Unaware of how ridiculously his identity had been imagined by Sifuer, Pei Yan was currently having his ears twisted back and forth by Xia Yu, apologizing repeatedly, "I'm wrong! Little ancestor, I was wrong, okay?!"

"As if you could be wrong! The great Mr. Shitang Longsi, how could you possibly make a mistake? Oh my, this slap is really solid!" Xia Yu said with a sarcastic tone while twisting Pei Yan's ear, as Zhao Yuanhu beside them kept giggling foolishly.

"Alright, let him go. He was just acting to make it realistic, wasn't he?" Ye Ruozai, who had been keeping a straight face, couldn't stand it any longer and stepped in to mediate. Seeing Xia Yu withdraw her small hand reluctantly at his urging, he worriedly asked, "But wasn't your reaction a bit over the top, could our actions be too intense?"

Pei Yan, rubbing his reddened ear, picked up a cold beer from the table, bit off the cap, and spat it aside, saying in a deep voice, "Too intense? Maybe a little! But Old Ye, we have no choice but to do this. Before, our contact wasn't deep enough, but being here, I've truly felt that in the eyes of other planes, our Base World is nothing but a lamb ready for slaughter."

Speaking, Pei Yan took a large sip of beer, thudded the bottle onto the table, and said coldly, "I've already repeatedly intimidated these people with great force. If it were anyone else, they would've been frightened long ago, but they dare to come again! If we don't overturn their ingrained impression today, I'd rather kill a hundred to make an example and wash the refuge in blood to declare the existence of the Base World!"

The menacing aura naturally emanating from Pei Yan seemed to lower the temperature of the entire room. Xia Yu and Zhao Yuanhu couldn't help but shiver; a thousand lives in the refuge had become sacrificial pawns in his mouth to declare existence. The two found Pei Yan drifting further from them, as the sunny and cheerful young man who just joined the Investigation Office had vanished.

"Do you think I'm bloodthirsty?" Pei Yan noticed their odd behavior and shook the bottle in his hand. Xia Yu and Zhao Yuanhu shook their heads, momentarily lost for words. Pei Yan shrugged indifferently and said, "This is the reason I didn't want you to come. Before this, I've already ruthlessly killed hundreds of people, and to show my stance, most of their bodies aren't even allowed to be buried in this refuge."

Seeing the two's increasingly uncomfortable faces, Pei Yan took another sip of his drink and said deeply, "Ever since the incident with the squad and Jiumu, Instructor Hu's words have been echoing in my mind since I first joined the Investigation Office: there's no good person from other planes! The situation is so tense that none of us can predict the future, so only by strengthening our own power can we ensure our safety. Relying on support from other planes, sooner or later, we'll be tricked into the grave without knowing what hit us!"

"He's right. Other planes will unhesitatingly abandon us in the face of their own interests. In a way, they can be allies or enemies. We can let go of the current moral standards of this world temporarily. We're fighting not just for ourselves." Ye Ruozai echoed with a deep voice.

"I- I- we didn't say anything; it just took a moment to adjust!" Feeling guilty for forcing himself into this action and leaving Pei Yan to bear the moral accusations alone, Zhao Yuanhu mumbled with a red face, looking down.

"Alright, we didn't mean anything else. From now on, whatever you decide, we'll go along with it, no matter what happens, we'll stick with you till the end!" Xia Yu sat next to Pei Yan, patting his shoulder reassuringly.

Pei Yan nodded gratefully, downing the bottle and letting out a satisfying burp. He wiped his mouth, smacked his lips, and turned his head to Xia Yu, "Today, we were able to intimidate the opposition thanks to Old Ye's overwhelming presence and your summoned Steel Puppet. Ah, that's the ability I want the most!"

Saying this, he stretched with a long lazy yawn and continued, "My Machine Clone's performance earlier had greatly shocked them, making them fear the Steel Puppet while also desperately craving it. But only we know that Xia's Steel Puppet only has the exterior of my Machine Clone, its actual combat capability is far inferior."

"Then, we're going to have to be careful with the use of Xia's Steel Puppet, trying to avoid summoning it, lest we expose any flaws to the enemy, causing them to second guess our strength." Ye Ruozai concurred with a deep understanding.

Although displeased with them belittling her abilities, Xia Yu knew the qualitative gap between her Steel Puppet and the Machine Clone. She could only rest her chin in her hand and complain, "If I'd known, I would've called Jiang Feiyang. His abilities have drastically improved; he can conjure a strong army in the blink of an eye! Apparently, he's even been forced to study military theory because of it."

"It's not that I didn't consider him, you know!" Pei Yan said while pulling out a box containing the Demon God Core from his pocket; "But our operations here mainly rely on raids. For full-scale battles, we can let the Demon Race handle it, but in real peril, individual actual battle capabilities are more valued, Feiyang..."

Pei Yan's statement was not intended to belittle Jiang Feiyang. If circumstances allowed, there would be no one more suited for large-scale combat. But as he said, while Jiang Feiyang's abilities are suitable for group battles, he lacks effective attack means in individual duels, which would make him a liability should they encounter formidable foes in the Hell Plane that they need to escape from; this was why after much consideration, Pei Yan did not bring Jiang Feiyang along.

"So, what are you planning next? This item seems very important to you? It should be a Source Fragment, but I sense a terrible energy from it," Ye Ruozai said warily, staring at the opened box in Pei Yan's hand.

"Yes!" Pei Yan said, rising to the windowsill and pulling out a bouquet of flowers from a vase. He returned to his seat and placed a flower beside the Source Fragment. The flower, which had been vibrant, began to wither, dry, and finally crumble into dust with a gentle pinch of Pei Yan's fingers, dissipating into the air.

"To think that without containing any laws, merely the pure Origin Power could hold such deathly energy. It's truly terrifying!" Pei Yan remarked with awe as he pinched another flower with his right hand. When the same scenario unfolded in front of his companions, they were all left with mouths agape in shock.

"This is my greatest harvest from coming here!" Pei Yan said, weighing the fragment in his hand, smiling happily.