She is a natural disaster.

Chapter 72 The Mob

The night sky was dark, with rolling, low-hanging clouds.

Longkinswit's carriage left the manor and moved slowly along the shimmering, still river.

Soon, the carriage stopped at the edge of a grove of trees, and the swaying lantern illuminated a narrow path that gradually disappeared into the depths of the woods.

Lonkins got out of the car, took a kerosene lamp, and walked into the woods, heading deeper along the path. Dulles followed silently behind him, not daring to make a sound.

After walking for only two or three minutes, Lonkins and Dulles arrived at an open space. In the center of the open space, a campfire was burning, and the flickering firelight illuminated a group of silent Transcendents, each with a serious expression.

"lady."

Lonkinswit looked at the only white-haired old woman in the crowd.

The white-haired old woman wore a long, Milo blue dress, revealing an exquisite white crepe lining.

The old woman's style of dress was very flamboyant and colorful, and quite inappropriate for her age; it was rather overly glamorous.

"Little Longjin, the Montagu family brat actually let you come back," the white-haired old woman said, her voice slightly hoarse.

"Yes, madam." Mr. Lonkinswit's attitude was very respectful. "Bill Montague knew I wouldn't let it go so easily, so he didn't choose to attack me directly. He wanted to wipe us all out."

"I can see that," the old woman said, glancing at the trembling Dulles. "They injured Dulles, but they still let you go."

"It was Anastasia Angel," Lonkinswit said. "She injured Dulles with just one move."

"Is that the little girl you mentioned to me?" The old woman chuckled. "Gloria hasn't had such an interesting young person in a long time."

At that moment, the old woman smiled and waved to Dulles.

Her smile brought out the fine lines around her eyes and the deep grooves at the corners of her lips, making her look very kind.

Dejected Dulles dared not refuse the old woman's call; he did not hesitate for a moment and had to hurry forward.

The old woman sat on the moss-covered tree stump, looking at Dulles with a kind expression, and said to Lonkins, "Little Lonkins, you don't need to blame Dulles, it's not his fault."

"Yes, madam," said Lonkinswit, behaving with great humility and respect in front of the old woman.

Snapped!

With a sharp crack, the old woman gave Dulles a resounding slap across the face.

The old woman's movements were slow, as if she were just casually waving her hand, but Dulles didn't dare to dodge at all.

Snapped!

With another sharp crack, the old woman swung her hand again, and Dulles received another slap.

The old woman sat steadily on the tree stump, her upper body not leaning forward at all, and her arm swings were not large, because she knew Dulles would not dare to dodge.

"Good deeds should be rewarded, and bad deeds should be punished," the old woman said. "Dulles, you have disappointed me greatly, very much. Perhaps I shouldn't have saved you in the first place."

The old woman's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable authority. Her figure wasn't particularly tall, yet it seemed to cast a huge shadow over the surroundings, causing all the Transcendents around the campfire to fall silent in fear.

"I've heard that people become brave once they know shame, and I hope you are too," the old woman continued. Her tone and expression were kind, and she looked no different from any other old woman except for a sweater and knitting needles.

"Yes, madam," Dulles said tremblingly, "I will raze Montagu Estate to the ground."

Although Dulles feared Lonkinswitter like a tiger, he dared to speak up for himself in front of Lonkinswitter, and even find excuses to shift the blame.

But when faced with the kind and gentle old woman, Dulles dared not make any excuses for himself, because he knew very well that the old woman in front of him was only kind on the surface, but in reality she was a ruthless killer.

"Calvin, come here." The old woman beckoned to another person.

Calvin, whose name was called, immediately came over. He looked to be around forty years old and had a kind face.

Longkinswitter has always relied on four people as his most trusted subordinates, but now only Calvin and Dulles remain.

"Let's go." The old woman stood up with Calvin's help. "Let this old woman go and meet that young girl."

"It's our fault for being useless, that we have to trouble you, Madam, to come in person," said Calvin, whose honest-looking face made his compliment sound particularly sincere.

"You little rascal, all you do is spout this useless nonsense," the old woman chuckled, without a hint of reproach in her words.

Dulles, standing respectfully to the side, showed no outward expression, but inwardly he was filled with bitterness and despair. After tonight, there would be no place for him beside Lonkinswit.

"Little Longjin, you stay here—"

The white-haired old woman thought for a moment, then said, "Never mind, you should go back first."

What follows is a battle between transcendents, which is beyond Lonkinswit's ability to participate in; staying would only be a burden.

"Yes, madam." Lonkinswait did not refuse the old woman's kindness; without her support, he would not be where he is today.

Soon, led by the white-haired old woman, the group of transcendents quickly walked out of the woods and headed towards the Montagu Manor under the cover of night.

Meanwhile, Mr. Stone on the other side successfully reunited with his reinforcements.

On the same banks of the Quiet River, deep in the same woods, in the same clearing where a campfire is lit, the Bureau of Anomalies' style is completely different from that of Lonkinswit.

With the white-haired old woman in charge, the Superhumans under Lonkinswit's command were as quiet as chickens, while the Bureau of Abnormal Investigations was doing all sorts of things: some were riding on trees, some were slumped under trees, some were drinking heavily, and some were shouting and yelling.

In comparison, the Beyonders under Lonkinswit's command seem more like an official agency, while the combat squads on the Anomaly Investigation Bureau's side seem like a rabble.

However, the Bureau of Anomalies clearly had more personnel than Lonkinswit's side.

Although these investigators made a lot of fools and were all very capable, they kept to themselves and only stayed with their own team members.

Seeing Mr. Stone and Iris Warren walk into the open space, the investigators went about their business without much comment. Only the team leaders came over and surrounded Mr. Stone.

"Mr. Stone, what's the situation? Are they going to fight?" a man who looked to be in his thirties or forties asked.

"We must fight, and immediately," Mr. Stone said in a deep voice.

As soon as he finished speaking, the captains surrounding Mr. Stone immediately became excited, as the pay for combat missions was much higher than that for accompanying Stone to negotiations.

As for how to save face for the Bureau of Abnormal Investigations, the team leaders and investigators didn't care much. They weren't high-ranking members of the bureau, so why should they think so much? Did they want to climb the ranks?

"Mr. Stone, you seem to have something on your mind," the middle-aged captain asked.

"Bill Montague seems to be hiding something significant," Mr. Stone said slowly. "I have a very bad feeling about this."

"Anastasia Angel?" the middle-aged captain asked, then looked at Warren and asked, "Iris, you should have seen her. How was it?"

Before Iris Warren could speak, Mr. Stone said, "Angel injured Dulles, one of Lonkinswit's men, with a single blow. Although it was a sneak attack, her strength exceeded our previous estimates."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged captain frowned; he trusted Mr. Stone's judgment.

"However, Angel shouldn't be Bill Montagu's trump card," Mr. Stone continued. "After all, she's an outsider."

Mr. Stone's analysis is correct; Anastasia was indeed an outsider to the Montague family.

From the time she was entrusted with protecting Mike until now, it has only been half a month at most, and she has only spent a week with Bill Montagu. She is not an outsider, so who is?

"So what do we do? Should we proceed according to the original plan?" the middle-aged captain asked.

"No rush, let them fight for a while first," Mr. Stone said.

"We can accept it no matter which side has the advantage," the middle-aged captain said. "It will save us a lot of effort."

Let Montague and Lonkinswit fight to the death first. Once they've fought each other to a standstill, the Bureau of Extraordinary Investigations can step in and reap the benefits. This way, they can achieve the goal of armed mediation while minimizing their own losses.

“That’s not the only reason,” Mr. Stone said. “We are now observers, which gives us a better view of the situation, but I’m still very concerned about Bill Montagu’s plans.”

Then, Mr. Stone gave a few more instructions to the captains surrounding him before letting everyone disperse.

The captains, who had dispersed, returned to their teammates and relayed Mr. Stone's instructions one by one. The lazy team members finally became serious and no longer looked like a mob.

Soon, the forest clearing illuminated by the campfire became empty. The various combat squads that had previously hidden there left one after another, either heading to Montagu Manor or to the various intersections leading to the manor. Each squad had a different mission.

Just as the various combat teams of the Bureau of Anomalies were rushing to their combat positions, the Beyonders under Lonkinswit's command had already arrived outside the manor.

Led by Calvin and Dulles, these transcendents tore down the imposing wrought-iron gates and stormed into the empty manor courtyard, heading straight for the honey-colored main building.

Without encountering any obstacles, without the mutated power of a transcendent being, and without the sound of gunfire from ordinary guards, the Montagu Manor was eerily quiet.

Dulles, mingling in the crowd, couldn't help but wonder if Bill Montagu had already taken the opportunity to escape.

It wasn't until the group of Transcendents arrived at the small square in front of the main building that Calvin and Dulles finally saw figures and the enemies they were about to kill.

The head of the group was a tall, thin old butler, with a female butler in her forties standing next to him.

Behind the two butlers stood a few other people. These people didn't look like they were guarding the manor at all; they looked more like unlucky souls who hadn't had a chance to escape.

Some of the people looked like gardeners, holding large pruning shears; the plump woman was probably a cook, wearing an apron and carrying a rolling pin; and there was a woman who looked very young, also wearing an apron, with laundry foam still clinging to her arms.

Can the servants in this manor really protect Montague?

Dulles wasn't the only one puzzled; Calvin and others were too.

Whether it was the two stewards of the manor or the servants in the manor, they were even more of a rabble than the mob.