Ryuji had made his selection carefully. Among the assassins and bodyguards, there were indeed some women but most either carried unpleasant odors, had average looks, or had already killed someone during the attack.
Those, naturally, had to be eliminated. But those who hadn't killed, he spared.
However, though their physical abilities weren't bad, they were still quite weak compared to him. So, Ryuji didn't choose any of them. Instead, he searched for a martial artist.
And he indeed found one.
This white-haired female assassin, clearly a trained martial artist. Her figure and appearance were both excellent; the only thing that slightly bothered him was that she had short hair. Otherwise, she was practically flawless… even untouched.
As for why he was certain there would be a martial artist among the assassins, the reason was simple.
Helena herself was a martial artist. Anyone planning to assassinate or kidnap her would have to deploy martial artists. Otherwise, even with a submachine gun, taking down a nimble, first-rate martial artist protected by large group of bodyguards would be nearly impossible.
So, the other side chose the most shameless but effective method:
Helicopter strafing and bombing.
If not for encountering Ryuji, a literal anomaly, this seamless combo would have easily killed Helena.
After all, Helena's mother, while not top-tier martial artist, still had training. Add Marie Rose into the mix, and going "easy" could easily backfire.
But likely, no one expected these assassination and kidnapping attempts to coincide.
So, Ryuji suspected that even without him, Helena might have escaped safely but her bodyguards and mother might not be so lucky and the Marie Rose might not have survived either.
Reaching down, Ryuji slid his hand into the assassin's tight leather suit to search her. To his surprise, aside from adhesive patches, there was nothing underneath.
Clearly, this woman was quite proud of her figure.
He squeezed lightly, evaluating the muscle structure and bone composition: solid, explosive, likely trained in something like snake-style boxing. There were also signs of internal strain from overuse.
"Hmm, nice skin... explosive build… but it's probably a snake-style martial art."
He withdrew his hand, then produced fine steel wires from his gauntlet and expertly bound the female assassin, gagged her mouth and dislocated all her joints.
Then he casually stuffed her into the closet in his room and leisurely walked toward Helena.
He had no interest in interrogating her. He planned to starve her for three or four days first, so he simply locked her up.
After all, Ryuji didn't care about any mastermind behind the scenes. And what could a mere assassin like her even know?
This wasn't a movie; assassins rarely know who actually gives the orders.
As Ryuji stepped out of the darkness, his tall figure gradually returned to everyone's sight and a collective sigh of relief spread through the group.
Especially Helena's mother, she had felt an ominous sense of dread all day, but the moment Ryuji appeared, that feeling vanished.
Helena quickly walked up to him, instinctively grabbing his arm. After confirming there were no wounds or blood on him, she sighed in relief.
Although she had hired Ryuji with money, she still genuinely worried about his safety and didn't want him to get hurt.
It was simply because she was that kind and pure-hearted.
On the side, Tifa looked at Ryuji with complicated emotions. She longed to have power like his, because if she had possessed such strength back then, that monster would never have destroyed her village.
But she only bit her lip enviously, then watched as Helena lightly patted her plump breasts and looked at Ryuji.
"Mr. Ryuji… is everything resolved?"
Ryuji nodded.
"Most of it is taken care of. The rest depends on what they try next. But what are you planning to do? We can't protect you forever."
He had no intention of playing bodyguard for life.
Helena fell silent for a moment, her expression and gaze growing confused.
"But… I'm just an illegitimate daughter. And I don't even want those things…"
"No, Helena. He's right. We have to make plans as soon as possible."
Helena's mother stepped forward. Ryuji's eyes lit up for a moment, but he inwardly shook his head with regret.
Though she was still beautiful, age had begun to show and the sorrow in her expression was unmistakably real; she was genuinely grieving her husband's death.
In such a state, certain thoughts were no longer appropriate.
"You're a good child, but they won't let us go. Maybe there was still a chance before today, but after what happened today… there's none left."
Helena's mother gently touched her daughter's cheek. If today's attack hadn't happened, there might still have been room for negotiation, they could have believed the mother and daughter wouldn't act.
But now? They had already used their connections to send US military helicopters to kill them—having gone that far, retreating now would be suicide.
The only option now was to gather her father's remaining loyalists, inherit DOATEC as the sole heir of the Douglas family, and use the company's power to fight against those people.
As long as she didn't participate in company's power struggles, she was just an outsider and DOATEC's could be directed against her. But if she chose to inherit DOATEC, she would become a faction in her own right and the internal power within DOATEC couldn't be fully mobilized against her.
And once that happened, extreme methods like bribing a US military base to launch a helicopter attacks, would no longer be so easily used.
Helena bit her lip. She truly didn't believe she could shoulder DOATEC's future like her father had.
But things were indeed as her mother said; it had come to the point where if she didn't fight back, she would surely die.
"Perhaps I can help you."
Ryuji stepped forward quietly, holding a USB drive in his hand.
~~~~~~~~~~
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