The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System- Unknown Location)

(Hidden Lunar Base)

"What a fucking mess," a hoarse voice echoed through the destroyed room.

A hooded man wearing a long black cloak stepped through a hole in the wall opposite to the room's entrance.

What he saw was complete chaos.

There were burning fires scattered across the open space, shattered glass containers with the specimens inside already dead and the most shocking sight of all…

An injured void stage cultivator who was completely motionless.

The hooded man cursed again under his breath as he approached the injured cultivator and placed two fingers on his neck.

Dead.

He had died.

The forensic experts would have to examine the corpse to identify the exact poison that caused his death but regardless… this was a massive loss.

There were only two cultivators in their entire organisation who had reached the void stage so the death of one meant that their maximum combat power had been halved.

"Damn it! Damn it!" the hooded man slammed his fist against the side of his leg in frustration as his eyes swept across the room.

Numerous corpses lay on the ground and parts of their flesh were blackened or burnt from the large explosion that had tore through the laboratory.

Fortunately, the camera inside the room had been transmitting a live feed until the moment the explosion happened.

The hooded man pulled a black tablet from his storage bag and accessed the feed to look over the footage one more time.

Princess Cleo entered the room and proceeded to throw high grade explosives in all directions like a madwoman.

She then encountered the void stage cultivator sent to subdue her and then…

Wait… something wasn't right.

Princess Cleo was not a poison cultivator.

The hooded man furrowed his brows as he watched the princess make a series of hand signs and then unleash a poison manipulation technique.

Cleo's information was well known. She was a mech controller so without a mech all she could perform would be psychic attacks.

Maybe even some basic cultivation techniques but…

That poison attack was definitely not a basic technique. If anything, it looked like an advanced technique that was only taught to third year students.

And the last seconds of footage were also a bit peculiar.

Why would the princess blow herself up without hesitation?

Judging from the source of the explosive… there had been a device implanted in her neck. Did the princess willingly come here to be a suicide bomber?

No…

The hooded man walked over to a certain corner of the room where a pile of ash and some bones could be seen.

The remains of the princess.

He took out a metalloid device from his storage bag and a test tube that contained a single red drop of liquid.

There was a faint sense of suspicion in his heart, and he needed to check to see if his assumption was correct.

The hooded man stuck the tip of the device into one of the bones and then dropped the blood sample into another section of the device.

Bleep! Bleep!

A green light began to blink as the device analysed the two samples of DNA and compared them for similarities.

Bleep! Bleep!

[Analysis Complete!]

[DNA Sample Results: Not Related]

[Genetic Make-up: 50% Human 50% Unknown Species]

"We were tricked…" the hooded man hoarsely growled as he flung the device against a nearby wall in anger.

It shattered into thousands of metalloid pieces as the man had put quite a bit of force into his throw.

He felt nothing but rage in his heart.

This should have been a straightforward plan and instead… everything seemed to have gone horribly wrong.

Their lead geneticist was now dead.

Prince Luke had been informed of his mother's passing and had locked himself in his room and refused to come out.

And to top it all off… PRINCESS CLEO WAS A FAKE!

The hooded man took in several deep breaths and forced down the rage that was bubbling up inside his chest.

Now was not the time for anger… now was the time to be calm and think.

For now, all plans that involved Duke Peterlor would have to be put on hold while they thought of possible countermeasures.

The genetic manipulation experiments still needed to be continued but without the prince's mother… the pace would be greatly reduced.

She was a true genius and those could not easily be replaced.

The hooded figure rubbed the sides of his temples as he felt a headache coming on.

Right now, his first priority should be to get the prince's mentality back on track.

They needed him to oppose his brother Prince Theseus.

The man took one last look at the bones on the ground and then proceeded to kick them with a hateful glint in his eyes.

They would have their revenge.

Princess Cleo would pay for tricking them.

He walked out of the destroyed laboratory and headed for the prince's personal bed chamber that was located a short distance away.

It took the hooded man around twenty minutes to finally navigate his way through a seemingly endless labyrinth of side passageways and corridors.

He eventually arrived at a set of large metalloid doors that were guarded by several heavily armed soldiers.

The site had gone into complete lockdown when the fake princess Cleo had made her escape, and these guards were responsible for the prince's safety.

The hooded man walked past the guards and none of them stopped him.

He approached the large doors and manually inputted in the override code in the access port.

With a hissing noise the metalloid doors swung open, and the interior of a luxurious bedroom could be seen.

The hooded man took a single step inside and winced as an overwhelming stench of cheap liquor assaulted his senses.

Prince Luke was resting on his bed in a state of partial undress. His shit was unbuttoned, and his pants were down by his ankles.

He held a large bottle of wine in one hand that was already opened. His eyes were glassy and unfocused as if he was in a daze.

"My prince…" the hooded man began to speak but was stopped as Prince Luke raised up one finger and shushed him.

"Is the bitch who killed my mother dead?" Prince Luke spat out with barely concealed rage. He took another swig from the wine bottle and proceeded to vomit on the mattress.

He looked like a wreck,

"Yes… she blew herself up…" the hooded man hesitantly replied as he considered whether or not he should tell the prince the truth.

"Good," the prince bluntly replied as he reached for a blanket and wiped away the traces of vomit from his lips.

"Now leave… fuck your plan… I don't care anymore…"

The hooded man let out a heavy sigh as he watched the prince fumble around like a drunken old man.

Prince Luke wobbled off the bed and half-walked and half-staggered to the fridge in the corner of his bedroom.

He opened the fridge and grabbed two more glass bottles. The hooded man could not read the labels on the bottles but judging from the smell…

He could guess what the contents inside were.

If he did nothing, then the prince would drown himself in alcohol and depression.

The hooded man's fingers clenched up into a tight fist as he opened his mouth to tell the prince about the horrible truth.

"My prince… the princess Cleo that you met was a fake," the hooded man softly whispered.

"She had an explosive device implanted in her neck and most likely was sent by the real princess Cleo in order to cause chaos."

"Your sister… the one who was responsible for your mother's death… is still alive."

Prince Luke dropped the bottles that he was holding to the floor where they immediately shattered.

The life slowly began to return to his eyes and a darkness could be seen in the shadow of the bloodthirsty expression that flashed across his face.

Princess Cleo would pay for his mother's death.