Tang Geng spoke with little confidence, a stark contrast to his resolute demeanor before arriving.
However, it was understandable given the circumstances.
After all, he had no idea that the small city of Leyuan harbored a prodigious talent like Han Lang.
Not only had Han Lang cultivated his own power to an extremely high level in just a few months, but he had also significantly boosted the abilities of those around him.
While their strength still didn't match Tang Geng's, at this pace, surpassing him was merely a matter of time.
Therefore, a slight blow to his confidence was, in a way, to be expected.
What Tang Geng never anticipated was that Ma Long would show him absolutely no quarter.
He heard Ma Long immediately follow up with, "Ah? Is Star City that stingy? Just you, and you're not that much stronger than us. This... there's still quite a bit of risk involved, isn't there?"
Tang Geng felt a pang of awkwardness.
Tang Qin and Han Kang were somewhat speechless at Ma Long's bluntness.
But Han Lang politely interjected, "My apologies, Brother Tang Geng! Brother Ma speaks very directly, please don't take offense! However, objectively speaking, while your martial arts skills certainly give you the advantage over D-class ability users, your distress signal to Star City has been out for some time. We've all made breakthroughs during this period, so it's only natural that our opponents might have as well. Therefore... I'm very sorry, but I share Brother Ma's doubts!"
Han Lang's words were also quite direct, but Ma Long and Han Kang both nodded earnestly in agreement.
It was precisely their skepticism that allowed Tang Geng to fully regain his former confidence.
He didn't dwell on the appropriateness of Han Lang and Ma Long's wording, but instead, he earnestly and seriously addressed their questions.
"Brothers Han Lang and Ma Long, I understand your doubts perfectly, but I don't agree with them! While your cultivation progress is astonishing, you've only been practicing for a short time and your understanding of ability users is not as profound as ours. I can tell you all with certainty that with my strength, dealing with the ability users you've encountered so far is absolutely no problem! Of course, during this process, we will naturally need the support of the Leyuan Special Investigation Bureau and all of you!"
"But..."
Han Lang was about to say something more when Tang Qin, standing nearby, lost her patience.
"Oh, young sir! Don't just look at the problem from your own perspective! Think about it, in just this past month, your strength, or rather our strength, has increased by at least three to four levels, right? But that's because you have the Spirit..."
Tang Qin stopped herself mid-sentence, swallowing her words. She then continued, "It's because we have a secret weapon! Look at the entire Great Xia cultivation world, how many people have conditions like ours? Let alone those ability users! So, you don't need to worry, Tang Geng is absolutely capable of handling the two ability users you encountered at the Gou Family base!"
Hearing this, Han Lang and the other two finally nodded in realization.
Relying on the support of the Three-Story Pagoda, Han Lang and the others had used Spirit Gathering Pills without any reservations during their closed-door cultivation. If it were anyone else, they wouldn't have such a foundation and resources!
Therefore, Han Lang and Ma Long's earlier doubts were indeed based on their own perspectives.
For this, the two quickly apologized to Tang Geng.
"Sorry, Brother Tang Geng. What we said earlier was indeed inconsiderate. Please don't be angry, we meant no harm!"
Tang Geng chuckled, unbothered. "It's nothing, nothing! Even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit. Brothers Han Lang and Ma Long's thoughts are not wrong! However, I think the most crucial thing now is whether we can start planning the net-closing operation?"
As soon as Tang Geng finished speaking, everyone's eyes collectively turned to Tang Qin.
After all, she was the director of the Leyuan Special Investigation Bureau, and matters like formulating combat plans should naturally begin with her as the leader.
"Cough cough..." Tang Qin deliberately coughed a few times to alleviate her current awkwardness.
Although she was the director, everyone present was not much weaker than her in terms of strength. Having to command them put a certain pressure on her.
However, she said with a serious tone, "Ever since you three infiltrated the Gou Family base, I immediately arranged for the brothers of the Special Investigation Bureau to conduct 24-hour surveillance on the Gou Family's ability user base."
"According to the information from our men, the Gou Family's ability user base has shown almost no unusual activity these past few days. However, it seems that to guard against you, over a dozen ability users from Leshan County have been stationed at the Gou Family base in recent days."
"Therefore, we even suspect! Could it be that the ability users from Leshan County, after being modified by the Gou Family base, were transferred to Leshan County to hide, precisely to avoid drawing too much attention!"
What Tang Qin didn't know was that her suspicion was actually a deliberate move by Jin Chunfeng to divert the Special Investigation Bureau's attention by using the Gou Family base.
However, after hearing her analysis, everyone fell into deep thought.
"So, the newly transferred dozen or so ability users, you don't know their strength, right?"
Tang Qin nodded.
But to avoid putting too much pressure on everyone, she quickly added, "However, based on our estimations, the vast majority of them are B and C-class ability users, with at most one or two higher-level ability users!"
Everyone was speechless.
They all thought to themselves: Isn't that stating the obvious?
Finally, Han Lang said with a grave expression, "I think we need to prepare for the worst-case scenario! We should even be mentally prepared to face S-class ability users!"
Everyone was shocked!
S-class ability users?
Those were cultivators comparable to the peak of Foundation Establishment!
Even Tang Geng, who was at the mid-stage of the Martial Master realm and practiced martial arts, might not be a match for an S-class ability user.
In response, Han Kang immediately raised a doubt, "Uh... Brother! Although the ability users in Leshan County were discovered earlier than the Gou family, creating an S-class ability user... isn't that a bit much?"
"Tsk..." Han Lang was about to retort when he suddenly seemed to recall something and asked back, "What did you say?"
Han Lang's reaction left everyone bewildered.
Before anyone could ask, Han Lang continued to question Tang Qin, "Right, Tang Qin! When the ability users were discovered in Leshan County, the Wang family hadn't been annexed by the Gou family yet! So, the ability users transferred from there shouldn't originally belong to the Gou family, right?"
Tang Qin suddenly realized, "That's right! How could I have overlooked this detail? If that's the case, then I can be certain that among the dozen or so ability users transferred, there are definitely no S-class ability users! It's even possible there aren't any D-class ones!"
Tang Qin was so sure because the Special Investigation Bureau had interacted with them multiple times after discovering the anomalies in Leshan County.
But they had never encountered any ability users above A-class! Therefore, after Han Lang's reminder, she also realized that the ability users from Leshan County did not belong to the Gou family, and thus there would be no high-level ability users like those in the Gou Family base!
Upon hearing this, Tang Geng also breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good! If that's the case, I think we should plan the net-closing operation as soon as possible!"
Han Lang added, "If Brother Tang Geng doesn't mind the arduous journey, I think it's best to do it tonight! After all, the longer we delay, the more complications may arise!"
Han Kang and Ma Long nodded.
Tang Qin looked at Tang Geng.
Tang Geng smiled calmly and said cheerfully, "Brother Han Lang, you speak too highly of me! Eliminating evil is a matter of duty, and it's best not to delay if possible!"
Seeing that everyone had reached a consensus, Tang Haoran happily raised his wine glass.
"Alright! Since that's the case, it's decided! After dinner, Qin'er will arrange for the personnel of the Special Investigation Bureau, and then tonight we will raid the Gou Family base together!"
Tang Qin looked confused and quickly asked, "Dad, do you mean you're going too?"
Tang Haoran smiled, "What? You look down on me? Eliminating evil is a matter of duty!"
Saying that, he once again swirled his wine glass and said.
"Why are you all just standing there? Raise your glasses!"
Everyone smiled helplessly and raised their glasses.