"Maybe it's because of the ceremony?" the man asked.

The All-Knowing One nodded: "It is very likely."

"At least, her current state proves that in that ritual, the chosen one isn't the only one who can survive. As long as the body isn't destroyed, or if the body dissipates but the soul survives, there's a lot more room for maneuver."

"Then is there any need for us to continue trading with her?"

The Federation was clearly more concerned about this: "She normally still has some integrity, but if she degenerates into a believer, she will have no credibility at all."

The Omniscient One's brows also showed a hint of uncertainty: "If possible, I really want to meet her in person."

"Although she was polluted, she didn't fall directly. I even felt that she was still hesitating and wavering."

"Hesitate and wander?" The man's tone seemed puzzled and a little bit unbelievable.

"Anyone who is contaminated will directly degenerate into a believer, even a powerful prophet..." He paused and did not continue, skipping this part: "Is the contamination from the cup resistible?"

This has never happened before.

"Maybe, but we haven't reached the level where we can resist temptation yet. Or maybe, she is special."

Both of these viewpoints are difficult to accept.

The former means that there is no extraordinary person more powerful than Xu Zhi in the entire Federation. Otherwise, why can she resist the temptation and erosion of the [Cup] while they cannot? The latter is even more unacceptable.

"In any case, please stay in Jincheng until she appears again."

"If she appears again and has completely fallen into the trap of becoming a believer, we will kill her immediately, no matter how many times, and forbid anyone from having any contact with her. If not..."

He didn't finish his words, but everyone present understood.

If not, the assessment of Xu Zhi needs to be improved, and we need to try to figure out how she resists the erosion of the [Cup] and whether this method can be applied to other extraordinary people?

Moreover, they don’t know what kind of strength Xu Zhi has in Yuncheng?

Is she an ordinary one among the extraordinary people who survived in Yuncheng, who just happened to have the ability to enter and exit freely, or is she one of the top ones even in Yuncheng?

The Federation believes it is the latter. After all, if it is the former, it would be beyond their expectations.

If they find a way to enter Cloud City one day, how will the extraordinary people of the Federation suppress the extraordinary people in Cloud City?

This is not something the Federation wants to see.

"In short, the next time she appears, be on guard."

Even though Xu Zhi still felt uninterested in everything after returning from the outside world, he forced himself to take inventory of the core, fed his clansmen, put the packed supplies into the warehouse, and prepared to take Yu Shenwei out.

As soon as Yu Shenwei saw her, she looked a little strange, and her red eyes were filled with confusion, as if she was wondering why Xu Zhi had a familiar aura after not seeing her for a while?

Just like... her kind?

No, how could Xu Zhi be of the same kind as her? She was clearly a human transcendent.

Before leaving, Xu Zhi went to find Shen Jinwen and gave her five high-level [Winter] attribute cores as salary, but she did not hand over the information to Zhong Lingfan as the Federation expected. Xu Zhi had no plans to let people in the city know that she could leave.

According to her plan, she would wait for some time until the residential area became larger, the overall strength of the extraordinary people was improved, and the structure was completely stabilized before she would reveal this matter to Zhong Lingfan.

Xu Zhi also planned the route for this trip to the Second Ring Road. Although Yuncheng is not a first-tier city in the Federation, it has a relatively deep geographical location and has a very special institution. The Fourth Branch of the Federal Biological Research Institute is built in the Second Ring Road, referred to as the Fourth Institute.

The equipment Zhong Lingfan needed was naturally also in it.

Xu Zhi's planned route would involve going to the Fourth Hospital first, taking away the equipment that Zhong Lingfan had shown her photos of, and then taking away the remaining survivors.

The journey to the Fourth Hospital went smoothly, but the closer we got to the hospital, the more strange-looking mutant animals appeared on the road.

If she were to say it, it would have a "artificial" flavor that other normal mutant animals, no matter how mutated they are, would never have.

They are like little white mice taken out of a laboratory, with other animal limbs sewn onto them, or given strange drugs.

"Is there anyone still here doing some weird experiments?"

Xu Zhi approached the gate of the fourth courtyard, looking at the red-lit surveillance camera on the wall and guessing.

The camera is still working during a power outage. It is only possible that the people inside have a generator, or have developed a way to use the core to replace electrical power.

In short, there is definitely someone inside.

Unsure whether they were friend or foe, Xu Zhi pulled Yu Shenwei under the camera and waved, "Hello? Is anyone there?"

The look in Yu Shenwei's eyes when he looked at her was indescribable, but when he thought of Xu Zhi's ability, he felt that it didn't matter. He was just not happy about why Xu Zhi was so friendly to the person on the other side of the camera?

Can't we just barge in and arrest the person for questioning?

The people inside were obviously quite cautious. Even though Xu Zhi had already made overtures, no one showed up. They just asked through the intercom at the door: "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Xu Zhi felt a little impatient, but he suppressed the restlessness that belonged to the Cup and said, "Professor Zhong Lingfan asked me to come here to get some experimental equipment. Could you please help me?"

The other party was silent for a long time, probably because he heard Zhong Lingfan's name, but still refused.

"I'm sorry, it's not very convenient. Professor Zhong can come here to use anything he wants, but you can't take it away."

"Okay then." Xu Zhi nodded, her expression unchanged, but she walked straight towards the gate. She didn't even need to say anything. Before she reached the gate, the dog had already pounced on it and knocked down the gate that looked particularly strong with one paw.

Someone on the other end of the intercom shouted angrily: "What are you doing?"

Xu Zhi turned his head slightly to look at the camera: "I'm sorry, my brain hasn't been working very well lately. I tend to lose my temper when I hear something I don't like, but I will try to control myself. You'd better stop saying things I don't like to hear."

"Like, it's inconvenient or something. I see you didn't even close the door. Isn't that quite convenient?"

Xu Zhi lied with his eyes open, and his face didn't even turn red when he saw the gate destroyed by the dog.

"How can you be so unreasonable!" The person inside the door became anxious.

Xu Zhi was stunned when she heard this. She rarely heard such words recently. After all, it was the end of the world in Yuncheng now. No one cared about reason anymore. Everyone only used fists.

It seems that the people in the Fourth Hospital have rarely been out?

You haven't seen the sufferings of the people in Yuncheng now, right? It's okay, she will let them see it right away. She will not only take away the research equipment, but also plan to take away all the researchers here and throw them to Zhong Lingfan.

At the same time, she also felt a rare curiosity. What on earth have these people been researching while hiding in there for the past few months?