Round 5: Human Nature
Foreword:
Don't rush, there's no need to rush.
--Akira Kurosawa
[Part 1: Concert]
Go up the long staircase to the customer service department behind the guest registration desk, and then walk further in to reach the main conference hall of the cruise ship.
Thumb Guy was incoherent throughout the journey and was carried to the cruise ship's medical room by two thugs.
Manager Todd assumed Thumb was terrified and thus felt contempt for him.
"I never imagined the Hand of Omnipotence would be in such a sorry state now, tch."
The reason why Thumb lost consciousness was nothing more than when someone took the initiative to approach Bailu, he became wary, so he used his Soul Power [Immorality·Violence] to observe this strange woman - as a result, he didn't care that he didn't see anything, but he immediately saw the thousands of dead souls carried on the body of War King Glory.
This situation is similar to the psychological trauma Jason Megan suffered when confronting a mythical unit; Thumb immediately stretched out his legs, closed his eyes, and fainted.
At this moment, Manager Todd had no idea what would happen in the next twenty-four hours.
He instructed the "female bodyguard" to keep a close eye on Jiang Bailu, and then went to the terrace outside the deck to report to President Joshua.
This step is essential because Todd couldn't get his hands on the aphrodisiac and needed to find a way to explain it to the president, otherwise his head would be in danger.
Inside the main hall of the cruise ship, two teams of bodyguards surrounded Jiang Bailu, a total of twenty-four people.
The casino, spanning thousands of square meters, also had hundreds of guests. Each gambling table was staffed with two dealers and three security personnel, and there were also many people patrolling the second floor.
"Brother—no, I mean, Sister—what are you doing working here?" Bailu immediately corrected herself.
Jiang Xueming glanced at the surveillance equipment, the lights, and noted the personnel configuration of the two exhibition halls. He took off his gloves and replied, "Surprised? Shall I leave?"
Bailu chuckled, "No, no, no! Not surprising at all!"
At this moment, Xue Ming had switched to a female voice. "Who gave you this terrible idea? To send you to the meeting alone?"
"It's me. And my sister-in-law, and Thumb." Bailu initially wanted to take all the blame, but how could such a idiotic lie fool her older brother? So she confessed, "We're in a real hurry, especially my sister-in-law. She thinks the babies are in danger and we have to find a way to take down Lieyang Fort. Without you, assassins will always sneak into the railway system from this godforsaken place."
"There won't be any more," the Big Sister said, completely ignoring her bodyguard colleague who had come over to eavesdrop.
The two sisters chatted casually in George Joshua's den of extravagance, in the core area where the White Shark Association President's armed forces were most concentrated.
Bailu asked nervously, "Sister, shall I go in alone later?"
"Yes, go to the terrace and meet up with George Joshua." The Big Sister said this, and the moment she took off her gloves, the head bodyguard who was standing in front of the two sisters stared blankly.
Something flashed by, but Bailu couldn't see it clearly—it was too fast.
Bailu gestured. "You're really that trusting?"
The Big Sister pulled a pistol from the bodyguard's MOLLE; it was an FNX-45.
She pulled the slide to check the bullets, demonstrating the flashlight's strobe function. For a brief moment, Bailu was blinded by the high-brightness light source of two thousand lumens. Fortunately, she was prepared and covered her eyes with her hands to prevent colorful light spots from appearing in her vision.
The other security personnel weren't so lucky; the sudden flash of light forced them to raise their hands and brace their weapons in a state of alert. Before they could even speak...
--When Bailu put her hand down, the walkway near the terrace became quiet. The more than twenty security guards around her all stood at attention with their guns, not moving an inch.
"This is the White Shark Association's weaponry. This FNX pistol fires.45 caliber rounds. It should be the best.45 caliber pistol in the world to date. Take it." The Big Sister said this as she approached Bailu.
She held her sister's arm, not daring to touch Bailu's skin with her palm, but only gripping her sleeve, urging Bailu to hold the gun tightly.
"The pointing accuracy, positioning speed, trigger pull, and ergonomics are all top-notch."
"White Shark Association both money and manpower. Their weapons advisors understand urban warfare better than Guangling Zhixi's staff officers. Do you know why?"
Bailu shook her head.
The Big Sister, holding her younger sister's hand, pointed her gun at a gambling table.
"--That guy is a tide patrol sergeant in Mr. Fantastic's rapid response force. I think his name is something like Paul, but I can't remember. We met once before. These Westerners' names are hard to remember. I only recognize this kid's face."
"Back then he was a centurion, and now he should have been promoted to deputy commander, so I believe that the White Shark Association's security personnel learned knightly combat techniques—and learned them gradually under the tutelage of Guangling Zhixi."
Moreover, there were quite a few high-ranking officials from Guangling Zhixi in the casino.
These warriors coming to the White Shark Association's casino to gamble and spend money naturally proved what Koruyaf said—catching thieves cannot be done by fighting and killing, but by using human relationships and social skills.
The Big Sister pulled Bai Bailu's arm, adjusting her shooting posture from a prone position to one that was against her chest.
Are you used to using it?
Bailu nodded. "It's alright, I haven't hit many.45s."
The Big Sister said, "It's a tiny bit heavier than nine millimeters, just a tiny bit, and it has a lot more muzzle rise. Take it to see George Joshua; I have other business to attend to."
"Really?" Bailu suddenly felt like backing out, because with the Big Sister here, how could she possibly face the final boss?
The Big Sister pulled the Osprey flash suppressor from the motionless bodyguard's arms.
"So you're finally scared now, Bailu? Why didn't you think about being scared when you set off?"
She took the MK111 carbine from the head of security's sling, and the surrounding security personnel did not make any move throughout the entire process.
Bailu, feeling guilty, replied, "Because... because we pressed on with all our might!"
The Big Sister screwed a flash suppressor onto the rifle. "Is it weakening after a second time? Or exhausting itself after a third?"
Bailu pursed her lips, her cheeks puffed up like balloons, frowned, and turned to leave. "Who's afraid of who! I'll go and meet him!"
"Your older cousin Marsol, will be here soon," the Big Sister said, taking another FNX-45 from a security guard. "Little Jerry, hang in there, just ten minutes will be enough."
She didn't use a flash suppressor, allowing the gunshot to travel at over 100 decibels.
--Timed it perfectly, waiting until exactly 4:00 AM.
"Bang!--"
On the street near the beach at the pier, 9527, getting soaked in the rain, started setting off fireworks for her husband.
A row of mobile barbecue stalls, under a circle of colorful umbrellas, saw over 20,000 cannons firing dazzling sparks. The brilliant fireworks in the sky signaled the start of the operation, but this time, there was no Guangling Zhixi to help them; only the people of Wulong Fortress were willing to risk their lives to come to the city center to oppose the White Shark Association.
Brother Youde ran through the rain. His roommates from the knife factory and his brothers from the cotton mill pushed all the mobile stalls of the vendors in the city over. As dawn approached, they were going to make a rumbling sound like thunder. The nameless students did the same. Following 9527's instructions, they lit up the entire riverside scenic belt.
Disrupted by the torrential rain, Xiao Qi didn't know which ship Bailu had gone on. Since Guangling Zhixi was unwilling to send troops, the only option was to light up the entire street, stretching for several kilometers from southeast to northwest, hoping to help the War King fire the first shot.
This first shot is crucial. According to Jiang Xueming, the most remarkable thing about George Joshua is that he can change his form to imitate the appearance of others, or simply use a rubber-shaped body to transform into other animals and plants. Although he cannot change color, he is still very deceptive. If he gets away and blends into the vast crowd, it will be difficult to catch him again.
At this very moment--
--The Big Sister opened fire, and the gunshot startled Bailu, making her tremble all over.
People in the venue could hear the explosion of the supersonic warhead, but the ensuing roar of fireworks drowned it all out. Moreover, there seemed to be no bloodshed, no screams of pain, as if nothing had happened.
"From now on, the cannon and fireworks display will last for eleven minutes. Bailu."
The Big Sister raised her carbine and aimed at the multimedia center on the second floor of the venue.
"Go ahead, I'm going to start a concert. Whatever happens in the venue— George Joshua won't hear or see it. You have to buy me ten minutes."
A rifle bullet pierced the glass of the multimedia center and struck a staff member on the forehead. Another assistant who was monitoring the surveillance was already dead; his body was still hanging in front of the audio control console. It was the FNX pistol bullet that had just taken his life.
Bailu nodded, watching the Big Sister head silently up to the second floor of the venue. Occasionally, a hazy gray shadow would flicker and appear—that was Fragrant Dream.
This filled Bailu with inexplicable terror; it was a sign that the power of the soul was being unleashed.
However, she could not sense any spiritual pressure from any spirit, nor any spiritual energy tides.
This ability to conceal one's aura is a divine skill learned from the Peacock King in the Royal Court area of Dead Puppet Agency.
Bailu waited anxiously for Manager Todd's summons, so she tried to search the listless soldiers around her for a few magazines. When she touched a soldier's arm, she was suddenly so shocked that she couldn't move.
She initially thought that the Big Sister had used her Fragrant Dream ability to put the soldiers to sleep, but then she realized that to activate the special psychic power of entering dreams, the Big Sister would need to touch these people with her bare hands, and there was only a short time available, so the Big Sister couldn't possibly have the speed to do so quickly.
So she squeezed against the soldier's body, and the instant she found the magazine, the soldier's head fell off. His head had been standing steadily, the cut smooth as a mirror, as if it had been swiftly severed with a thread, the spinal nerves still tangled, carrying out the last order to stand guard.
With just one touch from Bailu, the soldier finally breathed his last, his blood gushing onto the ceiling like a waterfall.
Bailu was drenched in a bucket of water, and was so frightened that she couldn't understand how her Big Sister had managed to do such a precise job!
Just now? In an instant? These twenty-odd people were killed by Fragrant Dream with some kind of sharp weapon? They looked like they were still alive! But their heads had already been severed!
It seems that the wounds were stitched up with spiritual threads. As soon as an unfamiliar spirit touches them, the spiritual energy becomes unbalanced, and these decapitated corpses will collapse!
Bailu's face was covered in blood. Her eyes widened as she carefully hid the magazine and noticed the unusual appearance on the other soldier's neck.
--The strange stitching resembled Fragrant Dream gray-white cat fur tangled together!
She quickly carried the body to the back of the balcony door, took off her outer clothes, leaving only a thin shirt and vest, and went to the toilet to wash her face. She couldn't wash the blood out of her hair no matter what she did, and there wasn't enough time!
[Part 2: Jerry and Marsol older cousin Massal]
At this time, Manager Todd was giving a report to Joshua.
His heart pounded with anxiety as he looked at the dark, rainy night and the student council president lurking in the shadows on the terrace.
--The lion is still strong, and Mr. George is courteous, awaiting good news from his most loyal subordinate.
Todd: "I couldn't get the drug. Guild Master, there must be some mistake. The Warband and Warclub members are a bunch of useless trash. Money can't buy the potent aphrodisiac you want."
Joshua didn't care; he wanted to maintain his composure before meeting the person he liked.
Like Tom in courtship, he sprayed himself with perfume, groomed himself, shaved his beard, and returned to his eighteen-year-old appearance—his features were well-defined, with thick eyebrows and big eyes; he was a standard European-style baby-faced beauty.
"It doesn't matter."
Todd: "Do you have any other ways to subdue this woman?"
George Joshua: "At worst, I'll rape her. What's so hard about that? Like a male lion subduing a female lion. Humans and animals are very similar. The reason rapists go to jail is nothing other than not providing good service, making women feel humiliated and in pain. That's the root cause of the crime. If a woman chooses to forgive her abuser afterward, it's not rape; it's love, it's human nature."
Todd was stunned, even though this wasn't the first time!
But every time the president bowed down like this, he was both surprised and excited. It was an honor to have such a shameless scumbag as his leader.
"Did you prepare these fireworks for me? I really like them," George Joshua asked casually.
Manager Todd immediately took credit.
"--That's right! It's exactly what I prepared for you!"
Although it's unknown who sent these salutes as a gift, winning the favor of the host at such a crucial moment would be a great joy.
"Music too?" George Joshua heard a grand and enthusiastic symphony coming from the hall, Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, the volume turned up to the maximum.
Manager Todd then boasted, "That's right! I know you like tragic yet passionate classical music! Swan Lake! Barcarolle of June! Ballet! I know! Ballet allows women to proudly display their buttocks! To pleasing men in a dignified way! That's art!"
"Humans are creatures of sentimentality." George Joshua began to indulge in refined sentimentality again. "Although today I must dedicate myself to my career and to this little girl Jiang Bailu, my heart will always belong to Glory."
"Yes, yes, yes! Yes, yes, yes! Don't be impatient, President! As long as we win over this little girl, her older sister will be yours too, won't she?" Todd nodded repeatedly.
Joshua laughed heartily, "Invite her to the terrace!"
When Swan Lake reached its climax, the intense drumming and piano string section made the wooden floor of the main venue vibrate and creak.
Manager Todd traversed the long corridor, turned several corners, pushed open the door, and returned to the meeting hall.
Jiang Bailu no longer needs to wash her face, nor does she need to care if there is blood in her hair.
Because there is blood everywhere here, in every place, in every corner, on every curtain, in every window, in every door, and on every person.
Todd was stunned, seemingly thinking he was hallucinating, or perhaps he had inhaled a neurotoxin, and that the world was appearing completely different to him.
The second floor was gone; to be precise, the entire second-floor platform had been shattered, as if it had been repeatedly blasted apart by some monster or collapsed by a grenade.
Looking towards the reception hall, the two exits were piled high with corpses, completely blocking the entrance.
There were over 170 full-time armed personnel present, all of them psionicists, including some outstanding Ascension stage experts. Their heads were now lined up in a row, piled together as high-value targets—a crude method used by the nameless man to calculate merit medals.
The security guards, who were doing odd jobs and no real work, stood frozen, seemingly unaware of what had happened, their heads already severed, like rows of loyal guards standing in a large circle on the first floor, showing no reaction before they died.
"Hmm~ Hmm~ Mmm~"
Someone was humming a song, singing the last few verses of Swan Lake.
Jiang Bailu crossed her arms and brushed past Todd.
Todd immediately woke up.
"You fucking bastard! Wait! Stop right there!"
He wanted to call and warn the chairman, so he walked to the landline, pushed open the window, and saw a corpse with only half a body remaining. He could also see a hapless man with half a wine bottle stuck in his neck. The beautiful dealer next to him had transformed into the Blood-giving Monster, and her slender leg bones had become the murder weapon that killed her.
Todd was terrified and sweating profusely.
Is this really Jiang Bailu's fighting ability? This little girl can kill these ordinary people and these Blood-giving Monsters, but she's definitely no match for Joshua, right?! Isn't that right?!
He began to doubt his own judgment, yet he still insisted on his violent demonstration.
"You wretched woman! Just you wait! Just wait until George Joshua gets his hands on you!"
The telephone line was cut, and the humming grew closer.
When Manager Todd looked up, he saw Jerry's older cousin, Marsol, and Glory looked exactly like Jiang Bailu.
Todd chuckled, pointed to the terrace walkway, and then pointed to his own nose.
He then pointed to Glory, pointing to the War King, who was covered in blood and whose features were barely recognizable except for his blurred facial outlines.
"Hehe... hehehe... hahahahahahaha!" He broke down emotionally.
The steward pulled out the other leg bone of the Blood-giving Monster beauty dealer and pounded his rubber head hard, trying to make himself pass out so that the pain would be less.
"Hahahahahahahaha! Hahahahahahaha!~"
But it was no use; George Joshua's spirit protected him, and he couldn't faint, nor could he panic.
"If George Joshua gets away and blends into the crowd, that'll be difficult. He can hide in anything that moves—do you know how to solve this problem?"
The Big Sister picked up a handkerchief, wiped the blood off the laurel wreath, and cleaned her face; her eyes were still bloodshot.
"I've got it! As long as there's nothing moving around him, it'll be fine!"
"Isn't that genius?! And incredibly daring?!"