Clockwork Bride

Page 18

019: Promotion, wealth, and the death of one's wife

This is indeed a troublesome situation.

Yesterday you accidentally stole a document (suspected) of a large company's illegal secret experiment, and the document's owner even managed to find your name and address.

You can't simply throw it away, or even return it directly to its owner, because copying data is far too easy. If the other party doesn't believe you didn't keep a copy, they'll continue to hunt you down to ensure you don't leak the data.

Fortunately, the other party doesn't want too many people to know about this, so they won't directly use the power of a large company or resort to legal action. Conversely, trying to threaten them with releasing information doesn't seem like a good idea either; it could provoke a strong backlash and is unreliable.

Just then, you learn that someone might be trying to assassinate the wife of your college classmate, best friend, or closest buddy. So you rush over to stop the assassination and try to follow the clues to find out the real identity of the mastermind.

Then your best friend's wife tells you: this "other party," this mastermind whose identity you didn't know before—is actually your college classmate, friend, and best buddy.

The above summarizes Hayden's experience that day.

What a tiring day!

“Madam, I can’t just believe it’s true because you say, ‘My husband did it! He tried to kill me!’ You know that, right?”

Hayden rubbed his head and exhaled a breath of stale air.

“When I was a private investigator, I heard this kind of talk twice a week.”

Incidentally, based on Hayden's experience, about one in ten of these statements are true.

“I do not have any evidence. But as the saying goes, when a strange conspiracy occurs, you should first see who will benefit.”

Alicia frowned slightly, seemingly displeased that Hayden didn't believe her.

"Who in the company would benefit from killing me? I'm just the third daughter of the Mitra Group's deputy marketing director in the American Federation. I hold no real position in the company, I'm not an only child, not the eldest son, the youngest daughter, a tool for office politics, and I've already been used up. What good would killing me do?"

She shrugged as she finished speaking.

“No one in the company would benefit from killing me—except for the person who has already benefited from me.”

This logic... is quite interesting.

Hayden raised an eyebrow: "Adam is already married to you, so killing you would actually benefit him? That sounds... a bit far-fetched."

He was already married, and through that connection, he'd become a 29-year-old project manager, so killing his wife was actually easier. The logic of "promotion, wealth, and the death of one's wife" wasn't unfamiliar to Hayden when he was a mercenary… but wasn't this a bit too hasty? Killing his wife on only the third day of their marriage?! Was that really worth it?!

"It's not far-fetched."

Alicia looked annoyed and sighed sadly.

“Even if I die, Adam can continue to use the resources from my father’s side of the family normally, because I already have a child with him.”

…………? ? ?

"Wait a minute, you've only known each other for three months and been married for only three days!?"

Hayden finally lost his composure.

Alicia's face also showed a strange look: "Of course, it's in vitro fertilization and artificial wombs, Mr. Hayden. The genetically modified embryos from Adam and me were put into the incubator on the night the wedding banquet ended. It was part of a recent high society wedding."

草

High society is actually terrifying. Hayden was speechless.

"What functions do your children possess?"

Angela just happened to come over at that moment and asked with great curiosity.

Alicia clearly didn't know how to deal with this strange clockwork doll. After hesitating for a moment, she answered honestly, "According to my father's plan, he is a male Coordinator specializing in business. My father values ​​Adam's business skills, which is why he brought Adam into the family. Having two more business-savvy men in the family would be very beneficial to my father's career."

Uh...

Hearing this, Hayden felt his lips twitch.

Only an immortal, and truly deserving, upper class would resort to such methods to carry out a family plan.

"To be honest, I still don't quite believe what you're saying. I talked to Adam about you before, and he seemed to love you a lot."

But Hayden wasn't so easily persuaded.

So Alicia scoffed at this: "Of course he wouldn't pretend not to love me. Mr. Hayden, as a member of society, you're rather naive. Only by portraying myself as a deeply devoted husband can my death become part of Adam's persona, thus maximizing the value of killing me."

“If I die, from now on every anniversary of his death, our wedding anniversary, and my birthday, he can lament online, showing how much he loved his wife, how much pain he suffered after losing me, and how he had to suppress his grief and continue working. Whenever he needs validation, he only needs to bring up his deceased wife to put psychological pressure on others… Mr. Hayden, a dead wife is very useful. And this way, it will be easier for him to find another wife later.”

Even though Hayden had been a mercenary for seven years and was considered a veteran of countless battles, he was still dumbfounded after hearing Alicia's words: What do you upper-class people take marriage and family for?!

Angela didn't show any surprise or disgust when she heard these words. Instead, she listened with wide eyes and great interest, almost as if she was about to take out a small notebook to take notes.

“I’m not trying to convince you to go against your friend with empty words, Mr. Hayden. I just need to temporarily borrow your ancient magical knowledge and the amazing abilities of this clockwork doll.”

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Alicia pressed her advantage.

“I don’t know who I can trust in New Yatu, nor do I know how vast a network Adam has woven within the company, so I can’t contact the company directly. Instead, I need a truly powerful person to provide temporary bodyguard services. Of course, I will pay you a reasonable fee.”

This upper-class lady is quite savvy in this kind of place.

"If you're telling the truth, then this bodyguard job of yours is just me getting myself to thwart my good brother's plans."

So Hayden, with a serious expression, slammed his hand on the wooden round table.

“A little money isn’t enough for me to do this kind of thing—at least 200,000.”

Alicia gasped.

"Two hundred thousand? Are you kidding me? -- I'll give you four hundred thousand, half upfront, and the other half will be transferred to your account after I arrive safely at my father's house."

This lady is really savvy.

"Besides that, if you have any dirt on Adam that you can sell me, please feel free to say so."

Alicia took out her wallet.

"I'll take them all."

Is this what marital relationships are like among the upper class in this era?

"You corporate people are crazy."

So, while Hayden sighed, he made a copy of the chip data he had found at the Wenle Club and gave it to Alicia. As a result, his account immediately gained another 100,000 Federal Gold Coins.

While Alicia was checking the documents, Hayden couldn't help but turn around and give Angela a big hug: "Credit card bill problem completely solved! Honey! We can even use the remaining money to install a new plasma cannon for you!"

Angela, being embraced, was a little confused as to why she needed to equip herself with a plasma cannon. But since her master was happy, then everything was fine.

Alicia was in a great mood: "Great! Adam's ass is on fire as soon as my father sees this. Now, Mr. Hayden, all I need is for you to escort me out of the beautiful district and to the international teleportation station in the city center."

Teleportation magic is a very special thing. Short-range teleportation spells, within 100 meters, can be bought online by anyone, though they are very expensive. However, once the distance increases, or when teleporting in areas with enormous magical energy, the accuracy of the teleportation magic becomes extremely poor, or it may fail outright. Therefore, to prevent too many people from getting stuck in walls, leaving half their bodies behind, or accidentally teleporting to places they really shouldn't be, teleportation within urban areas is basically prohibited.

If you can afford it, some cities have company-run teleportation points between them. However, if you need to teleport hundreds of kilometers or even further and don't want to be transported to outer space, it's best to go to an international teleportation station managed by professionals. These places are extremely secure, with strong security teams from the company, so no one would be crazy enough to carry out an assassination there.

Frankly, Hayden didn't think Alicia needed bodyguards at all—but who cares? Isn't it good that rich people are willing to spend money on you?

However, money is only one aspect.

"As part of my job as a bodyguard, there's one thing I want to understand first: you just said the company summons devils to do their dirty work, is that something that's easy to do?"

Hayden was, after all, a researcher of ancient magic, and this matter greatly intrigued him.

“I have also studied summoning magic, but I have never actually summoned an ancient demon. After all, that requires too many sacrifices and special materials and is obviously very dangerous.”

What he didn't say was that a few years ago he had seriously considered summoning a female demon to settle for if he couldn't find a wife. But that would be too reckless, so Hayden ultimately didn't actually do it.

"Of course it's not easy. Summoning demons to do things is a secret within the company, after all, it's just too ugly to talk about."

Alicia was busy looking at documents and answered casually.

"I don't know the technical details, but the company should be controlling them directly with arcane magic, without needing any sacrifices, so it doesn't matter if they're thrown out as cannon fodder—demons are really useful. They're naturally good at teleportation magic, and they won't accidentally get stuck in walls like we do."

Unlike most creatures, demons lack duality. Their soul and body are one; spirit is flesh, and flesh is spirit. Therefore, they are less bound by physical limitations and can safely perform teleportation. What a terrifying talent! How powerful such a race must be!

Unfortunately, these days, the city's security arcane barriers are layered upon layered, with the more affluent residents having more of them. In this environment, demons simply cannot teleport into or within these barriers. Moreover, entering any security barrier will trigger the nearest high-risk response force to attack them—unless your own security barrier happens to be hacked, and the demons happen to only appear in your house.

Times have changed. The energy and productivity wielded by modern gods (large corporations) far surpass those of the ancient devil. These days, only remnants of the devil remain in West Asia and North Africa, along with their backward fanatic followers, futilely hindering the progress of the new era.

"I heard that there were some top-tier demons in ancient times who could even capture and hijack other people's teleportation, but unfortunately they were wiped out by the company hundreds of years ago."

Alicia closed the file and said casually,

"But none of that matters right now anyway."

————————————————————————

And so, Alicia spent five minutes quickly packing up what she needed to take, abandoning everything else without hesitation, and fled the house.

During this time, Angela carefully salvaged the usable equipment from the three dead mercenaries. Although it couldn't compare to the commission Alicia had given her, the secondhand equipment of top-tier experts still fetched a considerable price. Hayden also helped close the eyes of his three unseeing companions, sprinkling some salt to exorcise their evil spirits. They were all mercenaries, and seeing their tragic deaths, he felt a sense of shared sorrow.

As for the maid in the Adam family whose head was smashed by the devil, well, Alicia didn't even glance at her corpse.

But that's not the point.

The key point is that after leaving Adam's villa and the beautiful district, on the way to the international teleportation station in the city center, another group of mercenaries jumped out and tried to kidnap Alicia.

Needless to say, at this point, a single mercenary squad couldn't possibly handle the three of them. Hayden barely needed to use ancient magic. Angela easily blocked most of the attacks, Hayden threw out several enlarged copper rings to trap them all, and finally, Alicia summoned the company's power to blast them all away, ending the fight.

"That's it? They seem even weaker than the first batch of mercenaries."

Alicia was even somewhat disappointed.

"Adam should be in a hurry to kill me."

"How many 'top-tier' mercenaries can a city have at the same time? Three of them just died in your house today."

Hayden shrugged in response with a sarcastic remark.

"It's clear that things have come to this unexpectedly. Everything should have been over when the devil was summoned to your house."

Perhaps he was right, or perhaps this incident truly caught the mastermind off guard. In any case, after blowing up the mercenary group that had arrived on the road, Alicia was not attacked again. Hayden and his team eventually managed to safely deliver her to the New Yatu International Teleportation Station.

"Next, I will teleport directly from here to my father's mansion."

Although somewhat confused, Alicia obediently accepted the fact without further hesitation or overthinking.

"I will transfer the remaining payment to your account as soon as possible. I hope there will be opportunities to cooperate in the future."

She shook hands with Hayden, then turned and gracefully walked toward the heavily guarded departure hall.

Soon, a teleporter specifically tasked with ensuring safety approached Alicia and cast a teleportation spell on her. To be honest, it wasn't a very comfortable experience; it felt almost like being forced to pass through a thick, long rubber pipe, and backwards at that.

Alicia didn't like this feeling, but she understood and was used to it. She knew that when the tube suddenly burst, it meant she had been teleported to her destination... but something was wrong... this tense feeling was a little strange this time...

She thought she was suffocating. She couldn't breathe, and she couldn't see. Suddenly, Alicia saw her father's luxurious and imposing mansion. But before she could even catch her breath, a blood-red light flashed before her eyes.

A hand suddenly reached out from the void and grabbed her like a pair of pincers.

In her last moments of consciousness, Alicia couldn't even scream.

Darkness swallowed everything.

020: The Devil and the Fool (Part 1)

After Alicia teleported away, Hayden did not let his guard down, but instead led Angela home while remaining on high alert.

However, no other enemies appeared to attack during this time, nor were any enemies lying in ambush at Hayden's house. Half an hour after leaving the international teleportation station, Hayden and Angela returned home. Angela began humming a song while doing housework, while Hayden checked the house inside and out, finding absolutely no signs of intrusion, which made him feel rather strange.

So he took out his phone again to contact Alicia, but it rang for a long time without anyone answering. The remaining 200,000 in commission, of course, never arrived.

This is not a good sign.

The best-case scenario, of course, is that Alicia has resolved all the issues and has no intention of paying Hayden the remaining money, or is simply too busy to deal with him for the time being.

The worst-case scenario is that Alicia messes up. Adam or other masterminds will then follow the trail and eliminate Hayden as well.

Just in case, Hayden tried to contact Adam again, but of course, no one answered.

"Gan"

When faced with a situation involving a large company, the only options are to either flee or fight; sitting idly by is suicidal. However, Hayden's biggest problem right now is that he doesn't know how far things have progressed, whether he should run away, or if he doesn't want to run away, who he should eliminate to remove any future worries.

Alicia says Adam is the mastermind, but how could Hayden believe everything she says? He needs more information.

The intelligence magic of the new era is the internet, but Hayden is just a third-rate hacker. He wouldn't have enough brains to handle actually hacking Alicia or Adam's phones.

and so……

"Angela, could you please bring me the tarot cards I left in the studio?"

Hayden had no choice but to resort to unconventional methods.

"I want my fortune told."

There are many forms of divination and fortune-telling in the world, or other forms of magic that use the interpretation of omens to explore the unknown. In a time when most ancient magic has faded into obscurity, these forms of divination are almost the only ones still studied and sought after by many. This is because even the most advanced modern arcane arts cannot predict the future of a company employee—for example, whether they will have a chance for a promotion this year, or whether they will be fired, or whether they will find a marriage partner.