Among the two rows of guards standing in the corner, several men suddenly let out beast-like roars. Their clothes were torn apart by bulging muscles, and dark green Zerg carapace patterns emerged on the surface of their skin. Their eyes turned blood-red, and saliva dripped from the corners of their mouths.
"Ah—"
Several nobles screamed and fled in all directions.
The frenzied experimental subjects did not chase those nobles, but lunged straight in the direction of Jiang Lijin and Chiron.
Chiron reacted extremely fast, shielding Jiang Lijin behind him with one hand while pulling out the energy gun at his waist with the other, accurately hitting the knee of the experimental subject rushing at the front.
It was useless. The monster didn't even pause, dragging its ruined leg as it continued to lunge forward.
"Protect Ms. Jiang!" Graven stood at a high vantage point and ordered loudly.
A group of fully armed royal guards swarmed in from the side door, but they didn't go to deal with those frenzied experimental subjects. Instead, they directly surrounded Jiang Lijin.
"Ms. Jiang, it's too dangerous here, please come with us to the safe zone." The leading guard captain didn't allow for any explanation, reaching out to grab Jiang Lijin's arm.
The script had changed; this wasn't about forcing her to purify at all.
Graven didn't even plan to play out the whole act; what he wanted was to take her away directly.
"Get lost," Chiron shouted coldly, firing a shot at the guard captain's feet.
But the frenzied experimental subjects had already lunged right in front of them. Chiron was forced to turn and fight as a massive monster opened its mouth full of sharp teeth to bite at his throat.
"Take her away!" Graven ordered coldly from the second floor.
The guards rushed forward. Jiang Lijin didn't struggle. She glanced at Chiron, who was desperately entangled by several monsters, and obediently followed the guards retreating into the side door's elevator.
The elevator went all the way down, a sense of weightlessness washing over her.
Exiting the elevator, there was a metal corridor, the air filled with the pungent smell of disinfectant. It smelled exactly the same as the underground of the Academy of Sciences.
The guards pushed her into a spacious laboratory, the door locking dead behind her.
In the center of the room sat a huge medical pod, with various pipelines intricately tangled.
"Ms. Jiang, you must have been frightened."
Graven walked in from another door, took off his complicated formal coat, and casually threw it on the back of a chair.
Jiang Lijin looked around, her tone steady: "Your Highness's way of treating guests is quite unique."
"Special circumstances." Graven walked up to her, his gaze like he was appraising a perfect piece of art. "It's too chaotic outside, those experimental subjects have completely lost control. For your safety, this is the best place to be."
"Experimental subjects?" Jiang Lijin played dumb. "How could there be such things in the Imperial Palace?"
"Very soon there won't be." Graven smiled. "They have completed their final mission. Tomorrow, the whole interstellar world will know that a sudden Zerg pollution attacked the palace. And I desperately protected the 3S-level female. As for those unfortunate nobles who perished... for the future of the empire, someone always has to make a sacrifice."
Jiang Lijin understood.
Graven didn't plan to use her hands to purify at all; he directly flipped the table. Using this batch of experimental subjects to clear out dissidents, he would logically take over her ownership.
"You've calculated very well." Jiang Lijin took a half step back, leaning against the metal laboratory bench. "You brought me here for what? To draw blood? Or to slice me up?"
"No, no, no." Graven shook his head repeatedly. "You are the most precious treasure in the entire interstellar world, how could I bear to hurt you. I just need you to do me a small favor."
He walked to the medical pod and pressed a button.
The cabin door slid open, and a person lay inside. To be precise, it was a half-human, half-Zerg monster. The chest rose and fell weakly, and the surface of the skin was covered with dark green mucus. It looked like a female, probably even an S-level one.
Jiang Lijin was mentally prepared, but still couldn't help feeling nauseous.
"This is my proudest work." Graven's eyes were fanatical. "Only the last step is missing. As long as your 3S-level mental power acts as a bond, the genes of the Zerg and the beastmen can perfectly fuse. We will break the class barrier and create a true god!"
"Lunatic," Jiang Lijin cursed.
"History is always created by lunatics." Graven turned and walked towards her, holding a syringe filled with blue liquid in his hand. "Just a little nerve paralyzing agent, and you will have a good sleep. When you wake up, you will be the Holy Mother of the new world."
He closed in. Jiang Lijin didn't retreat.
A thin silver thread popped out from the outer side of her wrist bone, tracing an almost invisible arc in the air.
Micro-particle cutting wire.
The syringe in Graven's hand broke into two halves, and the blue liquid spilled all over the floor.
He froze for a moment, looking down at his hand.
His right hand was smoothly severed at the wrist, the cut clean and even. Two seconds later, blood finally spurted out.
"Ah—!"
The scream echoed in the laboratory.
Jiang Lijin took a step forward expressionlessly.
Graven clutched his severed wrist, staggering backward and crashing into the medical pod. His face, which always wore a perfect smile year-round, was completely contorted, dripping with cold sweat.
Females were non-aggressive, and when Jiang Lijin came in, the security at the door had clearly checked! Where did the weapon on her come from!
"You... you dare hurt me?" He gritted his teeth. "I am the First Heir of the Empire! If you kill me, you won't survive either!"
Jiang Lijin ignored his threat, her wrist flicking lightly again.
The fine wire swept past. Graven's legs were severed right at the knees. He fell heavily to the ground, blood quickly dyeing the metal floor red.
"You..." Graven gasped heavily, fear finally revealing itself in his eyes. "The guards outside... as long as I don't go out, they will rush in and shoot you full of holes!"
"Let them come." Jiang Lijin looked down at him from above. "But you won't live to see it."
Graven stared at her fixedly, his voice trembling from severe pain: "If you kill me... the Empire will be in chaos... the Federation will also take advantage to invade... you will become a sinner of the entire interstellar... you will be in huge trouble..."
"It is very troublesome." Jiang Lijin looked at him, her tone calm.
Her wrist flipped for the last time. The imperceptibly fine silver thread sliced across Graven's throat.
"But you won't even be able to feel the trouble, because you will be dead."
Graven's head rolled to the side, his eyes still wide open, retaining lingering fear and unwillingness.
Jiang Lijin retracted the cutting wire. The silver ring fitted closely back onto her wrist, turning back into that extremely narrow pattern.
She looked at the corpse on the ground. Unlike the discomfort she felt when she killed Kieran before, she was very calm, letting out a long breath of stale air on the spot.
Host. Xiao Yi's voice sounded in her mind, carrying a slight tremble. You really sliced him up...
"Mm. Did the main system a big favor. Tell it for me, no need to thank me." Jiang Lijin's tone was cold. "How many people are outside the door?"
Twelve, all A-level royal guards.
Jiang Lijin touched the stud on her left ear cartilage. Three nerve-paralyzing needles, not enough.
Just then, a loud bang came from the heavy metal door of the laboratory.
Someone was forcibly breaking the door from the outside.
The door was kicked flying by a brutal and immense force, smashing against the wall and denting a large crater.
Baal strode into the room. His military uniform was splattered with blood, the ruthless glint in his golden eyes had yet to fade, and he dragged an unconscious royal guard by the collar.
Seeing the scene in the laboratory, Baal froze for a second.
Blood covered the floor, Graven had been chopped into several pieces, and Jiang Lijin stood in the pool of blood without a single hair out of place.
"You..." Baal tossed the guard aside and strode over. He looked her up and down, and only after confirming she wasn't hurt did he finally glance at Graven on the floor.
"Pretty neat cuts," Baal commented.
"How are things outside?" Jiang Lijin could not help but smile.
"Chiron has those monsters under control, and Tinia's people are cutting off the palace's signal jammers." Baal frowned. "But with Graven dead, the royal guards will definitely riot. We need to leave immediately."
Jiang Lijin pointed to the button on her collar. "The holographic recorder has been on the whole time. He just confessed to the live experiments, and to orchestrating this turmoil."
Baal raised an eyebrow, his golden eyes lighting up with a touch of admiration. "Beautifully done."
He took off his bloodstained coat and draped it over Jiang Lijin's shoulders, wrapping her up completely.
"Let's go."
Just as the two stepped out of the laboratory, a massive squad of royal guards swarmed from the end of the corridor.
"The Second Prince has been assassinated! Take them down!"
Baal scoffed coldly. He shielded Jiang Lijin behind him and was about to make a move.
Suddenly, the ventilation duct on the corridor ceiling burst open, and two figures descended from above.
Tianyan and Tianque landed steadily.
Holding a high-energy particle gun, Tianyan smiled at the approaching guards. "Sorry, dead end."
Tianque did not say a word. He simply drew the long blade from his back and charged into the crowd. His white hair traced a cold, sharp arc in the dim corridor, every strike drawing blood.
"Boss," Tianyan turned to look at Jiang Lijin, "does this count as overtime?"
"It does," Jiang Lijin said. "Double pay."
With the black market twins clearing the way, the four quickly fought their way out of the siege and returned to the surface.
The main hall was already a complete mess. Chiron stood beside the corpses of several experimental subjects, one side of his glasses shattered, his white shirt stained with blood. Seeing Jiang Lijin emerge safely, his tense jawline finally relaxed.
"Let's go," Chiron said briefly.
The five rushed out of the palace gates, where Tinia's hovercar was already waiting.
The door opened, and Tinia pulled Jiang Lijin inside, his blue eyes checking her up and down several times. "Sister, are you hurt?"
"I'm fine." Jiang Lijin sat in the back seat.
The hovercar lifted into the air and rapidly sped away from the palace.
It was very quiet inside the cabin.
Jiang Lijin took the miniature recorder off her collar and tossed it to Tinia. "The evidence is in here. Graven is dead, so the rest is up to you."
Tinia caught the recorder and connected it to his optical computer.
A few minutes later, he looked up and grinned.
"Ten minutes," Tinia said. "In ten minutes, the headline on the Star Network across the entire galaxy will be Graven's confession video. He's not just a madman conducting live experiments, but a criminal who intended to murder nobles and provoke a war."
"Public opinion won't be enough to suppress this." Chiron pushed up his broken glasses, his tone calm. "Graven was the empire's first in line to the throne. He died by your hands. Even with the video as evidence, those stubborn old fools in the royal family won't let this go. They will classify this as murder."
"So what?" Baal leaned back in his seat and sneered. "I'm the one taking her away. If they have the guts, let them come to the Federation to demand her back."
"No. You didn't take her away," Jiang Lijin spoke up. "Jiang Lijin was kidnapped by people from the black market."
Tianyan in the passenger seat: "?"
