Chapter 177: Nicola Kidnapped, Perpetrator: Su An’an
The sunset’s afterglow, like spilled blood, stained Nicola’s bedroom a jarring orange-red.
CRASH!
Another crystal glass exploded against the wall, its shards scratching across Seville’s poster, cutting a hideous gash across his gentle smile.
"SOB, SOB... Seville, how could you look at me that way?"
Nicola sprawled on the bed, wailing, her carefully styled golden curls clinging messily to her tear-streaked face.
She clutched the cracked Support Bracelet in a death grip.
It was a VIP gift Seville had given her with his own hands; now the signature on its surface was blurred and indistinct.
"Female Master, are you alright?"
Lu Chengfeng had just taken a half step forward.
Nicola suddenly lashed out, her sharp nails gouging three bloody lines into his arm.
"Get out! I don’t want to see any of you!"
She hysterically tore down the canopy over her bed.
"Get out, get out, get out! Don’t bother me!"
Nemo’s shark fin twitched anxiously.
"But..."
"Get out!"
A vase grazed the tip of his ear and smashed against the doorframe. "Now! Immediately!"
"Let her calm down!"
Looking at Nicola’s miserable state, Lu Chengfeng gestured to Nemo and Yan Tian with his chin.
’A beauty-conscious Female Master like her would never want another beastman to see her in this state!’
"Call us if you need anything!"
Nemo and Yan Tian sighed helplessly.
As Lu Chengfeng, the last to leave, closed the door, a pitch-black mechanical spider suddenly crawled from a corner of the room.
Its compound eyes flashed with a sinister red light, and the miniature camera on its abdomen was aimed squarely at Nicola’s trembling back.
「A remote villa, surveillance room.」
Louis leaned back in a leather chair, his fingertips lightly tapping on a light screen.
The screen froze on several images: Nicola’s tear-streaked face mid-breakdown, Su An’an’s bristling fox ears, and Seville’s icy gaze.
A sinister, cold smile touched the corners of his lips.
"Doctor this."
He said softly, his voice like a hissing snake. "The headline needs to be explosive!"
The Communication Beast immediately pulled up the editing interface and asked, trembling,
"My lord, what kind of headline would you like?"
Louis narrowed his eyes, a flash of scarlet passing through his Amber Beast Eyes. "’Princess Abuses Power, Threatens Alliance President’s Daughter!’"
He paused, his smile deepening.
"Add another—’Former Top Idol Seville Grovels for Vicious Woman, a Pathetic Fall from Grace!’"
The Communication Beast’s paws flew across the controls as it deliberately edited the footage.
Su An’an’s Healing Technique was tinted blood-red, and Seville’s Wind Blades were slowed down to look like a savage attack.
"Excellent."
Louis nodded in satisfaction. "As soon as we have Nicola, release these videos on the Star Network immediately."
"Yes."
The Communication Beast nodded hastily.
"Is the ’gate’ at the Black Star Mine ready?"
Louis asked suddenly.
The Communication Beast’s ears twitched, and its voice trembled slightly.
"My lord, the Mutant Beasts there are extremely unstable. They’ve already killed many Beastmen, and the mine could collapse at any moment."
It clicked on a dark video, which showed the Otherworldly Space connected to the mine.
A giant nest was packed with completely blackened Mutant Beasts.
On a throne sat a gigantic mother beast covered in nodules, laying glowing eggs. Curled within each egg was a humanoid shadow.
Louis let out a soft laugh, a hint of madness flashing in his eyes.
"A collapse would be even better. The more chaos, the easier it will be to tear them to shreds, and the easier it will be to cover up the truth."
The Communication Beast snuck a glance at him and noticed fine, scale-like patterns faintly appearing under the skin of his arm. The scarlet in his pupils had also become more pronounced.
It swallowed hard and carefully pulled out a jade-colored potion. "My lord... perhaps you should drink some of the Divine Medicine first?"
Louis shot it a cold glance, took the potion, and drained it in one gulp.
As his Adam’s apple bobbed, he could feel the potion’s effect temporarily suppressing the mutation within him, but it was far from enough.
"Tell the Death Warriors to move out."
He set down the empty vial, his voice icy.
"Remember, make sure Nicola’s Beast Husbands ’accidentally’ find Su An’an’s Princess Badge."
The Communication Beast lowered its head to accept the order and quickly relayed the command.
Louis stood up and walked to the window, gazing in the direction of the Black Star Mine.
From the darkness of the night came the faint roars of unknown beasts, as if heralding the arrival of a bloody storm.
He gently stroked the spreading scales on his arm and muttered, "Su An’an. Seville!"
’This time, I will ruin you both. You will be utterly disgraced, with no hope of ever recovering.’
...
Moonlight spilled like water over the villa’s balcony.
Nemo’s shark fin flicked back and forth irritably. A wine glass shattered in his palm, staining his fingertips with scarlet wine.
"Who the hell does Seville think he is! He’s not worthy of making our Female Master cry!"
Yan Tian leaned against the railing, a dangerous red glow emanating from his dragon horns as a ghostly blue flame ignited on his fingertip.
"How about we burn off all his feathers?"
"The Female Master won’t see it anyway."
"Stop with the stupid ideas!"
Lu Chengfeng took a sip of red wine and said in a low voice,
"If you dare to touch a single one of Seville’s feathers, the Female Master will skin you alive and embroider you into a throw pillow!"
"What’s so great about Seville anyway? Why is the Female Master so obsessed with him?"
Yan Tian gritted his teeth in anger, the red light on his body flickering continuously.
"You guys don’t understand. The Female Master was gravely ill once, and it was Seville who..."
Before Lu Chengfeng could finish, there was a sudden CLICK.
The entire villa plunged into darkness.
Immediately after, Nicola’s shrill scream pierced the night sky. "Su An’an, how dare you..."
Lu Chengfeng’s pupils contracted sharply. He shot toward Nicola’s room like a bolt of lightning.
Yan Tian and Nemo followed close behind.
They burst through the bedroom door, and Yan Tian’s flames illuminated a scene of utter chaos.
The peacock-down pillow stuffing had been torn to shreds, and every feather was singed as if burned by Fox Fire.
A crooked Royal Family crest was drawn in fresh blood on the dressing mirror.
Stuck between three scratch marks on the window frame was a strand of pink fox fur.
"It’s Fei Zhao’s Fox Fire! And this fox fur... it looks like it’s from Su An’an’s ears."
Nemo tremblingly picked up the strand of fur, which still carried the faint scent of strawberry cream.
The Genetic Potion Lu Chengfeng brought back yesterday had the same scent.
Lu Chengfeng’s wolf ears suddenly perked up. "The back garden!"
"After them!"
Yan Tian leaped directly over the railing.
Several dark figures were seen carrying an unconscious Nicola over the rose wall.
Just as Yan Tian’s fire dragon lunged closer, the last dark figure suddenly turned around.
SWISH!
Three Wind Blades precisely sliced through the fire dragon, their afterimages shimmering with a faint golden light in the moonlight.
’Wind Blades from the Golden Feather Clan?!’
Lu Chengfeng froze abruptly.
Nemo’s claws dug into the dark figure’s shoulder and came away covered in a sticky fluid.
The beastman turned, a strange smile on his face, as black blood suddenly gushed from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. "For... the Princess."
The body crashed to the ground, its palm facing up.
Yan Tian pulled a crumpled piece of paper from the corpse’s collar. On it, two lines of black text were mechanically printed.
[I’ve taken Nicola. If you want her to live, have all Alliance forces withdraw from Black Star.]
[Remember, if you dare leak the news of Nicola’s kidnapping, I’ll feed her to the Mutant Beasts.]
"Damn that Su An’an! To think she’d kidnap the Female Master for the sake of the Black Star Power!"
Yan Tian furiously stomped on the corpse’s arm, crushing it.
Lu Chengfeng’s brow was tightly furrowed. "This doesn’t make sense. Su An’an just saved me yesterday. She has no reason to..."
"You were deceived by her!"