Before setting out, the briefing materials had only glossed over the Rich Loli, instead focusing heavily on her bodyguard—the Dark Gold Rose.
This was a metal lifeform embodying the pinnacle of the Tribunal’s technological achievements, equipped with an advanced algorithmic AI named “Nina.”
The combat applications of a major power’s top research achievements were generally not for sale, but things that could be “traded” went beyond mere money.
Just like how Middle Eastern tycoons could always acquire advanced missiles and aircraft.
Ashley wasn’t privy to the details, but she knew the Rich Loli’s Hejian Group had deep ties with the Tribunal.
What had been exchanged for it might have been some massively influential classified intelligence, a major contribution to Union City, or perhaps something irresistible like an ancient relic, technological breakthrough, extraordinary material, or bulk commodity…
The information on the Rich Loli was simple—she had inherited the Hejian Group from the Old Ancestor across two generations, with her father and grandfather’s generations thoroughly purged, their assets carved away and the poison excised.
Ashley speculated that the Dark Gold Rose had gone missing, likely teleported into the Lost Space, while the Rich Loli had been deemed an ordinary person by the Lord of Insects and left in City No. 1 to await death.
Insects didn’t care if you were emperor or general; without supernatural fluctuations, you were just ordinary.
Although she had lost her bodyguard’s protection, the Rich Loli had hidden in the “Slanted House” and escaped the disaster, avoiding a gruesome fate as a Brain Fish.
“Let go!”
Ashley raised her small hand, and the Rich Loli stumbled, falling butt-first to the ground.
At this moment of life and death, in this crisis of survival, no one was thinking about seeing the sun rise tomorrow—let alone the next second. Saving someone, much less for a reward, was out of the question.
“You dare push me?!”
Her little butt throbbing with pain, Gwendolyn shrieked, her small face flushing red, eyes filled with disbelief.
People accustomed to luxury were extremely sensitive to insults; even an inadvertent slight could provoke them.
Aaaah… so hateful… She’s clearly the same age as me… How dare she act so superior…
Gwendolyn wasn’t some ignorant brat without reverence, but being bullied by a peer was intolerable—that would make this lifetime a waste, wouldn’t it?
Normally, kids her age, no matter how noble their backgrounds, treated her like a queen upon meeting, speaking only in hushed tones. At her aristocratic school, she was the center of attention, with everyone eager to kneel as her footstool. Yet this blue-haired loli had pushed her aside with blatant contempt!
I’m so mad… unforgivable…
But…
That flowing, sky-blue hair and exquisitely perfect little face, sculpted by the hand of God, made Gwendolyn—who had always been supremely confident in her own looks—fear a beauty contest for the first time, her heart filled with awe at divine craftsmanship.
And the sharp killing intent in those eyes, along with the five fusion beasts looming behind her, exuding ceaseless mad oppression, filled her with secret dread.
Still, in her view, nothing couldn’t be bought with money. With enough cash, even the Tribunal would bow its proud head.
She bit her tender lip, swearing inwardly—One day, I’ll make you bow humbly, then grovel beneath my nightgown!
Of course, Ashley had no idea how complex this girl’s instantaneous thoughts were. She simply stepped over and reached the entrance to the Slanted House, hooking her fingertip.
Transparent ripples stirred in the air, and a cylindrical key studded with wedge teeth slowly emerged from the spatial interlayer, resembling a short staff as it settled into her hand.
This was the key to the “Slanted House.” Wedged into space and turned, it could open a small house governed by independent rules.
But not just anyone could extract the key; it required a password and establishing a link.
Even a space ability user would find it like searching for a needle in a haystack without knowing its location. The Rich Loli had relied on this relic to evade the insects’ blanket search.
But its position was now exposed, and Ashley had forcibly seized it with “Time Sequence Heterostructure.”
“Hey! That’s mine!” Gwendolyn screamed.
“King Insect subjugation! The Tribunal is confiscating this relic!” With those words, Ashley departed carefree.
Eh?!
Gwendolyn truly panicked this time. She hadn’t expected the other girl not only to refuse saving her but to rob her of her lifeline shelter.
From inside the Slanted House, she had observed the outside through the chimney periscope and witnessed firsthand the infected having their scalps peeled to extract Brain Fish—a nightmare beyond her worst imaginings.
Moreover, the skinned victims were the villa’s servants and her attendants, including the nursemaid who had cared for her since childhood and the chef who always traveled with her on long trips.
“You thief! Jerk! Scoundrel!”
“Hey! Don’t go! Do you know who I am?! I’m the richest person in the world! I’m a guest of honor at the Tribunal! I’m the head of Hejian Group! I’m the city lord of Drilling City!”
“Come back! I’ll give you money! Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you!”
“Wahhh… Please… don’t abandon me…”
Gwendolyn’s mouth twisted open, her little face scrunching up as terror gripped her tender heart, dilating her pupils and making her tremble all over.
In that instant, she forgot the arrogance and poise her status brought, crying and begging desperately while running with all her might. But after a few steps, her pampered little legs went numb and aching, stumbling unsteadily.
“Don’t go… don’t go… wahhh…”
Although she rolled on the ground, wailing piteously, the cold, ruthless blue-haired loli still abandoned her.
After the group left, the hall fell into an empty, eerie silence that set her heart racing, with nothing but rotting corpses and sticky white insect eggs littering the floor.
Worse, her noises seemed to have attracted something!
A white shadow flitted at the edge of her vision, but no matter how quickly she whipped her head or darted her terrified eyes, she couldn’t catch its form!
Gwendolyn’s mind teetered on the brink of collapse. Though she tried desperately to hold back, whimpers of fear escaped her mouth and nose.
After several probes, the white shadow landed lightly, unfurling a slender, graceful form before the loli.
“Kitty!”
It was her pet cat—more precisely, a snow-white puma!
But she immediately noticed its pupils were dull and lifeless, dilated, and beneath its thick fur, wriggling bulges squirmed endlessly!
“Roar—!”
The puma opened its bloody maw, lips splitting all the way to its chest! Its entire thoracic cavity gaped wide!
The gums were lined with sharp, writhing insect legs, and its tongue had been replaced by crisscrossing razor-sharp bone shards that snapped shut viciously—capable of slicing tree trunks to splinters, let alone a soft, juicy little body. It was like devouring a dumpling!
“Ah—!”
Gwendolyn tensed up and screamed, squeezing her eyes shut to await death!
After a few cries, the expected agony didn’t come. No sounds reached her ears. Trembling, she cracked her eyes open a slit and saw the puma flattened like it had been smashed by a pile driver into a meat patty, flesh bursting open to spill countless pupae that bounced and writhed vigorously in the foul corpse fluids…
Wh-what happened?
Gwendolyn’s gaze swept over the disgusting insects on the ground, making her skin crawl with goosebumps. Suddenly, a hand landed on her shoulder from behind, and her little body jolted upward! Her duck-sitting legs strained too hard, muscles relaxing to release a spreading wet stain at her seat, steaming with hot vapor…
Slowly realizing she was being watched doing something utterly mortifying, Gwendolyn covered her face in evasion, letting out broken wails of despair.
“No no no… this isn’t real…”
The blue-haired loli culprit, however, tilted her head in puzzlement and asked:
“What are you wailing about? More people have died in this city than you’ve seen in your whole life. You’re utterly insignificant. Even if you died and someone else took over your wealth, what difference would it make to human society? Might even be an improvement.”
“Why did you come back… I don’t want your pity… don’t disgust me… But… if you apologize… I’ll graciously forgive you… and give you money too…” Gwendolyn sobbed.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t come back to save you. What’s the password for the Slanted House? I can’t open it. Also, any other ancient relics? Hand them over—for the King Insect subjugation effort.” Ashley said with a beaming smile.
“You jerk! You absolute jerk!”
Gwendolyn completely broke down, crying as she lunged at the detestable blue-haired loli.
