Read Novel Full Chapter 377 377: The Attack: Lin Xueyi's Disgust [9]
Chapter 377 377: The Attack: Lin Xueyi's Disgust [9]
Alice's pupils shrank, her muscles tensing instantly. Years of combat instinct took over before thought could even catch up. She spun and threw a dagger in one smooth motion, her arm snapping forward with deadly precision.
The gold rank blade sliced through the air, passing just inches from the speaker's face before embedding itself deep into the metal wall behind her with a sharp clang.
Alice turned fully, a second dagger already in her hand, her stance low and her gaze fierce and calculating.
Standing a few meters away was a young woman with sharp Asian features, dressed in fitted combat attire that did not restrict movement. Her expression was calm, almost amused, as she glanced at the dagger lodged behind her.
Alice did not recognize this person, but there was one thing she could tell with a single glance.
'Hero rank.'
This person was none other than the junior Lin sister. Lin Xueyi.
Her smile was cold as she spoke.
"Depending on how well you cooperate, I'll decide whether I kill you or not. So start speaking. Who are you, and who sent you."
Alice did not lower her guard for even a second. Her body was already prepared to strike again.
Naturally, she was not planning to reveal her identity or the presence of the Broken Dawn Guild. Though she could be reckless at times, there was one thing she would never do, and that was betrayal.
"You really plan on keeping quiet, are you?" Lin Xueyi said.
There was no reply from Alice.
Lin Xueyi sighed lightly, raising her hands just enough to show she was not attacking.
"What if we have the same purpose," she said calmly.
Alice's eyes narrowed as she realized the woman was telling the truth, thanks to her unique talent. Even so, having the same purpose did not mean they were not enemies. She did not relax. Instead, her grip tightened on her daggers.
"That could just be a ploy," Alice replied. "Prove it."
Lin Xueyi studied her in silence for a moment, then let out another quiet sigh.
"Fair enough," she said.
She did not move closer.
She did not rush. She did not even raise her voice. She simply stood there in the open, calm like someone who had already made peace with the fact that if Alice chose to fight, this place would turn into a graveyard.
Her eyes swept across the tanks again, then returned to Alice's face.
"You're not from here," she said softly. "And you're not one of Henry's dogs."
Alice's eyes flickered, but she said nothing.
"Keep talking," Alice said. The dagger in her hand did not lower even a little.
Lin Xueyi nodded as if she expected that.
"I don't need you to trust me. I just need you to listen long enough to realize I am not your enemy."
Alice did not answer.
Her breathing remained steady, but her mind was already mapping the distance between them, the angles of attack, the blind spots, the quickest route to the exit, and the places she could hide if this woman decided to strike.
Lin Xueyi's lips curved slightly as she spoke, almost amused.
"You're calculating how to escape."
Alice's eyes narrowed further.
Lin Xueyi raised her palms again, slowly, showing she still was not drawing any weapon.
"Seriously, relax," she said. "If I wanted to kill you, you wouldn't have heard my voice. You would have just fallen."
That statement was not arrogant. It was factual. Alice knew it immediately, and it irritated her.
The feeling of being under another person's mercy was deeply uncomfortable.
"Then stop wasting time," Alice replied in an annoyed tone. "Prove you are not my enemy."
Lin Xueyi exhaled, then finally took one step to the side, allowing the light to hit her face more clearly. Her eyes were cold, but there was something else in them too.
Disgust. Anger. Restraint.
"I'll prove it with the truth," she said quietly. "Because the truth is the only thing I have left."
Her gaze drifted upward toward the ceiling lights, as if she was collecting herself.
"I'm from Tianlan," she said. "The home of martial arts. When I first arrived here, I thought the Eastern Camp was strong. I thought strength meant safety. I thought structure meant order. But what I found was not order. It was a cage."
Her fingers clenched slightly at her sides, then loosened again.
"Henry is not a leader," she admitted. "He is a man who enjoys power too much. Dominic is worse. He smiles like a king, but he is a beast in human skin. The way they look at women, the way they speak about them, the way they reward their subordinates with girls as if they are handing out meat."
A dangerous chill entered her voice.
"Especially girls from Tianlan."
Alice's grip tightened.
In the second class district, she had already seen enough to understand the kind of camp this was. The groping at the gate. The smug smiles. The way men watched her body openly, as if she was already owned the moment she stepped inside.
If that was what they dared do at the entrance, then the first class area was definitely worse.
Lin Xueyi took a slow breath.
"They call it hierarchy, but it is not a hierarchy. It is slavery with extra steps. Men with guns and mana rifles taking whatever they want, while everyone else pretends it is normal because they are afraid."
She paused, then added in a low voice,
"I am Hero Rank, yet even I have been treated like a trophy."
The words came out calm, but the bitterness beneath them was heavy.
Alice stared at her, her expression remaining neutral.
"You asked me to prove it. So here it is. I do not like the way things are here. I don't like the rulers. I don't like their system. And I don't like what this camp has become."
Lin Xueyi's eyes softened slightly, but only slightly.
"I want change."
Alice let out a quiet scoff.
"Change. In this place."
Lin Xueyi nodded.
"Yes. And I know where that change will come from."
Alice's eyes narrowed again, her instincts flaring.
"Stop speaking in riddles," she said. "If you want to say something, then say it clearly."
Lin Xueyi's lips pressed together, then she spoke the name.
"Gabriel Reyes."