With Vill-V's intelligence, Dr. Mobius' little scheme naturally could not escape her discerning eyes.
Madam Ma had only just mentioned MANTISes before a MANTIS experimental subject appeared, and that experimental subject had even casually mentioned a green-haired woman.
Aside from Otto and Klein, the only person with hair that green was Mobius.
Could it have been someone else? Was the green hair merely a coincidence?
Only a ghost would believe that. Among people who spoke in riddles, coincidences did not exist.
There was no need to elaborate on how well-informed Mobius was. Back in MOTH, she had been the first to learn of Vill-V's existence.
Since these people had appeared before Vill-V, Mobius must have learned of Vill-V's movements through some method.
Then she had guided them to Vill-V somehow and used them to convey a message:
"Snake is trapped! Hurry and save Snake!"
Mm. That was probably more or less what Snake meant.
The reason was simple.
Guiding two ignorant lab rats over to deliver a message instead of contacting Vill-V personally meant Dr. Mobius was currently in an environment she could not trust. One of the lab rats being an experimental subject proved Dr. Mobius was being coerced by an enemy into conducting some kind of experiment.
But Snake, was it really necessary to send a MANTIS experimental subject over to probe me?
It was obvious that you desperately wanted to show off the results of the MANTIS Project in front of me...
After all, Vill-V's public stance had always been pessimistic about the MANTIS Project, even though she had been forced to give Doctor MEI and Dr. Mobius several highly effective suggestions after watching them take such absurdly circuitous paths.
The results were certainly gratifying, but...
My silly Hua got hurt!
Damn it.
Now I'm angry.
But that was simply Dr. Mobius' personality. As long as no one died, losing an arm or a leg was no different from clipping one's nails. It counted as normal, so Vill-V could hardly say anything.
The man named Landro before her was merely a lab rat Mobius had used to deliver a message.
There should not be any problem with killing him, right?
After all, his survival would convey information to Dr. Mobius, while his death would also convey information to Dr. Mobius.
Huh?
Wait.
What information would Dr. Mobius receive if the lab rat was left half-dead?
Schrodinger's message?
Worth a try!
...
Vill-V approached Landro step by step.
The biker underlings surrounding Landro were exceptionally nervous.
Although they were afraid, they still stood guard around him.
They expected their boss to unleash his hidden power, rise again, and turn the tables on the enemy.
However, Landro's gray robes were covered in mud and water stains, while the steel exoskeleton around his right arm had already been twisted into a complete knot.
No matter how powerful Boss Landro's regenerative ability might be, his body probably could not withstand an impact like that.
Even so, his underlings had not given up.
Such was the code of honor among biker men.
The instant Azure Empyrea's bare feet touched the red carpet formed from Landro's blood on the ground,
Landro, whose face was pressed against the paving stones, revealed a cunning smile tinged with gloom.
"I never expected to be forced into using this move."
Fortunately, his reactions had been extremely fast. Just before impact, he had strengthened his body with his own blood, preventing himself from becoming part of an Oreo sandwich.
Even so, an ordinary person would already have died after falling from a motorcycle traveling at 120 kilometers per hour.
But Landro was no ordinary person, nor was he some ability user who controlled blood.
He was a vampire with immensely powerful vitality!
A noble life-form created by Heliopolis Life Sciences!
The next second, several unmanned motorcycles charged toward Vill-V from her blind spot.
Taking advantage of Azure Empyrea's distraction, Landro slapped the pool of blood on the ground.
"Bloodthorn Sacrifice!"
An icy light flashed within his lake-blue eyes.
The underlings standing guard around Landro suddenly exploded. Part of their flesh and blood flowed into Landro's body, while most of it merged with the carpet of blood on the ground and transformed into tens of thousands of tentacles.
They wrapped tightly around Azure Empyrea's delicate feet, then carried the artificial diamonds scattered across the ground as they thrust farther toward her entire body.
He had devised this plan while skidding across the ground after his fall.
He had used this move to counter-kill powerful enemies countless times before. The girl before him would be no exception.
Landro did not expect these artificial diamonds to inflict much damage upon an immortal.
As long as they broke through her defenses, he would win.
Although he did not know how the girl had previously removed the vampire blood remaining inside her body, she had forced herself to endure it rather than removing it immediately. It seemed eliminating the blood required her to pay a certain price.
Previously, he had injected only a few drops. This time, however, he had sacrificed the blood of seven underlings. It was more than enough to turn the girl before him into his puppet!
The surviving underlings stared in profound confusion before their faces abruptly went pale with shock.
Landro was no longer controlling their emotions, so their feelings finally erupted directly.
"How could you, Boss? Kudo even helped you get together with your girlfriend, and you sacrificed him just like that?"
"No, he's no longer our brother Landro. He's a demon!"
"Stop this!"
Emotions could affect a person's judgment. Now that his underlings had finally regained human judgment, it was already too late.
Landro had no time to concern himself with his underlings' feelings. He could barely take care of himself, so how could he possibly care about anyone else?
Besides, they were merely bags of blood.
He would eat all of them later, then recruit another group after he returned.
Landro waited expectantly for the immortal before him to fall under his control and become his strongest puppet.
Instead, he heard only a series of faint, brittle noises before him, and his heart sank into the abyss.
"Taixuan Sword, come."
Whoosh!
The flying Taixuan Divine Sword swept across the ground.
The earth rolled upward and rose behind Vill-V, transforming into a launch ramp.
Whoosh!
Landro watched as the motorcycles performed several extreme flips in midair before howling into the concrete in the distance and disintegrating into burning wreckage.
What left him truly dumbfounded was that the blood under his control had somehow transformed into flowers covering the ground.
Amid the blooming flowers, her delicate feet appeared almost like works of art, every toe exquisitely shaped.
Azure Empyrea Vill-V stood amid the flowers and bowed with a smile. "Thank you for the flowers, dear audience member. It seems you were quite satisfied with today's performance. I feel the same—"
Landro roared angrily, "What kind of man uses a pile of bizarre tricks to toy with me? Fight me openly and honorably if you have the guts!"
Landro had always been the one using every manner of underhanded trick. Now that those tricks no longer worked, he could only resort to provocation.
Yet Vill-V was thinking about something else. "Uh... I recited the wrong line."
Azure Empyrea straightened once more and clasped both hands behind her back. The Taixuan Divine Sword rose and fell around her.
A beam of light descended from the sky and enveloped the immortal, accentuating the bearing of an unfathomable master. "Although you are strong, you are not yet worthy of stepping into this light."
The humiliation made Landro so furious that he coughed up blood.
Strong?
Forget breaking through her defenses. I haven't even touched her once.
A dignified third-generation vampire count like me isn't even worthy of making her draw her sword?
So that was it. It was not that she refused to fight openly and honorably. He simply was not worthy of fighting her at all.
He could not even touch the edge of her clothes, so how could he have the nerve to demand an open and honorable battle?
At that moment, Landro felt a wave of searing heat surge through his body, and pain twisted his expression.
"What the fuck is going on?!"
He raised his head and saw a beam of light descending from the sky.
The Madam Ma-brand intercontinental missile had finally reached the heavens and pierced through the dark clouds.
The earlier light had been brought down by her.
After Madam Ma opened the first gap, her bodyguards followed one after another, punching several more holes through the cloud cover.
Amber sunlight streamed down, gifting the city at dusk with several long-awaited rays of light.
Yet for vampires, this light...
Was a nightmare.
A vampire's greatest weakness was precisely that golden energy of life!