Beth's heart tightened.
Raymond had warned them—this Jia Ying was also a superpowered being, supposedly an Inhuman.
According to him, with David there, they should at least be safe.
But none of them expected her to only snatch Beth.
That was the worst-case scenario.
She was just an ordinary person, no combat skills. Any strong person could knock her out easily, let alone a superpowered being.
"You do recognize me… But I don't recall ever seeing you. Care to explain why?" Jia Ying asked softly.
Her keen eyes had already caught Beth's reaction.
Beth wasn't the type to make a fuss, and she was usually good at hiding emotions. But Jia Ying had lived for decades—she could read people at a glance.
Even an extra blink was enough for her to notice.
Beth knew denial was useless. Since Jia Ying had captured her after learning someone was investigating her, she could only answer half-truthfully:
"I've seen your photo. I know you're Jia Ying, but we've never met…"
"Oh?" Jia Ying raised her brows slightly. "Then can you tell me where you got my photo?"
"We're private detectives, working on someone's case. That's why we came here. The client gave us your name and photo. We only tracked you using public cameras," Beth explained, mixing truth and lies.
"Someone hired you to look for me?" Jia Ying's expression grew more serious.
She couldn't recall offending anyone lately. Why would someone go out of their way to investigate her?
And even if she had enemies, why send ordinary people to track her?
She herself might not fight, but she had plenty of Inhumans under her command.
Any real enemy should know that. Sending normal humans was suicide.
"You're lying!" Jia Ying suddenly snapped, her voice rising.
"No, I'm not lying!" Beth quickly denied.
"You said someone hired you. Then tell me, who was it?" Jia Ying pressed.
"Sorry, I can't say that."
"You have two choices—either I kill you, or you tell me who hired you. I don't have much patience… You have ten seconds."
"Ten… Nine… Eight… Four… Three…"
"Wait! I'll tell you!" Beth shouted, seeing that Jia Ying was serious.
She had only been stalling for time, not daring to push Jia Ying too far.
"The one who hired us was a man named Raymond. We don't know his true identity. We only know his name and how to reach him…"
"Raymond?" Jia Ying repeated the name, frowning. It meant nothing to her. "Are you sure you didn't just make that up to fool me?"
"Absolutely not!" Beth nodded quickly.
Jia Ying studied Beth's face. This time, she didn't detect a lie.
And that was expected.
Beth was telling the truth—Raymond really was the one who had asked them to find Jia Ying.
But she had only given half the truth. Jia Ying would never guess that Raymond wasn't just the client, but also their boss.
Of course Beth wouldn't reveal that.
By giving up Raymond's name, she hoped two things: to buy time for rescue, and to make Jia Ying look into him, which would surely draw Raymond's attention.
"Could it be an old enemy using a false name to track me down?" Jia Ying muttered to herself.
For superpowered people, fake names and identities were common. Even she had plenty she rotated through.
She had never heard of Raymond, but perhaps it was just another mask.
"You don't seem to be lying… But I still can't fully trust you," Jia Ying said, then looked past Beth. "Gordon, bring Sandy here."
Beth finally turned and saw him.
A man with no eyes stood silently by her side. She jumped, covering her mouth to stop a scream.
Now she realized—it must have been this man who snatched her away.
"Sandy? She's on a mission. If I pull her back now, won't that cause problems…" the eyeless man, Gordon, hesitated.
"It'll only take five minutes. It's fine. Go," Jia Ying said flatly.
"Alright."
Gordon nodded, and vanished from sight.
Teleportation—of course. He had appeared behind Beth in an instant earlier, grabbed her, and vanished before David and Skye even reacted.
Moments later, Gordon reappeared.
This time, he wasn't alone. With him stood a Native American woman—Sandy.
"Boss, you called?" she bowed respectfully to Jia Ying.
"Check her memories. I want to know why she's looking for me, and who else is behind it," Jia Ying said, pointing at Beth.
"Yes!"
Sandy nodded, then turned to Beth.
Beth froze. This Sandy had the power to read memories? Panic rose in her chest. She instinctively stepped back.
She hadn't told the full truth earlier. If Sandy really looked inside her mind, everything would be exposed.
And even aside from that, who wanted their memories invaded?
"Stay away from me!" Beth kept backing up until she hit the wall, trapped.
"Don't worry. I don't need to come closer," Sandy smiled gently.
Her ability didn't require touch.
She closed her eyes, preparing to dive directly into Beth's mind.
"No!"
Beth cried out, terrified.
Her temples stung with a sharp prick, and suddenly everything went black.
When her sight returned, she was standing in a vast, white void.
"This… impossible!"
A shocked voice rang out.
Beth looked around, confused. It was Sandy's voice.
It took her a while to notice—the voice was coming from below.
She looked down—and saw a tiny figure, no bigger than a mouse, staring up at her.
It was Sandy—the same woman who had tried to read her memories!
"You're a mind-user too?!" Sandy's tiny figure asked in disbelief.
"Me?" Beth blinked, completely lost.
She didn't remember ever having powers.
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