NOVEL NEXT Chapter 33: Abduction
Time rewinds back to before little Lilith was locked outside the cabin.
Aske was sitting on the bed, pondering the future.
Of course, not just his own future, but the future of the entire team.
The current situation was clear: Sigrdrifa and Medea controlled the Northern Empire, Eleanor resided in the Divine Luo Empire, Nora had the Church Court, while Theodora and Peggy controlled the Eastern Luo Empire. Miel and Mia had inherited the name of the Azure Longsword and set up their own power bases in the civilization border areas such as Lusitania, the South Continent, and the Ilanian Plateau.
This meant if these people really started fighting, it would be another "Song of Iron and Fire," and the intensity of the war would be more brutal than any battle in the past decade.
Not just for world peace, but to ensure former comrades would not end up in a fight to the death, this harem must be established. Even if the harem were established, if he favored one person too much, it might even provoke dissatisfaction from the other girls, further triggering world unrest.
Miel's suggestion was children.
It is said that a woman's aggression comes half from the possessiveness over her partner and half from the instinct to protect her offspring.
Letting everyone get pregnant, so they won't fight for the sake of the babies... one must admit it's quite a twisted idea, but it's very reliable.
After all, as everyone knows, once couples have children, the divorce rate plummets. The reason is an old saying: "Think of the children."
Of course, before this, Aske must first turn himself into a scoundrel, which is unavoidable.
Or rather, even if he were a traditional and conscientious person, when his moral beliefs are placed on one side of the scale, and on the other are heavyweights like "world peace," "team friendship," "personal safety," etc., the direction the scale would tip is obvious.
Even if feeling uneasy, fearful, or heartbroken, this harem must continue.
After reorganizing his thoughts in his mind, reaffirming his confidence to walk this unknown road, Aske saw Mia running in from outside.
"Foolish Squad Leader!" she shouted energetically while throwing herself into his arms.
Nuzzle.
Aske hugged her indulgently, suddenly sensing something amiss.
Hmm, the volume shouldn't be that large.
So, he pulled open Mia's collar to confirm nothing was stuffed inside, looking even more puzzled.
Mia blushingly pushed his hand away: "Stop it! Squad Leader, what are you doing!"
At that, Aske stood up, quickly activated the Conceptual Weapon to draw out a longsword, placing it at her neck, ready to use the ability of the Star Nine Forms at any moment.
"You're not Mia, who are you?"
"Why am I not Mia?" Mia asked, shocked.
"There are too many flaws to count. Anyway, just confess for now." Aske exerted force with his wrist, and the longsword opened a small cut on her neck, from which blood trickled out.
Soon, the wound healed rapidly.
Ah, this... you are?
Before Aske could question, Mia's face wriggled and twisted again, eventually reverting to Peggy's appearance.
"Aske!" she said sadly, tears started falling again uncontrollably.
"Peggy, huh." Aske breathed a sigh of relief but also felt a bit guilty. Peggy once again threw herself into his arms, sobbing.
"Have you been well all these years?" Aske sighed and asked.
"Not well, really not well." Peggy wiped her tears on his clothes, sobbing, "I think about you every day... often dreaming of holding you at night, but every time I wake, my arms are always empty..."
"Don't worry, I'm back now." Aske reassured her.
"Yeah." Peggy nodded, laughing through her tears, "This time I definitely won't let you leave again, not even Miel or Mia."
Aske: ???
Before he could say another word, Peggy showed a somewhat deranged smile, her entire body suddenly turning into foul blood, tightly enveloping him, then crashing through the cabin and flying rapidly northeast.
"Don't move, Squad Leader. I know your Star Nine Forms can restrain me, but your clothes have already been completely dissolved by me."
"If you struggle out now, you'll only fall naked into the sea! The Star Nine Forms can't make clothes appear on you."
"Where are you taking me, Peggy?" Aske then calmed down.
Falling naked into the sea and being picked up by pirates or other fishermen was naturally unacceptable to him.
On the flip side, as long as Mia found his location, an instant teleportation could take him away, so for now, following Peggy back didn't matter.
"We're going back to Constantinople, to your Achilles house." Peggy replied with a smile, "I've re-decorated the house inside, and now it's a very cozy home! And there's Theodora, she's been wanting to see you…"
Saying this, her voice subtly paused, then continued:
"Of course, even if she is the monarch I serve, I cannot give you to her, rest assured about that."
"Whether it's Theodora, Eleanor, Nora, or Medea and Sigrdrifa, or Mia or Miel, whoever wants to once again take you away from me will have to take a Curse Death from me first!"
She said such eerie words with a sinister tone, then swiftly flew away, wrapping Aske.
A few minutes later, Medea gracefully boarded the ship, casually using a [Spirit Explosion] to blast all the pirates swarming up around her.
Her sight quickly scanned the deck, then she moved towards the cabin below, all the while fending off enemies in the corridor before and behind her, clearing the path, turning a corner to find little Lilith aimlessly pacing back and forth before a certain closed cabin door.
"Mom!" As if seeing a savior, little Lilith hurriedly cried and ran over.
Then she yelped in pain as her forehead was flicked by Medea.
"Why did it take so long to report to me, to tell me your position?" Medea grumpily picked her up, "Where's that scoundrel?"
"Dad was locked in the cabin by a creature pretending to be Auntie Mia!" little Lilith quickly said, aggrieved, "There was even the sound of fighting inside just now! But I can't get in!"
"This cabin door?" Medea stood before the tightly closed cabin door, summoning a flame and pressing it against the lock.
The lock soon melted. She waved to extinguish the flames to prevent spreading, then pushed open the door, sniffing the air inside.
Lingering for such a long time. Indeed, this scoundrel… she looked at the messy bed sheets, her face growing more menacing, then looked at the large hole in the ship wall.
So, was he kidnapped by someone? Could it be Nora? No, if posing as Mia...
... more likely to be Peggy.