The Ngs were hardly ever published on any media, as they disliked being the centre of attention. The only exception was Max, who popped up from time to time in the entertainment section. The rest of them had only ever appeared on business, political or military sections!
Even the Princess of the Ng family, from before her coma, had only been presented to the public twice! When she was born, and when she started going to school!
It was hard for anyone to get close enough for even a photo, not to mention an interview. That was why the press had gone nuts!
Mat and Max immediately activated their men who were stationed nearby. Their sister was still recovering, and could still be a target from that incident from 30 years ago. This situation would have to be contained immediately! Why didn't their mother take all the men with them and leave some outside?!
Mat hacked into the mall security cameras to monitor the situation while Max quickly called the mall's management to arrange a secure location for the mother-daughter pair to wait for their team to arrive. The mess being created by the entertainment journalists rivalled those that were caused by the Royals!
While they were being escorted to the quickly prepared room, they quickly found themselves accosted by some paparazzi who had stationed themselves near some of the more luxurious resting rooms of the mall.
Flash after flash blinded them as the journalists scrambled to take photo after photo, with microphones pushed into their faces.
"Mrs Ng! Who are you shopping with today?!"
"Mrs Ng! Who is that next to you?!"
"Mrs Ng! Is that your daughter?!"
"Mrs Ng! is that your chosen daughter-in-law? Why is she so young?"
"Mrs Ng! When did you and General Ian have another child?"
"Mrs Ng! Did your daughter wake up from her coma? What caused the coma?!"
"TAKE THIS! DIE GRACE NG! DIE!"
"KILL ALL THE ELITE! LET'S DIE TOGETHER!"
There was a loud blast, and the floor caved in.
Chaos descended as everyone scrambled for safety.
###
Lys opened her eyes and saw that she was lying crumpled on the floor of a dimly lit room covered in dust.
"Mom?"
No answer.
"Anyone?"
Silence.
She looked up. There was no hole in the ceiling?
She should not be in the Mall anymore. Or at least not near the blast site.
Moving her limbs, she did not feel any pains or broken bones. She stretched and stood up.
"IS THERE ANYONE AROUND!?"
Still nothing.
Was she kidnapped? But which kidnapper wouldn't be around to threaten their victim when they wake up?
She patted the dust off and straightened her clothes. Then set off to the window letting in a bit of light…
Oh wait, she was not wearing any blindfold… does that mean they will kill her once they get the ransom? How did kidnappers on this world work anyway? When people commit crimes, does eyewitness testimony help in identifying the criminal or did they have to use video footage?
Cautiously, she inched towards the window and peeked out.
There was nothing outside, just a deserted industrial area. There seemed to be no one outside as well… That was weird, who would kidnap someone and leave them unguarded in a warehouse?
Walking towards the door this time and, doing her best not to make a sound, she put her ear up against the door and listened for something.
"Target is secured... (Static)"
"(Static)… Rendezvous in 15."
"Time to wake up our target and find out if she remembers anything... (Static)"
"(Static)... Let's not leave her alive this time."
Oh great… Backup arrives in about 15 minutes… She had to escape before they arrived… Or she'd be screwed…
What was that about witnessing something? She could not have seen anything being hounded by so many people, could she?
And they wanted her life!
Why?
She has only just started living in this world, she really didn't want to die before finding out what has happened to her old body.
Or enjoying life in this world for that matter...
Time to sneak out...
Lys quietly opened the window and climbed out.
####
He watched the small figure climbing out of a window with great fascination.
There was a map with a blinking red dot on it showing her movements on his comms.
"Trying to escape, eh?"
"Let's see how long you last."
"It's alright, I'll be with you soon."
"You have to get stronger though... If not, it would be no fun..."
"Should I help with that?"
###
"Owwww..."
The window was a bit too high up for the short Lys, leading to her landing wrongly on her left ankle upon contact with the ground.
Oh crap, how was she to run away with on this bad leg?
She kneaded her ankle with her palms, hoping to ease the pain enough for her to run away… Or at least quietly escape.
With how the rest of this world work, if they were ranked B+ and above, their senses were more advanced as well. Meaning they could probably hear and pinpoint where she is from further away.
With a bad leg, it is the equivalent of serving herself up to them on a platter!
Since she has "escaped", they would be furious at her attempt and would probably not be too kind during the interrogation part…
Great…
What should she do now?
Wait… There was some sort of greenish liquid oozing out from her palms?
It was being absorbed by her ankle!
What is this?
Is it her ability?
But what was her ability in the first place?
Was it just oozing some weird liquid?
Oh great, she would just have to have some useless rank D type of ability, wouldn't she?
Wasn't she supposed to have a higher chance of having better abilities since she was the product of an A-ranked and S-ranked couple?
"(Static)… check on the target… (Static)"
She flinched. Then perked up her ears to listen to what they were saying.
"(Static)… get her ready for interrogation. We are 5 minutes out."
"Roger… (Static)"
Startled, Lys stood up and started running…
She had to get out of here and fast.
"Subject has escaped... (Static)"
"She seems to have escaped through the window... (Static)"
"(Static)... Start the sweep. Isolate the comms signal for the area..."
"Roger. She should not be able to get too far... (Static)"
"(Static)... If your team does not find her before we get there... Well, even if you do... report to the ancient tower. She should have been under surveillance the whole time."
"That bitch!" One of the men cursed.
"How did you let a 12-year-old escape?"