At this moment, Fire Ghost was like a crazed bull, barging headlong into the Interrogation Area.
The guards along the way were forced back repeatedly by his terrifying aura, not daring to stop him at all.
"Get out of the way!"
With a roar, he grabbed the two members blocking his path, one in each hand, and tossed them aside like trash.
Inside the Interrogation Area, the smell of blood was thick and choking.
Fire Ghost's gaze immediately Locked-On to Ken, who was lying in a pool of blood.
The wound across his throat was clean and precise; the blood had already begun to clot.
The moment he saw the deceased was Ken, Fire Ghost's extremely tense nerves actually relaxed for a split second in a bizarre way.
It was just an insignificant hostage who died.
He had thought something had gone wrong with an important target.
This thought only lingered in his mind for a tenth of a second before being completely swallowed by an infinite sense of humiliation and rage.
He didn't care at all whether the hostage lived or died; they were going to die sooner or later anyway.
But the problem was, while the death itself didn't matter, they couldn't die without his knowledge!
This was no different from someone rushing into his bedroom and taking a dump on his bed right in front of him!
This was a provocation! A total humiliation!
"Didn't I say! No one is fucking allowed to mess up during this time!"
Fire Ghost's roar made the stone walls of the entire Interrogation Area hum, and his fiery eyes scanned the surrounding members, who were as quiet as cicadas in winter.
"Where is the trash who was guarding this place! That Rat-faced Member, where the hell did he go!"
The members were scared out of their wits. One of the braver ones tremblingly pointed a finger toward a corner.
Fire Ghost looked in the direction he pointed, and then, he froze.
He saw the Rat-faced Member standing as straight as a piece of performance art, motionless and facing a bare wall.
His posture was standard and his figure upright, as if he were undergoing the most rigorous military inspection.
Even more absurdly, at this critical moment when alarms were blaring and everyone was in a panic, a faint and rhythmic... snoring sound actually came from the back of this statue's head.
Fire Ghost's anger reached its peak at this moment, causing him to laugh instead.
It was an extremely suppressed, chilling, and terrifying laugh.
"Good, very good!"
He walked over step by step, his boots making heavy "thud, thud, thud" sounds on the floor, each step feeling like it was stomping on the hearts of those around him.
He walked behind the member who was still reflecting in front of the wall and raised his large, fan-like hand high. His muscled arm traced a cruel arc under the blood-colored light.
"Slap—!"
A crisp sound echoed throughout the entire Interrogation Area.
The Rat-faced Member spun three and a half times like a whipped top. With a "pfft" sound, he spat out two broken teeth mixed with blood foam before finally falling to the ground with a "thud."
The intense pain and impact finally forced him awake from the deep hypnosis.
Clutching the side of his face that had instantly swollen like a pig's head, he looked around in confusion until his gaze focused on Fire Ghost's murderous face, completely dazed.
"F... Fire Ghost?"
He asked indistinctly, his mouth filled with the taste of blood.
"W... what happened?"
Fire Ghost looked down at him from above, his voice squeezed out from between his teeth:
"I'm asking you what happened! You're fucking standing guard here, and you didn't even know someone died?"
"Standing guard?"
The Rat-faced Member's mind went blank. He tried to remember, but there was a severe gap in his memory.
He only remembered an officer coming by earlier, praising his posture, and telling him to keep it up, and then... and then there was nothing.
His memory was like film cut by scissors; the middle section simply couldn't be spliced together no matter what.
"I... I don't know, Lord..."
He answered tremblingly.
"I only remember... an officer told me to stand guard well, and then I..."
"Officer?"
Fire Ghost's eye twitched violently.
"Which officer?"
"I... I can't remember..."
Looking at this trash who couldn't even speak clearly, Fire Ghost's last shred of patience was exhausted.
He suddenly raised his foot, preparing to crush the guy's head to vent his hatred.
At this critical moment, a sudden, sharp vibration came from his chest.
Buzz— buzz buzz—
The sound wasn't loud, but it was like an invisible command, making his raised palm freeze mid-air.
The surrounding Team Magma members didn't dare to breathe, watching this bizarre scene in terror. Lord Fire Ghost, who had looked like a demon just a second ago, now seemed to have had his pause button pressed, his hideous expression frozen on his face.
Fire Ghost slowly lowered his hand, his movements somewhat stiff. With a dark expression, he reluctantly pulled out a specially-made communicator from his chest.
When his gaze fell upon the name flashing on the screen, the muscles on his face began to twitch strangely.
Tabitha.
Just two words, yet they seemed to contain infinite magic.
That skyrocketing rage and boiling killing intent were instantly extinguished like a bucket of ice water from the far north had been poured over them, leaving not even a wisp of smoke.
Fire Ghost's waist subconsciously bent.
The ferocity and violence on his face faded away in just a second, replaced by a nearly humble, forced smile.
That smile, piled onto his fleshy face, looked incredibly bizarre and fawning.
"Get lost, all of you! You blind fools!"
He lowered his voice and barked at his subordinates, then quickly walked to a relatively quiet corner. Taking a deep breath, he respectfully pressed the answer button.
"Lord Tabitha!"
His voice was completely different from his thunderous roar earlier, filled with eagerness and submissiveness, even carrying a trace of imperceptible trembling.
From the other end of the communicator came a cold, magnetic male voice, devoid of any emotion.
"Fire Ghost, are the ores on the summit of Mt. Chimney still intact?"
It wasn't a question, but more like a confirmation.
"Yes! They're all here!"
Fire Ghost's waist bent even lower, as if Tabitha himself were standing in front of him.
"Lord Tabitha, please rest assured! You specifically instructed before that the entire Ore Vein at the summit of Mt. Chimney must not be touched without your command. I guarantee it's absolutely safe!"
"The organization has made new research discoveries."
Tabitha's tone remained flat, but the content made Fire Ghost's heart skip a beat.
"There is a small Ore Vein at the summit of Mt. Chimney with some unremarkable Purplish-red Ores. Those things are extremely valuable."
Fire Ghost's breathing stopped.
He had originally thought they were just some special energy ores; while important, he hadn't expected them to receive such attention from Lord Tabitha.
One must know that Lord Tabitha was part of the Team Magma's true core, standing alongside Lord Courtney and Lord Blaise as one of the three Executives who could report directly to Leader Maxie!
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