Clang!
Upon seeing the contents of the message, Jiang Wuming's heart trembled, and he instinctively called back.
"No matter who you are, if you dare to harm Liyan, I guarantee that you and your entire clan will vanish from this world!"
The call was answered quickly, and Jiang Wuming spoke coldly, his words filled with chilling killing intent.
"Heh..."
A disdainful laugh echoed from the earpiece. The owner of the call completely disregarded Jiang Wuming's warning and threat, saying coldly, "Jiang Wuming, are you threatening me? If you want your woman to live, do as I say."
"State your conditions."
Jiang Wuming's tone was icy. Since the other party contacted him, they must have a purpose.
"Within two hours, arrive at the Western Ocean Pier in Los Angeles, North American Alliance, and wait for my call. Remember, you can only come alone! We will be monitoring you in real-time. If you bring anyone else, then, I'm sorry, your woman will die, and in a manner you least want to see! At that time, I will send you the video to enjoy."
"I can go to the place you mentioned, but I must be sure that Liyan is safe!"
After a brief moment of worry and anger, Jiang Wuming realized that the other party had kidnapped Li Liyan to deal with him, and he completely regained his composure.
"If Liyan suffers even the slightest harm, your plan to use her against me will fall through. Moreover, you will bear the wrath of the War Dragon Hall and the martial arts world of Longguo!
Don't doubt my words. You should know the significance of Gene No. 1 to the martial arts world of Longguo and even to this world!"
"Hehehe... Stop the nonsense. You're running out of time, hurry up and act."
The owner of the call chuckled coldly.
"Since you haven't agreed to my conditions, there's no need for us to meet. When I investigate your identities, I will pay you a visit!"
Jiang Wuming narrowed his eyes and said each word deliberately.
"Damn it, are you threatening me? Believe it or not, I'll make your woman scream right now?!"
Facing Jiang Wuming's repeated threats, the owner of the call became somewhat agitated and retaliated with a threat.
This time, Jiang Wuming remained silent.
The two parties fell into silence.
This felt like a negotiation, and even more like a standoff.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
After a full ten seconds, the owner of the call compromised:
"I won't do anything to her before we meet. However, you'd better hurry. You only have two hours."
"I will arrive on time."
Jiang Wuming achieved his objective and, without further ado, hung up the phone.
"I'll arrange a plane now."
Qin Xiaozhi overheard Jiang Wuming's conversation and knew that Li Liyan had been kidnapped. He also knew that Jiang Wuming would definitely go to rescue Li Liyan. So, without waiting for Jiang Wuming's instructions, he spoke up proactively.
"Mm."
Jiang Wuming nodded, then stood up.
"Boss, should we inform Master Dawson?"
Qin Xiaozhi hesitated and asked.
He had just heard the other party's demands, giving Jiang Wuming only two hours.
In this case, even if Heavenly Dragon Daoist recovered his strength, he wouldn't be able to help Jiang Wuming.
However, Dawson was in the City of Sin and could accompany Jiang Wuming.
"No need."
Jiang Wuming shook his head.
He had now broken through to the ninth stage of a Four-star War God. As long as he didn't encounter any Half-step Heavenly God realm experts, he would be almost in no danger.
And if there were Half-step Heavenly God realm experts in the enemy's trap, even if Dawson accompanied him, it would be useless.
After all, Dawson had not yet stepped into the Half-step Heavenly God realm; he was only at the tenth stage of a Five-star War God!
As soon as Jiang Wuming left his residence, he received a call from Gade.
"Brother Wuming, I saw that your girlfriend's private jet had an accident. Is she alright?"
When the call connected, Gade asked with concern.
"She was kidnapped, and the other party wants to use this to deal with me," Jiang Wuming did not hide anything.
"Wh... What?"
Upon hearing this, Gade's expression changed.
Jiang Wuming and the War Dragon Hall were now famous throughout the global martial arts world, and they had been designated by Dawson as the new masters of the City of Sin. Who dared to provoke Jiang Wuming?
Immediately, an answer surfaced in Gade's mind.
However—
Before he could speak again, Jiang Wuming added, "Gade, I need to go rescue Liyan. I have to go now."
After saying this, Jiang Wuming hung up the phone without waiting for Gade's reply.
Gade realized the seriousness of the situation and immediately put away his phone and went to find Dawson.
"Master isn't here?"
Soon, Gade arrived at Dawson's secret chamber and found that Dawson was not there.
Dawson's secret chamber had been modified. The walls and ceiling were made of special materials, making them not only very sturdy but also capable of isolating spiritual sense.
Because of this, Gade had been unable to determine if Dawson was in the chamber using spiritual sense.
Seeing that Dawson was not there, Gade immediately took out his phone to contact Dawson, only to find that Dawson's private number could not be dialed and his communicator was turned off.
Where did Master go?
Gade couldn't help but ask himself, feeling as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.
He wanted to help Jiang Wuming but was powerless to do so!
...
North American Alliance, an uninhabited island in the western sea area of Los Angeles.
A cargo ship docked by the coast of the uninhabited island. Nine Five-star War Gods and a young man in a black robe disembarked from the cargo ship with Li Liyan.
As the group disembarked, the cargo ship sailed away and then exploded in the sea.
"Hand her over to me. You stay on the shore and wait for Jiang Wuming."
After seeing the cargo ship explode, the black-robed youth said to the elder, a ninth-stage Five-star War God, who was leading the group.
"Mr. Shius, although Jiang Wuming agreed to arrive at the Western Ocean Pier within the time we requested, he made one condition: he must ensure this woman's safety."
The leading ninth-stage Five-star War God heard this and instinctively thought that the black-robed youth named Shius was going to do something to Li Liyan, so he reminded him.
"Don't worry, I'm not interested in this trash. I just want to ask her a few questions. This is a mission assigned to me by my teacher," Shius understood the meaning of the ninth-stage Five-star War God at once and sneered.
"Alright!"
Upon hearing this, the ninth-stage Five-star War God didn't dare to say anything more.
At the same time, the other Five-star War Gods also showed reverence on their faces.
This was because the black-robed youth named Shius had mentioned his teacher—Anthony @ Roman!
Shius stopped talking and directly took Li Liyan to a canyon ahead.
"You want to ask me for the formula for Gene No. 1 alone, right?"
Seeing Shius stop, Li Liyan spoke first.
The bloodstains on her face had dried, but she hadn't had a chance to clean them yet. However, her expression had already returned to calm.
"You're quite smart. You know you have other value besides being a hostage," Shius's brows flashed with surprise.
After being kidnapped, Li Liyan had been very calm all along, except for the initial panic and sorrow. Now, she had regained absolute composure.
"I can give you the formula, provided that you immediately stop the plan to kill Wuming!" Li Liyan said indifferently.
"No need."
Shius smiled playfully, then his eyes flashed with white light, and a surge of mental power poured out, entering Li Liyan's head.
He was a mental power cultivator, and a rare genius on Earth, possessing the tenth stage of a Three-star War God cultivation!
Soon, Shius's mental power entered Li Liyan's spiritual world and then used the 'Mental Puppet Technique,' which was famous in the extraterrestrial world, to control Li Liyan, making her his puppet!
In this way, he could extract Li Liyan's secrets, learn everything he wanted, and at the same time, he could arrange for Li Liyan to be in Longguo to serve his teacher.
To be precise, this plan was formulated by his teacher, and he was merely the executor.
However—
Soon, Shius's expression changed!
Because he discovered that although Li Liyan was just an ordinary person with no martial arts cultivation, her mental will was extremely firm!
The Mental Puppet Technique and soul-snatching were the two most terrifying techniques of extraterrestrial mental power cultivators, which could achieve the purpose of controlling others.
However, these two techniques also had flaws. Once they encountered someone with a strong mental will, it would be very difficult to succeed.
And whether a person's mental will was strong or not had nothing to do with whether they were a martial artist, what identity or status they held, and so on.
Shius had thought that Li Liyan, as the successor of the Li family's medical arts and the leader of a team of experts from Longguo who successfully developed Gene No. 1, must have something extraordinary about her and her mental will would not be bad. But Li Liyan's mental will was far stronger than he had imagined!
This... caused his Mental Puppet Technique to fail!
However, Shius was unwilling to give up and tried several more times, but all attempts ended in failure.
"I underestimated you!"
Shius glared at Li Liyan, gritting his teeth, and then looked at the time. He no longer insisted on turning Li Liyan into his puppet, but instead used another secret technique to extract Li Liyan's memories!
This time, Li Liyan's mental will could not be effective. She fainted on the ground, and her memories poured into Shius's mind like a tide.
After an unknown amount of time, Shius had absorbed all of Li Liyan's memories. The amount of information was immense. Even though he was a mental power cultivator at the tenth stage of a Three-star War God, it was difficult for him to digest and categorize it all at once.
Shius took out a satellite phone and made a call, saying respectfully, "I'm sorry, Teacher, your student is useless!"
"What happened?" Anthony @ Roman, who was in a European ancient castle, asked.
"This Chinese woman named Li Liyan has extremely strong mental will. I couldn't turn her into my puppet using the Mental Puppet Technique, so I could only extract her memories," Shius replied.
"If that's the case, then forget it. After dealing with the matters on your end, organize her memories for me as soon as possible," Anthony @ Roman's tone was low.
"Yes, Teacher!"
Seeing that Anthony @ Roman did not blame him, Shius breathed a sigh of relief, and then asked for instructions, "Also, Teacher, since I couldn't make her my puppet, how should I deal with her?"
"Kill her."
Anthony @ Roman gave the instruction indifferently, as if he were instructing Shius to crush an insect.
"Yes!"
Shius took the order but did not act immediately.
Because he remembered the reminder from the leading ninth-stage Five-star War God: Jiang Wuming had to ensure Li Liyan's safety before falling into this trap!