Chapter 681: Not Wine in the Bottle, Part One

At this moment, Ralf seemed to return to that unforgettable night.

His throat had been torn open, and he lay dying in a pool of blood and ruins.

The blood filling his mouth and throat flowed backward into his windpipe, making him cough again and again, leaving him unable to breathe smoothly on his own.

He could only activate his ability, sending air inch by inch and thread by thread through the blood, through the windpipe, and into his lungs.

It was like breaking through blood-red shackles.

Just like now.

"Calm down, mute."

In the warehouse, Glover tightly gripped Ralf's shoulder, bringing him back from his daze.

Zombie nervously looked around and lowered his voice, afraid others would notice something wrong.

"Listen. After we finish the mission, you'll have plenty of chances to settle accounts with that female boss! But right now, calm down first..."

Settle accounts?

What accounts?

The account for his legs, or the account for his throat, or the account for his life?

Calm down?

Why should he calm down?

Was there anyone here who was fucking not calm?

Ralf took a deep breath. His shoulder moved, and he shook Glover off at once.

He stared coldly at Glover, then wrote a small line on the dust-covered wall.

[I. Am. Very. Calm.]

Glover froze, then realized something.

What the hell? So this mute could read and write?

But Ralf's gaze was cold as he finished writing the next sentence.

[Wait. Until. The. End.]

"The end? What end?"

Glover frowned, but Ralf no longer paid attention to him.

"Are you done spraying shit, Red Viper?"

In the middle of the room, Catherine spoke coldly.

"Have you prepared your coffin?"

Following her words, the fighters beside the Phantom Blade looked vicious and slowly pressed forward, each finding their target.

Nekra's few men stood back to back, surrounding themselves more tightly.

"The Ghost of the Wind, Ralf. I remember that guy!"

Just then, Gamandia, who stood beside the Red Viper, picked at his ear.

"The ability user Big Sister brought back from Commas. Mostly worked in the capital, right? Met him once. Everything else was pretty good, except for that foul mouth that never shut."

"Now it's fine. He'll be silent forever."

The Red Viper spoke darkly.

"Thanks to his big sister."

Glover looked worriedly at Ralf, but the latter only slowly shook his head and laughed silently.

"But is what he said true?"

Gutierrez glared at Catherine with a gloomy face.

"Big Sister, the One Night War, did you..."

The Phantom Blade looked at the local bosses who were still standing beside the Red Viper, and who were also once her old subordinates: Gamandia, Gutierrez, Sangare. Her gaze flickered.

A few seconds later, Catherine took a deep breath and suppressed the impulse to attack at once.

"All right. This was supposed to be a secret. That night, that operation was arranged by Lord Mystic. He was there at the time too, to ambush Black Sword."

These words caused a small commotion.

Gutierrez frowned.

"Mystic?"

"Yes, the lord you once met."

Catherine grew more impatient.

"Gutierrez, do you think I could scheme against even him?"

Gutierrez hesitated.

"Stop using Mystic as an excuse."

The Red Viper spoke coldly.

"What 'boss behind the scenes,' what 'invincible in the mortal world,' what 'founder,' what 'legend even Black Sword couldn't beat.' Fuck, after decades, I'm sick of it, and even more sick of you dragging them out like banners."

He gritted his teeth.

"Even when Boss Turnbull was still alive, they were no different from dragons living in legends. Turnbull was cut down by Black Sword in one strike, and they didn't even fart! For decades, they never cared whether we lived or died. If we're telling ghost stories, water ghouls can fight better than they can!

"Bullshit 'arranged by Lord Mystic.' Ha, I can imagine the scene. The One Night War, him sitting there calmly picking his nails, calmly whistling, calmly watching our people get butchered one after another. As long as Black Sword didn't appear, even if all our people died, he wouldn't blink!"

Nekra spat hatefully.

"Much less this 'little' gang member conspiracy you played to seize power?"

Catherine sneered.

"Do you dare say that in front of them? Not that one, but the other one, the red one."

The Phantom Blade's gaze tightened.

"That is true red, not the red dyed onto your clothes."

Nekra's expression stalled, and he wisely did not answer.

"Still, maybe they're already used to it."

He changed the subject.

"Blade Bitch, this isn't the first time you've played schemes in front of them, is it? Remember Bott?"

Fogg frowned.

"What?"

That name also made many people freeze at the same time.

Only Catherine's gaze moved.

Nekra chuckled.

"Everyone here is an old hand in Jade City. That's right, Dogtooth Bott, Jade City's former drug dealer boss, Boss Turnbull's right-hand man, and... Catherine's former boss."

Facing everyone's doubtful gazes, the Red Viper spoke with malicious intent.

"On the day of his birthday banquet, he went crazy from getting high and started hacking his own people. In the end, Catherine hardened her heart and hacked him to death with a flurry of blades. 'To save the other innocent gang brothers,' you said. And after that day, Catherine, you naturally became the new Jade City boss. After all, Bott was such a hateful mad bastard, wasn't he?"

Catherine remained composed.

"Everyone knows about this! Gutierrez, Gamandia, you were there at the time. Remember?"

Gamandia hesitated, but Gutierrez answered very quickly.

"Of course, Big Sister. The day Bott went mad, you saved Gamandia's life. And I, when I was gritting my teeth and preparing to act, you stopped me and took the knife from my hand. You said such a heavy burden could not be pushed onto a subordinate."

"Exactly!"

Catherine's voice was decisive.

"Everyone knows Bott was killed by my own hand! I have never regretted it or made excuses for it. No matter what consequences there were, I bore them all myself!"

Her words rang with force. The gazes the gang members in the warehouse cast toward Catherine became different.

Especially among the younger gang members standing on the Red Viper's side, many began to hesitate.

"I know why you followed her."

Glover whispered to Ralf.

"On this point, she really does have guts."

Ralf clenched the hem of his clothes and did not move.

But the Red Viper's sneer sounded at just the right time.

"Consequences? Yes. The consequence of doing that was that within just a few short years after Bott's death, you began 'business transformation,' allowing the originally unknown Head Wolf of the Black Street Brotherhood, Razanchi Fesol, to become Jade City's largest underground drug dealer and snatch all the shares and money routes from our hands! Bott died, and Razanchi rose. Doesn't everyone think the timing is too perfect?"

At the mention of familiar names, the local gang members frowned one after another.

"At that time, Emerald Palace had a new duke, so naturally there were new rules."

Catherine answered steadily and with reason.

"If we wanted to stay on Jade City's ship, we could no longer openly make money from drugs, unless you wanted to be like the Black Silks, shrinking into North Gate Bridge in the new district full of foreign immigrants, where there is barely any profit."

Nekra knew he could not out-argue her on this matter, so he changed the topic again.

"Putting aside all these twists and turns, Catherine, tell me: as an old drug dealer who gathered, made, used, and sold drugs for more than thirty years, what amazing drug did Bott take on his birthday that could get even him high enough to go stupid?"

He narrowed his eyes, every word aimed at the heart.

"And that amazing drug, could your all-powerful old friend Razanchi get his hands on it back then?"

The Red Viper's malicious implication triggered a wave of whispers.

Catherine chuckled.

"All these points of doubt you mention, Boss Turnbull investigated all of them back then, clearly and thoroughly! And you, Little Red, do you think you are smarter than Boss Turnbull?"

Unexpectedly, Nekra roared angrily and clapped his hands hard.

"Turnbull! Thank the heavens, you finally mentioned him!"

The Red Viper pointed at the Phantom Blade.

"Yes, the gang boss always hated Bott. He believed your story and let you take Bott's position..."

"Until later, Boss Turnbull himself, along with his toughest fighter, two Supreme Class experts together, died in the operation to surround and kill Black Sword, only to be miraculously killed by him in return!"

Nekra's roar made everyone turn their eyes to him.

"That day, Blade Bitch, you were also there, weren't you? What were you responsible for? Intelligence? Equipment? Or the preparations beforehand?"

Catherine's expression sharpened.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't mean anything! I'm only saying that from the day the head of Boss Turnbull, who could summon a hundred responses with one call, fell to the ground, the Blood Bottle Gang became chaotic, broken, split apart! The ability warriors under him refused to accept one another and slaughtered each other. The bosses went mad fighting over territory and killing each other internally. We were no longer one whole piece."

The Red Viper took a deep breath.

"And from that moment on, the Blood Bottle Gang started having bad luck! Our territory grew smaller and smaller, business grew worse and worse, and the Brotherhood beat us until we fled with our heads in our hands! But you, Catherine, once Jade City's 'Little Blade,' began having great luck. Your name grew louder and louder, your status higher and higher. The mighty Phantom Blade is now practically the number one person in the Blood Bottle Gang. All that's missing is someone calling you Boss Catherine!"

His words carried venomous intent, making many gang members look at one another.

"Today, you can even come forward and invite a 'big shot,' forcing the Black Silks to sit down and negotiate with you and spit out the territory they took... and you went alone into their territory, yet somehow came back completely unharmed. Tsk, tsk. Truly impressive."

"I just find it strange. Bott, Boss Turnbull, and that wind-playing ability user... Catherine, why is it that every time someone on your own side dies beside you..."

Nekra's tone was strange.

"You are always the one who profits most and gains the most?"

Catherine silently listened to this whole passage, then smiled coldly.

"Is that so? Then maybe after killing you..."

The sleeve claws in her hands shot out with a shing.

"I can go even further?"

Hearing this, the Red Viper smiled faintly.

As an observer, Glover frowned from the corner, instinctively feeling something was wrong.

The next second, before anyone could react, Nekra shot forward in an instant, drew a short blade from the table, and stabbed at Catherine.

Clang!

Amid a crisp metallic sound, Catherine's sleeve claws were already before her, perfectly blocking Nekra's incoming blade.

"Big Sister!"

"Boss Nekra!"

The two bosses attacked without any warning. Only after several seconds did both sides' people hurriedly react, weapons leaving sheaths and shouts of killing rising.

"Protect the boss!"

"Fuck them up!"

"How did they start fighting already?"

"Who the fuck am I supposed to hit?"

"Just fight!"

"Everyone move!"

Catherine's side and Nekra's side rushed up in a disorderly mess, grabbing the first enemy they met and starting to kill. The meeting place fell into chaos at once.

One of Catherine's fighters wanted to leap forward and help the Phantom Blade, but Dumu from the grasslands roared and slashed at him with a drawn blade. Puppeteer Ping stood beside Nekra and had just drawn two strange weapons when Roger from Catherine's side kicked him down.

Gutierrez charged wildly with a pair of iron gauntlets, smashing several of Catherine's subordinates down one after another until a hammer-wielding fighter stopped him. Tarimi forcefully swung a curved blade and commanded his trusted men to charge and kill. Bad Shoemaker Jaga screamed as he retreated the whole way, urging the people beside him to hurry up and get forward.

The most conspicuous one was Dalton on the Red Viper's side, who had nearly lost his mind. He picked up a chair and charged into the crowd, swinging it left and right like a madman. Everyone in his path changed expression and scrambled to dodge. But Duro roared, swung his right arm, which had clearly swollen by a full circle, and charged forward, crashing into him ruthlessly.

"Damn it!"

Glover cursed. First, he knocked over a gang member charging at them, then dragged Ralf back again and again.

"You didn't leave earlier, and now look!"

On the other side, looking at the chaos in the warehouse, Fogg the Wanderer sighed.

"All right."

The next second, he rolled up his sleeves, accepted a long blade from a trusted subordinate, and angrily hacked down a gang member who swept past him, joining the battle.

In the center of the venue, the weapons of Red Viper and Catherine went back and forth. They had already exchanged three rounds. They were not affected in the slightest by the shouts of killing and the figures charging back and forth around them, only staring fixedly at each other.

"I was wondering, Little Red, when you would finally dare make the first move."

As soon as she finished speaking, Catherine shouted angrily. Her two arms twisted into impossible angles with cracking sounds, driving her sleeve claws to leave afterimages.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The Red Viper retreated at extreme speed, cutting off the arm of someone who tried to ambush him midway, and somewhat awkwardly blocked this series of attacks that came from strange angles.

"That way, you'll have a reason to kill me, right?"

The Red Viper had barely finished speaking when his expression changed. He suddenly lowered his body and rolled along the ground.

Whoosh! Whoosh, whoosh!

Three throwing darts shot from Catherine's sleeve claws, the closest one barely brushing past the tip of Nekra's nose.

"Ahhh!"

Someone behind the Red Viper was hit by the darts and screamed repeatedly.

"Of course not. Today, even if you hadn't attacked first..."

Catherine spoke coldly. Without turning her head, she flung her left hand backward, and her sleeve claws drew a fountain of blood from a gang member preparing to pounce on her.

"You were destined not to walk out."

"Fuck you, Blade Bitch!"

Nekra forced the words out from between his teeth. He immediately activated his ability, stimulating the rapid secretion of hormones in his body and adjusting his nerves and muscles. This allowed him to gradually keep up with the Phantom Blade's strange movements, and he advanced without showing weakness.

Originally, Nekra's side did not have the advantage in numbers. However, the men he brought were all elites from the royal capital, accustomed to seeing blood. Seeing that their side had fewer people instead drew out their ruthlessness. Catherine's side was mixed with many local Jade City people. They were used to comfort and had been long away from battle, and now their hearts were not unified. When the battle began, some became hot-blooded and rushed forward bravely, while others shrank back and hindered each other. With one side rising and the other falling, the two forces of clearly different strength tangled together in the warehouse. In the chaos, they were unexpectedly evenly matched for a time.

"Ahhh!"

"My hand! That's my hand! Give it back!"

"No, no, please don't kill me..."

"Fuck! Kill him!"

"Why don't you people get up there?"

"Hold on, stuff your intestines back in!"

"Hold the line!"

"That bastard, don't run!"

"Shit, my blade chipped. Give me another knife!"

"Go help the boss!"

"Kill!"

In only a few moments, severed limbs covered the warehouse, blood surged everywhere, and wails and shouts of killing echoed beside the ears at the same time.

Damn it. These thugs don't fucking know how to fight a war. This is no different from a village brawl with weapons. No order, just a blind, noisy charge. If either side can win, that'll be a miracle.

Glover, or Fatty Wya, was caught in the middle and cursed inwardly without stopping.

If he were commanding, he would first divide them into teams one, two, and three according to combat power and fighting style, then a reserve team. Drill them for a week, and the formation would be...

No, no, no. Why was he thinking about this?

He did not want to risk his life for Catherine, nor did he want to devote himself to Duro or Fogg. Unfortunately, the two sides were mixed together, and the road to the exit was packed with people chopping and killing one another. Most of them had faces covered in blood and looked mad. Who knew when a blade would come greeting his body?

Unable to get away easily, Glover could only grab an iron rod from the blood pool, swing it left and right, block in front and behind, and suffer bitterly.

But...

Clang!

Glover firmly blocked a nail-studded club. His blood aroused, he roared, knocked the nail club away, then smashed the opponent unconscious with a headbutt.

These bastards were really hacking hard.

Glover frowned as he watched a severed hand still holding a dagger fly past him, spraying blood.

They really meant to take lives.

A blade coming from the side was stopped by him, but the edge cut open the bandage on his hand. Zombie roared and turned back, kicking and breaking the ankle of the attacker. The other man, he seemed to be on his side? Ah, whatever. Who could keep track of so much?

The opponent fell to the ground in pain, but before Glover could react, two other fighters swarmed forward and hacked the man on the ground to death while roaring angrily.

Glover froze. His body had already moved by instinct. The iron rod swept sideways and knocked those two fighters unconscious.

Probably broke their skulls...

Damn it, what kind of stupid-ass fight was this?

As for that mute...

Right, where was the mute?

Glover turned around, just in time to glimpse Ralf covered in blood and lying motionless in a corner.

At that moment, Zombie's heart chilled.

No way.

This... how was he supposed to explain this to the prince and Mallos?

Two capable men from Star Lake Castle went out to gather intelligence and died from, from...

A gang brawl in a warehouse?

The next second, Ralf on the ground suddenly opened his eyes and blinked at Glover.

Huh?

Glover was stunned, and another opponent had already lunged at him.

The other man was clearly skilled. A short sword attached to a chain flipped back and forth in his hand without stopping for even a moment, almost dancing into flowers, making it impossible to figure out his attack line.

Glover only found him annoying.

Zombie neither dodged nor avoided. Using a knight's defensive posture, he endured the blow, avoided his vitals, and allowed the short sword to cut open the skin of his upper arm. Then Glover drove a knee forward followed by an elbow strike, earning half a scream from the enemy. The other half was covered by the sound of his jaw shattering.

The flashy short sword fell to the ground and continued spinning by itself.

Glover turned back and looked at Ralf lying in the corner.

Right. If he can play dead, can I also play...

"This one's tough! Together! Ahhhhh!"

Before the thought could finish, two fighters roared and pounced at him.

Glover sighed painfully and met them with the rod.

Play dead my ass.

There was no time.

In the center, the battle between Catherine and Nekra grew more and more intense.

The Phantom Blade's offense was blazing. Her sleeve claws and blades moved faster and faster, their angles increasingly tricky. The Red Viper's movements were restrained and conservative, focused on defense and self-preservation, only counterattacking when he had a fairly good chance. But every counterattack was extremely dangerous, enough to make hearts tremble.

And both combatants were cursing inwardly.

Damn it. Red Viper's use of his ability is becoming more and more rational.

Catherine gritted her teeth and thought. His adjustment and stimulation of bodily functions remained exactly at the stage where he could keep up with her movements, neither wasting power by rushing forward nor being stingy enough to fall short. He was becoming more and more difficult to handle.

Blade Bitch, those damned arms of hers.

The Red Viper was extremely wary. Those ability arms that could freely dislocate and reconnect joints, rotate back and forth, extend and tighten, attack from any angle across a large range, and were covered in all kinds of mechanisms...

Were fucking annoying.

But just then, Nekra suddenly made a fierce chopping counterattack, forcing Catherine three steps back.

"Now!"

Catherine pulled back her arms and frowned, suddenly realizing that she had arrived beside the table.

Not good. What was he going to...

The next second, not far away, Puppeteer Ping gently waved his left hand. The broken Chaos Soldier puppet tool left on the table opened with a bang, and more than a dozen small, sharp blades shot out from within, flying toward Catherine's back.

"Fuck!"

"Big Sister!"

"Dodge!"

Many people who saw this exclaimed.

Catherine was startled and prepared to dodge, but the Red Viper attacked at exactly the right time, blocking the path she could use to evade.

Fuck!

The next second, Catherine shouted angrily. She turned sideways, and her two arms gave off denser crackling sounds than ever before, swinging continuously.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang...

In that second, Glover in the distance frowned. Catherine's arms folded at unbelievable angles, swinging sleeve claws or blades from different directions, blocking countless blades from the Chaos Soldier on one side while also blocking the Red Viper's attack from the other. And she alternated left and right, a feat almost divine.

All right. It seemed the Phantom Blade's reputation was not undeserved.

"Sur... surprised?"

Catherine blocked all the flying blades, stepped back, and panted.

Nekra looked at this scene in disbelief, speechless.

"I told you this thing had a problem."

Fogg appeared on the side. With one slash of his long blade, he chopped the Chaos Soldier that had fired the hidden weapons to the ground.

"Two against one. After this is over, his territory goes to me."

Fogg looked at Nekra and rubbed his nose.

"No objections, right?"

The Red Viper looked at the two people before him and swallowed, his nerves stretched tight.

"Aside from his territory going to you..."

Catherine panted and forced a smile.

"No objections."

Fogg snorted disdainfully.

The next second, the Wanderer's figure flashed, and he attacked Nekra.

Nekra roared angrily, hormones rapidly secreting inside his body. He knew Fogg's skill. Facing attacks from both of them, he could not hold back anymore.

Clang!

The Red Viper forcefully blocked Fogg's full-power slash, but Catherine's arms followed like shadows, attacking from the gaps around Fogg.

Damn it!

This cheating couple!

He cut aside the sleeve claws in a sorry state, then blocked the blade. But Catherine and Fogg cooperated skillfully, and the Red Viper was soon hard-pressed, danger appearing everywhere.

"Just like before?"

Catherine smiled faintly.

"Just like before!"

Fogg snorted coldly.

The next moment, Catherine's two arms struck from above and below, sealing off the Red Viper's defense and leaving the best opening for Fogg: Nekra's throat.

"Ahhhhh!"

The Red Viper could not defend in time and could not help roaring aloud, drawing many people's attention.

The outcome was about to be decided.

The next second, Fogg's long blade drove straight upward.

Shhk!

Blood splattered, accompanied by a painful scream.

Everyone who saw this scene froze.

Because the person screaming was not Nekra.

Catherine's right hand held her sleeve claws, tightly pinning Nekra's blade.

But on the other side, her left hand stopped beneath her own side and armpit, tightly gripping Fogg's blade. However, the blade tip had already sunk straight into her flesh, and blood flowed across the ground.

This scene was so shocking that many gang members who saw it stopped fighting in astonishment.

Glover shoved aside a gang member who had just been howling as he charged at him, but now stood with his mouth wide open.

In the corner, Ralf opened his eyes and stared fixedly at the scene.

The whole warehouse gradually quieted.

"Fo... Fogg?"

Amid the intense pain, Catherine raised her head in disbelief.

She stared blankly at the person who had thrust the blade at her: Jade City's boss, Fogg the Wanderer.

"You, you, how could you..."

"As I said, Catherine."

Fogg's face was expressionless, as if he were not surprised at all.

"This is for the Blood Bottle Gang."