James Lone carefully examined Sumi's abilities. The current light orb provided a clear indication: hyper-regenerative capability, along with a tenfold enhancement of all sensory perceptions.

James Lone's gaze sharpened.

Enhanced physical perception!

After enduring such brutal torture, Sumi's body perception had actually intensified, which indicated an unbearable level of pain!

However, Sumi's body brightness was dim, clearly suggesting her combat power was average.

James Lone stepped forward, wielding his willpower sword toward Sumi.

Sumi stared intently at James Lone, her eyes unblinking.

As James Lone raised the sword, a flicker of emotion crossed Sumi's eyes.

It was an almost imperceptible glimmer of relief.

Swish!

Three iron chains were severed at once.

Sumi collapsed silently onto the ground, her gaze fixed on James Lone.

Frowning, he said, "Giacomo is dead. You can leave now."

Struggling, Sumi managed to rise, her voice hoarse, "Where is he?"

"Do you want revenge?" James Lone indicated a direction. "His corpse is in the warehouse over there; it should be burnt to ashes by now, so you won't find him."

Sumi, showing a blank expression, replied, "I'll never forget his scent—no matter the cost!"

With that, she reached for the iron chain around her collarbone and tugged fiercely.

Crack!

A chilling sound of cracked bones echoed as the chain and chunks of flesh flew away.

James Lone furrowed his brows as he watched.

But Sumi's face remained impassive; it appeared her suffering was not merely physical.

Then something miraculous happened—the wound on her collarbone healed rapidly, and the bones quickly reformed.

In mere seconds, her skin smoothed out, leaving no trace of injury.

Sumi repeated the action and tore away another chain.

Once again, the wound healed rapidly.

Unable to muster the strength to free herself from the chain around her neck, she left it in place.

The other women watched, their faces pale, too terrified to look at her.

This woman had suffered the cruelest torment imaginable.

Her ability allowed her to recover continually, which ironically plunged her into endless cycles of agony; even death became a luxury.

Even if Sumi attempted to starve herself, the men would force food and water into her with tubes.

Sumi's unexpressive eyes stared at James Lone as she took a deep breath, "I'll remember you."

With that, she walked into the purple mist, completely bare.

Her bare feet pressed down upon the harsh underbrush, breaking the skin as she stepped, yet the next moment she was whole again.

Thick, serrated grass lacerated her shins, leaving trails of blood.

Again, her wounds healed almost instantaneously.

Blood marked her path as she resolutely advanced toward the warehouse.

The flames had just extinguished.

The ground was scorching, still retaining more than a few hundred degrees of heat.

Sumi walked into the warehouse numbly.

Hiss!

The soles of her feet were instantly burned, turning black from the heat.

Her skin sizzled under the scorching temperatures, cracking open, only to regenerate again.

Sumi displayed no reaction, searching through the warehouse like a soulless machine.

Ultimately, she halted beside a glowing red rebar.

Impaled on it was a person, nearly all burnt to charcoal.

But she recognized the scent.

"Giacomo!"

For the first time, an emotion appeared on Sumi's face, her eyes burning with resentment. "Return my son!"

Letting out a beastly roar, she grasped the rebar firmly.

Swish!

The searing metal seared her palms, incinerating the flesh down to the bone.

Sumi, as if numb to the pain, continued to glare at the body, vigorously shaking the rebar.

The bone ground against the steel, producing a haunting sound.

After several minutes of effort, she finally toppled the rebar.

Thud!

The corpse fell heavily to the ground, cracking into several pieces.

Sumi picked up a rock, bringing it crashing down on the body.

"Return my son!"

"Return my son!"

Strike after strike...

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Half an hour later, the remains were reduced to mere fragments.

Sumi collapsed to the ground and began to sob.

...

After Sumi left, James Lone freed the other women as well.

"You can go; Giacomo is dead."

"Thank you, brother," the women exclaimed with joy as they hurried into the purple mist, quickly fleeing.

Finally, only one woman remained, timidly speaking up, "Brother, thank you. You're a good person—can you take me with you?"

[Bethan] [Age: 25] [Quality: 7 points] (Above average) [Virtue: 8 points] (Two former boyfriends) [Comprehensive Score: 7 points] [Ding! Does not meet system minimum requirements!]

James Lone eyed Bethan briefly, shaking his head. "You're mistaken; I'm not a good person."

James Lone walked down the stairs.

Bethan hesitated, then followed him down.

James Lone noticed her trailing behind but didn't shoo her away, leading her to the edge of the pit.

The pit was filled with corpses.

The powerful bacteria of the purple mist era had consumed the flesh, leaving behind only skeletal remains.

"Giacomo's crew said these were the pigs who died while digging for divine fruit," Bethan whispered nervously.

James Lone glanced at her. "What is the divine fruit?"

Seeing James Lone's interest sparked, she quickly answered, "They are mutated peanuts. Giacomo had eaten them all. His underlings could only munch on the shells. Sometimes we managed to get some peanut shells; this might be why we didn't get infected."

A clever woman.

James Lone partially withdrew his armor and reached into his pocket, taking out a Snickers bar and handing it to Bethan. "Tell me more."

"Thank you!" Bethan exclaimed, buoyed by the gesture, tightly clutching the candy. "Over by the factory, there's a hole. It grows mutated peanuts, but it's dangerous; anyone who goes down there dies. Giacomo captures nearby survivors and forces them to dig for peanuts."

James Lone quickly understood Giacomo's deceptive ploy to lure people into digging for peanuts.

People going down there have died?

But why?

James Lone glanced once more at the skeletal remains in the pit.

Nothing seemed unusual.

With all the flesh consumed, there was no way to tell whether they had been injured before death.

That meant there were no formidable mutated creatures in the hole.

So what had caused their demise?

James Lone frowned, asking, "Where is the hole?"

"I don't know. We've never left this building," Bethan replied, casting a wary glance at the low structure.

She had braced herself for a death within those walls, never expecting to have a chance to escape.

Swallowing hard, she gazed longingly at the Snickers in her hands.

James Lone casually added, "Finish that and then go."

"Thank you! Thank you!" Bethan devoured the Snickers, greedily licking her fingers clean.

For days, the only food they had eaten was the leftover scraps from the men. She had never tasted anything so delicious.

With a sigh of satisfaction, Bethan encouraged, "Go ahead and ask me anything."

James Lone inquired, "What do the mutated peanuts look like?"

Bethan quickly responded, "I've never seen a whole one; I've only encountered the shells. They look similar to regular peanuts but have a unique scent that's incredibly enticing—you can't help but want to eat them."

James Lone pressed further, "How long have Giacomo and his crew been digging? How many have they dug up in total?"

Bethan recalled, "Since I was captured, it's been ten days. They've been digging the whole time. I'm not sure of the exact number, but it's pretty low. The pigs... I mean, the survivors could trade one for a full meal, so they don't have to go down for a day."

"What about eating the shells? What does it feel like?"

"It warms the stomach. Once, after I was... injured, I ate a peanut shell. My wounds became itchy, but they healed quickly."

A miracle indeed!

James Lone's expression sharpened as he pulled out another Snickers bar from his pocket and handed it to Bethan, then motioned in a direction. "The military is organizing the evacuation of survivors from New York City. If you head in that direction, you'll find a route cleared by them, along with many other survivors. You can follow them, and if you are lucky, you might get to the 910 forces alive."

Bethan felt a twinge of disappointment; she had hoped to stick with a powerful ability user like James Lone, but he didn't accept her.

Yet, not wanting to push her luck, she sincerely said, "Brother, what's your name? I must repay you for saving my life."

James Lone shook his head. "In this dangerous world, who knows when I might die? There's no need to mention debts of gratitude anymore, it was just a matter of convenience. You should go."

Bethan knelt and bowed her head to James Lone. "Brother, until we meet again."

She understood that James Lone aimed to find the mutated peanuts.

Given the dangers involved, she didn't dare to participate or offer any aid.

James Lone waved, watching Bethan's figure vanish into the purple mist.

With his perception, he scanned the surroundings.

Within a 200-meter radius, there was not a single survivor left.

Then he turned to the densest area of the purple mist.

There stood a peculiar large tree, beneath it lay a deep cavern, surrounded by various digging tools.

Evidently, this was where Giacomo had been excavating the mutated peanuts!

"I want to see just how divine this fruit really is!"

James Lone approached the large tree.