Chapter 192: Alibi |
Su'en donned his clothes and stepped out of his room.
The moment he appeared in the corridor, he sensed a gaze observing him.
No hostility, just caution.
"Quite strong, must be Rena's shadow guard..."
Su'en perceived his surroundings and, apart from that gaze, there was no one else.
He didn't show any signs of abnormality and walked straight to the next door, knocking on it.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Who is it?"
"Miss Rena, it's me, Zolo."
Rena, dressed in a homely gown, greeted him with a smile: "Mr. Zolo. Are you looking for my aunt? She's taking a bath."
"Yes. I just remembered something urgent I need to discuss with her..."
Su'en nodded gently at Rena, but his gaze swept into the room, pausing before he added, "May I come in and wait for her?"
Although Rena felt it was somewhat impolite to let a strange man into her room at night, hearing it was "urgent," she consented: "Please come in."
After closing the door, the watchful gaze from outside disappeared.
......
Su'en entered but did not wait on the sofa.
Listening to the sound of water from the bathroom, he looked over and called out, "Aunt Qiantiao, when will you be done? I need to talk to you."
Whether it was just coincidence or not, the sound of water stopped abruptly as Su'en entered.
At that moment, "Qiantiao," wearing a bathrobe, emerged from the bathroom.
She looked at Su'en lazily and asked, "What's up, kid Su'en?"
Her demeanor showed no signs of abnormality.
Su'en, observing her languid expression, even began to doubt his own suspicions.
However, upon seeing the tightly wrapped chest under the bathrobe, he felt something was off again.
A gambling-addicted woman wouldn't be so guarded against him.
Especially the way the belt was tied... it was not Qiantiao's usual style!
"Um... indeed, there's something..."
As Su'en spoke, his hand did not hesitate, and he suddenly drew his gun.
He aimed the muzzle at "Qiantiao's" head, ready to blow her brains out at the slightest movement, "Who are you?"
As he spoke, his left hand reached into the void, and an invisible reaper with a scythe appeared beside him.
Su'en had expected this "Qiantiao" to argue, but instead, she just looked at him indifferently and raised an eyebrow: "Oh... caught on, have you?"
Rena, witnessing Su'en suddenly raising his gun, was about to say something when she suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed onto the soft carpet.
Su'en caught this out of the corner of his eye and was shocked.
He was horrified to realize that he hadn't seen how the woman opposite him had made her move!
A sense of fatal danger overwhelmed him, and he didn't even think to pull the trigger.
It was as if she had suddenly become flawless, and even with a scythe and a gun in hand, any attack would fail.
He had felt this once before.
It was when Mr. Black and his group were ambushing a fifth-tier.
Only when facing those top professionals did he feel such suppression.
This woman...
Very strong!
Extremely strong!
"Qiantiao" remained composed, ignoring the threat of the scythe and the gun, and walked straight to the sofa, casually inviting Su'en to sit: "Sit."
From beginning to end, there was no sense of hostility.
Suddenly, Su'en's mind cleared of certain thoughts, his tense nerves relaxed, and he put away his gun and the reaper.
He looked at the woman on the sofa, sighed slightly, and ventured, "Mr. Mirror?"
Even if she wasn't, the person before him was definitely a member of the Mirror organization.
"Qiantiao" looked at Su'en and smiled noncommittally, "How did you guess?"
Su'en, hearing her tone, had a complex look in his eyes.
He had never imagined that the one impersonating Qiantiao would be the leader of the Mirror organization.
Mr. Mirror...
Mirror?
So, her ability was to mimic reflections?
Although he didn't know whether Mr. Mirror's true form was male or female, judging by her demeanor, as long as she wasn't a cross-dresser in daily life, she was likely a woman.
Su'en: "I noticed some differences between you and Qiantiao..."
"I see..."
Mr. Mirror heard this explanation and a meaningful smile appeared on her lips.
Su'en then asked, "What brings you here?"
He used a respectful tone, as he was almost certain that Mr. Mirror was not young.
After all, she was the teacher whom Mr. Black referred to with respect!
He was also curious about why Mr. Mirror was here and where the real Qiantiao had gone.
Mr. Mirror spoke directly, "The leader of the Umbrella organization, 'Coroner' Severus Gerald, has come personally. His cognitive abilities have awakened, making him very skilled at solving cases. Due to some clues, Qiantiao and the Reyes family are now under suspicion. So, we need to deal with this trouble tonight."
"Qiantiao is under suspicion?"
Concise and clear, Su'en immediately understood.
He thought of the bespectacled middle-aged man from the casino murder and his expression grew solemn.
Although it was just suspicion, for the Reyes family, it was an absolute disaster.
With such a major incident and the death of a fifth-tier professional, a mere "suspicion" was enough to annihilate a clan, considering the Black Tower's attitude towards the major families of the inner city.
Moreover, if Qiantiao was truly exposed, it would mean he would be exposed as well.
If it weren't for the fact that this big shot was sitting in front of him so calmly, Su'en knew that upon hearing this news, he would already be planning his escape.
Mr. Mirror picked up the tea on the table and took a sip: "You'll know soon. It's not too troublesome."
.......
Hearing Mr. Mirror's tone, Su'en breathed a sigh of relief.
But at that moment, something unexpected happened!
He suddenly felt a ring on his finger heating up, and his face changed drastically.
This was a special signal he had with Sabina; ordinary information would be transmitted through other channels, but if this alchemical ring heated up, it meant an emergency.
Su'en glanced at Mr. Mirror, who was calmly sipping tea, and spoke rapidly, "I've received a message from an inside source, the Umbrella organization is coming for me!"
Upon hearing this, Mr. Mirror continued to sip her tea leisurely, as if she had known all along, and said lightly, "Hmm. We've been followed since we left the manor."
Su'en thought to himself that it was indeed so, and said nothing more.
At that moment, Rena, who had collapsed on the floor, slowly opened her eyes. She seemed to have completely forgotten what happened before she fainted and looked around in confusion, "What... what happened to me?"
Su'en, quick to react, dashed over and helped her up very gentlemanly, "You've probably been overworking yourself lately, you just fainted..."
Then the young Miss Rena really believed she had just fainted, "Oh, I have indeed been getting very little sleep."
She murmured with a frown, stood up, and didn't think much of it, politely replying, "Thank you. I've embarrassed myself in front of you."
Su'en nodded in response.
After a pause, Rena looked at Su'en and asked, "By the way, Mr. Zolo, I remember you came to see my aunt because you had something urgent, right?"
Hearing this, Su'en felt slightly awkward: "This..."
The atmosphere in the room, with three people, suddenly became a bit strange.
He had initially suspected the "fake Qiantiao" and wanted to confront her.
Now the situation had reversed, and although he was sure she was a fake, she was almost as good as the real one.
Moreover, not knowing who this "fake Qiantiao" was would have been one thing,
but now that he knew she was the leader of the Umbrella organization, he dared not act rashly.
Unexpectedly, "Qiantiao" patted the spot next to her, "Zolo, come sit here. Help me dry my hair..."
Hearing this, Su'en walked over and quickly got into character.
His mentality was excellent; if the big shot called, he would sit.
He plopped down next to "Qiantiao," and the two of them were as intimate as ever.
After all, it seemed like trouble was brewing tonight.
Being closer to the big shot was safer.
He guessed that the big shot was creating an alibi for Aunt Qiantiao.
.......
Su'en casually made up an excuse to gloss over the earlier incident.
The three chatted intermittently, and before long, there was a sudden, urgent knock on the door.
"Miss, something terrible has happened!"
Rena immediately went to open the door.
At that moment, an elderly butler-like figure was holding a box, speaking urgently, "Someone just delivered Miss Yulia's head."
"What?!"
Rena's face turned pale at the news.
She looked at the blood-stained box in the butler's hands, trembling, "This... she..."
"This old butler is a third-tier professional, the Reyes family indeed has some depth."
Su'en's eyes narrowed slightly as he observed the imposing old butler, guessing that this must be the expert who had been secretly protecting Rena outside her room.
Yulia... seemed to be the blonde girl who wanted to help Rena at the party?
Unexpectedly, she had been killed.
The butler continued, "Earlier, I heard fighting noises from the 'Blue Moon Inn.' Yulia's guards didn't last long; the attackers must have third-tier professionals! It's likely the Oliver family's doing. They're probably targeting you, Miss. I think we must leave the camp immediately..."
Before he could finish, the butler seemed to have noticed something, "Someone's coming!"
With a shout, the man vanished from the spot.
Immediately after, a roar from the old butler came from outside the inn: "Hmph! This is Reyes family property, who are you people!"
.......
Su'en also heard the commotion outside; it seemed there were quite a few visitors.
Delivering a head was naturally intended to provoke "Qiantiao" into retaliating and revealing herself.
With a third-tier master arriving, she couldn't hide.
Su'en now understood why Mr. Mirror had come here tonight.
Apart from protecting Rena, it was more important to use this third-tier elder to buy some time.
Su'en and the others quickly descended the stairs, only to see the old butler confronting people from the Umbrella organization.
The leader was the bespectacled middle-aged man.
Naturally, he was the leader of the Umbrella organization, 'Coroner' Severus Gerald!
The man was currently covered in blood on his flaxen suit, with a hint of a sickly enjoyment on his face, as if he had just relished a bloody feast.
In Su'en's eyes, he saw a trace of uncontrollable violence.
He glanced at the group of trench-coated figures in the shadows and noticed several fourth-tier professionals!
"Qiantiao" made her appearance and was not polite in revealing her alchemical armor,
With a clank, as if by reflex, the opposition tensed up.
The bespectacled middle-aged man's face changed as if he had put on a mask, and a terrifyingly creepy black and white 【Joker Mask】 appeared!
With the mask on, 'Coroner' Severus's demeanor changed drastically, and the violence was instantly suppressed.
He became cold and inhuman.
"This Joker mask seems to be a powerful cursed item..."
Su'en didn't dare to appraise it, but he also drew his gun, playing the role of the bounty hunter Zolo.
Although he didn't look at his side, he was curious how "Mr. Mirror" could perfectly mimic Qiantiao's alchemical armor?
Moreover, her aura didn't seem excessively strong, roughly at the level of a second-tier.
Both sides didn't bother with words and immediately started fighting.
.......
The Umbrella organization did not reveal their identity, probably thinking that if there was a mix-up, they could pass off the incident as a robbery gone wrong.
After all, it was just a suspicion.
Moreover, the Umbrella organization was not the Black Tower; for this law enforcement department to attack a top inner-city family, they still needed some plausible reason.
Rena's guards were not weak; besides the third-tier elder, there were also two second-tiers in the inn.
Facing the trench-coated figures, they didn't fall behind for a while.
Because... none of those fourth-tiers made a move!
"Are they just suspecting and probing..."
Su'en muttered to himself.
His character was a gunman, so he didn't need to engage in close combat. He just stayed by Rena's side, taking potshots.Within the battle group, a third-tier butler was entangled by a "forensic" wearing a clown mask named Severus.
On the battlefield, Qian Tiao was the one receiving special attention.
Fortunately, her skill with the blade was not bad, wielding her four arms so tightly that not a single blow could penetrate, at least for a moment...
Su'en's peripheral vision caught a glimpse of the scene, and he couldn't help but marvel again. This "Qian Tiao" was indeed indistinguishable from the real one.
Her swordsmanship was identical to the real Qian Tiao!
But outnumbered, "Qian Tiao" was at a disadvantage against the focused assault of several second-tier professionals.
The people from the Umbrella Organization were already suspicious, and now seeing Qian Tiao's all-out effort, which seemed to be at a second-tier level, they couldn't help but feel puzzled.
In this situation, there was no need to disguise one's strength.
They were about to intensify their probing,
But unexpectedly, at that moment, a huge commotion erupted from Storm Manor.
"Boom boom boom~"
"Boom boom boom~"
"..."
The violent fluctuations of magic were so exaggerated that they couldn't have been produced by a third-tier professional...
It was clear that someone had launched a sneak attack on Princess Theresa's residence!
From a distance, they could see several cloaked figures charging and attacking fiercely, and behind one of them, the phantom shadow of the "Rakshasa Woman" was strikingly visible!
"Not good! It's a trap!"
Hearing the commotion, the members of the Umbrella Organization, as well as the hidden fourth-tier professionals, all changed color.
How could they not understand that the enemy had taken advantage of the weak defenses to assassinate the princess?
Without a second thought for the current battlefield, they vanished in an instant.
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