Shrouded Seascape

Anna's eyes flashed with extreme hatred as she looked down at the phone in her hand. She pressed the green icon, and the low-resolution screen of the phone flickered before revealing the figure of a bronze doll.

"Ms. Anna, you're actually still alive? This is truly beyond my expectations. I can't believe you managed to survive the joint attack of Sigma-66 'Wilderness Hunters' and Tau-2 'Red Eye.'"

The answer was finally revealed—the Shattered God had betrayed Anna. This was all a trap made by both the Shattered God and the IMF to eliminate Anna.

Anna wanted nothing more than to tear the Shattered God apart, but she couldn't reveal her inner feelings just yet, as she still wanted to use the Shattered God to escape her dire predicament.

"That fusion ritual is nothing. Work with me, and you'll have more than just that!" Anna said.

"Sorry, I can't work with you. I simply have no choice at this point," the Shattered God said, flatly refusing Anna's offer.

"What exactly did the IMF give you? What good will this bring for you? You have no idea just how severe the mistake you've made by doing this to me!"

The Shattered God lowered its head, and its voice grew increasingly somber as it replied, "It brings nothing good for me. The IMF hasn't given me anything in exchange as well. After this, they might even capture me, but it had to be done."

"Are you insane?! Why have you done something that won't bring anything good for you?!" Anna exclaimed. Then, a sharp pain erupted from her heart, forcing her to cough up a mouthful of blood.

The bronze doll was quiet for a long while. Then, deep fear filled its eyes as it exclaimed, "Because I'm scared!"

"What?" Anna muttered weakly in disbelief.

"You summoned that thing! You summoned an existence that was too strong to even gaze upon! It was so mighty that even if I end up gathering all my fragments, I'll still be no match for it!" the Shattered God exclaimed in a quavering voice.

The rivets and screws all over its figures began falling off as it crumbled, seemingly to reflect its tumultuous state of mind.

"That being is far more terrifying than the IMF! I can scarcely imagine what fate would befall me if you somehow managed to summon that existence to Earth! And if there's a god in this world, then it can only be me, the Shattered God!!"

The answer was so absurd that Anna couldn't help but roar, "You sold me out for such a childish reason?! Shouldn't you have at least probed me a little before making such a drastic decision?"

"And that fool would never come to the surface world! If he wanted to come here, then he would have done so a long time ago!" Anna exclaimed, squeezing out the final vestiges of her strength.

The Shattered God wordlessly looked at the weakened Anna. Clearly, it did not believe her at all.

Just then, the bushes and the thickets nearby were pushed aside as the spear-wielding barbarians cautiously walked up to Anna.

Immediately afterward, four laser beams pierced the dense foliage, landing on the vital areas all over Anna. The distant whirring of the helicopters became louder and louder as the IMF rapidly closed in on Anna's location.

Evidently, their swift arrival was due in no small part to the Shattered God. "Sorry, I gave them your coordinates. Actually, I don't think it matters at this point. Your fate has already been sealed."

Anna could feel the searing pain disappearing, and she found herself becoming increasingly sleepy as the seconds went by.

This is bad… Anna struggled to open her eyes and look at the Shattered God on the screen of her phone. "Is my home also being attacked as we speak?"

"That's right," someone else said instead of the Shattered God. A rope descended from above, and a bespectacled man in a white lab coat rappelled down on one hand, landing lightly in front of Anna.

"We've sent two mobile task forces to round up your people there. I'm not sure if that little boy is anything special, but we're going to take him away and study him thoroughly to find out," the bespectacled man said.

"Hahaha… is that so? Then… you'd better… be careful. He's more dangerous… than me..." the deathly pale Anna stammered.

"Thanks for the warning. We will be careful, 315," the bespectacled man replied. A smug look suffused his face as he looked down at the dying Anna.

"Has plunging two sites into chaos made you let your guard down? Did you really think you could challenge the entire IMF by yourself after doing that? So, how does it feel to be dying to your folly?

"The IMF's strength far exceeds what you've seen. Under our watch, no one and nothing can threaten mankind."

Anna's vision was swimming at this point, but her heart was filled with a strong unwillingness to die like this. She still had so much unfinished business. She had imagined dying at some point, but she had never imagined dying like this.

Anna's hand holding the phone dropped powerlessly, and she tapped Tobba's calf with her finger. She could no longer speak, but her gaze was enough for Tobba to know what she wanted him to do.

However, Tobba appeared exceptionally innocent amidst the IMF's encirclement. "Hey, hey, hey, why are you looking at me? What do you want me to do here? I'm just a baby. What can I even do?"

Seeing that Anna was still staring at him, Tobba sighed helplessly and replied, "All right, all right, I'll try my best. I can't guarantee that it'll work, though."

With that, Tobba coughed lightly and looked up, smiling at the bespectacled man.

"Sir, how about we have a little chat? Actually, 315 is pretty easy to talk to. How about we all sit down and talk this over? Is that okay?

"Really, this is all just a misunderstanding. Her goal isn't to annihilate mankind. She just wants to return to where she came from."

Tobba rubbed his hands together, revealing a fawning grin. "How about this? Save her life, and I'll make her tell you everything that she knows. How's that? She knows many things."

Unfortunately, Tobba was given a polished leather shoe as a reward for his incessant chatter. The bespectacled man kicked Tobba away. The latter rolled twice on the ground before stopping.

It was unknown whether he was still alive or not.

The bespectacled man's expression turned to one of disgust as he swept his gaze across Anna and Tobba. "What right do things like you have to talk to us? Tools like you will always be tools. Humans are the sole masters of Earth!"

With that, he stepped up to Anna and squatted down on one knee before reaching out to the black obsidian spear in the latter's chest.

"Sole... masters? Hehe…" Anna moved her facial muscles with great difficulty to sneer at the bespectacled man.

The bespectacled man raised his arm and looked at his watch. "The time is 14:32:47, Anomaly 315 is hereby executed."

As soon as he uttered the final syllable of his sentence, the bespectacled man yanked the spear out of Anna's chest, which had pierced her beating heart.

Anna's eyes widened, and she inhaled sharply as green flames erupted from the ground, engulfing the bespectacled man. The bespectacled man's face distorted in terror, but he couldn't even scream before he crumbled into a pile of ashes.

Anna used the final vestiges of her strength to glare at the members of the IMF's mobile task forces.

"Since you're afraid that I might one day summon Him. Are you not afraid that killing me would force Him to come to the surface world?" Anna asked. Then, she went limp and collapsed to the ground with her pupils dilated.

Anna was dead, but everyone present spoke not a word, afraid that her warning would come true.

One minute later, two minutes later, and three minutes later…

The members of the IMF's mobile task forces finally sighed in relief when nothing happened even after three minutes since Anna's death.

A doctor walked over and confirmed that 315 was truly dead before they stuffed her ice-cold body into a body bag.