"I seriously think teaming up with you is the smartest decision I've made all day," Jasper Lancaster babbled, piling on the praise without taking a breath. As he spoke, he leaned closer to Serena, the eerie smiling mask staring directly at her. Beneath the mask, his eyes curved with amusement. "Ms. Panacea, so does this mean... I'm officially part of your squad?"
Serena lifted her gaze lazily. "Temporarily."
Jasper raised a brow. "Temporarily?"
"Yes," Serena replied, her tone indifferent. "I only have one rule."
"Temporary works for me," Jasper chuckled. "So, what's the rule for Ms. Panacea's squad?"
Serena met his gaze, her red lips parting to utter a single word: "Obey."
Jasper's eyes widened behind the mask for a fraction of a second before a low laugh escaped his throat. "Ms. Panacea, are you planning to treat me like a lackey?"
In all his years dominating The Obsidian Dark Web as The Grinning Wraith, no one had ever dared to demand his obedience. Let alone blatantly treat him as a subordinate. This Panacea... was incredibly fascinating. His interest in her was only growing.
Serena's expression remained entirely impassive. "If you don't want me to treat you like dead weight, you need to prove your worth."
Jasper's laughter paused, then erupted into an even more vibrant chuckle. This Panacea really didn't know the meaning of holding back. Yet, her sheer arrogance wasn't annoying in the slightest; instead, it intensified a strange sense of familiarity. She was exactly like his own little sister—seemingly docile on the surface, but secretly wild and lawless.
She truly lived up to being the undercover contact his sister arranged.
Adjusting the silver-gray mask on his face, Jasper smiled. "Don't worry, Ms. Panacea. I'll absolutely prove
that bringing me into your tea could
today was the best choice you could have made." He then shot a O
deliberate look at Jerrick Lancaster standing nearby his eyes brimming with mischief. "After all, you already have a grumpy bodyguard who only knows how to scowl. You definitely need a smart, obedient, and
powerful teammate who knows how to keep you entertained. Otherwise... looking at a certain someone's face every day would just ruin your mood."
Jerrick's grayish-blue eyes instantly turned glacial. "Get the hell out."
Jasper just gave him a highly
provocative waggle of his eyebrows,
then turned back to Serena. "See,
Ms. Panacea? He has tem
Ye has temible
temper issues. How could a guy like that ever compare to me?"
Serena remained expressionless. She slowly raised her hand, two silver needles materializing between her fingertips.
The smile on Jasper's face vanished instantly as he took a quick step back, raising
his hands in surrender. "Understood! I'll obey. I'm going right now!"
Before the words fully left his mouth,
his figure darted into the dim
shadows on the other side of the
cold cha
confider, leaving behind a
fading, amused voice. "Wait for my good news, Ms. Panacea!"
Once Jasper disappeared entirely, silence finally settled over the corridor.
Jerrick stared in the direction he vanished for a long moment before spitting out a single word: "Psycho."
Serena nodded in deep agreement. "Definitely."
She turned around, her gaze shifting back toward The Sanctum Vault. A wicked, icy
gleam slowly unfurled in the depths of her clear eyes.
The arsonist had gone to set the fire. Now...
She just had to wait for the entire ship to descend into utter chaos.