Chapter 623: Interrogation Night, Date Night, same thing
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At this point, it became abundantly clear to Kuro that shit had gone sideways, in more ways than he had initially anticipated.
Not only did his team members, the ones that were to act only if negotiations went sour, got caught, but it turned out that there were other groups interested in this clan of exiles as well!
Although, it appeared to be for entirely different reasons from his own.
Regardless, Kuro understood that he needed to bail immediately.
‘I need to report back to the chief, now!’
[Smoke Breath!]
“Whoa, Nelly!”
Kuro quickly gathered aether into his throat and expelled a massive cloud of choking black smoke that caused Zhen Liu to recoil out of instinct for a moment.
In this brief moment, Kuro used another aether art that strengthened his legs and skin, enabling him to escape from Zhen Liu’s grasp.
Or so he thought.
‘Alright, it’s just one guy. Surely you can outrun a single…huh?’
When Kuro turned his head around to check on how close Zhen Liu was to catching him, he was surprised to find that not only was the distance between growing by the second, but the latter hadn’t even moved an inch from the spot he and Kuro were conversing.
Instead, Kuro could clearly see that plain on Zhen Liu’s face, was a bemused smile.
The type of smile that predatory beasts had when they saw that a trap they had established had finally paid off.
‘Why does he-wait…oh no.’
It wasn’t until he felt not one, but two incredibly powerful sources of aether barreling down on his head like a divine hammer.
The last thing he remembered seeing before being rendered unconscious, was a giant blade attached to some demented baller dancer and an iron block attached to a very large spring.
The last thing he heard on the other hand was surprisingly…casual.
“Hah! Told you I could smack him in the face faster than you could kick him.”
“Hey, this ain’t over. Round two, we see how quickly we get our assigned guy to squeal.”
“Deal.”
‘What…the fuck?’
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‘Well…that went smoother than I had anticipated,’ Zhen Liu commented to the kaijin as he watched Razorstella and Spring Brawler capture “Kuro”…after knocking his ass out with two solid blows to the head.
“Wait…we didn’t accidentally kill him, right?,” Razorstella asked as she and Spring Brawler squatted over Kuro’s body. This question prompted the latter to wave his hand underneath the man’s nose, confirming that “Kuro” was still alive.
“Think he’ll remember that we kicked ass in?,” Razorstella asked Spring Brawler.
“Maybe,” Spring Brawler replied.
While Zhen Liu wasn’t entirely sure if Razorstella’s and Spring Brawler’s combined attack would lead to permanent brain damage, he knew that Kuro was going to at least have a massive headache the next day.
‘Man, it’s a good thing that medicine in this world is literal magic, otherwise I’d feel about all of the bodily harm I inflict.’
[You mean what we inflict?]
‘Hey, I can still throw a mean punch when I need to,” Zhen Liu quipped back as he sensed that the kaijin were moving to his position.
It didn’t take too long until Nepherage, Frosttusk and Hurricroak appeared in front of Zhen Liu, each of them carrying someone unconcious on their shoulders.
‘Welcome back from spy hunting, did you guys catch-.]
*THUD, THUD, THUD!*
‘Excellent.’
At his prompting, the kaijin deposited the spies they had captured to Zhen Liu’s feet, the number totaling six excluding Kuro.
[What? Were you expecting us to fail, maestro? I’m hurt,] Hurricroak teased.
‘No, but I was expecting one of these fucks to do some suicide shenanigans in order to avoid being captured.’
[The one I took out actually attempted to do that,] Frosttusk added while speaking in a more sped-up tone. [Granted, he tried to ward me off with some fire type attack.]
‘Ah, that’s why you’re talking faster…alright, let’s see what we’re dealing with here…,’ Zhen Liu muttered as he looked over the captured people.
Zhen Liu was going to examine what he could of the spies on an external level, which consisted mostly of their clothes and maybe the occasional tattoo.
He could’ve gone for a deeper investigation, but Zhen Liu didn’t want to break any of the seals the kaijin had placed on these spies
(Un)surprisingly, out of the six new spies the kaijin had captured, only two appeared to be in uniforms similar to Kuro’s.
Of the remaining four, two were in matching uniforms while the third and fourth were wearing outfits that were wholly unique.
This sight meant that, at minimum, there were at least four factions that had an interest in the branch Zhen Clan, but whether or not that interest was a positive thing, was up to debate.
Or…at least until a certain pair of spirits that spoke in Zhen Liu’s head on the regular, extract the information for him.
Thankfully he didn’t have to wait long for that bit of news.
=Milord, the interrogation chambers are ready for use. Feel free to come over at any time.=
‘Excellent.’
‘That…maybe. I need to go check on them first.’
<=Of course.=>
‘But for the time being, can you guys bring these guys into one of the hotel’s store rooms. I think one of them was still empty.’
[As you wish.]
With their orders given, the kaijin grabbed their respective captive and disappeared as quickly as they appeared.
While they did, Zhen Liu made his way back to the hotel, more specifically, he was going to check on Jin Fang and Rianna.
‘They’re probably gonna be trying to go to sleep but I might as well check on them anyways…oh wait! Logos, Pathos, I have a quick question.’
<=Yes?=>
‘I know the kaijin possession process is normally painless and more spiritual looking, but can we make it look… viscerally uncomfortable?’
=In…in what way?=
‘Well…’
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“Were you flirting with that dragon princess?”
“Whoa. Good evening to you as well.”
“I’m with Jin Fang on this this time, were you flirting with someone who’s brother explicitly hates your grandfather?”
“I can this with sincerity…no. No, I was not.”
“Really?”
When Zhen Liu went up to check on Jin Fang and Rianna, he had half expected them to be asleep due to how late in the evening it was.
Instead, soon after he knocked on their suite’s door, he found himself being subjected to two distinctively hard stares.
Apparently they had the notion in their heads that Zhen Liu was flirting with the 38th Imperial Princess, Jinju Ren, moments before shit went sideways back at the banquet.
The reason for the believing so was due to the fact that, well, Zhen Liu had a bit of a record for doing so…mostly.
Normally, Jin Fang wouldn’t really mind, but this time was a bit…different.
“You do realize that the blood between Patriarch Zhen Shi and the 24th Imperial Prince is incredibly bad, right?,” Jin Fang asked.
“Yes, I was in the same room.”
“So…why were you off in an empty hallway that just so happened to be where the princess had stormed off to?,” Rianna followed up.
“To be fair, I was in that hallway first in order to coordinate some stuff with the zakos, and she just sorta barged in right after I had finished.”
“That…does sound more like you…”
“Yes, speaking of, the kaijin and I just captured some spies that were eyeing us and the hotel. Did you two want to come along?”
Jin Fang and Rianna paused at the question, because they were both having the same internal debate.
On the one hand, they did want to go along and see their shared person of interest make a fool of themselves again, because they thought it was both funny and endearing that a guy who gave off the aura of a puppy tried to be intimidating.
On the other hand, they were trying to be “angry” over the fact that Zhen Liu may have accidentally charmed a girl that may or may not lead to dire consequences. They weren’t mad that he was flirting with someone, they were mad that the person he was flirting with was technically an enemy…for the time being.
Eventually though, the debate in their heads ended and they shared an understanding look with each other.
“Alright, we’ll come along too,” Jin Fang answered for the both of them, “but the next time we catching you flirting with someone, we’re going to mark you as ours.”
“Sweet, I-wait, what?”
“I said, did you need something to leave marks on these spies? I still have my make-up kit on hand and I recently acquired this new type of poison that doesn’t kill but hurts like hell.”
“Oh no,” Zhen Liu nonchalantly refused while trying not to imagine why his girlfriend would need such things, “going to be trying to do something…different.”
“Different…how?”
“Y’all ever watched a horror movie?”
