Chapter 61 Encounter

Faced with this sudden situation, Xia Yan reacted with lightning speed!

Given his formidable strength, his movements were naturally exceptionally agile; there was no way he would allow the experimental subject to land a blow.

The waves of negative emotion were successfully blocked by the Chain of Purity. Although Xia Yan felt a mild sense of discomfort, it was entirely manageable, and as long as he did not linger here for too long, his physical well-being would remain uncompromised.

Yet, Xia Yan had never anticipated encountering such an unexpected twist along this route.

He was striding toward the final destination, while someone else was returning from it. Their encounter seemed predestined, for there was only a single path here.

And both of them harbored missions they were bound to fulfill—Xia Yan was resolute in reducing this research to complete ruins, whereas Adam was determined to bring the research data back intact.

Behind Xia Yan stood the Demon race. This mission was the result of an accord he had struck with them, and he would never allow himself to breach a pact he had already sworn.

Behind Adam, on the other hand, stood humanity. He had harbored his undercover identity for twenty-two agonizing years, all for the sake of today’s objective.

Adam’s footsteps were heavy. In this central zone wreathed in black fog, his brain felt as though it were about to fracture, and he deeply doubted whether he could endure much longer.

Yet, in reality, he was still holding on!

He gazed ahead, suddenly sensing that something was amiss. Was there a person standing there?

Was this merely an illusion?

No, this could by no means be an illusion, because those grotesque experimental subjects were actively pursuing that figure.

It was a human—a human by the name of Morris.

Just days ago, he had been an examiner, and that fellow Morris had remarkably passed the examination.

Yet why would Morris appear in a place like this, and for what conceivable reason?

A wave of astonishment washed over him, making his very heart tremble with dread.

"No... he is not Morris," Adam thought, consumed by rising panic. "He is not him—he is absolutely not Morris. No one could possibly walk through this forbidden sector and emerge completely unscathed, unless..."

A sudden realization struck him: unless the Chain of Purity, which should have been in his own possession, had somehow ended up in someone else's hands!

Who could that person possibly be?

It was Xia Yan who had originally acquired the Chain of Purity. But Xia Yan had perished, hadn't he? Surely the Chain of Purity should have been retrieved by the Free Zone.

Unless Xia Yan had not died after all.

What if the person standing right before his eyes was...?

He found it impossible to believe—he simply lacked the capacity to accept such a reality!

And yet, Adam was left with no choice but to believe it.

Connecting all the loose threads together, why would Xia Yan have squandered a hundred and fifty diamond coins to purchase the Chain of Purity? There was only one true motive.

It was to traverse this central zone.

Madness welled up in Adam's eyes. Xia Yan was the person he despised most in this lifetime; it was Xia Yan who had stripped away his final glimmer of hope for survival.

He had constantly prayed that if he were destined to descend into hell, how wonderful it would be to drag Xia Yan down with him first.

It was as if the heavens had heard his plea, miraculously granting him this encounter.

"Why is there someone here?" Xia Yan was similarly bewildered. Not only was there a person here, but someone traversing the deepest heart of the central zone. Judging by attire distinct from the experimental subjects, he could be one hundred percent certain this was a normal human being.

No, this individual was far from normal anymore; wisps of black fog coiled around his entire body, his eyes were etched with profound exhaustion, and his steps were leaden. He had clearly suffered heavy contamination.

Xia Yan tightened his grip on the Polymorphic Blade in his hand, his gaze cold as he watched Adam. As Adam drew closer and the black fog thinned slightly, Xia Yan finally recognized the man before him—Adam, the most loyal of the three chief officers of the Wilbur family, a man who had lingered within the Wilbur family for twenty-two years.

Of all people, it was him?

In an instant, the truth dawned on Xia Yan: this man was a traitor!

He was nothing more than a spy who had embedded himself deep within for twenty-two long years.

"Xia Yan..." A low, gravelly growl escaped Adam’s throat, fraught with a boundless madness—a roar of rage that seemed eager to tear Xia Yan limb from limb and devour his flesh.

Xia Yan furrowed his brow, quickly deducing how his identity had been compromised. It all traced back to the Chain of Purity.

"Adam, whose faction do you actually serve?" Xia Yan sneered coldly. "Your betrayal runs deep indeed—truly quite unexpected!"

"Xia Yan, you insignificant pawn..." Adam roared furiously. "A piece of trash like you dares to snatch the Chain of Purity from Lady Gong Kui's hands? I will kill you—I will tear you to pieces!"

It appeared that Adam's mind had already fractured under the strain; otherwise, in his lucid moments, he would never have let Gong Kui's name slip from his lips.

"Gong Kui..."

At that very instant, Xia Yan’s expression shifted subtly. He found it utterly baffling that this spy named Adam actually belonged to Gong Kui!

Yet Gong Kui could only be a year or two older than him at most; how on earth could she have cultivated a deep-cover spy planted for twenty-two years?

"Let me ask you something, Adam." Xia Yan was in no rush to dispatch his foe. "Tell me, what is your purpose in entering the central zone?"

"Purpose?" Adam snarled hoarsely. "My purpose is simply to kill you! That is my sole objective!"

"What a pity. If you weren't intent on killing me, I might have spared your life!" Xia Yan said with light disdain. "All you had to do was hand over the data chip!"

"Xia Yan, I will not let you have your way! If not for you, I would never have fallen to this state, and I will certainly never surrender the research data to you!" Adam's voice cracked with suppressed fury.

Xia Yan let out a soft sigh. So it ultimately had to come to this! Had it not been for his pact with the Demon race, he might well have stood side by side with Gong Kui on the same front.

Yet, after the turbulent events of the auction house, followed now by this fateful encounter with Adam...

Xia Yan could already feel that the distance between himself and Gong Kui was growing ever wider. Perhaps one day, exactly as she had once suggested, they would truly become enemies!

For Xia Yan, under no circumstances could this research data be allowed to leak. No faction whatsoever deserved to obtain it.

That included humanity, and that included the Demon race!

Such taboo research would only plunge the world into deeper chaos. It had no right to exist and must be eradicated by his own hands.

Xia Yan had never fancied himself a savior of the world; he possessed neither the qualifications nor the authority for such a burden. All he could ever hope to do was guard his own conscience.

"Xia Yan, die! Die by my hands, so that I may transmit this data outward—you must die!" Bloodshot veins covered Adam's eyes as he let out a frantic, wild roar. His body suddenly hardened into steel as he charged directly toward Xia Yan.

Anyone willing to fight within this central zone had to be stark mad. Yet Xia Yan felt no trace of fear. He could not afford to let Adam escape; this man had to die.

Even if the other was a spy belonging to humanity, he had violated Xia Yan's absolute taboo.

Unleashing his demonic heritage, Xia Yan instantly underwent a demonic transformation. His face became etched with complex runes and markings, a pair of ash-gray wings unfurled from his back, and his entire frame was enveloped in flickering gray flames. Wielding the Polymorphic Blade, he slashed forward, unleashing a brilliant arc of light that lunged fiercely toward Adam.