Let's pull our perspective back to the Aurantius Tower.
At the exact moment Si Bei failed his mission...
Justine Hammer, who had been chatting and laughing while patiently following Luca on the tour of Aurantius Tower, suddenly stopped in her tracks.
She looked at Luca in front of her with a strange expression.
Seeing Justine stop, Luca turned around, feigning confusion.
"What's wrong? Do you have some suggestions for Aurantius Industries' venture into the biological field, Miss Hammer?"
As he spoke, Luca casually tapped the sign next to him.
It was the logo for the "Biotech Research Group."
However, seeing Luca maintaining his hospitable facade even now, the smile on Justine Hammer's face gradually faded. Her tone was calm as she asked:
"When did you find out?"
Although phrased as a question, her indifferent tone suggested she already knew the answer.
"Find out what? I don't follow..."
Just as Luca was preparing to keep playing dumb...
In the next instant.
POOF!
A cloud of red smoke suddenly exploded in the empty air beside Justine Hammer.
Immediately after, a red shadow shot out from the smoke and instantly wrapped around Justine's shoulder.
In the blink of an eye.
The red cloak that had burst out of nowhere rapidly spread over Justine's body. Strips of red fabric enveloped her like bandages.
Her graceful figure was accentuated by the fabric, which formed a skintight suit.
Seeing the cloak billowing as Justine slowly floated into the air, Luca touched his nose awkwardly.
"Uh... is this a new product from Hammer Industries? It looks pretty good, but maybe a bit too risqué. Doesn't seem very suitable for—"
Before he could finish his sentence, a corner of the red cloak suddenly twisted into a spear tip and shot ruthlessly toward Luca's face.
Fortunately, while Luca hadn't expected Justine's cloak to teleport all the way from the Hammer Industries building to her side...
He had been on guard the moment he saw her equipping it. He had secretly pressed his watch, activating the [Tuxedo]'s Combat Mode.
The instant the [Tuxedo] sensed the cloak's thrust, Luca's body flew backward automatically, beyond his conscious control.
A lock of his chestnut hair was sliced off, but he narrowly dodged the "sneak attack."
Seeing this, Justine immediately pressed her advantage. The entire cloak behind her transformed into countless blades, launching a barrage of thrusts.
"Whether you did it or not, now that you've seen me like this, I have to silence you!"
As she spoke, the cloak's attacks grew fiercer.
Since Luca's intention had been to lower Justine's guard and buy time for Si Bei, his entourage consisted entirely of ordinary office staff.
At this moment, these people were petrified by the sudden turn of events, frozen in place.
Seeing a few loyal employees trying to muster the courage to step forward and protect him, Luca shouted urgently to stop them.
"Everyone scatter! Leave this to me!"
Hearing this, the employees who were hesitating or dazed immediately screamed and scattered in all directions.
"Murder!!"
"Security! Security!!"
However, seeing that Luca still had the mind to care about others while under her assault, Justine sneered.
"Heh, you really are kind-hearted!"
Actually, what she didn't know was that Luca's movements were entirely driven by the suit's electrical stimulation; he didn't need to expend any mental effort on dodging.
But Justine, intending to leave no witnesses, naturally wasn't going to let anyone escape. She immediately prepared to shift targets and eliminate the fleeing Aurantius employees first.
However, a single sentence from Luca made her pause again.
"By the way, my building has surveillance cameras everywhere. Killing them won't do you any good."
Hearing this, Justine Hammer's expression twisted.
But on second thought, as long as she captured Luca, she could use his authority to suppress any leaked footage.
Just as she figured this out and turned back to attack Luca...
She saw the young man suddenly clench his right fist and punch rapidly at the empty air in front of him.
What is he doing?
The thought flashed through her mind, but it was already too late.
Luca, who had been waiting for a lapse in her focus, seized the moment of her hesitation to activate the localized deceleration field of [Ragtime].
A deep blue, translucent spherical field instantly enveloped Justine.
Gears, clocks, and magical runes.
Various symbolic icons floated into existence within the field's range.
Inside the spherical field, time was slowed down countless times over.
Justine's reactions, movements, and even the flow of magic within the Crimson Cloak became sluggish.
Within this field, only Luca could move freely.
"Sigh. I originally wanted to take you alive."
As he spoke, Luca pushed off the ground, dashing forward.
Simultaneously, a bare hilt slid out from his left sleeve.
As Luca closed the distance and thrust his left arm forward, the front of the hilt emitted a buzz, and a sharp blade of light shot out.
Just as he brought the hilt to Justine's face—the only part not covered by the Crimson Cloak fabric—the energy blade, only a dozen centimeters long, pierced right between her eyebrows.
A faint hum, accompanied by the sizzle of the blade entering flesh and the smell of burnt tissue.
Justine Hammer's terrified eyes lost their light completely.
The next moment.
The surrounding deep blue deceleration field rapidly dissipated.
Justine Hammer's lifeless body fell backward.
THUD.
She collapsed limply onto the floor.
The cloak and bodysuit attached to her, having lost their host, dimmed completely. They retracted, turning back into an ordinary-looking red cloak wrapped around the corpse's neck.
Deactivating the lightsaber dagger and retracting it into his sleeve, Luca looked at Justine's body on the floor and shook his head helplessly.
"So, why did you have to summon the cloak?"
Originally, Luca had planned to capture Justine alive after Si Bei succeeded.
He might have been able to get some benefits or extract intelligence from her.
Unfortunately, once she put on the cloak, given her uncertain spatial displacement abilities...
Luca couldn't guarantee that tranquilizer rounds would work on a magic user like her, so he had no choice but to use lethal force.
Whether he used the [Dehydration Gun]'s compression seal or [Ragtime]'s time slow, if she teleported away the instant the effect wore off, it could cause him no end of trouble later.
Deactivating the [Transformation Watch] disguise on his body to reveal the conspicuous [Ragtime] mechanical arm, Luca stepped forward.
He picked up the Crimson Cloak from the ground with his mechanical hand, his expression cold as he gave an order to the nearby surveillance camera.
"Hajimi, send a few Haros to clean up the body."
---