An Rong wore a black armor defense suit similar to Mu Shao's, and inside she also wore "Golden Steel Mechanical Inner Armor". So, her plump and curvaceous figure looked a bit bloated, but her gentle and beautiful face, elegant and noble with a hint of mature charm, her absolutely beautiful posture and elegant demeanor, couldn't be hidden, making everyone present gaze at her in admiration.

  "Who would have thought that we'd all gather in such a setting." An Rongru smiled elegantly, her mature charm captivating everyone, and she grasped the atmosphere of the scene with her words.

  Just after exchanging greetings with everyone, Jian Huan Yao had already happily hugged An Rong Ru's arm and started acting coquettishly as if no one was around. Others also asked inquiringly how An Rong Ru managed to escape the calamity, but An Rong Ru only said that she escaped danger with Mu Xiao's help and even found an opportunity to become a new human being.

  The term "New Human" is recognized by all Evolvers, and the future era of evolution will also be formally marked as the "Era of New Humans". As for "Ability Holders", it was just a term coined by some people at the beginning of the end times. So, An Rongyu briefly explained some terms and knowledge, such as "Evolution Source" and "Ability Source", "Gene Resonance" and other basic things.

  Many people have some understanding, as if they have something on their minds.

  But there were many inside stories that An Rongru didn't reveal, choosing instead to leave them for Mu Xiao to take the lead.

  "Xue Jun, are you choosing to stay?" An Rongru had been hiding in the shadows all along, but she was also very clear about what was happening here.

  Pang Xuejun noticed that An Rongru treated everyone equally, just like before, with courtesy and respect, neither too close nor too distant, so he spoke directly: "Madam, we are willing to stay in the villa district and develop together with everyone, but we don't want to be cannon fodder or henchmen. If this gentleman can be fair and just, we are willing to follow his arrangements."

  "Actually, you can rest assured that I have no desire for power. Gathering all of you is just to make some plans for the future, so everyone will have a place to settle down." Mu Xiao turned around and pointed at An Rongru, saying: "Moreover, if you have anything, you can discuss it with Rongru, she will pass on your words to me, and similarly, sometimes my words will also be passed on to you through her. With her as an intermediary, I believe you won't have any objections."

  Everyone felt that Mu Shao had intentionally hinted that An Rongru was his person, and An Rongru's face turned slightly red with shyness, her expression still elegant and calm. The crowd also sensed that the two had an unusual relationship. Pang Xuejun, like an outsider, was filled with complex emotions, which turned into a silent sigh. He understood that something that was impossible in the past might never be possible again.

  Mu Xiao didn't care about the ambiguous gazes of the crowd, nor did he look at Jian Huan's eyes flashing with ferocity. Instead, he continued to say: "As long as you don't do anything that infringes on the interests of others, doesn't disrupt the rules, and doesn't betray your own people, I basically won't restrict your personal freedom and thoughts."

  "You mean just being a ruler, rather than a leader?" Yun Shu Xue Dai's eyebrows furrowed in half-belief and half-doubt as she asked.

  "You can understand it however you want. In short, the villa area is everyone's safe haven and we all have a shared responsibility to protect it. I'll be in charge of making arrangements and setting rules, and you just need to execute and maintain them." Mu Xiao's eyes were dimly lit, "After all, it's good for everyone, isn't it?"

  Most people think that Mu Xiao didn't make too excessive demands, so they temporarily put aside their doubts and worries, not wanting to stir up unnecessary controversy. After all, they couldn't find another safe area, and if they wanted to leave early, they had enough strength.

  "Alright, we're ready to wrap things up here, but first let's deal with one person. Mu Xiao glanced at Ying Cai and said, "I thought you'd take the opportunity to escape, didn't expect you had intentions of staying."

  Ying Cai's body had withstood the severe impact of Mu Xiao's mental power, and in a short time, she had already recovered from her injuries. However, the pain in her consciousness still showed no signs of improvement, and from time to time, a heavy dizziness, piercing stimulation, and tearing pain would emerge... Her spirit was already showing signs of decline, and even if she wanted to escape, she might not be able to move, especially at night, when every minute could turn her into the blood food of a mutated monster.

  Those owners were also miserable, their physical and mental injuries were severe, and they almost fell into a coma.

  "I underestimated the severity of your spiritual attack and overestimated my ability to recover from injuries." Ying Miao's face was pale, her lips were dry and cracked, and her eyes were filled with a web-like network of blood vessels, making her look like a terrifying and eerie ghost.

  She was tormented by the chaotic pain in her mind, which made her almost insane and lose her normal state. Originally, fainting could have reduced a lot of suffering, but she refused to give up and resisted the pressure, stirring up a small amount of residual spiritual power to counterattack, so her injury naturally did not improve, but instead had a tendency to worsen.

  "Now I give you two choices, one is to surrender to me, and the other is to have a fight with Jian Huan Yao. If you win, you can rest assured and recover from your injuries until you are fully recovered, and then you can leave at any time." Mu Xiao said with a smile.

  Jian Huan's eyes sparkled with a hint of sharpness, but soon she looked as harmless as a little girl, staring at Ying Cai with an unwavering gaze, her eyes hiding the excitement of a predator eyeing its prey. Everyone present knew that this little girl could turn into a ferocious dragon at any moment.

  "Submit to you?" Yu Zimei sneered with a smile, "I've even killed my own husband, so aren't I afraid of betraying you?"

  Ding Qiluo and Pang Xuejun etc. can no longer believe in Ying Caimei, she is not betraying one side, but choosing to betray everyone, only being loyal to herself.

  She is undoubtedly a person without a sense of belonging.

  Mù Xiāo took a liking to Yīng Cǎi Mèi and gave her a choice, also because he saw his own shadow in her - that kind of dark thinking, loyalty only to oneself, and extreme betrayal. If possible, he wouldn't mind pulling Yīng Cǎi Mèi along with him, after all, her "Wild Instinct" and "Life Activation" abilities combined made for a pretty good fighting force, making her a talent worth using. As for the issue of trust and betrayal...

  "I don't care if you betray me, I only care about how useful you are to me." Mu Xiao said bluntly: "Moreover, if you want to control your own life, then you must rely on me."

  "Why rely on you?" Ying Cai's eyes narrowed like a sharp needle point.

  Others also listened carefully to see if there was any key information.

  "Because I can give you the power to control your own life..." Mu Xiao's words paused, and suddenly his eyes shone like stars, with an unyielding light, "Surviving in this era of evolution, strength is our most loyal companion. And if I can give you that strength, will you betray the powerful?"

  The scene fell silent for a moment, as if darkness had swallowed up everyone's voice.

  Actually everyone's mind is extremely unquiet, all thinking about the information implied in Mu Xiao's words.

  Aren't you afraid that once we gain power, we will betray you?

  Everyone here is smart and wouldn't ask such stupid questions.

  Because one person understands many kinds of powers, then he must have the ability to break through this power, and even clearly understand the weaknesses of this kind of power. So, they want to get power from Mu Xiao, in a certain sense, they are restrained by Mu Xiao.

  However, with sufficient benefits and a bright future ahead, no one would choose to betray the light and plunge into darkness, which is wealth within sight.

  Mushan had struggled to survive in the dark beginning, living for a long time in a world of complex human nature. He had seen all sorts of dark sides and knew more about people's hearts than anyone else, knowing what each person needed most.

  Betrayal was just a daily routine for him, either he betrayed others or others betrayed him. The more it happened, the more it became a habit. As long as he didn't die, the other party would surely perish.

  However, as long as sufficient benefits are thrown out to move everyone's hearts, and they are given enough fear and awe, they will be restrained in their minds, and if there is any thought of betrayal, it will only become a demon in their hearts.

  This is Mu Xiao's means of controlling Ming's surface, in a good way it can be said to be buying people's hearts, and in a bad way it can be said to be luring and intimidating.

  "I can follow you now, but if you want me to truly submit to you, then it's up to you to show me how much power you have to move me." Ying Caimei knew she couldn't leave this place, whether it was in her current miserable state, fighting against Jian Huan Yao the violent woman, or fleeing in the dark night filled with mutated monsters, ultimately there was only one dead end, so she might as well gain benefits from this man.

  "In that case, I won't say more." Mu Xiao changed the subject and brought up the topic that everyone was most concerned about. "There are thirty-eight ability source springs here, and there are seventeen of us. You can each absorb one, and the remaining twenty-one will all belong to me."

  The source of power that emerges from the corpse has varying intensity, with some being high and others low. The abilities are not uniform, with most being physical, some mental, and a small portion spiritual.

  Because originally more than sixty new humans, in the battle process must have absorbed the ability of one side that died, so some abilities will be stacked together, plus the number of gene resonance increases, the strength of the ability naturally also rises, if not lucky to be killed by others, then this source of power becomes someone else's dowry, becoming a thick and powerful source of power.

  No one had any objections as Mu Shao took more than half of the Ability Source, after all he was the strongest person here and the object of everyone's obedience. Moreover, those last dozen or so security guards were all heavily injured or killed by him alone, it could be said that they were his own spoils of war.

  So, no one will fight over this ability, and after fighting for so long, killing opponents, and absorbing at least one ability, it's a good thing to absorb another.

  But what they care about is another matter.

  "Since you call these powers 'Source Springs', doesn't that prove you understand the characteristics of each spring?" Yun Shu Xue's eyes shone with a piercing wisdom.

  Everyone looked at Mu Xiao's eyes with some meaning, they all didn't know the characteristics of each ability, and could only remember the abilities they had seen before. Some abilities were not seen from the source, and it was even more impossible to distinguish them.

  "Then let me tell you, the characteristics of each ability, and the new human evolution that suits it..." Mu Xiao didn't mind sharing some knowledge with them, because the experience of the Evolution Realm, "Source Power Martial Arts" and "Soul Secret Method", were the greatest treasures.