Chapter 104: Let’s Take A Break

Gabrela cried and whimpered for 10 minutes. After she stopped breathing heavily, Lavendina, who had finished making hot tea, approached her, taking out a handkerchief from her left pocket.

When she was in front of Gabrela, she squatted down, lifted his head, and wiped away his tears. She fed her the tea, and she drank half of it.

"Don’t be sad, you’re still young and have a future," Lavendina said.

"Sob... I-I have nothing left—my team ran away, my boyfriend broke up with me because he was dating my manager... P-plus, I don’t dare approach the famous people I know, because I’m afraid of their social life, which involves getting drunk and engaging in other adult activities," Gabrela said sadly.

"Yes, I’m also worried that she’ll end up on the wrong path..." Lavendina said to herself with a flat expression.

Lavendina held Gabrela’s shoulders.

"Listen to me! You’re still young—still a student. As long as you’re willing to learn and don’t give up, I’m sure you can succeed—Be confident!" Lavendina said with a firm expression and voice.

Gabrela was a little taken aback by this.

"Remember, there are still many people who love you. Your parents are working hard to send you to school—so you can learn and become smarter. And remember, you have fans. Think of your livestreams and social media accounts as just your portfolio for the future. The key is to focus on studying and building a good image in front of people!" Lavendina said.

"Well, You don’t believe a maid could create a hacking tool like that?"

Gabrela nodded.

"That maid was once a miserable girl, but one day she wanted to change herself. She started studying after school and experimenting. Although she often failed, she always used those failures as lessons. She saw failure as a hole to be fixed so the hole wouldn’t come out" Lavendina said.

Gabrela remained silent.

"The fire isn’t big enough, is it?" Lavendina asked herself.

"Oh yeah, I remember you have millions of followers. I have an idea: how about you tell your manager and boyfriend about your dirty deeds on social media? You can just act sad, and who knows, it might increase your popularity and attract many legitimate companies to endorse you" Lavendina said.

Hearing that, the fire inside Gabrela began to burn.

"Haa... You’re right, YOU’RE SO RIGHT!" Gabrela shouted.

"I WILL START LEARNING ABOUT ENTERTAINMENT, FASHION, TECHNOLOGY, AND EVERYTHING ELSE. I WILL GO TO SCHOOL PROPERLY, AND GO TO THE CENTRAL JAKARTA LIBRARY TO SEARCH KNOWLEDGE!" Gabrela shouted enthusiastically.

"WHEN I’M RICH, I’LL MAKE MY EX REGRET IT! I’LL ALSO TELL MY MANAGER’S SHIT ON SOCIAL MEDIA AS A STEPPING STONE TO GET ENDORSEMENTS FROM BIG COMPANIES, HAHAHAHA!"

Gabrela panted and grinned. Lia began clapping her hands slowly. Gabrela and Lavendina turned to Lia.

"NICE, I LIKE YOUR ENTHUSIAST" Lia said.

Lia stopped clapping and stood up.

"OK, I THINK THAT’S ALL I’M ASKING, I’LL TAKE CARE OF THE REST," Lia said.

Lavendina stood up and began walking to her desk.

"D-does that mean I’m free and won’t be punished?" Gabrela asked with an awkward smile.

"Who said that?" Lavendina asked.

"Eh? You and your partner said that earlier" Gabrela replied.

"Look at the back" Lavendina said, preparing the medicine.

Gabrela began to look back. Her expression suddenly turned horrified. Her eyes widened, as if his brain refused to process the sight before her.

If the front room still looked like a normal room, the back room was different, it felt like a dark world. The atmosphere was shabby and gloomy, the walls covered in black stains and peeling paint. The floor was made of dirt, not ceramic tiles. The yellow light made every corner seem more menacing and gloomy. This created a gloomy atmosphere, making even the cold air unable to reach those areas.

There, lined up were several unfamiliar and intimidating devices—a tongue ripper, a thumb crusher, an electrocution device, ivy slime, and a helm labeled "smoke irritant". She had no idea how they were supposed to be used, but their appearance alone was enough to send shivers down his spine.

Gabrela was immediately shocked, her body trembling violently.

"W-what the hell... i-is that!?" Gabrela asked in fear.

"Those are tools for torturing criminals and liars" Lavendina replied.

Gabrela immediately turned to Lavendina and screamed in panic.

"B-BUT I’VE ALREADY ANSWERED EVERYTHING HONESTLY!" Gabrela shouted.

"Indeed, but because you lied, I’ll give you a light punishment—Poison Ivy, which will make your skin red and itchy" Lavendina said.

Lavendina began to approach her, holding a 5 ml syringe filled with liquid and smiling evilly.

"N-NO, P-PLEASE NOT ON MY SKIN! I WORKED SO HARMFULLY TO CARE FOR IT!!!" Gabrela screamed, struggling.

The chair slid a few centimeters off the ground, making a creaking sound that added to the eerie atmosphere. Lavendina didn’t answer, with a creepy smile, she walked toward Gabrela. The light from the lamp reflected off the syringe in her right hand, making it seem even more terrifying.

Gabrela’s heart was beating fast.

"I... I-I’ve told you everything..." Gabrela said in a trembling voice.

Lavendina stopped right in front of him. She began to reach out her right hand toward Gabrela’s right arm.

"Thank you... get some rest, let us take care of the rest" Lavendina said softly.

The needle pierced Gabrela’s right arm and the fluid was injected. Within 5 seconds, she was asleep.

At 20:15, still in the Laboratory, in the living room.

Lia and Lavendina sat at a rectangular table. Lia began removing her mask. While Lavendina, sitting across from Lia, took off her coat, leaving her wearing only a black T-shirt with a cute bear on it.

On the table were snacks, a thermos, sugar, tea, coffee, and five 200ml glasses. To their right was a 55-inch Smart TV mounted on the wall.

Lavendina turned on the TV with a special card in her right hand, which she directed to a small camera installed above the center of the TV frame. On the right side of the camera was a green light and on the left was a red one. The green light flashed and the TV turned on.

Lia opened YouTube using the remote. Lia selected a news channel that had been uploaded two hours ago. The two of them watched news about the riots across Jakarta. Lia fast-forwarded and stopped at a clip of journalists reporting on the situation.

A journalist was explaining the situation throughout Jakarta, with the fire in National Monument (Monas) Park being handled by the fire department in the background.

"...This riot has been going on since 12:55 WIB. According to the Chief of Police, the first incident was reported in North Jakarta. However, within about ten minutes, a similar situation spread throughout Jakarta,"

At the top right of the reporter, small videos appear, arranged in a vertical 2x6 grid. These videos represent evidence provided by witnesses.

"According to several witnesses, they saw one of the perpetrators swallow several pills"

A video taken at the Monas is enlarged.

"In the video, you can clearly see a man standing still amidst passing tourists for several minutes. He suddenly starts screaming, all eyes are on him, and then he swallows mysterious pills. It doesn’t take long for the man to undergo a shocking transformation—his weight, skin color, and height change beyond those of a normal human,"

"And soon after, several other men changed like him and began attacking. This was no ordinary riot, as a total of 100 people died, and the most horrifying thing was that they all died from broken bones. Even those who managed to escape suffered serious injuries"

"Hmm... So that’s why the police were late arriving at this school," Lia said.

"Well, it seems the criminals are getting serious," Lavendina said.

"Hey, try repeating it and pause it when the man swallows the pills," Lavendina continued.

Lia began repeating that part, and when the moment was right, she paused the video. Lavendina began to squint.

"Hmm... that pill is the same as the one Gabrela was promoting" Lavendina said.

Lavendina began folding her coat neatly.

"So, what are we going to do?" Lavendina asked.

"Maybe I’ll go to the police—" Lia replied.

Suddenly, Lia’s phone rang. Lia took it out of her right pocket and turned it on.

"Perfect timing, he called me first" Lia said, looking at her phone.

Lia answered the call.

"Hello?" Lia replied.

"Hello, am I speaking with Ms. Lia?" Yanto asked.

"Yes, I’m here. What wrong, Mr. Yanto?" Lia asked.

"Have you seen the news today?" Yanto asked.

"Yes, I’m watching" Lia said.

"Do you know who did it?" Yanto asked.

"Not yet, but we’ve tracked them down and will investigate tomorrow" Lia replied.

"I see... We’ve also sedated all the perpetrators, and they’re all being taken to one hospital, Alamanda AI Medical in PIK 2," Yanto said.

"A high-tech hospital, huh?" Lia muttered.

"What’s wrong, Ms. Lia?" Yanto asked.

"I just thought you made a good decision by treating them there," Lia replied.

"Ahahaha, of course, because it’s connected to our headquarters, so we can monitor them remotely" Yanto said proudly.

Lia smiled, while Lavendina picked up the remote and played an action movie.

"Okay, Mr. Yanto, I’ll probably send my colleagues to that area too. I’m worried someone might escape or attack the hospital," Lia said.

"Ahahaha, no need, we’ll be enough" Yanto said.

"No, I’ll send them anyway, because we also need data from the perpetrators," Lia said.

"Hahahaha, alrigh alright" Yanto said with a laugh.

"By the way, do you need help with your investigation?" Yanto asked.

"No, thank you. You can handle the Mafia problem in the Dragon Komodo area," Lia replied.

"You already know the location, right?" Lia asked.

"Of course!" Yanto replied.

Lavendina took a potato chip.

"Great, so when are you going to catch them?" Lia asked.

"Tomorrow, the location is in Gunung Putri," Yanto replied.

"It’s quite far... Oh yeah, I’d like to send one of my partners, are you willing to accept?" Lia asked.

"Partner? Why?" Yanto asked back.

"Somehow, I have a feeling that the Mafia has information about human trafficking," Lia replied.

"So I want my partner to accompany you so he can give me the information directly," Lia continued.

"Hmm... Okay, but what are his skills?" Yanto asked.

"A sniper!" Lia replied confidently.

~To be continued~