"Eat? Raw? Ah?"
Xiao Yi was completely bewildered.
"But don't worry, there's no need to be scared," Maria continued, "I've told you, I want to make you part of the family in the gentlest way possible, so I won't let the instant body consume you. Instead, I will have you eat the instant body that I've meticulously prepared."
"???" Xiao Yi still looked utterly lost.
Maria went on, "The instant body will never die, no matter what. Even if it's eaten, it's the same. Once swallowed, the instant body will slowly absorb your consciousness, until all of it is housed within the instant body. Then, I will nurture you, letting you grow inside my body and be born from within me.
Although this method takes a very long time, it is the gentlest and most painless way. So, Xiao Yi, just wait a little longer. I will soon make the instant body into a delectable meal, and once you eat it, we will truly be family."
"..." Xiao Yi fell silent.
His eyes had turned into two pure black dots. It was clear that because he could not understand at all what Maria was saying, his brain had completely crashed.
"Xiao Yi?" Maria stepped forward with concern and asked, "Are you all right?"
Suddenly, Xiao Yi said, "...Right, even though I don't know who my mother is, I am born of her."
"What are you talking about all of a sudden?" Maria said with a gentle laugh, "Just wait, I'll be done soon."
"Uh... Can I just eat a little bit?" Xiao Yi took a step back and asked.
"No, you have to eat it all," Maria said with a smile.
She was smiling, but there was an unquestionable strictness in her eyes.
"Well... Okay then," resigned to his fate, Xiao Yi could only submit.
Maria turned around with a smile, pondering how best to prepare the instant body since it was her first time dealing with it as an ingredient.
Xiao Yi sighed helplessly, thinking he could no longer escape, and was just about to find a place to sit down.
But at that moment, something completely unexpected happened.
"Bang!"
The violent sound that shook his eardrums erupted not far from where Xiao Yi was standing.
He had heard that noise not long ago. It was a gunshot.
Faced with such a loud noise, Xiao Yi had no inclination to cover his ears.
Because in front of his eyes, something happened that made him forget that instinct.
"What..."
Maria, who had just been smiling at him, was now blossoming.
More precisely, her head was blossoming with a beautiful flower of blood.
Xiao Yi realized what was happening in front of him.
Someone... had shot Maria in the head, and without any hesitation, the bullet pierced through her brain, causing blood to spray out like a flower.
Blood spattered on the floor as Maria fell to the ground powerless.
Everything happened so suddenly that even though Xiao Yi understood the situation, he was still unable to react immediately and just stood there dazed.
Inside the live stream, everyone watching this sudden turn of events was stunned.
"Holy shit! What just happened!?"
"Lady Maria is dead! No! Don't die! What will happen to the ship of Xiao Ma without you!?"
"Xiao Ma is still okay, but isn't it more important to find out who fired the gun?"
The answer to the question of who fired the gun was quickly revealed.
While Xiao Yi was still in a daze, a familiar voice reached his ears.
"Well done, Xiao Yi, thanks to you completely capturing her attention, I was able to hit her so easily."
Nathan said this as he quickly walked toward Xiao Yi.
Moreover, in his hand... was a pitch-black handgun.
But then, Nathan immediately discarded the handgun onto the ground like it was trash, approached Xiao Yi, and spoke to him:
"However, just that is not enough, we must use the 'Origin' to completely resolve her! Xiao Yi, where is my 'Origin'?"
"...Origin?"
"That Dagger... never mind, I'll get it myself."
Nathan quickly took the dagger made of Black Jade from Xiao Yi's body.
Without the slightest hesitation or pause, Nathan violently pounced toward Maria lying on the ground. The dagger, with unerring accuracy, stabbed into Maria's chest.
After doing all this, Nathan's previously tense face finally relaxed somewhat, and he couldn't help but let out a long breath.
"Phew... At last, I can feel a bit more at ease now."
"...What are you doing?"
The situation at hand was no longer one to be stunned by. Xiao Yi looked at Nathan, his expression becoming unprecedentedly stern.
"Hm? Didn't the woman on the phone explain it clearly to you?" Nathan frowned slightly.
"The person on the phone... she only told me to have a good talk with you and Maria, to resolve the issue."
"...Ha?" Nathan's expression instantly became disdainful, "Is that woman out of her mind? How could she utter such nonsense? Oh right, she doesn't have a brain now, I overestimated her."
"...When she told me you harbored a murderous intent towards Maria, I didn't take it seriously, but I didn't expect it to be true."
Xiao Yi said this and stepped toward Nathan.
"You, you actually did such a thing."
"What... what are you doing!?" Looking at Xiao Yi, Nathan, for some unknown reason, felt a trace of fear.
He had never seen Xiao Yi with such a serious expression before, not to mention, he never thought that Xiao Yi could exhibit such an expression.
Though he was afraid, Nathan could only toughen up and say:
"My goal was to take care of Hannibal and Maria first... Anyway, calm down, let me explain..."
"So that's how it is, I knew it, it was definitely you who killed my Xiao Ni!"
But before Nathan could finish speaking, he froze.
Because he had heard Maria's voice.
Nathan sharply turned to look at Maria, only to discover that Maria had already stood up, the dagger he called 'Origin' was now firmly in Maria's hands!
"...Eh? What's going on?" Xiao Yi, still out of the loop, was stunned again.
"How is this possible!?" Nathan exclaimed in shock: "The Origin didn't work?"
"No, it's quite effective."
Maria stared intently at Nathan, the crimson fog swirling around her like a tangible murderous intent.
"Just that, I had already predicted that you would attack stealthily, so I've always been cautious, using the fog to protect myself. As expected, you didn't disappoint, and that's all you got. But what exactly is this thing? My fog couldn't stop it. If I hadn't moved my organs and body slightly, that stab would have definitely caused me serious injury."
"Tsk..."
Nathan clenched his fist.
The failure he envisioned still occurred.