Chapter 42: Escalation

Nox Headquarters - Earth

In a completely unknown location on Earth, the building belonging to the Nox Organization stood at a moderate height, neither reaching toward the sky like the enormous skyscrapers of the major cities nor being small enough to resemble an ordinary apartment building.

It had the appearance of a company headquarters, with several floors and a clean, modern exterior, yet there were no symbols, names, or markings anywhere on the building that could reveal its connection to the Nox Organization.

To anyone passing by, it would appear to be nothing more than another private company building. Its true identity was hidden behind layers of secrecy.

Inside the highest floor of the building, several unknown devices resembling tiny nanobots floated throughout the office-like room. A small holographic desk floated several meters away from a holographic seat, while various pieces of information continuously appeared and disappeared around the room.

A man sat on that seat with his legs crossed, his body turned toward the enormous glass window as his eyes calmly took in the view of the city below. The entire floor remained completely silent, with only the faint sounds produced by the floating devices occasionally breaking the stillness.

That silence was suddenly interrupted when a figure appeared behind the desk several meters away from him. The woman immediately bowed, her features were worth noticing as she wore a revealing white shirt which seemingly failed to cover her large breasts and cleavage, and down below she wore shorts and black stockings ran down her thighs.

Holding a small holographic tablet in her right hand as she spoke, "Master, the Nine Crux are all dead, their Astrine Meters show that their signals disappeared not long ago."

She remained in that bowed position while the man finally turned toward her, the holographic seat rotating on its own as if responding directly to his thoughts. His eyes narrowed slightly before his heavy voice echoed through the room, "They are dead? They were all Fourth Evolution Astrine Blade users. It’s impossible for a kid who just awakened to kill them."

The woman lifted her head and nodded before immediately tapping something on the tablet in her hand. A giant holographic screen appeared above the desk, displaying the latest data regarding all nine assassins who had been sent to eliminate Neolan.

The man remained silent as he looked through the information, while the woman continued explaining, "It is as you said, Master. Even if he awakened an SSS-grade Talent and possesses an SSS-rank Aspect Ability, it should be impossible for him to kill even a single one of them."

The man nodded slightly before she continued, "It is highly likely that he trapped them inside the Rift he was last seen entering. He somehow realized that they were following him and prepared everything before entering it."

The man’s eyes narrowed even further as he tried to understand how someone who had only just awakened could detect trained assassins who had spent years hiding their presence. After a long moment of silence, he finally muttered, "I see..."

He remained silent for another moment before finally speaking, "We need to escalate this mission. Send a Ninth Evolution Astrine Blade user, he or she can finish the job in seconds, and specifically instruct him to execute the target while he is not inside a Rift."

"We need to get this mission done at all costs. The client explicitly stated that he would give us nine billion credits if we complete this job, on top of the advance payment he has already given us." The woman nodded without questioning the order and replied, "Alright, Master. I will assign the job to Rosy. Her Ability may be a good counter to the target."

After replying, she tapped the tablet in her hand once again, causing the massive holographic screen to disappear. However, she did not leave the room immediately. Instead, she stepped toward the man’s desk and placed the tablet on its surface before leaning forward, her deep red hair falling loosely around the front of her face.

Her expression changed into an alluring smile as she spoke in a playful voice, "Now that I have sent the order to Rosy, how about you give me my payment, Master~?"

The man remained motionless as she suddenly moved onto the desk and shifted onto his lap, pressing her lips against his while her large breasts pressed against his chest in an explicit way, he simply allowed her to do whatever she wanted.

...

On the other hand, at the lowest floor of that same building, a massive training room stretched for nearly a kilometer. The entire room was completely white and almost entirely empty, with only a woman standing in the center while three combat robots moved around her.

She threw repeated punches toward them, but the robots continued dodging her attacks with impressive precision. "Hahahaha! I like it! These new models are the best for me!"

She laughed loudly as she continued attacking, clearly enjoying the challenge presented by the three machines. The robots suddenly changed their movements and immediately launched several karate chops toward her, but she effortlessly dodged every attack.

Her body was covered by a training suit cropped around her belly, while a pair of black training pants stretched down to her ankles. Her movements remained relaxed despite the speed of the robots, as though she were treating the entire training session as nothing more than entertainment.

Her teeth became completely visible whenever she laughed, and their unusual shape resembled what one might expect from a beastman in a fantasy novel. The woman continued grinning as the three robots moved around her, seemingly preparing another coordinated attack.

DING!

The sudden sound from her wristwatch interrupted her laughter, causing her to stop for a moment. The three robots immediately recognized the opening and moved toward her, but the instant they attempted to attack, they were suddenly blown away without her even moving from her position. She paid them no attention and instead opened the holographic interface of her wristwatch, quickly noticing the Mission that had just been assigned to her.

Her expression immediately changed into an excited grin as she looked at the displayed information. "A big fish, finally! I am going to have lots of fun killing him! Hahahaha!"

The woman’s laughter echoed throughout the enormous training room as the three damaged robots slowly struggled to recover in the background.