svetikya Page 14
Page 14
Margarita hoped for help from her father and mother... Even she herself believed that these illusory figures wouldn't offer her any assistance. But as the only two people she could rely on besides Yang Hao, yet no longer could... Margarita still hoped they could offer some advice. Even if that advice was just unanswerable nonsense, she wanted to hear their voices.
Faced with the grief-stricken Margarita, the parents' ghosts simply smiled, embracing their daughter with ethereal, almost indistinct forms. They offered no advice, only urging her on, saying:
'Margarita...our daughter, you've grown up...you need to learn to be independent, to discover your own problems, so that you can find your own happiness...okay?'
"...Well..."
Clearly, Margarita's mood plummeted after failing to receive the help she craved from her parents' illusory presence. But she admitted that her parents were right—if only she had been independent sooner...if only she had realized her own problems earlier, even if she wasn't aware of them now...perhaps Yang Hao wouldn't have been taken away?
She bit her lip, hung the quiver on her waist, released the crossbow string, and slung the entire mechanical crossbow over her back before leaving home, ready to launch her operation.
... .....
Meanwhile, as evening fell, Yang Hao racked his brains but couldn't come up with a way to stir up trouble, force the city to stop, and not reveal his identity.
This was a complete dead end. Yang Hao was left with two terrible options: either do nothing and watch the city advance towards Bolivar only to have its retreat cut off by a natural disaster, or take action but risk exposing his identity and potentially crippling Margarita. He truly had no other choice.
If he wanted to make a move, to stop the city from advancing toward Bolivar by killing the city lord, hiring mercenaries to block the city's route, or even by rebelling outright, then his identity would be completely exposed: the Louisiana state government's secret police may have already infiltrated the city. Although he didn't know what their purpose was in finding him, Yang Hao was certain that they would not overlook any details, and as long as he took action, they would definitely discover what he was doing.
Trading his own identity and Margarita's safety for the safety of the entire city? No, impossible... Yang Hao knew exactly what he wanted. His only reason for protecting the city was because of his friends and Margarita's home. He wouldn't put the cart before the horse and sacrifice Margarita and his friends for the city's safety.
But not doing so... the city's advance towards Bolívar would also put them in danger. Is this really typical of the Colombian state government? Those who reach that position are truly almost inhuman... willing to trade the entire population of a city for a single possibility? Sigh!
...Fine, since I'm already being watched, I might as well just finalize my plan to leave Colombia and, right now... muddy the waters.
"You've got your eyes on me, haven't you? So how many city lords can you send up before you catch me?" Yang Hao was very curious about this, and also felt incredibly exhausted by it: doing so would consume some political points. Considering the daily increase in political points... killing three city lords before February 21st was already his limit.
"Compared to them, I'm still a bit green..." he sighed wearily to himself, packing his things and preparing to hurry home before it got completely dark. "Sigh... I wonder if I could ask Miss Koschei for help and get some sponsorship in Ursus for a while? Damn it... I really wanted to go there as a successful person... I'm such a coward!"
Feeling ashamed of his incompetence, Yang Hao slapped his cheeks hard, then dejectedly left the temporary office with the envelope Snake Scales had given him, heading towards home.
Perhaps because it was already very late, Yang Hao, who was in a hurry to get home, tried to move along the main road with many pedestrians. Even so, there were still many places in this remote urban area that were not covered by public lighting.
Unbeknownst to Yang Hao, in the darkness, several spies dressed in civilian clothes, yet bearing Louisiana state government insignia in inconspicuous places, were following him. They all wore bizarre one-eyed masks, were burly in build, and if someone could get closer, they could see high-tech, sword-shaped experimental weapons tucked into their waistbands.
"That's the target Lord K was referring to?"
A secret police officer murmured, watching Yang Hao's retreating figure in the distance. A high-ranking official in the Louisiana state government, known as "K," desired all information about a mysterious target. The police dug through every available piece of information, finally focusing their attention on this seemingly unremarkable chief.
But it was nothing special at all. They exchanged a glance and decided to capture the other before he got home—
【boom! 】
This idea hasn't even been put into practice yet.
A crossbow bolt pierced the head of one of the secret police officers, pinning him to the wall of a dark alley, rendering him immobile.
Chapter 36
"Get hidden! You guys go and grab the target, we'll hold them off here!"
The tragic death of their colleague caused them to change their original plans in an instant. The secret police, whose team had been reduced from six to five, immediately sent two people to hunt down their target, Yang Hao.
The remaining three stayed behind as bait and deadly snakes, hoping to hold off the attackers. However, they couldn't locate the attackers. Even when someone pinpointed a possible location based on the direction of the crossbow bolts, they still found nothing.
Not only that, but two of his colleagues who were ordered to evacuate directly from the dark alley were also shot through by two crossbow bolts from an unknown source before they even reached the alley entrance. One died instantly, and the other was shot through the thigh. He was pinned to the ground, bleeding profusely. Although he endured the pain without screaming, he knew that his death was only a matter of time.
Before dying from excessive blood loss, the severely wounded secret police officer pointed out the direction the enemy was coming from to his three remaining healthy colleagues, a place he had noticed before he was wounded.
"She's hanging on the wall! Right there—"
However, before he could finish his instructions, a second crossbow bolt pierced his skull. The mask, made with advanced Colombian technology, wasn't designed to withstand close-range crossbow bolts, but thanks to his warning before his death, the remaining three secret police officers were able to spot the enemy.
Indeed, it was a person hanging on the dark alleyway using some unknown device... The figure was blurry, and combined with the darkness of the alleyway where there was almost no light, it was naturally difficult for anyone to spot him, as he was hidden on the wall without revealing any trace of his presence.
But now he has been discovered by the secret police—is a discovered crossbowman still a threat?
...
The answer is yes.
The secret police had barely assumed an attack stance, one of them throwing a knife, when the dark figure leaped down from the wall. He seemed to have a precognitive ability, anticipating all the secret police's tactics, even their impromptu maneuvers.
Under the incredulous gaze of the secret police, the shadowy figure threw down the pulley crossbow in his hand, dodging all their attacks with inhuman agility, and then used the heavy crossbow bolts he was holding as short spears to fiercely stab each of the surviving secret police officers in the groin.
Blood spurted out, the stench of blood stimulating the Blood Demon's nerves. Her eyes glowed with an unnatural red light as she removed her mask, drinking every drop of blood that flew toward her cheek. At the same time, she deliberately broke the crossbow bolt in her hand and pierced through the thigh of the last surviving secret policeman, twisting his hands in the process.
In a mere two minutes of fighting, the remaining three secret police officers suffered two deaths and one injury. The reason only one wounded officer remained...
It's entirely because Margarita has questions and needs to ask them.
...
She brutally pinned the last surviving secret policeman to the wall with a crossbow bolt, her bare hands on his. She often lost control of her power when facing enemies, because she still didn't quite understand why infected creatures in the wild could withstand such damage so easily, while fragile humans couldn't.
So she almost messed up. The force with which she pinned the last secret policeman to the wall was so great that the steel crossbow bolt pierced the secret policeman's right shoulder joint, and with a piercing screech, pinned him to the stone wall, causing the already severely wounded secret policeman to cough up a mouthful of blood.
Blood seemed to be trapped inside his mask. Margarita expressionlessly ripped off the secret police mask and met the eyes of the dying Felin man.
“...Sarkaz...Blood Demon…” The secret policeman looked weakly at Margarita, at her bloodshot eyes, then down at the blood that had nearly stained the entire alleyway. “You…”
“You’re a secret police officer for the state government…” Margarita said. Facing a stranger, especially an enemy, she showed none of the docile demeanor she displayed only with Yang Hao, nor the friendliness she displayed with Jack and her friends. She was now facing food, an enemy, and a piece of trash. “…Who ordered you to do this?”
...
Margarita knew her interrogation was futile. Her prophecy had foretold that the secret policeman would die after muttering a string of meaningless characters.
And that was indeed the case. The secret police cursed Margarita's existence while simultaneously wishing her a terrible end in Colombia. Throughout, under Margarita's shadowy gaze, the secret police revealed nothing.
Fortunately, although Margarita's prophecy now seems to have uncontrollable flaws... she also knows that this is the last surviving secret police officer in the city.
So, while he was waiting to curse until he had lost all his strength and could only gasp for breath in the cold from blood loss, Margarita simply pulled the crossbow bolt from his shoulder.
She pulled it out along with a brick from the wall. After the crossbow bolt was removed, the secret police officer, who had been able to hold on for a few more minutes, finally gave in.
He collapsed helplessly into a pool of blood, his eyes losing their last glimmer of light. Margarita coldly watched all this, removing everyone's masks, then poking and crushing them to ensure there were no recording devices on them before leaping onto the roof.
'Margarita...you did a great job.'
Her father encouraged her, saying that killing a few people was no big deal in order to survive and achieve her goals—the survival of Sarkaz blood demons depended on human blood, and very few blood demons could live to the point of marriage and having children without taking any lives.
Her mother simply looked at her tenderly, like watching an eagle, its wings fully grown, hiding in its nest, ready to leap off a cliff to learn to fly. They were anticipating Margarita's growth.
And Margarita certainly didn't disappoint them... she grew up. But she's still immature; she still subconsciously needs someone she can rely on to guide her, a haven where she can rest and find warmth when she's tired.
Humans are interdependent beings, and so are the Sarkaz. The couple knew that Margarita needed someone who could stay with her forever.
So... hang in there, Margarita.
Before we leave this world peacefully... let's grow up.
Chapter 37
Yang Hao had a vague feeling that something was wrong, but he did not stop his journey home.
He only had one last street left to get home, but then again, it got dark so early today... I wonder if Margarita has been diligently recording any changes in her. And then again, the enemy of the state government... sigh.
Yang Hao planned to send the current city lord away as soon as he got home. After all, Snake Scale might have already turned his house upside down. It would be better to kill him and shut him up forever than to let him live and continue to cause trouble.
After eliminating the city lord, Yang Hao would have to proceed cautiously until the evening of the 21st, when he would complete his national policy and accumulate enough political points to move the city further back. Once the city had moved into the heart of Colombia and reached a safe zone... he would make his escape.
But I need to confirm the schedule with Miss Koschke before I leave. And I also need to say goodbye to Jack and Margarita... If we really do get married, I'll need to send out the wedding invitations too—
...Thinking about these things now is going too far.
Yang Hao sighed heavily, shaking his head and muttering to himself, "This incident isn't even resolved yet." He stepped onto the porch in front of his house, skillfully unlocked the door with his key, but didn't find Margarita: Had she already gone home?
Never mind. If Margarita were home today, Yang Hao wouldn't be able to video call Miss Koschche... Although he's decided to treat Margarita like a close friend, he still wouldn't be able to freely interact with other women if she were around.
"I think it was like that before? When I first came to this city, when I was looking for a real estate agent—sigh, I think I glanced at Miss Felin's mountain-like figure a few times, and Margarita gave my old waist a hard pinch..." Yang Hao muttered to himself, returning to his room to take a change of clothes from the closet. He planned to take a shower before talking to Miss Koschche. "If I have a good chat with my blind date while I'm with her this time... um... I'm afraid something terrible might happen? Although I haven't experienced it myself, I definitely have a feeling about it."
Yeah, it must be something really scary. Yang Hao, carrying his clothes, walked to the living room, rubbed the dust off the snake sculpture's head, hummed a song, and went to take a shower.
Of course, before taking a shower, he pressed the "kill him" button on the current mayor's resolution.
... .....
Margarita didn't get any valuable information, but at least she killed all the state government agents who had infiltrated the city for a secret investigation.
Although the state government's secret police only number six, if you include other staff, there are probably around 20? Moreover, communication between staff is not close, and many of them don't even know they have so many colleagues... If it were an ordinary assassin, they would probably be completely confused by their complex intelligence network.
However, Margarita's prophecy helps her kill everyone accurately... With each person she kills, she discovers that she is one step closer to the true identity of Lord K, as predicted in the prophecy.
But after she killed the last member of the secret investigation team, she discovered that her prophecy had stopped at a thin veil... Who exactly is Lord K? Crouching on the roof of the city hall—which is also the city's core control tower—Margarita covered her head and looked at the blurry figure in the prophecy. She felt terrible.
"Hmm...no information or intelligence...I have no choice but to go back." She muttered to herself, feeling utterly exhausted and wanting nothing more than to go home and lie down on her bed to rest...but right now...all she could think about was being with Yang Hao.
Just as Margarita shook her head and stood up from the roof to leave, she saw what appeared to be a... person falling from the top of the core control tower?
"Forehead?"
She felt everything slow down... In an instant, due to the abnormally slowed perception of time caused by her focused attention, combined with her inexplicably improved eyesight after drinking the blood... Margarita saw it: what was falling from the sky was a person, a person with several crossbow bolts piercing their back.
This person was obese, dressed in luxurious clothes, and wore a ring made of pure gold and jewels on one hand... Could this be the city lord?!
"Yang Hao..."
Was it because he was being watched by the state government, and was he forced to kill the city lord? Margarita watched silently as the corpse plummeted from the sky to the ground, then shattered into pieces under its own weight and the force of the crossbow bolts. She realized that Yang Hao might be forced to do something horrific...
...It's alright...Margarita can give up everything in this city...if she really wants to...
She left. She planned to go to Yang Hao's house and get to the bottom of things.
Chapter 38
After taking a shower, Yang Hao sat on the sofa in the living room, took out his phone, and looked a little nervous.
Because it was his first time having a video call with Miss Kosiché—before that, let alone a video call, they had never even had a voice call, only communicating with each other via text messages.
But this time—they can see each other's faces and hear each other's voices! This is an incredible development for Yang Hao's blind date journey.
...If we ignore the fact that Ms. Koschke wanted to talk about... [women you're on good terms with]... haha.
"Phew... Let's begin."
With a nervous heart, Yang Hao glanced at the time; it was already 8 PM. Miss Koschke was probably already getting ready to rest...
He pressed the video chat button on the marriage agency's app and waited anxiously for Miss Koschitch to accept the call.
Beep...beep...
Yang Hao sat on the sofa and turned to look at the clock on the wall.
Beep...beep...
He turned his head and looked at the most conspicuous place in the living room, where the eyes of the serpent sculpture, inlaid with rubies, seemed to be flashing red.
Beep...beep...
Just as Yang Hao was thinking about whether to chat with Miss Koschke later, the video call was connected.
He quickly turned around and found that the woman appearing on the video call screen was indeed a beauty he had never expected.
Long brown hair, Ursus bear ears, a beautiful face that was alluring yet somewhat somber, and the steam rising from her body and the white bathrobe...
what?
Oh... you were taking a shower just now? Did I disturb you?
Yang Hao was momentarily speechless, while on the other end, Miss Koschke seemed to realize why Mr. Yang Hao couldn't utter a single word. After chuckling twice, she spoke in a voice that was gentle and pleasant to Yang Hao's ears, yet couldn't mask a hint of gloom:
"Is this Mr. Yang Hao? Hehe... I thought so. No one else can contact me through this phone except you."
...Her voice calmed Yang Hao down from his nervousness. He chuckled twice and then said in a relaxed tone:
"Ah, yes, it's me. Miss Koschche... Am I bothering you with my communication?"
"At first, I guess so. I was just taking a shower."
As expected, I've disturbed you... Just as Yang Hao was feeling apologetic, he noticed that Miss Koschke's video feed had been switched.
"This seems to be a luxurious room?" Yang Hao thought thoughtfully as he watched the video. Then, he saw the video focus on something in the very center—a sculpture emitting a blue light...
"Isn't this the gift I sent?" Before Yang Hao could even speak, Miss Koschie said:
“Your gift has been very effective. It will be the most valuable thing in my bedchamber—at least it certainly will be before you arrive.”
... ...
......that?
I have a chance?