Ashley felt a moment of daze. The youth’s mentality seemed perfectly normal. From his friendly and polite attitude, his empathy appeared fine too. Yet this very person considered it normal to treat humans like pets and torment them to death.
Ashley wasn’t angry or surprised. She knew that unless he was born evil, the youth must have abandoned independent thinking at a very young age and blindly accepted everything his family instilled in him.
Thinking was the foundation of conscience. Without it, an individual was merely a container for the host consciousness.
This guy was evil, but awfully mediocre. After some personality correction, he might even become a good person—a classic tale of a prostitute turning honest or a prodigal son returning home.
But for now, his skin was useful to her. So redemption could wait for his next life.
Ashley’s right hand exerted force instantly. Dull gray fluid metal formed like a glove, evenly coating her skin before silently sinking into the youth’s chest.
It felt like swallowing a huge chunk of ice. The youth only sensed a chill and pain in his heart before a metal droplet shot up his trachea, piercing his upper jaw into his skull, where it bloomed into a twisted, grotesque balsam flower.
The little chick stared wide-eyed at the scene, either from fear or shock. Its body went rigid, breathing nearly stopping, not daring to make a sound.
Ashley pulled out a gas mask and tossed it to it. “If you want to live, put this on and hide.”
The little chick jumped at the thrown object, instinctively wanting to run, but it forced itself to stay put. It stared at the mask for a long while before picking it up, putting it on, and burrowing into a bush.
…
A few minutes later, Ashley emerged from the grove draped in a crow-feather greatcloak.
As planned, the Snake’s Amnion slid over the greatcloak, identifying her as one of their own. The rebound process lured the Tombstone squad away like bait, diverting them from the area.
When the B-grade relic restored itself to a hemisphere flush against the estate’s boundary, creating the illusion that the intruder had left, the alarm lifted instead.
Blending into the noble procession, Ashley had planned to slip away from them at the first chance and leave the estate. But people kept coming over to chat—men and women alike. Being too beautiful was sometimes a hassle.
The noble youths, raised in luxury with fine educations and inflated self-importance, brimmed with confidence. They made no effort to hide their desires, prowling around Ashley like spirited lions, deftly testing the waters while always maintaining politeness and restraint.
Ashley had a black line on her forehead. Hiding her identity while being ogled by a bunch of trash felt awful.
She had wanted to cross the Snake’s Amnion and leave right away, but her otherworldly looks had trapped her here.
It suddenly occurred to her that she possessed the beauty and poise to captivate high society, yet Amber had never mentioned it—like she was deliberately avoiding the topic.
Thinking about it, that was pretty scummy and hypocritical. Ashley realized she’d been PUA’d by Amber all along. Hmph.
Speaking of Amber, Ashley recalled that she should be at the villa in Jingsi Lake District by now, facing off against White Pearl.
After getting scolded by Little Cousin, her psyche had shattered once but grown tougher. She’d even volunteered to rescue Chloe’s mother—of course, with Tribunal backup.
More and more people tried to catch Miss Ashley’s eye, even sparking arguments and squabbles. Suddenly, the largest clique in the parade turned to look at her in unison.
Ashley sighed. Trouble had arrived.
At the center, like the moon surrounded by stars, stood the extraordinary Crow Person. Intel identified him as the Scripps Family’s first-in-line heir—Yedulahnada.
He seemed intrigued by the graceful figure in the distance.
The crowd parted, forming a path.
His presence cut through like puffing cheeks to blast a horn, then a massive ship cleaving waves with majestic force.
Yedulahnada approached Ashley. His black feathers were clear and elegant, floating in the air with each step, gleaming with crystalline light, radiant as a god.
The space around him twisted like a transparent vortex.
The noble youths halted one after another, letting out gasps of admiration.
“It’s Yedu!”
“What an aura—like a fierce beast, striking like a bird of prey. As expected of the young generation’s leader!”
“Damn, as much as I hate to admit it, I can’t compete for a woman Yedu has his eye on!”
“She’s lucky. Even without a formal title, just being his lover would elevate her family’s status immensely!”
…
Ashley turned to look and had to admit that even among the Crow People, there were eagle-like powerhouses. Otherwise, the Scripps Family couldn’t have endured to this day.
When the beauty amid the crowd’s awe finally turned, Yedulahnada’s sculpted face twisted as if punched. His face contorted excessively, cold sweat streaming in odd directions!
He had attended the winery banquet, seated at Patriarch Lesoto’s left hand in the prime spot, with White Pearl across from him. They were the acknowledged pillars of the next generation.
He also knew that the ‘Crisis Management Team,’ formed by the two patriarchs and key family figures, had concluded after discussion that Ashley’s weakness was her inability to use copied abilities indefinitely.
By deploying the relic-holding ‘Artifact Group’ and paranormals without formable abilities for a prolonged siege, they could exhaust her ammo and take her down.
Her strength lay in assassination. Her presence meant she came prepared—either with perfectly synergistic abilities, counters to assassination targets, or a handful of top-tier ones. Any possibility was suffocating.
And now, this monster was right in front of him!
The word “death” seemed to swell massively in his pupils!
Yedulahnada’s instincts were spot on. Ashley’s chamber held the first form of “Time Sequence Heterostructure” and “Oracle Blade.”
But he got lucky—Ashley hadn’t used the ability that could revert the King Insect to its original form.
The Blue-Haired Loli stepped forward. Her forearm rose like a conductor’s baton, her hand elongating like a blade. The metal lifeform extended into a sword, arcing demonically before slashing out!
Oracle Blade, Four-Dimensional Slaughter!
Crow Clan tech centered on ‘Ritual Garb.’ Crow feathers formed a deflection field on the body, warping supernatural effects and greatly reducing their power.
But “Oracle Blade” specialized in piercing outer defenses.
In four-dimensional space, three dimensions flattened like a plane, ignoring inside/outside. Adjusting fourth-dimensional coordinates allowed traversal to any point in three-dimensional space.
Instantly, Yedulahnada’s scalp numbed. He shrieked, “”Death Bird!””
His neck skin, muscles, and vessels tore open!
His skull mutated into a bird’s, ink-jade in quality, faintly revealing tongue, eyeballs, and brain folds. Connected to a curved, segmented black spine, it burst from his chest with a squelch!
Like launching a drone, the spine-bearing skull rocketed into the sky!
The spine’s fine bone branches and soft ligaments unfurled midair into miniature arms, with elongated finger bones linked by wing membranes. A few flaps, and it hit top speed!
Yedulahnada didn’t dare look back, fleeing madly to maximize distance!
He knew full well that even if she didn’t use “Death Bird,” just having analyzed it left him with no secrets.
Though he’d run countless battle sims, when she appeared for real, any second of hesitation meant ending up like the body below—feet still standing, everything else diced into fingernail-sized chunks flying outward centrifugally!
After the slash, Ashley’s gaze grew complex. She’d slipped up and exposed herself.
Damn it, why does every infiltration end up as a one-woman army rampage?
She looked up at the Death Bird soaring to ten thousand meters and chuckled wryly. Holy shit, fast escape.
If she used Teacher’s time ability on the corpse now, she could yank the guy back forcibly. For Yedulahnada, it’d be scarier than a ghost story.
But nah. Ashley wanted to save that ability for a worthier target.
The lions who had eyed her as prey moments ago now fled in terror, their pupils reflecting Yedulahnada—erased like with an eraser, leaving only feet—and Ashley’s blood-soaked, wind-tossed figure like a demon god.
Ashley didn’t pursue with her sword. When insects scattered, people disdained to swat them.
She flipped open her pink compact, checked the mirror, and squeezed out a pitiful expression.
“Xixi, I screwed up.”
“Received.”
