Chapter 17: An Unreasonable Demand

“Wow, after playing dead for so many days, they suddenly responded?” Matthew said.

“Don’t say it like that. They weren’t obligated to help us in the first place,” Amanda sat down beside Matthew and kicked his chair, reminding him to sit properly.

“There must be a reason for the sudden reply,” Emilia pointed out.

“You're right. An armed group kidnapped one of their members to force them into cooperation,” Colton adjusted his glasses. “This group now poses a direct threat to the mercenary corps, so of course they want the organization gone as soon as possible.”

Matthew, who hadn’t been taking things seriously, finally straightened up. “Oh, that’s interesting.”

“Someone’s in danger and you think it’s interesting?” Emilia was speechless.

“It means they value the people in the Clovver Mercenary Corps. If the enemy went so far as to kidnap someone, it must be due to their combat strength—or something else entirely,” Matthew explained.

“Yvette only mentioned that a few members of the armed group know her, so it's probably the latter,” Colton said.

“Pretending to defect while secretly working with us—that’s what she meant,” Colton continued.

“Makes sense, but the enemy—the armed group, I mean—could easily figure that out. Wouldn’t they demand something unreasonable to prove loyalty?” Matthew said.

“You mean like asking the Clovver Mercenary Corps to do something illegal? That would tie them completely to the same boat,” Amanda had the same thought.

“That’s troublesome,” Emilia sighed.

“If they really make such a demand, will the corps comply? Could it end up harming us instead?” Matthew’s question threw a wrench in the cooperation between the Special Operations Unit and the Clovver Mercenary Corps.

The conference room fell silent.

“Let’s talk about something else for now, like how the armed group got so many weapons and which forces might be funding them.”

“La la~ la la la~”

In an office, a young woman sat in a chair, humming a tune happily.

“I’m going to see Yvette soon,” the young woman, named Caroline, said cheerfully.

The door to the office burst open as Wei Zhiheng strode in.

“Caroline, you demanded that they kill at least one Special Ops member?” Wei Zhiheng’s tone gave nothing away.

Caroline tilted her head. “Yeah, is that a problem?”

“You made that demand without my approval!” Wei Zhiheng shouted in anger.

“Oh, right, I forgot everything needs your okay since you're the leader. But it’s fine, isn’t it?” Caroline hopped off her chair and walked up to Wei Zhiheng.

“They all listen to me anyway,” she said with a taunting smile.

Wei Zhiheng glared at Caroline coldly. It was true—the group followed his orders because he was the Joker. But they also followed Caroline, because she understood the non-Joker members better, and...

Black smoke crept up a nearby bookshelf, eating a hole through it.

Caroline—a Spade member, a user with a Dark Affinity, and once a candidate for the Joker.

“You know, don’t you? If we fought head-on, you couldn’t beat me.” Caroline curled her finger, recalling the black smoke. “And most members have my curse on them. It only costs an arm, but that’s terrifying enough. Who can guarantee they’ll run into someone capable of reattaching limbs?”

“You know why you never became a Joker? It’s because of that damn personality,” Wei Zhiheng responded flatly, unbothered by her provocations.

Caroline’s smile froze. Seriously, since when do assassins need good personalities?

Caroline had always been twisted. As a child, she killed her pet cat just because it wouldn’t sit on her lap. But luckily, she was born into a loving family. Her parents adored her and, even when they noticed something was off, they tried to gently guide her. So the demon in her heart was hidden. She loved her parents, so she couldn't let them down.

But that restraint was torn apart. She watched her parents get brutally murdered when she was eighteen.

Even though the gods had disappeared for nearly a century, Caroline clasped her hands together and prayed.

Oh gods, grant me strength. Let me sever their limbs, gouge out their eyes, make them beg, repent, and scream in pain!

Perhaps the Umbra God, Nox, heard her plea, for in that moment, she awakened her first ability.

Black fog devoured a man’s eyes. He collapsed to the ground, screaming and writhing.

A dark thrill welled up inside Caroline. So this is what it feels like to have power!

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

But she had just awakened her ability and didn’t know how to control it. Soon, she found herself in danger.

Gravity intensified, her body grew heavy, and she collapsed—nothing more than a lamb to the slaughter, watching helplessly as the killers approached with grins.

Bang bang bang!

Three gunshots rang out, each one hitting a head dead-on. Thump thump, the murderers fell.

Sunlight streamed in through the window just right. Yvette approached, gun in hand, glowing in the backlight.

“You must’ve been terrified. Are you hurt?” Yvette asked gently.

That was the moment Caroline fell in love.

“Aren’t there even worse bastards holding Joker seats?” Caroline snapped back after her moment of reminiscing.

“Maybe because they’re strong enough that personality flaws can be ignored. You, on the other hand, aren’t quite there, are you?” Now it was Wei Zhiheng’s turn to taunt her.

Caroline’s face darkened. She bumped into him hard as she walked past and left the office.

“...She’s not going to mess with Mo Ying, is she?” Wei Zhiheng quickly followed.

Bang! The door to Mo Ying’s room slammed open—Caroline was furious.

“What are you here for?” Mo Ying asked. She recognized Caroline from her earlier visit that morning.

“Why do you get to be Yvette’s teammate?” Caroline’s gaze was icy.

“You asked that already. If you really want to be with her, why not just ask her directly?” Mo Ying didn’t care to entertain Caroline’s nonsense.

“You think I don’t want to?” Caroline shouted.

“No, it’s not that you don’t want to. You’re just afraid—afraid of being rejected. That’s why you try to manipulate the situation with threats instead,” Mo Ying hit the nail on the head.

Caroline was struck silent. She smiled faintly—then grabbed a small knife and stabbed Mo Ying in the shoulder, blood pouring out.

But Mo Ying only frowned slightly, showing little reaction. When Caroline tried to twist the blade, another hand stopped her.

“Caroline, that’s enough.” Wei Zhiheng pulled out the knife and tossed it aside.

“It’s not like she’ll die,” Caroline said with a pout.

“Sorry, you know how she is—emotionally unstable,” Wei Zhiheng pulled Caroline back, just in case she tried something again.

“You’re surprisingly polite,” Mo Ying gave him an odd look.

“I thought you already knew,” Wei Zhiheng said. Then he patted Caroline on the shoulder. “This one demanded your teammates kill at least one Special Ops member.”

Mo Ying looked up at Caroline. For some reason, those violet eyes made Caroline feel a flicker of fear.

“I see. From your point of view, that makes sense. But I doubt they’ll go through with it,” Mo Ying said, looking toward the half-open door.

“Why not?” Caroline asked.

“Sigh.” Mo Ying let out a long breath. “Think about it. We’ve only known each other for less than a month. Would they really commit a crime for such a shallow bond?”

“...” Wei Zhiheng fell silent. She had a point.

“Why are you so calm? Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?” Wei Zhiheng picked up a nearby handgun, just for show.

“Go ahead, do it now.” Mo Ying showed no fear even in the face of death.

“...” Wei Zhiheng quietly set the gun down. Does this woman not even have the emotion of fear?

“No, I know Yvette,” Caroline finally said. “She would never leave a comrade she’s acknowledged to die.”

“She will come,” Caroline said, then left. She still had something to do and wouldn’t return until tomorrow.

“She says she will, so she will,” Wei Zhiheng shrugged and left too.

Click. The door locked behind him. Mo Ying closed her eyes.

“I’m not the type who likes dragging others down.”

Night fell. In the dark interrogation room—

Clang. The metal handcuffs hit the floor. Then came the clatter of chains falling.

Mo Ying stood from her chair, wiped the blood from a small knife, and tucked it inside her clothes.

She walked to the door and gave it a push—locked.

So she pulled out a tool to pick the lock. It failed.

“Poor technique.” Mo Ying brought out her scythe. When skill failed, violence would do.

Outside, patrolling guards heard a loud crash. The interrogation room door exploded into fragments. A black scythe appeared first, then a woman stepped out.

She turned her head and met the eyes of a patrolling guard.

“Oh dear.”

She raised her scythe—and vanished.

A shadow flashed. One second later, three guards fell to the ground, their fate unknown.

They hadn’t even had time to press their radios.