No man likes being called inadequate, even if it's true.
"What did you just say, you filthy btch?!"
Judging by Cliff's explosive reaction, Jay had clearly hit a nerve. Otherwise, he wouldn't have lost it like that.
Now Jay knew exactly how to get under his skin.
"Looks like you are inadequate, huh? Did your wife put a green hat on you?"
Those words would sting any man, let alone someone like Cliff, who already had issues.
"Don't mention that btch! Or I'll show you what real pain feels like!"
Fuming, Cliff stormed over to the glass cell and pointed at Jay, cursing loudly.
Jay kept up her relentless taunting.
"So, what? You couldn't satisfy your wife, so you had to resort to other methods? Did she get fed up and run off?"
Cliff's face turned beet red with rage. He marched over to a control panel and started fiddling with it.
"Btch, I'll make you regret saying that!"
Seeing his actions, Jay felt a pang of nerves but stayed calm, continuing to provoke him to buy Roy some time.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk! No wonder you're hiding out in this base. Too scared to face everyone's judgmental stares? Cliff Layton, if it's that bad, maybe try those little blue pills. Or do those not work for you either?"
Jay's relentless jabs pushed Cliff over the edge. A robotic turret descended from the ceiling of the glass cell, startling her.
"Btch, it's too late to take it back now!"
The turret fired a bolt of electricity, striking Jay's body.
She collapsed, convulsing as steam rose from her body.
It was an electric shock turret!
The voltage was deliberately calibrated—enough to cause pain but not enough to knock her out.
Cliff smirked smugly at Jay.
"Got anything else to say now, btch?"
Gasping for breath, Jay looked up at him with disdain.
As an intelligence operative, she'd been trained to withstand interrogation. A little physical torture wasn't going to break her.
"I was just wondering… did you use this same trick on your wife? How'd she feel about it? Was she cursing your inadequacy too?"
Cliff's breathing grew ragged, clearly struck by another sore spot. He slammed the control panel's buttons repeatedly.
"I told you—don't. Mention. That. Woman!"
He spat out each word, pressing the button with every syllable.
"Agh—!"
The continuous shocks left Jay in agony, her body going numb in places, making it hard to hold herself together.
Luckily, her black shorts hid any visible signs of distress from Cliff's view.
After taking so many hits, Jay couldn't speak for a moment.
But that was fine—Cliff had plenty to say.
"You btches always bring this up! I've dedicated everything to the great cause of science. Can't you at least try to understand me? Why do you always defy me? Why do you always oppose me?!"
It was clear Cliff had a lot of pent-up resentment. Jay's provocations had unleashed a torrent of complaints about his wife, Elsa.
Though unable to speak, Jay's mind remained sharp. She pieced together fragments from Cliff's rant.
After becoming the chief scientists of the research base, the Laytons had secretly started their own experiments. This hidden lab was something Cliff had set up using his authority.
During these secret experiments, it seemed the couple had clashed.
Elsa wanted to stop the experiments, but Cliff refused.
Despite her objections, Cliff pushed forward with the experiments.
But what he hadn't anticipated was that, just as the experiments were nearing success, Elsa planned to report his actions to the higher-ups at Amacham Tech.
Though Cliff caught wind of her betrayal in time, the report had already been sent.
In a fit of rage, he killed Elsa and began planning his escape.
"So, this whole mess at the base is because of you?"
Jay felt she was getting closer to the truth.
Cliff pressed himself against the glass, glaring at her.
"What do you know? I never wanted this! But Bartholomew, that old btch, remotely ordered the base's security to capture me! I had the highest clearance, but no one followed my orders! If it weren't for Dren, I'd have—"
Dren? Who's Dren?
The name caught Jay off guard. She racked her brain but couldn't recall anyone by that name at the base.
A nickname, maybe?
Fortunately, Cliff's next words cleared things up.
"Dren is my greatest creation. Elsa was nothing compared to her! With Dren's help, I dumped Elsa's body in the main lab and released Carrion to create chaos and escape the base.
But I never expected Elsa's lingering consciousness to merge with Carrion. Once freed, Carrion's power spread across the entire canyon. If I step foot outside this base, she'll hunt me down. That filthy btch!"
By now, Jay had pieced together the full story.
It all boiled down to a marital spat between the Laytons. Because of their conflict, hundreds at the base had died, and General Hammer's elite marine squad was wiped out.
Marriage is terrifying!
#DailyFearOfMarriage
Having vented his frustrations, Cliff seemed much calmer, no longer bothered by Jay's earlier insults.
"Lady, spilling my guts does relieve some stress. I feel much better now. All that's left is to find your friend and reunite you two—"
Before he could finish, the secret lab's door was kicked open. Roy appeared, holding Dren by the throat.
"I heard someone was looking for me."
Cliff's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Roy.
"Impossible! No one can resist Dren's power!"
"You mean that charm ability?"
Roy smirked.
While tracking Dren earlier, Roy had noticed something familiar about her aura. When Dren, cornered with nowhere to hide, tried to use her charm ability on him, Roy realized she was using succubus powers.
She was likely a monster created by combining succubus cells with other biological material.
To be honest, this wasn't Roy's first run-in with a succubus. His resistance to their charms had grown stronger over time.
The first time he encountered a cyber-succubus, he lost control.
The second time, with Eluresha, he managed to stay in control and used his angelic form to break her mental hold.
This time, with this bald succubus, Roy defeated her without even being pulled into her mental realm.
Using the Hound Ring, he tracked Cliff down to this hidden lab.
Jay's strategy of keeping Cliff distracted had worked. It kept him from noticing Roy's approach, costing him his chance to escape.
"Don't come any closer!"
Cliff was panicking. His combat skills were mediocre at best; he relied on cunning and Dren's special abilities to survive.
With Dren defeated, he was understandably terrified.
But Cliff still had an advantage. Standing on the other side of the glass cell, he kept his hand on the control panel, holding a threat over Roy.
"Come any closer, and I'll fry this woman with the shock turret!"
Roy frowned. That was a problem.
Cliff's hand was on the button. If Roy couldn't stop him in time, Jay was done for.
But Jay had other ideas.
"Roy, forget about me! This guy's the one behind everything at the base. Take him out!"
So this guy's the mastermind?
"Shut up, you btch!"
In the split second Cliff was distracted, Roy entered bullet time, drawing his gun in a flash. With a flick of his wrist, he fired two shots.
The .50 Magnum bullets from his Smith & Wesson M500 arced through the air, targeting Cliff's hand on the button.
The first shot shattered Cliff's wrist with its sheer force.
The second tore through his neck, leaving a gaping hole. He was dead before he could even register the pain.
[Ding! Obtained Cliff Layton's Fate Chest! Open it now?]
"Tch, got off easy."
Roy holstered his M500, tossed the unconscious Dren aside, and prepared to free Jay.
Jay stared at him, stunned.
"How… how did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Those two shots! The bullets curved around the glass to hit Cliff Layton!"
Roy shrugged.
"I just aimed, flicked my wrist, and the bullets curved."
Jay was grateful for the rescue, but his explanation was so absurd she was at a loss for words.
"If you don't want to explain, fine, but don't feed me that nonsense!"
"I'm serious! Why does no one ever believe me?"
As Roy spoke, he didn't notice Dren stirring behind him. When she saw Cliff's lifeless body in a pool of blood, her mind snapped.
"No, my love!"
Just as Roy was about to punch through the glass to free Jay, he sensed a powerful mental surge behind him.
Dren, devastated by her lover's death, was undergoing some kind of transformation.
"Black, watch out!"
Jay's warning wasn't needed—Roy was already dodging.
A massive fireball exploded against the glass. Luckily, the glass was sturdy enough to protect Jay inside.
Roy noticed Dren's appearance had changed. Horns sprouted from her bald head, and bat-like wings grew from her underarms and back, making her look even more like a succubus.
Was she reverting to her primal form?
No matter. Roy had taken down a purebred succubus before; a hybrid like this was no threat.
"I'll kill you!"
Dren let out a piercing scream and lunged at Roy.
"Hmph! You think you can take me in close combat? Did you forget how I beat you last time?"
Just as Dren was about to reach him, Roy delivered a precise slap to her head, slamming her into the ground.
Her head buzzed from the impact.
Her physical stats had improved, maybe from an average of 30 to 40.
But that was still no match for Roy. Beating him was impossible.
Roy pinned her down by the neck, leaving her gasping and struggling on the floor.
The scene was brutal, and even Jay found it hard to watch.
"Black, hurry up! We've got other things to do!"
"I know, I know!"
As Roy prepared to finish Dren off, she started muttering.
"My love… I can't breathe… no… Mother…"
Crack. Roy snapped her neck, and the light faded from her eyes.
[Ding! Obtained Dren's Fate Chest! Open it now?]
Another Fate Chest—nice!
Humming a tune, Roy walked to the glass cell and shattered it with a single punch, freeing Jay.
"How strong is your fist?"
Jay hadn't expected him to break her out like that and grew curious.
"Dunno, never tested it. Wait, what's that smell?"
In his ghost wolf form, Roy's heightened senses picked up a strange odor from the cell.
His eyes drifted to Jay's lower half with a weird look.
"You didn't smell anything! And you better not say a word!"
Jay felt a sudden wave of embarrassment, despite having long set aside her gender as an intelligence operative.
Roy chuckled mischievously.
"Alright, alright, I didn't smell a thing! But my lips aren't that tight, so who knows if I'll spill…"
"You—!"
As Jay flushed with indignation, she suddenly noticed Dren's body rising behind Roy in an unnatural, twisted posture.
Roy seemed completely unaware.
"Black, behind you!"
"What? Trying to trick me into looking so you can sneak attack me?"
Roy grinned at Jay, not buying her warning.
This only made her more anxious.
"She's getting up! Turn around and look!"
"No way, really?"
Skeptical, Roy glanced back—and sure enough, Dren was standing, her body contorting as if something was about to burst out.
Dren