Chapter 165: Direct Showdown, White Queen's Self-Conquest
Lin Nuo stood before the broken study window.
The night wind poured in through the gap, tugging at his black shirt and blowing Emma's long, silver-white hair into slight disarray.
He gazed at the woman before him who had just lowered her head in submission.
Her fair skin flushed slightly, her eyelashes trembled, and traces of undried moisture still remained on her face.
Yet her spine remained held straight.
White Queen is White Queen; even when declaring submission, her posture is different from others.
Others would collapse completely, but she bowed elegantly, maintaining her final dignity in a way that was extremely restrained.
Lin Nuo raised his hand, his fingertips brushing over her cold cheek, taking the opportunity to wipe away that streak of warm moisture.
"Why are you crying?"
"The wind is strong; it got in my eyes."
"Fine, the wind is strong."
Lin Nuo withdrew his hand and turned to walk into the depths of the study. "Let's go inside to talk; it's cold outside, and you're dressed too thinly."
He casually picked up the Vibranium trench coat from the sofa armrest, shook off the dust, and draped it over Emma's shoulders once again.
This was the third time this large black coat had fallen upon her.
The first time was in the rain at the manor, the second time was in the cramped safe house, and the third time is now.
Each time, it was at her most vulnerable moment.
Emma tightened the collar; the coat retained his body heat, mixed with the scent of dry wood and the domineering aura of male hormones, wrapping her completely.
She sank into the shadows of the sofa.
Lin Nuo did not sit opposite her but sat right next to her.
Their shoulders brushed against each other, almost imperceptibly.
"Let's talk business."
Lin Nuo's voice shed its previous playfulness, becoming deep and cold.
"I've noted what you said just now. You said your body and soul belong to me; I accept this deal."
"But that's not enough."
"You haven't given me your heart yet."
Emma turned her head, her profile hidden in the dim light: "What else do you want?"
"Your mental power."
Lin Nuo turned his body, leaning in close to her: "You are an Omega-level Telepath; your mental power is your soul. But until just now, it was still instinctively rejecting me."
"You tried to read my mind twice. The first time was probing, the second time was a counterattack. Your defense mechanism automatically marked me as the deadliest threat."
"If this mark isn't removed, your submission will only stay on your lips, not reach your bones."
Emma fell silent.
He was right.
Even though her reason had made a compromise, the defense mechanism hidden deep in her consciousness was still frantically sounding alarms, rejecting this terrifying man.
This is the body's self-protection mechanism.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Open up your mental defenses."
Lin Nuo said, enunciating every word: "To me, open up without reservation, leaving no room for retreat."
Emma's shoulders flinched.
For a Telepath, opening one's brain completely means exposing all the memories, fears, dreams, and the most vulnerable weaknesses of one's life nakedly before others.
This is a hundred times more thorough than standing unshielded in broad daylight.
"Do you understand what this means?"
Her voice was trembling slightly.
"Once the mental defenses are opened, if the other party has malicious intent, my brain will die directly, with permanent brain stem necrosis."
Lin Nuo looked at her levelly: "I know."
"Therefore, this is the price you must pay: put your life in my hands."
His tone was flat, with no room for negotiation.
"But look at it from another angle."
He extended a finger and lightly tapped her forehead.
"Every time your mental power touches me, it gets bounced back because my brain naturally possesses an indestructible iron wall."
"This means that even if you let me in, I cannot harm you on a mental level. Because I have no means of mental attack; I am not a Mutant, nor am I a Telepath."
"The door can only be opened from the inside."
"Whether I can get in depends entirely on whether you dare to let go."
His tone was unhurried, carrying an unquestionable openness.
Emma stared at the man before her.
The gold-rimmed glasses obscured most of his expression; his usual playfulness had vanished entirely, replaced by a sense of oppression that made one unable to breathe.
But she did not feel any deception from it.
"If I open my defenses... what will you see?"
"Nothing, just to see clearly what kind of person you really are."
Lin Nuo paused and continued: "Likewise, you will also be able to see me."
"My mental defense is aimed at external intrusion; once you take the initiative to lead me in, the passage inside the defense line will open."
"As a guest, you also have the right to visit my World."
Emma held her breath completely.
This is not just taking; it is an equal gamble.
An ordinary person actually taking the initiative to invite an Omega-level Telepath to pry into his origin.
This already exceeds the scope of confidence; it is simply the act of a madman.
"Aren't you afraid?"
She looked directly at him: "Aren't you afraid I'll tear your reason to shreds?"
Lin Nuo laughed.
"Everything I have done in my life, I have never regretted."
"Slaughter, plunder, domination."
"What you saw last time was just the tip of the iceberg. Magnified a thousand times, that is the real me."
"Do you dare to look?"
The highly provocative words struck heavily at Emma's heart.
The pride and unyielding spirit of the White Queen were completely ignited at this moment.
She closed her eyes, her whole body trembling violently.
Then, she released the final gate she had guarded for many years.
Hum!
In the mental dimension, a silent roar suddenly erupted.
The diamond barrier wrapping the outermost layer of her consciousness collapsed with a bang, receding layer by layer to reveal the pure white halo at the core.
Weak, pure, completely defenseless.
Immediately after, a terrifying sense of oppression squeezed in violently from the outside.
In her perception, that was no longer a human mind, but a vast sea of stars burning with dark red and gold.
Vast, ancient, and so heavy it could not be looked at directly.
At the core of that sea of stars, a passage paved with golden light opened silently.
The moment Emma's consciousness explored along the passage, countless vast and bizarre images submerged her like a tsunami.
She saw another vast Universe.
It was a World known as "Marvel".
She saw him rise from humble beginnings, wrestling giant beasts with his bare hands, and seizing the power that belonged to giants.
She saw him seize the industries and lovers of tech giants, establishing a sacred empire that spanned galaxies.
She saw him strip the blood and bones of gods, trample the God of Death underfoot, and finally sit on the supreme throne of the ancient divine realm.
Finally, there was a tragic scene of being exiled by forbidden runic magic filling the sky, forcibly stripped of his power, and falling into this World.
And on the surface of these memories, several lines of cold, ruthless rules were clearly engraved:
[Locked Target: Emma Frost.]
[Plunder Plan: Seize her dimension core fragment, forcibly unseal the authority seal.]
He did not hide it.
He brazenly placed his purpose before her, clearly telling her: I am here to use you; you are just a tool for me to return to the peak.
However, deep within these cold, bone-chilling memories of plunder, Emma saw another layer of color.
The women who had once been conquered by him—the red-haired witch, the arrogant God of Death, the capable secretary.
In the depths of Lin Nuo's memories, they were not cold trophies.
He remembered the temperature of the witch's breath when she leaned in his arms.
He remembered the hesitation of the God of Deathlingering outside the door in the dead of night.
He remembered the frequency at which that capable woman tapped the desk with her pen tip.
In his own way, amidst the coldness of his godhood, he reserved the most fervent favoritism for them.
This was not a machine without feelings at all, but a Demon King who burned both desire and deep affection to the extreme.
The mental communion was suddenly interrupted.
Emma opened her eyes abruptly, gasping for air, her face already covered in cold tears.
She couldn't tell whether she felt sad because she was being used or shocked because she had caught a glimpse of the warmth beneath the iceberg of that Demon King.
Lin Nuo sat on the side, a layer of fine sweat seeping from his temples.
In order to suppress the instinctive destructive defense, he had almost exhausted all the existing energy of this body.
He reached out and wiped the water marks off her face with his rough palm.
"You're not cute when you cry, White Queen."
"Shut up..."
Emma's voice was hoarse and unbearable, with a hint of a sob.
But she didn't dodge his hand; instead, like she had lost all strength, she plunged into Lin Nuo's arms, her hands gripping the hem of his black shirt tightly.
Lin Nuo raised his hand to embrace her shoulders, his facial lines gradually softening.
At the same time, a series of cold mechanical sounds exploded in his mind:
[Ding!]
[Strategy Target: Emma Frost (White Queen), Interception Progress Reached: 100%.]
[Physical and mental submission detected, critical hit roulette started...]
[Congratulations, Host, you have obtained a special item: High-Purity Dimension Energy Core Fragment!]
[Extra rewards have been issued:]
[Ultimate Diamond Physique (Passive Skill): Gain 45% physical damage reduction, body micro-lattice crystallization.]
[Telekinesis Immunity (Passive Skill): Immune to all psychic and mental attacks and probing.]
[World Law Seal Loosened: Current unlock progress 23%.]
[Chaos Magic source revived, Reality Modificationauthority slightly unlocked.]
A powerful, warm energy erupted from the depths of his heart, instantly washing over his limbs and bones.
Lin Nuo could clearly feel that his skin molecules were undergoing some kind of rigid reorganization, and the strength was skyrocketing geometrically.
He slowly extended his right hand.
On the tip of his index finger, a glimmer of dark red light pulsed quietly.
Although it was as weak as a candlelight, it represented that the Chaos Magic, which had been tightly sealed by the Vishanti, had finally sounded the whistle of recovery in this World.
Chapter 166: Kneeling in Service, a Delicate Body at the Master's Disposal
The morning sunlight spilled onto the floor.
Lin Nuo leaned back comfortably in his large, black leather executive chair.
The top three buttons of his white shirt were undone, revealing the robust pectoral muscles beneath his collarbones, which were filled with explosive power.
His signature gold-rimmed glasses were discarded casually beside the walnut desk, and he appeared exceptionally relaxed and languid.
Beside him, a scene capable of shocking the entire MutantWorld was unfolding.
The once unattainable White Queen, Emma Frost, who could turn the tide in the business World and the upper echelons of the Mutant community with a mere flip of her hand, was currently facing Lin Nuo.
She knelt obediently on the soft, thick, pure white wool carpet.
She was wearing a form-fitting black lace skirt.
The low neckline pushed her full curves into an alluring arc.
Due to her kneeling position, the slit of her skirt slid up to the base of her thighs, revealing a large expanse of delicate, fair skin.
In those eyes that used to be arrogant and cold, Emmanow held an expression filled with a near-pathological docility and attachment.
Her jade-like fair hands were kneading the muscles of Lin Nuo's calves, one stroke after another, with meticulous care.
The gentle force was as if she were stroking a peerless treasure.
Emma tilted up her face, which was devoid of makeup yet stunningly beautiful, and her voice was so sweet it could almost drip water.
She no longer possessed the arrogance of a queen; instead, she looked exactly like a Persian cat that had been declawed.
"Does that feel good, Master?"
Lin Nuo closed his eyes and let out a faint nasal sound.
"Your technique has improved."
"Has the White Queen who used to want to fry people's brains into tofu with telepathy at every turn completely retired?"
"Why is your main focus now on being obedient, even developing foot-rubbing services?"
Hearing this teasing, Emma's body trembled slightly.
A charming crimson blush quickly spread across her flawless cheeks.
She lowered her head, her red lips lightly touching the side of Lin Nuo's calf, leaving a silent kiss.
"In front of you, there is no White Queen."
"As long as it makes Master happy, I am willing to be even the lowliest servant girl."
Watching her pathological obedience, which had been completely assimilated by him and radiated from her very bones, Lin Nuo opened his eyes.
He reached out his right hand and used his index finger to frivolously lift Emma's delicate chin.
"What do you call this? This is what they call a high-end hunter often appearing in the form of prey."
"Emma, you, along with all the assets of the Hellfire Club, have already become my private property."
Lin Nuo pressed his thumb against her lips, neither too lightly nor too heavily.
A faint cedar scent drifted into Emma's breath.
"So now, shouldn't you show me what value my private property has?"
Emma's water-like, light gray pupils trembled, and her breathing suddenly became rapid.
Facing Lin Nuo's highly aggressive gaze, she could barely resist for even a second.
Every cell in her body was instinctively going weak, yet she still held on, not daring to make any overstepping moves.
"The seventy-two overseas offshore companies, sixteen large-scale underground Mutant research laboratories, and all real estate and cash flows in New York under the Hellfire Club have all been transferred to your name."
Emma struggled to control the murmur in her throat.
"The remnants left behind by Danton were all cleared out this morning."
"From now on, in New York, no one can ever defy your will again!"
Lin Nuo let out a low chuckle.
"Well done."
He did not withdraw his hand but slowly slid it down from her chin.
His slightly rough fingertips traced her tender neck, finally coming to rest above her collarbone.
There, the red marks from where he had gripped her tightly last night had not yet fully faded, looking particularly striking against her snow-white skin.
Lin Nuo grasped her warm, tender right hand.
"However, compared to these scrap-metal assets, what I am more interested in is this."
"Turn your hand into diamond and let me see."
Emma did not hesitate at all.
A halo deep within her consciousness brightened slightly, and her originally snow-white, tender palm instantly lit up with a translucent flow of light under the rearrangement of microscopic molecules.
In the blink of an eye, that arm had transformed into hard diamond, crystalline and translucent, refracting the seven-colored light of the Sun.
Cold and hard, yet breathtakingly beautiful.
Lin Nuo pulled over her hand that had turned into diamond, tightly enveloping it with his own hot, calloused palm.
The collision of ice and fire rose between their intertwined fingers.
Lin Nuo unhurriedly toyed with her hard, cool fingers, even pulling her fingertips to his lips and wickedly sucking on the knuckles.
Even though her arm had turned into the hardest diamond, the moment she was touched by Lin Nuo, Emma felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
A suppressed, soft whimper escaped her throat.
"Mmm..."
That feeling of domination, which went deep into her marrow, was devouring her last bit of reason and restraint, inch by inch.
"Master's temperature... is too high."
Under Lin Nuo's touch, her diamond-transformed palm actually took on a faint pink hue.
Even the interior of the crystal began to resonate faintly with the rhythm of her heartbeat.
Lin Nuo let go and leaned back into the chair.
"You can't take it already?"
"This is just an appetizer."
"When I break open all the remaining seals, I will have plenty of ways to help you improve."
"Boss, you wouldn't want your new Master to not even have a decent office, would you?"
Hearing the modern internet slang that Lin Nuo popped out, Emma didn't quite understand, but the domineering words declaring ownership made her heart completely melt.
She straightened up, pressing herself obediently against Lin Nuo's legs, and rubbed her cheek against his knee in a somewhat ingratiating manner.
"The top floor of the Hellfire Club building will always belong only to you, Master."
Lin Nuo's fingers moved casually away from the desk surface and landed on several confidential files.
Planting this thickest nail in the Mutant World was just the first step in his reconstruction of order.
Although the law seals in his body had been unlocked by 23% and the roots of Chaos Magic had begun to slightly recover, it was far from enough in this Universe where the strong stood in great numbers.
He needed to plunder more luck and conquer more high-quality targets to completely tear apart the remaining seals.
His gaze lingered on a file marked with a red danger level.
On it was a picture of a man wearing a tight leather suit and red quartz glasses—Scott Summers, codenamed Cyclops.
Below this file, there were also several reports regarding the secret activities of the Mutant resistance organization and the Brotherhood.
Among them, a line of light red handwriting marked a name that frequently appeared in the Mutant circle in a secretive way.
Raven Darkholme.
Mystique, the woman who acted as a top Agent in the famous Brotherhood.
A playful arc appeared on the corners of Lin Nuo's lips.
Since he hadn't yet obtained Cyclops's luck entanglement and dimensional fragments, and since there were still so many beautiful flowers in this World, he wouldn't mind playing the role of a Raider once again.
Emma seemed to notice the shift in Lin Nuo's attention.
She moved her body with a hint of coquetry, pressing her full chest tightly against his legs, and looked up at him.
"Master..."
"Don't look at those cold documents anymore; look at Emma more, okay?"
Lin Nuo stretched out his long arm, directly grasping her slender wasp waist.
"Greedy woman."
He used a little force and lifted her directly from the carpet, pressing her heavily onto the huge mahogany desk in front of him.
Countless files and pens were pushed aside by her voluptuous body, scattering all over the floor with a clatter.
Emma let out a soft cry, her hands instinctively hooking around Lin Nuo's neck.
At this moment, their bodies were pressed tightly together.
Through the thin clothing, the scorching temperature and powerful heartbeat coming from Lin Nuo's chest made Emma's long, fair thighs want to wrap around his waist uncontrollably.
Lin Nuo lowered his head, wrapping her silver-white long hair in his palm, forcing her to tilt up that long, snow-white neck.
"Since you want me to look at you, you will stay here today; you aren't going anywhere."
Lin Nuo's voice echoed in her ear, carrying a suffocating, domineering possessiveness.
"At my disposal, do you understand?"
A few teardrops, brought on by the stimulation, hung on Emma's long eyelashes.
On her flushed, delicate face, however, a beautiful and pathological smile bloomed.
"Emma... is always Master's..."
She closed her eyes tightly, tilted up her red, swollen lips, and waited for the arrival of the violent rain.
In the air, dark red Chaos Magic energy flickered faintly at Lin Nuo's fingertips as they entangled.
This private space was completely dragged into an abyss of depravity.
Just as their breathing became heavier and heavier and the atmosphere became so tense it was about to spiral out of control, Emma opened her eyes slightly.
Her gaze passed over Lin Nuo and fell onto an urgent piece of intelligence behind him.
She rubbed her cheek against Lin Nuo's neck longingly.
"Master, that little Agent from the Brotherhood who often changes her appearance seems to have set her sights on our territory recently."
Chapter 168: Luring the Prey, Raven Traps Herself
"Master, the mouse in the basement has entered the cage."
"She moved very quickly, even bypassing the psychic wave sensor I set up on the third level."
Emma leaned lazily against the armrest of her leather swivel chair.
Her fair, long legs swayed slightly beneath the desk.
She pointed at a moving blue dot on the surveillance screen, a playful arc curling at the corners of her lips.
Thirty meters beneath the Hellfire Building lay the secret vault.
This room featured sixty-centimeter-thick titanium alloy walls.
The interior was filled with a dense array of lasers and infrared thermal sensors.
In the deepest part of the vault, a massive spherical server pulsed with a pale blue, cold light.
It stored decades of dirt on political and business figures accumulated by the Hellfire Club, as well as the detailed coordinates of Mutants worldwide.
In the darkness, the ventilation duct grille made a barely audible sound.
A tall figure wearing the standard Hellfire bodyguard uniform agilely dropped down.
He had a typical Western European tough-guy face, with bronze skin and a rigid jawline.
His landing was incredibly light, like a feather brushing across the metal floor.
He pulled a sophisticated electronic decoder from his waist and skillfully plugged it into the server's interface.
As the green light turned on, streams of data leaped rapidly across the screen.
He let out a very slight scoff, his voice rough and low.
"The White Queen is only at this level."
"It seems the internal strife really made her lose her brains in a man's bed."
Suddenly, a low and magnetic male voice rang out from the corner.
"Speaking ill of a beautiful lady behind her back is not a gentlemanly act."
The intruder's body stiffened instantly.
He turned his head abruptly, his pupils contracting sharply.
In the corner that had been empty just a moment ago, a sophisticated black mahogany chair had appeared out of nowhere.
Lin Nuo was sitting there quietly, his legs crossed.
The buttons of his white shirt were buttoned strictly to the top, and his gold-rimmed glasses reflected a faint orange light in the gloom.
Lin Nuo held a delicate porcelain teacup, with tea leaves floating in the hot water.
Steam rose in wisps, blurring his expression.
The intruder lowered his rough voice, his left hand quietly pressing against the Glock pistol at his waist.
"Who are you?"
Lin Nuo took a light sip of tea, his movements unhurried.
As if this were not a heavily guarded secret vault, but his private study.
Lin Nuo set down the teacup and tapped his fingertips lightly on the armrest.
"Who I am is not important."
"What is important is, Miss Raven."
"This bodyguard skin suit of yours is well-made, even simulating the heavy sweat-gland scent of a man quite accurately."
"But you forgot, Hellfire bodyguards never spray this kind of blocker with a faint lavender scent."
The expression of Raven, disguised as a tough guy, finally changed.
A violent murderous aura instantly emanated from those deep brown eyes!
Without a word, she stomped her right foot hard against the ground.
Like a leopard out of a cage, she lunged forward, her fingers joined into a blade, stabbing directly at Lin Nuo's throat!
This strike was astonishingly fast, carrying a faint sound of breaking air.
But in Lin Nuo's eyes, it was simply too slow.
Lin Nuo sat steadily in the chair, his body not even moving unnecessarily.
The moment her fingertips were just five centimeters from his throat, Lin Nuo moved.
The limit speed of Quicksilver erupted fully within this narrow space!
Raven only felt a blur before her eyes; the man who had been sitting calmly vanished into thin air.
Immediately after, an irresistible, immense force struck from the side and back, precisely gripping her shoulder.
The palm was slender and powerful, and the scorching heat from the fingertips felt as if it would completely melt half her body.
"Crack!"
The crisp sound of bones slightly dislocating rang out.
Raven let out a pained grunt.
She was swung up by Lin Nuo with one hand and violently smashed against the titanium alloy vault door behind her.
A dull metallic thud echoed out.
That special metal door, weighing over two hundred kilograms, actually dented slightly inward from this impact!
"Ugh..."
Raven was in so much pain she nearly fainted.
The pure strength brought by the Hulk-level body, with absolute overwhelming advantage, directly crushed all her will to resist.
She struggled, wanting to fight back.
But Lin Nuo's palm seemed to have taken root on her shoulder, pinning her back firmly against the cold metal door with the force of a thousand pounds.
Lin Nuo slowly approached her.
"Don't waste your energy."
Their nose tips were almost touching.
A faint scent of cedarwood wafted over, and behind his gold-rimmed glasses, a cold, highly aggressive gaze flickered.
This made a shiver rise from the depths of Raven's heart, as if she were being stared at by an apex predator.
Lin Nuo reached out his other hand, roughly lifting her chin, his thumb gently rubbing against that rigid, masculine face.
"This transformation logic is indeed useful in the MutantWorld, but here with me, this kind of trick is meaningless."
"Since you're here, change into a look I like to talk."
"This tough guy's face is truly nauseating to look at."
Raven's breathing became increasingly rapid.
She tried to fight back again, but despairingly discovered that Lin Nuo's Bio-force field had turned into invisible shackles, completely locking her down!
Her body began to spasm violently.
First starting from her toes, then followed by her exposed neck.
Layers of fine, deep-blue scale-like tissue surged wildly on the surface of her skin.
That high-frequency fluctuation, carrying a strange rhythm, peeled away the original fake disguise layer by layer.
A head of dazzling, fiery red short hair emerged from beneath the bodyguard's buzz cut.
The rough and burly skeletal muscles contracted rapidly, becoming slender and graceful.
In just a few seconds, the tall Western European tough guy completely disappeared.
In his place was a woman, entirely deep blue and adorned with fine scales.
Her body was full of wild tension and beauty, every inch of her muscle lines appearing as a masterpiece carefully carved by the Creator.
Raven was presented naked before him, her bright yellow pupils filled with uncontrollable shame and anger!
This form was her true self.
Except for a very few closest people, she absolutely would not easily show it to others.
Yet at this moment, she was like an unguarded sacrifice, nailed to the vault door by Lin Nuo's one hand, enduring his unbridled and greedy scrutiny.
Lin Nuo's fingers slid slowly down her deep-blue neck, lingering on the uneven texture of the scales.
"That's right."
"Compared to that unshaven face, this minimalist, primitive style suits my aesthetic better."
That wonderful tactile sensation, where roughness and delicacy intertwined, ignited a dark and burning spark deep in Lin Nuo's eyes.
At this moment, Emma's voice came through the underground loudspeaker, carrying a jealous, coquettish laugh.
"Master, it seems this new friend is indeed much more 'colorful' than I am."
"Do you need me to prepare a beautiful cage down here right now?"
Raven's body stiffened suddenly!
She instantly recognized the owner of that voice.
It was Emma Frost!
The White Queen, who once stood on equal footing with Magneto and was proud to the bone!
Now, that woman was actually using such a sickeningly sweet and submissive tone to call the man in front of her... "Master"?
Raven's worldview suffered an unprecedented, devastating shock at this moment!
She stared fixedly at Lin Nuo, her bright yellow eyes filled with horror and hostility.
"You... what did you do to Emma?"
"Who on earth are you?!"
Lin Nuo chuckled.
His fingertips gently lifted a strand of Raven's fiery red long hair.
Then he lowered his head slightly, his warm lips almost touching her cold ear, his tone low, revealing a sense of ease that came from controlling everything.
"Emma just found a destination more wonderful than freedom."
"And you, my dear Miss Raven..."
"It seems you have no other choice now."
Lin Nuo's large palm suddenly tightened around her slender waist.
His fingers applied slight pressure, pulling her cold body deeper into his embrace with an unshakeable, domineering posture.
"Caught you, little sparrow."
"Now, should I call you Mr. Senator, or... Miss Raven?"
Chapter 169: Playing with You Face-to-Face, the Ultimate Experience of Transformation
Raven's bright yellow pupils constricted into fine needles.
She could feel how heavy the palms gripping her waist were, almost like two red-hot steel tongs.
"You… what do you want?"
Her voice was hoarse as she tried to exert force to break free at such close range.
Even in her base form, Raven's explosive power was top-tier among female Mutants.
She suddenly dropped her shoulder, the fine blue scales on it trembling wildly as she attempted to slip out from between Lin Nuo's fingers by locally narrowing her bones.
This was an escape move that had never failed her before.
As long as her body was "soft" enough, there was no cage in this world that could trap her.
Unfortunately, what she was facing this time was not a human.
Lin Nuo sensed an unusual squirming sensation in his palm.
He pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose, and the Bio-force field at his fingertips quietly erupted.
"Miss Raven, playing this trick in front of me is underestimating my hands a bit too much."
His tone was indifferent, his five fingers like molten iron poured, closing in an unreasonable manner.
Raven, who had originally intended to shrink her bones to escape, felt as if the air around her had been forcibly drained away.
Immense physical pressure locked every inch of her cells in place.
Crack!
The metal door let out a groan.
Raven was forced to tilt her head back, the back of her skull hitting the titanium alloy door panel.
Her body presented an extremely shameful arch.
At this moment, a heavy pneumatic sound came from above the vault door.
Emma Frost stepped in, wearing white high heels, her gait calm and composed.
Her silver hair glowed with a holy luster under the cold light.
But the specially made metal collar she was carrying exuded a chilling, malicious aura.
"Master, you were a bit quick; my tea hasn't finished brewing yet."
Emma walked to Lin Nuo's side and naturally handed over the collar in her hand.
Her gaze swept over Raven's wild, blue body, a curve of victory appearing at the corner of her mouth.
"Raven, stop struggling."
"In front of Master, the Mutant Genes we are so proud of are actually no different from discounted plastic toys in a supermarket."
Raven stared at Emma, her eyes full of disbelief.
"Emma… are you crazy?"
"You actually call him Master? Did a dog eat your backbone!"
"Backbone?"
Emma chuckled softly, her slender fingers brushing across the collar of Lin Nuo's shirt.
"When you have seen a true god capable of tearing apart second-generation Sentinels with their bare hands, you will understand."
"Being a servant to a god is far more advanced than being a leader of men."
Lin Nuo took the suppression collar, which emitted a faint blue fluorescent glow, but did not immediately fasten it around Raven's neck.
He turned around and swaggered, straddling the black high-backed chair that originally belonged to the guard.
Raven's hands were pinned behind her back by him.
Her entire body was locked against the base of the wall by the Bio-force field, her knees forced to kneel on the cold metal floor, facing Lin Nuo's legs.
"Emma, increase the surveillance frequency."
Lin Nuo instructed.
He reached out his right hand, took off his glasses, and placed them on his knee.
That face, originally gentle and like a warm research scientist, appeared quite perverse under the dim light.
His large palm, carrying a layer of electrical charge fluctuations, slowly pressed against the base of Raven's thigh.
Raven's skin was very cool, that cold-blooded sensation unique to Mutants.
The fine scales slid between his fingers, carrying a peculiar texture like top-tier frosted leather.
"Let go…"
Raven gritted her teeth, her whole body trembling violently.
Lin Nuo turned a blind eye, his fingertips following the toned muscle lines, pinching neither too lightly nor too heavily.
This was a probe.
Sure enough, the moment she felt the intrusion of external force, the abilities within Raven instinctively made a defensive reaction.
The skin at the point of impact completed a reorganization within a second.
From the original softness like jelly, it transformed directly into a hard texture like a chitinous shell.
Lin Nuo raised an eyebrow.
This wondrous feedback from the transformation caused even the Hulk Gene within him to resonate with a hint of excitement.
"Fun, truly fun."
He let out a light laugh and increased the pressure.
His five fingers felt as if they were kneading a piece of highly malleable modeling clay.
Raven's complexion turned from blue to red.
The stimulation brought about by the large-area scale friction was frantically surging back through her nervous system.
She wanted to resist, but the more she resisted, the more her body would continuously adjust its form according to Lin Nuo's hand strength.
At this moment, Raven was like a living, warm clay artwork.
Lin Nuo's palm slid past her waist, stopping at her flank.
He pressed precisely onto a key piece of soft tissue.
"Mmph!"
Raven finally couldn't hold it back, letting out a broken moan.
There was a hint of humiliation in the sound, and even a hint of uncontrollable tingling.
She discovered that her skin, under this pinch, had actually softened on its own into a liquid-like sensation similar to water ripples, wrapping around Lin Nuo's knuckles.
"This sensation, that old man Charles surely hasn't experienced it."
Lin Nuo withdrew his hand; a trace of blue pigment remained on his fingertips, only to quickly dissipate due to air oxidation.
He looked at Raven, his eyes as if he were looking at a piece of precision equipment fresh from the factory.
"Raven, I heard your transformation isn't just limited to appearance."
"As long as it's within the scope that carbon-based lifeforms can achieve, you can simulate it perfectly, right?"
Lin Nuo leaned over, resting his chin on his left hand, staring at her bright yellow pupils with great interest.
Raven stubbornly turned her head away, fine beads of fragrant sweat seeping out on her forehead, her fiery red short hair sticking to the side of her neck.
"I won't… satisfy those perverted requests of yours…"
"Perverted?"
Lin Nuo laughed loudly.
"This is called a deep exploration of the Creator's masterpiece."
"Emma, wouldn't you agree?"
Emma, who was to the side, stepped forward and half-knelt beside Lin Nuo, obediently resting her head on his knee.
She reached out and tugged at Raven's fiery red short hair, her movements like she was playing with an injured pet.
"Raven, in this room, there is no such thing as a bottom line."
"Master's interests are very broad; he likes to see different'scenery'."
"If you don't want to be dismantled by him violently later, you'd better start showing your sincerity now."
Emma's voice was very soft, yet carried an unquestionable, sinister feeling.
Lin Nuo reached out again, this time using both hands simultaneously.
His large palms covered Raven's back, pressing all the way down along her spine.
Because of this pressure, the scales on Raven's back all stood up in unison, emitting bursts of faint, crisp sounds.
She kept changing her mass in Lin Nuo's arms.
One moment she was a slender girl with delicate bones, the next she transformed into a toned athlete with tight muscles.
Each transformation was accompanied by the eruption of some ancient rhythm from deep within her body.
Lin Nuo could clearly feel the tremors caused by the rapid changes in bone density.
That superb tactile sensation felt good to the bone.
"No wonder Magneto and Charles both treat you like a treasure."
Lin Nuo suddenly stopped his force, one hand tightly gripping her neck, pulling her up to the front of his nose.
"But this is not enough."
"This level of transformation is just elementary school addition and subtraction."
"I want to see, to what extent you can develop the potential of this body!"
Raven's breathing was already completely chaotic.
Her originally dark blue skin actually showed a magnificent purple in localized areas.
That was an anomaly caused by accelerated blood circulation due to excessive body temperature.
Lin Nuo's gaze became increasingly dark, and the corner of his mouth pulled into an unapologetic villainous curve.
He leaned in close to Raven's flushed earlobe, lowered his voice, his tone filled with a mix of teasing and madness.
"This is really… so much fun."
"Miss Raven, I wonder if you can transform into that size I saw in the magazine last night?"
Chapter 170: Nowhere to Run, Metamorphosis Is My Cup of Tea
The air in the vault became somewhat thick as the temperature rose.
Raven's breathing had completely fallen into disarray.
Every rise and fall of her chest was accompanied by the unnatural contraction of the deep blue scales on her body.
She could clearly feel how that strange power, when Lin Nuo's fingers grazed her waist, easily penetrated her skin's defense and acted directly on the underlying fibers of her muscles.
She tried to mobilize every Mutant cell to resist, but what she got in return was an even deeper loss of control over her form.
Whenever the Bio-force field at Lin Nuo's fingertips adjusted its frequency even slightly, her bones would involuntarily stretch, narrow, or even take on an unnaturally eerie, soft texture in certain areas.
That feeling was as if her most prized shapeshifting ability was nothing more than modeling clay that could be molded at will in front of him.
Lin Nuo withdrew his palm from her lower abdomen and took the opportunity to pat her flushed cheek.
His expression was as calm as a scientist examining a scrapped sample in a laboratory.
"It seems your current limit is not enough to amaze me."
That condescending indifference was more humiliating to Raven than direct physical torture.
She braced herself on her knees in a somewhat disheveled state, her short red hair plastered to her forehead with sweat, gasping for air as she tried to calm the chaotic fluctuations of her power within.
However, the further escalation she expected did not come.
Lin Nuo stood up, gave his discarded black Vibraniumtrench coat a casual shake, and tossed it directly onto Raven's blue-scaled shoulders.
The oversized trench coat, carrying his unique cedar scent and scorching body heat, instantly wrapped her petite body tightly.
Lin Nuo put his glasses back on the bridge of his nose, and in those gentle eyes behind the lenses, there was now only a sense of playfulness.
"That's it for today."
"You can go now."
Raven looked up in astonishment, her bright yellow pupils filled with absurdity and vigilance.
"You... what did you say?"
Lin Nuo pointed to the titanium alloy blast door that had already automatically risen.
The corridor outside was empty, and the alarm had long been cut off.
"I said, you can leave the Hellfire building now."
Raven didn't move.
"Why?"
She didn't believe that this monster, who could tear apart a Sentinel without blinking, would be so kind.
He had tamed the White Queen into that state; how could he possibly let her go for no reason after she had delivered herself to his doorstep?
Lin Nuo looked down at her, the corners of his mouth curling into an aggressive arc.
"Because a sparrow that only knows how to shiver in a cage is just too boring to play with."
"I prefer to see you flapping your wings desperately outside to survive."
He leaned down, his slender fingers tightening slightly on the collar of the trench coat, forcing Raven to meet his gaze.
"Go back with the mission Magneto gave you and tell him that the Hellfire Club has a new Master now."
"By the way, let me see how many interesting faces you, this little sparrow, can change into in the free sky."
He let go, straightened his back, and returned to his black high-backed chair with a leisurely posture.
Raven gave him a deep look, gritted her teeth, and didn't say another word.
She knew this was an insult, but her survival instinct meant she couldn't care about that at all.
She wrapped the heavy Vibranium coat tightly around herself, dragged her sore and weak legs, and without even having time to grab the dropped decoder, she lowered her head and rushed out of the door.
Emma Frost stepped out from the shadows, her white high heels clicking crisply in the empty vault.
She watched Raven's retreating back, which looked almost like a flight for survival, and then looked at the leisurely-looking Lin Nuo, feeling somewhat puzzled.
"Master, Mystique's genetic activity is the most unique in the Brotherhood."
"If you just let her go like this, what if she goes to notify Magneto to take targeted precautions? Wouldn't we lose an excellent bargaining chip?"
Lin Nuo picked up his teacup and took a sip, his expression relaxed.
"Precautions?"
"In the face of absolute power, what kind of precautions are useful?"
"Besides, do you really think she can escape from the palm of my hand?"
Lin Nuo lowered the cup and tapped his fingertips lightly on the virtual keyboard.
The 3D map of New York on the screen lit up instantly.
Among the crisscrossing red lines, a golden dot, as bright as the North Pole star, was moving rapidly, its speed and trajectory so clear it was almost transparent.
Emma was somewhat surprised.
As a top-tier Telepath, she asked herself, she had been observing the whole scene, yet she hadn't noticed Lin Nuoleaving any technological or magic tracking devices on Raven.
"This is..."
Lin Nuo leaned back in his chair, his gaze falling on the jumping golden dot.
"Jane and Betty have studied my body's energy fluctuations in the laboratory."
"They discovered that when my cells maintain high-intensity operation, they release a high-frequency Asgardian Divine Factor energy field."
"The fluctuation frequency of this factor is astonishingly high; unlike ordinary electromagnetic signals, it is a vibration at the microscopic particle level."
"Just now, while I was helping her with a 'physical check-up', I took the opportunity to use the principle of molecular reorganization to infiltrate part of the factor energy field into every capillary in her surface skin."
Lin Nuo turned his head, looked at Emma's beautiful face, which was somewhat dazed by shock, and chuckled as he pinched her smooth chin.
"A Mutant's X-Gene can change their appearance, bones, and even heart rate to evade infrared radar and telepathic searches."
"But she cannot change the Asgardian Divine Factor within her cells that has already been assimilated by me."
"From the very first second she stepped out of this vault, no matter who she becomes, what face she changes into, or even if she hides in a signal-free bunker 100 meters underground, this energy capturer will be like a shadow, nailed firmly to her soul!"
Emma felt a chill all over.
The man in front of her not only displayed god-like authority in terms of force, but his meticulousness and methods had reached a level that made one fearful.
What he gave Raven was nothing more than a gallows disguised as freedom, letting her walk slowly into the trap he had dug long ago while she was in her most proud disguise.
Emma sighed, her body softening, and she leaned into his arms again with docility.
"Master... you really are a villain that one has to admire."
...
The heavy rain in New York was still falling.
The streets were filled with the smell of car exhaust and the sticky sound of water being crushed by tires.
Raven, wrapped in that oversized black trench coat, stopped at the end of a deserted alley.
Her lungs felt like they were on fire, and the high-intensity flight left her somewhat exhausted.
More importantly, the numbness that seeped into her bones, which Lin Nuo had left her with, had not completely faded even now.
She reached out to steady herself against the wet brick wall beside her.
"Damn it..."
The blue scales on her body began to roll back at a rapid speed.
Accompanied by a faint sound of grinding bones, her tall, athletic figure began to shrink inward.
Two seconds later, the original wild woman with deep blue skin had disappeared.
In her place was a New York street thug with pierced ears, a face full of freckles, and wearing dirty work clothes.
Raven looked down at her rough, grime-covered hands, and after confirming there were no flaws, she walked out of the shadows.
She walked two blocks along the bustling Fifth Avenue.
To be safe, she changed herself again in a convenience store restroom into an elderly white woman with reading glasses and a tottering gait.
Immediately afterward, she walked into an old tavern and, amidst the noisy music, transformed into a hot-bodied redhead hostess.
These three transformations spanned gender, age, and completely different physical characteristics.
Even her walking posture and breathing habits were disguised as strictly as possible.
After doing all this, Raven stopped next to a Harley motorcycle that had been parked in the back alley for a long time.
She pulled out a backup communicator from under the seat.
She dialed a highly encrypted number.
A moment later, a low, magnetic voice full of authority sounded in the receiver.
"Raven, did you get the data on the rebellion inside Hellfire?"
Hearing this voice, Raven's nerves, which had been tense all night, finally relaxed a little.
But at the thought of what happened in the vault just now, she couldn't help but tremble slightly.
"Magneto... Eric."
Raven bit her lip and wiped away the rain dripping down her hair with the back of her hand.
"The situation at Hellfire has changed; those idiots like Danton have all been cleared out."
Eric on the other end of the phone paused.
"Did Emma do it? Her telepathic power shouldn't have fully recovered yet."
"It wasn't Emma, it was a man named Lin Nuo."
Raven's face looked particularly awful under the rain curtain.
"He is not a Mutant, but he... easily crushed three of Trask's second-generation Sentinels with his bare hands."
The other end of the communicator fell into a brief silence.
Even a Mutant leader who had experienced countless storms could not remain absolutely calm when hearing such words.
"That's impossible. Human technology has reached its peak in countering Mutants with the second-generation Sentinels; no ordinary person can achieve this."
"I saw it with my own eyes."
Raven's voice was a bit dry.
"Besides, I was caught by him; he pinned me against the vault door... he seemed to know every form I could change into."
"Did he kill your people?"
"No."
Raven's knuckles holding the communicator turned white; the skin inside the trench coat still retained that sticky sensation.
"He let me go; he said he wanted to see how many interesting faces I could change into in the free sky."
"Playing hard to get?"
Eric's tone became cold and heavy.
"Raven, are you sure your current transformation hasn't left any scent or physical traces? Hellfire's tracking system is no joke."
"I'm very sure."
Raven's voice gained a touch of the pride of a chameleon.
"I performed three consecutive microscopic cellular transformations, which not only completely disrupted my metabolic rate but also fundamentally adjusted my subcutaneous fat and bone size."
"Right now, in the eyes of any federal tracker, I am just a completely unrelated stranger."
"If he really installed a tracker, my X-Gene transformation would have completely eliminated it at the molecular level long ago."
"That's good."
Eric gave his instructions coldly.
"Don't return to headquarters yet; go to the safe house on the West Coast. I need to see you and understand that man named Lin Nuo in detail."
"Okay, I'll leave immediately."
Hanging up the phone, Raven threw the disposable communicator into a trash can nearby and then crushed it fiercely.
She pulled down the collar of the Vibranium trench coat that still exuded the scent of cedar, looking at the street neon in the distance.
She swore in her heart that she would never return to this hellhole of New York in her life.
That bastard with gold-rimmed glasses, elegant yet lewd and shameless, was simply the most terrifying nightmare of her entire shapeshifting career!
She didn't even dare to recall the unnatural tingling and compromise that her prized physical changes had emitted under Lin Nuo's rough, large palm.
"Damn refined scumbag!"
Raven cursed under her breath and quickly disappeared into a new subway entrance.
...
At the same time, Hellfire.
Lin Nuo turned his body in the large leather chair, his white shirt reflecting a somewhat glaring, cold white luster under the lights.
Emma thoughtfully placed a freshly brewed cup of lemon black tea by his side, placed her hands on his shoulders, and gently massaged his trapezius muscles.
Lin Nuo's gaze remained fixed on the 3D map of New Yorkon the main screen.
That bright golden dot had been circling in the city center for a long time.
After experiencing three faint spectral refraction changes, it was moving rapidly westward along the underground rail network leading to the West Coast.
Every time that dot vibrated slightly, it meant that Ravenhad changed her body and appearance again during her escape.
Lin Nuo held a slender silver stylus between his fingertips, making a rhythmic "tap, tap" sound on the mahogany tabletop.
He took off his gold-rimmed glasses, placed them by his side, and watched the blinking dot on the screen that was gradually moving away from the New York City area, heading straight for the West Coast.
In his deep pupils, a hint of aggressive, playful amusement bloomed.
"Run, little sparrow."
"No matter whose face you change into, the next time I catch you, the price won't be this simple!"
Chapter 171: Close Pursuit, Unable to Escape His Grasp
In the bustling Times Square, giant electronic screens were playing advertisements for the latest sports cars, and the dazzling, intense light illuminated the streets like daylight.
Raven was wearing a well-tailored dark gray high-end uniform, stepping in seven-centimeter black high heels, with a designer briefcase hooked over her arm.
At this moment, she was the spitting image of a Wall Street elite who had just finished overtime and was preparing to go to a high-end restaurant for a date.
Whether it was her micro-expressions, her arrogant gait, or the elegant figure supported by her subcutaneous bones, it was a textbook-level disguise.
She walked forward along the surging crowd, her high heels tapping on the hard stone road, emitting a series of dense rhythms.
While passing by a street-side cafe, Raven habitually looked toward the bright floor-to-ceiling glass window.
That glance, however, made her breath stop abruptly.
Beside the oak round table by the window, a man wearing a proper white shirt was elegantly holding a coffee cup.
The gold-rimmed glasses refracted a cold halo under the warm indoor light, and the thin metal chain hanging by his ear swayed gently with his head-tilting movement.
Lin Nuo.
He hadn't even changed his clothes, and those deep eyes, separated by thick double-layered glass, brazenly locked onto Raven's face.
Meeting Raven's almost frozen gaze, Lin Nuo elegantly raised his cup, seemingly greeting this "workplace elite" whom he had never met.
A layer of cold sweat instantly seeped out from Raven's spine.
She didn't pause at all, directly lowering her head to avoid his gaze.
The pace of her high heels suddenly quickened, appearing somewhat flustered in the crowd.
How is this possible?
Even if the Hellfire Club's locator were advanced, it would be impossible to lock onto her so quickly after she had changed her identity twice and even deliberately adjusted her weight!
This simply defies reason!
With her mind filled with horror, Raven dove into the nearest subway entrance.
...
In the dark and damp public restroom, accompanied by a subtle cracking sound of shifting joints, that elegant hip-hugging skirt fell to the floor.
Replacing it was a rebellious black teenager wearing a baggy hoodie, a backwards baseball cap, and mottled headphones hanging by his ears.
Raven carried a skateboard in one hand and, at the very last second before the subway doors closed, nimbly slipped into the carriage.
The carriage was filled with foul air, and the harsh, sharp screeching of the rails made one's scalp numb.
Raven held her skateboard and leaned against the cold, hard iron carriage wall, coldly observing the drowsy passengers around her.
There was a Latino uncle talking loudly on the phone, a young punk girl wearing heavy eyeshadow, and several corporate slaves holding briefcases and feigning sleep.
There was no sign of that devil wearing gold-rimmed glasses.
Raven's hanging heart settled slightly.
That "chance encounter" just now must have been a coincidence.
New York is only so big; that guy might have just happened to be having afternoon tea in that block.
Ding-dong.
The train slowly pulled into Grand Central Station.
The doors opened, and another wave of hurried passengers surged in, instantly packing the narrow carriage to the brim.
A tall figure took advantage of the crowd to grab the handrail above Raven's head.
The person was wearing a high-quality black trench coat, with the cuffs slightly rolled up, revealing a silver Patek Philippe watch face.
Raven looked up along that hand.
Gold-rimmed glasses, a meticulously groomed side-part hairstyle, and that pair of eyes that seemed capable of seeing through skin, filled with playfulness.
Lin Nuo looked down at her, their faces less than thirty centimeters apart in the crowded carriage.
He was even holding the latest "New York Daily," with a column on the cover that clearly read: "On How to Handle Disobedient Pets at Home."
He looked at Raven, his voice still clear and pleasant amidst the noisy subway operation sounds.
"Young friend."
"Your skateboard wheel has stepped on my shoe."
Raven only felt a chill rush straight to her head.
She didn't even dare to answer.
In the gap while the subway entered the next curve and the carriage shook violently, she lowered her body and rudely pushed aside the surrounding passengers.
At the very moment before the subway had come to a stop, she forcibly squeezed out through the door that had just cracked open a sliver.
She ran frantically through the long underground passage.
This is absolutely not a coincidence!
That man had installed an undetectable tracker on her!
But she had clearly reorganized every inch of her subcutaneous tissue at the molecular level!
...
The sky began to rain cold, washing the back alleys of Manhattan into a dirty, muddy state.
In a dead-end alley on Broadway, piles of black garbage bags emitting a rotten stench were stacked up.
An elderly homeless man, draped in a tattered cotton coat, face covered in filth, and feet wrapped in plastic bags, was curled up on cardboard.
He was trembling all over, tightly clutching a half-crushed aluminum soda can in his hand, his bright yellow eyeballs appearing particularly jarring beneath his dirty face.
Raven panted heavily, trying to use this extreme environment and dirty smell to cover the weak heat emitted by the X-Gene in her body.
This time, she had transformed into the lowest, most easily ignored dust.
However, the unique "patter" sound of leather shoes stepping in muddy water rang out again in the quiet back alley.
Raven looked up in near despair.
The man was holding a black umbrella, his high-end black trench coat untainted by dust in the wind and rain.
He walked unhurriedly to the cardboard, bent down, and gently placed a cup of steaming coffee next to the mud-stained soda can.
Lin Nuo looked at her.
"Rainy days in New York are always so lacking in sentiment."
He squatted down, and through the edge of the umbrella, the eyes behind his lenses were startlingly bright in the dim alley.
His voice was very soft, carrying an indescribable gentleness, yet it made all the hairs on Raven's body stand up.
"On such a cold day, drink a cup of mocha to ward off the chill."
"Don't look at me with that gaze of looking at a heartbreaker; I am a gentleman with principles."
Raven gritted her teeth, a coarse and hoarse old voice emitting from her throat.
"What... exactly do you want?"
Lin Nuo chuckled, reached out to push his glasses, and a faint red light flashed across the lenses.
"Nothing much."
"I just think that compared to directly catching you and locking you in the cellar, this game of you running and me chasing is more interesting."
"After all, high-end hunters often enjoy the process of taming wild horses more."
Lin Nuo tapped his long index finger on the rim of the coffee cup.
"The rhetoric of the Mutant Brotherhood is too boring."
"That old guy Eric is always thinking about how to destroy the World all day; it's very dull."
"If you ask me, you might as well return directly to my Hellfire building; at least on that three-meter-wide walnut desk, you can experience a greater 'evolution of life'."
"Get lost!"
Raven, in the guise of a homeless person, suddenly grabbed the cup of hot coffee and splashed it directly at Lin Nuo.
But the moment the boiling coffee left her hand, it was forcibly stopped in mid-air by a pale red invisible barrier.
The coffee turned into countless brown water droplets, sliding silently into the muddy water along the air.
By the time Raven blinked again, only a slowly rotating black umbrella remained in the depths of the alley.
The figure of that man in the white shirt had long since disappeared into the misty rain.
...
The night grew deeper.
Dozens of consecutive hours of high-intensity transformation and mental tension had brought Raven's ability cells almost to the edge of collapse.
Her bones ached as if they were falling apart, and the capillaries under her skin were constantly oozing tiny streaks of blood due to frequent atomic restructuring.
She could not return to the Brotherhood.
If she brought such a devil back, the sanctuary Eric built would become ruins overnight.
She must solve it herself.
On the edge of Manhattan, a 24-hour convenience store lit with pale fluorescent lights.
The wind and rain outside slapped against the glass window, making messy sounds, while inside the store, oden was boiling in an electric stove, emitting the cheap fragrance of soy sauce.
At this moment, Raven had transformed into a hunchbacked Asian auntie.
She used a tacky gray scarf to cover most of her face tightly, wore a baggy floral cotton jacket, and walked tremblingly between the shelves.
Her hands were shaking a little, and she lingered in front of the candy rack for a long time.
Finally, she reached out her rough hands, covered in age spots, and took a pack of mint chewing gum.
She needed a bit of mint stimulation to maintain her consciousness, which was about to dissipate.
However, just as she was about to stuff the candy in her hand into her pocket, a warm, slender palm with absolute control suddenly reached over from the side.
That hand rested naturally on the back of her old hand.
The cold knuckles and the scorching temperature of Lin Nuo's palm formed a stark contrast in the pale light of the fluorescent lamp.
Raven's body froze completely in place.
Lin Nuo had stood beside her at some point, still wearing those gold-rimmed glasses, with a smile on the corners of his mouth.
"Auntie, you seem to have forgotten to pay for this pack of gum."
"Right, Miss Raven?"