Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Time on earth: 12th of December 2020, 11:15 PM.
Place: Capital of H Nation, at a seven-star hotel, Valesloka Hotel. A western restaurant on the sixth story, at the baking station.
A woman in a tall, white hat, dressed entirely in white, wore an equally white mask over her mouth as she bent her head, busy at work, leaving only a pair of charming phoenix-shaped eyes peeking out. She had a chocolate-colored apron around her waist, and her figure showed that she was a slim and tall woman.
DING! A sound rang out.
The woman pulled the cake from the oven, quickly shaved off the outer layers, and cut it neatly in half.
She lifted her head and looked around to see that nobody was watching her. She turned so that her back faced the closed-circuit cameras, and an exquisite handgun the size of her palms appeared in her hands from absolutely nowhere. She placed it in between the two layers of cake, then turned around to continue pouring the cream all over it. She swiftly turned the cake and spread the cream evenly around the two layers, her actions smooth and orderly.
Fifteen minutes later.
She had completed the exquisitely decorated, romantic-style purple birthday cake, about eight inches in diameter, and it gave off a strong odor of butter.
A man in a black shirt came towards the woman and said, “Qingcheng, your skills are really incredible. This cake is so pretty, and the most important part is…” He sniffed and cooed. “It smells so good; I really want to eat it…”
So, this woman’s name was Qingcheng. She casually replied, “You’re just exaggerating. Come on now, wipe your saliva up and get to work! If the head chef comes around, he’ll scold us again. All of you over there, don’t just stand around, too. I still have to get this cake to the room service side and get it delivered.”
At 11:45 PM, in the service staff rest lounge on the sixth story.
A beautiful purple cake was sitting on a food cart, and the service staff who was supposed to be in charge of sending this cake was nowhere to be seen.
Creaaak…
The door of the break lounge for the service staff opened, and someone dressed in a staff member’s uniform came walking out. She adjusted her clothes, looked into the mirror on the door to make sure her tie was straight, adjusted the cap on her head, then twitched her lips to smile creepily at the mirror. After doing all that, she slowly walked to the cart and pushed it out towards the elevator.
Behind the half-open door of the service staff lounge lay a man on the floor. Was he sleeping? The strange part was that he wore nothing other than a pair of boxer shorts.
DING! The lift doors opened as it reached the 99th floor.
The service staff pushed the cart with the cake on it out of the elevator and quickly glanced about. She looked down again. Her eyes were exceptionally bright and charming. That woman was Qingcheng.
At the same time, the twenty bodyguards lining the entire corridor immediately went on high alert. All of them swiftly put their right hands behind the right side of their backs in unison.
She didn’t lift her head to look and slowly pushed the cart along.
A dark-skinned, tall, and burly man blocked her way. “We need to inspect you! Raise both of your arms and face the wall.”
Her body was searched, then the cake was tested. There was no sign of poison in the cake.
The man raised a hand. “You may go over now.”
Qingcheng turned and lowered her head as she pushed the cart forward. There was a gleam in her eyes that sparkled as brightly as the stars.
At the door to the presidential suite.
After the bodyguard knocked on the door, someone opened it from the inside. A woman in a short dress looked them up and down, then said in an effeminate voice, “Come in.”
The living area of the room was a mess, with traces of an intimate night left behind. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what happened there earlier.
A plump, middle-aged man sat on the sofa without a shirt. He was today’s target, the man that everyone called Master Nine! He was wealthy enough to go against a nation, and he had dealings with both sides of the law.
Not too long ago, he had bid for a precious treasure called the Star Bangle in an illegal auction.
She aimed to assassinate this man, then take the Star Bangle from him. According to legend, it could travel through time, and it had a mysterious sort of power.
After the cart with the cake on it had been pushed to the small coffee table, the woman sat in the man’s lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and whined adorably, “Master Niiiine… It’s my birthday today! Didn’t you prepare any presents for me? A cake isn’t considered a present!”
Master Nine hugged the woman in his arms and kissed her hard. “Of course this isn’t all. Go and open that wooden box over there, babe… you’re definitely going to like it.” He gently scratched her nose and smiled indulgently.
The woman happily opened the box, and a bright and piercing gleam of light came from it. A quaint looking bangle that appeared as though it was made from purple jade was inside the box. There was a row of strange symbols on the side that looked like Sanskrit.
Qingcheng kept her head down as she observed all of this. After the box was opened, she felt as though something was calling out to her. She wasn’t sure if she was just imagining it, but after she saw the Star Bangle, she felt particularly attached to it, as if she had known the bangle for a long time.
The woman was about to put the bangle on when Master Nine pulled her back into his arms. “Babe… let’s cut the cake and make a wish first. I’ll put the bangle on for you later.” She then placed the bangle back into the wooden box and didn’t close it.
Master Nine instructed Qingcheng, “Light the candles on the cake.”
After the candles were lit, all the lights in the room were switched off.
Qingcheng lowered her head and moved to the side of the coffee table as she glanced at the bangle from the corner of her eyes. Master Nine continued to hold the woman in his arms as they finished singing a birthday song, made a wish, and blew out the candles.
HUU… The candles were extinguished.
At the same time, Qingcheng made her move. She swiftly put the bangle on her right wrist as a gun appeared in her hand from nowhere. It was the same handgun that she had hidden in the cake earlier. She spun around and fired a shot at Master Nine.
Master Nine was hit and fell to the floor, while the woman screamed and fainted from fright.
All the bodyguards in the suite immediately drew their guns and rushed into the room as they quickly took their place next to Master Nine.
Qingcheng waved her hands and a coffee table appeared in front of her. It was the same one that had been in the living room earlier, and she used it to block all the bullets that came her way. Then, Master Nine actually got up from the floor, even though he was supposed to have been shot.
“I can’t believe you’ve really come. Looks like Huang Jue was right. You’re the best killer in the world of assassins, and you also possess a superhuman ability to retrieve objects from nearby locations. It’s been such an eye-opener for me. I didn’t use the Star Bangle to lure you out for nothing, after all.
“Hahaha! You can’t get away today! Since you killed my son, you’re going to pay for it!” The man laughed maniacally and flung the bullet that had been lodged in his bulletproof vest onto the floor.
Qingcheng was stunned for a while. “Who? Huang Jue?”
“It’s me, Qingcheng. No… I should call you by your assassin name, Asura.”
Huang Jue slowly walked in from outside.
Wasn’t this man the same guy who had been at the baking station earlier? She immediately realized that this whole thing was a setup created to lure her out.
But he said that she killed his son? Why didn’t she have any memory of it at all?
Master Nine noticed that she actually didn’t seem to know what was going on. “My son is Huang Zihao! But he also went by the nickname Yama! You were the one who shot him dead! He was my most beloved son! We were separated for many years and it wasn’t easy for me to find him, but I didn’t expect him to die by your hands! I hate you, and I’m going to make you join him in death!”
Master Nine got more and more worked up as he spoke. His eyes were bloodshot and his veins were bulging. Huang Jue was next to him, and his gaze looked equally sinister.
Qingcheng finally realized what was happening. Yama used to be her partner, but in reality, other than going on missions together, she didn’t think they were very close to one another.
At that time, Yama had said, “After we finish this mission, let’s leave the assassin group. I’ll take you away. Qingcheng, I love you, and I will bring you happiness.”