Chapter 47: Cross-Server Chat
Soothing music played within the banquet hall. After politely declining several handsome young men, the assistant carried a plate of abundant food to a corner. In her view, these men, who exuded faint fragrances, were all effeminate.
The assistant forked a small piece of meat. As the meat entered her mouth, she squinted her eyes, her expression one of delight.
Just as the assistant was enjoying her meal, a slightly low male voice came from behind her.
"It seems you don't like this kind of atmosphere."
Hearing this voice, the assistant, who was savoring her food, sighed inwardly. If this had been any other time, she would have drawn the gun at her waist and made the man reconsider his words.
"Mm."
The assistant responded casually before continuing to enjoy her meal.
"When I was in my teens, I also hated this kind of fake atmosphere. Everyone wears a mask, a smiling mask."
A man dressed in a morning coat, with refined manners, sat down beside the assistant. He placed a plate on the table, which contained only a few types of vegetables and a small amount of meat.
The man gave the assistant a polite smile, then stopped trying to engage her in conversation and began to eat his dinner slowly and methodically.
"You are very unique, and also very suspicious."
The man swallowed his food and looked at the assistant with a smile in his eyes.
Hearing this, the assistant's slender fingers curled into a claw shape, ready at any moment to snap the throat of the man beside her.
"Calm down."
Su Xiao's voice came from beside the assistant's ear. The man sitting next to her was no small fry; he was the offspring of the wealthy merchant Hennesson. Through the surveillance equipment, Su Xiao had noticed this guy. His name was Orlando, and many people in the banquet hall recognized him.
"Suspicious?"
The assistant looked at Orlando with a face full of confusion.
"Of course. Everyone else is wearing a mask, but you aren't. Isn't that suspicious?"
Orlando joked, thinking himself witty. In reality, he had just taken a stroll through the gates of hell. He had no idea that the seemingly delicate girl beside him had once killed a four-meter-tall brown bear with her bare hands. For her, snapping his throat would be as easy as snapping a twig.
"Pfft~"
The assistant laughed. She wasn't laughing at Orlando's 'wit,' but at how close he had come to dying from a misunderstanding.
"So, I really am quite suspicious."
The assistant looked Orlando up and down.
"See, what I said makes some sense. Let me introduce myself, I'm Orlando."
Orlando began a cross-frequency conversation with the assistant. On the surface, their talk seemed fine, but in reality, they were on completely different wavelengths. Orlando thought he was being witty, while the assistant had nearly killed him.
"This..."
"By the norms of human society, you should give your name too."
Orlando started trying to be humorous again. However, the identity the assistant was disguised as had a name that was far too long. In this kind of setting, one needed to introduce their full name.
"I am... Octavia Bartholomew."
The assistant couldn't understand why anyone would have such a strangely pronounced name.
"A young lady from the Bartholomew family? What a coincidence. My father was a business partner with the Bartholomew family in his youth. Inviting Miss Octavia here was only natural, after all, my father cherishes old ties."
Clearly, Orlando was grasping at straws for conversation.
The assistant really wanted to kick him out, but she couldn't do that. If she couldn't suppress her anger and kicked Orlando flying, not to mention whether she could leave the banquet hall alive, even if she did, Su Xiao would hang her from a tree and whip her.
"Mr.... Orlando."
The assistant put on a smile, her gaze fixed directly on Orlando.
"Does Miss Octavia have some advice?"
Orlando felt he was close to success.
"Interrupting someone's meal is very rude behavior. So, out of politeness, sir, please shut up."
The assistant's smile was like a flower, sweet as could be, but the words coming out of her mouth were sharp and piercing.
"Uh..."
Orlando had anticipated rejection, but he never expected her to tell him to shut up. Although it sounded polite, he felt something was off.
"Sorry for the intrusion."
Orlando stood up with gentlemanly grace. As soon as he turned around, the muscles in his face began to twitch. Undoubtedly, today was quite embarrassing.
Inside the kitchen, Bubu Wang unhurriedly made his way to the back door. Taking advantage of an apprentice opening the door, he slipped out of the kitchen.
In a few storage rooms adjacent to the kitchen, dozens of alchemy bombs were attached to various places on the walls. The total amount was about the equivalent of one alchemy bomb. Bubu only needed to create chaos, not blow up the Flower Tree Restaurant.
With Bubu Wang ready on his end, the assistant, who was enjoying her meal, wiped her mouth and reached her hand under her skirt.
Orlando, who had been watching the assistant, saw this. He was stunned. Perhaps having seen too many elegant ladies, suddenly encountering a tomboy like the assistant caused his brain to short-circuit.
Noticing Orlando's gaze, the assistant tilted her head, curled her lips, and gave a smile with a bit of a soldier's swagger.
When had Orlando ever seen a girl like this? This man, who navigated the business world, was clearly attracted by the assistant's wildness.
Sss~
The assistant walked along the wall, pressing a spray device. A colorless mist spread as she moved forward.
"What's that smell?"
"Is that... the smell of kerosene?"
"Must be my imagination. Why would there be kerosene in the hall... Huh, I think I smell it too."
The assistant's pace quickened. Soon, an area within the banquet hall was filled with the smell of kerosene.
Inside the banquet hall, Buck, who was sitting behind Dubois, suddenly put down his large mug. His nose twitched.
"Here it comes."
Buck stood up with a whoosh. The distinguished guests nearby all looked confused.
Buck ignored them. His gaze swept the surroundings, and soon, he locked onto one person.
The assistant, who was walking slowly, paused. A feeling of her hair standing on end washed over her. It was a strange sensation, as if she had become a small tree, and a lumberjack holding a short axe stood before her. As that small tree, she was utterly defenseless.
"Don't turn around."
Su Xiao's voice reached the assistant's ear, but it was too late. The assistant turned her head, and her peripheral vision met a gaze.
"Heh."
Buck bared his twisted steel-like fangs. In the next moment, an explosion came from the rear of the Flower Tree Restaurant.
The shockwave of the explosion spread, instantly shattering the two doors at the back of the banquet hall.
Wood splinters and flames surged into the banquet hall. Before the guests could even scream, the fire spread across the hall.
With a whoosh, half of the banquet hall was engulfed in flames as the gaseous kerosene ignited.
Just as the flames spread, Su Xiao, who was in the hotel diagonally across from the restaurant, pulled the trigger.
Bang!
A low gunshot rang out. The outer wall of the hotel where Su Xiao was located instantly became covered in cracks. After no more than three shots, this hotel would be destroyed by the recoil of the Duke of Annihilation.