Then let the witch offer her loyalty

"This despair is not a bad thing. On the contrary, it will be the beginning of Zhou Yan's new life. From today onwards, she will be a different person."

...

Liu Dashan took Zhou Yan on a short rafting trip down the underground river to meet the person Sun Kan had arranged to meet them. They still had a long way to go by car.

There are few cameras in this remote area, and the two of them wore hoods when they moved. Sun Kan also arranged for them to use cars with fake license plates and paint them with color-changing paint, which basically eliminated the possibility of being tracked. It can be said that they were very safe.

Halfway there, Liu Dashan and Zhou Yan sat facing each other in the back of the truck.

As time went by, Zhou Yan seemed to finally recover from the blow, and his complexion improved.

However, she seemed absent-minded, staring intently out the window, lost in thought.

Liu Dashan didn't want the atmosphere to be so tense. Based on past experience, bringing the witch back to the organization was only the first step.

Bringing people back is easy; you can use coercion, enticement, deception, or trickery.

The most crucial question is how to get the witch to willingly serve the Demon Alliance.

If you bring back a gluttonous witch who only eats and does no work, you might as well just kill her.

Therefore, how to get Zhou Yan to cooperate is something Liu Dashan really needs to consider now.

He gathered his thoughts and took the initiative to start the conversation: "Life in the Administration Bureau must be tough, right? Especially in the strict control area, that place is no different from being in prison."

Zhou Yan didn't look at him, but simply hummed in response.

The other party finally responded, which was a good thing. Liu Dashan continued to press his advantage: "That's how empires are. Such countries will never understand how to respect people's freedom."

"But it's alright, those frustrating days are over. In our Magic Alliance, the one thing you have in abundance is freedom."

"We are warriors of freedom, dedicated to liberating all witches within the empire and rescuing everyone from this totalitarian rule..."

Based on his past experience in brainwashing other witches, Liu Dashan continuously instilled various ideas from the Demon Alliance into Zhou Yan.

Such as the Azure Federation being a beacon of civilization and the policy of psionic freedom being the cornerstone of human rights.

The Rose Empire's policy of controlling psychic powers is something we should reflect upon.

He won't be chaotic if everyone has spiritual energy.

Basically, it's all about praising the Federation and belittling the Empire, hailing the former as a paradise of human rights while criticizing the latter as worthless.

Just as Liu Dashan was trying to brainwash Zhou Yan, she said calmly, "You don't need to tell me these things. I don't care about policies or ideologies."

"I don't have any lofty ideals. I just want to be able to eat my fill, stay warm, have someone bring me delicious food when I'm hungry, and knit me a scarf when I'm cold. I just want someone who genuinely cares about me. That's enough. That's all I want in this life."

Liu Dashan clapped his hands and said cheerfully, "Isn't that simple? How about this, since you've already called me Brother Liu before, from now on I'll be your brother and you'll be my sister."

"I promise you, from today onwards, if Brother Liu has a bite to eat, you will definitely have a bite to eat too."

After saying that, he took out an energy bar from his pocket and handed it over: "Here, this stuff is very nutritious, and it's coated with chocolate. I was originally keeping it for myself as a snack, but now it's for you, Zhou Yan."

Zhou Yan smiled slightly, reached out and took the energy bar, and started munching on it: "Then thank you, Brother Liu."

Liu Dashan chuckled inwardly, thinking to himself, "This kid is so easy to fool; a chocolate bar is all it takes."

Zhou Yan is young and his values ​​are not yet fixed like those of adults. As long as he is taken back and properly brainwashed, he will definitely become an invaluable anti-empire force in the organization in the future.

He could already picture the scene in his mind—a few years later, a powerful witch would stand beside him, her eyes burning with fierce flames, completely devoted to the organization, filled with disgust and hatred for the Rose Empire, and determined to overthrow this corrupt regime.

This time, things turned out unexpectedly well. I was just going to talk to a border group about the business of calamity weapons, but I never expected to bring back a witch by chance.

It seems he has accomplished a great feat.

With this achievement, I should be able to apply to the organization to form a spiritual contract with the second witch and obtain a second spiritual power. How wonderful!

Just as Liu Dashan was secretly speculating, Zhou Yan, chewing on an energy bar, seemed to be looking down at the floor, but was actually observing him silently and calmly.

Chapter 185 Taking You to See Goldfish

The night was deep, and the moonlight was swallowed by thick clouds. The truck drove along, its metal body bouncing and swaying through the potholes, making a clanging sound as metal collided.

Halfway there, several bright lights shone at the intersection ahead, illuminating the road surface in a snowy white. In the distance, the patrol team stationed at the checkpoint and the Twin Cities Police Department logo could be seen.

"We've encountered a checkpoint," the driver warned through the rear window, then slammed on the brakes.

Zhou Yan asked nervously, "What should we do? I'm on the wanted poster; I can't stand the scrutiny..."

Liu Dashan sat calmly, his hat brim pulled low. He glanced at the armed police officers outside the car window and said indifferently, "What's the panic? Sun Kan's men will handle this kind of trivial matter."

Soon, the car stopped, and the driver got out and nodded to the uniformed officers: "Good evening, sir."

A patrol team with guns walked to the back of the vehicle, and the driver readily opened the door.

The flashlight beam shone in and fell on Liu Dashan and Zhou Yan.

The driver smiled obsequiously and explained, "Sir, this is my brother, and his daughter. A relative at home is seriously ill, and we're going back to visit them together."

The captain looked at Liu Dashan and Zhou Yan and said, "ID cards."

Seeing that neither of them spoke, the captain seemed to realize something, narrowed his eyes, and raised his voice several octaves: "I told you to show me your ID cards, didn't you hear me?!"

The other sheriffs kept their hands on their sidearms without making a sound.

The driver quickly pulled out his ID card from his pocket and handed it over with a fawning smile: "Sir, I'm so sorry, they didn't bring their ID cards."

“My family member is seriously ill, and we are in a hurry to get back. Do you think my ID will be okay? If not, I will tell my older brother, Sun Kan, and ask him to send it over immediately.”

Upon hearing the name "Sun Kan," a strange light flashed in the captain's eyes, who had been looking serious. He gave the driver a meaningful look.

The driver casually loosened his collar, pretending to unintentionally reveal the tattoo on his collarbone.

The captain paused for a moment, then softened his tone: "Enforcing the law is for the people. Your family member is seriously ill, so I won't make things difficult for you. Remember to bring your ID card next time."

"Okay, okay, thank you, bro!" The driver quickly nodded and bowed.

The patrol team routinely released their police dogs to check the vehicle and, after confirming that there were no contraband items, released the three individuals.

The driver got in the car, started the engine, and continued driving forward. The checkpoint behind them gradually shrank into a white light and eventually disappeared into the night.

Zhou Yan's eyes widened in surprise, and he couldn't help but exclaim, "This is incredible! They're letting us go just like that?"

The driver chuckled and said, "Do you think our Brother Sun is going to bribe officials at the Public Security Bureau every year? We're all on the same side, what's a little show like this?"

The truck drove towards the seaside and finally came to a slow stop at an outlet to the sea.

A damp sea breeze, carrying a salty smell, swept over us, and a small motorboat was already waiting there.

Liu Dashan jumped out of the car and waved to Zhou Yan: "Let's go, Zhou Mei."

Zhou Yan got out of the car and looked at the sea shrouded in darkness. He asked, somewhat puzzled, "Aren't we going back to base? Why are we at the beach? We can't build our base here, can we?"

Liu Dashan gave a meaningful smile: "You'll find out soon enough. Get on the boat first."

The two boarded the motorboat.

"Hold on tight."

Liu Dashan started the engine and twisted the throttle sharply.

"Boom—" The motorboat accelerated suddenly, cutting through the dead silence of the sea and stirring up two waves to the side.

Zhou Yan was almost knocked over by the swaying, so she quickly grabbed the iron railing beside her, letting the wind blow her hair into a mess.

The night was deep, the sea breeze was howling, and amidst the rolling waves, the motorboat roared like an arrow across the dark sea.

After driving for nearly an hour, a light suddenly appeared on the distant sea, twinkling like starlight in the deep darkness.

"We're here."

Zhou Yan peered out and saw that the light was getting closer and bigger.

Soon, a colossal shadow appeared in the sea fog.

It was a giant ship sailing on the sea, with a jet-black hull and an outer shell covered with observation radar, high-frequency communication towers and other auxiliary structures. Several heavy-duty lifting cranes extended from the sides, like the spine of a giant beast.

Liu Dashan's meaningful laughter rang out: "The Wings of Freedom is a giant ship with a total length of 314.37 meters and a full load tonnage of 313564 tons."

“That’s our base, or more precisely, one of our bases. We have dozens more of these giant ships.”

Zhou Yan muttered, "No wonder our Demon Alliance members can always appear and disappear without a trace; it turns out our base is built at sea..."

Upon hearing Zhou Yan mention "our Demon Alliance," Liu Dashan was very pleased and nodded, saying, "We also have bases on land, but they are generally small-scale temporary outposts. We keep our important equipment and production lines on oil tankers."

"These oil tankers are all legally registered on the surface, belong to private companies of the Azure Federation, and generally only sail in international waters, so the Rose Empire government has no direct jurisdiction over them."

"It also carries anti-radar satellite equipment provided to us by the federal government. It is highly concealed and can change its position at any time, making it extremely safe."

Zhou Yan opened his eyes wide and said "Oh," then asked curiously, "Are there many of our psychic companions on these ships?"

Liu Dashan nodded: "Including myself, there are currently 2 witches and 3 agents. Once you join us at the top, the number of psionicists will increase again."

"Wow! That's amazing!" Zhou Yan became even more curious, craning his neck to ask, "What abilities do they have? Brother Liu, what abilities do you have?"

"When you beat me up before, I felt you were incredibly strong. You must also be a heterogenous psychic, right?"

Liu Dashan's tone became somewhat puzzled: "Why are you asking these questions?"

Zhou Yan blinked and answered frankly, "Nothing, just asking. After all, we'll be companions soon, so we need to get to know each other's abilities beforehand so it'll be easier to cooperate later."

Liu Dashan smiled and shook his head: "Psionic energy is too complicated to explain in a short time. I'll introduce you to everyone later, and you can talk about it yourselves then."

“Okay.” Zhou Yan also refrained from asking any further questions.

At this moment, Liu Dashan picked up the flashlight beside him and kept turning it on and off on the giant ship.

Soon, lights began to appear on the deck of the giant ship, sometimes visible and sometimes hidden, seemingly following some kind of pattern.

Zhou Yan couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing?"

"Let's exchange the code." Liu Dashan kept changing the pattern of his flashlight turning on and off. "We don't use radio, for fear of being intercepted. Using light signals to confirm identities is the old rule."

Shortly afterward, searchlights illuminated the side of the ship, a section of railing slid open, and the retractable ladder was smoothly lowered by mechanical means.

"Let's go, get on the boat."

Liu Dashan drove his motorboat to the retractable ladder and climbed up with Zhou Yan.

Several fully armed guards stood on the deck, each with a gun slung over their back. One of them nodded to Liu Dashan: "Brother Liu, welcome home."

"I'm freezing to death." Liu Dashan shook off the seawater clinging to his clothes and pointed behind him, "Look, this is Zhou Yan, the witch I was talking about."

The guard looked at Zhou Yan and pointed to the metal scanning door next to him: "Come and scan me first."

Before Zhou Yan could speak, Liu Dashan said, "I've scanned you, you're very clean."

The guard shook his head: "Brother Liu, this is the rule. Everyone who boards the ship has to scan, and you have to scan too. It won't take much time."

Liu Dashan didn't say much and led the way through the scanning door.

The blue light swept across his body from top to bottom without any warning sound.

"Zhou Yan, what are you standing there for? Come here right now."

Zhou Yan remained silent for a moment before walking forward.

The sea was not calm today; seawater splashed onto the deck from time to time, and everything was dirty and wet as people moved around.

"...Ouch!" Zhou Yan was walking along when he suddenly slipped and fell to the ground. His elbow was cut by the metal on the deck, and bright red blood gushed out instantly, dripping down his arm and onto the ground.

Liu Dashan turned to look at her: "Hey, are you alright?"

"It's nothing, I've been unlucky every single day since I was a kid," Zhou Yan muttered in a low voice.

She raised her hand to shake off the blood droplets on her arm and began to heal her wound using her psychic powers.

The bleeding stopped instantly, new skin covered the wound, and it healed completely in just a few breaths.

Under the watchful eyes of the guards, Zhou Yan got up from the ground and walked straight through the scanning door.

The blue light swept over Zhou Yan's entire body from above, but no sound came from it.

Just as Liu Dashan said, he was completely clean.

Seeing this, the guard signaled that the two could go in and opened his communicator to report: "We've picked up Brother Liu, and the witch is here too. She's been checked and there are no problems."

At this moment, no one noticed that one of the few drops of blood that Zhou Yan had shaken off his arm on the deck did not spread out like normal blood.

The drop of unusual blood trembled slightly, as if awakened by some force, and moved slowly like a living insect, crawling into the crack in the deck.

Soon, the guards brought a mop and cleaned up the bloodstains left on the deck.

Meanwhile, in the gap in the deck, the drop of blood that had seeped in quietly dissolved, revealing a grain-sized gray-silver metallic object encased within.

It was a miniature tracker that was in operation.