Then let the witch offer her loyalty

At this point, Wilson's eyes turned gloomy and filled with malice: "But you, as Easterners of Gaia, should know an old saying there—'After accomplishing your task, leave without a trace, concealing your identity and name.'"

“You outsiders suddenly came to our planet Cicero and interfered. After showing off, you knew to restrain yourselves, but you actually went too far. You dare to accept anything that Anies gives you and ask for anything that is bestowed upon you.”

He pushed back his chair and walked up to the suffocating Chen Moxin, stabbing his chest as he roared, "Do you know how many years it took me to get to where I am today? Sixteen years on the spaceship, eight years on Cicero, a full 24 years! 24 years!"

“I spent my entire youth on the spaceship, facing the closed deck day and night, without friends, without a partner, and without entertainment. While my peers were enjoying flowers and love, I was facing the most painful years of my life.”

"Once I arrived on Cicero, I worked like a slave for Anies every day, starting as her lowest-ranking assistant, doing all sorts of dirty, miscellaneous, and tiring jobs for her, and gradually working my way up to my current position as her deputy!"

“In the past eight years, have I not been conscientious every single day? The dirty and tiring work I have done for her is more than the number of times a father changes a child’s diapers!”

"I devoted myself to her wholeheartedly, but in the end she actually gave you the power of acting governor? To an outsider who's only been here for a little over half a month?!"

"I've poured my heart and soul into this for so many years, given so much, and lost so much. Why should I be surpassed by someone like you who reaps the rewards without lifting a finger?!"

Chen Moxin's breathing became more and more rapid, her face gradually lost its life, and a dying moan came from her mouth. Finally, her body became completely limp and powerless, and she fell to the ground with her eyes wide open in death.

Alexander and Reilly also collapsed in front of the table, ceasing their convulsions and becoming still.

Wilson closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as if enjoying the thrill of his restlessness and hatred bursting forth and engulfing his enemies.

When he opened his eyes again, he had a smug sneer on his face, as if a huge rock that had been weighing on his heart had finally been lifted.

"Young people who only know how to advance but not how to retreat, are bound to fail."

The other old advisors also looked at the three restless young men with deep eyes and cold smiles.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I propose we bring out a bottle of champagne to celebrate this wonderful moment..."

"Pfft!"

Just as Wilson and the others were about to open the champagne, an accident occurred.

Chen Moxin's "corpse" suddenly couldn't help but laugh.

Under the horrified gazes of everyone, Chen Moxin stood up from the ground, slapped Alexander and Lei Lie on the head, and laughed so hard he couldn't stop: "You two, go back and learn some acting skills from me, this is utter bullshit!"

Alexander and Reilly, who had supposedly "died," also sat up, scratching the back of their heads sheepishly.

"Brother Chen, are you kidding me? I think I acted pretty well."

"I think so too."

"I'm really impressed by you two. You just drank the wine, and without any prelude, you just collapsed and started convulsing... You were electrocuted, not poisoned! Oh my, I'm dying of laughter."

The three of them pushed each other, playfully bickering in front of everyone.

"You..." Wilson's eyes widened in disbelief, his mind completely blank.

Chen Moxin sat back down, dusted off her sleeves, and snapped her fingers at the waiter.

The waiter's reaction was unusually calm. Whether it was the "death" of Chen Moxin and the others before, or their "resurrection" now, the waiter's expression did not change at all, as if he had expected all of this.

The waiter poured Chen Moxin a glass of wine that was about seven-tenths full, glanced meaningfully at the dazed Wilson, nodded, and stepped back behind Chen Moxin.

Chen Moxin raised her glass and elegantly toasted Wilson: "When Annie Yis assigned me the job, she told me that you are a jealous and petty person, and that if I were to give you power, you would definitely try to mess with me."

"What a coincidence, I'm not exactly petty either."

At that moment, something unexpected happened.

A female staff member suddenly clutched her throat, her face turning from white to blue, as if something was choking her, making it difficult to breathe, and the look of terror in her eyes intensified.

"The wine... the wine is bad!" she cried out, clutching her throat. Her voice was hoarse as she staggered backward, blackish-red liquid mixed with foam gushing from the corner of her mouth. Just as she reached the door, she crashed into it and fell to the ground.

Then, one by one, the other staff members began to experience similar symptoms. Initially, they felt dizzy and had a heavy feeling in their chest, followed by violent churning in their stomachs, a nauseating taste in their mouths, and unbearable pain in their internal organs.

"Chen Moxin...you??!!"

Before Wilson could finish speaking, he suddenly vomited dark red blood. His face contorted in pain, and his eyes were filled with confusion and fear.

His body could no longer support him. He clutched his throat and collapsed to his knees, struggling in pain like the others. The continuous convulsions made his eyes bulge and his mouth open so wide it almost split the corners of his lips.

At that moment, the magnificent banquet hall resembled a scene from hell, with chairs overturning one after another, and the poisoned staff rolling and wailing on the carpet.

Some people grabbed their heads with both hands, as if something was tearing at their brains; others had swollen faces and were bleeding from all seven orifices, dragging themselves along the way as they tried to crawl towards the exit, leaving behind streaks of black and red.

The air was thick with the putrid smell of blood, gastric juices, and toxins. These once-illustrious governor's advisors lay sprawled on the ground, their once-luxurious carpets now stained and filthy with all sorts of foul liquids.

Broken goblets lay silently beside the staff, their pale faces reflected in the shards of glass. The remaining poisoned wine shone with an eerie red light under the lamplight, as if mocking their past arrogance.

Chen Moxin walked past the staff lying on the ground and stood in front of the suffering Wilson, her amber eyes filled with laughter: "I'll teach you something—when it comes to poisoning, you must do it yourself."

"If you just bribe someone, you have no idea whether they might be bribed by their rivals in return and end up poisoning your drink."

"Ah...hiss...ah..." Wilson let out a dying hiss, looking resentfully at the waiter he had previously bribed.

The waiter simply stood gracefully in the corner, his eyes lowered, not looking at him.

Wilson frantically grabbed at his neck with both hands, seemingly trying to open his trachea so he could breathe, but only ended up with bloody scratches all over his neck.

Finally, with a long, mournful sigh, his body stopped struggling, and he collapsed to the ground, losing all his strength, becoming one of the many corpses in the restaurant.

"despair."

Chen Moxin snapped her fingers at the waiter again.

The waiter spoke into the communicator on his shoulder, and soon more waiters came in through the back door.

They showed no panic or discomfort, and skillfully divided the work among themselves, lifting the bodies of their staff members one by one, placing them into black body bags, and beginning to clean up the spilled wine, vomited blood, and other debris at the scene.

Chen Moxin slowly walked to the floor-to-ceiling window of the restaurant and gazed at the vast night sky.

With a thought, the silver specks converged in front of his vision, arranging themselves into characters that only he could see:

[Mission: Gain control of the Cicero planetary defense forces (Completed)]

The remaining tasks are as follows:

[Ensure the successful implementation of the Stargate Project here and obtain the final data from the "Reality Veil Tearing Experiment"]

Find Annies Craig and ensure her survival for 20 days (Time remaining: 4 hours, 13 minutes, and 21 seconds)

Affected by the Stargate experiment, the night sky was filled with an eerie blackish-purple hue, and lightning caused by strong electromagnetic radiation could be seen from time to time, casting a desolate and beautiful outline on the clouds.

Chen Moxin gazed at the distant Stargate Base and said in a deep voice, "I contacted Chief Engineer Deng before. Since the breakthrough last time, the Reality Veil Tearing experiment has progressed extremely rapidly and has now reached the final stage."

"They still have some technical difficulties to overcome, and the timeframe is unknown. No unforeseen events can be tolerated during this period."

"Now that we have control of the Planetary Defense Force, Lei Lie and Zhong Guo, I'll hand over the command of the troops to you two."

"From now on, the entire colony will be placed under martial law. I order the Planetary Defense Force to immediately establish a defensive line based at the Stargate base, and be on standby 24 hours a day until the Reality Veil Tearing Experiment is completely completed."

Alexander asked worriedly, "What about Anies? She's in such bad shape, shouldn't we go check on her again?"

As if confirming Alexander's concerns, Chen Moxin received a call from the hospital shortly after he finished speaking.

"Mr. Chen, something's happened! The nurse went to deliver dinner to Ms. Anies and found the room empty, the balcony window open, and it looks like she jumped out the window and ran out! We can't find her!"

Chen Moxin reacted calmly, simply saying "I understand" before hanging up the phone.

Alexander and Lei Lie exchanged worried glances and asked, "Brother Chen, Anies has disappeared. What do we do now?"

Chen Moxin said calmly, "It's okay. The amulet I gave her before had a tracker in it, just to prevent this from happening."

Alexander was amazed by Chen Moxin's thoughtfulness after hearing this.

But Chen Moxin's next words turned that amazement into horror.

"I'm going to find Anise right away. Once I find her, I'll kill her after the first quest countdown ends."

"Wh...what? Killed her? Why did you kill her?!"

Chen Moxin slowly said, "We have the command of the Planetary Defense Force and the governorship is also in my hands. Anies is no longer of any use to us."

"In addition, as I mentioned before, she has shown signs of madness and corruption. Whatever the reason, she has become an unstable factor and must be eliminated."

Alexander was so shocked that sweat beaded on his forehead, and his voice was full of anxiety: "Brother Chen, you can't kick someone when they're down like this!"

“Aniys is such a good person. She has always taken good care of us, and even when she was unable to govern, she was willing to entrust power to us.”

"She did this because she trusted us! And instead of caring about her safety, you actually tried to assassinate her?! This is just too much..."

Before Alexander could finish speaking, Chen Moxin suddenly slapped him across the face.

With a "smack," Alexander was stunned and didn't react at all, just staring blankly at Chen Moxin.

"...Brother Chen, why did you hit me?"

Did I hit you?

"Didn't you call?"

"I do not have it."

Alexander, clutching his burning face, looked at Lei Lie in bewilderment: "He really didn't hit me?"

Lei Lie glanced at Chen Moxin, who was blinking rapidly, then at Alexander, who looked completely bewildered. He stammered, "I...I don't know..."

Just as Alexander was completely dumbfounded, Chen Moxin slowly said, "Putting aside the facts, Zhongguo, let me ask you a question: Where is this place?"

Alexander covered his face and said blankly, "Cicero? Where else could it be?"

Chen Moxin shook her head: "I mean, what is the essence of this place?"

At that moment, Alexander seemed to realize something; his eyes became somewhat unfocused, and he lowered his head, saying, "Resonance World..."

Chen Moxin nodded and said meaningfully, "That's right, this is the Resonance World, a virtual existence presented to us by the cube."

"If in reality I were to kick someone when they're down and betray them, and you criticize me, I can understand."

“But everything we’re experiencing now is fake. Cicero, the stargate, Anies—it’s all just a piece of data from a cube. Do you expect me to feel grateful for a piece of data?”

"Then let me ask you, what is the primary principle for us hunters participating in cube resonance?"

At this moment, Alexander remembered what Yang Jie had told them before the soaking, and he lowered his head even further: "Don't let emotions control reason; prioritize the mission above all else."

Chen Moxin said profoundly, "That's right. We're here for only one purpose: to complete the resonance mission. All our actions must be based on this goal."

"Don't even mention killing one Anies; if necessary, I can wipe out the entire population of this planet, as long as it helps the mission."

Alexander closed his eyes tightly, took a deep breath, and when he opened them again, his eyes were clear again, but filled with guilt and remorse.

"Sorry, Brother Chen, it's my fault. Everything here is too real, and I subconsciously treated this place as reality, which made me act foolishly."

"It's okay, brother. You came to your senses so quickly, so that slap wasn't for nothing."

"So you hit me, right?! You did hit me, right?!!"

"whee."

Chapter 148 Madness Erupts

For the inhabitants of Cicero, tonight would have been an ordinary night, but the atmosphere throughout the colony immediately became extremely tense after the planetary defense forces suddenly declared martial law.

Four hours ago, the Governor’s Office issued an order requiring all residents to return home immediately and strictly prohibiting them from going out.

Electronic signs along the roadside continuously displayed martial law reminders and emergency evacuation route maps, and temporary checkpoints were set up in various residential areas to check the identities of those entering and leaving.

Public broadcasts at various communication base stations were repeatedly playing a chilling warning: "According to the Governor's Office's martial law order, no one is allowed to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary. All residents are requested to return home immediately, or they will be severely punished by the Planetary Defense Force in accordance with the law."

The streets and alleys quickly became deserted, shop doors were tightly closed, and security doors were shut tight. The usually bustling streets were now only occupied by military soldiers and armored units hurrying through.

People who returned home kept their doors and windows tightly shut, checking the necessities in their storage rooms, their faces filled with anxiety and confusion, wondering why martial law had suddenly been imposed out of the blue.

At the same time, the Planetary Defense Force quickly assembled. Following the Governor's orders, they blocked every road leading to the Stargate Base and began constructing defensive lines on the spot.

The tower's defensive core and mobile shields deployed at the battle formation's assembly point, their metallic shells gleaming coldly in the night. Swarms of drones patrolled back and forth in the sky, their wings humming incessantly.

The soldiers of the Planetary Defense Force, also armed with standard weapons, looked particularly serious under the dim tactical lights. They stood guard at their designated posts, their eyes vigilantly scanning the surrounding area.

On the Planetary Defense Force side, Lei Lie and Alexander were in command, while Chen Moxin was tracking Annies, who had suddenly escaped from the hospital, based on the signals from the tracker.

He rode on a flying motorcycle, his left hand holding the steering wheel, his right hand gripping an oval-shaped tracking compass, and the sensor panel under his thumb glowing blue.

On the screen, a red dot is constantly moving, drawing irregular trajectories on the 3D map. Whenever the red dot changes direction, Chen Moxin adjusts the flight path.

He was like a bloodhound, gradually closing the distance between himself and Anies.

In terms of location, the Stargate base is located in the northernmost part of the Cicero colony, and the Planetary Defense Force's defense line is also mainly established in the northern area of ​​the Upper City.

Meanwhile, Chen Moxin continued southward, following the signals from the tracker.

Judging from the signals, after escaping the hospital, Annies had been running south, even crossing the entire lower city and arriving at a nearly deserted outskirts, as if she was trying to escape something.

Chen Moxin's flying motorcycle was very fast, and after a long chase, it finally caught up with Anies.