Skye, coming in from outside, wore a proud smile.
Calling Beth had only been her way to confirm Beth's exact location.
Tracking could only narrow things down to an area, not a precise spot. Without special equipment, she had no choice but to use this simple trick.
"Gordon, we're leaving!"
The moment Jia Ying saw that the intruders included superpowered people, she realized things were worse than expected. She immediately ordered the eyeless man to teleport them out.
"N-no… I can't…" The eyeless man stood sweating, shaking his head. "I can't get through!"
"If I were you, I wouldn't move."
The flames around David had already vanished, his hand casually raised toward the eyeless man. His tone was playful, but the threat was clear.
"I've heard about you, you can teleport. But in the instant before you vanish, I can snap your neck. Try me if you don't believe it…"
At this moment, David's body was under the control of his sub-personality—the adventurer Wayne, skilled in telekinesis.
His psychic grip locked tightly around the eyeless man's throat. Any sudden move, and he would break his neck without hesitation.
He was David, but also not David. David himself might hesitate to kill. Wayne would not.
The flaming figure from earlier was yet another of David's sub-personalities, a female one named Cyndi, who happened to get along well with Skye.
"Wayne?" Skye recognized the shift in his tone.
"Hey, Miss Skye, want to go on a date?" David grinned at her.
Skye had known David for a long time, so she was no stranger to his personalities.
"Focus. If something happens to Beth, the boss will be angry." Skye frowned.
At the mention of Raymond, 'David' shuddered involuntarily.
Because Raymond had once "reasoned" with each of David's sub-personalities one by one, forcing them all to back down. Wayne had no desire to go through that again.
"Who… who are you people…" Jia Ying finally realized how bad things were.
Her main confidence had always come from the eyeless man, her bodyguard who could teleport her away anytime.
But now the enemy had neutralized him. That meant her ace card was gone.
She herself was weak, a poor fighter. The eyeless man had little combat strength besides teleportation.
The strongest among them was Sandy, the psychic.
But Sandy was busy digging into Beth's mind and couldn't help at all.
"What did you do to Beth?" Skye noticed Beth standing there with her eyes closed, unresponsive even to their arrival.
She rushed to Beth's side, patting her arm to wake her.
Beth didn't move.
From not far away, 'David' glanced over and said, "It's that woman. She's invading Beth's mind. You won't wake her."
Only then did Skye notice Sandy with her eyes closed as well. Her eyes burned with anger as she glared at Jia Ying.
"Tell her to stop!"
But Jia Ying had calmed herself. In the current situation, Beth—still in Sandy's grip—was their only bargaining chip.
Seeing Skye so anxious made Jia Ying even more confident. She smiled slowly and said, "I'll tell her to stop. But first, your friend has to stop."
"You dare threaten me?"
David's face darkened, and his other hand shot up, clamping Jia Ying's throat with invisible force.
Jia Ying looked strained but still forced a smile. "If you want to kill me, go ahead. But I promise you—your friend won't live either!"
"Wayne!" Skye snapped, losing patience.
"Hmph!"
'David' released Jia Ying with a scowl.
Seeing this, Jia Ying felt even bolder. She stepped closer to Skye, still smiling. "Young people, no need to be so impulsive. Everything can b—"
Her words stopped mid-sentence. The hand she had placed on Skye's shoulder jerked back as her face froze in shock.
"Daisy? You're little Daisy?"
"What Daisy? My name's not Daisy. You've got the wrong person." Skye frowned, not understanding what new trick Jia Ying was trying to pull.
"No… I can't be wrong. You're one of the Inhumans. I can feel my bloodline in you. You're my daughter, Daisy!" Jia Ying spoke with excitement and certainty.
One of her gifts was sensing whether others carried the Inhuman bloodline. That was how she had built Afterlife, gathering new members who shared that heritage.
The eyeless man, and Sandy, had both been recruited this way.
When she touched Skye, it was almost by accident—but she felt the bloodline within her. And that feeling was exactly the same as the daughter she had lost long ago.
Blood could not lie.
"You mean… I'm your daughter?" Skye froze in shock.
Normally, anyone else would have snapped back at such words.
But Skye had spent years searching for her parents, even willing to risk going undercover in S.H.I.E.L.D. to find them.
If Raymond hadn't taken her away, she would be infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. right now.
And now this woman—Jia Ying—was suddenly calling herself her mother. Considering that she was half Chinese, Skye stood stunned, not knowing what to believe.
Somehow, part of her wanted to believe it.
"Yes, you are my daughter!" Jia Ying said firmly.
"Then why did you abandon me? You don't look like someone who was poor or desperate. Why did you throw me in an orphanage? Do you know what I've been through all these years?"
Instead of breaking down in tears, Skye lashed out with anger.
She had carried these questions for years.
Especially after Raymond told her that her parents weren't dead, but alive and well—she had been unable to let go.
Now, seeing that Jia Ying was not only healthy, but the leader of a powerful group of Inhumans, Skye's anger only burned hotter.
Her parents were alive, capable, and yet they had abandoned her.
She wanted to find them, but not to enjoy some fantasy of "parental love."
If they turned out to be scum, she would curse them to their faces and never look back.
"No, Daisy, listen to me—it wasn't me who abandoned you. You were taken from me!" Jia Ying quickly explained.
"Taken?" Skye's suspicion softened, but only a little.
"I swear I'm not lying. I've been searching for you all these years. There's so much you don't know, and I can explain it all…"
Skye hesitated—then noticed Beth moving.
"Beth?" she quickly supported her.
"I'm fine. The one who isn't fine is her." Beth smiled faintly, pointing at Sandy.
Everyone turned to see Sandy pale and weak, barely standing.
"What's wrong, Sandy?" Jia Ying caught her.
"She… she's a psychic too. Stronger than me…" Sandy whispered.
"What?!" Jia Ying and the eyeless man exclaimed together.
Skye and 'David' also turned to Beth in surprise.
"We'll talk later. First, let's grab her." Beth shook her head, nodding at Jia Ying.
She had just woken and didn't know what had passed between Skye and Jia Ying.
"This…" Skye faltered, whispering what happened.
"She's your mother?"
Beth blinked at Jia Ying, then smiled. "Sounds true."
"True?" Skye was shocked. Even though she wasn't sure yet Beth said it so easily?
"You forgot who gave us this mission?" Beth smirked.
Skye froze.
Of course!
This task had come from Raymond himself.
And he had said, in his cryptic way, that completing it would earn them a reward they'd be satisfied with.
She had thought that meant money. But now, with Beth's reminder, she realized—the reward might be this truth standing right in front of her.
Raymond had known about her parents all along. He must have set this up.
"So they're actually on our side?" 'David' suddenly loosened his psychic grip on the eyeless man. "Then I'm out."
He shivered, and when he spoke again, his tone was David's own.
"Dr. Beth, are you okay?" he asked, hurrying to her.
"Are you really my mother?" Skye looked again at Jia Ying, still struggling to believe.
After so many years of searching with no answers, meeting her like this felt unreal.
This time, Jia Ying didn't answer with words. She simply rushed forward and hugged Skye.
David and Beth exchanged glances—pleased for her, but also uneasy.
Because in that very moment, Jia Ying, Skye, Sandy, and the eyeless Gordon all vanished together!
While everyone was distracted, Gordon had appeared beside Jia Ying and Sandy, laid hands on them, and teleported them away.
Since Jia Ying was hugging Skye, she was taken too.
David and Beth were left standing there, dumbfounded. A heartfelt reunion had turned, in an instant, into disaster.
"Damn it… track Skye now!" David panicked.
"Skye's gone. Who's left to track?" Beth rolled her eyes. "And this time they'll smash the phones."
"Then what do we do?" David groaned, realizing his mistake.
"Call for backup, obviously!" Beth smacked his forehead and grabbed her phone.
She dialed Raymond.
"…Yes, yes. We didn't expect them to snatch Skye so suddenly… What? Are you sure?"
A moment later, she hung up, her face strange.
"What did the boss say?" David asked quickly.
"He said don't worry about Skye for now. Just come back first." Beth's tone was odd.
--
PS Goal: 30