The person who entered was holding a wine glass and looked at Ren for a mont.
"He’s quite handso, what’s his psychic incarnation?" The person’s voice was haughty, her expression indifferent, as if the one lying in front of her wasn’t a living person, but just a plaything for her use.
"I don’t know," Rojo stood aside, responding with a smile. "He can’t manifest his psychic incarnation now, but we can let him do it later for you to see."
Ren heard the voice asking him, "How old are you, what’s your na. Did you co willingly? I don’t like to force people."
Lying there, Ren unexpectedly asked a completely unrelated question, "Do you rember Polluted Zone 32?"
His voice was quite calm, lacking any notable emotion, unlike soone who was under the influence of a drug.
"The Polluted Zone? I don’t rember much," the voice on the other end sounded slightly impatient, likely finding him impertinent to bring up the Polluted Zone at such a ti.
Ren continued, "You signed the dispatch order, sending the alphas of the North outpost there, to retrieve a living insectoid stone."
The person sitting across from him settled down on a chair, lifted her feet, revealing fancy shoes made of crocodile skin.
"Oh, I rember now. Polluted Zone 32, where a living insectoid stone was found." The voice speaking turned even colder, "Living insectoid stones are rare, but not a big deal for . But those alphas from the North couldn’t even bring back an insectoid stone... I heard they all died there, but their incompetence isn’t my concern. The incident did make look bad, though."
After a short pause, she went on, "Why do you ask?"
Ren made a slight humming sound, "I just wanted to confirm."
Sitting across from him was indeed the Minister of Military Affairs of the Empire, Malenia.
She gestured towards Rojo, "He’s fine, just not much of a sweet talker, which is a disappointnt."
Rojo, who was respectfully waiting on the side, then stood up, walked towards Ren. He carried a look of embarrassnt, holding a gag, "You seem smart, why did you suddenly talk like that?"
Rojo leaned down, a playful look on his face as he approached Ren. Gazing at Ren’s faint eyes, Rojo suddenly felt his heart trembled for a bit - this was an alpha’s instinctual sense of danger.
Rojo quickly leaned back.
In that instant, an alpha’s sharp vision allowed him to clearly see a scar on Ren’s wrist split open - Ren was actually pulling out a thin, long silver needle that was embedded in his own arm muscle.
That silver needle, made from an unknown material, was coated with Ren’s blood, and was held in his hand, aid at Rojo’s throat.
"I can dodge it." Rojo made a decision in that mont. He only needed to avoid the vital areas, as long as he could dodge a fatal blow, even if he was severely injured, he could save his own life with the healing pod afterwards.
Though Rojo couldn’t figure out why Ren still had the strength to fight back, all he could focus on in that mont was avoiding a fatal blow. He knew it wouldn’t be long before Malenia pressed the ergency button on her opticomputer, and then the guards would capture the attacker.
In the next mont, Rojo’s eyes went wide. He saw the needle in Ren’s hand, covered in blood, giving off a strange red light. The slim needle suddenly expanded in mid-air, turning into a blood-red long sword. The intense red color, like the angry flas of hell, burned his eyes.
Rojo felt a burning heat on his neck. His vision started to whirl; he felt taller sohow and saw a headless figure standing in front of him. "Weird, who’s that? Why is he wearing my clothes?"
As Rojo’s view dropped, his head rolled on the carpet, and only then did he hear Malenia’s terrified scream.
Rojo’s body, now missing its head, fell just as Malenia did.
The high-ranking lady of the Empire, usually so respected, let out a fearful scream as she t her end. Her cries sounded just like those of ordinary folks – high-pitched, scared, and filled with a denial of what was about to happen.
Just like most people, she died a plain death, without any elegance or honor.
The carpet quickly soaked up their blood.
Rojo, staring at the bloody world around him, suddenly thought of another day, much like today. The carpet had been stained with blood then too. He had choked a female alpha attacker, pressing her face into the carpet.
"You’ll pay for this, soday," she had said before dying. She had beautiful eyes that, even when Rojo tornted her to death, never lost their spark.
"You’ll pay for this." Back then, Rojo didn’t take her words seriously. He had laughed at the naive attacker, writing her off as a fool. He had heard such threats many tis, but never saw any real payback.
"So she was right. There is payback..." Lying on the carpet, Rojo thought about this as he closed his eyes.
...
Ren stood in the middle of the destroyed room. He had to get rid of all evidence of his presence – fingerprints, footprints, even signs of his sword.
The scene was terrible.
Given Malenia’s high position, her death would surely cause a big fuss. So, Ren had to be very careful and detailed while hiding his tracks.
No one had seen Ren on the way up, and the only one who knew – Rojo – was now dead.
He had thoroughly wiped out all video from the elevators and the hallways. He still needed to erase fingerprints and other biological evidence, but that wasn’t hard since he had barely touched anything since he entered the room.
Ren stood up, feeling a wave of dizziness hit him. He knew the effects of the drug were kicking in.
Before this mission, he had carefully researched these people’s ways and habits.
So when Rojo led him to the sink, he had secretly taken an antidote he had in his pocket. This caused the drug’s effect to hit later than they expected. However, Rojo was a crafty guy who had injected Ren with twice the usual dose.
Ren touched his forehead, feeling the sticky wetness of his own blood. He stood up, glancing at a mirror on the wall—in this room, nearly everything reflected like a mirror.
The man in the mirror was covered in blood and looked terrifying, standing like a demon crawling out from the depths of hell.
"I wonder if she received the package I sent," Ren found himself thinking unexpectedly in this grim mont.
He shook his heavy head, trying to push the thought away, "Why am I thinking of her now, at my dirtiest?"
But once the thought surfaced, it wouldn’t leave. It kept coming back, over and over.
"Did she like the knife I sent? Does she keep it with her?"
"What has she been doing since she got back?"
"Where is she right now? What is she doing?"
In the blood-spattered mirrors, he even saw her face, smiling faintly.
"Have I lost my mind?"
"I must have."
"Why am I daring to think about soone as pure as the moon when I’m covered in blood, looking like a devil?"
Ren felt a wave of dizziness, his heartbeat speeding up. A rush of thoughts, faces flashing by with changing smiles, filled his mind.
Ren stripped off his blood-stained white shirt, cleaned his hands and face, and tore the shirt into pieces before flushing it down the drain. He opened a wardrobe in the room, filled with neatly arranged rows of brand new n’s clothes.
Ren picked a plain white shirt, putting it on and adding his original cufflinks, collar clips, and other accessories.
Finally, he smoothed his hair, checking his reflection in the mirror. He had returned to the flashy, carefree image he had shown when he first arrived.
His steps were becoming unstable. Ren put on his gloves, took one last look at the awful scene, and left the room.
...
The hallway was dimly lit. Ren moved quickly, his vision blurring, the floor seeming to shift.
He knew the nasty stuff Rojo had injected him with, so he had to move faster. He needed to find an empty room, lock himself inside, and ride out the ntal storm.
Occasionally, he passed by groups of fancy people, their faces unrecognizable, as they laughed and chatted.
Ren could hear the lustful sounds coming from all directions of the yard.
Suddenly, a few people ca up and grabbed him.
"Hey, there’s a guy who’s high," they joked, pushing him around.
Ren’s eyes were bloodshot at this point, his body was hot, and his steps were unsteady. Anyone could guess what had happened.
This kind of thing was common on these nights. In this lavish place, nearly every room was filled with large amounts of ’incenses’ and ’candies’ for people to enjoy.
Ren tried to push them away, but his arm had grown weak. That arm, once strong enough to fight off mutants, was now too feeble to push away a regular rich bastard.
No one took his resistance seriously. He was quickly surrounded by these thrill-seekers.
"Hey handso, can’t find a partner? Why not join us for so fun?"
"He’s a bit tall though. Let’s bring him down a notch."
"Wow, such a fine-looking face."
The people kept laughing and talking. Ren couldn’t make out their faces clearly. The blurring images of those sickening faces overlapped in front of his eyes, shifting and changing.
Ren swung his arm, swatting away a hand that reached out to him. This only sparked more laughter from the group.
"He’s playing hard to get."
"He can barely stand and he’s still pretending."
"I like my roses with so thorns."
A small knife slipped from his sleeve, and Ren gripped it tightly.
Now, this knife was all he had left. He was already worn out, his fingers shaking, his legs and waist weak, but he could still kill. He could kill at least one of them.
He forced his eyes open, watching the people crowding him—just one slash, one slash to take down soone, then all of this would stop.
He knew these bastards well. They looked tough and cocky, but once one of them was down, the others would scatter like flies. But doing so would also an his end. There would be no way out.
With red eyes and shaky fingers, Ren reached for his bloody knife.
Just then, he saw a familiar face - the person he secretly missed but never dared to touch for even once.
"It’s a hallucination," he thought. "These drugs have ssed with my head."
Everything around him was a jumble. Only Kestrel’s face, suddenly appearing in the distance, was incredibly clear. As Ren dazedly saw Kestrel looking over, he could hardly believe it.
"It’s her. She’s coming this way."
If there was anyone in this world that Ren would trust with everything, it would only be her, a strong and reliable beta, Kestrel.
Seeing Kestrel pushing through the crowd towards him, Ren felt a wave of relief. His rising anger subsided, replaced by a sea of grievance he felt embarrassed to admit.
His tense body relaxed completely, his back slick with sweat sliding down the wall. Just then, an arm reached out, catching him and stopping him from falling.
"Everyone, back off. He’s with ," a familiar voice echoed in his ear.
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