Lu Xingyi left satisfied, with his equally satisfied wife.

Once they were a distance away, Xia Qingxue said, "How was my performance? Wasn't it good?"

Lu Xingyi: "Huh? You were acting? You completely fooled me."

He smiled, but his eyes were full of heartache.

What he said to Xia Chuhe was true.

His wife was sick, but he was unable to treat her.

...

Xia Chuhe felt that the burden on her shoulders had become heavier, and her mother's illness also became something she was worried about.

Xia Chuhe took over Xinghuo's power in an orderly manner.

Originally, she was waiting for the bases to fight amongst themselves, so she could reap the benefits.

But after consolidating Xinghuo's power, she discovered that Xinghuo was deeply involved in the struggle, and they were the fuse that ignited the conflict!

With Xinghuo's undercover agents present, Xia Chuhe doesn't need to wait for the base to finish its infighting; he can directly take advantage of any loopholes before the base does.

The Taotie Army has now truly become Taotie, devouring vast territories without restraint.

However, the higher-ups did not give Xia Chuhe many opportunities to get involved.

Guan Sise acted swiftly to deal with the Lu family, who had lost its leader, and the Shen family, who had lost its exclusive technology, and to reunite the upper echelons of power.

Because her eldest and second eldest sisters had been mistreated by the Shen and Lu families, Guan Sise took the opportunity to deal with all those involved.

She locked up the old and those who were near death, leaving them to die.

She killed the young and strong men on the spot.

Without the protection of the gods, the "upper class" were like people who had lost their backbone, completely losing their spirit and energy, and did not pose much of an obstacle to the madman Guan Sise.

Guan Sise slowly gathered the Shen family's dilapidated laboratory and the Lu family's few remaining guards together, pondering how to gain a voice before the base descended into chaos.