One week had passed since Luca returned from the Devil May Cry world.
For safety reasons, after some hesitation, Luca decided to keep Gina—whose condition remained unclear—sealed in an energy cube using the [Dehydration Gun] and carried her with him at all times.
Inside the compressed energy cube created by the [Dehydration Gun], time was effectively frozen, and it was insulated from detection.
This added an extra layer of insurance for both Gina and Luca.
As for the rest of his time, aside from rushing Wong to check the archives, Luca spent his days organizing the knowledge he had gained from the DMC world. However, he hadn't actually started manufacturing many items.
The fundamental reason was simply a lack of demonic materials.
The reason the Order of the Sword had been able to open Hell Gates and harvest massive amounts of demons to support the "Ascension Ceremony" was because they had the Yamato—a top-tier spatial Devil Arm—as a key, along with other Devil Arms serving as power cores. That was the only way they could recklessly open gates and unleash demons into the human world.
Although Luca had mastered the technology, he lacked the critical spatial artifact.
However, Luca already had a pretty good target in mind.
As for the danger of opening a Hell Gate and releasing demons into the human world?
Hmph. If I can use this to drag that old bastard Ancient One back from beyond the world, it might actually be a viable solution to my current problems!
With this in mind, Luca didn't hesitate. He immediately gave an order to his AI.
"Hajimi, contact Miss Justine Hammer of Hammer Industries for me. Tell her I'd like to meet privately to discuss company shares."
Hajimi: "Understood!"
Two days later, inside Aurantius Tower.
"Miss Hammer, I'm glad you accepted my invitation."
Luca smiled and took two steps forward, his gaze casually sweeping over Justine Hammer's outfit for the day.
"You look stunning as always."
Justine Hammer, standing before him, was dressed in red as usual, but today it was just a standard, custom-tailored business suit.
In Luca's micro-earpiece, Hajimi provided the scan results right on cue.
"No magical traces detected on the target."
Hearing this, Luca's smile widened.
"Before we get down to business, would you be interested in a tour of Aurantius Tower, Miss Hammer?"
Justine, who had been puzzled by Luca's motive for inviting her today, paused for a moment but nodded slightly, following her "tour guide" Luca through the building.
Meanwhile, on the other side of New York at the Hammer Industries building.
Although the previous chaos in New York hadn't affected Hammer Industries too badly compared to the surrounding buildings that had collapsed entirely, there was still some minor damage to the exterior walls that needed repair.
Among the repair workers coming and going, a small white snake suddenly slithered out of one worker's toolbox. It made its way through the ventilation ducts all the way to the top floor.
Once the snake reached a blind spot in the surveillance coverage on the top floor, it opened its mouth wide.
Then, in a bizarre spectacle, a person crawled out from the body of the snake, which was only the size of a finger.
After landing from the vent, the man ignored the mucus on his body and emotionlessly performed hand seals.
POOF!
A cloud of white smoke exploded.
Justine Hammer, who was supposed to be a guest at Aurantius Tower, suddenly appeared right there.
In the corner, Si Bei, having completed the Transformation Technique, tucked a loose strand of curly hair behind his ear. Then, he strode confidently toward Justine Hammer's office.
However, just before Si Bei could push open the office door, his ear twitched slightly.
Sure enough, the next moment, someone walked out of the lounge next door.
The person was startled upon seeing Si Bei, then asked with a hint of hesitation.
"Justine? Weren't you supposed to be..."
As she spoke, a notification chime rang in Si Bei's earpiece.
"Maya Hansen. Former Chief Scientist of A.I.M., core developer of the Extremis virus. On the priority watch list. Capture recommended."
Hearing the prompt, Si Bei didn't hesitate for a second. He took a step forward.
Moving as fast as lightning, he appeared instantly beside the confused Maya. He raised his hand and delivered a chop to her neck, knocking her out cold.
Catching the unconscious Maya Hansen before she hit the floor, Si Bei brazenly threw her over his shoulder and pushed open the door to Justine Hammer's office.
After casually dumping Maya Hansen onto the office sofa, Si Bei walked straight toward a decorative painting on one side of the room.
He lifted the frame, entered the password on the virtual keypad, and passed the facial recognition and iris scan.
A moment later, a hidden door slowly slid open.
Ignoring the various important documents and stacks of cash in the secret chamber, Si Bei locked his gaze onto the Crimson Cloak floating slowly inside a glass display case in the center of the room.
However, just as he was about to step forward and secure the cloak—completing what seemed like an easy infiltration and theft mission—
The alarm bells in the Hammer Industries building, which had been silent until now, suddenly blared.
BEEP BEEP BEEP!
The sudden alarm filled the secret room with flashing red lights.
Si Bei's heart tightened. Exploding with chakra under his feet, he used the Body Flicker Technique to appear instantly in front of the Crimson Cloak.
But just as he shattered the bulletproof glass cover and was about to touch the cloak—
POOF~
A puff of red smoke exploded.
The Crimson Cloak in front of him vanished into thin air.
Seeing this, Si Bei—still disguised as Justine Hammer—furrowed his brows. He quickly pressed his hand to his earpiece and whispered.
"Target vanished. Mission failed. Requesting extraction."
The reply came quickly from the other end.
"Extraction approved. Bring Maya Hansen."
Receiving the order, Si Bei immediately turned and dashed out of the secret room.
Seeing the heavy alloy door of the secret chamber beginning to close, Si Bei drew a long sword from nowhere and slashed repeatedly.
Under the blade reinforced with chakra, the thick metal door offered no more resistance than paper.
Shing-shing!
With a few swift cuts, a hole large enough for a person to pass through was carved open.
Si Bei rushed out of the secret room without slowing down.
He scooped up the unconscious Maya Hansen from the sofa, smashed through the floor-to-ceiling glass of the office, and leaped out of the building.
Staring at the shattered glass raining down and the red figure that had just burst through the window...
Two security guards who had just arrived due to the alarm stood frozen in place. Their minds went blank for several seconds before they looked at each other in terror, stammering in disbelief.
"Was... was that just the Chairman???"
"Th-th-this is the 30th floor??"
Then, they both screamed in horror.
"HOLY S!! THE CHAIRMAN JUMPED!!!"
Terrified and weak in the knees, the two guards scrambled toward the broken window.
But looking down now, the figure that had crashed through the window was long gone.
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