readytorunbook Chapter 382 Closed for Business Today
Chapter 382 Closed for Business Today
The raven awoke with a headache.
"My head hurts so much..."
She tried to move, but found her body unusually heavy. After regaining some consciousness, Raven gradually came to her senses.
What did she do before? Oh right, she recklessly charged forward to escape the attack range and rammed her head into the fists of those two stinky middle-aged men...
"No, this feeling... have I been caught again?"
Awakened by the pain, the raven sat up and looked around: in this empty room, the four walls were one piece, there were no doors or windows, and the only light source was the incandescent bulb overhead.
"Ouch!"
The raven, who had sat up, lay back down on the ground. Only then did she realize that she was not on cold cement but on a soft carpet. Her hands were firmly cuffed behind her back with a pair of silver bracelets, and her ankles were also restrained and locked by similar props, making it impossible for her to move.
Even her fair neck was covered with a modified cervical spine brace made from a personal neck and shoulder massager from LiLu...
To put it bluntly, it's a kind of "collar" that might even have a positioning effect.
"Damn it, they put me in torture devices after they found out I could run!"
Raven tried to twist her wrist, and the "silver bracelet" immediately made a "beep beep" sound. All the instruments of torture then buzzed and completely suppressed the Honkai energy in her body. A feeling of weakness immediately spread throughout Raven's body.
Raven: ...
Well, it seems these torture devices aren't anything special; they're just there to seal the Honkai energy within her...
If she had been given even a feather, or even a piece of wire, she would have felt she had a chance to escape, but she didn't.
"Damn fate..."
If her clothes hadn't still been on her body intact, she probably would have screamed. Not knowing where she was, the raven simply stopped struggling, lay on her back on the carpet, and stared at the ceiling.
Calm down and think about the current situation: the room is empty, the floor is still carpeted, and this upholstered room has no doors or windows... You can feel the air flowing slowly, so there must be some ventilation openings that you can't see.
It seems that fate didn't want her life? Perhaps it even feared she would commit suicide (which is impossible; doesn't she understand the saying "better to live a miserable life than die a good death"?), so it moved her to this private room?
Click—
A soft mechanical sound rang out, and the wall facing her suddenly slid to both sides, revealing the voice of a middle-aged man.
"She's awake, right? By the way, Walter, how did you manage to build such a huge secret room in your house?"
The bespectacled man's response clearly had an element of showing off.
"It's just a hidden design, Siegfried, don't worry about it, don't worry about it!"
Raven immediately recognized the two men as the middle-aged men who had captured her!
The white-haired shark-toothed man in the cowboy hat is Siegfried Kaslana, one of Destiny's most wanted criminals; the other seemingly refined brown-haired man with glasses is her target, Walter Yang, the leader of Anti-Entropy!
"You're awake, Miss Mercenary? Um, Walter told me your name is Natasha?"
Raven closed its eyes, too lazy to respond to Siegfried's blatant naming trick—it was nothing more than an attempt to exert psychological pressure!
Ask away if you dare! I'll answer whatever you ask, ignoring the World Serpent!
"Don't be so cold."
Siegfried patted Old Yang's bookshelf, seemingly checking its material.
“You’re so energetic! We’ve tried our best to take care of you! Look, there’s carpet, climate control, air purifier… It’s more comfortable than many places I’ve stayed in.”
"There's one less bed, and also, take these instruments of torture off me; they're making my whole body ache."
The raven, its eyes still closed, stated its request—logically, they should have followed up with, "Sure, but you need to provide xx information," and then negotiated further, perhaps…
"That won't work."
Walter pushed up his glasses and looked at the raven lying motionless on the ground.
"what?"
Raven opened its eyes abruptly and stared at Walter in disbelief.
Why not? You, the Mandate of Heaven, captured me but won't let me die. Shouldn't you at least have some intention to persuade me to surrender or torment me? Or are you, the leader of the Anti-Entropy Alliance...?
"Walter, that's going too far! We can't just keep this young lady tied up like this forever, can we?"
Siegfried scratched his head and chuckled. But Raven dismissed Siegfried's goodwill with disdain.
Torture devices that can suppress Honkai energy, soft-sided rooms, psychological pressure through playing the good cop/bad cop, and possibly limited "humane" supplies... a standard psychological offensive process, even more standard than the interrogation of that maid last night.
"I just want to talk to you about the 'World Serpent' and your Lord, Kevin."
"Walter, who is Kevin?"
Upon hearing the name, Siegfried raised a question, and Raven's eyelashes trembled almost imperceptibly—just as she had expected, these two were indeed the good cop and the bad cop!
“You’ve got the wrong person. I don’t know anything. I’m just a mercenary, a mercenary with a few connections.”
"Oh, really?"
Walter pretended to slide his hand across the bookshelf a few times, then put on a serious face that even Siegfried believed.
"According to our Anti-Entropy records, you are not only a cadre of World Serpent, but also deeply involved in many operations against the Schicksal forces. Especially recently, your activities have been quite frequent, even destroying one of Otto's Soul Steel bodies in Britain with the Third Divine Key..."
"Really? Natasha, you're amazing! You actually destroyed Otto's body?"
Raven was surprised to find that the wariness in Siegfried's eyes gradually melted away; he even relaxed his clenched fist and revealed a hearty smile on his face.
"So you're one of us? You should have said so earlier! Since you hate Otto, then we're allies..."
Siegfried, back off!
A sharp shout came from Walter's mouth.
"The World Serpents are not friends! Their actions will destroy human civilization!"
"Destroy human civilization?"
Siegfried was stunned, and his recently relaxed vigilance was raised again.
"Walter, what do you mean?"
I said—
The raven took a deep breath and finally opened its eyes. In its snake-like pupils, there was no fear, only a strong will to survive.
"Since you're all so capable and know everything, what's the point of having me? Do you expect me to speak?"
Raven shook her hands, which were cuffed behind her back, and the silver bracelets made a soft clinking sound.
"Stop beating around the bush. If you want to know something, just ask! Can't you ask everything at once?"
She'll answer anything, even if it's not about the World Serpent!
She needs time. World Serpent should have already discovered she's missing, but the Gray Serpent organization needs time to mobilize its manpower here.
“Wait a minute… Walter, I think we need to talk.”
Raven felt strange. She was a prisoner, but Siegfried treated her kindly, and even Walter, the other person who had captured her, didn't seem hostile towards her... Why? Was this part of their psychological warfare?
There was no clear distinction between day and night in the room; the raven's sense of time was gradually blurring. How much time had passed—perhaps hours, perhaps only minutes?
Click—
The same voice rang out again, and the two people arrived once more.
"Natasha, are you hungry?"
Siegfried was very friendly, holding a bunch of keys and some food in his hand.
Raven didn't touch the dish in Siegfried's hand that was completely unappetizing.
"Everyone has to relieve themselves sometimes, and I need to take care of my personal needs."
In the raven's mind, a vague plan began to take shape: First, to feign weakness, to appear gradually weakened, accepting their goodwill and lowering their guard. Second, to gain freedom and find the weak point in this cage; finally, regarding the Lord and the World Serpent…
In this urgent situation, we can reveal some information that is nine parts true and one part false, so that she can escape.
"okay!"
Siegfried readily agreed, deftly removing the restraints on Raven's hands and feet and stepping aside to make way, his friendly smile still on his face.
"The restroom is at the left end of the corridor. I'll wait for you here."
Raven slowly rose, deliberately making her steps appear unsteady. As she passed Siegfried, she caught a faint smell of alcohol—did they all drink? Perhaps she should find a chance to get them drunk and run away?
As for her...laughable. She's from Siberia, after all, and she drinks vodka like water, okay?
While Raven was devising her escape plan, she was surprised to find herself in the study instead of the bookshelf. But why was the study full of Homu comic drafts?
The Herrscher of Reason sat there, flipping through something and writing and drawing, the thing around her neck still suppressing her Honkai energy, which made Raven give up the idea of running away immediately.
Relax, relax... Raven washed his face with cold water. It was obvious that Siegfried and Welt were not part of Schicksal's forces. At least on the surface, one of them had betrayed Schicksal and the other was Schicksal's mortal enemy. His past conflict with Schicksal was actually a plus for them.
As for the reason they were trapped, was it probably the Lord's fault? Or were they afraid that if they ran away, the news would be exposed to Destiny?
Does that mean I still have a chance?
After washing her face and clearing her mind, Raven went outside: she needed time and an opportunity.
A chance to exceed the mission and get Gray Serpent to give her three times—no, five times—the bonus!
When Raven returned to the living room, Siegfried had already laid out a poorly presented meal on the table.
"Here, have a taste. I made this myself."
Siegfried greeted Raven warmly, but Raven glanced at the food and its eyes twitched slightly.
What kind of soup is purplish-black? Was the reason for removing her shackles not because he trusted her a little, but because he was planning to poison her directly?
"Quick, eat it while it's hot! It tastes better when it's hot, and it'll make it easier to get going..."
"Let's...get on the road?"
No way, aren't you going to give me a chance?!
The air in the room suddenly froze. The raven's forced smile also froze, and it swallowed involuntarily.
After thinking for half a second, she ran up to Walter and gave him a French military salute.
"I don't want to die! I'm willing to cooperate with you, as long as you guarantee my personal safety, I can tell you everything I know!"
Walter pushed up his glasses, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes—he had only discussed with Siegfried the idea of Siegfried leading a group to move Raven to North American Anti-Entropy territory (he couldn't just release her or hand her over to Rita, could he? That would be no different from exposing her). Why did Raven feel like he was sending her "on her way"?
Is he really a good person, like Otto who kills without blinking an eye?
Siegfried, you are fully responsible for this!
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Unsurprisingly, Kiana and her two friends came in first place in the three-person exam. The moment Theresa announced the results, Kiana, along with Mei and a disdainful Bronya, jumped high into the air.
"Yay! We're the best team!"
"Yes, we came in first place in the practical assessment group."