Chapter 7: Operation Begins
“Miss Luo Ling! Miss Luo Ling! The sun’s already up!”
Luo Ling opened her eyes to find Elsa nestled in her arms, blinking her emerald green eyes.
The sudden shift from Alyssa’s limited senses to her own always took a moment to adjust to. Although she could use the Puppet Ballad’s abilities to make Alyssa function almost like a normal person, she was still essentially disabled, just like Elsa had been.
The difference was that Elsa’s disabilities were caused by the Grotesqueries within her, while Alyssa’s were the permanent Price of her sacrifices.
Luo Ling gently stroked Elsa’s hair, then lifted her and placed her aside.
After three days on the train, Luo Ling was used to Elsa appearing in her arms.
“I’ve been awake for a while, just resting my eyes,” Luo Ling said, sitting up. She had been focusing on other matters, so it was true.
“Sure you were,” a voice said sarcastically, and Luo Ling turned to see Lu Manqing, along with a disgruntled Cen Xiangyun.
Why were they in her and Elsa’s apartment?
“I win, pay up,” Lu Manqing said, extending her hand towards Cen Xiangyun.
Cen Xiangyun reluctantly handed over a few Victorian coins.
Luo Ling was still confused, and Elsa explained, “They were betting on whether you had overslept. Sister Lu said yes, Sister Xiangyun said no.”
…How childish.
And if that were the case, shouldn’t Cen Xiangyun have won?
No, no…
Luo Ling shook her head. She was being influenced by these weirdos.
But it wasn’t exactly late yet…
Luo Ling glanced at the clock; it was only seven.
The Company specialists were always lazy, even scheduling their operations for the afternoon, because most of them were still half-asleep in the mornings…
“It’s a Company order,” Cen Xiangyun said, rubbing her eyes. Despite the concealer, dark circles were still visible.
The other three had slept well, even Luo Ling, who had snuck out during the night, had slept soundly before dealing with the Church of Light.
Only Cen Xiangyun had tossed and turned, worried.
“Last night’s incident made the Company change their schedule. The main force is investigating the White Witch’s appearance, so…”
Cen Xiangyun’s expression darkened.
“So, we’re going too?” Luo Ling asked curiously.
“So, they decided no one should be idle, and moved our operation up. We have to assemble at eight,” Cen Xiangyun said, her face grim. She had finally fallen asleep at dawn, only to be woken up by a call from the Company, which had also woken Lu Manqing.
“Such ruthlessness… reminds me of my past,” Lu Manqing said, taking a sip of tea with a satisfied expression.
Victorians rarely drank tea in the morning, usually coffee, but she preferred tea, a habit from her past.
“I’ve heard of working late, but never working early,” Lu Manqing shrugged.
She didn’t mind; her sleep schedule was similar to Elsa’s.
And Luo Ling’s as well. The only one suffering was Cen Xiangyun.
Cen Xiangyun’s face darkened even further.
She was the only one with direct ties to the Company, yet she was treated worse than the outsourced…
Luo Ling’s situation was unique. Lu Manqing, although joining the Company partly because of her mother, had made her own decision, not relying on her mother’s connections.
Elsa was even more special. Luo Ling still didn’t know how she had joined the Company, not even Elsa herself seemed to know, just tagging along.
As long as she could stay with Luo Ling, Elsa didn’t mind.
Only Cen Xiangyun was a true Company employee, yet she had the most resentment towards the Company…
“By the way, Mother told me you chose your P6 team leader without hesitation. Did you know her before?” Lu Manqing asked.
“…Heh,” Luo Ling just sneered. “I just want to settle a score.”
Since she didn’t know anyone on the list, she might as well choose someone she had a grudge against.
Trying to find this maid within the Company would be difficult, but as her team leader… she couldn’t escape.
Selling her photos, huh? She wouldn’t get away with it.
Luo Ling didn’t care why or to whom the maid had sold the photos. She wasn’t a beauty; what could a few photos do?
In terms of looks, she was no match for the three women present, unless she was in her White Witch form.
But her White Witch form was clearly inhuman, instantly recognizable as a Grotesquery.
In Jiangcheng County, she had been able to blend in by simply tying up her hair, but not anymore.
“…”
The others remained silent, not wanting to know how this maid had offended Luo Ling.
After spending some time together, they had learned a bit about Luo Ling’s personality.
She was… a bit petty.
Of course, they wouldn’t say this to her face. Telling a petty person that they were petty would only make them more petty.
“Go wash up. I brought you breakfast. No soy milk and youtiao here, you’ll have to make do,” Cen Xiangyun said, pointing at the milk, buttered bread, and a fried egg on the table.
It was a simple breakfast, but after witnessing life in the slum, Luo Ling realized that in this era, in this place, even such ordinary things were more precious than life to some.
Ordinary and mundane, yet requiring everything as a price.
“Mm, I understand.”
…
After breakfast, Luo Ling and the others headed to Wellington Manor.
Along the way, Cen Xiangyun explained the Company’s structure in Victoria.
Although called “headquarters,” besides the core decision-making level, the rest of the Company was divided into branches across Victoria’s eighteen districts.
Each branch was like a sub-sect, with a P9 in charge, but they rarely appeared, the highest-ranking person usually seen being a P8.
Lu Manqing’s mother, Lu Fangling, was the head of the Wellington branch. Her previous mission to establish a branch in Jiangcheng County’s Boundary had been for her ex-husband and daughter.
Now that Jiangcheng County was gone, and her daughter had come to Victoria, she had no reason to stay at the branch and had returned to headquarters.
Li Shaoheng’s situation was special. He was directly under the command of the decision-making level, his unique ability making him a valuable asset against unknown Grotesqueries, even making some P9s wary.
He could fight anyone to a standstill, even someone like Philosopher, and still have a chance of escaping.
…As long as his ability wasn’t sealed.
Because Luo Ling and her group were all related to the Jiangcheng County incident, they were assigned to the Wellington branch, under Lu Fangling’s command.
When they arrived at the manor, it looked the same as usual from the outside, servants bustling about, the guards dozing off.
But inside…
Dozens of Company employees in black suits stood in formation, a passionate leader giving a rousing speech.
“Brothers and sisters of Wellington branch! This is an unprecedented emergency! I know we say that every time, but this time, it’s really urgent!”
“A demon who just slaughtered four hundred thousand innocent people has reached out to Victoria, attempting to inflict her disaster upon us, to annihilate us all!”
“We cannot allow this! For the Company, for everyone, we must give it our all! We cannot let the other branches steal our thunder!”
The leader’s passionate speech was met with the employees’ listless stares.
Who could be energetic after being woken up so early, especially for such a pointless speech? They had to endure this every time.
But after the leader’s last sentence, the crowd erupted.
“If our performance in this incident is outstanding, I will personally request headquarters to change our fixed dinner menu to an eighteen-course buffet!”
“Yes! For din… for the Company! Fight! Fight!”
“That White Witch, even if she appears herself, for din… for the Company, we will capture her and bring her to justice!”
“…”
The crowd was now energized.
Luo Ling’s lips twitched.
She had merely shown her face, done nothing, yet she had become such a villain…
She wasn’t some evil demon, and were the people in the Wellington branch always this… eccentric?
Besides the speaker, several leaders sat nearby, including Old Madam Lu.
Luo Ling and the others’ arrival went unnoticed, except for a few who simply glanced at them.
Only one person’s eyes lit up, and she quickly approached. It was the maid from before.
“Miss Luo Ling, you’re here,” the maid said, her expression still impassive, but with a strange enthusiasm.
She was one of the few who wasn’t a leader or participating in the rally.
“This is…?” Cen Xiangyun asked, leaning closer.
“Call me Eve,” the maid said, handing out business cards expertly, even to Elsa. “I’ll be leading your team for this commission.”
Luo Ling took the card. It was simple, just her contact information, codename, and path.
Judgment path, codenamed Iron Fist, with the description “Specializes in uppercuts, especially against Myriad minions.”
“Oh, you’re the one who was… shortchanged… I mean, our team leader?”
Lu Manqing examined the maid, trying to figure out how she had offended Luo Ling.
“Leader is a bit much, but I will be leading you for this mission,” Eve said quickly. “But don’t be nervous, I’m just a colleague. Actually, I should thank you, especially Miss Luo Ling.”
“Hmm?”
Luo Ling looked up, almost asking, “Did you sell a lot of photos?”
Having grown up poor, Luo Ling was sensitive about money. She wouldn’t let someone profit from her without getting a cut.
“If it weren’t for Miss Luo Ling choosing me as the team leader, I would have to join the main force investigating the White Witch’s appearance last night. Dangerous and troublesome, not as easy as a newbie mission,” Eve said, looking at Luo Ling with gratitude.
Not only had she earned some extra cash yesterday, but she had also avoided a dangerous mission. Miss Luo Ling was truly her lucky star.
“Newbie mission…”
Luo Ling recalled her less-than-pleasant experience with her last “newbie mission” and felt a twinge of PTSD.
“Aren’t they all White Witch incidents? What’s the difference between dangerous and not dangerous?” Lu Manqing asked.
“No, no, it’s completely different,” Eve said, shaking her finger. “Last night, the higher-ups held an emergency meeting and concluded that last night’s incident was caused by the White Witch herself, and she likely appointed an ‘agent.’”
They even knew that?
Luo Ling was surprised, but it made sense.
The Company had resolved several High-Risk Grotesquery incidents and countless Dangerous Grotesquery incidents. They were definitely experts, even more knowledgeable than her.
Deducing the truth from the clues wasn’t impossible.
Seeing their lack of reaction, Eve realized they probably didn’t understand the implications of an agent and sneered.
“Usually, an agent of a High-Risk Grotesquery is at least comparable to a Ninth-Order Awakened One. It takes a P8 specialist or above to handle them. A P7 going alone is practically a suicide mission, and even with a P8 leading the team, the casualty rate is extremely high.”
“Is… is that so…?”
Luo Ling felt a twinge of guilt. The agent she had appointed was only Sixth-Order…
But considering that the agent had been an ordinary person before, becoming a Sixth-Order Awakened One overnight was still quite impressive.
Of course, the impressive part wasn’t the strength itself, but an ordinary person being able to withstand the power of a High-Risk Grotesquery…
The reason agents were usually Ninth-Order or above was because, without that level of strength, they couldn’t even withstand the Grotesquery’s gaze.
This was due to the unique nature of the Puppet Ballad’s power, highly specialized in stealth and propagation, but lacking in direct combat power.
“But we probably won’t encounter one, hopefully,” Eve said, looking around and lowering her voice. “I don’t know about the others, but I don’t want to die. Thanks to Miss Luo Ling, I’m just babysitting newbies.”
At this moment, Eve was truly grateful to Luo Ling.
But only Luo Ling knew there was no real danger. Not only was Alyssa’s strength comparable to Eve’s, but even if she was stronger, there was no danger.
Not just because Luo Ling didn’t want to harm the Company, but also… it would be impossible to find her.
Unless she revealed herself, finding the Puppet Ballad in a sea of people was practically impossible. Ji Ying had searched for over a decade, even sacrificing her own consciousness, and still hadn’t found its true form.
Ji Ying’s true strength was comparable to a P9 specialist, after all, her team had managed to kill the Puppet Ballad in another Boundary… although the details were complicated.
Actually, Luo Ling thought the newbie mission was more likely to be dangerous.
She couldn’t rely on luck.
But seeing Eve’s grateful expression, Luo Ling kept quiet and just asked,
“When are we leaving?”
“Now, it seems the others are about to depart.”
Eve glanced at the assembled teams, whistling at a few of them, seemingly showing off her easy newbie mission, not the dangerous one potentially involving an agent.
Her colleagues glared at her enviously.
“Do we need to prepare anything?” Cen Xiangyun asked.
“No, just a routine investigation,” Eve waved her hand dismissively. “We’ve investigated these so-called incubation barriers before. They’re all fake, just a diversion.
“Actually, the other branches have almost finished their investigations. It seems to be the White Witch’s apostles carrying out revenge killings. We’ve found motives and suspects for most of the victims, and the suspects have all disappeared.
“This White Witch is truly a terrifying demon, killing so many herself, and even inciting her followers to use such brutal methods for revenge… Even among High-Risk Grotesqueries, she’s exceptionally violent.”
Luo Ling’s expression remained unchanged, knowing the truth.
It wasn’t apostles, but the Harbingers of Calamity, using the power they had stolen from her.
However, this shed some light on their motives.
“Are they trying to involve the apostles? But what are the apostles… are they independent, or do they have some kind of organization…?”
Elsa looked around nervously, then quickly lowered her head.
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