later, the weapon was wrenched from Jiang Le’s hand. The dagger was hurled back against the rock face, piercing a frog’s egg before its downward momentum couldn’t be stopped—it carved a gash in the rock, the blade’s edge curling as it clattered to the ground.

Jiang Le was also knocked back several steps by the force of the attack, his back pressed against the rock face. The back of his head was just an egg’s width away from the frog egg, and his senses could clearly detect its nervous gaze fixed on the back of his head.

“Want to try again?” Meng Changming asked, looking perfectly composed. In the corner, Feng Yun had already covered his eyes in despair.

“That’s the plan,” Jiang Le nodded.

He launched another attack, pushing his speed to the limit. Fists, knees, elbows—he turned every part of his body into a weapon, trying to find a weakness in Meng Changming.

Meng Changming raised his hands to block. Though their flesh clearly met, the collision produced a metallic echo. The dull, thunderous sound made Feng Yun wince in pain just from hearing it.

Yet after a full round, Meng Changming had only taken a couple of steps back, showing no signs of defeat. Jiang Le withdrew his attack and landed back on the ground, panting.

From their exchange, he had gleaned several insights.

First, in a one-on-one match between two Level 4 fighters, his chances of winning were slim.

Second, having combat stats alone, without actual combat experience, would weaken his overall combat effectiveness.

Jiang Le raised his hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, sensing the young wolf in the spatial pocket—which had grown increasingly restless since they began fighting—and the blood vine in the cultivation dish, which was on the verge of breaking free.

“Enough,” Jiang Le said.

Meng Changming sneered, “You’re done. Now it’s my turn.” Countless icicles sprouted from the ground, closing in on Jiang Le to surround him. But before his smirk could fade, a sudden, drastic change occurred.

A giant mutated wolf tore through the void, leaping toward Meng Changming. Its claws—sharp enough to shatter steel plates—swept violently toward Meng’s face; had he not dodged in time, his head would have been severed.

But while he evaded the mutant wolf, he could not escape the blood vine.

Countless blood vines broke free from Jiang Le’s wrists, instantly coiling around Meng Changming’s neck. They tightened like venomous snakes, and countless tiny suction cups injected paralyzing venom into his skin.

The turn of events was too unexpected. Meng Changming wanted to take a sharp step back to create distance between himself and the vines so he could counterattack, but his foot was gripped tightly by a hand, leaving him unable to move.

Looking down, he saw that it was Zhang Kai, clinging to life, using his last ounce of strength to restrain Meng Changming.

Jiang Le finished the first half of his sentence at that moment: “I mean, the phase of testing our combat strength in one-on-one combat is complete.” Meng Changming opened his mouth to speak, but in the next second, the massive wolf’s jaws had already bitten off his head in one gulp.

The floor was littered with corpses, and silence returned to the cave.

Jiang Le picked up a flashlight from the ground and walked toward the mutated frog frozen in place by the ice shards. To his surprise, the mutated frog wasn’t quite dead yet; its nucleus crystal glowed faintly as it attempted to repair itself.

Jiang Le finished what Meng Changming had left undone, extracting the nucleus crystal and, in the same motion, stowing both it and the mutant frog’s corpse into his spatial pocket. Turning around, he saw that the little wolf and the blood vine had already dug out and swallowed the nucleus crystals of several superpower users.

The evolutionary instincts of mutated animals kept them in a constant state of craving for nucleus crystals.

Jiang Le didn’t stop them; he simply stored them in his spatial pocket first, then turned and walked toward Feng Yun.

“Do you want me to kill you to silence you?” Jiang Le asked.