Chapter 93 Future

Celine clutched her injured right leg as the pain continued to spread through it. She quickly pulled out the stolen phone and entered Madam Jenn's number.

She needed to tell someone about this place. The call connected for a moment before a message appeared on the screen.

(Sorry, the number you dialed is currently unreachable.)

Celine stared at the screen. There was no signal.

"Forget your effort to contact anyone. No one you know can be contacted from inside this dungeon." Maria said.

Celine's eyes widened.

"This is...inside a dungeon?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes." Maria slowly walked toward her.

"No one could ever expect to find you here. So just forget about your savior coming here to rescue you."

Maria then pointed her gun toward Celine, who stared back at her with sharp eyes.

"What do you want from me? Why didn't you just kill me at the club? I don't even have any use to you anymore," Celine said.

"Oh, no. You still have a use," Maria replied coldly. "You will be sacrificed here, along with others like you."

Hearing that, Celine immediately turned and ran toward the other side of the hallway, limping through the pain. Maria followed behind her at a leisurely pace. There was no need for her to kill Celine yet.

Celine kept glancing backward while running, making sure Maria wasn't getting too close. But because she was focused on her pursuer, she failed to notice the hole in the floor ahead.

"Ah!"

Her foot suddenly stepped into empty space.

Thud!

Celine fell through the opening and crashed onto the floor below, roughly five meters beneath her. She groaned from the impact but quickly forced herself back onto her feet.

Maria looked down through the hole and saw Celine already running away.

"Boss, where is that girl?" a group of men asked as they arrived.

"She is on the lower floor. Don't let her get too far," Maria ordered.

"Got it! Move, move!" one of the men shouted. The group immediately descended after Celine.

Maria remained behind. She slowly turned her head away from the hole and looked toward the ruined city below as rain continued to fall across the devastated landscape.

---

Somewhere in District 21, Lars and the other members of Mazeltov finally arrived at their temporary office.

"Whoa! This office looks pretty nice! How did you get this place?" Oscar asked as he looked around in amazement.

The new office had a wooden floor and a much more spacious interior. Along one side was a large row of sofas with an LCD television mounted on the wall.

On the opposite side was a long meeting table with a whiteboard hanging behind it. And in the corner stood a large aquarium filled with colorful tropical fish swimming peacefully inside.

Compared to their previous gloomy and cramped office, this place felt almost luxurious.

"Honestly, I think this place is way better than our old office."

"Don't get too comfortable. It's only temporary." Aleph said.

"We need to thank Iris for renting this place to us at a lower cost. Although, at first, I felt like renting from her made us look inferior to her company. But we have no other choice," Zane said as she folded her arms.

"How are Quinn and Denis?" Aleph asked Sarah, who had just returned after visiting their members in the hospital.

"They're stable. Although, I really pity Denis. He feels terrible about getting injured and not being able to join this battle," Sarah replied.

"Let's just pray for their speedy recovery," Zane said. She then turned toward Emma.

"Now, Emma, show us what you've found about Black Maria."

"Alrighty!" Emma exclaimed.

She jumped onto the sofa and opened the laptop on her lap. A moment later, she connected the laptop to the large LCD screen on the wall. The screen lit up, displaying several files, maps, and photographs.

"I searched for all the information about Black Maria on the internet. As all of you surely know by now, the original name of Black Maria was Black Lotus, but it was renamed after a new leader took over."

Emma then opened a file containing a photograph of their leader. The image showed a beautiful woman with long black hair and a calm expression.

"Pheeww! What a nice-looking woman. What a pity she's involved in shady business," Benn Strong commented.

Lars, however, had a completely different reaction. His eyes widened as he stared at the photograph. Something about her face felt incredibly familiar. Lars desperately tried to recall where he had seen her before.

"I know her. She is... Mark's mother?" Lars was surprised. But then he immediately shook his head.

"No way. She can't be the same person. I must be mistaken," Lars muttered under his breath.

Lars brushed off the feeling, even though an uncomfortable sensation still lingered in his mind.

Emma then continued as she opened the map of Rahiel State.

"I've located all the possible buildings and areas under Black Maria's control across Rahiel State. As you can see, most of them are concentrated in the Western Region, with the highest concentration being in District 50."

She zoomed in on the District 50 map, revealing dozens of red dots scattered across it. Each dot represented a location believed to have some connection to Black Maria.

"So we just need to hit every one of them, find Lars's friend, and then search for their boss," Oscar said.

"That isn't possible," Aleph replied. "Black Maria has thousands of members, while we have fewer than ten. Besides, they control nearly a hundred different areas. If we attack them randomly, we will only waste our strength."

"We need to focus on finding the location with the highest possibility of Celine being held." He pointed toward the map.

Everyone stared at the map. Dozens of red dots were scattered throughout District 50, with no obvious indication of which one was their target. Finding Celine among all these locations was going to be extremely difficult.

"Looks like we have no other choice but to see her," Zane suddenly said.

"No way! By her, do you mean her?!" Oscar's expression immediately changed.

"No! I don't want to see her ! She's really scary!" Sarah said as she took a step backward.

"I don't want to see her either, if I have a choice. But there is no other way. Does anyone want to accompany me? I feel a little uncomfortable meeting her alone."

All of the Mazeltov members immediately avoided eye contact.

"Seriously..." Zane sighed.

"Excuse me, who is this her

that all of you are talking about?" Lars asked curiously.

Suddenly, everyone turned toward him. A strange smile appeared on their faces. Lars's expression slowly became confused.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"Well, Lars... since this matter involved saving your friend, I think you should meet her." Oscar grinned.

'Why do I suddenly feel like I'm being thrown into something dangerous?' Lars filled with uneasiness.

---

One hour later, Lars and Zane arrived in front of Sweet Pine Bar, a small bar located at the end of an isolated alley somewhere in District 22.

"Good luck, Lars. I will wait for you two here," Oscar said as he remained inside the company van.

Before entering, Zane suddenly stopped.

"There is something you need to know before we meet her. Whatever it is, don't stare into her eyes for too long." She placed her hand on the door handle.

Lars frowned at the strange warning. Why would staring at someone's eyes be dangerous? Before he could ask, Zane pushed the door open.

Ding!

A small bell rang above them. Inside was a simple bar with several round tables arranged beneath dim lights. At the front, a woman was singing while a few customers quietly watched her performance.

Zane walked toward the counter and took a seat. She gestured for Lars to sit beside her.

A bartender soon approached them and looked at Zane. Without saying anything, Zane took out a card and handed it to him.

The bartender glanced at the card. He returned the card and quietly walked toward the back of the bar.

What kind of place is this? Lars wondered.

After a few minutes, a woman walked out from behind the bar. She looked to be in her late thirties, with long red hair and bright red lips. She wore a simple outfit with a skirt, but the most striking feature was her eyes. They shimmered like jewels under the dim lights.

She leaned her elbow against the counter and rested her chin on her hand.

"Well, well, well. It's been a year since you last came here, Zane. So, with you coming here again, it means your office has already fallen apart. Just as I saw before." Her lips curved into a faint smile.

"So, do you want me to look further into your future?"

"Callista, I'm not here to talk about my future. I'm here to ask you about the whereabouts of someone." Zane replied. She then introduced Lars to her.

"Uh... good evening." Lars gave a small bow.

"Hmm... now this is interesting." Callista's jewel-like eyes turned toward him. "In my vision, I never saw you accompanying Zane when she came here."

Before Lars could respond, Callista suddenly reached across the counter. She grabbed his chin and pulled his face closer to hers.

"Wait!"

She stared directly into his eyes. For several seconds, neither of them moved. Then, Zane suddenly grabbed Callista's wrist and pulled her hand away from Lars.

"That's enough."

Callista's body suddenly began trembling. Her eyes rolled upward, and her breathing became irregular.

"This... this is..." she muttered.

Her jewel-like eyes seemed to lose focus as visions of the future flashed through her mind.

"Hey, Zane! What is she doing?" Lars asked, growing increasingly uncomfortable with the situation.

"Callista has a special Class that allows her to see visions of someone's future," Zane explained. "But...this is the first time I've ever seen her react like this."

A few moments later, Callista suddenly regained consciousness. She lowered her head as her eyes slowly focused on Lars. The playful expression she had earlier was completely gone.

"I see it. I saw your future. You are the person...who will bring calamity to this world."