Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Eve and Frank exited the private room one after another.

The bar area outside was also a cacophony of voices. The two navigated through the boisterous crowd and slipped out the back door into a deserted alley. A gentle breeze caressed Frank's face, carrying away the last vestiges of his intoxication.

"What did you want to talk about?" he asked warily, his eyes fixed on Eve. "What's your agenda, coming to the Carol Star System and coincidentally joining the Upside Down Wonderland?"

As he spoke, his face was taut, only his sharp brown eyes intently scrutinizing the black-haired girl opposite him.

Eve didn't answer immediately, realizing Frank's hostility towards her was even greater than anticipated.

After a moment of thought, Eve shifted to a more neutral topic: "Your hair and eye color... are they dyed?"

"Yes, they're dyed. Silver hair is too rare," Frank said coldly. "I didn't want to be recognized as a member of the Medici family."

...So he really didn't like the Medici family. This must be the true reason why, in the original storyline, Frank was swiftly dispatched by Cecil as soon as he appeared.

Eve sighed.

Her impression of Frank, a minor character, was quite vague. She only knew his mother was the illegitimate daughter of a prominent space pirate. Though her origins weren't exactly respectable, her obedience and the fact that the pirate had no official wife, coupled with her mother being his longest-standing mistress, meant she was relatively favored among his many illegitimate children.

Later, when Frank was born, his exceptional talent and distinctive silver hair and blue eyes prompted his space pirate grandfather to consider using him to gain favor with the Medici family.

In short, his background sounded impressive at first glance, yet in the story, he was merely a disposable pawn, forced to "voluntarily" relinquish his inheritance in less than three chapters.

Eve touched her own hair. "My hair is dyed too, for the same reason as yours."

"The Family Head probably knows about my presence in the Carol Star System," she paused, then continued, "but rest assured, this isn't public knowledge, and I haven't received any orders. I'm not your enemy."

Frank didn't seem convinced, his eyes still guarded. "Then how did you recognize me at first sight?"

Oh... Eve finally realized.

She had been careless. According to "Eve's" current storyline, there was no reason for her to know Frank. They had no personal connection, and it was impossible for her to have learned about him from the Family Head, especially since even Cecil was unaware of this illegitimate older brother's existence.

"Perhaps because you really do resemble Cecil?" she ventured.

Frank pressed his lips together. Both he and Cecil had inherited more of their father's features, so there was indeed a resemblance.

But if that were truly the reason, the girl's eyes should have shown surprise and suspicion upon first seeing him, rather than quickly calming down after a brief glance and even displaying a hint of knowing amusement.

...As if she had known him all along.

Frank said, "That's not a very convincing reason."

"Ugh, what a hassle. How am I supposed to explain it then?" Eve feigned annoyance, scratching her hair as she complained. "Anyway, I have my own channels, just like you have yours on the Capital Planet. The rest isn't important. You just need to know I'm not here to harm you."

"How can I believe you're not here with some other agenda?"

"Just send a message to the Capital Planet to inquire, and you'll find out that if I were merely here to cause you trouble, I certainly wouldn't have come all the way to Black Star."

"Inquire about what?" Frank asked, somewhat bewildered. "Did you defect from the family?"

"Of course not. I wouldn't go that far."

That was true. The girl seemed like the type to make thorough preparations, leaving room for both herself and others.

Frank’s expression softened slightly, only to hear Eve casually remark:

"It's about news of my death."

Frank: "..."

He thought expressionlessly, what exactly is this girl trying to do?

"Alright, don't overthink it. I'm just here to go through the motions on Black Star, just passing through," Eve waved her hand. "I only joined the Upside Down Wonderland because Alice invited me. Before that, I didn't know you two were teammates. But I am curious, what brought you here?"

Neither his space pirate grandfather nor his clan leader father seemed to have any reason to let him be a mercenary on Black Star.

"...That's none of your business. Just worry about yourself. Since you're now a member of the Upside Down Wonderland, I can treat you as a friend, but don't ask about anything else."

Matters concerning his mother, her family, and those things related to Sparti Medici... these were secrets buried deep in his heart, and he would never allow anyone to probe into them.

Frank's expression took on his usual gentle mask, but beneath it, his eyes were cold and profound. "Don't try to meddle in my affairs. It will only bring you trouble."

Eve: "."

If it weren't for wanting to win him over, who would bother with you?

She found his attitude—this stubborn, reclusive, burdened-by-his-past demeanor—both annoying and amusing. She smiled and said, "Alright, Captain. Understood."

The alley was narrow and dim, with only the decadent world behind the glass door barely casting patches of light and noise. Colored lights of varying wavelengths flowed across the girl’s pale face, making her irritation look more dramatic.

Frank’s heart thumped, and he suddenly felt a headache coming on.

After all, Eve was just a child from a branch family, not mixed up with the nasty business of the main family.

...He had been taking his frustrations out on her.

He actually had other plans for the evening. He opened his mouth, wanting to make amends for his coldness: "Actually..."

A strange premonition flashed through his mind.

And it was at that moment that all hell broke loose!

With a loud "boom," an explosion occurred in one of the rooms upstairs in the bar. The tempered glass floor-to-ceiling windows on the street side shattered, transparent fragments falling like snowflakes—right above the two of them.

The bar instantly erupted into chaos: men and women screaming in terror, cries of pain, bar staff trying to keep order. Then, several more bangs followed as three more private rooms were blown apart.

Frank reacted swiftly, immediately summoning his Spiritual State. Silver-white, beautiful flowers showered moonlight over the two of them, forming a protective barrier. He hurriedly pulled Eve through the back door into the bar.

However, Eve showed no surprise at all that his Spiritual State was the silver moon clematis. Instead, her pupils dilated sharply as she stared at the first room that had been blown apart.

"Something’s wrong."

Frank heard her mutter darkly: "—The room that was blown up is ours."

"What were you about to say just now?" Eve turned to him, her brow furrowed tightly.

She didn’t think an explosion could hurt Alice and the others. They were, after all, the number one mercenary team—not so easy to kill. But the sudden turn of events had taken her by surprise.

"I wanted to say that while coming here, Eugene learned about your and Alice’s conflict with Venom Fang," Frank said, stunned, struggling to find his voice. "We heard their young master was here tonight discussing business, so we decided to strike first—that was Eugene’s real welcoming gift."

"Could the information have leaked?"

"Impossible. We discussed this at the base, and our plan was an assassination, not a bombing."

"Then we’ve just stumbled into it."

Eve nodded, though she still looked awful. "Your plan probably clashed with Venom Fang's—they also intended to strike first."

Alice had misjudged the situation. These desperados weren’t in a hurry to rebuild their base; instead, they were going all out to eliminate her and the others first.

This was getting tricky.

A faint rustling sound came from the ceiling behind her, followed by the ventilation grate being thrown to the ground, stirring up a small cloud of dust.

A tall, lean figure dropped down as silently as a black cat.

Eve already had her lightsaber drawn. She faced him coldly and demanded, "Who’s there?!"

"It’s me, Black Ice."

The man dusted himself off and straightened up. Under his hood, his black hair looked clean and dry, and his naturally expressionless face gave off the vibe that he was about to attend a funeral—specifically, yours.

It was Qi Ying.

"Eugene took Alice a different route," Qi Ying said flatly. "She wants you two to head to the 12th floor later. Our plan collided with Venom Fang’s. Those three rooms back there that blew up were set off by her to create chaos for their escape. Their Young Master is probably still following the original plan doing business on the 12th floor and hasn’t come down."

—Or maybe he wasn’t there for business at all, but to personally oversee the operation.

"What about you?" Eve asked.

Qi Ying gave her an extra look before answering, "I’m going to the surveillance room to keep watch."

He dusted off his hood, reached up and grabbed the ventilation shaft, and hauled himself back into the duct.

"I’ve got work to do. See you later."

As swift as the wind, Qi Ying came and went in a flash. After delivering the message, he vanished as quickly as he appeared. In just a few sentences, he managed to say both everything and nothing at all, leaving Eve and Frank standing there staring at each other.

After a long silence, Eve said solemnly, "Where did you hear about Venom Fang? Before we headed out, I want you to explain everything—in detail."

***

-

"Sis, where are we going?" Alice asked.

She was wearing a stolen android server uniform—a sheer white dress that left her pale, defenseless-looking arms and legs exposed. Eugene walked ahead of her, also dressed in an android server outfit that revealed large areas of skin, carrying a tray of drinks.

Compared to Alice’s slight unease, Eugene seemed far more accustomed to the role. There was a subtly unnatural quality to her movements, almost human but not quite. Though a charming smile still graced her lips, it was so standardized and deliberate it felt slightly creepy, as if she weren’t entirely real.

"Ah, well, I heard you’ve crossed Venom Fang," Eugene said, turning to glance at her. The gold-bronze glitter glued to the outer corners of her eyes shimmered eerily in the dim emergency stairwell.

She smiled. "Darling, I told you on your very first day in this business: avoiding things won’t solve anything. The only way to truly resolve a problem is to send the problem itself to hell."

"……"

The sheer violence of this approach left Alice with a dry throat.

Eugene balanced the drink tray with one hand and raised the other, placing a finger against her lips as she winked. "Come on, now. Now let's go take care of this problem."