To their astonishment, the well-equipped and arrogant Saint Martan Soldiers were nowhere to be seen.
Instead, there was a group of dark-skinned, simply dressed militiamen with several fresh wounds on them.
The smell of gunpowder and blood had not yet dissipated from them, carrying a fierce aura of having just experienced battle.
"Hola!"
A young militiaman who looked like a leader stepped forward, his attitude surprisingly polite, but his eyes still held a scrutinizing gaze, as if he had guessed Elena's thoughts: "You haven't come to the wrong place. From here on, this is the New Reclamation Area, but now, this is the Black Queen's territory."
"Black… Queen?" Jared looked bewildered, clearly having never heard of her.
Elena wasn't interested in any of that; she only cared about her objective: "I don't care whose territory this is. I just want to know, can we pass through now?"
She just wanted to catch those two bugs who almost killed her niece, and then quickly close the case.
"Please show your identification." The militiaman leader said in a business-like manner.
Elena and Jared pulled out their Control Bureau IDs and handed them over.
The militiaman leader took the IDs, his gaze lingering on Elena's photo and name for a moment, then he suddenly looked up, his eyes bursting with incredible surprise: "You… you are Ms. Elena?!"
Elena was stunned by his reaction and subconsciously nodded: "Yes, it's me. What's wrong?"
"Please wait a moment!" The militiaman leader excitedly turned and ran back to the makeshift shack nearby.
A few seconds later, under the dumbfounded gazes of Elena and Jared, he dragged out two men from inside, tied up, bruised and swollen, with rags stuffed in their mouths, like dead dogs.
Those two were Lucas and Boris.
Elena: "..."
Jared: "!!!"
Both of them were completely petrified in the morning twilight, their minds blank.
Huh?
The arrest mission hadn't even started, and it was already complete?
About ten minutes later, Elena and Jared stood by the jeep, looking at Lucas and Boris, who were still unconscious and completely filling the trunk. They stared at each other, and an absurd silence permeated the air.
"Wow…" Jared finally found his voice, with an incredible sense of unreality, "This is definitely the… easiest mission of my career. The targets… were delivered right to our doorstep?"
He even laughed out loud, shaking his head, feeling like he was dreaming.
He, Elena, and the accompanying personnel, a grand total of over a dozen people.
They hadn't even warmed up the edge of the New Reclamation Area, and they could already pack up and go home??
Elena, however, was pensive. She swept her gaze over the air, which still carried the scent of gunpowder and a peculiar burnt smell, her nostrils subtly flaring. A faint, almost imperceptible unique scent, like the burning of electricity mixed with the coolness of mint, was caught by her.
A thought instantly formed in her mind.
She ignored the still-bewildered Jared, walked directly to the side, and dialed a video call.
Beep… beep… beep…
After a few rings, the screen lit up, revealing Billie's flushed, sweaty little face.
Her hair was slightly messy, her chest was heaving, and her breathing was noticeably more rapid than usual, looking like she had just engaged in strenuous exercise.
"Billie?" Elena raised an eyebrow, her gaze like a scrutinizing searchlight, "Let me see where you are?"
"Ah? Au… Auntie?" Billie's eyes clearly flickered, appearing a bit flustered, "I… I'm at home! In my room! Look!"
She fumbled to quickly pan the phone camera around her bedroom; the familiar pink wallpaper and pony doll flashed by. "I'm super obedient! Really! Didn't go anywhere!"
Billie chuckled and scratched her head, trying to charm her way through.
"Is that so?" Elena's voice was unreadable, "Then why are you so out of breath?"
"Uh… this…" Billie's face turned even redder. She quickly lowered her eyelashes, nervously fiddling with the hem of her clothes, her voice suddenly becoming soft and sweet, with a hint of embarrassed coquetry, "Auntie~~! Why are you asking about that?!"
"I… I'm already this old! When I'm bored, it's normal to… um… make myself happy, isn't it?!" She deliberately emphasized certain words, full of implication, "You don't let me go out, so I have to… vent some energy, right?"
These bold and direct words successfully left the well-traveled Elena speechless.
Her mouth twitched, and a rare flush of embarrassment swept across her face. She quickly coughed twice, tactically: "Cough… cough, cough! Alright, alright! Pretend I didn't ask! Young people… take care of your bodies! And… pay attention to hygiene!"
"Yes, sir!" Billie immediately gave an exaggerated salute, her smile dazzling.
However, the next second, just as she was secretly congratulating herself, Elena on the screen suddenly let out a knowing chuckle:
"Little sly one… though I don't know how you did it… but…"
Her voice deepened, carrying genuine warmth, "…thank you."
Billie's smile instantly froze, her eyes wide: "Eh? Au…"
Beep—
The call was decisively cut off.
"I ran so fast, and I was still found out?" Billie wailed, deflating and flopping into a pile of soft pony dolls, pouting unhappily, "Auntie… you're too scary! Luckily, I'm your precious niece…"
But it was good that Elena didn't pursue it; she even seemed happy.
On the other side, Elena hung up the phone with a sly smile, her sneaky demeanor almost an exact replica of Billie's.
"Little brat, you think you can hide that from your Auntie?" She chuckled softly, but her eyes sparkled with unconcealed pride.
A prodigal daughter's return is worth more than gold. This little girl finally looked a bit like an adult.
Jared asked cautiously: "Ms. Elena? We…"
"I'm fine, the mission is complete." Elena put away her phone, returning to her usual crispness, "You and the team go back to headquarters to report first. I… will stay here for a few more days, and collect more intel to exchange for some points to spend."
"Ah? You're staying alone? There was just a battle here…" Jared was a bit worried.
"What? Worried about me?" Elena glanced at him: "Then you stay too?"
"No… no! I'll take the men back right away!" He quickly shook his head. He couldn't wait to leave such a dangerous place.
Time quickly turned to deep night.
Lucas struggled to regain consciousness amidst intense pain.
The dazzling white light of the shadowless lamp burned his retinas.
He vaguely rolled his eyeballs.
What came into view was a cold stainless steel operating table, and figures in white coats with hourglass emblems on their chests surrounding it.
Fear poured over him like ice water!
This was the Control Bureau!
He tried to struggle, but found his limbs and torso firmly secured to the operating table by high-strength restraints, unable to move!
Immediately after, a tearing pain came from his left and right arms! He twisted his head in horror—
He saw that on the operating table next to the control panel, two of his own, muscular extra arms were soaking in cold preservative fluid!
Wires and sensors were still connected to the severed ends! They were neatly placed there, like specimens waiting to be dissected!
"No—!!!" A desperate, distorted scream instantly broke through his throat, echoing in the sealed laboratory!
The excruciating pain of being forcibly dismembered and the extreme terror completely engulfed him like a tsunami!
"Hey…" A researcher frowned, looking at the screen showing Lucas's vital signs fluctuating wildly, and whispered to a colleague next to him, "Did you give him too little anesthetic? The subject's vital signs are fluctuating violently, and the pain index is off the charts."
The other researcher didn't even look up, his voice flat and emotionless, with a hint of indifference from following orders: "Agent Elena's special instruction was to maintain the anesthetic dosage at the minimum survival guarantee line. Her exact words were—experiment freely, it doesn't matter if he dies."
"Ah—!!!"
Lucas's desperate wails became the only background sound in the laboratory.
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