"Daoist Arden, what do you think?"
Von Lycaon asked for Arden's opinion. Judging from his earlier expression, it seemed he already knew something.
"They need to be defeated together. Taking down just one won't trigger the execution condition—you'll only end up watching them revive endlessly."
Arden replied casually.
This kind of mechanism likely involved a higher-level concept of the Dao. If Arden were to go all out with his grandmaster-level cultivation, he might be able to forcibly break that "law," but in his view, there was no need. If he truly wanted to eliminate the Marionette Twins, there were far simpler and more direct methods.
"Your judgment far surpasses that of ordinary people. As expected of a top disciple of Yunkui Summit… no—now you'd be considered a grandmaster!"
Arden's assessment gave Von Lycaon an entirely new understanding of him.
Naturally, Lycaon had no idea that Arden had cleared the Marionette Twins countless times before. From Lycaon's perspective, Arden hadn't asked a single question—he'd merely taken one look and understood their mechanics.
One had to know that this was the very first time twin Ethereals had appeared before the public. Everything about them was a mystery.
How to deal with them would normally require trial and error—paid for in human lives.
Even Lycaon himself couldn't yet determine their exact mechanics, yet Arden stated them so naturally, as if he'd encountered them before. This once again proved the immense credibility of Arden—the hero who had once saved New Eridu.
"..."
Just as the commercial mutual praise between Arden and Lycaon was about to start up again—
"Careful!"
Ellen suddenly burst into motion.
Immediately after—
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…
The sound of something being launched.
"Hm?"
Arden turned toward the noise, only to see eight RPGs trailing flames as they flew straight toward him, clearly aiming for overwhelming firepower to blast him into dust.
It seemed Arden's earlier performance had made someone feel threatened—especially that shameless sneak attack.
At the same time, Arden further confirmed his suspicion: there really was a force operating behind the scenes.
After all, RPGs weren't something just anyone could get their hands on. Even the thugs previously hired by Porcelumex had only been equipped with firearms and grenades.
Perhaps thinking that Arden shouldn't hog all the spotlight—and that the mutual praise should include her too—Ellen moved so fast she became a shadow.
Slash—slash~!
She swung the massive scissors in her hands twice. Two RPGs split cleanly down the middle, their fuel and explosives spilling out uselessly onto the ground.
The remaining rockets were handled by the other members of Victoria Housekeeping Co.
As for Arden, he locked onto the various armed personnel who had fired the RPGs.
"Bloom and divide!"
A massive number of crimson sword phantoms appeared above Arden.
"Go!"
"Leave some alive!"
Von Lycaon's loud reminder caused Arden to pause for a fraction of a second—but the sword phantoms still shot forward.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~
"Ahhh!!"
"Spare me!"
"..."
After a chorus of screams, the unidentified armed personnel were cut down before they could escape. Under Arden's control, however, a few were left alive—though their legs had been severed, leaving them unable to flee.
Thud—thud!
Corin and Rina tossed several captives in front of Arden and Von Lycaon.
Ellen leaned against a pillar nearby, munching on the beast-feed pellets Arden had given her. After fighting for so long, it was time to refuel if she didn't want to black out.
"Mmnn~ really tasty!"
Ellen admitted it—these pellets were even better than lollipops.
On the other side, Lycaon and Arden began the interrogation.
"Talk. Who are you, and what was your purpose in attacking us?"
Lycaon stood before the captives. The werewolf who had been so courteous to Arden now looked ferocious. Combined with the restraint mask strapped halfway over his face, he looked exactly like a beast ready to tear someone apart.
"I won't tell you… AHHH!!"
The captive was stubborn. Even without his legs, he tried to show some masculine backbone—but the next moment, his entire body convulsed violently, his eyeballs twitching at a near-maximum frequency.
"Sir, prolonged muscle tension is harmful to one's health. I happen to have a very mature electro-therapy massage technique. While it may not compare to the professional TCM clinics of Yunkui Summit, I do hope you'll… accept it."
Rina leaned down and spoke gently into the captive's ear.
However, when he saw the 'instrument' she was holding to deliver the current, the captive broke down in tears.
Massage? This soul-piercing electric sensation—he never wanted to experience it a second time.
If my family's TCM clinic had a masseuse like you, it would've gone bankrupt long ago.
Watching from the side, Arden silently complained.
Still, while it couldn't be used on customers, Rina's "massage" was extremely effective for interrogation.
"I'll talk! I'll talk! I'll say everything—just please don't shock me again!"
"Then speak."
Rina withdrew the 'instrument.'
"We were here to carry out a mission. Only the captain knows the details—I'm just a grunt."
The captive confessed while sobbing uncontrollably.
At this point, Arden understood—the man hadn't been brave earlier. He simply hadn't known anything.
"You're… deserters?"
Lycaon continued questioning.
"..."
Hearing that, Arden raised an eyebrow.
Through the "Undercover" incident, Arden had indirectly come into contact with so-called deserters and knew a bit about them.
Deserters were traitors from the military. When the Old Capital fell, chaos reigned everywhere. The Defense Force suffered massive desertions due to Hollow Zero—after all, it was a disaster beyond human resistance.
Those fleeing soldiers had nowhere to go. Too afraid of punishment to return, they instead kept their weapons and carved out territories for themselves.
They occupied areas of the Old Capital that hadn't yet been swallowed by space. After New Eridu was established, these deserters evolved into mercenary-like organizations, occasionally sneaking into the city to conduct shady business—such as the production and sale of illegal drugs.
The New Eridu Public Security found them extremely troublesome, but with Hollows looming nearby and the city's leadership unwilling to ignite a human civil war, they could only leave the issue unresolved for now.
"Y-yes."
The captive answered tremblingly, terrified that a single misstep would cost him his life.
"What was that earlier trap about?"
"Recently, too many people have been exploring this place. Our mission couldn't be disturbed, so we used the twin Ethereals to scare them off. They track and move toward music, so that's what we did."
"Seems we won't get much more out of him. Daoist Arden, if you would."
Lycaon signaled that Rina could stop. There was no need to waste more time on a low-ranking pawn, so he handed the questioning over to Arden.
He had heard that the Daoist arts of Yunkui Summit were wondrous—some methods could make people confess unconsciously.
Perhaps they could squeeze out something useful.
"Where is hacker Rain?"
However, Arden used nothing more than straightforward questioning.
"Rain…?"
The captive looked utterly confused.
"The hacker girl you kidnapped!"
"Oh, her…"
The captive suddenly realized and confessed, "She's upstairs. As for what the captain plans to do with her, I really don't know."
"Phew… as long as she's alive."
Arden let out a heavy sigh of relief.
No matter how powerful he was, Arden couldn't save someone who was already dead.
===BREAK===
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