I'm on the Ark, and I started as a succubus.

The call echoed outwards, faintly reverberating in the empty office.

Shining drew her sword and slowly walked deeper into the room, bypassing rows and rows of desks with frosted glass partitions that blocked her view.

Files were scattered haphazardly on the desktop and the floor, and monitors were still on, displaying various open documents and editing software desktops.

When Rhodes Island emptied the building and arrived at and occupied Ursus National Television, they did not prevent the employees from leaving.

The black boots stepped onto the white paper with a soft, subtle sound.

Shining stopped in front of a desk, her gaze lingering on an unusually long desk.

The folders, pens, and even the landline phone that were originally placed on top were all swept onto the floor.

There was no deliberate effort put into tidying up; it seemed rushed, as if he had simply swept everything onto the floor with his bare hands.

The man seemed to be in a hurry, eager to clear out the entire large table.

I don't know what I plan to do.

With a conference table that's wide and long enough, and so much space that you could probably roll around on it without any problem, what are you so eager to do with emptying it out?

Shining's delicate eyebrows furrowed even more deeply.

She realized something even worse. The nightingale was beautiful, with a delicate and fragile appearance, which probably had an extra touch of the evil sadistic desires deep within people's hearts.

'Liz…'

Shining bit her cherry lips, trying hard not to let her tears fall.

If, if... Liz really was captured by the Ursus people, she would definitely suffer extremely terrible treatment.

splat... splat...

The sound of the water seemed to have become clearer.

Who's here?

Shining gripped the hilt of her sword tightly. If what she had felt before was just a hallucination, she was now certain that someone was still hiding here, concealed from view.

no respond.

Or rather, the response she received was still the increasingly crisp yet muffled sound of water.

The sound was like stepping on a wet tile floor, with the soles of your feet hitting and splashing the water, making a slapping and hissing sound.

Shining stretched out her delicate hand, touched her fingertips together on the conference table, and then brought her hand closer to examine it.

The glistening watermarks shimmered with a decadent sheen under the light.

If you rub your fingers together, you'll feel a smooth, sticky sensation.

what is this?

Shining frowned, brought the water stain from her fingertip to her nose, and took a light sniff, trying to figure out what the strange water stain on the table was.

It has a rich, orchid-like fragrance, and also subtly exudes a strange, alluring scent that seems to tempt and corrupt.

what is this?

Suddenly, Shining felt her earlobes and cheeks burning inexplicably, as if a wave of heat had suddenly surged up onto her face.

She took a sudden step back, struggling to shake off the water droplets clinging to her fingertips.

Almost at that moment, her gaze suddenly shifted from the large conference table to the thick carpet on the other side.

Where did the torn and tattered white strips of cloth fall?

Shining immediately recognized the fabric with the lotus pleated pattern as the beautiful pleated hem of Nightingale's long dress.

The dress that Nightingale loved and cherished seemed to have shattered into pieces.

"Liz?!"

Shining immediately rushed to the torn and shattered pieces of cloth, crouched down, and picked them up.

The fabric felt damp to the touch, and for some reason it was soaked with water... But these weren't the most worrying and unsettling things. What was most unsettling was that it was stained with blood at some point.

The scattered bright red marks stood out starkly against the snow-white fabric, as if blood had accidentally stained it when something was pulled out.

It remains an ominous sign, symbolizing tragedy.

It was as if it were announcing the loss of something of utmost importance.

Everything was a reminder that she had made an unforgivable mistake, causing her to lose the nightingale she cherished.

Shining suddenly stood up, her gaze falling on the sink at the entrance of the restroom.

The marble countertop was reflecting a strange, lustrous sheen, and it seemed to be covered with a layer of viscous water.

Shining walked to the bathroom sink, looked at the glass that was blurred by a layer of condensation, and suddenly raised her hand, gesturing to the two tiny handprints left on the condensation.

The handprint was slightly thinner than hers, so small that you could tell at a glance that the owner of the hand must be the type with a very slender and delicate figure.

“Liz…”

Shining bit her lip and took a deep breath, becoming increasingly certain that Nightingale had met with misfortune, and perhaps even suffered extremely terrible treatment.

She suddenly turned her head to look at the director's office at the end of the corridor.

The curtains were drawn on the glass windows, obscuring the view inside, but one could still vaguely sense something moving inside, occasionally interfering with the light.

There's no one left!

Shining calmed herself down, picked up her sword, and slowly walked towards the office.

*Splat...slap slap...slap slap!*

It seemed that the sound of the water became clearer as the distance closed.

There seemed to be something hidden inside the room.

The change in light made Shining frown deeply; she suddenly felt a strong sense of unease.

Water droplets appeared in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling glass window next to it. The heavy snow in Ursus had melted at some point, silently turning into a heavy rain.

The sky not far away was inexplicably tinged with a dark red, as if a raging fire was burning among the clouds.

The clearer sound of water was due to the sudden downpour; raindrops were pounded against the huge floor-to-ceiling windows by the wind, making a series of crackling and crashing sounds.

Shining ignored the sudden change, stopped in front of the private office, and slowly reached out to grasp the doorknob.

She forcefully pushed open the door, sword in hand, and there stood the nightingale she had been searching for. But now, the nightingale resembled a broken doll.

134 Tell me about Rhodes Island's conspiracy~

boo~

A dull, viscous sound.

They've popped champagne again.

The cork fell to the side, and after a short while, the wine, covered with fine white foam, gushed out from the bottle opening.

After gushing and bubbling for a while, the champagne slowly stopped gushing out. The wine, which was covered with fine, viscous bubbles, no longer sprayed everywhere, but instead spread along the bottle, adding a touch of luxurious, watery luster to the dark bottle.

The bottle was picked up and tilted as it was poured into a stemmed glass, where it contained bubbly, amber-colored liquor.

As for her back, the lotus-like arms that had been supporting her like reins lost their pulling force, and Nightingale's lotus legs went weak, turning inward. Her lotus feet slid and could no longer support her body, and she finally collapsed weakly onto the carpet.

Shining was stunned by the sight before her, and for a moment forgot to rush forward and hug Nightingale. Bai Chen, that utterly despicable bastard who had no pity for a beautiful girl, had no intention of hugging Nightingale either.

And so, Nightingale, whose body was always delicate and weak, actually collapsed to the ground. Fortunately, there was a thick carpet in her private office, so slipping on it probably wouldn't hurt too much.

"Oh, you're late."

Bai Chen reached for the stemmed glass, took a casual sip of champagne, and said, "She's very disobedient, so I had to teach her a lesson."

He raised an eyebrow at Shining, a smile spreading across his face. "However, I think when Rhodes Island invaded my country and wreaked havoc in my mobile city, you should have been prepared to pay the price, right?"

This isn't a case of the guilty party accusing the innocent first; it's simply what I genuinely think.

Even beautiful girls have to pay the price for their mistakes, right?

Shining snapped back to reality, her gaze fixed on the Nightingale, which appeared to be 'broken,' and cried out in sorrow:

"Liz!"

Liz... I'm sorry, Liz, I'm late.

Shining clenched her fists, biting her lip to hold back her tears from blurring her vision.

The enemy was right in front of her, and even deliberately abused Liz in front of her, perhaps in order to provoke her and make her lose her mind.

Anger and resentment are of no benefit to combat; those mixed emotions will only affect the accuracy of swordsmanship and Originium Arts.

Shanling gripped her longsword tightly, slowly exhaling and adjusting herself to the optimal state for combat.

The space is too cramped, and Liz is still here, even right next to the enemy. If we're not careful, Liz could get hurt.

She lowered her gaze, her red eyes once again fixed on the nightingale.

Her small hands were limply outstretched at her sides, her legs were slightly turned inward, and her whole body looked exceptionally weak and powerless.

Her once flawless, snow-white skin was now covered with a layer of glistening sweat, beneath which lay shocking bruises and swelling, making it hard to imagine the terrible treatment she had endured.

His beautiful blue eyes rolled upwards, almost devoid of any expression, only emptiness and dullness remained. If it weren't for the small rise and fall of his chest and lungs that could be seen with each breath, he would have looked as if he were completely broken or even dead.

On her fair calves and ankles, there were even traces of blood flowing through them, leaving behind dried bloodstains.

'Liz must have suffered some kind of extremely horrific torture.'

Shining even pictured Nightingale in her mind, her voice trembling with pain, so much so that she didn't even have the strength to cry out, only able to open and close her mouth to let out silent sobs of pain.

But what's strange is that there seems to be a faint smile on her cherry lips, which are half-closed to aid her breathing?

Liz, Liz... what terrible things have you been through this time?

"Miss Shining, getting distracted at a time like this isn't a wise choice~"

Bai Chen swirled the champagne in his stemmed glass. "Instead of getting distracted by other things, why don't we talk first?"

'I will protect your Liz, this time I will definitely protect you.'

Shining said softly to himself.

She looked up and scanned ahead, and the moment she saw the demon before her, her lotus feet involuntarily took a half step back.

ferocious.