"...It's a pity that this device has a major shortcoming - that is, any machine has a certain failure rate. If only the crystal sensor on the collar fails, it is barely acceptable; but once it is used The radio frequency crystal of the radiation signal source failed, and the operator may face immeasurable property losses, so this product was eliminated during the experimental stage."
"Since you said it has been eliminated, how did it appear here?" Catalina asked.
"'One person's arsenic is my honey.' One person's trash may be another person's treasure. I bought the patent for this product at an extremely favorable price and promoted it to Mr. Juice. He As expected, I was very interested and immediately placed an order." Shishio said proudly.
"...I can tell you have a lot of business acumen."
Catalina curled up in the chair, held her chin slightly with her knuckles, and glanced at Jaros in the distance with her peripheral vision. After reading the congratulations, Jaros had returned to the VIP room, and she had to quickly find a reason to leave the banquet.
"I seem a little uncomfortable... maybe I'm too close to these seafood."
After holding her breath for a while and making her cheeks turn red, Catalina gently pinched her eyebrows with her hands, pretending to be unwell.
"Oh?" Shishi licked his lips and rubbed his palms meaningfully, "It doesn't matter. Do you want me to help you find a place to rest?"
"No need, I just go to the bathroom and wash my face alone..." Catalina waved her hands and declined.
"I know a remote and quiet place, Miss White Oak. You can rest there for a while. I am willing to stand guard outside for you, and no one will come to disturb you."
No one will come to disturb you? This is a good opportunity to contact Ed. His one-eyed spider should be observing the scene somewhere in the hall at this moment.
"Okay then, please lead the way."
She nodded and smiled submissively, then put down the hand that was rubbing her eyebrows and made a "please" gesture.
…
"Please come in, Miss White Oak." Shishio said as he opened the door to the lounge for Catalina gracefully and considerately.
The "lounge" Shimi mentioned was located in a quiet and deserted corner on the northeast side, at a certain distance from the easternmost bathroom. There was no door number, and there was a silver candlestick on the high coffee table outside the door.
The walls in the room are very thick, almost perfectly isolating the sounds of people chatting outside. A double sofa and floor-to-ceiling drawers make the already small internal space even more narrow.
"Thank you, I didn't expect such a place existed." Catalina sat down and said.
"I'm afraid you don't know if you don't come here often, but this is actually a place for people to have trysts." Shishio came in from the door after a while. He closed the door and took two steps closer with a smile, "As long as you light the candles outside, no one will come to disturb you."
As long as you light the candles outside, no one will come to disturb you?
"Um..." Catalina reminded implicitly, "I'll be fine here alone. Aren't you going to go back to the dinner?"
Shishi did not move, but sat next to her, staring at her lovingly with his eyes, "Ms. White Oak, actually I..."
"It's really okay for me to be alone. You still-" Catalina interrupted him.
"No, please listen to me - I have been deeply attracted to you since the first time I saw you..."
"No, I already have a fiancé." She thought of a perfect reason.
Although I don't know him very well, and I don't want to see him at all. It was as if a hundred bees were flying around in Katarina's head. Oh my god, why did things suddenly become like this...
"How can people who come here care about those worldly views? Please, please accept my love for you, even if it's only once."
Seeing that Shishio was still unwilling to give up, Katarina finally sighed, raised her head and looked at him and asked:
"Okay then, did you light the candles outside when you came in?"
"Of course! Miss White Oak..."
Shishio's eyes shone with surprise and joy, and he nodded hurriedly, his eager breath almost blowing on Katarina's face.
"That's good--"
Before Catalina finished speaking, her body had already jumped up from the sofa like lightning. The lion's tail only had time to make a slight gurgling sound before it was wrapped around the throat by Catalina's left arm. His right arm moved up, tightly attached to the back of Shi Tail's head, pressing his neck forward.
"Yeah..."
Although not very good at hand-to-hand combat, Catalina still learned several practical techniques from others in the swordsmanship club. And this is one of the grappling techniques called "blood choke"——
By blocking the opponent's carotid artery and preventing blood from flowing to the brain, it can cause shock to ordinary people within ten seconds.
Shishio's hands clawed at the air like a drowning man, but it was all in vain. Judging from the strength of his reaction and struggle, he was not even considered an Extraordinary. He was like a struggling beetle in front of Catalina.
Soon, he lost consciousness. Catalina counted silently for another 20 seconds before letting go of her arms and letting the other person fall down on the sofa.
"Catalina, can you hear me?"
Almost at the same moment when Lion Tail fell, Ed's voice sounded, accompanied by slight distortion and noise.
Catalina looked towards the direction of the sound source, and a mechanical one-eyed spider emerged from under the sofa. Something different is that its "eyes" are a deep, bright red.
"I can hear it. Ed, listen to me. This guy sold a batch of slave collars to the club. As long as the bearer leaves a certain range, the blade will pop out and kill him. Before rescuing the children and Burke Orton, we must Find a way to untie these collars first.”
"I just heard it under the table." Ed replied calmly, "It doesn't matter, you will do as I say later, okay? But before that, you have to deal with the fainted guy in front of you. . He will wake up in five minutes at most. If he is allowed to call for help, it will cause a lot of unnecessary trouble."
"Should I... kill him?"
Katarina asked hesitantly. She had never killed anyone before, not even when pretending to be Blackadder.
Never mind that even the greatest heroes kill people. Hal, Brandon, Galt...it doesn't matter, they have all killed people.
She looked at Shishio who was unconscious on the couch. Although the other party was a cannibalistic pervert and had done something to him, if it hadn't been for him, he wouldn't have known about the slave collar, let alone a place where he could talk to Ed.
If she could, she would have wanted a judge to pronounce on his death instead of doing it herself. But if he were to let him go, everyone might die.
Do I...really have enough will to do such a thing?
Suddenly, a wave of hesitation stirred in Catalina's heart like a wave of autumn swallows. She thought she was already prepared, but when things came to pass, everything was far from as easy as she thought.
"You'd better kill him directly. Of course, there are not always two choices in everything. Even a coin has a third side."
Ed's voice at this time was calm and patient, reminding Catalina of her favorite tutor, and her voice was the same.
"...Now you search the cabinet next to you. There should be ropes and the like inside. You tie him up, cut some strips of cloth from his clothes and ball them up to gag his mouth. Since it's lit outside Candles, no one will come in and disturb you for a while.”
"I understand. Thank you, Ed."
Catalina opened the drawer. In the first compartment, there were indeed several sets of strong hemp ropes, some candles, and... leather whips?
"I found the rope. But how did you know there was a rope inside, and why would someone put a whip in the cabinet?" she asked doubtfully.
"that……"
Ed was silent for a moment.
"Tie him up first. The communication signal here is not very good and I can't hear what you are saying."
