“I don’t see any for now. However, it’s still quite dark around, so I can’t guarantee there aren’t any monsters lurking further away,” said Zack, who was clearly less disciplined compared to Cloud. Despite having gone through consecutive fierce battles, Cloud still managed to maintain his composure.
“Damn it! This is really bizarre. We barely escaped pursuit from those bastards at Moore Academy, only to encounter a large group of monsters. Cloud, isn’t this place supposed to be a damn green safety zone? How can there be such a massive group of beasts here?” Zack sat down beside Cloud, grumbling incessantly.
“I don’t know either. However, the situation does seem a bit strange. We should be cautious,” Cloud replied cautiously.
“Sigh!” Zack let out a long sigh. As he was about to complain to Cloud a bit more, his peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of two dark shadows rushing toward him.
“Cloud!” Thinking the monsters had chased after them again, Zack hastily shouted, pulled out his crystal energy sword, and jumped up in alarm.
Soon after Zack’s alarming shout, a scream came from the two dark shadows running toward them: “Ah!”
“Huh? Girls?” Zack was greatly surprised. However, before he could relax, an anxious shout startled him again.
“Zack, Cloud, run quickly!”
“Jia… Jia Lette, the president?” Though Zack and Cloud didn’t usually interact much with Jia Lette, they could still recognize the voice of the famous student president of Almystus Academy. Moreover, Jia Lette had attended several of Zhang Wen’s technique classes.
As soon as they recognized Jia Lette’s voice, Zack and Cloud didn’t hesitate any further. Although they were unclear why Jia Lette immediately told them to run upon meeting, the two had already been on edge after being chased by a large group of monsters. Anyway, upon hearing someone frantically telling them to escape, they didn’t even bother to ask why and immediately jumped up to run for their lives.
Thus, Zack and Cloud once again hastily picked up the unconscious girl and turned around to flee desperately.
“Wait, did you also encounter monsters?” After running for a while, Cloud finally remembered to turn back and ask Jia Lette. However, as soon as he turned his head, he was startled again.
Unknowingly, Xiaoxi, who was carrying Jia Lette, had already caught up behind Zack and Cloud. The distance between them had become so close that Zack and Cloud could now clearly see the faces of the two girls under the faint moonlight.
“So fast!” Zack exclaimed in astonishment, and then became even more shocked when he saw a psychokinetic cannonball fly from a figure in a black cloak behind them, exploding violently right behind their backs.
The flying debris and splintered wood hit Zack and Cloud’s faces. The two handsome young men exchanged stunned glances before simultaneously exclaiming in alarm, their fleeing speed instantly doubling.
“What the hell! Jia Lette, what exactly is going on? Who the hell is that guy behind us and why does he want to kill us?” Zack frantically shouted while running.
“Who knows!” Xiaoxi responded with obvious displeasure at Zack’s tone.
“Huh? You… you are someone I’ve never seen before, right?” It was only at this moment that Zack realized the girl carrying Linoa was someone he had never met before!
“I…” Xiaoxi had no time to answer Zack’s question before she noticed another psychokinetic cannonball already hurtling toward her.
Instinctively dodging sideways, the psychokinetic cannonball flew past her and exploded in front of the group. Boom! The explosion forced the group to hastily stop running to avoid being caught in the blast radius.
At the exact moment they stopped, the mysterious figure in the black cloak, who had previously only been following them, suddenly accelerated, darting past them and straight into the forest. Within a few quick movements, he vanished without a trace.
The strange behavior of the mysterious figure in the black cloak left both Zack and Cloud puzzled, and even Xiaoxi, who had a slight understanding of the situation, felt completely bewildered.
“He… he’s gone, right?” After a long while, Zack finally caught his breath and hesitantly asked Jia Lette with a wry smile.
“Probably…” Jia Lette answered without much confidence.
“At any rate, we should be temporarily safe now,” Cloud exhaled, his gaze fixed on Xiaoxi, who was carrying Jia Lette. “President Jia Lette, can you now introduce us to your friend?”
“Ahh!” As soon as Cloud finished speaking, the two girls once again let out a startled scream in unison.
“What’s going on now? What’s happening again?” Thinking the mysterious figure in the black cloak had returned, Zack, still shaken, nearly spun around three hundred and sixty degrees on the spot.
“Zack, Cloud, you…” Before Jia Lette could shout “watch out,” she had already been mercilessly thrown aside by Xiaoxi.
Poor Jia Lette landed with her bottom hitting the ground first, and the unpleasant sensation of soreness and numbness radiating from her tender little behind made her almost gnash her teeth in frustration.
She did it on purpose! Somehow, the moment her bottom touched the ground, Jia Lette immediately sensed Xiaoxi’s thoughts. Without even looking, she knew Xiaoxi must now have a smug expression on her face.
Thus, Jia Lette once again firmly decided that this red-haired girl was definitely her number one “archenemy” for life! If she ever got the chance, she would definitely make this annoying red-haired girl pay! Despite the embarrassing tingling sensation on her bottom, Jia Lette angrily vowed in her heart.
However, Jia Lette soon realized that fulfilling her vow in her heart would probably be impossible for now. In front of Xiaoxi, both Zack and Cloud didn’t even have the chance to fight back. The two didn’t even understand what was happening before they each received a chop to the neck and were knocked unconscious by Xiaoxi.
“Hmph! You were secretly cursing me again just now, weren’t you? Right? Right?” Having easily taken down Zack and Cloud, Xiaoxi immediately ran back to Jia Lette’s side, angrily demanding answers. When this red-haired beauty got angry, she would unconsciously pout slightly, and a few fine wrinkles would appear on her small nose, making her look especially cute.
Of course, Jia Lette didn’t think Xiaoxi looked cute at all. After all, when it comes to archenemies, you have to make sure you don’t find anything about them appealing, even through self-hypnosis.
“Hmph! Even without you saying, I know you were secretly cursing me just now. But it doesn’t matter, hehe! I’ll get my revenge soon enough.” Xiaoxi grinned mischievously, stretching out her right hand to reveal a big chunk of dark, muddy sludge she had somehow dug up from the ground.
“What… what are you going to do…” Jia Lette’s heart sank to the bottom. She wore the expression of a frightened little rabbit, desperately trying to retreat. However, just after Jia Lette had been caught by Xiaoxi, her feet had already been numbed by Xiaoxi’s battle energy. She could barely stand now, let alone escape from Xiaoxi.
“Hehehe!” Xiaoxi continued to cackle as she advanced step by step.
“No, no, no!” As Xiaoxi’s devilish hand was about to reach her face, Jia Lette finally closed her eyes in despair and let out a helpless scream.
To Jia Lette’s perception, it felt like a long while had passed, yet the anticipated cold, disgusting sensation never appeared on her face. “Could my archenemy have a moment of mercy?” Jia Lette couldn’t believe her luck and slightly opened her eyes, only to discover that Xiaoxi had somehow turned around. On Xiaoxi’s face was an expression of intense alertness.
Could it be that the cloaked psychokineticist had returned? Jia Lette’s heart tightened. But the sound she heard next almost made the girl cry tears of joy.
“You’re called Xiaoxi, right? We meet again,” Linoa said seductively, stepping slowly out from the jungle. Her gaze quickly swept over the surroundings. After seeing Zack and Cloud lying on the ground and the empty forest around, a slight look of surprise flickered across Linoa’s face.
“Hmph!” Xiaoxi snorted twice in anger but couldn’t help feeling a bit nervous inside. After chasing with the cloaked psychokineticist just now, she didn’t have the strength to engage in another chase with Linoa.
“Hehe. Speaking of it, psychokineticists shouldn’t really participate in battles personally. Besides, I don’t want people to say I’m bullying little girls. How about this? You hand her over to me, and I’ll let you go. What do you think?”
“If I don’t think that’s okay?” Xiaoxi stared at Linoa and defiantly retorted.
“In that case… although I hate to do it, I’ll have no choice but to take you back by force,” Linoa said confidently with a smile.
“Hmph! You can try!” Xiaoxi defiantly pouted her lips, but her slightly panicky eyes betrayed her lack of confidence.
“Really? Then here I come,” Linoa smiled and assumed a stance ready to attack at any moment.
“Bring it on! Who’s afraid of whom?” Xiaoxi decided to stick it out stubbornly.
“Haha, such a cute little girl who’s trying to act tough!” Linoa smiled seductively and started approaching Xiaoxi step by step.
Xiaoxi nervously tightened the steel needle in her hand. But in the blink of an eye, Linoa had already appeared beside her, her speed so fast that even Xiaoxi, a speed-type martial artist, couldn’t react in time.
“Ugh!” With a casual wave of her hand, Linoa sent Xiaoxi flying with a painful cry, landing not far from Jia Lette.
Without hesitation, Linoa advanced rapidly again. However, just as Linoa focused her attention on Xiaoxi, the mysterious figure in the black cloak, who had previously disappeared into the jungle, suddenly burst out from the trees. His target was clearly Linoa, who was charging straight at him!
However, Linoa, seemingly prepared, showed no sign of panic. With a cold sneer, a flash of blue psychokinetic flame surrounded her body, and she had already sidestepped to the right, completely dodging the opponent’s attack.
Then, as the mysterious figure in the black cloak turned strangely and lunged at her again, Linoa was already ready with a psychokinetic cannonball almost the size of a basketball.
“Go!” With a cold wave of her hand, Linoa sent the psychokinetic cannonball whistling through the air, exploding on the mysterious figure in the black cloak. The immense energy instantly tore apart the figure’s body, also flipping over the ground and kicking up a storm of dirt.
However, just as everyone who witnessed the previous scene was convinced that the mysterious figure in the black cloak must have been reduced to nothing, he suddenly burst out from the swirling dust! Although the front of the mysterious figure’s chest was now a bloody mess, with several ribs even protruding from his body, he seemed to feel no pain at all, maintaining an astonishing speed!
Faced with this sudden and unexpected turn of events, both Xiaoxi and Jia Lette were stunned, and Linoa seemed to feel a bit surprised as well. But at this most critical moment, Linoa suddenly displayed an incredible combat ability.
Facing the mysterious cloaked figure rushing towards her at high speed, Linoa merely raised her eyebrows slightly and made her decision. She forcefully pushed off the ground, her body rapidly retreating backward. While using the backward speed to counteract the cloaked figure’s charging speed, Linoa also remained extremely calm and began to prepare another psychokinetic cannonball.
Just as the mysterious cloaked figure had barely managed to touch Linoa’s hem with his fingers, Linoa’s second psychokinetic cannonball was already ready. With a cold snort from Linoa, the cannonball exploded directly on the cloaked figure’s head. The mysterious cloaked figure flew backward and fell to the ground without a sound.
“Come out! How long do you plan to hide?” After dealing with the cloaked figure, Linoa suddenly turned sideways and coldly addressed a giant tree that would take three people to encircle.
“Hehe! You finished him off so quickly? I thought this thing could last a bit longer,” a low chuckle sounded, and from behind the giant tree in Linoa’s line of sight, another man dressed in a black cloak walked out.
“Eh?” Xiaoxi and Jia Lette were both greatly surprised. Linoa, however, remained calm.
“Isn’t there anything you want to tell me about what this means?” Linoa coldly asked again, glancing at the corpse on the ground.
“Oh! Well, as you can see, I suddenly felt that cooperating with you was too unreliable. Even if I risked my life fighting for you, in the end, you would probably just casually sell me out, just like in the plan you told me, where you prepared the same ending for that silly kid following you. But, unlike him, I’m not that stupid!” The man in the black cloak laughed casually, even reaching out to remove his hood.
“Professor Robert?!” Jia Lette finally could no longer control her emotions when she saw the face revealed by the man in the black cloak under the moonlight, and she couldn’t help but exclaim in shock.
“Hmph! You didn’t even bother to keep your true identity hidden. It seems you’re really determined to fight me to the death,” Linoa said, her voice suddenly becoming soft and pleasant after confirming Robert’s true intentions.
“Haha! Fight to the death? Do I have the guts to fight you to the death? You are our teacher of federal spies! Linoa… no, perhaps I should address you more properly as… Empress Eve von Barbarossa!”
“Empress…?!” Xiaoxi and Jia Lette exclaimed again in shock.
“How could you know my identity?” Linoa stared at Robert coldly and asked.
“Haha… Haha! How could I know your identity?” Robert’s laughter grew louder and louder, until finally he was almost voiceless! That almost breathless tone made Xiaoxi and Jia Lette’s entire body hairs stand on end with coldness.
After a long, sinister laughter, Robert took a deep breath. He revealed a chilling, sinister smile and spoke to Linoa again in a tone bordering on contempt: “Empress, don’t you remember? A few years ago, when you and another old woman accepted the Federation’s invitation to help train the spies, what happened?”
“Oh? Training spies? During that time, both my teacher and I always wore masks. How could you have seen my face back then?” Linoa frowned and replied coldly again.
“Haha! It seems you really have forgotten everything. Well, of course. What happened to me was just a little seasoning to make your life more interesting during those years.” Robert’s smile became increasingly sinister and terrifying as he continued, “You certainly won’t remember. One of the trainees sneaked a peek through the window to catch a glimpse of the noble Empress, and you found out. Then…”
“It was you?!” Robert’s account startled Linoa, who couldn’t help but react. She finally recognized the true origin of the man in front of her.
“Exactly! It was me! You probably didn’t expect that, did you? Although you discovered me quickly, I still managed to catch a glimpse of your face! You probably won’t remember what punishment you gave me either. Haha! Throwing me into the Federation’s maximum-security prison and letting the inmates ‘educate’ me for looking at things I shouldn’t have!”
“Tsk!” Robert’s twisted expression made Linoa involuntarily spit out in disgust. Now that she had figured out Robert’s identity, Linoa had no intention of continuing to talk with him. Thus, she silently adjusted her breath, preparing to attack Robert.
However, just as Linoa was about to concentrate her psychic energy, she suddenly changed expression dramatically.
“Haha! Empress, you’re still so self-centered. Now that you know my identity, do you plan to kill me?” Seeing Linoa’s expression, Robert laughed maniacally again, “Too bad! Don’t you feel that your psychic energy is completely unable to gather?”
“What exactly is going on?!” Linoa exclaimed in shock.
“Hehe! That’s because before you defeated my little pet, it secretly shot you with a dose of X-14 reagent!”
“What?!” Linoa’s face changed again. She quickly checked her condition and then gritted her teeth, pulling out a needle as thin as a strand of hair from her waist.
“Too late! The toxin has already been injected into your body completely. Hehe! In order to obtain the power to use high-level psychic techniques, you injected yourself with the ‘No. 0 – Ancient Reagent’ to enhance your abilities. However, you developed a drug that can completely counteract the ancient reagent. Isn’t this considered a case of self-entrapment? How exciting! For this day, I’ve been hiding in Almystus, pretending to be a fool, being bossed around by those idiots every day. But I’ve finally made it!”
“It does seem that way. But do you really hate me that much? To the point of disregarding your own safety to ruin my plan. Stealing reagents from the top laboratory is a serious crime in the Federation.”
“Hate you? No! How could I hate you? I love you! Do you know that because of your orders, the prison guards specially arranged for the convicts to ‘take care’ of me. Every time they ‘took care’ of me, I loved you even more, Empress! Although you wore a mask later, I could still imagine how beautiful and proud you looked when you casually told those guards to deal with me, completely disregarding me as a small fry! Every time I think about it, I get so excited that I shiver all over! Because I know that one day… one day, I will have this woman under my feet, making her struggle desperately, cry, and finally discard her boring pride and self-esteem, kneeling before me like the lowest slut, licking my toes and begging me to let her go!” By this point, Robert’s face was completely distorted.
Linoa couldn’t help but feel a chill at Robert’s grotesque face. But after a pause, a seductive smile suddenly appeared on her face again.
“Hehe! Robert, your thoughts are really interesting. Don’t you understand yet? I’m a woman who would rather die than be humiliated. Even if I fall into your hands today, I’d rather die. What method do you have that can make me become the woman you imagine?” Although she was in a desperate situation, Linoa still exuded an amazing feminine charm with every move she made.
“Hehe! Linoa, asking such a question, you must be trying to buy time, hoping someone will come to rescue you?” Robert shook his head with a regretful smile, as if he were addressing Linoa, “It seems our beautiful and wise Empress is finally out of tricks. But too bad, it’s useless! ‘The King’ has been lured away by the Southern Border Overlord you personally created. Your only hope now is Agate. But he can barely take care of himself, how could he have time to come to your rescue?”
As if to confirm Robert’s words, just as he finished speaking, a towering column of fire suddenly shot into the sky from the far horizon. Then, the ground seemed to tremble slightly.
“Hehe! It’s starting.” Robert smiled excitedly.
“You bastard! What have you done to my brother?” Xiaoxi couldn’t help but bare her teeth in anger and rushed forward.
“Nothing. I just informed Captain Raimund of the Imperial Hawks at what time and place he could capture Agate, the No. 4 Executioner of the Syndicate.” With a casual wave of his hand, Robert sent an invisible wall of psychic energy that threw Xiaoxi back again.
“The Imperial Hawks! Have you betrayed the Federation?” Linoa clenched her teeth.
“Hoho! If the No. 9 Executioner, Empress Eve, can betray the Syndicate, why can’t I, a Federation spy, cooperate with the Imperial Hawks once? So even if you try to buy time, who will come to save you?” Robert’s face twisted with excitement as he stepped closer to Linoa, “You wanted to know how I would deal with you? I can tell you now!”
“After capturing you, I will disable your psychic abilities, cut off your hands and feet so you can’t escape, then cut off your tongue so you can’t commit suicide. Even if you try to starve yourself, it won’t matter. I will inject you with nutritional fluids every day. I will slowly play with you, torture you. When I get tired of you, I will strip you naked and hand you over to the convicts at Badelmo Prison to enjoy. Hehe! Every ‘care’ I received, you will experience ten or a hundred times over! Finally, I will record every detail of you being played with and send them to the psychic network on every planet. Let everyone know that this slut crying and begging under countless men is none other than the famous Empress Eve von Barbarossa!”
“Madman!” Hearing Robert speak so excitedly, even Xiaoxi and Jia Lette couldn’t help but feel chills running down their spines.
“Madman? Right. I’ve been mad for a long time.” Robert glanced coldly at Xiaoxi, who had spoken, and sneered. But his body suddenly accelerated, instantly appearing beside Linoa, “You don’t know, do you? The intelligence about the Federation’s space experiment on planet Z was leaked by me to Ruby! I deliberately chose the day your slut of a teacher arrived on that planet to have Ruby launch an attack. Haha! As expected, she died! The moment I thought about how you must have looked in pain, I was so happy. But do you know what made me even happier? That was you! You actually decided to continue investigating the clues of that experiment. When I heard that news, I was so happy I almost went crazy. It’s fate! It’s fate!”
While excitedly talking, Robert raised his right hand, which was wrapped in a blue psychic energy, and forcefully swung it towards Linoa’s abdomen.
“Bastard!” Linoa, her eyes bloodshot, gritted her teeth and retreated, desperately trying to gather her psychic energy. However, the psychic wall she managed to create with all her might barely blocked Robert’s casual strike before shattering into pieces.
Moreover, at the moment the psychic wall shattered, the last bit of strength in Linoa’s body drained away like a tide. She leaped back several meters, but upon landing, her legs gave way, and she helplessly fell to the ground.
“Haha! Struggle! Struggle as much as you want! The more you struggle, the more excited I will be! But don’t worry, no matter what, I won’t let you die,” Robert said with a bloodthirsty, cruel gleam in his eyes, laughing maniacally.
“Robert, you betrayed Agate. Aren’t you afraid the Syndicate will come after you?” Linoa, struggling against the numbness in her entire body, used every ounce of strength she had left to make a final effort.
“Haha! Why would the Syndicate come after me? It’s you who betrayed the Syndicate! It was the Empress who created the puppet of the Southern Border Overlord and lured away the King. It was the Empress who colluded with the Alliance spies to take the two little girls from Agate. It was the Empress who conspired with the Imperial Hawks, leading to Agate’s capture! All of these things happened because of your plan. In the end, the Empress completed her plan and ruthlessly killed all the people who knew about it before disappearing without a trace… None of these things have anything to do with me. Why would anyone come after me?” Robert laughed loudly, mockingly spreading his hands in a gesture of helplessness.
“Jia Lette, you two must escape quickly!” Linoa shouted desperately to Xiaoxi and Jia Lette, sensing the murderous intent in Robert’s eyes.
Linoa knew very well that as long as someone among the witnesses here managed to escape, Robert would have no way of taking her away unnoticed. Although this meant that Linoa herself would end up either in the hands of the Empire or the Syndicate. But no matter the outcome, it was still better than ending up in Robert’s hands, the madman. Because as Linoa said, she was a woman who would rather die than endure any humiliation!
“Escape? Haha, I’m so excited! You’re finally panicking, aren’t you? Otherwise, how could you pin your hopes on two little girls? Have you forgotten what identity I have and what training I received under your hands? I’m a professional killing expert!” As soon as Linoa’s shout rang out, Robert had already burst into action with maniacal laughter.
In the blink of an eye, Robert had appeared in front of Xiaoxi without any warning. At this point, Xiaoxi had already been overwhelmed by the successive events. Facing Robert’s attack, she could only helplessly raise her hand in a feeble attempt to defend herself before being knocked down by a psychic bullet fired from Robert’s left hand.
After knocking aside Xiaoxi, the last one who could slightly threaten him, Robert finally turned his gaze to Jia Lette. Compared to Xiaoxi, Jia Lette was much stronger in adversity. Although she was also very frightened, her face pale and her body trembling, Jia Lette still tried her best to drag her numb and unfeeling legs to escape into the distance, not giving up hope of survival.
Jia Lette’s pale, pretty face reflected in Robert’s pupils, further stimulating his brutal mentality. And Jia Lette’s crawling escape on all fours only made Robert even more excited.
“Farewell, little princess of Casa雷斯.” Robert laughed sinisterly, instantly firing a psychokinetic cannonball aimed directly at Jia Lette with a swift motion.
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