At Cheng's boss's hideout, the entire situation had now come under the Secret Admiral's control, and she had apprehended every single thug present there. Harry was still staring intently at the Secret Admiral; perhaps it was love at first sight—Victoria, in the form of the Secret Admiral, had already captured his heart.
"Harry, do one thing—inform the local police about this place. I'll be leaving now, because my work here is finished. By the way, have you managed to find the artifact?" the Secret Admiral asked, looking toward Harry.
But before Harry could reply, Kathrina spoke up from his side."We'll find the artifact ourselves. You came here and helped us—thank you very much for that. But from here on, we'll handle everything. Besides, protecting that artifact is my responsibility," Kathrina said, giving the Secret Admiral a very strange look as she finished.
For the first time, the Secret Admiral's attention shifted toward Kathrina after hearing her words. She carefully looked Kathrina up and down, then asked, "By the way, who are you?"
"My name is Kathrina, and I am the sister of the Security Chief of Olivia Tower. This is my first field operation. Before this, I was in training and handled desk duties," Kathrina replied, trying to keep herself composed.
"Yes, Secret Admiral—and Kathrina is very brave and intelligent as well. Until you arrived here, she somehow managed to handle these people and kept me safe too. But later, those goons took both of us hostage," Harry added, praising Kathrina.
But the Secret Admiral did not find a single word of Kathrina trustworthy. Looking at her, a sense of suspicion began to rise within her, and the very next moment she questioned Kathrina,"But the Security Chief's was murdered late last night by someone spotted as a mysterious girl, entering olivia tower with him. And since he was your brother, you should have stayed there with him. How did you return to duty today itself?"
"Perhaps you are under some misunderstanding," Kathrina replied in her defense. "The police only suspect that girl for now; there is no evidence proving that the massacre at Olivia Tower last night was carried out by her. And I am here because we are taught during training that our duty is more important than our relationships and personal motives. That is why I came here—to obtain the artifact."
Just then, Harry—who had stepped aside to call the police—returned and said,"I've informed the local police. They'll be here shortly."
At that moment, the Secret Admiral began scanning every inch of the place with her divine vision, hoping to find the artifact before anyone else and take it into her possession so she could hand it over to Lysandra. She knew very well that as long as the artifact remained on Earth among humans, the Dark Goddess would continue sending her demons to claim it, putting countless innocent lives in danger.
At this point, Kathrina was badly trapped. She knew that if the artifact fell into the hands of the Secret Admiral—that is, Victoria—she would have to fight her to obtain it. Fighting was not a problem for Kathrina, but her primary objective at the moment was to secure the artifact. And if she failed to do so, it was obvious that the Dark Goddess would kill her.
"What is it, Secret Admiral? What are you looking for?" Kathrina asked, looking toward her.
"I am looking for that artifact. Now that I am already here, I will take the artifact myself and deliver it to its rightful place," the Secret Admiral replied in a slightly stern tone.
At that very moment, several police vehicles arrived at the location, and along with them came many reporters who were eager to take an interview of the Secret Admiral. Just then, the Truth Fairy flew in and settled on the Secret Admiral's shoulder. At this time, she had not made herself invisible, because Victoria had told her that whenever Victoria was in her superhero form, the Truth Fairy could remain visible in front of everyone.
Victoria's parents had also arrived at the scene along with the police.
"Child, thank you so very much. You saved my life that day at Olivia Tower, and today you have saved my company's artifact as well, protecting my company's reputation. I don't even know how to thank you," Allen Stark said as he stepped forward and spoke to the Secret Admiral.
Seeing her father praise her, the Secret Admiral felt very good, and her eyes grew moist. But hiding her tears, she said, "If you wish, you can give me something through which you may thank me—and which will also keep your family safe in the time to come." The Secret Admiral said this while acknowledging Allen Stark.
Hearing the Secret Admiral's words, Allen Stark was slightly taken aback. Then, looking surprised, he said,"My child, what could I possibly give you? If there is anything I have that could be given to a powerful young woman like you, then you may ask me for it without hesitation." Saying this, Allen Stark smiled.
Just then, Allen's wife Olivia—who had been watching the Secret Admiral for quite some time—interrupted,"I feel like I've seen you somewhere before, Secret Admiral. You seem very familiar." Saying this, Olivia began putting pressure on her mind, trying to recall where she had seen the Secret Admiral earlier.
Victoria knew that for a mother, recognizing her child—no matter what form they were in or where they were—was not a difficult thing. So she immediately changed the subject and said,"You must have seen me on television. I came wearing home clothes the other day, that's why." Saying this, the Secret Admiral smiled.
But the Truth Fairy had been staring at Kathrina for a long time, and Kathrina was staring back at the Truth Fairy as well. The Truth Fairy was a being from whom lies could not be hidden, and by merely looking at someone, she could sense their intentions. But strangely enough, while looking at Kathrina, the Truth Fairy could not sense anything about her at all. And this could happen only in one condition—if the person in front was either an angel, a demon, or a fairy herself.
But Kathrina was supposed to be a human, and for this very reason, the Truth Fairy's suspicion began to shift toward her. Kathrina had realized this, and that was why she was continuously staring at the Truth Fairy, trying to hypnotize her. However, because of the Truth Fairy's power, she was unable to do so.
In the midst of the conversation, the Secret Admiral turned toward Allen Stark and said,"Sir, the artifact your company recently discovered is a cursed artifact. A warning about its curse was already written on the box containing it, yet your company's people still removed it from its place and began researching it. As a result, your company was attacked twice, and many people lost their lives. In the time to come, more such attacks may happen on your company and your family. Therefore, it would be better if you allow me to take that artifact away—because money is never more valuable than a human life," the Secret Admiral said in a tone meant to reason with him.
Hearing the Secret Admiral's words, Allen also recalled how Maria and the research team had told him that an ancient language was written on the artifact's box—one that could not be decoded. And ever since the artifact had come into Allen's team's possession, these strange incidents had begun to occur.
"Secret Admiral, you are right. For a moment, I forgot that people's lives are more important than money. You may take the artifact with you," Allen said to the Secret Admiral with a smile.
But hearing Allen's words, Kathrina—who had been trying to hypnotize the Truth Fairy until now—suddenly snapped back to her senses and said to Allen,"Sir, everything is under our control now, and I don't think there will be any further attacks on our people or our office. So handing over the artifact to the Secret Admiral like this—I don't think it's a good idea."
As she said this, Kathrina looked at the Secret Admiral with a very strange expression.
Just then, the Truth Fairy whispered into the Secret Admiral's ear,"Who is this girl, and why aren't any of my powers working on her?"
"Stay calm and avoid her. We need to find the artifact and leave this place quickly," the Secret Admiral whispered back to the Truth Fairy.
When Allen heard Kathrina's words, for the first time he looked at her carefully and, the very next moment, asked,"Who are you?"
Umbraxos had already realized that he could not remain in Kathrina's form for much longer, because the truth could come out at any moment. Still, controlling the situation, he replied,"Sir, I am the sister of your office's Security Team Chief, and today is my first day joining field duty."
"Oh, I see. I'm sorry for your brother's death," Allen said to Kathrina, expressing his condolences for the Chief's demise.
Just then, the Secret Admiral's divine vision fell upon a large cupboard that was lying overturned on the floor, and beneath it, the artifact was trapped. The Secret Admiral signaled the Truth Fairy to bring the box. As soon as the Secret Admiral said it, the Truth Fairy brought the box and handed it to her.
When Kathrina saw this, she flew into a rage. At that very moment, the reporters surrounded the Secret Admiral and began firing questions at her—where she had come from, how she had obtained her powers, and who the small golden fairy with her was.
But at that very moment, Kathrina snatched the box from the Secret Admiral's hands and began running away at full speed.
"Oh my God! What has gotten into this girl now? Truth, hurry—go after her!" the Secret Admiral said to the Truth Fairy.
Immediately, the Truth Fairy took off after Kathrina, who was running toward her vehicle at that moment. Her plan was that after escaping some distance in the car, she would return to her true form, and then from there she would go back to Dark Heaven and hand over the artifact's box to the Dark Goddess. But she did not know that this was not going to be so easy, because the Secret Admiral was not going to let her take the artifact away that easily.
Kathrina's actions had left everyone present there stunned, and Harry was watching her run with eyes wide open—the very person whom he himself had brought here.