Bullet watched the unfolding situation from the shadow of the crumbling wall.
The CP agents stationed on top of the cliff were already in position.
One of them held a telescope, while another carried a life detector in his hand.
The agents at the foot of the cliff were even more professional.
Dressed in black wetsuits, they were inspecting the rocky formations along the shoreline, clearly searching for any possible escape route. Each one had seastone cuffs and specialized weapons fastened at their waist.
The last group of CP agents had already entered the estate grounds.
They spread out with practiced ease. One team guarded the front and back entrances, while another began sweeping through the interior of the mansion.
Their movements were efficient and precise, the coordination smooth. These were clearly veteran agents.
Bullet waited patiently for his chance.
He wanted to see how the Oliventa survivors would respond.
Right then, something changed inside the mansion.
The agents searching the house had just stepped onto the second floor when the wooden boards beneath their feet suddenly collapsed.
Below the floor was a pit nearly five meters deep, its bottom bristling with sharpened stakes.
One of the agents reacted instantly, leaping back the moment the boards gave way.
Another was half a beat slower. Half his body dropped into the pit, and the scream that burst from his mouth was abruptly smothered by something inside.
There were clearly devices down there specifically designed to suppress sound.
"There are traps!"
The agent who escaped shouted a warning.
The CP agents guarding the doors rushed into the mansion at once.
But as soon as they stepped into the main hall, the chandelier above them snapped free and dropped.
Midair, the chandelier came apart, scattering into dozens of razor sharp metal fragments that fanned out to cover the entire entrance to the hall.
The CP agents drew their swords in unison, swatting the shards aside.
In that brief moment spent blocking, the floor betrayed them again.
The stone tiles suddenly flipped open, revealing a hidden layer beneath.
It was not another pit this time, but... books.
Thousands upon thousands of books burst up from the hidden compartment, flooding the entire hall in an instant.
Pages fluttered through the air, blocking vision, while book spines slammed into each other with a roaring rustle.
"Careful! There are things inside those boo—"
The warning did not finish before the explosions came.
A few specific books fractured on impact, releasing powders that mixed in midair and triggered a violent chemical reaction.
Fire and thick smoke swallowed the hall in an instant.
From his vantage point, Bullet watched the chaos, a faint flicker of approval in his eyes.
It was a beautifully designed defensive system.
Using books as both cover and trigger, explosions as the killing mechanism. It did not completely destroy the mansion, yet it could significantly delay the intruders.
But CP agents were not so easy to deal with.
From within the smoke, four figures burst out at the same time.
They were a bit disheveled, but none of them were seriously injured.
They quickly regrouped. One of them pulled a device from his coat and pressed a button.
Hum...
Invisible waves pulsed out, scanning through the structure of the entire mansion.
A few seconds later, the indicator on the device swung decisively toward the dried up well in the back courtyard.
"They are underground!"
The agent barked.
All four of them sprinted toward the well.
The agents on the cliff above received the signal and began moving down.
The trio at the base of the cliff started climbing up from the shoreline.
The CP encirclement tightened, their target perfectly clear.
Bullet knew the time to act was approaching.
But he had no intention of charging in head on.
He wanted to see how the people in the underground room would face a dead end like this.
Would they surrender quietly, or fight to the last breath?
That would tell him whether they were worth saving.
At the dried up well, the four agents took their positions.
One of them lowered a rope, preparing to descend.
Just then, a burst of white mist sprayed up from the well mouth.
It was an extremely fine powder.
The cloud spread rapidly through the air, and the agents felt a stinging sensation wherever it touched their exposed skin.
They hurriedly retreated, but the powder had already clung to their clothes and skin.
"It is phosphorus powder!"
"It will ignite!"
The moment the words left his mouth, the powder began to glow, heating up, then burst into flame.
The agents had no choice but to strip off their outer coats and beat at the burning spots on their bodies.
In that brief distraction, a new sound came from the depths of the well.
The grinding of mechanisms.
Gears turning, chains tightening, stone sliding aside.
The hidden door to the underground chamber was being opened from within.
A figure shot up from the well mouth.
It was a woman.
...
Ten minutes earlier.
In the underground chamber, Anna Oliventa stared at the surveillance crystal embedded in the wall.
On its surface, glowing points of light were closing in from three different directions, each one representing a living presence.
"So they have come after all..."