A small and beautiful villa in the suburban east district of Lone Star City, after the Meteor Shower Event, these new buildings were all surrounded by high walls due to regulatory changes. This actually made Nemo feel more at home. Many vacation villas in Taiwan’s rural areas are like this, including courtyards that are often called "farmhouses." Wealthy or well-connected owners sometimes even make the walls so high that it's hard to see inside. Nemo wasn't sure if these complied with building regulations.

  There was more than one villa nearby. Clearly, many wealthy and famous individuals had come to Lone Star City specifically to purchase properties in order to follow Matthew Grimm. While they weren’t investing in commercial real estate or high-end apartments in the city center, a significant number of them bought vacation villas in the East District, creating a small, upscale villa community.

  The black Ford was parked a street away from the target. Thanks to the Sea Giant’s landing, the villa district, which already had a low light-up rate, had even fewer than 20% of its lights on. After all, most of the owners weren’t in Lone Star City, and some weren’t even in the United States.

  Even though it was only an overcast afternoon, the area felt eerily quiet, like the end of the world.

  "Let’s split up from here. Once each of us completes our target, there’s no need to leave together," Nemo tossed the black Ford keys to Steel Fist.

  "What do you mean?" Steel Fist asked.

  "I’ll have no problem moving with Red Plume. You probably don’t want to carry Bookstore Owner. Besides, although your subordinates drove or rode here, after we’re done, I won’t be driving off. I don’t want to leave this car around, so here’s a spare key," Nemo explained, then lowered his head and pressed the switch on his collar-mounted miniature intercom to test it. "If necessary, I’ll direct you to the designated location for pickup and drop-off."

  The chilling voice of the KS man echoed in Hako and Steel Fist’s earpieces, causing both of them to shiver slightly.

  "I’m counting on you, KS," Hako called out to the figure who was already pushing the car door open.

  He caught the hidden meaning in KS’s tone immediately. If Red Plume needed urgent care, KS wouldn’t be consulting anyone. To shield Red Plume’s identity, KS would take the child straight to the Grimm Group. Hako’s doubts gnawed at him—could he really trust his daughter to a new handler? But KS wasn’t wasting a second trying to reassure him.

  Hako didn’t trust the Grimm Group, but when it came to KS’s actions—he had no objections.

  "Leave it to me!" Nemo said before walking toward the street corner, planning to approach the villa from a different direction.

  After acting alone, Nemo quickly heard the commotion erupting in Ms. Jennifer’s front yard. Bookstore Owner and his mistress, Ms. Jennifer, had chosen this place to hide because they knew the neighbors weren’t home. Naturally, no one called the police at that moment.

  Nemo had already imagined the scene of the Kingdom’s thugs easily breaching the first line of defense.

  For Steel Fist and his crew, what was a front door? Didn’t the wall just need to be climbed? Although Hako could elegantly stack his transparent shields into a staircase, no intelligent super-powered individual would waste energy like that. More likely, Steel Fist was just used as a stepping stool to help Hako scale the wall.

  Nemo had previously received information about Ms. Jennifer from Matthew. Her biotech company had been suffering continuous losses, and its stock price had plummeted. Seeing the lucrative potential of the superpowered physical market, she decided to take a crooked path. Ms. Jennifer's Hyena business was a latecomer to the industry, and naturally, her team’s reputation and credibility couldn’t compare to those of the more established and well-connected hyena owners. However, by taking in experts who were in desperate need of money without questioning their past, she managed to make it look somewhat legitimate.

  Ms. Jennifer had teamed up with Bookstore Owner, who had obtained a large amount of superhumans data and was preparing to betray the Kingdom, hoping to open up trade routes for Southeast Asian Living Gemstones or personal data samples.

  Superpowered resources in third-world countries were still a mystery, a veritable treasure trove, hard for public institutions or large corporations to monopolize.

  Meanwhile, Chinese buyers were after rare goods and secret experimental information from Europe, America, and Japan. Both sides had their own agendas.

  As Nemo climbed the back wall, he noticed a small drone circling above. Activating the magnification function on his goggles, he automatically analyzed the drone, identifying it as a model from the Grimm Group’s unlisted series. It was clear that Matthew was always meddling.

  KS wasn’t in a hurry to invade the villa’s interior. He hid in the shadows, keeping his presence concealed while observing the situation. Originally, there were three pit bulls outside the villa, but they had only recently been brought in, and still weren’t accustomed to the environment.

  The dog trainer couldn’t get them to follow commands and, in fact, they ended up biting their own handlers. The scene was chaotic. Steel Fist’s men used silenced pistols to shoot all three of the fierce dogs, and two guards were shot, their fate uncertain.

  Nemo enhanced his perception and continued listening. The heavy breathing of an old man slowly rose above all the noise, becoming clearer in Nemo’s consciousness. Bookstore Owner was loudly scolding a woman, blaming her for not being cautious enough to avoid attracting enemies. He told her to take the child and hide, then the hurried footsteps of someone struggling to climb the stairs to the second floor were heard.

  Nemo’s lips curved slightly. He had found her.

  What Nemo found somewhat regrettable was that the Pole still had too much breath in him. At least he had recovered about half of his strength and wouldn't fall for the bait again. From his voice, it was clear Bookstore Owner was suffering from his injuries, speaking in a highly irritable and angry tone—likely because his entire eyeball had been removed, which would explain the fury.

  This meant that the blind spot on the left side of Bookstore Owner's vision had increased, and even an idiot could tell where the attack should be focused.

  There were only two key points. The second option was to cripple Bookstore Owner 's hands and feet, prioritizing the destruction of his hands so he couldn't access his medications. The more urgent the situation, the harder it was to control fine movements, and during the first fight with KS man, Bookstore Owner had still manually opened medicine bottles and spilled their contents, showing a clear weakness in his telekinetic control.

  The best option, however, was to make Bookstore Owner lose consciousness. That would automatically disable his telekinetic abilities. But if they were going to go ahead with it, they had to be really careful, because Bookstore Owner might pretend to be out cold and strike back.

  Whatever the case, Nemo had already created a highly favorable situation and had also provided tips on how to approach it. If Hako and the others couldn’t win now, it would be utterly ridiculous. He decided to focus on his own mission.

  In the front yard, he could hear the sounds of kneeling and begging for mercy, followed by some muffled grunts. He guessed the thugs were using the gunstocks to knock out the remaining guards. Nemo leapt up and grabbed the second-floor window frame.

  As Bookstore Owner smashed the French windows with a heavy object, Nemo simultaneously broke through the window, and the sound of the glass shattering blended perfectly with the noise.

  The original plan for division of labor had failed. Nemo hadn’t expected the villa’s guards to be so pathetic. Of course, he left it to Steel Fist’s men to continue playing with Bookstore Owner using bullets first.

  Steel Fist and his men sought cover and opened fire on the Bookstore Owner. The fake KS man hid behind the group, watching coldly. He dodged with feints while using his superpower to shield himself from the debris. His figure, like that of a superhero judge, controlled and disturbed the Bookstore Owner's emotions, clearly waiting for the fatal blow. The Polish old man knew he couldn’t waste energy, so he chose to pick up his pistol and combine it with telekinetic attacks.

  As KS man had pointed out, even though Bookstore Owner could make a bullet fly in circles, it was certainly not as easy as a straight, short-distance attack. If a group of enemies all fired, at least a dozen bullets could come at him at once, or even hundreds if they were using submachine guns. This would force Bookstore Owner to defend himself, making it impossible to focus on shooting the telekinetically controlled bullet into the enemy’s weak spot. Meanwhile, the enemy only needed to exert enough force to pull the trigger.

  Telekinetic users should never engage in close-range combat when their identity and abilities are exposed. While there were small sharp objects around capable of killing, Bookstore Owner couldn’t concentrate enough to attack. Killing the lackeys wouldn’t improve his situation; it would only waste energy and make him easier prey.

  The old man had lost an eye, surgery had just been completed a few hours ago, the anesthesia was wearing off, and the pain from his wounds was overwhelming.

  Defending himself took up all the Pole's strength, so he could only shoot back like an ordinary person. However, the Bookstore Owner was surrounded by wolves, and if he didn't resist, he would die faster.

  Why was it KS man and Steel Fist together? Hako must have gone to find his daughter. The reason Bookstore Owner didn’t retreat was that he didn’t want to be ambushed from both sides by delegate from the North District. Besides, this would reveal to Hako where his daughter was hidden. Even if Hako found the secret room, he wouldn’t be able to open it, especially with a helper holding the unconscious little girl.

  Bookstore Owner believed he still had a chance to escape. KS man hadn’t made a move yet, likely because he was wary of the hostage's safety. Not just one little girl—he had more in his hands.

  While the battle on the first floor raged on, Nemo quietly snuck into the second floor. Following the woman’s footsteps and stopping positions, he made his way to the master bedroom and stopped in front of the wardrobe—or rather, the secret room disguised as a wardrobe.

  The thick oak door was securely locked. Nemo moved a small oil painting that hung a little unnaturally on the wall beside the door. Sure enough, the wall revealed a fingerprint-controlled lock and a button for communication.

  The secret room, originally meant for erotic purposes, showed clear signs of Jennifer’s hardcore BDSM interests from the carvings on the wooden door. However, the soundproofing was excellent, making it very practical for holding hostages.

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  The electronic lock could be locked from both inside and outside, and it required the owner's fingerprint to open. This likely came after Jennifer’s illegal side business started, and she added this as a hidden emergency escape room.

  Nemo pressed the communication button above the electronic lock and said, "I’m here to rescue the kidnapped child, ma’am. I suggest you open the door and release her immediately, or I’ll have to break down this door… or the wall next to it. You will be subject to some consequences."

  No response came from inside.

  Nemo pulled out a kunai, taking a step back to gather his focus before charging forward. The weapon sank into the solid oak door, reaching the handle, while the tip pierced through to the other side. As expected, a scream from the woman came from the secret room, but the soundproofing was so good that it was almost quieter than the sound of the door being knocked.

  "Want to say hello to The North District Compression Killer? You took his daughter, and that guy is currently inside chatting with the Polish man. If you want Grimm Group’s help, now is your last chance."

  The lock on the secret room door clicked open immediately. A frightened blonde noblewoman, clutching a fainted Asian girl, shrank back into a corner. There was no need for her to show herself anymore. The girl's makeup had been wiped off, and she still wore oversized boyish clothes. Her dyed short brown hair couldn’t completely cover her delicate face. Nemo noticed the syringe pressed against the girl's neck and narrowed his eyes dangerously.

  "Who are you? What is your connection to the Grimm Group? Stay back!" the blonde noblewoman shouted in fear.

  Not long ago, the news of the Hyena team’s annihilation had spread, and the blonde noblewoman knew that her fate was sealed. Once the truth came out, she would be dead before she had the chance to turn herself in.

  "You can consider me Matthew Grimm’s messenger. Stop using the child to threaten me, or I can unilaterally decide to let you fend for yourself, Ms. Jennifer. Make sure you show you’re sincere," Nemo said. When he saw the noblewoman trembling and lowering the syringe, he threw a magnetic card with gold-green antlers on it in front of her.

  "This is a friendly locator. Take this card and find the Grimm Tower. There will be people supporting you along the way. The back door will be safe for three minutes," Nemo added as he stepped aside, making way.

  The blonde noblewoman released the Asian girl and scrambled to grab the card from the floor, crawling toward it as she rushed to flee the room.

  Matthew Grimm was a big deal in business. As long as Jennifer had something the Grimm Group wanted, she was safe. Nemo didn’t need to explain further; the noblewoman already knew this.

  Nemo glanced at the syringe thrown on the ground. It was empty, and the interior was very clean. Unless Jennifer intended to inject air into the girl's veins, there was no reason for her to sever her escape route. It was likely just a threat. Nemo bent down and called to the girl lying on the floor.

  Nemo removed his tactical gloves and checked her carotid pulse. Her heart rate and temperature were temporarily normal, so he put the gloves back on and lifted her, cradling her in his arms with her head resting on his shoulder.

  "Hmm," Nemo made a thoughtful sound. "Red Plume, stop pretending you're unconscious."

  The unconscious girl had been tossed and held by the blonde noblewoman during their confrontation but remained still, which appeared very convincing.

  Unfortunately, she couldn't control her muscles' natural tension when Nemo picked her up. Nemo knew several methods to test if someone was truly unconscious, but there was no need to use them on a child. Even an untrained person couldn’t fully suppress reflex actions when subjected to sudden external stimuli.

  "You’re wearing your dad’s clothes. I can tell how recently you changed by the scent of your perfume," Red Plume’s English with an East Coast accent was very precise.

  "I’m the rescue your dad arranged. Do you know who I am?"

  "KS Niisan(older brother)…"

  "Ojisan(uncle)."

  Nemo was way below Hako's level—no chance! He absolutely refused to lower his status when it came to familial titles. Besides, he was definitely older than the Japanese man! Taking his soul's age into account, he could even be ten years older!

  For the daughter of a fan, adding goggles and a hood would probably be enough to pass as a recognizable sign. Nemo deliberately swapped clothes with Hako to provide intuitive evidence to convince Red Plume. Children were like wild animals. Rather than reasoning with them, it was more effective to use familiar scents and clothing to prove your position.

  "I’ll take you out immediately," Nemo said.

  "Wait!" The girl clutched at Nemo’s chest, gripping his clothes. "There’s another woman in the basement. Can we save her too?"

  "Are you sure someone’s in the basement?" At first, Nemo had focused his attention on the first floor, confirming target positions and movement routes. He’d also scanned the whole villa to ensure there were no ambushes. The stronger and more dangerous the target, the easier it was to detect. While his skills weren’t exceptional, sensing life-sized human entities within a building wasn’t difficult for him—it was just a matter of energy consumption and the level of focus required to capture different details.

  The people and dogs inside the villa had all collapsed or were fighting in the courtyard and living room, except for Jennifer, who had escaped through the back door. If Nemo hadn’t sensed another presence in the basement, there were several possible reasons. The person might have just died, and the body hadn’t shown obvious signs of death yet, or the person was too close to a body, making their living traits less apparent. Alternatively, it could be a superpowered individual capable of hiding their presence, with three hypotheses becoming more likely over time.

  Nemo carefully sensed the basement once more and indeed detected a faint presence. It was a very ominous feeling.

  "Okay, we’ll go save her. Do you know how to get down there?"

  "She taught me the villa’s floor plan. I know where the basement entrance is, but the blonde witch locked the stairwell door," Red Plume said.

  "I can handle this," Nemo said as he held the girl in his arms, quickly and silently descending to the first floor.

  Luckily, the basement was just a regular storage room. The locks were simple, a basic latch and a temporary bolt nailed on the outside. Nemo pulled off the bolts one by one and roughly pried the latch open with a kunai. After all, this villa wasn’t Jennifer’s real refuge. The vacation villa had poor defense by itself, and for real security, she’d have to leave the country.

  The air was mixed with a faint smell of excrement and the acidic, decaying scent of a human residence that hadn’t been cleaned in a long time. In the farthest corner from the toilet, a crude nest made of miscellaneous items, corrugated boxes, and packing materials had been piled up. Crouched on top was a frail woman, dressed in a sleeveless dress, barefoot.

  Correction: this villa wasn’t a refuge—it was a cage for breeding health supplements. Nemo thought.

  The woman was likely of Irish descent with red hair, appearing to be in her forties. However, her extremely gaunt appearance made it difficult to estimate her real age. Nemo wasn’t good at judging the age of women, especially with extreme cases like Sunny Jie, who looked nearly twenty years younger than her actual age.

  Nemo refused to confront the fact that he, too, was a representative of youthful looks.

  "Red Plume, do you know who she is?" Nemo asked gently, turning to the still calm girl.

  "Aunt Joyce, she’s a good person. She helped me bathe, cooked for me, and comforted me, saying someone would come to rescue me. That Polish old man kept drinking her blood and injected her blood into my veins, making me feverish," the girl said, and the last sentence made Nemo curse inwardly.

  "Matthew?" Nemo had to request backup.

  "I’m here," came the voice of the tycoon through the earpiece.

  "She has multiple needle marks on the tops of her feet and the insides of her elbows. The latest one is still bleeding and unusually large; it’s definitely not for injection. Her heart rate is rapid, and her temperature is low. The lower eyelid, lips, and cheeks are very pale. It doesn’t look like drug use..." Nemo crouched down to check the red-haired woman's exposed limbs. She instinctively shuddered when someone approached, then, as if taught many times, she obediently stayed still. Nemo confirmed she wasn’t completely unconscious but had lost most of her ability to move.

  "She’s lost too much blood," Matthew said, voicing the same suspicion as Nemo.

  "Aunt Joyce said there are vampires here. She’s going to die, but before she dies, she wants to save me. She told me to drink her blood, and I know it works, so I did what she said. When the blonde witch fed me medicine last time, I didn’t fall asleep. I pretended to sleep, planning to escape once I regained strength, but then you came to rescue me," the girl explained.

  "What should I do?" Nemo whispered, turning to Matthew.

  "Sending her to the hospital for a blood transfusion before confirming her abilities is too risky. Get her to my headquarters as quickly as possible. Keep an eye on her vital signs. If she goes into shock, inject adrenaline. But this won’t last long. Bookstore Owner may have just drained her to the fatal amount of blood. But be aware that superpowered individuals might undergo unexpected changes when nearing death, with unpredictable consequences. Give her some sugar-salt water, about a 1% concentration," Matthew advised remotely. "If she has healing powers, she might be able to buy herself some time."

  "Red Plume, can you walk on your own? I need to make some emergency drinks for Aunt Joyce, and then we’ll leave this house." Nemo picked up the red-haired woman, carrying her on his shoulder with one arm, his hand gripping a kunai in case of an ambush.

  The woman was so thin. How long had she been tortured? Nemo thought to himself.

  "I can," the girl said firmly.

  "Hold on to me—no, I should say, hold on to your dad’s clothes. Let me make sure you’re keeping up. If something tries to pull you away with an invisible force, tell me immediately," Nemo instructed. He believed Bookstore Owner’s telekinesis wouldn’t be able to affect items that a superpowered individual was holding on to closely. If the girl had physical contact with him and was within the range of his sensory power, it might help prevent her from being pulled away by telekinesis.

  The girl followed Nemo’s instructions and tightly gripped the corner of his shirt.

  Nemo immediately moved toward the stairs. Luckily, the basement entrance was just around the corner from the kitchen. The sounds of the ongoing chaos were coming from the living room, and Hako understood the importance of steadying things to let his teammates do their job.

  "Has Dad come too?"

  "Today, he’s playing the role of the hero, so you’ll have to wait for him to finish with the bad guys. We’ll move to a safe place first."

  Red Plume remained sensibly quiet as the three of them moved to the kitchen, where ingredients and seasonings were haphazardly piled up. It was clear that neither Mrs. Jennifer nor the Bookstore Owner were the type to use the kitchen. The supplies had likely been stocked only to force the enslaved Joyce to feed herself and the young girl held hostage.

  Nemo gently laid the frail red-haired woman down on the dining table, quickly pulling out all the bottles of mineral water from the fridge. With the skill of a professional chef, he grabbed an electronic scale and began measuring out salt and sugar to prepare the solutions. Within moments, he had created three bottles of salt-sugar water. He propped up the woman, bringing the bottle to her cracked lips. She immediately drank deeply, and Nemo patiently waited for her to catch her breath after drinking enough.

  "We’re heading to the Grimm Group. You need a blood transfusion and more treatment, Joyce."

  "Please..." The red-haired woman slipped back into an extremely weak and delirious state.

  "Don’t worry, we’re here to help you," Nemo said, unsure if she could hear him but saying it anyway.

  Noticing Red Plume’s worried eyes, Nemo handed her the remaining two bottles of salt-sugar water along with a food storage bag. "Later, in the car, we’ll make an IV bag. Do you know what an IV is?"

  Red Plume nodded. Her father was a doctor, so of course, she knew. "But we don’t have an IV needle and catheter."

  Nemo was speechless. What did Hako even teach his kid? She was way too skilled for an eight-year-old.

  "Just pour the emergency drink into the storage bag, seal it, and make a small hole in the corner. Drip the liquid into Joyce’s mouth. She can still swallow, understand?" Nemo explained.

  Red Plume nodded and tightly hugged the two bottles of salt-sugar water.

  Just then, a hoarse scream came from the living room, followed by continuous groans and curses. Nemo had heard the same cries the night before. The red-haired woman instinctively shrank back, and the little girl clutched the corner of his shirt, seeking comfort.

  "Have you taken care of things on your end?" Nemo asked through the communicator, checking in on Hako and Bookstore Owner’s battle, though the Polish old man’s screams had already been quite convincing.

  "It’s done. Wrapping it up in two minutes. What about you?" Hako’s voice came through, though they were only about twenty steps apart. Neither Nemo nor Hako wanted the little girl to witness the bloody scene or the Polish man who had harmed her, nor did they want anyone to see the girl.

  "Almost done. Let’s meet at the black Ford parking area. I’ll have Red Plume talk to you." After speaking, Nemo kneeled in front of the little girl, signaling her to press the small communicator on his collar to start the conversation.

  "Dad, I’m okay. Aunt Joyce and Uncle KS saved me."

  "Aunt Joyce?" Hearing his daughter’s seemingly normal voice, Hako clearly let out a sigh of relief.

  "She’s badly injured. We have to save her, please," Red Plume pleaded with her father. It wasn’t surprising; after all, even though Hako wasn’t officially practicing medicine, he was definitely a skilled healer.

  "Gather first, then we save her. This place isn’t safe." The Japanese man replied to his daughter.

  Nemo took back the tiny walkie-talkie and said, "This victim’s condition is critical, time is of the essence, but you need to meet her first."

  "Alright, we’ll do it your way. See you at the parking area." Hako didn’t waste time questioning, knowing the situation was unusual.