Under the Veil of Night

For most people, trying to put their attention into the battle would take all of their concentration. A slight mishap was more than enough to kill him. However, Patrick was already used with people interrupting his fight. After all, his head was worth quite a lot in Black Market.

BANG!

When he heard the loud sound, he knew right away that someone tried to interrupt him. He tilted his head to the side, barely avoiding the shoot. On the other hand, his hand continued to move in a fierce manner, sending numerous thrusts to one place in the man's body.

Jeff nodded to himself. "He's pretty skilled."

Vena didn't reply. She focused her attention on the gun on her hand and fired it a few times in Patrick's direction. Her attempt caused the man to be annoyed because it nearly grazed on him if he didn't act fast enough.

Thanks to the slight lack of concentration, monster Carlo reached him and swung his claw arm towards him. He used his spear to block the attack, but the strength behind it flung him into the room next door.

When he wanted to get out of the room, monster Carlo had charged inside.

"What do you want to do?" Jeff asked curiously.

Vena took out her I-Pad. She looked at the screen for a split second before finding the correct choice. Clicking the button, a loud sound appeared from the room where Patrick and Carlo were. The floor was broken, sending them straight to the lower floor immediately.

Jeff opened his mouth in astonishment. He looked at Vena with praise all over his face. "You're truly a fierce and smart woman!"

Vena merely nodded her head. In her opinion, something like this couldn't be considered much. She only sent them to the lower floor to stall the time even longer. After all, the stairs towards the lower floor had been destroyed by Jeff when he called Carlo and Kanae up here.

The lower floor was only a place where they put the prisoners for the experiment, which was similar to a prison. Many of them died before the experiment could be finished in the past. It nearly sent Professor Taren crazy because he wanted to see his experiment successful.

In the end, Ferdinand made the grand battle of groups in this school. He used it to recruit more people to be Professor Taren's rat lab, destroyed the evidence of failed experiments so far, and smeared the groups' reputation. In a way, he gained three things with only one action.

"I guess, you truly have a mind for a leader," Jeff nodded his head. A leader should have wits and know what he should do in the correct time. Vena's action showed him that she has more experience in dealing with matters even with her puny strength.

Vena didn't reply. If it was not because of her father, Randy, and her brother, she would never end in this place. One wrong move because of her greed in power led her to this state.

She had had enough of them. Days of toiling listlessly every single day to run the business had taken a toll on her body. Every single time she saw the black mark underneath her eyes, she knew that she wouldn't be able to erase it. For the future of her family, she sacrificed everything and put her hard work and built her family into prosperity.

And all of them disappeared in an instant.

Everything she held dear, everyone she loved, every single thing that she treasured, they were all taken by her with force. Her loved ones betrayed her one by one, even the one whom she loved so much. The company that she had worked so hard to build was destroyed into smithereens. Even her brother that she never put in her eyes treated her like she was an item and not human.

Speaking of which, she hadn't seen her brother for the last few hours.

"Jeff, do you see Jon?"

"Jon?" Jeff recalled that the last time he saw Jon was when he played around last night. After that, he hadn't seen that man again. "Is he not in the monitoring room like usual?"

"He's not there," Vena had just been there a few minutes ago and found out that only Cain and Iris were there. Her brother had disappeared without any trace whatsoever.

"I'm not sure. Besides, he's not bound to this place like the rest of us. If he wants to leave, it's easy for him," Jeff shrugged without care. Even though Ferdinand didn't say it blatantly, he knew for sure that Jon didn't have any ties whatsoever into this place. Ferdinand only hired that man to do some dirty works that required the technology, especially in terms of collecting information.

"Is that so?" Vena commented.

"Yes."

Vena erased the thoughts regarding her brother as she stared at the two people who fought fiercely with one another in front of her. The sound of metal clashing hadn't stopped at all during the time she talked with Jeff.

She saw Kanae dashed towards Kevin and slashed her sword horizontally, but Kevin reacted fast enough to evade the attack. He didn't even try to attack her back as he focused his attention solely on defense. It was clear that he didn't want to hurt the girl in front of him.

"He's playing all defenses."

"It's pretty clear that he doesn't want to hurt his girlfriend," Jeff shrugged. "But this way, one of them will surely die for sure."

Vena retracted her attention back from the two of them. She couldn't follow all of their movement because it felt extremely fast in her eyes. Although they were slow enough at time, most of the time, they were too fast in her opinion.

Her mind thought about what Jeff told her. She pursed her lips slightly. "At the very least, she's lucky to have someone who genuinely cares for her."

The image of Randy was formed in her mind. She had spent most of her life with him around her. At first, they were only master and servant, but soon, their relationship deepened. Every single moment with him was incredibly precious to her as she had to sneak out just to stay together with him.

And in one moment, he mercilessly abandoned her. He left her in the hand of a man who would not hesitate to use her like a tool.

She has lost all of her trust in that man. Every single thing he told her only came from her left ear and got out from the right one. She didn't want to hear his lies anymore. Once is already more than enough.

"It won't stay long like this," Jeff chuckled. "Besides, when I see couples, I want nothing more than breaking them to pieces."

"You seem pretty happy with your decision," Vena commented.

Jeff smiled. "I'm like this because of a woman, so I always hate seeing couples in happy relationships. Rather than seeing them happy with each other, I want to see them cry as they hurt each other."

Vena didn't reply anymore. Everyone who was here has something they would never want to recall. Some of them might receive help from medicine but not at their first awakening. Once they had passed the age, they would be given the medicine to force them to wake up.

If not, they would be subjected to the most painful experience by Ferdinand. He would not hesitate to kill their loved ones just to make them awaken their talent. Or he would make the scheme for them.

Jeff looked at the couple as a devilish smirk appeared on his face. "Ryukalin Clan Head, do you truly want to prolong the battle longer and wait for your elder to come and help you?"

Kevin didn't reply. He parried the attack from Kanae as he moved sideways and avoided her next attack.

Even though he was being ignored, Jeff didn't mind in the slightest. He smirked. "Do you know that moving around like this will only make the device destroy her mind even faster? In a few hours, she'll lose her conscience completely."

Kevin's eyes shook when he heard that. He turned his head to Kanae as he pushed her back. "Is that true?"

Without replying, Kanae stomped on the ground as she charged towards him once more. She didn't dare to reply to him.

"Where's the device located?" Kevin asked, murderous intent filled the air.

Nevertheless, Kanae didn't reply. She couldn't speak and her body was tasked to attack Kevin. Even though she could give the gesture to him, a part of her didn't want him to know.

On the back, Jeff was watching their interaction with interest. He knew that it would be the most interesting thing he could see between them. Seeing the troubled expression on Kanae's face, he was feeling rather elated. He turned his head to Vena beside him.

"Do you want to tell them the location of the device?" Jeff smirked. "It'll make things more interesting, right?"

Vena raised her eyebrows.. She looked back at the two of them as she considered her option.