hotmtlnovel Chapter 963: Who Are You?
Chapter 963: Who Are You?
Trusty007’s mind raced, dread sinking deep into his chest as if someone had dropped a stone straight through him. His fingers moved before his thoughts caught up, already dialing a number while his heart pounded harder with every passing second.One minute earlier...
Ethan stepped out of the VR capsule, the cool air of reality settling over him as fragments of information aligned neatly in his mind. The employee file surfaced instantly, clear and precise. Ethereal’s formal employment contracts required real-world addresses, no different from legitimate corporate agreements, and Featherfall Angel’s details had been listed there without concealment. She was only an auction house manager, after all, never imagining that the man she had just threatened inside the game was actually her employer.
If she had known who he truly was, her attitude would have changed completely.
When Ethan exited the capsule, the sky beyond his window was only beginning to pale. It was a little past three in the morning, that strange hour when the world felt suspended between exhaustion and awakening. He did not hesitate. He chose a direction, stepped forward, and launched himself into the air.
North.
He no longer needed mech armor. His body alone was faster now.
His form shifted seamlessly into Swift Flight Form, his silhouette stretching into something vast and predatory as he tore through the sky like a colossal eagle. Air detonated behind him. The sound barrier shattered almost instantly as he accelerated, leaving nothing but rippling clouds in his wake.
At that same moment, Featherfall Angel remained inside her apartment, still speaking with Trusty007. Her tone carried irritation as she demanded Ethan’s personal information, his real-world address, intending to send people to "have tea" with him. She spoke confidently, completely unaware that the man she was plotting against was already closing the distance between them.
Harbor City sprawled endlessly beneath the night. Under normal conditions, a drive between their locations would take forty-five minutes without traffic. But Ethan did not drive.
From the moment she left the VIP room in-game to the instant she reached her office and placed the call, barely a minute had passed.
High above her luxury two-hundred-square-meter apartment, a tiny black dot appeared against the fading darkness.
The dot descended rapidly, locked onto a single destination. Then it dropped straight toward her window.
The impact came without warning. A human figure smashed through the thick tempered glass as if it were fragile ice.
THUD.
The muffled collision jolted Featherfall Angel into a scream. Through the security feed of her VR capsule, she saw a man burst through her window, yet strangely, none of the shattered glass scattered outward. Every fragment halted midair, swirling around him in a controlled orbit as though gravity itself obeyed his will.
The moment he entered the apartment, he moved with absolute certainty, already aware of where she was located.
Her bedroom door exploded inward an instant later. The suspended glass fragments transformed into a roaring torrent, slamming into the solid wood surface. The door disintegrated silently, wood and glass pulverized into fine dust without a single echo of destruction.
Before her scream could fully escape her throat, a figure stood beside her VR capsule.
His fist crashed down.
Zzzzt.
Blue light burst outward as high-voltage electricity surged through the capsule’s defensive system. Ethan narrowed his eyes. He recognized the model immediately. Fortress-grade, identical to the one he had once owned. The electric discharge was an automated countermeasure designed to repel intruders.
He had no interest in learning firsthand how painful that shock might be.
A thought crossed his mind. Skill energy should not conduct electricity.
Energy gathered around his fist, extending outward into a razor-thin blade.
Skill: Shred.
The glowing edge slid forward with a soft tearing sound, slicing into the capsule as easily as cutting paper. Blue arcs of electricity flickered harmlessly along his arm before dispersing into nothing.
The blade halted halfway through the capsule, stopping less than a millimeter from Featherfall Angel’s forehead.
The system detected catastrophic damage and forcibly ejected her from the game. Her eyes snapped open at the exact moment the blade hovered before her face.
Her body seized with terror. The silk nightgown clinging to her skin soaked through instantly as sweat poured from her pores, evaporating into faint steam within the capsule’s confined space. Fear radiated from her so intensely that the air itself seemed heated by it.
To her credit, she did not completely lose control of herself.
Ethan showed no interest in her condition. He pulled his arm downward.
The energy blade continued its path, carving cleanly from above her head to her feet. The entire VR capsule split open along a perfect line. Cold energy brushed across her body as it passed, leaving thin red marks that burned sharply despite drawing no blood. The sensation was unfamiliar and humiliating, like invisible claws dragging across skin that had never known injury before.
The capsule’s systems died and the electrical defense vanished instantly.
Ethan gripped the torn edge and ripped half the hatch away with a single pull.
"You..."
Her voice trembled uncontrollably. From the moment he had broken through the window to now, less than thirty seconds had passed.
His hand closed around her throat and lifted her effortlessly into the air. She could not resist, could barely breathe, let alone form words.
As her vision steadied, she finally saw his face clearly.
Recognition struck like lightning.
Impossible. It was him. The man from the auction house. The one she had confronted only minutes ago. When he logged off, she had assumed he retreated in fear.
She never imagined he would come in person.
A violent force dragged her into the living room and slammed her onto the floor. Pain exploded through her body. Her bones felt shattered, her vision spinning as unconsciousness threatened to claim her.
Ethan stood over her, his voice cold enough to freeze the room.
"Talk. Who are you?"
"Please... spare me... I was wrong... I misjudged you..."
She trembled violently, scrambling backward across the floor.
Ethan’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Don’t waste my time. Or I’ll tear off both your wings, whatever method you’re using to hide them."
With a casual motion of his hand, a couch slid across the room and settled behind him. He sat down slowly, posture relaxed, as though conducting a routine conversation rather than an interrogation.
"How do you know...?" Shock flooded her face before she abruptly stopped herself, realizing she had revealed too much.
Ethan’s faint smile confirmed it. "Just as I thought."
"You tricked me..." Anger flickered through her fear as she struggled to stand.
The moment she rose, crushing pressure descended upon her soul. Her strength vanished instantly, forcing her back onto her knees.
"I told you not to waste my time," Ethan said calmly. "I never said you could stand. And don’t even think about running. You’re not the only one who can fly. That’s how I entered."
He had seen her glance toward the shattered window. Her thoughts were obvious.
At first, he had only come to punish someone foolish enough to threaten him. But the instant he stepped inside, he sensed something unusual about her soul energy. It differed from ordinary humans, carrying a familiar rhythm he had encountered before among the Feathers, the winged mercenary squad from the Extreme South. Their presence always felt slightly wrong, as if alive yet detached from true humanity.
Her energy felt the same, yet she had no visible wings.
So Ethan applied pressure deliberately, baiting her into revealing herself. Her slip confirmed his suspicion, and satisfaction flickered quietly within him. He had never captured one of those beings alive before. With conflict against them looming, information mattered more than brute force.
A living source of answers sat kneeling before him.
"Speak," he said evenly. "What are you doing hiding among humans?"
The invisible pressure intensified. Sweat gathered across her forehead.
"Making money," she answered immediately, her resistance gone.
"Making money?" Ethan frowned. "Is Vatican City that poor now? Reduced to mercenary work and office jobs?"
His tone carried unmistakable sarcasm. Wealth had long since lost meaning to him, making her explanation sound absurd.
"Vatican City?" She blinked, then suddenly laughed. "You think I’m one of those idiotic white moths from Vatican City?"
Ethan paused, genuinely surprised.
"Oh? You hate them too?"
Sensing opportunity, she relaxed slightly as the pressure eased. A faintly seductive smile formed on her lips, her voice softening as if attempting to draw him in.
For a split second, Ethan felt an odd tug in his chest.
"Hmph."
A simple nasal sound escaped him.
The effect was immediate. Her body convulsed violently as blood burst from her mouth and nose, scattering in fine droplets across the floor near his feet.
"You’re not one of the bird-people," Ethan said calmly. "They don’t rely on cheap charm tricks."
He withdrew part of the soul pressure. The last strike had injured her severely; escape was no longer an option even if she tried.
"Who... are you?" she asked weakly, her earlier confidence completely gone.
Ethan did not answer. She was not one of the winged mercenaries, which only deepened his curiosity about her true identity. He was about to continue questioning when a cheerful ringtone shattered the tension.
"Bro~ pick up the phone~"
Lyla’s recorded voice echoed from his pocket. Ethan blinked, slightly annoyed, and pulled out his phone. One glance at the screen made him frown.
"Him?"
He answered anyway.
"Gold all bought up?" Ethan asked without greeting.
"Uh... not yet..."
Ethan’s frown deepened. He was about to demand an explanation when hesitation crackled through the line.
"Boss... are you... at Featherfall Angel’s place right now?"
Ethan froze.
Across the room, the injured woman froze as well. Before he could respond, she suddenly lunged forward with desperate strength.
"Seven! Save me!"