Chapter 257: Malice Hidden Deep Within

(Unova Syndicate- Planet Xerciam Prime)

(Rexanera Sea)

"Watch your step when walking down," Agent 42 yelled out as the group slowly descended down the stairs.

Sophie moved cautiously as several areas of the staircase had been destroyed or damaged during the attack.

Traces of the invaders could be seen everywhere from blaster marks burnt into the railings and the heavy scent of blood permeating the air.

"What... the," one of the passengers exclaimed in shock as he tripped over a piece of rubble.

Fortunately, Agent 98 was walking just behind him and managed to prevent the man from falling over.

It was a quiet journey as every member of the group were lost in their own thoughts.

Even Lily seemed to be influenced by the tense atmosphere as she stayed silent in Sophie's arms.

Sophie shuffled and weaved through the broken sections of the stairway but could not shake the feeling that a pair of eyes were staring at her.

She immediately turned around and spotted an alien in the back of the group constantly watching her location.

He was the only member of the group who wasn't wearing a cloak.

This alien was around six feet in height with a scrawny or almost skeletal-like frame.

His skin was a purplish-black colour and what was particularly noticeable were his overinflated arms that appeared to be genetically modified.

Wait...no.... he wasn't watching her.

Sophie frowned as she realised that the alien's line of sight seemed to be directed at the agent leading the group.

Maybe it was her instincts flaring up, but she could detect an almost visible sense of malice hidden deep within the gaze.

He hadn't noticed that Sophie was watching him.

Sophie turned around and continued walking as if everything was normal.

She did not feel a sense of danger coming from the passenger, so it wasn't worth creating a confrontation as there was no evidence of potential harm.

Still, she made a mental note to always keep a check of his location when travelling together.

It took about seven minutes to reach the fifth floor and the door leading to the hallway had been smashed open.

Agent 42 raised his hand to get the attention of the group and then made an announcement,

"Okay at this point the plan is to split up. I will handle those of you who wish to visit the fifth floor and my colleague will take the rest to the sixth floor."

"It is also important to note that you will only be allowed one hour to handle any business you may have and then we need to head back up to the upper deck."

"Now follow me."

He stepped cautiously through the smashed door and into the open hallway while constantly scanning the surrounding area for any danger.

Sophie followed suit with Lily tightly held in her arms.

They were the only two surviving passengers who had lived on the fifth floor, so the rest of the group were led by the other agent to the next floor.

This floor had not been cleaned up yet and there were still corpses scattered across various locations.

Blood, organ parts and other grisly remains made for a vomit inducing sight and agent 42 could feel his stomach churning when viewing the nasty scenes.

What was truly horrifying was that several of these corpses appeared to have been partially eaten by some kind of ravenous beast.

"Big sister why did you cover my eyes?" Lily whispered softly as Sophie placed a gentle hand over the exposed area of her mask.

"Be good. I'll take it off once we go back to our room," Sophie quietly replied.

She did not want Lily to see such a horrific scene.

It was a strange feeling to witness the aftermath of her rampage and Sophie could not help but feel conflicted.

Part of her should be disgusted at the senselessly slaughter but truthfully Sophie felt nothing resembling guilt.

If anything, there was a feeling of faint disappointment that she hadn't gotten to eat more flesh when the corpses were fresh.

Sophie quickly buried that thought in the back of her mind as now was not the time for reflection.

"What room number are we going to?" Agent 42 asked politely as they moved through the hallway.

"Room 528. I know the way to the room so just wait for me here" Sophie gave a brief reply and then remained silent.

Agent 42 opened his mouth to say a rebuttal but the intimidating aura surrounding Sophie's body caused him to not know what to say.

Truthfully, there were no orders to accompany the passengers directly to their rooms, but accidents could happen without supervision.

Sophie saw the conflicted look on the agent's face but simply walked ahead without looking back.

Agent 42 stepped forward a few steps but eventually halted his footsteps as the overwhelming stench of rotting carcasses proved to be too much.

"Okay I'll wait at the entrance," Agent 42 hurriedly spoke and retreated back to the entrance.

The route to room 528 was identical to the one in Sophie's memories and she confidently strode down the left path until she spotted a side passageway.

This was the place where Sophie had done the most killing and the strong odour of death was particularly heavy.

Several bodies of the invaders piled up in the center of the room and Sophie had to shove the corpses out of the way to get to her cabin.

Inside the cabin was a bit cleaner but there were two corpses inside along with some bloodstains on the bed.

Sophie dragged the bodies out of the room with one hand and tossed them against a nearby wall where they fell with a dull thump.

Fortunately, the door to their room had not been broken during the chaotic events of last night so Sophie was able to activate the lock.

"Big sister can I open my eyes now?" Lily asked curiously.

"Just give me one more minute," Sophie whispered softly and carefully moved her dirty hand away from Lily's body.

Sophie reached into her storage device and pulled out a tiny metalloid sphere with strange etchings engraved around its sides.

She pressed one of the etchings and soon a green light was emitted from an opening in the orb's surface.

This green light scanned the entire area of the room several times before the light stopped being projected.

Sophie always acted with great caution so before letting down her guard, she used a scanning device that could detect any listening bugs or cameras hidden in the immediate area.

Sophie removed her hand from Lily's face and took off the little girl's facial mask.

Lily yawned sleepily and stared at the room with a confused look.

"Big sister... everything so messy!" Lily took a few steps towards the bloodied sheets, but Sophie pulled her away.

"This mess was created due to the attack last night," Sophie stated truthfully.

"Right now, there are several bad guys who may want to hurt you so your big sister may need to mess up more rooms in the future."

"Hmmm," Lily hummed thoughtfully as she processed what Sophie just said.

Actually, Lily was not as innocent or naive as Sophie believed as how could a future heir to a high noble house not know what those stains were.

House Blackait had tested the cultivation talent of several potential heirs at the same time before finally choosing Lily as the future head of the household.

Years of non-stop tutoring and training had stolen away Lily's chance to experience a normal childhood.

It was only when experiencing the love and warmth of her big sister Sophie that she felt like a kid again.

"Why don't we take a shower and I'll wash you up," Sophie smiled gently at Lily and held her hand.

"I want a bubble bath!" Lily playfully stuck out her tongue and followed Sophie closely.

The washroom was located at the back of the cabin room and it was just as clean as Sophie remembered.

There weren't any fancy decorations or unusual ornaments inside the washroom but honestly it didn't matter.

Sophie could feel the dried blood sticking to her skin and just wanted to take a shower as soon as possible.

The engine room had been destroyed by the invaders in the attack but the back up generators were still running and provided just enough power to turn on the lights and heating.

Sophie fiddled with several controls and soon a steady stream of hot water begun to flow into an oval shaped container.

"Big sister can you help me take this off?" Lily struggled to remove her shirt, so Sophie walked over and smoothly undressed her.

Sophie had taken a full inventory of what was inside her storage device and had discovered there were bottles of shampoo and body wash inside.

These were placed inside when she was travelling from Zrudread university to planet Gaia all those weeks ago.

Unfortunately, the number of bottles could be counted on one hand, but it was enough to deal with the situation today.

Sophie placed Lily gently in the bathtub and then begun to take off her own clothes.

Sophie was currently wearing a battle-suit that was made from a special memory foam material due to her unique physiology.

There was a small button on the left side of her bodysuit which Sophie pushed lightly.

The material melted off her body and dripped down to the floor where it then squeezed together until a compact rectangle was created.

Sophie glanced at her reflection in the mirror and could not resist giving herself another few looks of admiration.

Thanks to the regular consumption of nutrient vials, Sophie's killer body had not been affected by her time on planet Xerciam Prime.

If anything, her gorgeous figure, two busty mountain peaks and lean but muscular body was only getting more beautiful by the day.

Sophie winked to herself and could not help but think that Cleo was in for a welcome surprise when she returned.

The water of the bathtub had now filled up to the halfway point, so Sophie slipped in and relaxed as she felt the water touch her body.

She could feel the tension in her shoulders leave and the exhaustion from fighting the night before seemed to flow away.

Sophie closed her eyes and took a few minutes to just relax and unwind.

There was about forty-five minutes left before they need to return so Sophie planned on just spending most of the time in the bathtub.

Splash!

Sophie's calm and peaceful state was interrupted by a large wave of water hitting her directly in the face.

"Big sister I got you!" Lily teased as she pushed her hand under the water to make another huge wave.

"Did you?" Sophie sighed and glared at Lily with a strange emotion in her eyes.

Splash!

Lily shrieked as Sophie scooped up a handful of water and dunked it on the head of the little girl without mercy.

"It's war now!" Lily shook her head like a puppy and stared fiercely at Sophie.

Soon one could hear the sounds of happy laughter and playful cries echoing through the empty hallway.