Chapter 139: Do you even know who I am
Old Man Darren did not turn toward the soft, smooth female voice that suddenly echoed from behind him inside that isolated dimensional prison; instead, he maintained his cold, heavy gaze upon the giant television screen, which was displaying a live broadcast of the massive military raid taking place outside the facility.
The screen beamed images of thousands of troops armed with heavy weaponry, hundreds of armored tanks, and reconnaissance helicopters and drones surrounding the building from every direction...
The scene outside had reached a point of absolute mayhem. The government no longer cared now that the truth was laid bare—the media and institutions no longer saw this headquarters as merely a standard government building or ordinary security installation, but recognized that a giant, secret prison lay buried deep beneath the earth!
Lucy looked on with a cold expression at the dozens of high-definition cameras and security sensors that captured her presence and face at this critical juncture. With a simple, casual flick of her wrist, and without so much as blinking, an invisible pulse erupted, utterly destroying and disintegrating every single camera in the room! Though they were heavily armored and forged from the finest, toughest materials on Earth, they turned into scattering dust before her power.
Darren’s pupils shifted with agonizing slowness to observe the sight. He watched the cameras that monitored and confirmed his presence from every angle catch fire and burn out in eerie silence before their charred remains fell to the floor.
"Are you listening to me?! We don’t have time to waste staring!"
Lucy’s voice resonated with a distinct edge of irritation. Darren’s utter indifference to her presence—even after she had obliterated every piece of surveillance before his eyes in a split second—thoroughly annoyed her.
A quiet rage brewed within her chest. After all the trouble, planning, mass chaos, and sheer risk taken to pull off this unique jailbreak, this old man was sitting in his cell with absolute serenity and meekness, without uttering a single word! Furthermore, his cell looked more like a lavish five-star hotel suite than a dark holding cell fit for the most dangerous criminal on the planet!
How was a hot cup of latte and a seventy-inch display available inside the cell of a prisoner who was supposedly the greatest threat to international law enforcement and global institutions?!
Was this a absurd farce, or what on earth was going on?!
Lucy had reached her absolute limit and could no longer tolerate any more of this nonsense. She stepped forward toward the wheelchair holding the old man. With a swift gesture of her hand, she formed a glowing dimensional portal directly before him, opening up to an external location far removed from this prison and security headquarters.
Lucy’s plan called for pushing his wheelchair with a single touch to send him through the portal, bringing this scene to an end in an instant...
"I do not wish to leave this place..."
Lucy’s foot, which was about to step forward and push the wheelchair, froze mid-air, her movements locking up completely.
"Wait... What did you just say?!"
Darren replied in an icy tone devoid of emotion, without even turning to face her:
"Exactly as you heard... I do not wish to leave, nor do I desire my freedom. I turned myself in to these bastards of my own free will and with total pride... and you are not a member of our organization in the slightest. Therefore, I will not obey a single command from you, nor will I yield to any choice you present—even if you were to offer me the treasures and riches of this entire world!"
Lucy stood frozen, torn between utter shock and disbelief. She had never imagined that she would one day stand before a prisoner residing in the deepest point of a secret detention facility who would declare with such audacity that he refused to leave and gain his freedom!
Was such madness even possible?!
Lucy’s voice rose with firm, suppressed rage:
"What kind of senile nonsense are you spouting, you damned old fool?! I am not part of that foolish organization of yours, nor am I honored by the thought, and I am certainly not chasing after your dirty secrets or information as you assume! The entire matter boils down to innocent people being falsely accused of belonging to your organization... and all I need from you is to step out into the world, state the truth, and clear those innocent people—in exchange for giving you your absolute freedom, of course!"
Yet the strict, icy composure on Old Man Darren’s face did not shift an inch. Instead, his response came wrapped in blind pride and a bizarre threat:
"That is not my organization... I am merely a servant to my master. And I will not step out of this place until he comes here himself! I trust my master with absolute certainty and know he will personally arrive to liberate me from the grip of this government... And when he does, I advise you to run and hide in the furthest reaches of this planet, because he will utterly crush you with his absolute power and shatter this fragile portal of yours like glass! My master’s power is absolute and invincible!"
Before the old man’s eyes, the glowing dimensional portal snapped shut completely and abruptly, returning the room to a state of partial silence and stagnation. Yet following those words, things veered off into a far more catastrophic direction!
Suddenly!... Old Man Darren felt a crushing, absolute, inhuman pressure pile onto every single particle of his body and mind! The weight was so immense that he felt a mere fraction of an inch away from disintegrating into physical dust!
It was the most terrifying and horrific sensation of helplessness and dread he had ever experienced in his entire life... But what amplified the panic in his heart was the low, muffled laughter emanating from Lucy behind him:
"Heh... Heheh... Hahaha!... Crush me?! Hahaha... Do you even comprehend who you are speaking to, you foolish mortal?!"
Lucy had suppressed her madness and terrifying energy for a long time, out of fear that she might appear before Cain as a crushing monster or a horrifying entity that would alarm him. But now, after recognizing the depth of Cain’s love for her, understanding that her place in his heart was far too sacred to be altered by the display of her true strength, and realizing that her true presence would never make him fear her...
Only now... the magical chains and shackles binding her heart and energy shattered completely!
Lucy’s lethal, absolute aura flooded every single corner and inch of this dimension! Before the astonished eyes of Old Man Darren, the isolated dimension surrounding him began to crack and shatter within seconds, falling away like transparent pieces of broken glass in space!
Darren could not believe what his eyes were seeing or what his collapsing senses were feeling... This terrifying aura, this pure influx of magic, was without a shadow of a doubt light-years stronger and grander than the power and authority of his master!
And at that exact instant... Lucy’s razor-sharp aura pierced through the boundaries of the isolated dimension, erupting outward to strike the entirety of planet Earth!
On the surface... the military command had issued decisive, direct orders for a full-scale assault and open fire after the security signal from Darren’s room vanished, assuming he had been abducted or assassinated.
The military forces, equipped with every manner of lethal weaponry, were on the verge of launching an all-out attack, showering the rebelling prisoners—who had finally succeeded in reaching the top floor and breaking out into the courtyard—with an unforgiving hail of bullets and artillery...
However... before a single bullet could leave the barrel of any rifle!
RUUUUMBLE!...
Massive armored tanks and military vehicles began to dance and shake erratically upon the ground!
No... the entire building, the surrounding perimeter, and the airspace were trembling with a colossal, unprecedented roar!
In absolute truth and reality...
The entire planet Earth, from pole to pole, was undergoing a terrifying quake and tremor, bowing in awe and absolute submission to the sudden awakening of Lucy’s divine aura!