Lin's Fight

"Just take us to rescue the others. We don't need your life!"

Sabo and Koala hurriedly stepped aside, then went up to help him to his feet. They shook their heads as they spoke.

"Fine! Wait here!"

Matthew, now back on his feet, didn't say anything more. He simply nodded firmly, returned to the room, pulled open the bookshelf, and pressed a button inside.

"Ding-a-ling-a-ling~~"

A bell rang out, its sound quickly spreading through every room in the courtyard. Soon, muffled grunts came from some of the rooms, accompanied by the sound of heavy objects hitting the floor.

When all the sounds had died away, more than a dozen black-clad men emerged from the rooms. Their trench coats obscured their faces and expressions, but the bloodstains on their black clothes made it clear what they had just done.

Seeing the men emerge, Matthew nodded in satisfaction. Then he turned to Sabo and the others. "We were just clearing out some spies hiding among them. Benefactors, please follow me!"

With that, he led Sabo and Koala along the passage through the courtyard to a very small room. They went inside and found a passage leading underground.

"Go down here, and you'll reach the area beneath Toby's Playground. Just follow me when we get there, benefactors!"

He turned to explain this to Sabo and the others, then jumped into the passage first.

Meanwhile, at Toby's Playground, Lin took advantage of the chaos of Chen Qiang and Toby's fight to quickly make her way inside.

Despite its name, this place was still a slave auction house. As soon as Lin entered, she saw all kinds of slaves locked inside cylindrical glass containers in the hall.

There were beautiful merfolk, distinctive-looking giants, and all sorts of strange races. Whether they were familiar or unfamiliar, they could all be found in the hall.

The slaves locked in the glass showed no interest in the fighting outside. Even when Lin burst into the hall, they didn't react. They simply sat there, their eyes vacant. Though only a thin layer of glass stood between them and freedom, not one of them even considered breaking it.

Lin felt sorry for the slaves trapped there and wanted to rescue them, but Chen Qiang had told her that now was the best time to save their people. If she missed this chance, she had no idea where they would be taken. By then, even if she wanted to save them, there might be nothing she could do.

So Lin gave the slaves a sympathetic glance, then turned and headed deeper into the hall.

The hall was large, but because of the fighting outside, there were no customers inside. Anyone who had come to buy slaves had fled as soon as the fighting began.

So Lin didn't take long to find the people from the Defu Slave Ship. They had only been allowed into the Playground because of the deal between Gill and Toby, and Toby had agreed to let them seek shelter there.

Toby had already done them a favor by letting them in. As far as protection went, he'd thought that no one would dare cause trouble there while he was around, so simply entering the place counted as protection.

What Toby hadn't expected was that Chen Qiang wouldn't give a damn about him. He hadn't even come inside; he'd attacked from outside and had even tried to destroy the entire Playground. With no other choice, Toby had gone out himself to fight Chen Qiang.

"Tell me where you took our people!"

When Lin spotted the slave traders, she put aside her sympathy for the slaves she'd seen and rushed up to them. Her cute face was icy as she demanded an answer.

"You scared me! I thought Chen Qiang had come in. So it's just you, little girl!"

Captain Gill had been taken to the second floor earlier to report what was happening to Toby. Only Barque and the others were here. Hearing Lin, they first froze, then quickly looked behind her. When they saw that Chen Qiang hadn't followed her inside and was still fighting outside, they breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing how completely they ignored her, Lin didn't say anything. Before they'd gotten off the ship, Chen Qiang had told her that if she wanted to ask them something and they refused to answer, she should beat them until they were scared, then ask. It would be much easier that way.

"Life Deprivation!"

Lin didn't bother arguing. Purple light flared in her hand, and several members of the slave-trading crew who had taken part in capturing her began glowing purple as well.

Lin swept her hand upward. The purple light on those crew members detached from their bodies—and so did their lives.

Once the purple light left their bodies, their eyes glazed over and their bodies quickly shriveled. They fell to the ground, lifeless.

"Tell me where they are?"

After that, Lin turned to Barque and the others again, her face cold.

"Little girl, you think killing a few useless men will scare us? You're so naive!"

Lin's sudden attack had indeed startled the others, but once they saw that the men she'd killed were the weakest members of their crew, they quickly recovered. Barque had even drawn the long blade at his waist.

"Whoosh!"

Barque unleashed a slash that shot straight toward Lin.

"Hmph!"

Lin coldly snorted at the incoming slash and dodged to the side. Purple light flared again, and she vanished from where she stood.

By the time Lin reappeared, she was behind the group. The purple light in her hand blazed brightly, enveloping every member of the slave ship's crew.

"What—what did you do?"

This time, after being enveloped by the purple light, Barque was no longer arrogant. He looked at Lin in fear and stammered out the question.

When the purple light enveloped him, he felt as if something had entered his body. A sudden sense that his life no longer belonged to him filled him with terror.

"Life Deprivation!"

Lin paid no attention to him. She attacked again, and the purple light that had faded moments earlier rose from the crew members' bodies once more.

Then Lin beckoned lightly to the nearest crew member. The purple light left his body, and so did his life.

"Tell me where they are?"

Lin once again faced the slave traders, her expression cold as she asked them.