Chapter 47 The Troupe Leader of Meteor City, His Highness
The warmth of the boy's cheek touched her palm, and his delicate skin brushed against Ayana's knuckles, softening her heart.
She opened her mouth, her voice strained: "Kuroro...you..."
"Hmm?" The boy let out a lazy syllable from the tip of his nose, and rubbed his cheek against Ayana's palm again, the movement perfectly natural. "Have you been really too tired lately? You always seem to be busy, I hardly ever see you at home."
The boy's voice was tinged with dependence, and his accusations sounded particularly aggrieved, but they didn't offend people; instead, they softened their hearts.
Ayana's eyes were practically spinning like mosquito coils as she felt her reason being slowly eroded by the sugar-coated bullets before her.
This...this is just too much!
She simply couldn't handle it!
Ayana forced herself to calm down and abruptly pulled her hand back: "I...I'm not tired."
Kuroro blinked, his long eyelashes fluttering, and then his eyes showed a hint of grievance as he asked, "Ayana-neechan, what's wrong? Do you dislike me?"
Ayana felt like she was going crazy.
She felt her brain had been completely short-circuited by the heat, making it impossible for her to think anymore. She could only passively follow Kuroro's train of thought.
"No...no." She looked away and replied, "Don't call me 'sister' anymore, it's not appropriate."
"Why isn't it appropriate?" But the boy didn't let her off the hook, continuing to press her with innocent eyes, as if he genuinely didn't understand. "Didn't Sister Ayana just ask me to 'cooperate' with you like this?"
He emphasized the word "cooperate" heavily, carrying a hint of ambiguity that was hard to define.
What does it mean to lift a stone only to drop it on one's own foot?
That's what it's called.
Ayana twitched her lips, trying to explain, "Well... I didn't ask you to call me 'sister' either."
"Then what should I call you?" The boy leaned forward slightly, his warm breath brushing against Ayana's face, as if he were asking seriously, but his low voice carried a subtle seduction.
Ayana felt like she couldn't breathe.
She felt as if she were in an ambiguous atmosphere deliberately created by Kuroro, where even fresh air couldn't get in, and her heart was beating fast and wildly, as if it would jump out of her chest at any moment.
Just as her mind went blank and she was about to completely succumb to the ambiguous atmosphere, the boy suddenly took a few steps back.
The oppressive feeling that had enveloped Ayana vanished instantly, and the grievances and dependence that had been on the boy's face disappeared. His expression turned somewhat cold, and his eyes regained their clarity. He tilted his head and asked.
"Ayana, is this combination okay?"
Ayana replied blankly, "It's...okay."
Before she could recover from the contrast, she saw Kuroro turn around, walk straight to the door, and leave the room, leaving only a single sentence behind.
"Then I'll go do other things first. Ayana, you should get some rest too."
Ayana stood frozen in place, unsure how to react.
She stood there for a while before her fingers moved even slightly.
Immediately afterwards, the girl threw herself onto the bed, buried her face in the pillow and rubbed it against it, shouting.
"ah!!!"
[Outsiders have been detected gathering. Host, would you like to accept this mission?]
The system's cold voice spoke up just in time. In the past, Ayana would have even felt a little tired, but now she only felt fortunate.
Thankfully, there's something to do to pull myself out of that suffocating feeling.
She almost couldn't wait to accept the mission.
[Mission Objective: Investigate the gathering of outsiders.]
[Mission Details: After you destroyed the previous stronghold, several unidentified outsiders have been frequently appearing in a certain area of Meteor City, behaving suspiciously. Please investigate their purpose and find out who is behind them.]
[Quest Reward: 2000 points, random equipment x1.]
So many points!!!
Ayana had never received so many points from previous missions. She jumped out of bed, sensing that she was about to come into contact with the mastermind behind that organization.
However, she also realized that this mission would be extremely dangerous.
Without alerting anyone else, Ayana used all her points to exchange for the special abilities [Strong School Amplification] and [Biomanipulation], then quietly left her residence and headed towards the area indicated by the system.
Soon, she found traces of the target in an open area surrounded by several abandoned shipping containers.
There were about seven or eight people gathered there, dressed in uniform dark gray uniforms, moving efficiently and with wary eyes, clearly having received some training.
They appeared to be counting and moving some boxes, which had some kind of vague markings on them.
Ayana held her breath, hiding behind a container, eavesdropping on their conversation.
"...Hurry up, this shipment needs to be shipped out before sunset."
"Boss, is it really necessary? There's so much cargo, how could we possibly ship it out in such a short time?"
"You have to do it whether you want to or not. This is something that the person above you personally ordered. If we mess it up, we're all finished!"
One of them shouted sharply, his voice filled with fear, "If we can't complete the mission, then tomorrow we'll be the ones lying in these boxes!"
"What exactly is that adult's fetish? Why does he insist on collecting children's organs, and why does he want us to find children with the potential to awaken their inner potential? What is he trying to do..."
"Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. We just do our jobs for the money!"
Who is this person? Looking for a child with the potential to awaken their inner potential?
Ayana was startled and, unlike the previous times, didn't rush out but directly dealt with these people.
This mission is different from the previous ones.
Her previous task was to deal with the outsiders, but this task focuses on her investigation.
She waited patiently until the group finished moving the goods.
They left two people there to guard the place, while the rest drove away along a side road.
Ayana remembered the direction the group had gone, but did not immediately follow the main force.
Her gaze fell on the two people who remained, hoping to find a breakthrough by dealing with them first.
Ayana waited there for a long time. As night fell, the two guards seemed to relax and began to talk in hushed tones. One of them even took out a small bottle of wine and secretly took a sip.
The opportunity has arrived.
Ayana didn't use [Powerful Amplification]. Her previous combat experience had greatly improved her physical abilities, and her skills were now far better than when she first came to this world. Her skills had also become extremely ruthless, so she was able to determine that she could take down these two people even without using any abilities.
She burst out from behind the container, as swift as a cat in the night, and subdued the man who had just been drinking almost instantly, covering his mouth with one hand and gripping his throat with the other.
The other person was terrified and was about to shout when he met the girl's cold gaze.
The girl's pupils held a murderous intent, and her powerful aura created an almost tangible pressure, causing the man's voice to get stuck in his throat.
“If you don’t want to die, answer my questions,” Ayana asked, enunciating each word clearly. “Who are you? Who do you work for? What’s in the box?”
The man who was restrained was trembling with fear, and the other man dared not make a move either. For a moment, no one spoke.
Not getting the answer she wanted, the girl narrowed her eyes and deliberately tightened her grip. Sure enough, she heard the man pleading, "I...I'll talk!"
He coughed twice and said with difficulty, "We are a mercenary group, hired by a big shot."
Because his throat was being gripped, the man was unable to speak a complete sentence fluently and could only speak intermittently.
"The box contained...containing children's organs."
Although she had expected it, hearing the man admit it himself still ignited a fire of anger in Ayana's heart.
She took several deep breaths to temporarily suppress the raging anger burning in her chest, and then asked, "Who hired you? What's their name?"
"We...we don't know his real name either, we only know that he seems to like collecting novel things, like...like..."
"Like human organs?" Ayana said coldly for him, then asked, "Where do you transport the things you collect each time?"
The man continued, “Every time…every time it’s delivered to a designated location, and then someone comes to pick me up. The next handover will be at midnight tonight, at an abandoned old port.”
Ayana noted this information down and pressed for more details, but unfortunately, the two men were just assistants and knew very little.
After confirming that she couldn't extract any more information, she didn't hold back and ended the man's life.
The other man turned and ran when he saw this, but he was not as fast as Ayana. Ayana easily knocked him unconscious with a chop to the ground and then quickly disposed of him.
This can be considered revenge for those children.
Ayana didn't stop for a moment, moving quickly in the direction the vehicle had left.
Worried that the group had already gone far away, she used [Powerful Amplification] this time.
Her body became lighter in an instant, and she moved as fast as a cheetah, quickly catching up with the vehicle.
Ayana didn't dare to pursue too closely and always kept a distance.
The journey took a short while before we arrived at our destination, which, as the man had described, was located in an abandoned old port.
The sea breeze, carrying a strong, salty smell, rushed towards her. Ayana hid behind a wooden box, observing carefully.
A man who looked like the leader got out of the car and whispered a few words to the middle-aged man in a butler's uniform at the warehouse entrance.
Subsequently, the crates loaded with goods were quickly moved into a warehouse next to the port.
The group approached the warehouse and closed the door, making it impossible for Ayana to see what was inside.
She narrowed her eyes and used [Biomanipulation].
Although exchanging for [Biomanipulation] requires a lot of points, I can't worry about that right now.
Moreover, because she had completed multiple tasks before, she had enough points this time, so she redeemed [Biomanipulation] twice.
Unexpectedly, [biological manipulation] played an unexpected role.
[Target selected: Mouse]
[Command: Explore the interior to gain sight and visual access.]
Ayana's visual and auditory organs somehow connected with several mice hiding in the corner!
Several little mice scurried through the cracks in the warehouse and became Ayana's eyes and ears.
Through the rat's blurry sensory tubes, Ayana saw that the warehouse was brightly lit inside.
The box was opened by several people, and the contents inside were clearly displayed.
It is an organ.
More accurately, they are organs and tissues that have undergone special treatment and are encapsulated in transparent containers.
Not only that, these people even brought several children who were still alive.
The children looked terrified, their hands and feet were bound, as if they were being prevented from crying and making a scene; even their mouths were taped shut.
At that moment, a man dressed in an elegant black suit came out.
He had dazzling hair and was surrounded by guards, suggesting he was of extremely high status.
The man coldly examined the organs and the terrified children, as if admiring a collection of works of art.
"Hmm, the quality of this collection is quite good," the man said coldly, then looked at one of the children and said, "Especially that child, I'm very satisfied with him."
"It is our honor to serve Your Highness." The man who appeared to be the leader of the mercenary group and the man who looked like the steward bowed at the same time, their tone full of reverence.
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