One could tell at a glance that these people were from Rhine Lab.
Their objective was clear.
Ifrit.
Furthermore, the fact that he clearly didn't want to harm anyone in the room meant he must have received orders from above not to harm Jessica, to avoid becoming mortal enemies with Raythean Industries.
Ifrit was also a bit dazed.
In her sleep, she had felt her body vaguely float up, as if being carried by someone, or perhaps flying. When she came to her senses, she was indeed floating in the air. But before she could even scream, a searing spear instantly pierced a person on the ground below. Ifrit then fell to the ground, while the person quickly fled.
From beginning to end.
Ifrit had no idea what had actually happened...
She was probably the only one at the center of the incident who was completely bewildered.
Lucas, controlling Ceobe's body, made a few leaps and carried Ifrit back into the villa.
Inside the villa, Jessica and the female bodyguard were in an awkward situation.
"Sister Lanxin... so you've been here all along.."
"Yes, Young Miss."
Upon seeing 'Ceobe' return with Ifrit, Jessica and the others breathed a collective sigh of relief.
"Lu... Ceobe... what about that person just now?"
Jessica subconsciously started to say Lucas's name, but stopped herself since others were present.
Jessica was also speechless.
She had told her father so many times before that she didn't need bodyguards, as she was, more or less, a mercenary for Blacksteel Worldwide and a combatant. She didn't expect her father to stop sending bodyguards, only for her mother to secretly assign her own personal guard to her side. And if not for today's incident, Jessica truly would not have discovered her; she was hidden quite secretively.
However.
She probably hadn't discovered Mr. Reeve's existence.
Based on Jessica's understanding of this bodyguard, if she had noticed even the slightest anomaly, she would have immediately notified her mother.
"He got away. I missed, otherwise I should have been able to kill him on the spot...."
Lucas's casual remark made the female bodyguard beside Jessica frown slightly, her expression turning a bit grave.
She had just personally fought that young man.
His physical body was very weak, giving the impression of a sick person who could collapse at any moment. Yet, for some reason, an invisible substance always emanated from his body. This invisible substance was incredibly hard; even her full-strength attacks couldn't break it. It was also immensely strong. Most importantly, it was invisible, which was the greatest threat. Invisibility meant that sight was useless, forcing one to rely on instinct to sense and handle danger, but such senses could only be used for defense, not offense.
Luckily, the opponent's target was not her young miss. Otherwise.
She might have only been able to barely protect her young miss's safety and get her away.
As expected...
The female bodyguard was already considering how to report this to the madam and request that the master assign one or two more bodyguards to the young miss. If another enemy of the same level appeared, she alone might not be able to fully protect the young miss's safety.
And...
This female bodyguard had to re-evaluate this young lady named Ceobe who lived with her miss.
The bodyguard had seen the power of the spear 'Ceobe' threw from the roof just now.
She was utterly speechless, completely shocked.
That spear streaked across the sky like a meteor, instantly piercing the man's body, and even effortlessly penetrating the invisible barrier that enemy had released. Only someone who had fought that man would know just how strong his invisible power was...
And this Ceobe had pierced it with a single spear...
Threat level increased.
In the female bodyguard's mind, Ceobe's threat level was adjusted from the original one star to the current five stars, and she prepared to conduct a new background check. She would not allow any security risks around her young miss.
"Young Miss, I will take my leave for now. I need to report today's situation to the Master and Madam."
The female bodyguard, whose face was hidden by her power armor but whose figure was incredibly alluring, bowed to Jessica and left. Before leaving, she glanced again at the target of this attack, the little friend her miss had just brought back from somewhere. Her mental assessment of Ifrit's danger level was also raised from unknown to four stars.
Why were there so many dangerous characters around her young miss? If the madam knew, she would probably worry and demand the young miss come home again.
After confirming the bodyguard had truly left.
Lucas finally emerged from Ceobe's body and floated back into the necklace. After having her "power" borrowed by Lucas, Ceobe's stamina was rapidly depleted, and her stomach was already rumbling. This time she didn't complain, but habitually went downstairs, opened the fridge, and started eating the snacks left over from the day.
"Although there was no Rhine Lab logo, if I'm not mistaken, they should be from Rhine Lab."
Lucas said slowly.
Jessica nodded in agreement.
The men sent by Rhine Lab had only one objective the entire time: to recapture Ifrit. Even the last young man with the special Originium Arts, who clearly had the ability to easily defeat or even harm Jessica, Lucas could tell his attacks, though seemingly fierce, were actually very careful, as if afraid of hurting Jessica.
That's why Lucas's final throw wasn't at full power, and he even deliberately aimed it slightly off. Otherwise, he could have killed him with one spear.
If it were any other organization, they would have definitely hurt Jessica on purpose and then impersonated Rhine Lab to stir up conflict between Rhine Lab and Raythean Industries. This was clearly Rhine Lab's own unit, unwilling to harm Jessica, and only wanting to retrieve their test subject to avoid direct conflict with Raythean Industries.
And because of this.
Lucas and Jessica were even more determined not to return Ifrit to Rhine Lab.
Neither Lucas nor Jessica had any fondness for an organization that treated human life so callously, using such a young child as a test subject.
Twenty minutes later.
Franka and Liskarm, having heard the news, rushed to Jessica's house immediately. Seeing the few broken windows in the room, they worriedly checked if Jessica was injured. When they learned that it might have been Rhine Lab who sent people, they immediately called the sleeping little penguin, who groggily drove to Jessica's villa.
And the poor little penguin was met with a round of teasing from Franka as soon as she walked in.
"What's the situation with you guys at Rhine Lab?"
And Miss Magallan was very innocent: "I don't know either. I'm just a spectator from the Science Investigation Section. The other sections love to tinker with things. We in the Science Investigation Section have always just watched from the sidelines, we don't cause trouble..."
However.
Just as everyone had arrived.
Jessica's phone suddenly rang.
When she saw the number, Jessica suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Hello... Dad..."
On the other end of the line, Jessica's father's voice, a mix of excitement and worry, rang out: "My darling daughter!! Are you okay! Don't be afraid, Dad is coming right over!!"
*Click*...
Jessica was about to say it wasn't necessary, but in the next second, her father had already hung up.
As expected!
That bodyguard sister had reported the whole situation. Although Jessica had specifically told her to try not to tell her parents, Jessica was just the daughter and didn't have much say. The bodyguard naturally wouldn't disobey the madam and master's orders for Jessica's sake, and reported everything that happened today in detail.
Jessica was mainly worried that her father would find out about Ifrit. What if her father also wanted to 'study' little Ifrit...
While she could try to persuade her father, what about the company's 'elders' or shareholders?
However, the moment Jessica hung up the phone.
A violent commotion suddenly erupted outside the residential complex. Along with the sound of helicopter rotors, an unknown number of armed drones were released from the helicopters, practically taking over the entire complex's airspace. Raythean Industries' special armed forces quickly and neatly surrounded the entire area. Although the residents of this complex were mostly top-tier wealthy individuals, when they were awakened and saw the huge Raythean Industries logo and the fully armed troops in their community, they were all scared into pretending they saw nothing and went back to sleep.
The great Raythean Industries 'empire', after its own young miss was attacked, seemed to awaken like a slumbering beast.
"..."
Franka, Liskarm, and Magallan, who witnessed everything from upstairs, were now completely speechless, their jaws agape.
This...
Is this the true power of the Raythean Industries' heiress?
As expected...
Jessica had been too low-key before.
Franka could never have imagined this level of treatment for a top-tier young miss in her lifetime.
She couldn't even dream of such a grand spectacle...
With the sound of anxious footsteps approaching from outside.
Lucas quickly slipped into Jessica's necklace. In the next second, Jessica's parents, whom Lucas had met before, rushed in, their faces filled with undisguised worry. Jessica's mother was even wiping tears from the corners of her eyes out of anxiety, completely unlike her usual image of a strong business woman.
"Oh!! My baby Jessica!!"
As soon as Jessica's mother entered, she immediately hugged the speechless Jessica, looking her up and down, afraid that her daughter was hurt.
"You scared me to death!!! That's it!! Jessica, you're coming home. We're done with this mercenary business. Mom is really not at ease with you out here all by yourself."
Jessica's father was relatively calmer. After seeing that his daughter was fine, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Then he turned his full attention to the completely bewildered Ifrit.
He had already heard from Lanxin, the head of security.
The objective of this squad was only this little girl; they didn't even dare to harm Jessica in the slightest.
In other words.
They feared Raythean Industries' retaliation... but they desperately wanted this little girl.
Just then.
Another set of hurried footsteps was heard.
It was Jones, Jessica's father's secretary.
His expression was extremely excited. He handed a file to his boss and then whispered something in his ear.
Then.
Jessica's father's eyes lit up.
A single phrase escaped his lips.
"Flame Demon Project..."
At the same time.
Jessica, held in her mother's embrace, had her expression change drastically.