"Bear and Snake"

The girl seemed terrified.

But looking around, corpses hung everywhere. Anyone who came upon such a scene would probably be terrified.

After all, even the supervillain Chlorine Sodium had only seen places like this in the hells of two different planes.

One had been used by demons to extract energy, while the other had been used by a gang in a technological plane to make money. But what was this place?

So the girl was terrified.

However, the young woman felt somewhat... resistant.

For some reason, the irritation in her heart was not fading. It was growing stronger instead.

Disgust, resentment, unease—all kinds of negative emotions surged forth.

People were always like this.

When someone pointed out the source of a problem, people would become resentful and hate the fact that someone had exposed their innermost feelings.

People always hated having their hearts laid completely bare, even when they themselves did not want to face them.

Once someone pointed it out, they became uneasy, then angry.

That was why...

I hate children.

Seeing that her sister's expression was off, Yelena grew even more uneasy.

It was like a child with nowhere left to go finally finding her family, only to discover that her family seemed to be arguing.

That was not something a desperate person wanted to see.

"Sister...?"

But her sister suddenly raised a hand.

Is she angry?

She must be furious, right? I suddenly rushed over, even though she seemed to have other things to attend to tonight.

Yet she still had to hurry back.

"Wah!!"

Thinking her sister was about to hit her, the girl quickly shut her eyes and lowered her head.

But the punishment she imagined never came.

What arrived instead was the warm sensation of someone gently stroking her hair.

"Sister?"

"You've been waiting a long time, haven't you?"

The young woman remained the same as ever. Her expression barely changed as she stroked the girl's head, awkwardly comforting her.

"Sniff... Sister... Waaaahhhh!!!"

The girl threw herself into her sister's arms, sobbing.

Chlorine Sodium suppressed the irritation in her heart as she comforted Yelena.

In the bloodstained factory, two girls, one large and one small, leaned against each other. It was like the ending of a horror movie, where the power of love ultimately defeated the devil.

In reality, however, it was more like a grotesque film.

The monster had become the older sister, then looked after her young sibling, and everything abruptly ended.

No one knew whether a monster had become the older sister, or whether a monster had turned into the older sister.

No one knew.

Not even Chlorine Sodium.

"Let's go..."

Taking the girl's hand, Chlorine Sodium said,

"It's too dark. We should go back."

Along the way, the girl uneasily clung to her sister.

The scene outside the door had been far too shocking.

Blood plasma splattered across the walls as if someone had thrown red dye over them. Red blood dyed everything within sight.

Chunks of flesh lay stuck in the blood, torn apart and so mangled that they could no longer be recognized.

There were countless incomplete bodies, bodies ripped into pieces, corpses with their entire backs of their heads caved in and their faces pushed outward. The scene was grotesque and filled with malice.

Even the most perverse murderer could not call it art.

This was nothing but pure violence. The person who had unleashed it had given the meaning of violence the fullest possible interpretation.

The ultimate violence.

It was about as horrific as the scene of a car accident after being run over by a steamroller.

The girl knew that her sister was strong.

Extremely strong—so strong that she could not even tell how far her sister's abilities reached.

After all, even her own combat techniques had been taught to her by her sister.

And her sister was a doctor.

Or perhaps her sister had some unimaginable past. That was possible too.

But one thing was certain. Even though her sister had created this bloody scene with her own hands, she still clung tightly to her.

Because even though it sent chills through her, her sister was strong. Even Yelena could clearly recognize that fact.

Yet toward her—toward the small girl Yelena—her sister had never shown the slightest trace of malice.

She was Yelena's only family.

Even though they shared no blood relation, and had known each other for less than a year.

A pale hand held a small one as they walked out of the blood-soaked factory.

Chlorine Sodium could originally have chosen a better route, a "cleaner" one.

For example, she could have carried the girl straight from the second floor down to the first. It was somewhat unconventional, but for Chlorine Sodium, it was a perfectly ordinary route.

Yet she did not choose that.

Instead, she openly led the girl out along the same route she had taken when fighting her way in.

The slaughter was laid bare, as if Chlorine Sodium were revealing her true nature to the girl.

Cold-blooded and brimming with killing intent.

So cold and ruthless that the stench of blood seemed to linger in her mouth.

There had been better ways, but she had still chosen this one.

Perhaps it was because of that inexplicable anger.

She was not as beautiful as an angel in a fairy tale.

In fact, she had nothing to do with beauty, not with both hands stained in blood.

Was it frightening? Very frightening.

Yet the girl clung to her even more tightly.

Perhaps clearly understanding the truth gave people a sense of realistic security.

Simply because she had never hurt Yelena.

Everyday: I'm done, really. I was about to throw up. When I tried to publish the new chapter, Ciwai Mao just refused to work no matter what. Clicking on the author backend kept sending me to the login page. Damn it, I don't even have a regular account—I only have an author backend account. Damn it, even clicking on recharge did nothing. Seriously, it was like I'd encountered a ghost.

I'm done, really. My head hurts like hell. Ever since I switched to posting somewhere else these past few days, I've been running into all kinds of network problems.

Ciwai Mao's servers are honestly just as terrible as Ubisoft's.

This chapter almost failed to upload.

It scared the life out of me.

Recently, I was looking at the messages Orange sent me. They said I had to update extra chapters to qualify for future recommendation slots, and if I got fewer than five hundred views on the first day of the trial recommendation, then I basically had no chance. I checked my previous results, and they seemed pretty good, right? If I remember correctly, I got more than five hundred.

The future is bright, the future is bright, sob sob sob.

Section 49: Chapter Forty-Nine—Bear and Snake

"You Blue Hats really do arrive fast."

At dawn, red and blue warning lights flashed in the narrow street entrance.

Members of the Guard Department's mobile unit were pulling up a cordon, completely sealing off the alley.

The mobile unit's squad leader was holding a notebook and recording something.

"You're the one who called the police?"

"What's the big deal, officer? I haven't even deleted the call history from my phone yet. Want to take a look?"

The fierce-looking peddler held up his phone, impatience written all over his face.

"I'm talking to you—show some respect! You're speaking to a police officer!"

"I've got a business to run, officer. This is a real hassle. If you're going to deal with it, hurry up."

The questioning officer did not seem to have a good temper either. As he spoke, he seemed ready to investigate the peddler's identity.

He had a fierce face. Despite dressing like a street vendor, he had the face of a gang boss.

He clearly did not look like a good person.

"Cut the crap. You're coming with me to the station for questioning!"

The officer did not hesitate at all. The peddler wanted to do business, so he would simply drag him away. This trick worked very well in places like this.

Though it was admittedly a little bullying.

"Officer, you can't be unreasonable."

Just as the peddler was about to get into a fight with the police, a hand came between them.

"Jie, I'll talk to him."

It was a woman's voice.

But when the officer looked toward the voice, he was so startled by the imposing figure that he took two steps back!

She was an Oni woman!

Her green hair and black motorcycle jacket accentuated the tall, graceful figure of the Oni woman. Both arms were covered by athletic bracers patterned like tattoos.

Her motorcycle pants and the black motorcycle parked by the roadside showed that she had just arrived.

Her outfit was like the city itself—vivid and full of energy, yet carrying the local culture of immigrants.

There was also a ferocity reminiscent of a demon.

Because the woman before him, Hoshiguma, was involved in the underworld.

"You... you are..."

"I'm the Speaker."

At one meter ninety, she had certainly startled the officer, but he soon calmed down.

"You? I'm looking for the person who reported this. What does it have to do with you?"

"Because that's the rule here."

"What?!"

He had never heard of that. What kind of rule was this—one even the police had never heard of?!

But soon, a familiar voice sounded from behind him.