Once convinced that the fierce man in front of him posed no threat at the moment, the middle-aged man began to reveal a mocking smile.
"You're quite formidable, having killed more than a dozen of my people."
"Too bad you ran into me, Ralph. You've been caught!"
At that moment, a tattooed man beside him interjected:
"Boss, shall we send him to the Godfather now?"
"After he's killed so many of my people, do you think I would let him off that easily?"
"No hurry, I want to torture him for a good day first, then send him over tomorrow." Ralph shook his head, then raised his right hand.
The next second, his fat, wrinkled right hand griped Ross's head tightly, then he stared at him with narrow, hateful eyes,
"I heard you killed a lot of our men."
"But do you know that one of them was my best brother!!!"
As he spoke, he slapped Ross across the face with a crack, the huge force immediately leaving a clear imprint of five fingers.
But Ross's response to Ralph was not a plea for mercy, but a mouthful of angry blood-spewing phlegm!
Wiping the blood and spit from his face, Ralph kicked Ross's abdomen furiously multiple times.
However, the tough guy did not scream, only uttering a few muffled groans.
This sight turned Jim's eyes blood red on the rooftop, wishing he could just shoot these bastards dead there and then, but he ultimately held back his rage and continued to observe in secret.
Ross fixed his eyes on Ralph in front of him, enduring the pain as he spoke.
"Where is Lisa?"
"Lisa, that woman, right?"
"As you wished, the woman drove off, but before she did, I hit her in the back."
Ralph smiled sinisterly.
Ross's expression turned icy, his muscles violently trembling, the chains on his body rattling loudly.
In the room, the steel cables vibrated intensely, making a deafening clanging noise.
What came next was too gruesome to watch, and Jim had no stomach to continue observing. Even without experiencing it firsthand, he could feel the agony Ross was enduring.
The decrepit factory loomed like a terrifying beast lying in wait to devour its prey.
Without going far, they turned back to glance at the factory, their faces filled with rage.
Jim exhaled a breath of resentment, his face so twisted with anger it seemed almost contorted. He pounded his fist against the wall beside him, his eyes burning with rage that could kill.
"Fuck!"
"Let's go, back to base for reinforcements. Damn it! I'm going to crush these goddamn bastards!"
They rushed back to the base, hearts ablaze with fury.
At six in the morning, the two reached the base and recounted, in detail, the events inside the factory to Qin Ming and the teammates there.
After listening, Qin Ming understood the whole story; that factory was a stronghold of a gang of mobsters.
Ross arrived at the small-town farm just as those looking for Lisa also happened to show up, and the two parties clashed. If Ross had been alone, he might have been able to wipe out the other side, but regrettably, he had to protect his fiancée and daughter, so he was taken captive while covering for them.
Qin Ming looked around and saw everyone with bloodshot eyes, as if flames of rage roared above their heads, intense enough to burn through the ceiling.
They clenched their fists, seething with murderous intent, the crowd was impassioned, just waiting for Qin Ming's command.
Qin Ming looked at his men, waiting for his orders, and raised his hand to signal them to be quiet, then he spoke.
"I know you all want to go rescue him now."
"But there are hundreds of them inside, and they're all armed."
"Are you certain that you can rescue Ross perfectly while ensuring his absolute safety?"
The crowd fell silent; there were only nine of them, and even though they had activated their brains, fighting against a hundred people was no small feat. Bullets didn't have eyes, and no one could be sure of Ross's safety.
Qin Ming turned to the silent crowd and issued an order:
"Go find Lisa and Ross's daughter."
"I'm going to save Ross."
"Dr. Qin? By yourself?"
Everyone was worried yet puzzled.
"I never do anything I'm not confident about, this matter, I will handle personally."
Qin Ming's expression remained calm, but his profound eyes emitted a deathly chill.
It wasn't because he was thin-skinned and couldn't bear to see tragedy, but rather he liked to pursue a perfect ending, wanting to put a perfect full stop to the first world.
Time was pressing. Departing in the morning, when he arrived at the abandoned factory in Woodside, it was nearly noon.
The sky was as gray as if it had cried, giving off a somewhat oppressive feeling. Today was overcast, with dark clouds covering the bright sunshine, making even the midday sky look dim.
"You two don't need to come in, just wait for me outside."
Qin Ming halted his steps and turned to look back at Jerry and Laru, issuing the command with an indisputable tone.
He had planned to come alone, but they insisted on coming regardless of what he said, so a helpless Qin Ming could only allow Jerry and Laru to accompany him, while the others went to find Lisa, leaving three to continue guarding the base.
It was quite normal for Jerry to be concerned about him going alone, as in his eyes, Qin Ming was just an ordinary scientist, and fighting and killing were up to them.
Jerry and Laru had never seen Qin Ming in action. They thought if Dr. Qin really got into trouble, they would risk their lives to save both the doctor and Ross.
Qin Ming was never an impulsive person. Daring to come alone, he naturally had made thorough preparations.
In his hand, he held an extremely small pill, which was not nzt-48, but the newly developed Overclocking Potion.
After experiments on Erha and human subjects confirmed it was safe, the key was to carefully control the dosage, because while the brain's activation was further heightened in an overclocked state, energy consumption and heat could also reach terrifying levels.
According to laboratory estimates, an average person's overclocked state could only last for twenty minutes at most—if continued, brain death would occur. Energy supply, oxygenation, and heat dissipation, these three factors, were the biggest obstacles to maintaining overclocking.
Of course, his greatest reliance was still his telekinesis.
Twenty minutes, that would be enough.
Qin Ming looked at the factory entrance before him, swallowed the pill slowly, and then took steady steps forward.
He walked slowly, not out of fear, but waiting for the drug to take effect.
By the factory entrance, a tattooed man standing at the door and smoking turned his curious gaze upon the unremarkable youth.
Indeed, his telekinetic field could not completely cover the factory; he had to go inside.
As the thought crossed his mind, Qin Ming walked up to him and spoke.
"I want to see your boss."
A kid whose hair hasn't even fully grown out wants to see our boss?
The tattooed man let out a puff of smoke, ready to mock this fool who didn't know how high the sky was, only to hear the youth say,
"I know where the gold that the Godfather lost is."
Being the lowest rung in the gang, though not privy to the Godfather's secret operations, he wasn't stupid. The amount of information in that sentence was huge.
Godfather, gold, lost.
First he was taken aback, then he became excited, decisively throwing away the cigarette that was still more than half smoked, not a hint of hesitation on his face.
The tattooed man called someone out to watch Qin Ming, then sprinted into the factory.
At that moment in the center of the factory, Ross was still tied to a metal frame, battered and bruised, as a cold iron whip cruelly lashed his flesh, peeling the skin away to reveal the raw, red muscle underneath.
Yet he was unresponsive, his anger buried deep within his heart.
Just as Ross was being tormented once more, the tattooed man ran in and interrupted them.
He whispered a few words to Ralph, and upon hearing, Ralph burst into guffaws of laughter, ecstasy written all over his face.
Ralph felt today was his lucky day. Having found the person the Godfather ordered them to find, plus the news of several tons of lost gold.
For a moment, he envisioned himself winning the Godfather's favor, skyrocketing through the ranks, transferring to headquarters, penetrating the core circle of power, transitioning from a branch boss to a headquarters boss, leading the gang to grow stronger and recapture their glory!
Once he regained his composure, he ordered the tattooed man to bring the person inside quickly.
The tattooed man turned after hearing the order and stepped outside. By the door, he had others frisk Qin Ming before bringing him inside, while he thought of sneaking to the headquarters to inform the Godfather himself; this credit couldn't be stolen by the boss alone.
He imagined himself climbing the ranks, getting pay raises, seeing both himself and the boss receiving the Godfather's favor, advancing to the clouds. The boss would transfer to headquarters, and he, moving up from third in command to the boss, would lead their faction to greater heights and new splendors!