Chapter 91: The Trap

“What did you say? Vicky failed?”

In a luxurious VIP suite at the top of the Kemer Arena on the planet Fira, a sexy, golden-haired, red-eyed beauty raised her eyebrows in surprise, her beautiful eyes fixed intently on the two men who had just entered the room.

“That’s right. Although Hook is just a junior member of our TK group, his loyalty and judgment are beyond question. He said that Miss Vicky has fallen into Zhang Wen’s hands. I believe he must be pretty much correct…”

Although Sandro was a well-known figure in the Kemer Arena, under the gaze of that sexy beauty, he was as cautious as a mouse in front of a cat, carefully choosing his words before speaking.

Although Sandro had no idea until now about the true identity of the woman closely associated with the Black Viscount, every time he saw her, he instinctively felt a fear rising from the depths of his soul.

Five days ago, Sandro received news that the little girl who accompanied this moody, sexy beauty every day had secretly captured the “Shura” of the Casares Arena. From that moment on, Sandro’s fear of this golden-haired beauty had reached a new level.

“Hehe. I also believe that TK’s intelligence is reliable.” The Black Viscount smiled and waved his hand, allowing Sandro to escape the room like someone who had just been pardoned.

“Mm! If Vicky had succeeded, she should have made contact by now.” Leika lit a cigar for herself and took a deep puff.

“It seems you’ve underestimated ‘that gentleman’s’ strength. Even a ruby snake with broken teeth isn’t as easy to deal with as imagined.” The Black Viscount smiled, speaking neither with schadenfreude nor excessive concern. His attitude was more like that of an interested spectator.

“Hmph! Now you’re making sarcastic remarks, huh?” Leika exhaled a large puff of smoke and irritably rolled her eyes.

“Hehe, I’m not making sarcastic remarks. If Miss Leika needs help, I’m always willing to assist. However, if I were to get involved in this matter, Miss Leika would probably be even more annoyed.”

“Tsk! I definitely can’t match your silver tongue. By the way, what are you planning to do with those Casares people Vicky captured?”

“Of course, I’ll release them after our plan is completed.” The Black Viscount shrugged helplessly with a smile.

“Oh? You won’t even tell me the truth? You’re indeed very cautious!” Leika sneered coldly.

“How could that be? Actually, if it weren’t for the fear that those Casares bounty fighters might interfere with our plans, I wouldn’t have asked Miss Vicky to invite them over. Everyone knows how troublesome the Casares people can be. I still want to establish a foothold in the southern territories. Even if I don’t cooperate with the Casares, I don’t want to provoke them. Didn’t you just watch their performance yourself?”

“It was indeed an impressive match, much better than the trash I watched a few days ago. Especially that little girl named Amelice. Her ruthlessness at the final moment really appealed to me.” Leika nodded appreciatively.

“Oh! It must be a great honor for her to receive the Terror Queen’s favor.”

“Hmph! Don’t flatter me. It’s not her honor to be noticed by my eyes—it should be her misfortune.” Leika exhaled another large puff of smoke and stood up.

“Are you leaving now?”

“Of course. If I don’t kill that kid and rescue Vicky before you release them, people will say in the future that I, Leika, was scared off.” Leika opened the door, shook her coat dramatically, and quickly disappeared down the corridor of the arena…

“Hehe…” Watching Leika’s imposing figure leave, the Black Viscount smiled faintly. He poured himself a glass of Babylonian red wine, stood up, and walked to the window. From the top of the Kemer Arena, thousands of meters high, he looked down at the Babylonian city gradually sinking into the night.

※※※

When the sun had completely dipped below the distant horizon and night covered the entire Babylonian city, a psychokinetic vehicle stopped at the end of Linwei Street, one of the most bustling streets in Babylon.

Soon, a tall, graceful long-haired beauty stepped out of the car. If any noble from the imperial capital were present here, he would surely be astonished to discover that this tall, graceful long-haired beauty was none other than Countess Melissa, the envoy sent by the Alliance to the Empire a year ago! However, the Countess Melissa at this moment wore no smile at all, completely lacking the gentle charm she usually displayed in front of the nobles of the imperial capital.

Melissa quickly walked forward along the street for about two or three hundred meters, then glanced around and suddenly turned into an inconspicuous alley between two massive buildings.

After turning a few corners, Melissa stopped. She took out a handkerchief and quickly wiped off her heavy makeup, revealing a face that was surprisingly younger than before!

Then, Melissa began swiftly weaving through the maze-like alleys. Finally, she stopped at a dead end where seven or eight people had already gathered.

“Miss Melissa!” Upon seeing Melissa’s arrival, the seven or eight individuals, all dressed uniformly in black combat suits, immediately stood up.

Melissa nodded at everyone. One of them quickly picked up a bag that had been placed by his feet and took out another identical black combat suit, handing it to Melissa.

Melissa took the combat suit and without hesitation, removed her elegant purple gown. Her sexy, sensual body and long, shapely legs were briefly exposed before quickly being covered by the black combat suit. Then, she took out a thin, long rubber cord and quickly tied up her golden long hair.

“I believe you all already know the mission we’re about to undertake. Now I’ll repeat it once again. Our mission is to launch a surprise attack on the headquarters of the TK group, capturing or eliminating our target, Black Viscount, a key member of the Mithril Alliance. According to reliable intelligence, today the bounty fighters from Casares will challenge the fighters of the five major organizations at the Kemer Arena. Therefore, most of the TK group’s elite will be concentrated at the Kemer Arena. We have fifteen minutes before they launch a major counterattack and before the imperial police arrive. If there are no problems, we’ll begin the operation in five minutes.”

The tight-fitting combat suit did not in the least hinder Melissa’s curves—in fact, it accentuated her figure even more. Combined with her sharp tone, she appeared extremely cold and alluring.

“Miss Melissa, what should we do if the target isn’t at the TK headquarters?” Soon, one of the black-clad figures asked in a low voice.

“According to our internal intelligence, there’s a 90% chance the target is at the TK headquarters. If the intelligence proves inaccurate, we’ll confirm and then withdraw immediately.” Melissa replied quickly.

“The TK headquarters has at least a thousand rooms. How can we confirm in just fifteen minutes?” Another black-clad figure frowned.

“That’s my problem. We’ll stay at the TK headquarters for no more than fifteen minutes. As soon as time’s up, we withdraw immediately.” Melissa said decisively.

“Alright. No more questions.” The black-clad figures exchanged glances and simultaneously nodded.

Five minutes later.

“Time’s up. Operation begins.” With Melissa forcefully waving her hand, the eight black-clad figures all simultaneously pulled on their hoods. Then, following closely behind Melissa, they moved through the alleys for a moment before quickly rushing out from between two buildings.

Just like the major cities on Earth, Babylon was brightly lit after nightfall.

As soon as Melissa’s group rushed out of the alley, the pedestrians on the street let out piercing screams. Even a fool could tell that those eight figures, dressed in matching black combat suits and hoods, wielding crystal-energy swords that shimmered with deadly energy, were definitely not good people!

Directly opposite the alley from which Melissa’s group had emerged stood a massive building hundreds of meters tall, nearly occupying half the block. This was the very target of Melissa’s group tonight—the headquarters of the TK group.

“Stop! Who are you people?!”

The several TK henchmen guarding the entrance of the TK headquarters were experienced fighters, having faced many attacks from rivals before. As soon as they realized that Melissa’s group was coming for them, they immediately drew their crystal-energy swords hidden nearby and shouted loudly.

However, just as the TK henchmen thought Melissa’s group would charge straight at the entrance, they suddenly noticed in horror that the eight black-clad figures were simultaneously enveloped in flames emanating from their bodies.

Then, all eight black-clad figures soared into the air, directly flying toward the top of the skyscraper! Each of the eight was clearly an elite beyond the master level!

“Oh my God!” The TK henchmen guarding the entrance were so frightened they fell to the ground, helplessly watching the enemy fly straight up to the top floor, blast a hole several meters in diameter through the wall, and then enter one after another.

“Hurry! Head straight to the core room!” As soon as they entered the building, Melissa shouted, leading her eight companions rushing toward the deepest room in the skyscraper.

Of course, along the way Melissa’s group encountered many TK henchmen trying to block their path, but those low-level fighters, at most only at the 8th or 9th tier, were not even worthy of being cannon fodder against Melissa’s group, all of whom were clearly at the master level.

Soon, Melissa’s group had already broken through hundreds of meters of resistance and reached the giant steel gate at the very end of the skyscraper. Behind that steel gate lay the psychokinetic control terminal that controlled the entire building’s psychokinetic energy supply.

Quickly, one of the female figures among Melissa’s companions stepped forward. She pulled open the controller on the side of the steel gate, grabbed one of the psychokinetic transmission lines, and closed her eyes.

Soon, the steel gate slowly lifted with a creaking sound. The psychokinetic control terminal, about the size of a double bed, appeared before Melissa’s group.

The female psychokineticist who had just opened the steel gate stepped forward again, casually smashing open a metal box next to the psychokinetic control terminal and grabbing one of the wires inside.

Soon, the steel casing that enclosed the psychokinetic control terminal slowly lifted.

A beautiful, translucent, diamond-shaped crystal, carved with artistic patterns on its surface, was revealed. This diamond-shaped crystal, about the size of a person, was placed in a large circular container, connected through the container to countless psychokinetic wires. Inside the crystal, gentle and orderly blue psychokinetic energy flowed, occasionally rippling like water.

This breathtaking diamond-shaped crystal was the core of the psychokinetic control terminal—the raw crystal formation.

“Guard the entrance. Don’t let anyone disturb me.” Melissa turned to her seven companions with instructions, stretched out her right hand, and placed it on the raw crystal formation. Then, Melissa closed her eyes, her eyeballs rapidly moving as if she were dreaming.

“Oh! No wonder Miss Melissa was so confident she could search the entire building in fifteen minutes. She’s already broken through to the Saint level! Moreover, her first Saint ability is such a rare psychokinetic detection…”

“If it weren’t for that, the intelligence bureau probably wouldn’t have assigned Miss Melissa to such a dangerous mission. After all, she is the Alliance’s envoy.” Seeing Melissa’s performance, the black-clad figures also relaxed slightly, whispering among themselves.

A psychokineticist who has mastered psychokinetic detection can use psychokinetic energy as their eyes and ears. Now that Melissa’s group has taken control of the psychokinetic terminal, it’s as if Melissa’s psychokinetic energy has reached every corner of the building. Finding a person within this building is naturally effortless for her.

Whether it was the overwhelming strength of Melissa’s group that intimidated the TK henchmen or not, since they had stormed into the core room, no one had come to bother them.

However, just as the black-clad figures gradually relaxed, Melissa’s frown deepened.

Through the psychokinetic control terminal, Melissa could observe every corner of the TK headquarters. As she searched room by room, Melissa gradually sensed something amiss. In a few minutes, she had searched hundreds of rooms, but she hadn’t even found the Black Viscount—she hadn’t even seen many TK members!

Although the intelligence had indeed mentioned that the TK group would deploy most of its forces to the arena tonight to deal with the challenge from the Casares fighters, it still shouldn’t have taken everyone away, should it? Even if the TK group was indeed so short on manpower that they had to pull all their fighters, wouldn’t they at least leave someone behind—like a cleaning lady on duty?

“This isn’t right! Something’s very wrong!” Increasingly uneasy, Melissa accelerated her search even more, but minutes passed, and she still found nothing.

A bead of cold sweat rolled down Melissa’s forehead. To be honest, if this were just a regular mission, Melissa would probably have already ordered a retreat. However, this operation against the Black Viscount was far too important to the Alliance—so important that Melissa had no right to give up.

As a result, Melissa had no choice but to accelerate her search with all her might. She scoured every room of the building layer by layer, yet found nothing at all.

Just as Melissa was about to suspect that the TK group might have already abandoned the entire building, her search suddenly came to a halt. In the room located on the second-to-last floor of the entire structure, directly beneath where Melissa and her team stood, she finally detected six figures.

However, almost immediately afterward, Melissa’s face was suddenly overcome with terror. She could clearly sense that all six individuals sitting in the room below were none other than experts of at least Saint rank!

“Hehe~ So you finally found us!” Melissa hadn’t even finished her search when she suddenly heard a woman, who appeared to be no older than twenty, laugh and clap her hands.

Bang! Melissa heard a sharp, cracking sound, and then she felt, in utter despair, all her mental energy rushing out like a tidal wave.

“Run!” Melissa barely managed to scream those two words before her body, drained of all mental energy, collapsed helplessly onto the ground.

“Huh? What?” The seven black-clad agents who had followed Melissa, upon hearing her sudden shout, couldn’t help but freeze in confusion.

Boom!

Before the black-clad agents could recover from their brief shock, the floor beneath their feet was blasted apart by a massive surge of energy. Even though these agents were all seasoned Alliance spies, the sudden collapse of the floor beneath them sent them into panic.

“Ahh!” They cried out as they fell, with only a few managing to realize they were under attack. Unfortunately, their resistance proved futile.

The six Saint-ranked experts, who had been lying in wait on the floor below, certainly wouldn’t leave any chance for escape. In the blink of an eye, all seven spies who had fallen from above were dead.

“Tch! They’re so weak. All of them dead already…” The woman who had clapped her hands at Melissa moments ago and had killed two of the spies glanced at the seven corpses around her with dissatisfaction, pouting as she turned her gaze back to Melissa.

“Hmm, what should I do with you? Hehe! Big sister, you’re really pretty too!” With a flash of battle energy beneath her feet, the woman leapt to Melissa’s side, examining her with great interest and a grin.

“Saia! Stop playing around! Finish it quickly. We still have other work to do!” The eldest among the six, a golden-haired man, frowned and shouted, then led the others out of the room first.

“Fine, fine!” Saia replied, but made no move to get up. “Hmph! Work, work… That guy Hei never stops! Why does Onee-sama always listen to him? Even sending Vicky to help him capture those Cassares people.” Saia muttered discontentedly for a while before turning her attention back to Melissa.

“I heard that big sister here has been chasing that annoying guy Hei pretty hard in both the Alliance and the Empire! Hmm… Should I spare your life, just a little, as a favor for that? But… that annoying guy Hei specifically ordered your death. If you don’t die, Onee-sama will definitely scold me.” Saia pondered unhappily for a moment, then suddenly clapped her hands joyfully. “Ah! I know just the thing!”

With a gleeful smile, Saia gathered battle energy in her fingers and swiftly sliced across Melissa’s body. Melissa’s one-piece combat suit was instantly cut in half by Saia, transforming it into a two-piece, tight-fitting crop top that exposed her midriff. Worse still, the top portion was incredibly short, barely covering the upper halves of Melissa’s ample bosom! Her smooth, full breasts were completely exposed to the air, and with even the slightest movement, her tender nipples could easily slip out from what remained of her already halved bra.

Of course, Saia paid no mind to Melissa’s embarrassment as a countess. She had completely immersed herself in her amusing game. With a delighted grin, she kept slicing the fabric into a long rope with quick movements. Then, Saia split the rope in two, binding Melissa’s arms and legs so tightly that she couldn’t move even an inch.

Melissa could only watch helplessly as Saia played with her body at will. Earlier, when Melissa was using her Saint-ranked mental abilities, Saia had detonated the raw stone crystal she was touching. The damaged crystal had instantly absorbed all of Melissa’s mental energy. Now, Melissa didn’t even have the strength to move a single finger.

“Mm! Perfect!” After tying Melissa up tightly, Saia happily admired her handiwork, then picked Melissa up in her arms and stuffed her into the mental energy control terminal that had previously contained the raw stone crystal.

As Saia completed this action, Melissa’s face turned deathly pale. She had already figured out exactly what Saia was planning to do to her!

“Hehe! Big sister, I can only help you this far! Just wait here for someone to rescue you! If no one comes, then I guess big sister just had bad luck!” After stuffing Melissa into the large, spherical container, Saia cheerfully pressed a blue button on the side.

The sealed metal casing of the mental energy control terminal slowly descended, and despair filled Melissa’s eyes. The spherical container she was now in appeared spacious at first glance, but with her body squeezed inside, there was almost no room left at all!

Once the metal casing was fully sealed, even being generous with the estimate, Melissa calculated that the air inside would probably only last her fifteen to twenty minutes at most! With no mental energy left and her body completely drained of strength, there was absolutely no way she could escape this sealed iron shell on her own. And in twenty minutes, who could possibly arrive in time to rescue her?

Saia hadn’t killed Melissa directly, but she had left her in a situation far crueler than immediate death! Melissa would slowly experience the agony of suffocating to death inside this sealed metal casing!

“Big sister, goodbye!” After the metal casing was completely sealed, Saia’s voice, like that of a demon, reached Melissa’s ears one last time. Then, all Melissa could see was total darkness.