Chapter 423: Lin's Mother
"Oh, Zhen! There's my mother! Come on, I'll introduce you!"
Kathy really hoped Lin wasn't talking about the woman standing in the headquarters' doorway. However, since he literally pointed at her, then began moving towards her… There was no denying…
The Shapeshifter also instantly recognized the similarity in both Lin and the woman.
They both had whitish-silver hair, albeit his mother didn't have black tinges. Their dark blue eyes also somewhat matched, however Lin's was quite a bit darker.
Their faces were also similar, nearly indistinguishably so. The woman was extremely beautiful, and the boy seemed to inherit his mother's feminine features, which made the teenager look younger.
As they got closer to the woman, Kathy's heart raced. She calmly took deep breaths, but it did nothing to help her sudden anxiety.
Eventually, the woman's fierce eyes also landed on her son and the strange man he was dragging along. Kathy expected at least some motherly love in her dark blue gaze, but she only showed resentment and annoyance.
Lin didn't seem to recognize the emotions in his mother's eyes, but Kathy's heart still broke upon seeing this inhumane display.
"Mom! Look, I made a new friend! He asked for directions, and I helped him!"
Suddenly, as Lin addressed his mother, the resentment disappeared from the woman's eyes. Instead, a genuine, proud smile grew on her face, a stark contrast to her previous mood.
"That's amazing Lin!" She said, while taking a step closer to Kathy.
She reached out her hand, and slowly, Kathy grasped it. Her heart continued racing, but she managed to hide her anxiety.
"Nice to meet you, Lin's friend! Thank you for watching out for my son! My name's Xinya, you probably heard of me before, since I'm the head of this operation!… I don't think we've met yet. What brings you to the headquarters?"
Kathy perfectly emulated a surprised, but also stressed, expression. Like someone meeting their boss for the first time. She even made an anxious chuckle while answering Xinya's question.
"M-my name is Zhen, ma-am!… I-I wanted to use the communications building, and since I have only been to the headquarter area once, I wasn't certain about the direction… Luckily, your son provided excellent help!"
Xinya narrowed her eyes, hearing Kathy's words. She glanced at the man suspiciously, looking for signs of a lie. However, Kathy was excellent at mimicking and performing, so her lie went unnoticed.
"Then why didn't you say so, Zhen! I could lead you straight to the communications building!… Come on, let's go!"
Lin reached and tried grabbing Kathy's hand, but Xinya moved quickly and intercepted her child's paw. The boy looked up at his mother, who just gently smiled down at him.
"You don't need to drag him with you. I'm heading to the communications building as well, so we can all go together!… Wouldn't that be nice!"
She smiled and ruffled her son's already unruly hair, but when her gaze landed on Kathy, all the joy left her eyes. Xinya stared at the man, like she was worthless and unworthy even to stand in her proximity.
Kathy, knowing how precarious her position was, just closed her eyes and bowed from the waist.
"Thank you for both your kindness!"
It wasn't easy pretending to be a loyal soldier. She really wanted to refuse Lin's and Xinya's offer, but her lowly position didn't provide such an opportunity. Instead, she had to graciously accept anything her boss demanded.
Xinya didn't even react to Kathy's bow, she just haughtily turned away, while pulling her son along.
However, while Xinya was disrespectful, Lin actually cared about people, and as a Transcended himself, her mother couldn't simply overpower him.
"Mother, that was not nice! Zhen is my friend! You shouldn't look down at others just because you're their leader! Isn't that what you taught me?… You were mean, and I don't want you here!"
Lin shouted angrily, then pointed with his hand towards Xinya. Her mother's dark blue eyes instantly went wide, as two incorporeal, glowing, white ravens appeared on Lin's shoulders.
They both glanced at Xinya curiously, then without hesitating, they took flight. One raven flew around Xinya, the other hit her straight in the chest.
The raven which flew around suddenly turned into sparks of light. While Xinya fell backward, the sparks of light formed a human-sized circle, and opened a portal to some dark place, probably another part of this cavern.
The second raven flew through Xinya's chest and sent her flying right into the portal.
Immediately, after all her body left through the portal, it turned back to light particles, and after a few seconds, nothing remained.
Kathy watched this display in both awe and horror. Lin's power was very impressive, and since her mother can also open portals, it's obvious Lin has that ability too… However, those ravens seemed familiar, too…
"Uh… Thanks for standing up for me, but you should be disrespectful to your mother. She clearly loves you and wants the best for you!"
Lin sighed sadly upon hearing Kathy's words. He began walking with slumped shoulders, and with a clearly worsened mood.
"I know, but sometimes… When she gets so prideful, I just want her to disappear. I never actually send her to dangerous places, and she could open her own portals if needed… I'll apologize later…"
Kathy ruffled the little boy's hair, which instantly turned his frown upside down. They both chuckled, but soon curiosity got the better of the Shapeshifter.
"Lin, I hope this question isn't too personal, but… Do you know your father?"
The boy stumbled in his steps, nearly planting his face into the stone ground. Luckily, Kathy managed to catch him before anything bad happened.
"Thank you, Zhen! Your question surprised me and I didn't look where I step… Anyway, the answer is no. I don't know him nor met him. My mother barely said a few sentences about him… It seemed she hated him, but was also strangely attached to his memory…"
She didn't quite understand the meaning behind the boy's words, however, it seemed he himself didn't fully grasp it either.
Those ravens were awfully familiar, but she didn't jump to any conclusions. Instead, she focused on her current mission: Contact Vicky!
Lin led her to the communications building. Kathy then sent the boy in to check if Tai, the insectoid human, was in there.
Weirdly, Lin didn't ask any questions. He just completed the given task with a wide smile on his face.
"Hmm… Poor boy. He's really love and attention deprived… Maybe we could rescue him and give him a competent family… Anyway, let's focus on the mission. We can decide the details later!"
Kathy stood near the communications building, hiding her face in the shadows. Lin only spent a few minutes inside before rushing with a grin on his face.
"The communications building is mostly empty. Tai and most other technicians are on different bases, fixing the network, so you can freely use some of the holo-screens!"
The tall man nodded with a small, genuine smile. He bent down and patted the kid's hair once more before leaving for the building.
"Thank you, Lin! I won't forget your help today!… Stay good and innocent, for your own sake…"
She only whispered the last sentence, so Lin couldn't hear her. Kathy turned from the waist while walking and waved to the kid, who eagerly waved back.
The Shapeshifter was a master of lies and disguises, so hiding the sorrow in her heart behind a fake smile was easy.
Kathy felt awful for Xinya's kid, but she didn't have much choice… This and every other base needed to fall before they could strike any Antarctican city-states.
The people working inside the communications building barely paid attention to Kathy walking through corridors.
It took a while, but eventually, she found an empty room with working holo-screens. They were all seemingly connected to a private network, but luckily Kathy knew a workaround.
"Thank the Goddess, James spent time and taught us how to do basic networking. I could barely use my own watch, or the tv's remote… I would be really fucked without that knowledge!"
She quickly made a different network, connecting straight to Vicky's watch. Kathy sent a simple message through the network: "Three".
A long time ago, Henry made up this simple code system. Each number from one-to-five had a complex meaning behind it.
For example, 'three' meant: Everyone participating in the mission is fine, but we're stuck deep within enemy territory and requesting emergency EVAC!
However, the enemy wouldn't know this meaning behind the word 'three'. Even if they notice the message sent from their own device through an unknown network, they couldn't decode it before evacuation arrives!
Kathy also made sure not to hide her location, so Vicky should've received the exact coordinates.
"Okay, job's done! Now let's get back to–"
She was about to step away from the holo-screen when something heavy suddenly hit her on the head. The tall man instantly collapsed, and blood began filling her vision.
"Well, well, well. Who do we have here? Why would Zhen, from the logistics department touch any of these holo-screens? He doesn't work here!"
Quickly, Kathy tried scrambling to her feet, but soon she felt a blade cut through her spine, immobilizing her lower half.
A loud scream escaped her lips, and it wasn't masculine the slightest. It was her own voice, pushing through the fake human skin she wore.
A hand grabbed onto Kathy's hair, pulling her head, so she could see eye-to-eye with her enemy.
Before her stood a one meter tall, insect-like man wearing similarly styled hanfu as Xinya.
Two of his four arms countinously typed on the screen with which Kathy sent the message to the Princess. He crossed the other two, creating a humorous image.
"Hmm, pretty good technique, but also sloppy. You should've paid more attention to your surroundings, since now all your harder work became useless… Shapeshifter."