"Hmm, it's about time." Mo Ying said softly.
Five minutes later, Davis and Yvette stood in front of the building, while Kagumo and Ansel hid nearby.
"You go through the front door, I'll enter through that window." Yvette said.
Davis nodded. Yvette nimbly climbed through the window, while Davis casually walked up to the lowered metal shutter. With a strong push from his right hand, the shutter lifted slightly. He then placed his left hand into the gap he had just created and exerted force again, opening a passage large enough for a person to pass through.
"Davis, man… I really don't wanna pay for that shutter." Ansel leaned against the wall.
"Eh, just let the chairman handle it." Davis replied.
With that, he stepped through the opening into the building.
"Boss, we've got intruders." Billy said.
A blonde woman sat at her desk, watching the security footage. "Yeah, I see them."
"Didn't think they'd track us down here. Boss, want me to take care of him?" Billy asked.
"No, he might not be here for a rescue." The blonde woman observed Davis through the monitors.
Davis strolled inside at a leisurely pace, looking around. If something caught his interest, he'd pick it up, examine it, then put it back down. Eventually, he walked out of the camera's view.
"He's heading upstairs. Might just be a thief. Billy, take some men and give him a warning. No need to fight—he's an Affinity User, and I don't want casualties." She instructed.
"Understood." Billy replied, though he was clearly reluctant. Wouldn't it be easier to just kill him? They had the numbers—if a fight broke out, they might not even lose.
As if sensing his thoughts, the blonde woman's voice came again. "We don't know his capabilities yet. Don't act rashly."
Davis reached the second floor and opened a door.
"This is the room Mo Ying was in earlier." He closed the door and opened another one—his goal was to attract attention and move elsewhere.
The room he entered was mostly empty, save for a bed frame and an old, dusty wardrobe.
Before long, someone came looking for him.
"Hey, you." A man in a dress shirt, holding a gun, kicked the door open.
Davis turned around. "Oh, so there is someone here."
"That's right. This place is ours. Leave now, and there won't be any trouble. Otherwise..." Billy spun his gun in his hand, while the men behind him, armed with various weapons, wore sinister expressions.
Davis took a few steps forward. Billy assumed he was complying and stepped aside to make way for him—only for Davis to swing a punch.
Billy dodged just in time, but the unfortunate guy behind him wasn't so lucky—Davis' punch knocked him out cold.
"I'm not leaving." Davis declared, throwing another punch that sent another man flying five meters before crashing to the ground.
"You bastard—!" Billy raised his gun and fired. Bang! Bang! Bang!
But the expected sight of Davis bleeding out never came.
Instead, Davis opened his fist, and three bullets clattered to the floor.
He had caught them with his bare hand.
"You're way worse than Yvette. Her bullets are actually hard to catch." Davis muttered before noticing more reinforcements arriving.
Seeing the growing number of enemies with murderous intent, he grinned. "Now this is getting fun. Bring it on!"
Meanwhile, Yvette had climbed into the second floor. She walked straight to the living room door, dual-wielding pistols. Hiding behind the wall, she swiftly opened the door.
Bang! Without even looking, she fired her first shot—hitting one man in the kneecap.
Mo Ying had seen three people in the living room earlier. Now, there was only one left—the other two must have been drawn away by Davis' commotion.
Yvette stepped into the room and kicked aside the groaning man clutching his knee. Just as she was about to move forward, she was suddenly struck by a wave of intense pain.
She collapsed to her knees, her brows furrowing tightly.
A blonde woman stepped into the living room, smiling.
"Not bad. You almost pulled it off." She remarked.
Upon hearing Davis' attack, the woman had sensed something was off and came to check, only to run into Yvette.
Yvette was in too much pain to respond.
"Pain synchronization—such a powerful ability. But its strength is built upon my suffering." The blonde woman wore a sorrowful expression.
"So... that's... your reason... for kidnapping people? Because you suffer?" Yvette's voice was strained.
"Hah. Don't think I don't know—you're stalling for time, waiting for your teammates to arrive." The blonde woman pulled out a gun and aimed it at Yvette.
Bang!
The gunshot rang out, but Yvette remained unscathed. Instead, the blonde woman's gun had fallen to the floor.
"I'm here." Mo Ying's face was a bit pale. She held the Kraf chairman's son in one arm, while her other hand gripped a gun.
"Still able to aim so precisely through this pain? Impressive." The blonde woman was surprised.
Mo Ying walked up to Yvette and handed her the child. "Take him and go. I'll handle this."
Yvette didn't argue. She forced herself to stand, carrying the child away. The blonde woman made no attempt to stop her—perhaps knowing she couldn't.
She reached for her gun, only to see Mo Ying kick it away.
"Interesting. This is the first time I've met someone like me." The blonde woman looked at Mo Ying with curiosity.
"Like you?" Mo Ying didn't understand.
"Someone accustomed to enduring pain." The blonde woman took a step forward.
Mo Ying pulled out her black scythe.
"There's no shortage of people like that." She replied coldly. Disaster wasn't exactly rare in this world.
"No, I mean purely physical pain. Your tolerance far exceeds normal people." The blonde woman observed Mo Ying closely.
Billy had experience in underground fighting rings. Even he would be writhing on the floor from this level of pain. But Mo Ying? She was still standing.
"So what?" Mo Ying asked, before swinging her scythe downward. A black-gold fire lotus bloomed on the ground and exploded. The blonde woman barely dodged in time.
Boom! The explosion destroyed part of a sofa.
"Using such an attack at this distance? I see... You're also at your limit. And your gun's out of bullets, isn't it?" The blonde woman smirked.
Sharp one. Mo Ying holstered her gun—it was empty. Otherwise, she'd have just shot her opponent in the head… or the shoulder, if she didn't want to kill her.
The discarded gun lay in the corner. If they both went for it, it wasn't certain who'd get it first.
"This works too. Affinity Users should settle things with their abilities." The blonde woman pulled out a small knife.
Mo Ying's body swayed. The pain had intensified.
The woman dashed forward, her blade flashing.
Snap! Mo Ying caught the woman's wrist, her hand trembling from the pain. The knife inched toward her. At that moment, their eyes met.
The blonde woman froze. She saw herself being torn apart by an explosion of fire lotuses.
Thud! The woman collapsed. Mo Ying withdrew her scythe—it had just knocked her unconscious.
"Oh, that hurts." Mo Ying exhaled, her hands still shaking.
She sat on the damaged sofa to recover. Moments later, Davis burst in.
"I took care of everyone on my end—oh. Guess you didn't need help here." Davis noted.
"Yeah. Two more are knocked out by the storeroom door. Check if they're still out cold." Mo Ying stood up.
Davis went to check—both were still unconscious. He carried them off and tossed them with the others before turning to the blonde woman.
"What about her?"
"Tie her up." Mo Ying found a rope and secured her to a chair.
After calling the police and giving them the address, the two left, getting into the car.
"To Chairman Kraf's villa. Let's return his son first." Yvette said.
"This late? You just wanna wake him up to get back at him for making unreasonable demands, don't you?" Ansel sighed.
"Of course not. I'm just worried the kid might get kidnapped again." Yvette chuckled.
Kraf's son: "..." I can hear you.
Moments later, the car stopped in front of the villa. Yvette, with complete confidence, asked the guards to call out the chairman. The guards initially stated that it was too late to disturb him, but upon seeing their young master, they froze for a moment before immediately making the call.
Upon entering the villa, they saw Chairman Kraf sitting on the sofa in his pajamas, looking displeased. Yvette smiled and said, "Good evening. As requested, we've successfully rescued your son."
"Why did you bring him back at this hour?" Chairman Kraf's tone carried a hint of anger. Anyone would be irritated if their sleep was interrupted.
"Of course, we had to deliver him immediately. You were deeply concerned about his safety, weren't you? Naturally, you'd want to see him as soon as possible to feel at ease. Or… are you saying you're not worried about him?" Yvette asked with a smile.