Zhao Wei took Li Lao hostage in front of Fang Qingdai. Fang Qingdai tried to attack him with her mental power, but found it was useless against Zhao Wei!

Zhao Wei laughed and said, "Have you seen that silver protective suit? It's a special shielding device that I developed specifically for your mental power. It can isolate mental power by up to 90%."

"By the way, it was Professor Li who pointed me in the right direction for this project. I am so grateful to him, my teacher."

Old Li kept patting his chest to calm the shock of the sudden situation.

He asked in a deep voice, "Didn't you say that the development of protective suits was only halfway done?"

"When you asked, the process was indeed only halfway through, but after you explained it to me, it proceeded smoothly."

Zhao Wei led Old Li away. Fang Qingdai's mental interference was ineffective, and she dared not use force for fear of hurting Old Li. She could only follow closely, cautiously inquiring about Zhao Wei's purpose the whole way.

"How do you know I can't give it to you if you don't tell me?"

Zhao Wei remained unmoved and led Li Lao to another cubicle in the research room, where Fang Qingdai finally saw Mao Ling, who was tied up.

Zhao Wei finally spoke up: "I want Li Weidong, and I'll trade you Dr. Mao for him."

The fact that Li Lao was not mentioned at all means that Li Weidong could only get one bargaining chip in return.

Fang Qingdai suppressed her agitation and nodded decisively: "Okay."

“You have to come to the prison with me. Only if I go to the prison in person can I break down the barrier that is holding Li Weidong in custody.”

Zhao Wei sneered: "Do you think I'm stupid?"

"That barrier is made of some unknown material, and no technology can break it. What if I go with you and get locked up?"

Fang Qingdai's face darkened: "You know I can't leave. If you don't come with me, who can bring Li Weidong here?"

She tried her best to keep her tone steady: "Even if I lock you up, Old Li and Mao Ling are still in your hands. I'd be even more worried about locking you all up in one place. What do you have to worry about!"

Zhao Wei lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment before nodding: "Alright, I'll go with you to pick up the person. You'd better not try anything funny."

As soon as he finished speaking, he brandished the silver syringe gleaming in his hand: "The poison in this syringe, just one drop, can kill an adult wasteland mutant elephant in ten seconds. If I were to accidentally poke Old Li even slightly, our wasteland's future would be over!"

He laughed excitedly: "But I think you can place your hopes for the future of the wasteland on me. To be honest, I really don't think I'm much worse than Old Li or Old He!"

Fang Qingdai lowered her eyes and remained silent, only saying, "Let's go."

Zhao Wei pulled over Old Li's spare wheelchair and dragged Mao Ling onto it. The syringe was aimed at either Old Li or Mao Ling the whole time, leaving no room for Fang Qingdai to operate it!

Fang Qingdai could only calm herself down and lead Zhao Wei toward the prison.

Upon arriving at Li Weidong's cell, Mao Min immediately realized something was wrong.

She pushed away the clingy Li Weidong and asked Fang Qingdai, "What's going on?"

Fang Qingdai simply waved her hand to remove the barrier, and then said, "Let Li Weidong go with him, and bring Aunt Ling back."

Mao Min's face turned extremely ugly. She couldn't help but kick Li Weidong hard, cursing, "You're a menace!"

Li Weidong covered the spot where he had been kicked, looking aggrieved, and forced a smile as he looked at Mao Min ingratiatingly: "Minmin, does your foot hurt?"

Mao Min got even angrier and slapped him again: "Get over there and bring my sister back!"

Mao Min pushed Li Weidong forward, but Li Weidong looked panicked and said, "I won't go! I don't want to leave your side!"

"Minmin, don't leave me!"

Despite Mao Min's beatings and scoldings, Li Weidong refused to go over.

Zhao Wei frowned upon seeing this and looked at Fang Qingdai: "You control his consciousness and make him more obedient."

Fang Qingdai shrugged: "You know he's seriously injured in the head. Are you sure my mental energy probing in randomly won't trigger his defense mechanisms and make the problem even worse?"

If it were someone else, then forget it.

But Li Weidong was on the verge of death, his consciousness was already blurred, yet he was still a ruthless man who could still try to escape based on instinct.

Fang Qingdai's mental invasion could very well activate his defense mechanisms, forcibly resisting Fang Qingdai's mental power and causing more severe damage to his brain nerves.

Zhao Wei was aware of the situation and hesitated for a moment upon hearing this.

Fang Qingdai's eyes flickered.

She was testing the waters, trying to find out which force was behind Zhao Wei.

If they were on Li Weidong's side, they would definitely care about Li Weidong's safety and would not allow Fang Qingdai to do anything that would worsen Li Weidong's situation.

If it were any other force, they would only want Li Weidong as a bargaining chip and wouldn't care too much about his personal safety, as long as they could hold onto the pawn.

After hesitating for a moment, Zhao Wei looked back and said, "Then let Chief of Staff Mao leave with me!"

Fang Qingdai immediately shook her head: "Impossible!"

"You yourself know that you need to use two chips in two separate transactions, so why would you think I'd be willing to trade two people for one?"

Mao Min also spoke up: "I can go with them, but Mr. Li and my sister can stay."

Zhao Wei also shook his head: "Old Li can't possibly leave it to you."

The situation reached a stalemate again.

Fang Qingdai glanced in Mao Min's direction, seemingly unintentionally, her brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

After a long while, Zhao Wei finally couldn't hold on any longer and gritted his teeth, saying, "Chief of Staff Mao and Li Weidong, come with me. I will release Dr. Mao and provide you with a secret about the Xuanwu base."

Fang Qingdai raised her eyebrows: "What secret? Tell me first, so I can judge whether it's valuable enough."

"If you hesitate any longer, the main force from Oasis Base might return, and then it won't be so easy for you to leave!"

Zhao Wei knew that time was of the essence. After only two seconds of thought, he decisively spoke up: "The current Xuanwu Base Chief is no longer the same as before. The person in that position is just a puppet, just like Li Weidong before. The actual power holders of the Xuanwu Base have always been Li Weidong and He Tingguang."

Fang Qingdai frowned.

She had long suspected that the Xuanwu base commander had been sidelined, but she never expected that the person in that position would be a puppet.

Zhao Wei suddenly laughed again: "By the way, you guys don't know, do you? This amazing plastic surgery puppet technique is actually the result of my research and development!"

Fang Qingdai frowned even more: "So what? Whether we know this secret or not makes no difference to us. In any case, the entire Xuanwu Base is our enemy."

Zhao Wei shook his head: "No, no, no, how could it not have an impact? Don't you want to know where the real Xuanwu base chief went?"

His expression became excited again, with a hint of madness.

Fang Qingdai's heart sank: "It's...you?"

Zhao Wei's eyes suddenly lit up, and he looked at Fang Qingdai with admiration: "You got it right!"

Fang Qingdai's mind was in complete turmoil, and now she was even more confused about which faction Zhao Wei belonged to!