Chapter 293: Zhou Hui's Withdrawal

Several days later, inside a training room at the General Law Enforcement Bureau.

The lights blazed like daylight, illuminating every inch of the room.

A training dummy stood in the center of the room. Right now, its condition was bizarre; its body was covered in dents, and those dents were rapidly multiplying.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Deafening impacts rang out one after another, as if an invisible attacker were striking in a frenzy.

With one final, thunderous blow, the dummy shattered into pieces. Su Mu's figure materialized, standing firm in the center of the room with his fists tightly clenched.

He hadn't turned invisible; his speed was simply too fast for the naked eye to track.

He let out a breath.

Su Mu slowly calmed his breathing. In the few days since his return, he had spent almost every daylight hour in the training room, honing the Silver Law, Follower of Strength. At night, he would slip out quietly, randomly selecting lucky passersby to practice Thousand Illusions of Fleeting Life on.

With his current physique, he didn't need rest at all. After just a few short days of training, his mastery over both laws had deepened significantly.

Thanks to Twisted Thoughts, the ranks of the Seven Deadly Sins had grown considerably during his time in the Imperial Capital. Although none of them were official members—just peripheral personnel, and mostly ordinary people at that—it didn't matter. What mattered was that his intelligence network had been thoroughly established.

Now, throughout the Imperial Capital, various departments, merchant guilds, and private clubs all contained his people and his dogs.

And he meant dogs in the literal sense. After all, quite a few people in the Imperial Capital kept dogs. Many wealthy households relied on them to guard their properties, and even the General Law Enforcement Bureau had quite a few law enforcement hounds.

"Captain! Captain! I've got fantastic news!" Lin Nanxing's excited voice rang out from outside the training room.

Su Mu stepped out of the room to see his four surviving team members, along with Lin Lingling. Though they were all wrapped in thick bandages, joy radiated from their faces.

"Captain, we've all become nobles!" Lin Nanxing eagerly called out, his bandaged right hand waving a newspaper around.

It seemed the thrill of becoming a noble had made him forget the pain.

He hurried over and held the newspaper up in front of Su Mu. "Look, Captain, we're the headline!"

Su Mu glanced at it and saw the news of himself being granted the title of Count. The massive spread took up almost half the page, complete with his photograph.

"I see it. But... what about you guys?"

"Right down in the bottom right corner!" Lin Nanxing hurriedly pointed to a spot on the page. There, written in fine print that practically required a magnifying glass, was a single line mentioning that the rest of them had been made barons.

"It looks like the Chiyan Imperial Family wants to use us for propaganda."

"For sure. This exploration was brutal—a hundred people went in, and only six came out alive. If the Royal Family doesn't step up the rewards, who's going to risk their lives for them anymore? Pop!" Lin Lingling had her hands shoved in her pockets, chewing gum. She tried to blow a massive bubble, but it popped as soon as it puffed out.

The sticky gum plastered across her mouth, and she sucked hard to pull it back in.

Su Mu looked at the eccentric girl. "I can understand them getting titles, but what about you?"

"Hey, we're all family from now on. Don't say things like that." Lin Lingling waved her small hand dismissively.

"Captain, you probably didn't know, but Lin Lingling has been merged into our squad," Lin Nanxing explained. "Lord Sikong Zhen said the Royal Family highly values our team. They've decided to pick the best of the best to refill our ranks, pooling our strength for the next exploration.

"Also, the next expedition is scheduled for half a month from now. First, to give us time to recover. Second, to keep recruiting Nightmare Apostles from all over the country. After all, even counting Lin Lingling, our team only has six people. We still have four empty slots."

"Not four slots," Su Mu suddenly interjected. "Five."

Lin Nanxing and the others blinked, not understanding what he meant.

Su Mu turned his head slightly, looking toward Zhou Hui among the group.

Zhou Hui looked anxious and haggard, opening her mouth to speak but hesitating.

Seeing Su Mu looking at her, she took a deep breath. Her expression hardened as if she had finally made up her mind. "You noticed, Captain."

"Yes."

"I plan to quit the exploration." Having finally said it, Zhou Hui let out a long breath, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders.

Everyone turned to look at her. Zhou Hui forced a pale smile. "I won't lie to you all—I'm genuinely scared. This trip into the Nightmare World was completely different from anything I've experienced before. At the very least, I've never encountered a Gold Grade enemy, nor have I ever faced so many foes at once.

"It's safe to say that if it weren't for the Captain, we would have all died."

Her words caused the excitement to fade slightly from everyone's faces, replaced by a glimmer of lingering fear.

"My abilities aren't anything special, and I didn't help much during this mission. I even dragged the team down. I figured, rather than continuing to be a burden, it's better to bow out early."

The group fell silent. Lin Nanxing looked at Zhou Hui's pale face, and a wave of hesitation swelled in his own heart.

The next exploration would likely take them into the Abyss—that bizarre, legendary place from which no one had ever emerged alive. The Captain had protected them this time, but what about the next? And the time after that?

Aside from Lin Nanxing, however, the others didn't hesitate in the slightest.

Su Qing certainly wouldn't hesitate; she was absolutely determined to reach Supreme Heaven.

Yan Wu couldn't hesitate either. As a puppet, he merely followed Su Mu's commands.

"Do you think the Royal Family will agree to let you quit right after they've made you a noble?" Su Mu asked.

Zhou Hui shuddered, her face growing even paler. "If I bring it up myself, they definitely won't agree. But you're different, Captain. You're the core of the exploration mission. The fact that they made you a Count shows how much the Royal Family values you. I came here today to beg you to speak with the higher-ups in the Law Enforcement Bureau. Just tell them that my abilities are lacking and I'm unfit to continue the exploration."

She was smart. She knew that the Royal Family prioritized the mission above all else. If Su Mu declared her abilities insufficient, the Royal Family would undoubtedly dismiss her to ensure the expedition proceeded smoothly.

Su Mu nodded. "I can do that. Is there anyone else who wants to quit?"

Lin Nanxing's hesitation deepened, but when Su Mu's gaze shifted to him, he gritted his teeth and said firmly, "Captain, you've saved me twice. I told you before, my life belongs to you now. As long as you keep exploring, I will follow you!"

Su Mu smiled slightly. Lin Nanxing hadn't disappointed him. He had high hopes for Lin Nanxing—not just for the man himself, but for his abilities.

The Silver Law, Absolute Hit, held immense potential. Although its sheer power seemed mediocre, with the right combination of tactics, it could produce astonishing results at critical moments.

Take their battle against the Twisted Bishop, for instance. The opponent's spatial distortion ability was practically unbeatable for anyone below Gold Grade. If Lin Nanxing hadn't struck first and heavily wounded the bishop using the Gold Totem Stone, they wouldn't have survived to see the end of it.

Afterward, Su Mu sought out the higher-ups of the General Law Enforcement Bureau and had Zhou Hui kicked off the team. Just as she had said, her abilities were lacking. She had survived this time by sheer luck, but she wouldn't escape the fate of cannon fodder the next time around.