The prison cell door opened with a loud creak. Lux, the guard from earlier, walked inside and stopped in front of Zac’s and Marty’s cell.

"I have a message for you from Young Master Mark."

Zac didn’t even bother sitting up. He remained lying on the floor with his hands behind his head, lazily shaking one leg.

"Out with it."

Lux frowned. "You’re quite arrogant, aren’t you?"

"Only to people who lick other toes for money."

"Let’s see how long that arrogance lasts."

"Is that the message?" Zac asked.

Lux’s face darkened. "This is only the first of many things coming your way. You’ve offended someone you shouldn’t have. Young Master Mark said he’ll make your life a living hell."

"He could’ve come up with something better to threaten me."

Zac yawned. "Whatever. Now that you’ve barked your master’s message, get your dog ass out of here."

"You arrogant little piece of..."

"Hey, hey, hey." Marty quickly stepped in. "You should think before speaking."

Lux turned toward him. "And why’s that?"

"Do you even know who he is?" Lux pointed at Zac.

"I do! A little piece of trash with trash potential."

Marty sighed. "That’s what he wants the world to think."

Lux folded his arms. "Oh really? Then enlighten me."

"He is actually a very influential person."

Lux burst out laughing. "Influential? My ass."

Even though he clearly didn’t believe a word Marty was saying, curiosity got the better of him.

Marty lowered his voice dramatically.

"He has enough influence to destroy not only your career but also the careers of everyone working in this harbor."

"One phone call or one message. And he could walk out of this prison right now."

Lux stared at him for a few seconds. Then he laughed even harder. "You know what? You’d make a fantastic sidekick."

[I agree.]

"But you should learn when to praise someone and when to stay silent." His smile slowly turned cruel. "Do you know what’s waiting for both of you?"

"I informed Captain Benedict that your licenses are fake and that your backgrounds are suspicious. So the captain contacted the Variant Association."

"They’ll be here soon to take you to the experimental labs. And do you know why you’re not being executed immediately?"

"Because they want to know exactly what you two are. They’ll check whether you’re mutated or used forbidden methods."

"They’ll cut you apart while you’re still alive and study every inch of your body while you’re agonizing in pain.

"You’ll feel your life slowly leaving you piece by piece. Maybe then," Lux continued, "you’ll regret ever being born."

"What feeling fear now?"

Then Zac slowly lifted his head and saw him in the eyes. For some reason, Lux felt a chill run down his spine.

"Like hell that’s going to happen. Because the moment the Variant Association gets involved, they’ll run a real background check."

"A much more thorough one than whatever sloppy investigation you did."

"And when they discover who I am...They’ll panic and realize how deeply they screwed up."

"And to appease me?" A grin appeared on his face.

"They won’t just fire you. They’ll arrest you and do all those things you just described to me?"

For the first time, Lux looked annoyed rather than amused. "You really don’t know when to stop talking, do you?"

Then suddenly, he took Zac’s VSB and tossed it through the bars. "Let’s test your little theory. Call whoever you want. I want to see what they can do."

[Idiot.]

"If he’s really as important as you claim, prove it."

Zac picked up the VSB and sent a short message. Then he tossed the device back.

After waiting for several minutes, Lux looked around. "I don’t see anything happening."

Zac lay back down on the floor. "Are you an idiot? It hasn’t even been five minutes."

"Whatever." Lux turned around and started walking away.

Before leaving, he stopped at the door. "The Variant Association will be here in one hour. Let’s see what your mysterious contact can accomplish before then."

Marty immediately turned toward Zac. "Please tell me that message actually went to someone important."

Zac closed his eyes. "Oh, she’s important."

The way he said it made Marty nervous. "Why do I feel like there’s a catch?"

"Because there is."

"What kind of catch?"

Zac opened one eye. "The kind that makes me wish the Variant Association would arrive first."

Half an hour passed. Marty sat against the wall and glanced at Zac. "Do you really think the person you messaged will come?"

"I hope so."

"Hey, System."

[What?]

"Do you think she’ll come?"

[Even if she doesn’t care about you, she’ll definitely come for your mother’s sake.]

"I was thinking the same thing."

[More importantly, you should worry about what happens after she rescues you.]

The system let out a small laugh.

[You know what’s funny?]

[Usually, the hero rescues the damsel in distress. But here you are. A damsel in distress. Waiting for a woman to arrive as your knight in shining armor.]

Zac covered his face. "My life really sucks, doesn’t it?"

[You bet it does. Especially when it comes to women.]

"Oh, please."

[No, let me continue.]

[The first woman you loved cheated on you.]

[The second woman you liked actively avoids anything remotely romantic despite spending an entire night with you.]

[And the woman who promised to marry you when you were a child somehow ended up dominating you in every possible way.]

[I think your romantic karma is cursed.]

"Yeah, thanks for that."

Before Zac could continue arguing, the entire prison suddenly started trembling. Red emergency alarms instantly erupted throughout the harbor with sirens screaming from every direction.

Marty jumped to his feet. "What the hell is happening?! Is it a monster attack?"

Zac slowly stood up with a complicated expression on his face.

"Yep. Definitely a monster attack. Only this monster happens to be a beautiful, overbearing, arrogant woman."

"I don’t understand."

"Soon you will."

Suddenly, the system’s voice rang out.

[-10 Info Points.]

[Host is advised to take cover. The building is going to explode in five seconds.]

"What?!"

Without hesitation, Zac grabbed Marty and dove behind the bed.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

A deafening blast tore through the prison. Concrete shattered into thousands of pieces, and metal bars twisted like paper. The shockwave ripped through the building, hurling debris hundreds of meters into the air. For a brief moment, it looked as if a bomb had exploded inside the structure.

Several seconds later, the dust finally began to settle.

Zac and Marty slowly rose to their feet, brushing away the debris that had buried them.

Then they saw her.

The very incarnation of nightmare stood before them, drenched from head to toe in blood.

Her golden slit eyes calmly scanned the area.

[She really likes making an entrance. I’m impressed. 10 points for style.]

"You really love causing trouble, don’t you, boy?" Armani looked directly at Zac.

"Miss Armani, what happened was..."

"Quit yapping!" Zac immediately shut his mouth. "You’re in so much trouble once we’re done here."

"Yes, ma’am."

Marty looked at Zac and then at Armani. His brain is literally short-circuiting from so many questions.

Suddenly, dozens of guards surrounded the destroyed prison with weapons and combat skills activated.

Because Armani was covered in blood, none of them immediately recognized her, and among the guards stood Lux.

The same guard responsible for Zac’s imprisonment. He pointed his weapon at Armani.

"Who are you?! Do you have any idea how serious this crime is? Surrender immediately before we kill you!"

[This was the moment I know he fucked up.]

Armani slowly turned her head. "Kill me?" The next second, her aura exploded.

BOOM!

Every guard in the area smashed into the ground.

Zac and Marty even heard their bones creaking.

Not a single person could stand or even move a finger.

"You don’t know what you’re doing... This is Central City... Our captain is an A+ rank variant... The Association will send stronger variants soon... You can’t escape..." Lux said that with all the strength from his body.

Armani stared at him. "If I hear one more word from your ugly mouth... I’ll bend your neck until your mouth touches your ass."

[Ooo... savage. I like her.]

At that moment, another figure arrived. Unlike the others, he managed to remain standing.

"And who the hell are you?" Armani asked.

The man gritted his teeth. "I am Captain Benedict. The officer responsible for this harbor."

He was about to continue. Armani raised a hand. "Blah blah blah. I don’t care who you are. Who gave you permission to imprison two of my academy students without my consent?"

Benedict’s eyes widened. He looked behind Armani and saw Zac and Marty.

Only then realization hit him. "Wait...Then the kid wasn’t lying. He really is a recruit of New Dawn Academy."

"If that’s true..." His face paled. "Then you must be the infamous..."

Before he could finish speaking, Armani flicked her hand.

CRACK!

A wave of mana slammed into Benedict, and his body shot through the air like a cannonball.

He smashed into a distant wall, and blood immediately started pouring from his mouth and nose.

Before he could recover, Armani appeared above him with one high heel pressed directly onto his head.

"You dare call me that to my face?" Her smile was terrifying.

"Listen carefully. The only reason you’re still alive is because they seem unharmed. If I found even a single scratch on either of them..."

She slowly increased the pressure. "This harbor, you and everyone responsible would already be gone from this planet."

"Wait, it’s not our fault they are the ones who tried to enter illegally with a permit. We only detained them. That’s all."

Armani finally turned toward Zac. "What happened?"

Zac blinked.

"Wait. She did all of this without knowing what happened?" Everyone watching the scene had the exact same thought.

"We were scammed out of our permits in Cape Town. After arriving here, we were trying to figure out what to do. Then that guard was bribed by someone who holds a grudge against me."

He pointed at Lux. "He approached us already knowing we didn’t have permits. We tried to explain, but he didn’t listen at all."

"We even told him we were recruits of New Dawn Academy. But they refused to believe us. They didn’t properly check our variant licenses and declared them fake."

"They then accused us of being associated with cultists."

Armani slowly turned toward Benedict. "You heard that?"

Benedict struggled to speak. "That’s only their version of the story. How were we supposed to believe them without proof?"

"You wanted proof?" Armani’s eyes narrowed. "You could’ve called New Dawn Academy or properly checked their licenses."

"We did."

"Is that so?"

"Who checked them?"

Marty immediately answered. "Him." Every eye turned toward Lux.

The man was practically pissing his pants by now.

Armani lifted a finger. Instantly, Lux floated into the air and dragged directly in front of her.

The full force of her killing intent focused solely on him. Lux nearly lost consciousness.

"Did you take a bribe?" Out of fear for his life, his mouth moved before his brain could. "Yes! Mark Ritchie paid me!"

Armani continued. "Did you check their licenses?"

"Yes! And they were real. I lied to the captain!"

Benedict’s face turned red immediately jumped up and started beating the life out of Lux.

"You idiot! You absolute idiot! Did you know what you have brought upon me"

Armani glanced at the scene. Then sighed. "I don’t have time to watch this nonsense."

Before either Zac or Marty could react, she grabbed them by the collars and took off into the air.

Marty immediately lost his mind.

"I’M FLYING! I’M ACTUALLY FLYING!"

"Quit shouting, you ugly toad."

Marty instantly covered his own mouth. "...That’s kind of rude." And just like that, they disappeared into the skies above the Central City.