Card Court Town had a notorious water dungeon several hundred years ago. Later, with civilization’s advance, the dungeon was abolished and abandoned. Using parts of its framework as a foundation, the current three-story Card Court Police Station building was constructed.
In the underground passage built from large, irregular, ancient, and heavy basalt blocks, the cement support pillars were soaked in clear groundwater, bearing the weight of the building above.
The light swept across the water’s surface, illuminating swimming fish and bones polished smooth and round by fine sand and flowing water.
This beam of light continued forward until it merged with another.
The scene abruptly shifted from rough stone corridors to fleshy passages lined with bizarre meat chunks and twisted intestines.
The Blue-Haired Loli stepped unfazed onto the sticky, soft pink polyps, advancing deeper with uneven steps toward a girl standing ahead.
Vibrant, demonic tattoos adorned the girl’s fair skin, and her heavily made-up eyelids shimmered with a soft, butterfly-scale glow. Her pretty face exuded an icy aura that kept strangers at bay.
At her feet, a biological organ composed of corneal membranes, cracked body cavities, and annular longitudinal muscle layers pulsed rhythmically. With each muscular contraction, air bubbles were pushed into the fleshy tubes.
The tubes extended upward through the floor, piercing into the Cat Loli’s lungs, providing oxygen to the paralyzed body through air exchange.
Spotting the Blue-Haired Loli, the girl’s face changed drastically in an instant. Her body tensed, ready for battle!
The fleshy organs clinging to the passage walls also writhed and contracted, poised to lunge!
“You’re Martina, right?” Ashley asked with her hands behind her back, calm and composed, exuding confidence as she smiled.
“Fighting me while supplying oxygen to your sister—do you really think you can manage that?”
The girl’s breath hitched, her small face paling slightly.
“If those two circulation tubes are severed, or the artificial respirator organ is destroyed, how long would it take to reshape them? A single stray bullet could disable it, or a spilled lamp oil igniting…”
As Ashley spoke leisurely, fear gradually surfaced in the girl’s pupils.
Ashley approached the girl, dominating her with their locked gazes until she yielded and lowered her eyelashes in defeat.
In battles with extraordinaries, breaking eye contact was like fighting blindfolded.
Ashley raised a finger, pinching the lip ring at the corner of the girl’s mouth, toying with it curiously. With a slight tug, the soft lips stretched, revealing teeth studded with rhinestones.
Emmm… Piercings are so thrilling. I should get some for Amber later. Just a gentle hook of the finger, and that snowy tender flesh stretches… Of course, not on the face, but somewhere else—somewhere humiliating.
“Open your mouth,” Ashley commanded coldly.
The Wolf Girl reluctantly parted her lips.
As slender, cool fingers entered her mouth, her tongue was kneaded and squeezed, with special attention to the forked split tongue and the gem tongue stud in the middle. The movements were brazen and rough.
The werewolf girl trembled all over, an unnatural blush rising on her cheeks. Her eyes reddened, her gaze veiled in humiliated tears.
“This isn’t our first meeting. You saved Spade A last time, right?” Ashley withdrew her fingers contentedly, then lifted the girl’s chin as she asked.
“I don’t get it. If Spade A died, her ability would return. Why save a cripple? Even if there’s a way to restore her, it couldn’t happen quickly, let alone during the surgical recovery period.”
The girl said nothing, her eyes looking away.
“A sister with no blood ties, a teammate who’s lost her value—you save them both? Are you a bit messed up in the head? Hehe, who knew the enemy had someone like Amber? What luck!” Ashley grinned like a sly little fox.
“You’re despicable…” the girl gritted out.
“Heard of this? Despicableness is the passport, nobility the epitaph. Miss Werewolf, time to get despicable! Guess what I’m going to do? Play with every inch of you!” Ashley leaned in close.
“Guh…”
With her sister’s life hanging on those tubes in Ashley’s grasp, the werewolf girl couldn’t even utter the latter half—”kill me”—and could only close her eyes in grief and indignation, trembling slightly as she awaited further humiliation.
“Say, ‘Please play with me,'” Ashley said, extending her small hand to grip one of the respirator’s air tubes.
“P-please… p-please… play… with… me…” The Wolf Girl gasped and shuddered, forcing out the words with ragged breaths. Her face flushed crimson, as if blood would drip from it.
“Hehe, I wouldn’t actually do that! Such a precious opportunity is perfect for asking some important questions.”
Ashley giggled, then her expression suddenly hardened as she demanded:
“Tell me! Who’s the assassination target?!”
Seeing the girl’s shocked eyes, she knew she’d guessed right.
The Secret Alliance wasn’t some chuunibyou group—it was ruthlessly pragmatic. Only benefits could gather extraordinaries for action.
To keep an organization running, it either had a financial backer, becoming private guards or a major power’s lapdogs, or it engaged in shady dealings, like the Vanderlinde Gang.
According to the Cat Loli’s confession, the Card Court Society wasn’t backed by any faction. Its main income came from assassinations.
Only extraordinary items could hire extraordinary killers, and the targets weren’t ordinary people.
“I… I don’t know… I’m just a small fry…” the girl equivocated.
“Playing dumb? You wouldn’t be here unless you knew the killer’s abilities and plans. Making a respirator as a countermeasure shows more than casual knowledge—you hold a high, trusted position in the organization.”
Ashley’s fingers tightened gradually on the tube.
“Coleridge!” The Wolf Girl’s heart jolted, and she blurted it out.
“Who?”
“The famous rare item collector… Someone paid for his life… and a peculiar piece from his collection…” The girl’s face turned ashen. She spat out the words through clenched teeth, her dilated pupils swirling with humiliation and despair.
“Time and arrival method,” Ashley asked curtly.
“Tomorrow night at the earliest, or the morning after at the latest. The luxury liner Garden of Beasts will arrive at Card Court for a one-day maintenance stop, plus picking up a group of VIP guests.”
“VIP guests?”
“Coleridge’s friends—tycoons, politicians, collectors, famous athletes, etc. They’re set to gather at Spring Station, take a train to Card Court Town, and board.”
“Next question: Who else is in the organization, and what are their abilities?”
The Wolf Girl hesitated, but with her sister in the enemy’s clutches, she had no choice but to spill.
After hearing it all, Ashley nodded in satisfaction.
“This won’t stay hidden long. When the killer reports to the president, the Cat Loli’s fake death will be exposed—since the ability hasn’t returned. By the time the president makes his next move, I’ll use the time gap to send the Cat Loli to Fountain City… As for you, keep playing your role. You’ll be useful later. You should know this is your chance to quit while you can. Otherwise, you sisters will die someday.”
The Wolf Girl’s emotions were conflicted. The Blue-Haired Loli’s proposal was incredibly tempting. As a container for a sub-ability, once she suffered severe disability in battle, or aged and became unusable, or was replaced by a better container, she’d be mercilessly disposed of via the Recycle Ability.
Since abilities only returned upon death, she and her sister were doomed.
Sensing her end approaching, she naturally wanted to wash her hands of it, but the Secret Alliance’s killers wouldn’t let her.
Now, a slim opportunity had appeared.
The Wolf Girl realized the Blue-Haired Loli was far beyond a Three-Star Inspector’s level. She didn’t crush foes with raw extraordinary power but with meticulous analysis, precise counters, and strikes at weaknesses. Every clash had left her utterly defeated without a chance to fight back.
Maybe there really was a way out!
But the other girl was so despicably shameless. Her heart raced with unease, unsure if she should strike a deal with this tiger.
