Chapter 169: Nisia

Under the red hood is a charming, healthy‑toned pretty face, smooth and delicate, with a pair of black eyes that flicker with mysterious starlight, large and bright, leaving a striking impression at first glance.

Below the high, refined nostrils are a pair of very alluring, full lips, shimmering with tempting gloss; the red lip pads are now coated with a dark‑blue lipstick, giving this female cyborg an extra touch of wicked sensuality and allure.

Overall, she is a woman whose facial features are all quite proper and exquisite.

Her tall, graceful figure, wrapped in a red cloak with black trim, adds a few more notes of innocence and fragility.

A pair of straight, full legs are sheathed in black silk, and at her feet are a pair of ultra‑futuristic metal high‑heeled boots.

Hmm, judging solely by appearance, she is indeed a very tempting little lamb—sexy without being vulgar, hot yet restrained.

Fulade internally gave his own appraisal of the woman ahead.

The woman's initially slightly smug smile, under Fulade's almost tangible gaze, gradually turned embarrassed.

A flash of anger rose, her willow‑shaped brows knit, ready to scold.

Behind her, a man with short, silky golden hair and a face begging for a beating, upon noticing Fulade ignoring him, instantly, in anger, muttered curses as he walked toward Fulade.

"Hehe, kid, didn't see it coming. You're even more arrogant than those three before, perfect—let me, your master, see just how arrogant you can be!"

Listening to the blond man's words, Fulade confirmed his suspicion.

This is not a simple missing‑person case; in other words, the so‑called disappearances are merely bait and traps set for bounty hunters! Their target has always been the bounty hunter group.

"Mark Xiumeng, male, attracted to men, age 41, bounty list rank 96, threat level B–, C‑level cyborg."

Fulade, with a calm expression, recited the details as if they were common knowledge.

"... Points: 250."

"Hey, looks like you know the details pretty well. How about it—if you're scared, I can go easy on you and throw in some mint leaves, hehe, ha ha," Mark Xiumeng said with a lecherous, smug, arrogant grin.

Seeing Mark Xiumeng's smug and arrogant expression, Fulade fell silent.

The cultural difference made Fulade instantly grasp the implication behind those numbers.

Facing the obliviously smug Mark Xiumeng, Fulade's gaze, tinged with a concern for mentally disabled children, made Mark stop laughing; his whole body became uneasy and he flared up in anger.

"Kid, your stare has successfully angered me. I've changed my mind; I'm going to gouge out your eyes! Then ruin you…! Let's see if you're still arrogant!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Mark Xiumeng's beat‑up‑looking face hardened, and the twin blades in his hands crossed, scraping together with a clatter of metal and sparks flying.

His curved mechanical prosthetic flexed forcefully, springing up instantly, and the sleek cyan twin blades in his hand slashed toward Fulade in an instant.

The speed and agility were truly beyond ordinary.

No wonder a mere C‑level cyborg earned a B‑level rating.

With powerful thrust from his legs, Mark Xiumeng surged like a rainbow, and the moment his twin blades came down, the amplified speed made the strike even more ferocious.

If it were someone else caught off guard, they might actually fall to him, but unfortunately…

His opponent is Fulade.

Even though Fulade is severely wounded and his strength not yet recovered, he is still far beyond someone like Mark Xiumeng.

Looking up at the Mark Xiumeng who was sliding into the air, his speed, astonishing to others, appeared riddled with flaws to Fulade.

Just as the cyan metal twin blades swooped down, a strong gust blew the few strands of hair on Fulade's forehead.

In an instant, Fulade moved! His arm rose, his fingers curled.

As the twin blades were about to strike Fulade, a slender, pristine white hand, as if untouched by fire, appeared.

Like a flood dragon diving into the sea, a white snake flicks its tongue, in a flash of lightning, the foot shifted, the body tilted slightly, the chilling blade light seeped, flashing past the nose, the arm thrust out sharply toward Mark Xiumeng's neck.

The seemingly harmless palm, now veins bulging, carried a pressure that made Mark Xiumeng feel a slight suffocation; under his terrified gaze, it instantly seized his neck.

"Boom!!"

A deafening blast.

The ground trembled, echoing loudly in the red‑brick alley.

"... cough cough!!"

Thin streams of blue mechanical blood kept coughing out of his mouth, his complexion pale, filled with utter disbelief.

Beneath him, the asphalt‑like pavement formed a shallow pit, with fine cracks spreading outward like a spider web.

"Bastard! Die!"

Mark Xiumeng clearly could not accept being powerless against Fulade; enraged and embarrassed, he tried to rise and charge at Fulade.

Boom! Another muffled thud as a powerful foot came down, and Mark Xiumeng's head instantly made intimate contact with the solid ground.

"...... You really like mint, huh?"

Lifting his foot, looking at the collapsed nose and the blue blood flowing from Mark Xiumeng, Fulade remained composed, a hint of amusement at the corner of his mouth.

He turned to glance at the woman behind him, and under her wary gaze, Fulade instantly turned into black mist and vanished into the air.

The woman saw the scene before her, eyes wide open, her charming pretty face showing a flash of astonishment.

Just as she subconsciously stepped forward to investigate, Fulade suddenly reappeared without warning, now holding a whimpering black‑fur large dog.

Then, under the woman's extremely shocked gaze, the dog, as if in heat, eyes glowed red, its stare toward Mark Xiumeng becoming unsettling.

"Whine!!" As viscous saliva dripped from the dog's mouth, Fulade released the large hand that had clamped its neck.

The black‑fur dog, like a wild horse unbridled, instantly lunged at the unconscious Mark Xiumeng.

......... Exciting cut scene.........

"Nisia, female, age 26, nickname Spider Woman, bounty rank 45, threat level B+, B‑level cyborg."

"... Reward points: 523."

In the red‑brick alley, hearing the mournful screams and witnessing everything before her, Nisia, when she heard Fulade's calm tone relay her data, involuntarily shivered.

Regaining her senses, Nisia looked into Fulade's eyes; her previously smug expression turned into one containing a barely perceptible fear and intense vigilance.

Especially when a corner of her eye glanced again at Mark Xiumeng, her waist and full, round hips instinctively tightened, and seeing Fulade approach with such relaxed ease, she couldn't help feeling a bit nervous. "You, who are you! With power like yours, we can't have never heard of you," Nisia pretended to stay calm, trying to probe Fulade's information.

"I, who I am isn't important; think about yourself instead," Fulade glanced slightly upward, a teasing smile at the corner of his mouth.

Nisia's expression froze, a flash of anger in her eyes, her arms trembling, and the red cloak draped on her body slipped off in an instant.

"Hmph~ I'm not the sort of thing like Markshumon!" Nixia cooed a haughty hum, her brows furrowing, apparently a bit annoyed by Fulade's contempt for her.

As the black cloak slipped away, Nixia seemed to see the bounty hunter before her who gave her a chilling feeling, and a hint of disappointment flashed in her eyes.

…Disappointment, disappointment—what.

Nixia was slightly startled, but she quickly understood and, with an embarrassed expression, launched the first attack on Fulade.

After Nixia's red cloak fluttered down, what came into view was a sleek, tech‑laden mechanical body from her neck down to her refined waist.

The dark‑green armor glimmered with bright luster; its slender waist and ample chest were striking, the only regret being that the upper body was entirely rebuilt with mechanical prosthetics.

From the mechanically textured arms, two elongated dark‑green metal spikes were launched, looking at first glance like the segmented limbs of a spider.

The scene before him forced Fulade, who had expected Nixia's fiery figure, to sigh.

As the saying goes, too much expectation leads to a stark disparity when the reality appears.

"…What a pity!"

He gave a slight shake of his head, gazing at the embarrassed Nixia who had sensed his stare; his form surged upward, metal spikes thrust forward like an exploding tornado, his body whirling at breakneck speed toward her.

At this moment Fulade's power, hampered by severe injuries and slow energy recovery, was barely at a sub‑Level One level.

However, as a top‑tier fighter whose true strength is Level Three, his foundation and perspective are evident.

It is truly beyond what Nixia, who only matches a senior magic apprentice, can threaten.

Rapid flashes of light swept by; Nixia, intent on a decisive strike, oddly passed through Fulade's silhouette without causing any harm.

As a wisp of black gas dissipated, Fulade's figure bizarrely transformed into a dozen black bats that, amid Nixia's confusion and horror, appeared behind her, clutching the exoskeleton linked to her head and neck, and flung her toward the rear wall.

Though caught off guard, Nixia—who ranks well on the wanted list and even earned her own nickname—was far from helpless.

In an instant, at the moment she was about to hit the wall, her form swayed deftly in the air, instantly becoming a seductive spider‑like creature, hands and feet anchoring to the wall, averting the crash.

Having averted the crisis, Nixia immediately propelled herself upward; the base of her tech‑laden high‑heeled boots erupted a burst of hot airflow.

Propelled by that gust, Nixia's figure multiplied severalfold, like a green bolt of lightning hurling toward Fulade.

Facing the sudden threat Nixia unleashed, Fulade could clearly feel an instinctive warning rising within his body.

At the moment his hair stood on end, Fulade's body instinctively deviated, his mind took command, and in an instant he burst out of his orbit.

Although Nixia's sudden burst caught him off guard, it was clearly still far from enough for the ever‑resourceful Fulade.

Nixia, striking like a flash of electricity, missed with the first blow, but the second and third strikes came in rapid succession, instantly slashing the unprepared Fulade.

As the slender, sharp blade lightning‑fast aimed at the man's eyes, his wide, beautiful eyes flickered with a barely perceptible smile.

Then…

When Nixia's gaze fell upon Fulade's deep eyes, as if filled with countless stars, there was no after.

Thump!! A thudding sound hit the ground.

Nixia's rigid body lay on the asphalt road, her face shocked as she stared at Fulade, murmuring in disbelief.

When she saw Fulade approach, crouch and gently stroke her cheek, a complex expression flashed in her eyes.

"Y‑you, how can you control my body?" Nixia, feeling Fulade's warm touch on her cheek, hesitated a moment then asked, unwillingly.

"What do you say?" Between her lips painted with black gloss, a finger slid back and forth; as Fulade spoke, it, like a mischievous little fish, suddenly slipped into Nixia's inviting, heated lips.

Just when one might expect a pleasant scene, Fulade's two long, attractive fingers, under Nixia's embarrassed gaze, kept stirring between her lips and tongue.

"Pop!"

As a sucking‑like tight sound rang, the two long fingers withdrew from Nixia's tempting plump lips.

Several strands of white, translucent, slick threads, stretched by the fingers, snapped one by one, tiny droplets splashing onto Nixia's slightly coquettish, subtly complex, spring‑tinged face.

Feeling the faint chill on her cheek, even with Nixia's fierce temperament, rich experience and worldly knowledge, Fulade's lewd maneuver still left a tempting flush on her cheek.

A pool of spring water shimmered in her alluring eyes.

Her breathing couldn't help but quicken.

"Tsk tsk tsk, you have a weapon in your mouth, aren't you afraid of hurting yourself?!"

Fulade first gave a half‑smile, scrutinizing Nixia's intoxicating, feast‑for‑the‑eyes demeanor for a moment, then spread his palm and said to her.

Originally Nixia's mind was in turmoil, her thoughts tangled by Fulade's sudden actions, giving rise to unpleasant associations; now her expression finally changed.

"Y‑you, how did you know?" Nixia's long lashes trembled slightly, her voice faint and barely audible.

Between Fulade's fingers, a small hollow white cylinder was pinched.

Through the hollow tube, a glint of a cold‑shining needle tip could be seen.

The finger pressed a protrusion on the white tube.

Ping! With a light ring, a tiny embroidered needle instantly fell to the ground.

"…This? The power's way too weak."

Glancing at the white tube in his hand and the distant embroidered needle, a bewildered Fulade looked at Nixia.

So this, is it a killing weapon?

Nixia's expression turned complex as she stared at the man before her; her flushed cheeks gradually normalized, and as she looked at the white tube in his hand, a hint of reminiscence flashed in her eyes.

"That was given to me when I was a child; my mother, fearing I'd be bullied, left it for self‑defense," Nixia said after a moment of daze, then slowly opened her mouth.

Fulade looked at Nixia's nostalgic eyes in surprise; the fierce malice he had seen earlier was gone, and he instantly realized she was a woman with a story.

(End of chapter)