The dim surroundings were quiet and oppressive, with faint light seeping through the crack in the door as Ukas gradually regained consciousness from the icy bench. The tingling sensation all over her body made her feel as if she had been beaten thirty times.
It must be said that Miss Ukas's physical resilience transcended the ordinary, as the dosage sufficient to render an average adult male unconscious for two hours only lasted one hour in her body before losing its effect.
About fifty minutes had passed since the ambush by Rikker. Due to Ukas's deliberately remote placement, she remained unaffected by the explosion.
This also meant she missed the prime opportunity to avert the tragedy.
Rubbing her temples, Ukas's consciousness gradually cleared, recalling the events preceding her unconsciousness...
It was evident that Jonas had arranged for her ambush and positioned her here.
Realizing her current predicament, the girl's chest heaved with fluctuating emotions.
The betrayal of burning bridges left her infuriated. She had thought she was cautious enough with Jonas Weyten, but she underestimated his despicable nature, arranging an ambush against her companions while she was unconscious.
Ukas knew Jonas might not harbor ill intentions towards her; otherwise, he could have done something to her while she was unconscious. Instead, Jonas chose to place her in a relatively safe location after she lost consciousness...
Considering his various behaviors, it was clear he wanted to do something without her interference, hence forcing her offline for a period.
Though unsure of Jonas's intentions, she was determined to intervene once she learned of them... Of course, it couldn't be ruled out that Jonas might be planning something exceedingly dangerous, which he didn't want her to participate in for her safety.
But based on her understanding of Jonas, this possibility was slim... Given his character, he wouldn't miss such an opportunity to leverage her.
Thinking this, Ukas couldn't help but bristle with anger.
On one hand, she was furious at Jonas's betrayal; on the other hand, she felt powerless against what Jonas might do. She took a deep breath and looked at the securely locked iron door.
Clearly, the door was locked... Even if she wanted to open it herself, it would take considerable effort.
This further confirmed Ukas's suspicions.
Then she noticed the fire safety device in the corner of the room, containing a somewhat blunt fire axe.
Her eyes lit up, supporting her body, she headed towards the direction of the axe.
Injected with a special serum, even though she woke up early due to her physical resilience, her brain was inevitably affected. As she stood up, she staggered slightly before regaining her balance.
After regaining some control over her limbs, she clenched her fists and looked at the glass of the fire cabinet, decisively smashing it with a punch.
Perhaps due to just waking up and her body not fully recovered, the punch didn't break the glass, only causing some cracks.
The girl followed up with another punch, the sharp sound cutting through the air.
This time, the glass shattered completely, revealing the fire axe inside.
Taking a moment to catch her breath and ignoring the cuts on her fists from the glass, Ukas picked up the fire axe and approached the securely locked door.
After taking a deep breath, the girl swung the axe at the electronic lock.
Although the axe wasn't very sharp, with Ukas's strength, it easily broke the electronic lock.
"Authorization verification... Identity verified. Welcome..."
The electronic lock emitted intermittent sounds, and the signal light on it changed from red to green.
With a beep, the sealed door opened.
The glaring light outside made Ukas instinctively cover her eyes. After gradually adjusting to the light, she removed her hand from her eyes. The shimmering sea reflected the sunlight, easing her slightly... At least not much time had passed since she lost consciousness.
But then, the smell of burnt wires in the air gave her a sense of impending doom.
She turned her head and saw billowing smoke and flames, as if an explosion had occurred.
That was in the direction of the banquet hall, which had now been reduced to ruins from its former grandeur.
This momentarily blanked Ukas's mind, then her fists clenched in shock and anger.
—Jonas, what have you done?!
....................
Meanwhile, on the other side, after more than ten minutes of temporary maintenance, the rescue team of the peacekeeping forces had resolved the communication issues caused by the hacker attack.
They continued to advance towards the direction of the cruise ship, being cautious every step of the way, constantly alert to the possibility of further ambushes.
After the recent events, the spirits of all peacekeeping force members were stretched to the limit.
No one knew what awaited them because they had no idea how many enemies there were.
After the recent cyber battle, the opponents had demonstrated their strength, requiring the utmost vigilance from the peacekeeping force detachment at this moment.
Until reinforcements arrived, any slight mistake could lead to total annihilation.
"After reaching the destination, surround the cruise ship... We'll board it after reinforcements arrive."
The captain spoke through the communication channel to the others.
This was the command from the upper echelons of the peacekeeping force. After confirming this was indeed an attack, to prevent hasty actions leading to greater losses, they had to fully understand the remaining potential threats on the cruise ship before taking action.
...........................
The head rolled to the ground, Mr. Joab Bud, close to the titled level, was completely defenseless in Miss Riker's hands.
This also made Jonas couldn't help but marvel. If Miss Riker hadn't fallen ill and come to Jonas alone, perhaps this business trip would have been much more difficult.
But Tianyu's youngest clearly didn't know the hidden truth behind it all.
Former comrades turned into subordinates of the enemy... Even though she had anticipated it, when faced with the reality, Tianyu's youngest found it somewhat difficult to accept.
What made it even more unacceptable was...
Comrades once again sacrificed in front of her, yet she was powerless, unable to do anything... like a useless person.
The emotions accumulated in her heart mixed together, the girl sat numbly on the ground, staring blankly at the headless corpse in front of her.
—"They died because of you."
Jonas's words echoed in her ears once again, her fists clenched, nails digging deep into her flesh.
Fate often played tricks on people.
Nothing would unfold as it did in the script... The girl's naivety at this moment was terrifyingly cruel to her.
She looked at Jonas, then at Riker, her eyes hollow, saying nothing, but Riker felt a twinge of pity and looked away.
"I... I'll go with you... Let them go."
Tianyu's youngest's voice was hoarse, the successive blows leaving her completely devoid of fighting spirit.
She didn't want anyone else to die because of her...
"Miss Tianyu seems unclear about the current situation."
Jonas's tone was calm, as if the recent attack had changed some of his thoughts:
"As long as I want, all of you will stay here."
And you, no longer have the power to fight against me.
In fact, Joab Bud's sudden attack caught Jonas off guard.
He had thought the girl had lost her fighting spirit, but everything was just a pretense to make him relax his guard. Even until the end, the opponent didn't give up the idea of turning the tables.
This irritated Jonas
slightly, but he didn't know that all of this was just Joab Bud's own decision, and Tianyu's youngest was completely unaware from start to finish.
Jonas's words completely crushed Tianyu's youngest's hope.
When all the chips in one's hand were rendered ineffective, the only thing one could do was quietly embrace despair. At that moment, true annihilation was not far away.
Jonas didn't want the girl to die completely, as he had said before.
The girl's existence still had value to him.
Since he didn't want her to perish, what he needed to do was to let her be reborn.
"Riker, end it all."
Jonas spoke softly.
.......................
Watching the smoke not far away, Ukas couldn't help but grit her teeth, preparing to support herself and walk towards the direction of the banquet.
However, the sudden sound of a gunshot completely drew the girl's attention.
It was... in the corridor on the second floor of the cruise ship.
Ukas quickly determined the location of the opponent by the sound.
She soon made a decision, abandoning the direction of the banquet hall and heading towards the source of the gunshot.
Her calf had already been shot before, and her current physical condition couldn't be described as anything but terrible.
Yet Ukas didn't give up. With only herself on the cruise ship now, having already missed the enemy's plan, she had to do something to make up for her mistake.
Things were irreversible, but it was not yet time for everything to settle... At least before that, she could do something to compensate.
Thinking this, Ukas couldn't help but curse Jonas inwardly.
He obviously knew what was going to happen on this cruise ship, even more than she did, but pretended to know nothing to confuse her.
This made Ukas feel like she had fallen into a trap.
Ukas was certain that the explosion in the banquet hall was definitely related to Jonas. Although she didn't know what role he played in this operation, just making her unconscious was enough for Ukas to hold Jonas accountable.
With the fire axe in her hand, she walked to the stairs and headed towards the direction of the gunshot.
But before she reached the staircase, a figure blocked her way.
"I advise you not to go."
The sudden voice made Ukas tense, her eyes alertly fixed on the unexpected visitor.
At the end of the corridor, the voice of the black-haired girl was flat, holding a thermal sword in her hand. Her tone was more of a warning than advice.
—[Black War God] Esni
Why... was she here?
A hint of confusion flashed in Ukas's eyes, seemingly unaware of why the other party would appear in such a place.
She distinctly remembered that the guards Jonas brought were not the girl in front of her.
But wasn't only one companion allowed to come to the cruise ship?
Thinking of this, a flash of insight crossed Ukas's mind, as if suddenly realizing something.
Identity forgery...!
She had entered the cruise ship through the forged identity provided by that mysterious person, so naturally, others could also board the ship in the same way.
Associating it with the words and hints from that mysterious person, the other party's identity became apparent.
—Damn Jonas!!
Looking at the girl in front of her, Ukas spoke:
"What if I do?"
As the youngest director of the peacekeeping force division, how could she be intimidated by a little girl?
Hearing Ukas's words, Esni frowned, then spoke:
"I don't think you can make it through here right now."
"Not trying, how would you know."
The atmosphere between the two was tense, and what should have been the first confrontation after a long time came early because of the recent events.
But unfortunately, Ukas's current state was not enough to ensure she could compete with Esni at the same level.
So from the beginning, the situation was clear.
As the figures crossed, with just a few encounters, Ukas, with her injured leg, gave Esni an opportunity.
The wound that had been bandaged was hit again, and blood oozed from the bandages.
Miss Ukas fell to her knees, her expression stunned, as if she hadn't expected this petite girl to be so fierce.
But Esni didn't give her a chance to fight back at all, a knife-hand strike directly hitting the girl's neck.
Her consciousness instantly plunged into darkness, Miss Ukas's eyes went black.
She had thought she could exchange a few moves with the other party, but after just a few encounters, she was taken down, and this humiliation even before she could taste it thoroughly, she lost consciousness.
Miss Ukas, once again, fell apart.