Yeah! What's the point? Sometimes Pei Yan feels like he's a collection of contradictions. Before a battle starts, he yearns day and night for it to begin. Once it starts, he immerses himself in it and thoroughly enjoys it. But when the battle ends and he sees the corpses and wounded scattered around, he begins to wonder what the other side is after.

Later, when he mentioned these thoughts to others, Shangxing told him that people's minds are always complex and multifaceted. Zhao Yuanhu quietly listened to his musings while sipping milk tea. Jiang Feiyang said he was worrying unnecessarily, and Wang Wenze slapped him on the back of his head, scolding him for bringing up such nonsense on his first date with a girl.

Now, Pei Yan sits on top of a high wall with a cigar in his mouth, quietly watching people below clean up the battlefield. The battle inside the field is nearing its end. Most of the Divine Desire members, seeing no hope of escape, organized a symbolic resistance against the encirclement, but it quickly crumbled. Some with supernatural abilities hiding in prison nooks were forcibly dragged out; others tried to take hostages just before putting on the restraining rings, attempting to escape, and some played dead only to be sniffed out by dogs, ending up screaming. These people met tragic fates, either beaten beyond recognition or executed on the spot.

With more than twenty additional bodies as examples, the remaining Divine Desire members became noticeably more docile, kneeling obediently with raised hands, accepting arrest. Watching groups of prisoners with restraining rings being led to a corner to squat, Pei Yan roughly estimated the number to be nearly two hundred. It seemed that the first task for the Secret Prison would be to expand. Thinking of this, Pei Yan glanced back at the ruined remains behind him, figuring it was almost demolished anyway.

As the battlefield was cleared, those with medical abilities and large numbers of medical staff entered the site, dragging bodies from the mud one by one, checking for any signs of life. Severely injured were carried away, while those lightly wounded received auxiliary treatment from the empowered ones remaining on-site. Pei Yan's teammate Kong Lin was among them, seen weaving through the injured crowd, using his abilities to heal the wounds of others.

What made Pei Yan worry more was the increasing number of corpses being unearthed, some cleaned and placed on stretchers covered with thin white sheets. Seeing comrades kneeling beside stretchers, weeping bitterly, Pei Yan lowered his head in sorrow, recognizing many faces he had seen in the investigation office.

"How are the casualties?" Pei Yan extinguished his cigar and placed the remaining half in a cigar box, taking the beer Wang Wenze handed him as he jumped onto the high wall and asked casually.

Wang Wenze squatted next to Pei Yan, looking around the field, and sighed, "I just learned from Kong Lin that, according to preliminary statistics, our investigation office lost thirty-seven people. Almost all bear injuries, and he saw six severely injured being carried away. From the prison guards, seventeen sacrificed their lives, the military on that end lost over sixty. There are more wounded, and some even missing, likely mingled with the Divine Desire corpses. Hopefully, they turn up safe."

At this, Wang Wenze paused. The two men poured out the beer from the just-opened can, drinking the remaining half in one go, then tossed the empty can far away. Wang Wenze continued, "Divine Desire's modified individuals were basically wiped out, with orders to capture over thirty for future research, and over a hundred and seventy prisoners were taken. Shangxing said it was thanks to you dispatching the Devouring Demon they released promptly that our casualties weren't worse. We were lucky to capture some Daoist Realm cultivators controlling the Devouring Demons. Thankfully, these cultivators weren't high-level, so they didn't have time to escape, though it's uncertain if they'll help us understand the bizarre capabilities of those Demons!"

This battle highlighted the difference in combat proficiency at the fundamental level between Divine Desire and state agencies. The investigation office, including the reserve team that joined later, deployed less than 500 people in total, defeating Divine Desire at the cost of over a hundred sacrifices!

Excluding casualties from high-level empowered beings' fights and numerous modified individuals' participation, the numbers would have been lower still. After this battle, Divine Desire's low-tier members in the country have been almost entirely rounded up, unlikely to cause any more disturbances.

With this thought, Pei Yan stretched long and lay backward low to stare at the dim sky, murmuring to himself, "The battle should be over, right!"

After saying this, he turned over, patted his empty stomach, and asked, "Got anything to eat? My belly's been empty since half the night!"

"Yes, several carts of thermal boxes with meals and drinks were brought from inside the prison and distributed. It seems it was prepared in advance; I got my beer from there,"

"Why didn't you say so earlier? Get those gluttons there, nothing's going to be left!" Pei Yan said this as he leaped off the high wall and ran towards the direction Wang Wenze pointed.

Ten minutes later, sitting alongside Jiang Feiyang among the crowd, Pei Yan tore into the meal with gusto. He noticed a commotion among the people around him. Initially, he didn't think much of it until coworkers around him stood up, realizing something was unusual. He lowered his chopsticks, planning to stand up and ask what happened when Wang Wenze and his other teammates squeezed through the crowd to find him.

"What's going on?" Pei Yan, seeing his companions' faces full of worry and anxiety, felt a bad premonition rising in his heart and urgently asked.

Xia Yu licked her dry lips, panting, and replied, "The investigation office headquarters was attacked by Divine Desire people, and the current situation is unclear!"

With a thud, the meal boxes in Pei Yan and Jiang Feiyang's hands fell to the ground at the same time. Jiang Feiyang's mouth twitched twice in disbelief and questioned, "What did you say?"

"The investigation office headquarters was attacked. Earlier I noticed coworkers shuttling the severely wounded didn't return them to the investigation office but sent them to the military. Initially thought nothing of it until we prepared to send the unconscious Jiumu for rest, only to be informed that the investigation office's Teleportation Array was now malfunctioning and couldn't receive transfers. It wasn't until just now that Prison Director Li hinted this to our captain," Wang Wenze said with a grave expression and a serious tone.

"Then what are we doing here? Let's go support them! The capital has more than one Teleportation Array; we can transfer back then drive there!" Pei Yan rubbed his shoulder, his eyes sweeping over Xue Buli as he excitedly spoke.

"We can't. The orders from above are for us to remain on standby. Tonight, interdimensional rifts have started frequently opening again, and the reserve team members have already been dispatched to the incident sites around. If situations worsen, we lightly injured ones may also be deployed. As for the headquarters, our higher-ups said that the combat level there is beyond what we can engage in," Peng Lang sighed from the side.

"But, but, but Qi Weidong is still at the investigation office! He's just an injured person now." Xue Buli, already weak, couldn't conceal his inner concern any longer, lowered his head, and sobbed.