Gangster A, sitting in the passenger seat, rubbed his head,
kicked open the door, and quickly climbed out of the car, breathing a sigh of
relief as he looked at the car's front, which had already crashed through the
guardrail: "Luckily the guardrail was sturdy enough, otherwise, if we'd
gone off the overpass, we'd be completely finished."
"Don't get sentimental!" Gangster B, stuck in the
driver's seat, looked at Gangster A, who had already gotten out before him, and
reached out his hand, "Hey, give me a hand! Pull me out!"
"Coming!" Gangster A grabbed Gangster B's hand, trying
to pull him out, but the deformed cockpit wouldn't easily release the person it
had trapped.
Bison saw the gangsters in front
trying to run, directly opened the car door, and chased after them:
"They're escaping, everyone! We need to catch up immediately!"
"Coming, coming!" Exusiai twisted
her body, "Reinette, let me down!"
"Exusiai, don't move! My old friend
is going to get squashed!"
In that instant, to protect the two who had leaned out, Reinette directly
used water to pull them back down, but it was clear they were now tangled
together.
Croissant, sitting in
the passenger seat, got out of the car without any hindrance.
Reinette also got out of the car door
opened by Bison, but she wasn't planning to go up
with them. She was only there to watch the show and provide backup; charging
into battle didn't fit her doctor's demeanor.
"Hurry up and pull! That Fanged-Beast guy is charging
over!"
"I'm trying my best!" Gangster B grabbed Gangster A's
outstretched hand, pulling him forcefully out of the deformed driver's seat. As
for the pants that were torn to shreds during the dragging process, well, for
safety's sake, that wasn't something to worry about.
"Phew, thanks."
"Thanks for what, you idiot? Run!" Gangster B pulled
Gangster A, trying to get through the wall of cars that had been jammed up by
their vehicle's grand maneuver.
"Don't even think about running!"
Just as Bison was
about to give chase with his shield, a huge force struck the shield.
"So... so heavy!" Bison stumbled
from the immense force. "How..."
Croissant was the
first to react: "A sniper!?"
The Emperor did not panic, but calmly called out to Texas,
who was about to get out of the car: "Hey, Texas."
Texas glanced at the Emperor's
calm face, then nodded: "Understood."
Reinette stood on the road, smiling as
she looked back: "Poor children."
On the other side of the road.
Bison quickly turned, cautiously
hiding his upper body and head behind the shield.
'A sniper, is this their ambush? Damn it, I still fell for it.'
As Bison was thinking this, another
gunshot rang out, but Bison felt no
pain or force on his shield.
'It missed, did the enemy shoot wide?' As Bison was
wondering, a sudden jolt went through his mind and he turned his head to his
right.
There was a car that had been knocked open when the gangster's
vehicle performed its grand maneuver. The people inside had long since left,
and now, the car's fuel tank had been punctured.
'No, his target is the fuel tank!'
"Hey, what's going on? Who's attacking that Fanged-Beast
guy? Is it Capone?" Gangster A looked
back.
"Who knows, he doesn't have time to deal with us. Never
mind! That wolf is charging over too, run!"
Meanwhile, Bison's situation
was not optimistic either. He tried to get up and escape the vehicle, but
another gunshot interrupted his movement, followed by an explosion behind him.
Reinette was about to reach out in the
direction Bison was falling, to create a water
mass to slow Bison's descent, at least to prevent the
child from falling too badly.
"Mama..." A call reached Reinette's ears,
making her movements instantly halt.
'Red!' Reinette's eyes
narrowed, and she took off her trench coat, throwing it into the car.
"Huh?" Exusiai,
who was about to go out, had her face covered by Reinette's clothes.
"Exusiai, watch my clothes," Reinette's calm voice
rang out.
"Wh-what's wrong?" Exusiai pulled
down the clothes and held them in her arms, looking at Reinette. For some
reason, the Reinette before her made her feel a chill
down her spine?
This was different from the Reinette she
remembered. Reinette always wore a smile, and though
she might be a little devious at times, Exusiai had
never seen Reinette so calm, so chilling.
The Emperor's calm voice came from behind Exusiai:
"Don't harm civilians."
"I won't." After Reinette left
this faint remark, she disappeared abruptly before Exusiai,
as if plummeting due to weightlessness.
"???" Exusiai,
holding the clothes, turned to look at the Emperor. "Boss, Reinette is...?"
"Nothing, don't mind her." The Emperor took a cigar,
which he had unknowingly put in his mouth, and flicked the ash, looking out at Lungmen city
through the window.
'I wonder who made her angry. I hope today's compensation bill
is a bit smaller, otherwise that old dragon will complain for half a day.'
— — — — A little earlier — — — —
Red moved through the abandoned areas of the Slums,
searching for the scent left by that wolf with the strange smell.
A long time had passed, and the scent, theoretically, should
have dissipated completely with time, so even the keenest hound couldn't
distinguish it. But Red could find it.
Suddenly, Red heard a very muffled thud behind her, like a heavy
object hitting the ground.
Red wasn't planning to bother with it. Such a sound could easily
be a falling box or something else; such things were common in the Lower
District.
But following that dull thud, there was a violent rush of wind.
Red pushed off the ground, lunging forward, and behind her, a
roar like a bomb exploding rang out.
Red rolled on the ground, then pulled out a dagger from her
clothes, warily watching the layer of smoke.
'A greatsword?' Red looked at the object on the ground, a
puzzled expression on her face.
The greatsword was pulled up and swept forward. The fierce wind
pressure accompanying the greatsword forced the lingering smoke to disperse,
and the silver-haired hunter appeared in Red's sight, wielding the greatsword.
'Inhuman strength...' Red slowly retreated, warily staring at Skadi before
her.
"Red, don't know you. Why, attack Red?"
Skadi silently raised her
greatsword, striking at Red with the simplest of slashes.
Red already understood that the opponent's strength was by no
means ordinary, perhaps even stronger than the Veuivre mercenaries
she and Mama had treated in the mercenary group before.
Red decisively activated the bracelet on her hand and jumped
back, but the barrier activated by the bracelet shattered instantly upon merely
touching the swinging greatsword, completely useless.
"Ugh..."
After dodging the attack, Red brought her dagger up to protect
herself. The opponent's strength was so high, and her speed wouldn't be far
behind; there was no way to run.
"What are you Deepsea Church doing
in this city? Why does the whole city smell of you?" Skadi looked
at Red, who exuded a strong ocean scent.
This level of aura was rare even among the bishops. If it
weren't for the opponent's human appearance, Skadi would
have thought she was one of those Seaborn.
But this also indicated that the Deepsea Church's
influence here must be significant, and Skadi was
probably very lucky today to have stumbled upon such a big fish.
"Red doesn't understand what you're saying?"
"As stubborn as ever." Skadi had
only asked casually; she didn't think a Deepsea Cultist of
true bishop level would so easily reveal their intentions.
But it didn't matter. Skadi wasn't
good at questioning or unraveling their schemes. Her more common method was to
send all the Deepsea Church members
directly back to their so-called Lord.
As long as the executors were gone, the so-called plan would be
meaningless.
Skadi's footsteps lightly pressed
the ground, which groaned in response, cracking the hard surface. Using the
powerful recoil, Skadi reached Red in an
instant. The greatsword swung down, its terrifying power making the air itself
wail.
Red lunged forward, almost grazing the greatsword. She aimed to
smash the hilt of her dagger hard against Skadi's
neck.
But it was useless. Red felt as if she had struck hard rock; the
opponent's body didn't even flinch a bit.
Skadi quickly used the hilt of
her greatsword to hammer backward, which Red used to push off and get away.
"What were you doing just now?" Skadi touched
the back of her neck to confirm nothing was there, looking at Red strangely.
That attack was barely a tickle. How could a bishop of the Deepsea
Church use such a weak attack?
"Mama said no one can die..." Red replied weakly.
'Mama? Is that another bishop's codename?' Skadi thought,
listening to Red's answer. "Indeed, there's more than one bishop here. But
why would they care about people?"
But no matter how she thought, Skadi couldn't
understand. Was it because their plan required a large number of civilians? Had
the city's administrators all been infiltrated?
"Never mind, your goals have nothing to do with me..." Skadi charged
forward, continuing to swing her greatsword at Red. It was still the simplest
of slashes, still that terrifying power that seemed capable of tearing the air
apart.
Red gritted her teeth. In the current situation, she couldn't
continue to follow Mama's orders.
Red looked at the dead end behind her. She could only try the
same trick again, attempting to slip under the greatsword, but Skadi anticipated
it. The greatsword changed from a slash to a blunt strike, its heavy blade
carrying immense force, directly sending Red flying.
"Ugh!!!" Although Red reacted in time, deflecting most
of the force, the remaining power still left Red's arm bruised and purple.
"Mama..."
Skadi calmly walked over and
watched Red, who was trying to get up from the ground but was tormented by
severe pain, causing her to collapse back down.
Red looked at Skadi,
the greatsword in her hand slowly rising, and closed her eyes in fear.
'Mama!' Red closed her eyes as the greatsword swung down. She
wasn't afraid of death, only of being separated from Mama, but for a long time,
no pain came.
"You foolish child, remember to call me earlier next
time." A warm hand caressed Red's head, and a cool sensation spread
through her aching arm.
"Mama!" Red opened her eyes to see Reinette gently
stroking Red's head.
As for Skadi, she was completely enveloped
in a cerulean water mass, flailing within it, attempting to swim her way out.
But the water mass was entirely controlled by Reinette, making Skadi's
efforts utterly pointless.
"Good girl, does your arm still hurt?"
Red hugged Reinette's arm and
shook her head.
Reinette smiled and nodded: "Red,
you go first and continue looking for Empty. Mama will take care of things
here. Oh, by the way, if you meet Texas and
them, remember to tell them Mama might be back a little late."
"Mhm!" Red stood up and quickly disappeared at the end
of the alley.
"Then, next." Watching Red disappear at the end of the
alley, the smile on Reinette's face vanished. She turned to look
at Skadi, trapped in the water mass.
When Reinette arrived and saw Skadi,
she roughly understood what was happening. Skadi had
probably detected the aura of Reinette on Red
and mistook her for a Seaborn or something related
to the Deepsea Church.
But understanding is one thing; when your child gets hurt, as a
parent, you have to seek justice.
Reinette looked at the surrounding
buildings: "For the Emperor's wallet, let's change locations."
Reinette pointed a finger, and the water
mass enveloping Skadi shot backward like a
meteor, flying straight out of the city.
— — — — — — — —
"The hotpot here isn't that spicy after all." Nian
burped, emerging from the hotpot restaurant behind her, a slight regret on her
face. "What a pity, the flavor was quite authentic."
"Speaking of which, the movie's box office isn't doing
well, even though it was quite good." As she walked, Nian suddenly thought
of her recently released movie.
"Don't understand..." Nian suddenly stumbled, turning
to look into the distance.
"Whoa, whoa, who made her angry?" Nian scratched her
head, looking around. "Tsk tsk tsk, the whole city almost turned into half
an ocean?"
Nian looked at the tiny water droplets condensing on the windows
of a nearby shop. It was important to know that the city Lungmen was
currently in was not a place with high humidity, let alone with winter
approaching.
But now, as far as Nian could see, water vapor permeated
everywhere, as if a heavy rain had just fallen.
"This doesn't seem like the abilities of those little guys
in the sea." Nian frowned. In her impression, those little guys had
evolving abilities, not like this.
"It is a Sea God, no doubt, but not the ability of those Seaborn in
the ocean." Nian was certain that Reinette was
absolutely a Sea God; there was no question. With such a strong scent of the
sea, she would never mistake it.
'...Wait, who said a god of the sea had to be a nascent Seaborn?'
Nian suddenly realized a blind spot, her mouth twitching slightly. 'Could such
a thing develop its own will? Wouldn't that be a bit too absurd?'
Suddenly, Nian saw a blue meteor streaking across the sky. Nian
raised an eyebrow: "Anyway, I'm bored, I'll go join the fun. Just a
reminder, don't attract the Sui siblings ."
Of course, even if the Sui siblings was indeed
attracted, they couldn't do much to Reinette. But Nian was
another story. While nothing serious would happen, it would be annoying, and if
they assigned Nian a few more tasks, her head would swell several times over.