Munitions Empire

Chapter 2021 - 1884: Frenzied Red

"You’re insane! You’re digging your own grave!" The man slumped to the ground, tears and snot mixing together, staining the clean clothes he once took pride in. At this moment, he had no trace of nobility left. He used all his strength to scream at Sofia, his voice raspy like a broken bellows: "You’ll die! We will all die!"

Sofia glanced at him with disdain, as if she were looking at a dying insect. She casually ran her slender fingers through her flame-like burning red hair, admiring her exquisite makeup in the mirror, as if she hadn’t heard the man’s wailing.

"Who knows?" Her tone was flippant, with a touch of amusement, as if death was nothing but a game to her.

The man struggled in despair, trying to reach for the pills scattered on the Persian carpet. It was his last hope, yet his trembling hands couldn’t muster the strength. He was in anguish, begging with a sob: "Please, Sofia, abandon it! Give up this crazy plan, we can still live in anonymity and start over. Maybe... maybe we can have a different life..."

He knew that once he appeared with Sofia at Tang Mo’s coronation, it meant stepping onto a path of no return. Whether Sofia’s plan succeeded or not, what awaited him was only death.

Black Crow’s toxins had long penetrated his marrow, eroded his body, destroyed his will, making his life a living hell. The excruciating pain followed him like a shadow, tormenting him relentlessly, forcing him to succumb to Sofia’s madness. Beyond the fear of death, what he found unbearable was the torment brought by Black Crow. This pain was more terrifying than death, making him prefer to end his life.

Sofia slowly turned around, looking down at the man on the ground, her eyes full of indifference and disdain: "Give up? If I give up, Sofia is as good as dead. What’s the point of living as a soulless shell?"

In the man’s words, that "we" deeply stung Sofia. She had never considered spending the rest of her life with some useless idiot. To her, living wasn’t the most important thing, and living with trash was even a torment.

In her eyes, this man was as lowly as a maggot, making her feel dirty even for looking at him. Technically, she was his wife, but in reality, she’d never let him touch a single strand of her hair.

Sofia suddenly clenched her fist, her knuckles turning white, trembling slightly from overexertion: "You simply don’t understand!" She uttered word by word, each one squeezed out as if from between her teeth, the sound sharp and abrasive like nails on a chalkboard.

"Revenge!" She paused, taking a deep breath as if trying to inhale all her anger: "Revenge is my only motivation for living!"

She abruptly raised her head, her eyes burning with a fiery madness, like a trapped beast, both desperate and full of power. She approached the man, looking down at him from above, her eyes filled with contempt and disgust: "I must make Tang Mo pay the price!"

She gritted her teeth, each word was filled with deep-seated hatred: "Let him know that I’m the ultimate victor!"

She gently turned around, her hand brushing over the items on the tea table, the delicate porcelain shattering on the floor, making a crisp sound, terrifying the struggling man on the ground.

The high-purity Black Crow Pills from the porcelain jar rolled onto the carpet, their pitch-black color resembling a seductive black hole. The expression on the man lying on the floor became more agonized, he was indeed almost completely losing control.

The man painfully curled up, trembling uncontrollably, his face pale with sweat pouring down like rain. He struggled to get up, but could only weakly roll over the carpet.

"You’re insane!" he shouted hoarsely, his voice crackling with a hint of desperate sobbing.

"You’ve completely lost it! This road is a dead end; it won’t have a good outcome!" He reached out his trembling hand, trying to grab Sofia’s calf, but caught nothing.

Sofia snorted disdainfully, her gaze cold as she looked at him like an ant: "Hmph!"

She turned around, walking step by step towards the window, her attractive bare feet stepping on the soft carpet without making a sound, like the Grim Reaper on the move.

"The reason I failed before," she began slowly, her voice low but full of strength, "was because I wasn’t crazy enough!"

She suddenly turned around, a slash of fierce glint in her eyes: "If I had been more ruthless back then, more decisive..." she paused, taking a deep breath and said in a venting manner: "Tang Mo would have already lost!"

She walked to the window, looking out at the bustling city decorated with festive atmosphere, her thoughts going back to twenty years ago. At that time, Great Tang Group had not yet risen, Tang Mo was just an obscure little blacksmith. If she had poured all of Shireck Consortium’s power, maybe she could have smothered the weak Tang Mo in his cradle. She closed her eyes, her mind flashing with Tang Mo’s youthful face back then and the ambition that sparkled in his eyes.

But, back then, she didn’t have the ability to foresee the future, nor could she take a gamble. Besides, Shireck itself was filled with factions and intrigue, no one would pay attention to an obscure little blacksmith shop. She slowly opened her eyes, a glint of regret and unwillingness flashing within.