Both female ability users were elites within the Hidden Dragon Organization.
They formed the backbone of this elite squad.
Yet upon hearing Liu Yang's proposition, a flicker of temptation actually stirred within them.
Still, they crushed that stray impulse almost instantly.
They were elites of the Hidden Dragon Organization, after all. How could they betray their faction just because of a man?
Tong Bingjie pressed on with her persuasion: "Liu Yang, we know you're strong, and we know you're a prodigy, which makes you proud and arrogant.
But this is the apocalypse. The world is full of threats, and we don't want a genius like you to meet an early end here.
Joining the Hidden Dragon Organization is the safest path, and the one that will fast-track your growth.
You have to realize that ability users from all over the world are flooding in. We just took down two infiltration squads from the Japan Empire, and their combat power is terrifying! Their sole mission here is to take you out.
If they track down your location, they won't try to reason with you the way we are. They will stop at nothing to wipe you off the map!
No matter how strong you are, you can't clap with one hand.
Just join us!"
They had originally hoped to leverage the threat of foreign ability users to instill a sense of urgency in Liu Yang, nudging him toward joining the Hidden Dragon Organization.
They never expected that instead of showing a shred of anxiety, Liu Yang simply called out over his shoulder, "Taozi, get over here."
Hearing the call, Taozi stepped out of the crowd with practiced obedience, walking over to say in slightly accented Chinese, "Master, what are your orders?"
Her voice was dripping with gentleness, and her submissive, lowered gaze made her look every bit the perfect maid!
At the sound of her accent, Tong Bingjie and her team froze solid.
Wasn't that an ability user from the Japan Empire?
And she had already been completely subjugated by Liu Yang?!
Impossible!
Every single person from the Japan Empire was brainwashed by imperialistic zeal; they would never turn on their homeland!
In their recent skirmishes with Japanese operatives, capturing prisoners alive had been virtually impossible.
Cornered, those fanatics would rather commit suicide than submit to capture.
They were a bunch of absolute lunatics.
Yet a specimen of that exact breed was standing right here, bowing her head and calling Liu Yang "Master"?!
It was utterly surreal.
Even science fiction writers wouldn't dare script something this absurd!
Noticing their stunned expressions, Liu Yang looked immensely pleased. "So this is what you meant by foreign invaders from the Japan Empire? Aside from delivering a gorgeous woman capable of bearing children right to my doorstep, what kind of threat are they?
Honestly, I hope more of these fair-skinned, curvy foreign ability users show up. The more, the merrier!"
"Well... alright then..." Tong Bingjie was utterly speechless.
She had tried to manufacture a crisis to make Liu Yang see reason, but it turned out she had completely miscalculated!
He viewed these foreign elite women as free home deliveries. There was zero crisis anxiety here-he was having the time of his life and practically inviting more to roll in!
Growing a bit bored, Liu Yang waved a hand dismissively.
"Alright, we're all fellow countrymen of the Dragon Empire, so I'll cut the official Hidden Dragon Organization some slack. Since you refuse to join my camp, clear out and stop wasting my time. Cross me again, and I won't be nearly this nice!"
Liu Yang paused, his voice dropping by a full eight degrees.
"Next time, I'll treat you as hostile intruders, and my methods for dealing with those are thoroughly ruthless."
Tong Bingjie and her four companions caught the chilling weight of his warning.
They knew Liu Yang wasn't just blowing smoke. If they pulled a stunt like this again, he might actually execute them on the spot!
The only reason Liu Yang hadn't slapped a Soul Chain on them right away was to avoid inviting unnecessary complications too early in the game.
Besides, he still had Wu Jingying's three subordinates waiting for their Legacy Multiplier session, not to mention the thirty handpicked beauties from Base One chilling in the neighboring villa, just waiting to be pampered.
Nakata had already sent word that the next wave of Japan Empire ability users was mobilizing.
Even if every squad only featured one female operative, that still meant a dozen or more foreign targets primed for capture.
Put simply, Liu Yang was in no shortage of women, nor was he hurting for female ability users.
There was zero incentive to risk a diplomatic incident with the Dragon Empire's official oversight agency.
Of course, he had issued his warning. If they ignored it and came back for round two...
Then all bets were off.
If you reject my courtesy, you'll face the consequences-at that point, why should he care about some official government badge?
However, upon processing Liu Yang's words, a lightbulb went off in Tong Bingjie's head. She turned to her team and announced, "I've decided to stay and join Liu Yang's base. You guys head back to headquarters!"
"What?!" Hearing their captain drop that bombshell, the rest of the team dropped their jaws, frozen in disbelief.
She was the captain of this elite squad!
A prized asset groomed personally by the Hidden Dragon Organization.
An elite among elites!
And she was just casually defecting to Liu Yang without missing a beat?
Sure, Liu Yang was ranked number one on the Heaven Ranking, a monstrous prodigy who had trampled the Japan Empire beneath his heel, but he was still just a lone young man. How could he possibly rival the entire apparatus of the Hidden Dragon Organization?
Or had Captain Tong fallen for his looks and lost her mind to a pair of handsome eyes?
Was this guy really that addictive?
Seeing that Tong Bingjie wasn't budging, Lin Xueer quickly chimed in, "If Sister Tong is staying, I'm staying too!"
"Huh?" The three male operatives stumbled back a step in shock.
Lin Xueer as well?
Good grief!
What kind of dark magic did this guy possess? He had completely bewitched two young women into abandoning the Hidden Dragon Organization overnight!
Ignoring the gaping expressions of her men, Tong Bingjie issued her final instructions.
"Go straight back to headquarters and report to the commander that we stayed of our own free will-we weren't coerced by Liu Yang.
Furthermore, we will continue working on him from the inside to bring him over to Qianlong.
Once I get him to agree to our terms, I'll reach out to you directly."
Light finally dawned on the three male operatives.
As expected of Captain Tong! She was willing to sacrifice the individual for the greater good!
To hook a talent like Liu Yang, she was even ready to deploy a honey trap!
She was launching a classic beauty offensive!
Filled with sudden reverence, the men cast a look of profound respect toward Tong Bingjie, gritted their teeth, and nodded. "Understood, Captain Tong! We'll make sure the commander gets the full picture!"