Chapter 1070: Zia’s Plan A To Plan C

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Chapter 1070: Zia’s Plan A To Plan C Several hours after the Azothralls kidnapped her, Zia slowly opened her eyes. Athena then briefed her about the current situation—the Azothralls had finally stopped their travel, and at the moment, they were at a spacious cavern, located five miles deep underground. The young lady tried to move her hand, but given the stickiness of the cocoon, breaking free was not an option. ’I now understand what it feels like to be a human dumpling,’ Zia thought before closing her eyes to connect with his demons, whom she had summoned right under her cocoon to observe her surroundings. ’Oh... sh*t.’ She uncontrollably cursed upon realizing that she was currently in the place where a quarter of the Azothralls that accompanied the Artemian Army were gathered together. She was at the very center of them all, making it nearly impossible for her to escape undetected. After scanning her surroundings, Zia then changed her perspective and checked what was happening in Velmusa City. Prince Aurelion was still incensed about her disappearance, while Lucan and the Artemian Ministers were simply waiting until the lockdown was lifted. The atmosphere was tense in the city, and the Dragonkin Army was still searching high and low to find her and the two other succubus princesses, who had disappeared right under their noses. ’Well, then—what to do?’ Zia mused as she returned her consciousness to her body. She thought she would be brought into the Artemian City, where she would be locked up in a cell until Lucan and his subordinates had returned. But by the looks of it, the Artemian Commander had already considered the possibility of the Dragonkin Army going to Cressmont City to search for her whereabouts. Since that was the case, the safest place for her would be deep underground, where the Azothralls could watch over her and keep her safe. ’Let me try something,’ Zia thought as she enacted her plan. With a shout befitting that of a young lady, Zia raised her voice as loud as she could. "I’m hungry!" Zia shouted pitifully. "I want to eat! I want to drink! Someone, help me!" She didn’t know if Lucan had ordered the Azothralls to take good care of her, so she decided to give this initial plan a try and see how they would react. Unfortunately, the Azothralls didn’t react. They might have thought that not being able to eat or drink anything for a day or two wouldn’t pose a problem for their captive. After all, a succubus was stronger than an ordinary human, and they would be able to survive far longer without food or water. ’I guess they have received orders to keep me here and not listen to whatever I’m going to say.’ Zia sighed. ’Since that’s the case, I’ll just go with Plan B.’ Her plan B wasn’t anything special. All she would do was to stop talking entirely. Since she had been shouting for food and water a while ago, the Azothralls might become curious if she suddenly stopped shouting completely. The longer she remained silent, the more they would think that something might be wrong, which was the point of Zia’s Plan B. Lucan and his ministers wouldn’t return for a few days, so she had a few days to test the waters and scheme against the Azothralls. She was also very proficient in playing dead, to the point that she could control her heartbeat to slow down, making it almost impossible to detect. At first, the Azothralls thought she had simply given up, but after a few hours of their captive not saying anything, some of them started to stir. "Do you think she’s alright?" one of the Rank 8 Azothralls, who had been part of the team that kidnapped Zia, asked their leader, the Golden Azothrall. "She won’t die that easily," the Golden Azothrall, who goes by the name Azoh’Karn, replied. Only the Golden Azothralls were given names by the Artemians since they were meant to lead their race under the orders of the Artemian Army. As such, it was important to grant them identities by bestowing them names. At first, Azoh’Karn was calm. But after it extended its senses to the cocoon and didn’t detect any heartbeat coming from their captive, the panic seeped into its bones. This prompted it to immediately tear it open to see if something really happened to the succubus princess whom their commander stated to be a very important prisoner. When Zia finally appeared out in the open, Azoh’Karn pressed its hand on her chest, as if to double-check if her heart was beating or not. Seconds passed, but it failed to detect a single heartbeat. The Golden Azothrall’s anxiety peaked at that moment. Fortunately, half a minute later, it finally detected a subtle, weak heartbeat coming from the young lady, who looked very much like a corpse. Azoh’Karn felt relieved but also worried at the same time. While their captive was indeed still alive, she was barely breathing, which proved that something was wrong with her body. The Golden Azothrall then thought back on their journey. They had certainly protected the cocoon to the best of their abilities. However, since they had to act swiftly, their journey had inevitably been rough. It couldn’t be said for certain that the princess was free of internal injuries, especially since they had no way to check. In any case, this was something beyond Azoh’Karn’s expertise, so he did the only thing he could do—contact Lucan with the communicator on its wrist and report what was happening. When the Artemian Commander learned about Zia’s condition, he immediately ordered that she be taken to the healing pod, which was located at the surface. "I told you that she’s a very delicate girl and to treat her with care," Lucan almost growled as he talked to Azoh’Karn. "Did you not protect her during your return trip?!" "I did," Azoh’Karn replied, not daring to raise its voice. "The cocoon should have been able to protect her from any injuries, even if the journey was a little rough." "Then why is she like that?" Lucan snapped. "Take her to the healing pod now! Her life is more precious than your entire race combined! Make sure that nothing happens to her or else!" Azoh’Karn ended the call and personally took the unconscious girl to the surface. Lucan had already informed the Artemian Researchers, who were more than happy to receive such an excellent, beautiful specimen. "Place her carefully inside the healing pod," the Head Researcher commanded. "After that, you can go back to whatever you are doing." Azoh’Karn obeyed and placed Zia on the healing pod gently. Once she was secured, the lid of the pod closed, and a green liquid was injected into it, which had been formulated to revitalize the life force of anyone who needed healing or recovery. For a brief moment, Azoh’Karn thought he saw a smug smirk on the sleeping beauty’s face. But after a second look, he didn’t find anything suspicious. "Why are you still here?" the Head Researcher asked. "Leave. I don’t want any contamination in the laboratory." "Yes, Sir," Azoh’Karn replied to the researcher, whose strength didn’t even surpass a Rank 5 Monster. However, since they were programmed to obey the orders of the Artemians, he did as he was told by his superior, even though the latter was weaker than it. When the Azothrall finally left and the researchers were busy analyzing Zia’s body to check what was wrong with her, her heart slowly but surely started to beat normally. "Goodness, those Azothralls might have given this young lady a rough treatment." The Head Researcher clicked his tongue. "Her vital signs are improving, which is good." The researchers didn’t find anything irregular about the changes in Zia’s body, believing it was the effect of their technology. Little did they know that the young lady, who was currently inside the healing pod, was planning her next move after her Plan C became a success. Escaping from a bunch of researchers was way easier than escaping a den of Azothralls, which was a threat that the current Zia couldn’t face head-on.

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