Chapter 271: Coffin on the Plane, Gothic Puppet
Gu Qiye silently sat in the cabin, staring out at the sea of clouds in a daze. After a moment, he got up and walked to the end of the cabin, sliding open the door on the right, revealing the private plane's independent front corridor.
He heard that only high-end planes come equipped with such a corridor, and today he finally got to see it for himself.
Just as he was about to turn and head into the bathroom, he suddenly noticed an incongruous black elongated object by the sink, and he couldn't look away.
To be honest, even Gu Qiye himself found the scene before him to be unfathomable, and he couldn't help but pause in surprise.
Lying flat on the floor was, undoubtedly, a black coffin.
Yes, a coffin on a plane. Gu Qiye frowned slightly, looking at it twice more to confirm he wasn't mistaken.
"What is this? Why is there such a strange thing in the passageway?" he turned to ask You Ruirui, who was in the cabin behind him.
"A coffin."
"I know it's a coffin, but why is there a coffin on the plane?"
"Because there's a person inside the coffin."
"Who?"
"Number 10 of Rainbow Wings, the Gothic Puppet, Esther Doolittle." You Ruirui didn't even lift her head, "I introduced her to you before, the Brit who needs to sleep in a coffin every day to catch up on rest."
Gu Qiye was taken aback. He slowly turned his head back, leaning against the doorframe of the sliding door as he took another look at the coffin.
He remembered the information file You Ruirui had given him earlier, which mentioned that Esther's superpower was controlling marionettes, and if necessary, she could use herself as a puppet. However, the side effect was needing a lot of sleep, with her body gradually becoming puppet-like, not aging, and showing indifferent emotions.
"Why didn't you tell me before boarding that there was another Rainbow Wing on the plane?" Gu Qiye asked.
"Because it's irrelevant," You Ruirui said, "She's not here to carry out a mission, it doesn't affect our work."
As she spoke, she kept her eyes down, expressionlessly playing a fishing game on her tablet.
Gu Qiye thought for a moment: "Then why is she on this plane?"
"Because she's planning to vacation in Japan, and she's just hitching a ride on our plane." You Ruirui said, "Didn't I tell you before, half of Rainbow Wings' members are currently on vacation, and she's among them."
Gu Qiye was silent for a moment: "I see." After a long while, he finally moved his gaze away from the eerie coffin and then walked into the passage's bathroom.
But coming out of the bathroom, Gu Qiye witnessed another incredible scene in the corridor: the black coffin on the floor suddenly opened, and a blonde girl dressed in Gothic Lolita style opened her eyes and sat up from within.
She sat in the coffin, her head lowered in a daze, the hem of her skirt idly spreading in a sea of black.
The blonde girl's eyes, when lowered, seemed like the night—dark and bright—but when she looked up, they suddenly turned into a blood-red, like the afterglow of a sunset at twilight.
Yet this unforgettable red disappeared in an instant, her eyes reverting to black.
"You..."
Gu Qiye hesitated to speak, maintaining a wariness towards this unexpected guest.
"Granny is still sleeping." The girl suddenly hugged the rabbit doll in her arms, lowered her head, blinking her bright black eyes, not daring to look directly at him, "Is there something you need from me?"
"Granny? Who?"
"It's me." She suddenly lifted her head, her long eyebrows lifting as she regained a cold and proud expression, and her eye color briefly shifted to red, "Is there something you need from me?"
Gu Qiye frowned, wondering what exactly was up with this person?
Fortunately, at this time, Urushibara Ryuri happened to walk over from the cabin. She tapped Gu Qiye's shoulder and said with a slight smile:
"Don't be so surprised, she has a dual personality, one is the two-hundred-year-old Esther Doolittle; the other is her granddaughter, named Alice Doolittle, a little girl who has been asleep for a long time."
"Dual personality..." Gu Qiye mused, taking some time to accept this setting, "Who's talking to me now?"
"Can you guess?"
Urushibara Ryuri tilted her head mischievously as she walked into the bathroom.
"Esther?" Gu Qiye tentatively asked.
"Not too big or small, don't call my name directly." Esther yawned, staring blankly while holding a rabbit doll, "I haven't slept enough, goodbye."
After speaking, she lay back into the dark coffin as naturally as a baby returns to its cradle.
Then the coffin lid automatically closed with a rumble, as if by an invisible force.
The black coffin fit tightly, lying in the middle of the corridor like death itself, motionless and silent.
Gu Qiye lowered his head, remaining silent. He thought, Rainbow Wings certainly lived up to their reputation, a group of eccentrics among eccentrics, yet they possessed enough power to destroy a city.
Not allowing the people of Rainbow Wings to reveal their identities was instead a protection for the public, to give them peace of mind. No one would want the world's strongest security force to be such a group of peculiar individuals.
And the person who killed Su Ying was hidden among this group.
He shook his head, dispelling his chaotic thoughts, and walked back into the cabin to sit quietly reading a magazine.
.....
.....
On the same day, at 1 PM Japan time, on a mountain near Sapporo City.
Xia Pingzhou stood at the top of the ski resort, overlooking a few kilometers away, an area surrounded by mountains.
There lay a cluster of iron-gray buildings with a strict appearance and vigilance comparable to a military base. The solid fortifications, looming under the shadow of the mountain, exuded a sense of coldness and killing intent. This was the fortress that housed international high-risk superpower criminals, and also Japan's largest superpower user prison — "New Leaf Village."
This time, the action of the White Crow Travel Brigade was to take Ryukawa Chiba from such a steel fortress.
It was said that the fortress-like walls were built with the help of Catastrophe-level Superpower User "Julius," who is also the warden of this prison. His superpower is the manipulation of the earth, making it easy for him to raise land or create a rocky mountain, playing a crucial role in the construction of the walls, and it wouldn't have been completed so quickly without him.
Although appearing grand and magnificent, it was actually the world's shortest-time-built prison.
Generally speaking, superpower users with excellent abilities shine not only in the field of combat but also have outstanding and indispensable performances in other fields, just like Julius.
"Don't daydream, the leader is talking..." Jack the Ripper calmly said. She hugged her shoulders, gently poking Xia Pingzhou's waist with the sheath of her knife tucked under her arm.
Xia Pingzhou shrugged, slowly turning his focus to the leader.
"Tomorrow at 11 AM, we'll split up and enter New Leaf Village," Urushibara Osamu said slowly, "I, the hacker, Tong Zizhu, and Robert will be searching for Ryukawa Chiba in various prisons. Jack the Ripper, Xia Pingzhou, Ayase Origami, Bloodline, you are responsible for killing the warden. If you can't succeed, just hold him off until we rescue Ryukawa Chiba, and then retreat. Got it?"
The team members on the ski field responded in unison, only Xia Pingzhou remained silent, nodding slightly.
"By the way... Are Bai Tanlang and Anluns not participating in this prison break action?" He raised his head, his eyes scanning the members present, unable to resist asking.
If Anluns and Bai Tanlang really benefited greatly from the Royal Court treasures, as Bloodline said, their absence meant a direct loss of two near-Catastrophe-level combat powers.
That said, the members present were already enough to form a considerable force: Ayase Origami, who was already comparable to a Catastrophe Level after obtaining the "Endless Manuscript," and Bloodline, whose combat power after merging with dragon blood had not been verified yet.
And Jack the Ripper was an all-round Catastrophe Level powerhouse, with unquestionable abilities. On the bright side, this was equivalent to having three Catastrophe Level individuals here.
It's just that Xia Pingzhou was still uncertain whether, besides officer "Julius," the Salvation Society had dispatched other personnel to station at the Hokkaido superpower prison. But the possibility was low, after all, in the eyes of the Salvation Society, the White Crow Travel Brigade was merely a group mostly composed of Quasi-Calamity levels, not requiring them to dispatch many significant forces.
So the intelligence gap between the two sides gave him a chance to exploit a loophole in this prison break action, seizing the opportunity to take down the Salvation Society's officer, who was also the warden of the superpower user prison "New Leaf Village" — "Julius."
Robert spread his hands and said, "Old Wolf has already returned to China, saying there's something he must deal with over there; as for Anluns, he's indulged in gambling and can't be moved for the time being. Besides, the leader mentioned... this prison break plan doesn't require that many people."
"Oh, what a shame... I was hoping to see their performance after obtaining the Royal Court treasure." Xia Pingzhou said, "Looks like I'll have to wait a while to see that."
"Haha, are you worried that the status you've finally improved in the group might shrink again?" The hacker teased him while playing with his phone.
Ayase Origami suddenly formed a large hand out of paper in mid-air, grabbing the hacker's head, and only let go when he begged for mercy, after which she gave him a sideways glance without expression.
The hacker smoothed his messy hair and muttered displeasedly with his hands in his pockets, "You two are just bullies taking advantage of your power." Saying that, he quietly moved closer to Tong Zizhu and asked, "Can I call you mom for protection?"
Tong Zizhu remained silent, then her face darkened, raising her hand to grab the hacker's shoulder and gave him a hard punch in the head. But at that moment, the hacker suddenly transformed into a stream of data, entering her phone.
"Mom, mom, mom..." The hacker with a cartoon mosaic image shouted on the phone interface.
"If you don't come out of my phone, I'll throw it down the mountain," Tong Zizhu said, raising the phone as if to throw it.
"I was wrong." The hacker conjured up an AI version of himself, silently bowing a loud apology on the phone interface.