Imperial Capital's Scheming

Was this meant to be a Cleon Family treasure artifact?

"Are you mistaken about something? We meticulously verify the origin of every auction item, there are absolutely no fakes!" Su Ya exclaimed in surprise.

"No fakes? Easier said than done!" Amantha pulled out a uniquely shaped ring. A faint purple fluorescence emanated from the ring, shining onto the long spear. Light patterns immediately appeared on the spear in a faint red hue. The red light patterns twisted and intertwined, forming the shape of two crossed swords.

"Every treasure artifact from the Cleon Family undergoes special treatment. When illuminated by a special light source, the Cleon Family crest will appear. As a top auctioneer, you wouldn't possibly not know this, would you?"

Su Ya was speechless. Basically, every major power had its own method of marking their treasures to prevent unforeseen circumstances. With her keen eyesight, she could naturally tell at a glance that both the ring and the faint red crest were real… but how was this possible? How could something stolen from the Cleon Family appear at their auction house?

If the Cleon Family wanted their property back, they could have negotiated privately with the auction house. There was no need to make such a grand spectacle, nor was there any need to wait until the spear was about to be sold before appearing. Therefore… they were just looking for an excuse to cause trouble!

The auction house guards had already been instantly killed, and the guests in the audience had long since fled—no one wanted to oppose the Cleon Family. Su Ya was just a weak woman with no combat power; how could she fight them?

"If you're looking for trouble, find a better excuse!"

Suddenly, a voice came from above. A tall woman appeared at the window of a high-level VIP room, looking down at them from above.

"You are… Miss Si Nan Yuan!?" Su Ya finally saw her savior.

After enduring for so long, Si Nan Yuan finally erupted.

"Si Nan Yuan?… Ah, I remember now. You seem to be the guard captain for that trash second young lady? I didn't expect there to be a main branch of the Si Nan Family here…"

Before she could finish speaking, an explosion appeared out of thin air above Amantha. If the blast radius had been even a few centimeters larger, her life would have been forfeit!

"Who are you calling trash!?"

A figure pushed past Si Nan Yuan and stood at the window, hands on her hips. Flowing purple hair, confident eyes, a beautiful smile, a seductive pose—if it wasn't Si Nan Ying, then who could it be?

Striking a pose, Si Nan Ying shouted in an extremely impassioned tone:

"Back in the day, when I was down and out, you all bullied me, calling me trash, scum, bastards, but—"

"Um… I never said that…" Amantha said weakly.

"Don't interrupt!—But now, I am not what I used to be. The trash of the Si Nan Family from back then no longer exists, so, uh…"

Si Nan Ying stammered "uh-" three or four times without getting to the point. She blinked her eyes and frantically searched in her skirt pocket.

"Annoying… Where's my script? I clearly brought it… Ah, this is so frustrating, whatever! Anyway, I've gotten stronger now! You all just obediently accept your deaths!"

Saying that, she made a seductive dash and leaped out of the window in a pose strikingly similar to Usagi Tsukino!

"Wait… Miss!"

Si Nan Yuan tried to stop her, but her hand grasped at empty air. Si Nan Ying's agile body traced a beautiful parabola through the air, like a swallow in the wind, or a butterfly dancing in the sky. The result—

Thump— Crack!

"Ouch!!!"

"..."

The VIP room was at least four or five meters off the ground… If she weren't a supernatural ability user, she would have been crippled by now, I thought to myself, silently complaining.

"It hurts… but I have to endure! This is my debut battle!"

Si Nan Ying muttered to herself as she struggled to get up. I suddenly had a bad premonition.

The next second, my premonition came true.

"Thirty years east, thirty years west, don't bully a young man for being poor!"

Si Nan Ying leaned to her left, her left hand spread open with five fingers covering half her face.

"Heaven and Earth are not benevolent; they treat all things as straw dogs!"

Si Nan Ying changed her pose, crossing her arms above her head.

"If Heaven abandons me, I will defy Heaven and become a demon!"

Her pose changed again, legs apart, one hand on her hip, the other pointing forward.

"Dragons have inverted scales; touching them means death!"

Her upper body twisted to the side, one hand held to her forehead, the other at her chin.

"If Heaven fails me, what does it matter if I slaughter all living beings!"

Her legs bent slightly, and she pulled open the front of her shirt with one hand.

"My fate is mine to decide, not Heaven's!!!"

Her final pose was fixed in the classic stance for Kakarot's Kamehameha wave.

"..."

Everyone was dumbfounded.

"…Liu Ye."

"…Present."

"You taught her that set of poses, didn't you?"

"…Yes."

"Don't let me see this again."

"...I'm sorry."

While we were stunned, Si Nan Ying didn't stop. We heard her shout:

"Break for me!"

A bright blue bubble flew from her palm, charging straight for the Cleon Family members!

"Not good!"

The man in black's expression changed. He stepped forward, forming his hand into a claw, and a small black coffin immediately appeared from the void, enveloping the bubble.

Just as the man in black breathed a sigh of relief, he heard a dull thud. The seemingly indestructible black coffin instantly turned to ash and dissipated into the air! The lingering shockwave spread out, hitting the man in black directly. He felt a tightness in his chest, stumbled back over a dozen steps, and then collapsed.

The others were all shocked. It was common knowledge that the Si Nan Family's second young lady was a good-for-nothing who couldn't control her Supernatural Ability. The Cleon Family had never seen her as a threat. But looking at her now, the timing of the explosion was precisely controlled for the moment the man in black let his guard down, and the shockwave perfectly knocked him down without causing any unnecessary damage. How could this be someone who couldn't control her Supernatural Ability!?

"Ugh, it hurts!"

Si Nan Ying suddenly groaned in pain and collapsed, clutching her ankle.

"Miss!" Si Nan Yuan immediately jumped down, flipping in mid-air before landing steadily. The rest of us quickly followed.

"Miss, what's wrong?"

"Wuwu... I sprained my ankle ::(≧-≦)::"

"..."

What was that saying again? Cool for less than three seconds.

"Tsk... I told you not to mess around! Mo Xiao Hong and I will protect Miss. Liu Ye, Rui Xin, Lin Bing, you guys go!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

So, a fight was inevitable. My opponents before had almost all been various Demonic Beasts. Except for Rui Feng, I had never fought a human before, so this was a good opportunity to train myself!

There were four enemies: the man in black, the bald man, the middle-parted man, and Amantha Cleon. Apart from the man in black, their Supernatural Abilities were unknown.

Seeing us charge forward, Amantha snorted and said, "Simon, we'll handle these three. You go take care of that second young lady!"

"Yes!" The bald man—Simon—responded, his body flickering and disappearing from his spot like smoke!

Teleportation!

"Damn it... Little Ying!"

"Don't worry, Captain and Xiao Hong are very strong! Next, I'll release sonic waves to interfere with their five senses. You and Xiao Bing take the opportunity to act!"

Rui Xin's delicate lips parted slightly, and an invisible wave emanated from her mouth, attacking the three of them!

Amantha, at the forefront, reached into her pocket with extreme speed. Immediately, a sound like shattering glass rang out. Rui Xin's sonic waves seemed to be interfered with and collapsed midway!

"How can this be!?" Rui Xin was greatly alarmed. Interfering with sonic waves had always been her specialty, yet it was so easily broken now!

"If that doesn't work, then we'll just go head-on!" I roared, blood gushing out and condensing into over a dozen long spears that shot towards the enemies!

"A mere trick, Su En!"

"Watch this!" The middle-parted man—Su En—took a deep breath. His lungs and abdomen instantly expanded, swelling into a sphere in just a moment.

"Extreme Heat Steam!"

Pfft! Su En opened his mouth wide and spewed out a large stream of extremely hot steam, which collided with the blood spears in mid-air!

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle-- The unstoppable blood spears actually stopped in the air. The moment they came into contact with the steam, they emitted a strange sizzle sound and decomposed into crimson gas at an extremely rapid pace!

They were evaporated!?

"Haha, your Supernatural Ability is controlling blood, right? Truly unheard of, but unfortunately for you, my Supernatural Ability can counter all liquid manipulation abilities! My steam is so hot it can evaporate any liquid!"

"Then, we just need to cool it down, right?"

A soft, icy voice sounded, barely audible if not listened to carefully. Unbeknownst to us, Lin Bing had already stepped onto the stage.

"Freeze!"

An ice-blue field instantly took shape. The moment the high-temperature steam came into contact with the freezing field, its heat was stolen, and it condensed into countless tiny ice particles!

"You're an ice-element Supernatural Ability user!?" Su En was horrified. Ice-element users were his natural enemies; without high temperatures, his steam was completely powerless!

"One counters another, that's how it is." A faint smile appeared on Lin Bing's doll-like face.

"Ha, indeed, one counters another!" The man in black suddenly spoke, his tone full of mockery.

"Lin Bing, be careful!" I shouted urgently.

"Too late!" The man in black clenched his fists, and countless black light bands appeared around Lin Bing. A giant black coffin instantly formed, sealing Lin Bing and the freezing field within it!