URBAN VILLAIN SYSTEM

Tony’s iron-like grip tightened around the female assassin’s wrist.

She gasped in pain as the translucent poison needle hovered mere inches away from her own throat.

The room was dimly lit, but Tony’s Truth Eye was completely active, tracking every single tremor in her body and the panicked flow of her internal energy.

The lady realized her surprise ambush had completely failed, and the terrifying pressure radiating from Tony’s Early Overlord Warrior realm left her with absolutely no room to escape.

"You have exactly ten seconds to tell me everything before I force this needle down your throat," Tony whispered, his voice incredibly smooth, lazy, and utterly-terrifying. He twisted her arm slightly, forcing her down onto her knees against the hard wooden floor. "Who gave you the duplicate invitation token, and what is the absolute plan for tonight?"

The assassin gritted her teeth, trying to maintain her professional silence, but as the deadly purple tip of the poison needle lightly touched the skin of her neck, her mental defenses completely crumbled under the threat of an agonizing death.

"Wait! I will talk! I will tell you everything!" she stashed, her voice trembling. "It was Academy Master Da Vinci! He knew a stealth attack might fail, so this infiltration was just a backup. His primary plan is much bigger. He is currently mobilizing a massive, public live war against the Clark family!"

Tony’s eyes narrowed into a cold, calculating glare. "A public live war? Explain."

"Da Vinci has gathered all his highest-ranking supporters, several wizard academies, and the Royal Vanguard Army," the assassin confessed rapidly, the words spilling from her lips in absolute panic.

"He is broadcasting the entire march live on the global martial network. They are coming straight to the gates of the Clark estate to publicly demand your immediate arrest for robbing the academy treasury and cheating in the tournament. He wants to put so much public and moral pressure on your family that they will have absolutely no choice but to hand you over to him to avoid a global war. And... and that is not all. Da Vinci even managed to convince Ancestor Long to come out of his secluded cultivation! Ancestor Long is marching with them to ensure the Clark family cannot resist by force!"

Tony let out a low, amused chuckle, his strategic mind instantly filing away this new information.

Ancestor Long was an incredibly powerful, legendary figure in the martial world, and Da Vinci using him meant the academy master was completely desperate to secure the World Tree seeds before the three-day deadline.

Tony dragged the paralyzed assassin across the floor and used his remaining spirit-suppressing ropes to tie her tightly to the massive wooden corner post of his bed, completely sealing her meridian flow so she couldn’t move a single inch.

Just as he finished knotting the final rope, the heavy wooden door of his private chamber swung wide open.

Lily Frost stood in the doorway, her beautiful face pale and her eyes wide with shock. She had grown deeply suspicious of Tony’s long absence from the grand banquet hall and had followed his trail down the quiet corridor, only to overhear the terrifying interrogation from outside the door.

She rushed into the room, her long robes brushing against the floor as she looked at the bound female assassin dressed as a maid, and then at Tony, who was casually wiping his hands with a handkerchief.

"Tony! What in the world is happening here?!" Lily asked, her voice dropping into a frantic, low whisper. "I heard what she said through the door. Is Da Vinci truly bringing a massive coalition army and Ancestor Long to our gates for a public live war? What could you possibly possess that would make an Academy Master go to such extreme, insane lengths?!"

Tony turned around, his signature lazy smirk returning to his face as he looked at his former fiancée. He walked over to his desk, completely relaxed despite the fact that a global crisis was unfolding right outside his window. "It is simple, Lily," Tony said smoothly, his tone full of shameless nonchalance.

"I happen to have something that Da Vinci wants more than his own life. It is a treasure that can break the boundaries of this world, and a greedy hypocrite like him will gladly burn the entire continent to the ground just to lay his hands on it. He wants to use public morality and the threat of Ancestor Long to force my father and ancestor to give me up."

Lily’s heart pounded furiously as she processed his words. She knew Tony was a villain with a highly calculating mind, but she also knew that if the Clark family fell, the political balance of the entire region would collapse, and her own family would eventually be targeted next. More than that, looking at Tony’s calm demeanor, a sudden surge of protective determination filled her chest.

Without a single moment of hesitation, Lily pulled out her premium communication crystal from her spatial ring and immediately dialed her father, the Patriarch of the Frost Family. The crystal flared with a bright blue light before her father’s authoritative voice echoed into the room.

"Father! Listen to me very carefully," Lily commanded sharply, her tone allowing absolutely no room for interruption. "I am currently inside the Clark family estate. Academy Master Da Vinci is launching a massive public live war to destroy the Clark family under false pretenses. He is bringing the Royal Vanguard Army and even Ancestor Long to force an arrest.

This is a massive, historic crisis! I want you to immediately declare a full Frost Family emergency protocol! Mobilize our entire main army, arm all our elders, and send our full military strength to provide absolute, unconditional support to the Clark family right now! We cannot let Da Vinci take over this city!"

Her father was completely stunned on the other end of the line, but hearing the absolute urgency and gravity in his daughter’s voice, he quickly acknowledged the command and cut the connection to assemble his forces.

Lily lowered the crystal, her breathing slightly ragged as she turned back to look at Tony, expecting him to make some lazy joke or mock her for being overly dramatic.

Instead, Tony stepped forward, his lazy expression completely vanishing for a split second, replaced by a genuine, soft look. Before she could even react, Tony reached out, pulled her into his chest, and gave her a warm, firm hug.

"Thanks, Lily," Tony whispered softly against her ear. "I knew I could count on you when the board got chaotic."

Lily completely froze in his arms, her eyes widening in absolute surprise. Her mind went totally blank for a few seconds. Tony was usually shameless, teasing, and emotionally distant, so this sudden, genuine physical affection caught her completely off guard, making her heart skip a beat before she awkwardly patted his back, her cheeks flushing with a slight pink hue.

Meanwhile, deep inside the high observation tower of the inner sanctuary, the Clark family Ancestor, Kent Clark, was standing by the large arched window. He let out a low, cold chuckle as he read the real-time military intelligence reports streaming into his communication array.

Ancestor Kent had lived for centuries, and his brilliant strategic mind had already perfectly expected Da Vinci’s exact plan of using a public live war and moral high grounds to corner them. That was exactly why the Clark family had already launched a massive, devastating counter-offensive defamation attack across the global martial network hours ago.

While Da Vinci was busy mobilizing his wizard armies and setting up his live broadcasts, the Clark family’s massive media and intelligence networks had secretly flooded the martial internet with incredibly high-definition images and secret video recordings.

The title pinned to the top of the network now read: "The Ultimate Hypocrisy: Academy Master Da Vinci’s Secret Midnight Meetings With The Demonic Sea Tribe Exposed!"

The images clearly showed Da Vinci standing on a secluded coastal ridge, shaking hands and exchanging secret scrolls with the high elders of the Demonic Sea Tribe—the absolute public enemies of the human empire.

The Clark family’s articles explicitly detailed how Da Vinci was acting as a treacherous double agent, trying to frame a loyal martial family like the Clarks while secretly selling out the realm’s resources to beastly invaders.

The strategy was an absolute masterpiece of political warfare.

Within an hour, the global martial world completely split into three distinct, warring factions. The first faction consisted of Da Vinci’s die-hard academy supporters and the Imperial Family, who still demanded Tony’s arrest.

The second faction was a massive coalition of the Clark family’s loyal allies, the Frost family, and various independent sects who were absolutely furious at Da Vinci’s apparent betrayal with the sea beasts.

The third faction consisted of large, neutral families who were completely terrified of the chaos and had locked their own borders to watch the situation unfold.

Ancestor Kent stared out at the distant, flashing searchlights of Mumbai, his ancient eyes gleaming with absolute killing intent as the family emergency command arrays hummed at maximum capacity around him.

"You want to play a public game of morality and war, Da Vinci?" Kent murmured coldly into the midnight air. "Let us see who gets buried first when the final curtain rises."

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