Storm Valley is a valley with mountains on three sides, covering an area of about five or six square kilometers. As soon as Zhou Ziwei arrived, he felt a strong smell of blood spreading in the air.
He frowned slightly, then released a small fruit fly that he had just caught a few days ago, letting it fly into the valley and scout around.
He chose fruit flies this time because of their speed. These tiny insects are incredibly fast; despite their small size, they can fly at speeds that even ordinary birds cannot match.
After Zhou Ziwei continuously cleansed its body with his soul power over the past few days, the fruit fly's flight speed became increasingly abnormal and terrifying.
If ladybugs used to fly like streaks of light, then this fruit fly, when it really unleashes its full speed, has reached a point where it is almost impossible to detect with the naked eye.
Whether in mountainous areas or cities, these fruit flies are almost ubiquitous. No matter where they fly, they are unlikely to attract anyone's attention. Coupled with their incredible flight speed, they are perfect as scouts.
So far, Zhou Ziwei has not discovered any other outstanding advantages of fruit flies besides their speed.
For now, its practicality is still inferior to that of ladybugs. After all, ladybugs are not only fast, but also have hard shells, which can directly cause terrifying damage to enemies in a rapid collision.
While fruit flies are faster... unfortunately, their bodies are far more fragile than ladybugs. If they unfortunately encounter an obstacle during their rapid flight, the consequences will be quite dire...
After flying into the valley and circling once, the fruit fly quickly returned and landed back on Zhou Ziwei. Through the soul connection between the man and the insect, Zhou Ziwei clearly saw a series of shocking scenes in the fruit fly's memory...
A dozen or so Vietnamese people, stripped naked and tied up in a small clearing in the middle of the valley, were all bound to wooden stakes, enduring the scorching sun.
More Vietnamese people dressed in camouflage, carrying guns, sat around a side, coldly watching as three teenage boys and a girl, holding knives, repeatedly stabbed into white, bloody bodies. In an instant, more than half of the dozen or so men and women tied up there were dead at the hands of these four children…
Volume 1, Rebirth of a Prodigy, Chapter 252: Gold
Clearly, these members of the Storm Mercenary Group were training the next generation of successors. Judging from the fierce and excited expressions on the three boys' faces as they killed, Zhou Ziwei knew that these boys had probably experienced this kind of scene more than once.
Murder... is nothing new to them, or more like a fun game.
Only the little girl, who looked no more than eleven or twelve years old, seemed to have retained some humanity. Although she killed an elderly man under the coercion and beatings of the adults, she then lay on the ground vomiting and crying incessantly. Judging from her appearance, it was likely her first time killing someone...
Seeing this Vietnamese girl, Zhou Ziwei naturally thought of Xiao Mei. Perhaps Xiao Mei was also at this age and in this environment, forced step by step by those inhuman people to walk the path she ended up on.
Perhaps those indifferent mercenaries of the Storm Mercenary Group today were like these children when they were young—either kidnapped or abducted, forced onto this path of no return by the older generation of mercenaries. But… they shouldn't impose their past suffering on the next generation, so… they all deserve to die.
Zhou Ziwei involuntarily exuded a strong killing intent, but he did not rush to make a move. Instead, he sent the fruit flies out again to continue monitoring everything in the valley, while he casually found a dense tree, climbed up, and lay down on a wide branch, quietly waiting for the night to fall...
Although Zhou Ziwei's current formidable martial prowess means that even in broad daylight, as long as he blocks the main road out of the valley, he is still confident that he can annihilate everyone in Storm Valley.
However... Zhou Ziwei is currently thinking of using the souls of these Vietnamese people to conduct an experiment on the Soul Bead, which is why he specifically chose to do it at night.
In that case... these guys' souls won't last long after they die. If it were daytime, their souls would probably be burned to nothingness by the sunlight within two minutes of death. That would be a huge waste of resources...
Soon, under Zhou Ziwei's instruction, Little Fruit Fly patiently counted the number of people in Storm Valley. Including the four children Zhou Ziwei had seen earlier that day, there were a total of 224 people in the valley. Most of them were equipped with advanced firearms, and it could be said that regardless of age or gender, everyone was quite fierce.
This number is roughly the same as the number described in the mission description. It is estimated that there may be a few individual members of the Storm Mercenary Group who are out and have not returned, but that is not important.
Once Zhou Ziwei has dealt with everyone here, he can confidently claim that he has completely annihilated this mercenary organization.
Even if one or two manages to escape, once they realize the tide has turned, they certainly won't dare to show up again under the name of the Storm Mercenary Group...
After waiting for the sun to set, just as it was getting dark, a helicopter flew in from outside the mountains and finally landed slowly in a large open area in the valley.
Uh... thankfully we didn't act during the day. It seems the important figure from the Storm Mercenary Group just returned...
Zhou Ziwei secretly rejoiced. If he had killed most of the Storm Mercenary Group members this time and only left behind a few small fry, there would naturally be no problem. However, if even the leaders of the Storm Mercenary Group were left behind, the Black Market Assassin Network would definitely judge that the mission was not completed.
To be honest, Zhou Ziwei wasn't sure if he could actually use this Storm Mercenary Group mission to lure out the investigators from the Black Market Assassin Network. So, since he was going to take action, he had to make sure that he could completely complete the mission. That way, even if he couldn't find any clues about the Black Market Assassin Network, he could still attract their attention by completing this even more shocking mission.
Not long after, the fruit fly immediately returned to Zhou Ziwei's side and transmitted the images and memories it had just seen to Zhou Ziwei's mind through the bond of souls.
Zhou Ziwei immediately "saw" five cold-faced Vietnamese men jump off the now-stationary helicopter one after another, and even carry a heavy wooden crate off the helicopter.
The large wooden crate was obviously quite heavy. It took four strong members of the Storm Mercenary Group, one on each side, to barely lift the crate, which looked no bigger than an ordinary television box, and carry it shakily into a well-maintained cave.
"Bang—" The four burly men placed the heavy wooden box on the ground, which actually made the ground tremble.
Immediately afterwards, the tall, thin Vietnamese man who was the leader of the five people who got off the plane waved his hand and chased the four men carrying the wooden crates off the plane.
Only after the four burly men left the cave did the five men reveal expressions of ecstatic joy. Then, the tall, thin Vietnamese man took out a key and opened the wooden box. Instantly, a dazzling golden light shone through, making the entire cave seem as if it had been plated with gold, incredibly magnificent. Inside the box was a large box full of gold.
Upon seeing the soul memory transmitted by the fruit fly, Zhou Ziwei was slightly stunned. Although he knew that if all his current assets were converted into gold, it would definitely be much more than the box of gold in the cave, the visual impact of so much gold on a person was far beyond what a string of numbers in a bank account could achieve.
However, Zhou Ziwei was a wealthy man after all. After a brief moment of distraction, he immediately shook his head and stopped worrying about the box of gold.
After he wipes out all the Storm Mercenaries here, that box of gold will naturally be his spoils. But the problem is... how is he going to take it with him? Even if he is strong, carrying such a large box of gold will be enough to exhaust him.
Moreover, even if he could bring the gold out of the mountains, it would be difficult to bring it out of Vietnam. Smuggling gold is illegal, and he would not only fail to make money but also get into legal trouble.
If he were to pilot that helicopter directly, there would be a possibility of carrying the gold across the border back to China, but he would certainly face considerable risks while crossing the border.
Once he's detected by the radar of the border guards of both countries, he'll be in real danger. It doesn't seem worth risking his life for a box of gold... If you do the math, that box of gold is probably only worth a few million RMB, at most no more than ten million.
That box of gold might seem tempting, but when you actually calculate the exact amount, it's not really something Zhou Ziwei would even consider.
So Zhou Ziwei stopped thinking about the box of gold and looked up at the sky. He saw that the sun had completely sunk below the mountains, and all around was a hazy darkness.
Seeing that it was almost time, Zhou Ziwei immediately sent the ladybug out, flying straight to the cave where the leaders of the five Storm Mercenary Groups were located.
Zhou Ziwei didn't want the ladybug to guard the box of gold; rather, he was worried that the leader of the Storm Mercenary Group might have left a way out in the cave.
After all, foreigners should understand the principle of "a cunning rabbit has three burrows." This Storm Valley is surrounded by mountains on three sides. If it is besieged by the government army, the entire mercenary group will easily be surrounded and wiped out.
At that point, trying to escape through this only exit would be tantamount to suicide. It's unlikely that the leader of the Storm Mercenary Group would be so foolish as to leave a secret exit in their lair.
Zhou Ziwei analyzed that if there really was a way out, then the way out would most likely be located in the cave where those leaders were located.
Anyway, as long as the ladybug keeps an eye on the five leaders of the Storm Mercenary Group, they won't be able to escape.
The reason Zhou Ziwei didn't have the ladybug kill the five leaders of the Storm Mercenary Group first was because he was worried that if there really was a secret passage leading out of the valley, there would probably be members of the Storm Mercenary Group guarding the entrance and exit of the passage.
If Zhou Ziwei wanted to lure the Black Market Assassin Network out, he couldn't let a single member of the Storm Mercenary Group escape. Otherwise, if these people spread the news of the Storm Mercenary Group's annihilation, the Vietnamese government would likely intervene immediately. In that case, the Black Market Assassin Network members could simply infiltrate the area, take advantage of the chaos, and conduct a quick investigation to find out everything.
It won't be so easy for Zhou Ziwei to find the person belonging to the black market assassin network within the Vietnamese government forces.
Therefore, Zhou Ziwei could allow members of the Stormwind Mercenary Group who were not temporarily staying in Stormwind Valley to escape with their lives, but anyone still in the valley at this time was absolutely not allowed to escape.
To ensure everything went perfectly, Zhou Ziwei caught six more fruit flies in one go before the operation, and created an independent soul within each of them.
Although these fruit flies have almost no fighting power, they are fast, and most importantly, the soul power consumed in creating an independent soul within the fruit fly is only about one-third of that required to create a ladybug.
Even capturing six small fruit flies only consumed a little over a hundred remnant soul energy from Zhou Ziwei.
These energy-saving little Kun pets can be produced quickly, and if they are not very useful afterwards, it is not a big deal to simply abandon them and let them fend for themselves.
The six newly captured fruit flies, along with the original fruit fly and mosquito, totaling eight insect pets, were dispatched by Zhou Ziwei to eight directions throughout Storm Valley to closely monitor the entire Storm Mercenary Group's base.
The fruit flies don't have any offensive capabilities, but they fly incredibly fast. Once they spot a stray fruit fly, they can reach Zhou Ziwei's vicinity within a few breaths and relay the message.
Although the mosquitoes fly slowly, their potent venom is enough to take down any stragglers. Zhou Ziwei has no need to worry about anyone escaping from the direction guarded by the mosquitoes.
After arranging everything, Zhou Ziwei immediately jumped down from the tree and swaggered towards the valley entrance...
"Who goes there? Stop right there!" The four members of the Storm Mercenary Group guarding the valley entrance were taken aback when they saw someone break in during the night. They immediately raised their rifles and pointed them at Zhou Ziwei.
On his first day in Vietnam, Zhou Ziwei personally strangled a fool who tried to rob him on the street and directly absorbed the man's soul.
Although the foolish thief didn't have any special abilities worth mentioning, Zhou Ziwei was able to extract all the memories related to Vietnamese from his soul, so he could understand the strange cries of the guards.
Zhou Ziwei smiled slightly and replied in Vietnamese, "I'm here to harvest the crops."
"Harvesting crops?"
Zhou Ziwei intended to harvest all the souls of the more than two hundred Storm Mercenary Group members and claim them for himself, but the guards misunderstood his intentions.
These guys originally made their fortune in planting and selling drugs. Although they later switched to being international mercenaries, they didn't completely abandon their old ways in this remote mountain area. The Storm Mercenary Group planted large quantities of poppies in the valley and on a large slope behind it.
The Storm Mercenary Group has limited manpower, and when the poppies ripen, they are not able to harvest them all. So they hire villagers from nearby villages to help with the harvest and extract high-purity drugs from them.
And now, some of the poppies planted in the valley have begun to ripen and are almost ready for harvest.
It was precisely for this reason that when Zhou Ziwei mentioned harvesting the crops, the men immediately became less wary. Just as they were about to continue questioning Zhou Ziwei about why he had come alone and so late, Zhou Ziwei had already begun his work...
Zhou Ziwei remained expressionless, but three bright silver lights suddenly flew out from his open robe. Before the guards could react, the three silver lights had already arrived above their heads...
After Zhou Ziwei nurtured the new cross-shaped dart with his soul power every day, and probably because the characteristics of electric current were incorporated into Zhou Ziwei's soul power, the power of the new cross-shaped dart has been enhanced again. Its flight speed is almost as fast as that of a ladybug, and its flexibility has also reached an unbelievable level as the independent soul body inside it continues to grow stronger.
There were eight Storm Mercenary Group guards at the valley entrance. Zhou Ziwei only released three new-style cross darts. On average, each new-style cross dart should kill two to three people. Even so, after the three darts successfully killed eight people, none of them had a chance to cry out. If someone had seen it from the side, they would have seen that almost at the same time, a horrifying bloody hole suddenly appeared in the throat of each of the eight people.
Seeing eight faint phantoms rise above the corpses, Zhou Ziwei did not chant the Six-Syllable Mantra. Instead, he immediately released eight dense soul powers from his body, which transformed into eight large hands that directly grasped all eight newborn souls and began refining them into soul beads.
The crackling lightning flashed incessantly within the invisible hand, and the eight souls shrank continuously under the stimulation of the lightning, emitting a series of extremely miserable "screams".
Zhou Ziwei, however, remained as cold-hearted as ever, completely ignoring the cries of these souls. He simply stared intently, controlling eight large hands made of soul power, constantly compressing the souls within them.
This was the first time Zhou Ziwei had manipulated so much soul power to refine eight soul beads at the same time, which was quite a challenge for him.
However, Zhou Ziwei also found that the more soul power he controlled at the same time, the more adept he became at controlling it. Therefore, although he felt very strained, he still gritted his teeth and persevered.
However, as the eight soul entities gradually shrank and transformed into infant-like forms, the difficulty of further compression and refining increased exponentially.
Zhou Ziwei finally felt his strength waning.
After persisting for a while longer, seeing that all eight souls had completely stopped shrinking, Zhou Ziwei couldn't help but smile bitterly.
It seems he's trying to do too much at once. Simultaneously controlling eight soul powers to refine soul beads is simply impossible for him at this stage. If he continues, it's pointless. He might exhaust all the soul power in his body and end up not refining a single soul bead.
If he were to give up now, these eight soul bodies, which were almost finished being refined, would likely explode into scattered soul energy and vanish completely the moment he let go.
After expending so much effort and soul power, Zhou Ziwei found it hard to accept that he had failed in the end.
Moreover, Zhou Ziwei was not the kind of person who would give up easily. At this moment, a thought suddenly occurred to him: ... Refining these eight souls into eight parts requires me to divide my consciousness into eight parts and control them separately, which greatly increases the difficulty.
But... if I were to combine the eight large hands formed from the power of souls into one, and at the same time combine these eight soul bodies that are almost finished being refined, I wonder... what kind of effect would that have?
Volume 1, Rebirth of a Prodigy, Chapter 253: Soul Coverage
What would happen if we combined the eight souls that were about to be refined into soul beads at this time?
Zhou Ziwei's spirits immediately lifted at this thought. If he gave up now, he would definitely lose everything. Since that was the case, he might as well think outside the box and try something different. If he could make something of it, that would be great. Even if he failed, it wouldn't matter.
With a thought, Zhou Ziwei summoned eight virtual hands made of soul power that had been released into the air, which immediately converged towards the center.
Soon... the eight virtual hands were already squeezed together in mid-air. Since these virtual hands were made up of the soul power released by Zhou Ziwei, they were essentially no different from each other. Even outside the body, there was no problem. They slowly merged together according to Zhou Ziwei's thoughts.
However, Zhou Ziwei remained extremely cautious. As the eight large hands merged, he carefully watched over the eight souls that had transformed into infants, ensuring they had no chance of escaping or dissipating.
Finally... the eight large hands gradually merged into one, forming a giant, god-like hand that was entirely composed of soul power.
The eight infant-like souls were all gripped tightly in the palm of this giant hand.