Chapter 678: Underground Secret Room
“Lord Hyōshō!” The figure that suddenly appeared in the room made Kazumi’s pupils shrink violently. She instinctively stood up, but then stopped herself from raising a defensive stance, and instead bowed slightly towards the white-haired man in the distance and greeted him politely.
Of course, this was not Kazumi’s respect for the Great General of the organization that had placed her in a dangerous situation, but rather a reflexive response to his silent appearance in the room.
It was known that after the girl had received the results of her parents’ research, Kazumi’s abilities had greatly evolved. Her combat power alone was enough to fight the former Great General [White Bone] head-on.
As for her perception, it was a natural talent for undead creatures, especially her perception of the vitality of flesh and blood creatures, which was like a innate skill. This allowed the girl to confidently ponder the reasons for previous events within the base.
However, Hyōshō Muramasa was not someone who could reach the level of Great General. Just his ability to appear as if he were a ghost, without sound or notice, if used for a surprise attack on Kazumi, although she had Little Black within her, the girl would not necessarily be killed directly, but injuries would be unavoidable.
This alone was enough to make the current Kazumi wary. The vigilance she had slightly relaxed towards the Great Generals after killing [White Bone] was immediately raised by the girl.
“Mm, no need for formalities.”
Hyōshō Muramasa could not know the bustling inner movements of the girl, but it seemed he was unaccustomed to this manner of greeting. The white-haired young boy waved his hand, signaling her to sit down.
When Kazumi finally recovered and sat back down in her chair, she looked up and found that Hyōshō Muramasa opposite her had a lifeless, statue-like gaze, as if he were dead, and it never left her.
“Lord Hyōshō,”
“You are very good.”
His cold and indifferent voice interrupted Kazumi’s further questions without politeness, and he spoke to her on his own.
“Much more outstanding than I imagined. It’s no wonder I told him, you were originally just bait to distract that guy. I didn’t expect you to actually kill him with your own abilities. It’s truly… a bit of a surprise.”
“……”
“Are these words something you can really just say?”
“This is probably the rule of interaction between the emotionless and the strong. Listen to this, are these words something a person can say?”
Although the girl knew in her heart that dealing with the strong practitioners of the [Dark] Organization was like trying to draw water from a fire, seeing him so directly reveal the plan that was originally intended for her to sacrifice herself truly made her wonder if he wasn’t afraid of her having other ideas.
However, one must bow to the circumstances. While Hyōshō Muramasa’s words were unpleasant, Kazumi dared not act rashly. She could only lower her head and wait for his subsequent words. After all, she didn’t believe he had specifically called her to the base just to tell her something she already knew.
“Lord Hyōshō, do you need… that corpse?”
“No, I know your abilities. It is more helpful for you to keep it.”
Kazumi originally wanted to pretend to ask if he needed the corpse fragments of [White Bone] as proof, or if he needed something from the man’s body. But in a way, Hyōshō Muramasa, who seemed to be in a good mood, interrupted Kazumi again and continued.
“You helped me a great deal, and by all means, I should give you a corresponding reward. But I have been sealed for so long, and my abilities have only just recovered. I don’t have anything valuable on me right now.”
“Hiss…
Well, looks like I’ll be working for free again. But it didn’t matter much to Kazumi. After all, she had been pushed by Hyōshō Muramasa’s scheme from the beginning. She never thought of obtaining anything from this strange guy in front of her. She would be grateful if such a person would just stay away from her.
“Kurokawa Iori told me about you. As a reward for the蠱毒 (gu dú – poison in the body) in his body, I can personally recommend you to become an [Executive] within the organization. How about it?”
Hyōshō Muramasa’s vacant eyes stared quietly at Kazumi, his snow-white eyes seeming not to blink as he asked the black-haired girl in front of him in an almost commanding tone.
However, after saying this, Hyōshō Muramasa fell silent and did not continue, as if he were waiting for Kazumi to make her decision.
“Good, thank you, Lord Hyōshō.”
Kazumi could sense what Hyōshō Muramasa was trying to convey. The other party seemed to have difficulty communicating with people, but this statement was very clear. With the identity of Great General Hyōshō Muramasa to recommend her, his influence on her strength would definitely be more convincing than Kurokawa Iori. What concerned Kazumi more was that if he recommended her, it would mean she was his person.
Although Kazumi did not want to take sides within the organization so quickly, she had no better choice now. After all, wherever there are people, there are also rivers and lakes, and it is very difficult to remain detached. Moreover, the fact that Kurokawa Iori had spoken to Hyōshō Muramasa about her indicated that they were at least not in an adversarial state. Given Kurokawa Iori’s relationship with her, he would not abandon their connection just because Hyōshō Muramasa recommended her. After all, Kazumi still remembered what Kurokawa Iori had said about making her an [Executive] and what he planned to do afterward. It meant she would belong to their faction.
“Mm, good.”
Like a robot waiting to trigger a command, after receiving Kazumi’s answer, Hyōshō Muramasa, who had been frozen, nodded, accepting the statement. He didn’t interact further with Kazumi and instead stood up by himself and walked towards a counter on the side of the conference room.
Under Kazumi’s confused gaze, the white-haired young boy stopped in front of the counter where various snacks and tea were displayed. He felt along the wall with his right hand.
Then, with a crisp “click,” a button sound echoed in the room, followed by a crisp mechanical synthesized voice. “Facial recognition authentication successful. Codename: [Extreme Cold].”
The originally long counter slowly slid open to both sides with the sound, and the wall behind it also parted in the middle, revealing a dark space inside, and Kazumi could faintly see stone stairs extending downwards within her line of sight.
“This!”
It was Kazumi’s turn to be genuinely surprised. In this already hidden underground base, there was an even deeper secret room. Hyōshō Muramasa retracted his hand without any reaction and glanced at the somewhat stunned Kazumi, waving towards her, giving another cold command.
“Go.”
Without waiting for Kazumi’s response, he turned and disappeared into the darkness. Only the black-haired girl sat in place, facing the dark entrance of the underground passage that had opened before her.
