Chương 251: Hysterical Outburst
To Ayn Rand, anything that could bring him profit was worth exploiting, no matter what—or who—it was. Naturally, the beautiful Eriri and her companions appeared to him as highly valuable commodities that could bring him immense gains.
Although Ayn Rand didn't understand why Tina had brought Eriri and the others to his private laboratory without restraining them, he had already decided that he would claim them for himself.
"Tina, I don't know what kind of relationship you have with them, but I'm ordering you right now—capture them for me immediately." Believing Tina was still under his control, Ayn Rand issued his command with a detached air, as if he were a god ruling over all.
However, Tina, who had always followed his orders without hesitation, now stood motionless, her gaze cold and distant.
Her unresponsiveness angered Ayn Rand, making him feel as if his authority was being challenged.
He shouted furiously, "Tina, what are you doing? Hurry up and act! Do you want to die?"
At that moment, Eriri spoke, her tone laced with mockery. "Tsk, tsk. No real ability, but plenty of arrogance. I suppose the world is full of garbage like you."
"Master, should I just take care of this guy now?" Liliana asked with a respectful glance at Ayn Rand, her voice calm but full of disdain.
"Killing him outright would be too easy. He has somewhere special to go," Eriri replied, a chilling smile gracing her lips.
The exchange, coupled with Tina's defiance, caused Ayn Rand's expression to darken further. He sneered. "Hmph. Do you think I'm helpless against you? You're far too naive."
Without another word, he pulled a device from his pocket and pressed a button. Transparent columns of light instantly rose around Eriri and her companions, trapping them inside.
As Ayn Rand's private research lab, this space was fortified with robust security measures. He couldn't rely solely on the initiators under his command for protection.
The light columns, generated by repulsion field technology, served as highly durable cages capable of withstanding even sniper rounds.
Next, Ayn Rand retrieved an earpiece from another pocket and placed it on his ear, issuing a command aloud, deliberately in front of his captives. "Rita, bring Louise and the others to the lab immediately."
Leaving the earpiece on for ongoing communication, he turned to Tina with a feigned expression of regret. "What a shame, Tina. I didn't expect you to betray me. Betrayal will never go unpunished—you'll learn that soon enough."
Then, addressing Eriri and her group, he sneered. "And as for you—you're incredibly foolish. But given your potential to generate immense profits, I'll forgive your earlier insolence."
Ayn Rand, hands clasped behind his back, approached Eriri and the others with an air of supreme confidence. He was convinced that victory was already his.
Tina's voice cut through his arrogance like a blade. "Ayn Rand, for years, I've done your bidding, performing tasks I despised. I'm done with it. From now on, I won't let you control me any longer. And you will pay for everything you've done."
Her calm words carried a heavy weight, as they called attention to Ayn Rand's atrocities—using healthy cursed children as guinea pigs for mechanized soldier surgeries, killing countless innocent girls in the process.
Ayn Rand showed no surprise at her words. A tool that had betrayed its master had no reason to continue using the old title.
"Hmph. You think you're entitled to such thoughts? I took you in and gave you food and shelter—that's more kindness than you deserve. As a tool, you should know your place." Ayn Rand's voice dripped with contempt. "You think you can make me pay? Let's see you escape my grasp first."
Eriri chuckled, shaking her head. "Is this a joke? Do you honestly think this junk could hold us?"
Before Ayn Rand could respond, Eriri raised a single finger and lightly tapped the column of light surrounding her. Instantly, the supposedly impenetrable field shattered like glass.
Following her lead, Akame, Ophis, and Liliana each casually broke free of their own cages with similar ease.
Meanwhile, Tina tried to break her own cage but failed. Her attacks bounced off the light field, with the repulsion force occasionally pushing her back clumsily.
Eventually, Tina turned to Eriri with a pleading look. "Eriri-nee, help me, please."
Eriri flicked her wrist, and the light column around Tina shattered instantly, as effortlessly as breaking a bubble. This left Ayn Rand utterly dumbfounded.
"No... No, this is impossible! Who are you people?"
For the first time, Ayn Rand realized something was deeply wrong. In his understanding, no mechanized soldier, no matter how advanced, could break these cages. Yet Eriri and her companions destroyed them as if they were nothing. He even briefly considered the possibility that they might be humanoid Stage V Gastrea—a notion quickly dismissed because such creatures didn't exist in his world.
Ignoring his panicked question, Eriri clapped her hands lightly. "Alright, I've decided. I'll send you to the Gastrea's nest. They'll love having you as company. How does that sound?"
Her radiant smile, breathtakingly beautiful, sent shivers down Ayn Rand's spine. To him, it was the smile of a devil.
"No! You can't do this to me! I'm one of the Four Sages, humanity's hope! If you kill me, you'll be condemning all of humanity!" he shouted, stumbling backward in desperation.
Eriri sneered. "Don't flatter yourself. And if you think I'm going to let humanity off the hook, you're mistaken. Rest assured, I'll deal with them too."
Ayn Rand stared at the impossibly beautiful girl before him, his face pale with terror. In his eyes, she wasn't human—she was a predator.
Even though Ayn Rand had used Tina and others like her to assassinate human leaders for his personal gain, he had never considered pushing all of humanity into utter ruin.
From beginning to end, Ayn Rand saw nothing wrong with how he had treated the cursed children.
Suddenly, his eyes landed on Tina, standing beside Eriri, and he remembered the chip he had implanted in her brain. Grasping at what seemed to be his last hope, he hurriedly pulled a remote control out of his pocket.
"This remote can activate the chip in Tina's brain. One push of this button, and her head will explode. If you don't want Tina to turn into a corpse, you better let me go!" Ayn Rand held the remote toward Tina, his eyes filled with hysterical desperation as he addressed Eriri.
"Don't push me. As long as you release me, I promise never to trouble you again. Otherwise, I'll take Tina with me to the grave."
"Oh? Go ahead and try it. I don't believe Tina's head will explode," Eriri replied, her voice tinged with amusement, as if she were watching a clown perform an absurd act.
Seeing that his threat wasn't working, Ayn Rand gritted his teeth and pressed the button on the remote without hesitation.
Yet, the explosion he imagined never occurred. Instead, the only thing he saw was Tina staring at him with her cold crimson eyes.
"Do you get it now? You're far too naïve!"
Eriri didn't even spare the despairing Ayn Rand another glance. She casually opened a spatial portal right in the lab and tossed him through it like a piece of trash.
The portal connected directly to the nest of tens of thousands of Gastrea, ensuring a most "welcoming" reception.
Not long after Ayn Rand was thrown into the portal, five little girls—none older than nine—burst into the lab in a panic.
"Master... huh? Where's Master?" The lead girl, confused by Ayn Rand's absence, instinctively called out for him.
Instead of Ayn Rand, she found Tina and a group of four stunningly beautiful women standing in the lab.
"Tina, do you know where Master went?" the lead girl—Rita Salisbury, IP Rank 21 and nicknamed the "Pluto"—asked Tina.
Ayn Rand had only called the five of them to the lab without explaining the situation, so none of them were aware that Tina had broken free of his control.
"Rita, Louise, Faye, Irene, Ashley—Ayn Rand is dead. From now on, we're free," Tina said gently as she approached the five girls.
"What? Master is dead?" Rita, her golden hair shimmering much like Tina's, muttered in disbelief.
Having spent their lives under Ayn Rand's orders, his sudden death left them all somewhat uncertain about their futures.
However, they were not brainwashed tools; they, like Tina, had their own thoughts. They were well aware of Ayn Rand's atrocities over the years, but they had complied out of fear of the chips in their heads and for the basic shelter he provided.
Now that Ayn Rand was dead, there was no reason for them to avenge him.
"Yes, we'll no longer have to assassinate others. And what's more, we can have the Gastrea virus in our bodies removed," Tina continued, not hiding the truth.
She already knew Eriri and her companions had come to free the cursed children and punish those who persecuted them.
"What? The Gastrea virus can be removed? We can become normal humans? We won't be hated and ostracized anymore?"
Tina's words shook them more than the news of Ayn Rand's death ever could. They quickly forgot about their so-called master and stared at Tina with hopeful, sparkling eyes.
"Tina, is that true?" asked Ashley Springstein, a red-haired girl with twin tails, ranked 100th on the IP list and known as the "Giga Hedgehog." Her voice trembled with anticipation.
"Of course. My body has already been restored to normal, and I've retained the abilities granted by the Gastrea virus. Though my eyes still turn red when using my powers, there isn't a trace of the virus left in me."
Rita and the others didn't doubt Tina's words. Their complete trust in her was evident in their expressions.
"Was it those sisters over there who helped you?" Faye Kronmiller, a silver-haired girl ranked 88th and nicknamed the "Fer-de-Lance," gestured toward Eriri and her companions.
Despite the shock of everything happening, they had not forgotten about the presence of Eriri and her group. Eriri's unparalleled beauty and regal bearing made her impossible to ignore.
"Yes, it was Eriri-nee who healed my body," Tina said earnestly, glancing at Eriri with gratitude before briefly introducing her and the others to the five girls.
The two groups quickly became acquainted, with Rita and her peers learning about Eriri's goals.
Their admiration for Eriri skyrocketed. In a world where most people treated them with contempt, someone willing to save their lives was a rare miracle.
As for Eriri's secondary goal—the extermination of humanity—they couldn't have cared less. Every one of them had suffered abuse at the hands of adults.
During their missions, they had also witnessed countless cursed children enduring unimaginable cruelty and even murder at the hands of those they were supposed to protect.
Under Ayn Rand's control, they could only watch helplessly as their fellow cursed children suffered.
Now, as the tables began to turn, they felt not an ounce of sympathy for those adults who were about to meet their end.
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