Seeing the ad countdown, Madam Ma knew that reinforcements wouldn't be arriving anytime soon.
She herself had no real strength, and there was no way she could withstand Azure Empyrea.
All her usual tricks had failed. Even Reporter Tan could beat her senseless now.
Faced with Reporter Tan's steady advance, Madam Ma finally panicked.
Her face flushed red as she hysterically shouted at them, "Back! Back! Back!"
She pushed forward step by step, striking out with exaggerated palm thrusts.
The display was so dramatic that Reporter Tan thought she might be casting some kind of spell again.
But after waiting for a while, nothing happened.
Instead, Madam Ma suddenly dropped to her knees with a thud, wailing, "Oh heavens, why are you bullying an old woman? What sin have I committed?"
Reporter Tan raised an eyebrow in shock. Just moments ago, this old woman had been arrogantly domineering—how had she suddenly done a complete reversal and begun acting frail and pitiful?
Not only that, she kept muttering strange phrases—something about mental illness, depression—making it sound as if Reporter Tan was the villain oppressing her.
It seemed Madam Ma was quite the veteran when it came to avoiding online backlash.
This left the always law-abiding Reporter Tan in a difficult position.
It wasn't that he felt pity, nor that he was unwilling to act violently on camera.
It was because a reporter had no law enforcement authority—laying hands on a suspect would be illegal.
Even if others would applaud his actions, illegal was still illegal. Breaking the law violated a journalist's professional ethics.
Though Reporter Tan might seem rigid and old-fashioned, it was precisely this persistence throughout his career that preserved his conscience and sense of justice while others lost theirs.
But just because Reporter Tan couldn't act didn't mean others couldn't.
Hearing Madam Ma play the "old victim" card, Vill-V snatched Hua's Taixuan Divine Sword and charged forward.
"Damn, depression, huh? Perfect—I've got split personalities myself. Magic versus magic—come on, let's see who's superior! Let's go all out!"
Seeing Vill-V swaggering forward, casually swinging the sword, Madam Ma turned pale and scrambled backward.
"N-no! I've already called people! The Ghostfire Syndicate will be here any second—if you don't run now, it'll be too late!"
At this moment, Madam Ma instead tried to rely on the "prestige" of her backing, hoping these troublemakers would leave as soon as possible.
The farther, the better.
But speak of the devil, and he arrives—motorcycle horns rang out one after another, piercing the ears.
The regional unit of the Ghostfire Syndicate had arrived.
Of course, this was all within Vill-V's expectations.
She had played along with Madam Ma all this time without killing her precisely to draw out the real players from the Ghostfire Syndicate.
Otherwise, Vill-V would have dealt with her long ago—why bother trading moves and banter with her for so long?
It wasn't like Madam Ma was some beautiful girl.
The Ghostfire Syndicate often roamed near the territories they controlled. By coincidence, they happened to pass nearby, received the signal, and rushed over immediately.
That was why the Ghostfire Syndicate was known as the most untouchable gang in Barcelona—once they called for backup, people came instantly, armed to the teeth.
Even setting aside their notorious reputation, who would dare provoke a violent group that could mobilize at a moment's notice?
Leading them was a bald man riding a motorcycle with towering handlebars and oversized headlights.
He wore sunglasses, his muscular frame stretching his red-and-black combat suit to its limits.
Even with a strange hood on, his shiny scalp still gleamed under the headlights.
There was even a sunshade mounted on his bike—someone might mistake him for heading to the beach.
A mid-level leader of the Ghostfire Syndicate, captain of the Third Assault Squad—nicknamed "Passionate Landro."
Seeing the reinforcements, Vill-V and the others showed no surprise. Instead, Madam Ma—who had been composed until now—displayed shock, exclaiming in disbelief:
"Passionate Landro? He actually came! This time the blood tribute I planned to offer is definitely lost!"
"But why so fast? My 'one arrow piercing the clouds' hasn't even been sent yet!"
Modern "signal arrows" were no longer fireworks, but communication apps.
Yet her app was still stuck loading a mandatory advertisement from the "company." How could the Ghostfire Syndicate have already received it?
Could the "company" really be so considerate—sending the signal first while still playing the ad?
"Heh, of course not. I sent the distress signal."
Vill-V took out a glowing green signal pen and waved it in front of Madam Ma.
"Green, simple, no ads. Looks like you lost."
Although Madam Ma's app was still loading, the data packet had already been received—and Vill-V had intercepted it.
Thus came the scene of Vill-V impersonating her and sending the signal.
Madam Ma immediately looked at Vill-V as if she were an idiot.
What did you win? These are my people, not yours. It's not like they'll help you just because you called them. What do you think this is—company-issued mechanical hounds?
At that thought, fear suddenly rose in Madam Ma's heart.
Could it be that her secret of hiding the strange mirror had been discovered, and the Ghostfire Syndicate had set her up?
After all, the origin of that mirror involved a great deal of hidden intelligence—including what she had just mentioned about mental-type MANTIS and MOTH.
And perhaps Passionate Landro had long wanted to seize her accumulated "blood offerings" for himself.
Those two bikers earlier—were they informants reporting to him?
Clutching her stomach, Madam Ma cast wary glances at the surrounding bikers.
Of course—only a major gang like the Ghostfire Syndicate could nurture cadres capable of using "immortal techniques."
How had she not realized it earlier? What a fatal oversight!
No, she had to find a way to break out immediately.
The bikers drew their machetes and slammed them loudly against their motorcycles' guard bars, sticking out pierced tongues and making strange noises at Vill-V and the others, occasionally throwing random objects at them.
Then they saw Vill-V extend her hand toward their encirclement.
"Took you long enough."
Seeing her stance, the bikers thought she might be triggering some kind of trap and immediately veered away, not daring to approach.
After all, the signal they received had been an emergency summons—usually only sent when facing heavily armed forces.
That was why dozens of them had gathered so quickly.
They had thought the Kowloon Stronghold gang had mobilized in full force.
But where were they? Just these few people?
Could they be bait? Was this a trap set by the Kowloon Stronghold?
Combined with Vill-V's earlier statement that she had sent the signal, even the leading Ghostfire Syndicate captain had heard it.
Charging in blindly now would be suicide.
Seeing that they hesitated, Vill-V curled her finger and beckoned.
"What? Don't get it? This is a robbery. Hand over all your valuables!"