Just as Lucas Reeve was slowly analyzing the situation for everyone, the sound of police sirens rang out from outside the stadium.
Because the robbers had kidnapped over ten thousand people at once, even Sicily had to take it seriously. Sicily herself knew very well that if she wanted to sit firmly in this position, a legitimate reputation was crucial. Without it, Sicily could basically imagine herself becoming the next former royal family of Siracusa.
So, no one dared to mess around. The moment they received the news, a group of police officers and many of Sicily's troops had already rushed over, surrounding the stadium three layers deep.
"Listen up, people inside! You are surrounded! Surrender voluntarily, and it can be treated as turning yourselves in. We can be lenient!"
Seeing his chance, the burly man, the self-proclaimed former royal Great General, walked to the side and spoke into the microphone.
"Is this all the sincerity you have if you want to save people? I am the Great General appointed by His Majesty. A small fry like you doesn't have the qualifications to negotiate with me. Get your Lady Sicily to come over. From now on, you have half an hour. If Lady Sicily hasn't arrived within half an hour, I will randomly kill several hundred civilians in the stadium. After that, I'll kill another batch every ten minutes until everyone is dead or until your Lady Sicily comes out."
As soon as these words were spoken.
It was like a drop of water falling into a pot of hot oil. It exploded instantly. The ordinary people in the venue, who had just calmed down slightly, started screaming in fear.
"This isn't what you said before!!"
"We're just ordinary people..."
However, when the 'Great General' heard this, he grinned ferociously and said in a mocking tone: "It is your honor to die for His Majesty."
His words had just completely put Sicily on the spot.
Sicily knew that relying on military force alone was useless to truly control a country. The former royal family was a prime example of governing Siracusa by force. If Lady Sicily didn't come out, these 10,000+ people might die at the hands of this self-proclaimed 'Great General'. Over 10,000 people, and all of them young people in their twenties. Young people were the future of a country.
If that really happened, even if Sicily successfully unified Siracusa, Sicily would no longer be trusted by the people.
As for going out to negotiate in person.
Obviously, this was their overt strategy. As soon as she left the safe house, who knew how many assassins would be waiting outside.
Although everyone knew this, there was nothing they could do.
"Let me add something."
Texas, who was nearby, added: "According to historical records, the former monarchs of Siracusa were notoriously tyrants. Or rather, the entire Siracusan royal family has always been a violent ruler."
Originally, none of the ordinary people present thought Lady Sicily would actually risk coming out. After all, everyone knew full well that Sicily was also a Mafia family. Compared to the other Mafia families, there wasn't much essential difference. If they had to point out a difference, perhaps they were slightly more peaceful.
However.
Only a short while passed.
A custom-made car pulled up to the stadium entrance. Surrounded by countless people, Lady Sicily appeared in everyone's line of sight. In an instant, the citizens who had been anxiously gathered around the stadium burst into an uproar. They hadn't expected Lady Sicily to actually risk her life to come here. Because anyone who wasn't an idiot could see that this was a blatant, overt plot.
And beside Lady Sicily was the chief representative of Raythean Industries' Siracusa branch.
And this representative was currently sweating profusely with anxiety.
Because he had been notified that his own young miss was inside this stadium.
Lady Sicily took the microphone and spoke in a cold tone: "As you requested, I am here. Please release the citizens immediately. I know you are here for me. The citizens are innocent."
"Lady Sicily, you truly surprise me. You actually came here for these commoners. If His Majesty knew of your courage, he would surely appreciate it. I have one more request: have everyone around you move at least five meters away from you. I can't see you clearly right now."
The 'Great General's' voice was filled with ridicule. He was now clearly wearing his objective on his sleeve. Everyone knew what he wanted to do.
"Madam!"
Lady Sicily's attendants grew anxious. This was a textbook overt plot.
"You all, stand back."
Lady Sicily waved her hand.
This made the surrounding bodyguards extremely anxious.
"No! Madam! You are the pillar of Sicily! If something really happens to you!!"
"Stand down!"
Lady Sicily frowned slightly, releasing the aura of a superior. Her cold and firm tone allowed no one to question her command.
"Yes!"
The bodyguards reluctantly made this decision. They all retreated to a distance of five meters, but every one of them tensed their muscles. If any accident occurred, they would absolutely rush over at the first possible moment.
"I have met your demands... Please... release the hostages immediately!"
However, Lady Sicily's words were met with ridicule.
"Lady Sicily, you are even more foolish than I imagined. To put yourself in danger for some worthless commoners. Unfortunately, we have no interest in negotiating with a dead person."
The 'Great General' immediately gave the attack command.
In fact, the moment he gave the command, he could already see the scene of Lady Sicily lying in a pool of her own blood.
However.
The imagined scene did not occur.
A look of astonishment flashed across the 'Great General's' face. He wondered if the snipers responsible had not received his command. He tried to send his command a few more times, but there was no response at all.
The next second.
Several corpses fell from different buildings and hit the ground. The Great General was completely stunned. After seeing these 'corpses', he was instantly dumbfounded.
How is this possible! How!! Impossible!!
Shouldn't a large part of the Sicily family's armed forces have been held back by those three families? Why were they able to kill so many elite, well-prepared assassins without anyone noticing? And at this moment, on a high tower two kilometers away...
A young, blonde girl was lying prone in the bell tower, holding a sniper rifle that was even larger than she was. Beside her were three shell casings. Smoke wafted from the long, black barrel. On a building on the other side, a woman who bore some resemblance to Lisa stood on the roof, holding a blood-drenched long blade. After slitting the last person's throat, her figure vanished from the rooftop like a ghost, reappearing by Lady Sicily's side.
"You! You! You!!!"
The 'Great General' was now so angry he was speechless, only able to sputter "you, you, you."
The people in the stadium didn't know what was happening outside, but they definitely knew that Lady Sicily might have done something to make him crack. Although they were happy, many were worried that this would push the robber over the edge and he'd kill the hostages.
Jessica sat against the wall next to Lucas Reeve, resting her black-stocking-covered legs directly on Lucas Reeve's lap, swinging them back and forth.
"What's happening outside?"
Jessica asked.
Lucas Reeve said nonchalantly: "Lisa and her mother took out this guy's biggest trump cards. Anyone would be agitated. It's over. After all, he thought his plan was flawless, but in reality, everything was within Sicily's calculations. Sicily currently occupies 60% of Siracusa's territory. Their intelligence network covers the entire country. How could a stupid plan from this royal family possibly escape Sicily's intelligence network?"
"Instead of killing them directly and leaving remnants, it's better to catch them all in a trap. And they can use this opportunity to boost their reputation among the populace. Lady Sicily's reputation in Siracusa is basically at its peak now. 'Willing to put herself in danger for the people'—I can already imagine this headline occupying the newsstands of Siracusa tonight."
"In the past, Sicily had the strength, but not many people truly trusted them. At best, they were seen as the second coming of the Siracusan royal family. But now it's different."
"However, Lady Sicily is also quite bold, daring to gamble. Her life was almost entirely in the hands of Lisa and Lisa's mother. If those two had any ulterior motives, she would have died in a pool of blood immediately. You can only say, she bet correctly. Or rather, successful people are very good at gambling~"
"It's a wrap. Just one last thing, and this farce will be over. Tomorrow, Siracusa will probably truly change its name to Sicily. Although Sicily isn't the best choice for Siracusa, it is the best choice available right now."
The farce didn't last long, less than ten minutes in total. But this could be considered a nice dessert.
Lucas Reeve actually knew all along. Lisa had informed him of Lady Sicily's plan long ago. For Lisa, Lucas Reeve and her mother were probably the two people she trusted most.
Sora holding a concert here was all part of Sicily's needs. If Sora hadn't come, Sicily would have definitely created some other event to gather a crowd.
"Get down!! If you don't get down, I'll fucking kill you!!"
Seeing Lucas Reeve and his group stand up, completely disregarding him, the 'Great General', who was already on the verge of cracking, became so enraged his expression twisted. His already rough skin turned the color of pig's liver from anger.
Faced with the "Great General's" roar, Lucas Reeve and the others remained unmoved.
Ceobe rubbed her empty stomach: "I want to eat, Big Brother Lucas Reeve."
"Okay, be good, Ceobe. Soon."
Lucas Reeve rubbed Ceobe's head.
Jessica smiled slightly: "So, Mr. Lucas Reeve, what role do you play in this whole farce?"
Lucas Reeve cracked his knuckles and said: "Clean-up."
"Kill him for me!!"
The 'Great General' gave the order in his rage. Just as the surrounding enemies were about to attack, strange crimson runes flickered to life around Lucas Reeve. At this moment, in the eyes of the others, Lucas Reeve looked like a demon.
Rule 'Inner World'
Lucas Reeve waved one hand.
Crimson ripples spread out in all directions. The huge stadium seemed to instantly fall silent, with only the sound of dripping water echoing. The hundred or so subordinates surrounding them instantly vanished. This scene was witnessed by the 'Great General', leaving him too shocked to speak.
"You!! You!!!"
This 'Great General' was completely enraged. He was unwilling. Unwilling that the plan he and His Majesty had worked on for so many years was being toyed with by these despicable people. His Majesty had promised him that as soon as he successfully ascended the throne, he would be officially enfeoffed as the Great General of National Pacification. He was clearly just one step away from the throne of a true Great General.
Ahhhh!!
The 'Great General' suddenly pulled out a small, transparent cylinder from his pocket. Inside the cylinder, dark 'sludge' was writhing as if it were alive. The bloodline connection made Skadi and Laurentina shudder. Lucas Reeve, however, looked as if he had expected this all along.
Before, it was just appetizers.
This... was the target he was here to clean up.
Back when Penguin Logistics took the commission, Lucas Reeve suspected that the Church of the Deep had infiltrated Siracusa. So he privately asked Jessica to have the Raythean Industries branch in Siracusa pay attention, and he also asked Lisa to pay attention. Recently, they finally found a tiny bit of information about the Church of the Deep. Therefore, after discussing it with Lisa, he personally met with Lady Sicily.
The "Great General" opened the small vial and abruptly swallowed the writhing black Seaborn inside.
The moment he swallowed it.
The 'Great General's' neck instantly turned black. In just the span of a single breath, the natural repulsion between the Seaborn and Originium made the 'Great General' collapse to the ground in agony. Due to the mutual rejection, the Originium crystals on his body began to grow wildly. The Seaborn he had swallowed also began to struggle and evolve desperately, as if it had been thrown into a boiling pot.
Immediately after.
The 'Great General's' stomach suddenly bulged high, as if something was poking out from inside. It pushed the entire skin high up. Coupled with his ferocious face covered in Originium crystals and the black Originium thorns, the 'Great General' looked like a monster.
Squelch!
Along with crimson mucus.
The Great General's swollen stomach burst open. Countless giant tentacles extended from within. The surfaces of these tentacles were covered in sticky, crimson mucus, so disgusting that most of the fans nearby almost vomited up last night's dinner.
"Monster!!"
Amidst the screams and wails, the fans scrambled out of the stadium as if their lives depended on it.
"To become an experiment for the Church of the Deep without even knowing it. Pathetic."
Due to being far from the ocean, the Church of the Deep was not based in Siracusa, but it had dedicated believers and test subjects there. These people were much like Cronin back in Siesta, self-righteously believing they were walking beside their god, when in reality, they were just tools. Just test subjects.
To date, there have been many experiments fusing Seaborn with the people of Terra, including in Lungmen and Siracusa.
When special Aegir fuse with Seaborn, they can give birth to super-soldiers like the Abyssal Hunters. However, the physique of land-dwellers is completely different from that of the Aegir. The mutually repulsive physiques will only give birth to monsters like this.
Lucas Reeve didn't move.
However, Skadi had already been the first to charge forward. Since she was here on vacation, she hadn't brought her weapon at all and rushed forward bare-handed.
"Skadi! Catch!"
Nian waved one hand, pulling a divine-weapon-quality Yanese sword from the void and tossing it to Skadi.
After being used to wielding a greatsword larger than her own body, Skadi wasn't quite accustomed to such a small longsword, feeling it wouldn't pack much of a punch.
However.
When Skadi swung it with her full strength.
The blade of the divine-weapon-quality Yanese sword suddenly unleashed a terrifyingly sharp sword aura. Combined with Skadi's terrifying strength, in just an instant, half the stadium was forcefully split in two by the sword aura.
The sword aura swept over. The 'Great General', who had turned into a monster, wanted to resist. However, his own strength was pitiful. Even fused with a Seaborn, he was no match for Skadi plus a divine weapon. He had no chance to resist. In an instant, he was completely annihilated by the deep blue sword aura.
Outside.
Lady Sicily stood in place, silently waiting for it to end inside.
Suddenly, with a loud *BOOM*.
The roof of more than half the stadium split open. The sharp, deep blue sword aura sliced through the stadium's dome and shot straight into the clouds. Even from a great distance, the terrifying sword aura made the eyes of many onlookers sting. This sudden scene made even Lady Sicily's heart tremble.
Terrifying...