23: Concerns and Training

Just after stepping out of the gate and reaching the corner, Erica let out a long sigh of relief, her neck covered in a dense layer of sweat.

"I must hurry and tell Serena and the others about this news."

Despite having just experienced such a thrilling scene, Erica did not stop for a moment; with a sense of urgency, she hurried toward Serena's room.

In the room.

The atmosphere was a bit strange.

Locke was being gripped tightly by Serena; it was obvious that Serena was very confused as to why he had agreed to Kraven's request.

Serena's eyes were wide open, her head tilted back as she stared intensely at Locke, and then she began to question him incessantly, like a machine gun:

"Why did you agree? Can't you see that they are trying to harm you?"

"Those few are all battle-hardened elite warriors; how can you, all by yourself, handle them?"

"Even if you want to save Elder Emilia, you cannot be so reckless."

"That's not it, listen to me first." Locke reached out and pressed his hand on Serena's shoulder.

But Serena, as if she hadn't heard a word he said, continued:

"I know your marksmanship is excellent, but that's five people! Even if I saw Elder Emilia die, I wouldn't want to see you take risks for it."

"In my heart, you are much more important than Elder Emilia, so even if she dies, you must not die."

It was clear that Serena was extremely worried about him.

After all, it was truly rare to see such a cold, icy goddess speak so much with such an anxious expression.

Locke couldn't help but feel moved.

So, he pulled Serena into his arms and smiled helplessly:

"I know you are worried, but you should know me; I will definitely be very careful and will never give them a chance to harm me."

Serena's chest heaved, and she sighed deeply, not taking his words to heart at all:

"At this point, there is only one way."

"Huh? What way?" Locke was a bit confused.

Serena didn't mind his intimate gesture; instead, she placed her hands on his chest, tilted her head up, and looked at him, saying:

"Let's run away together, okay?"

"Let's just leave the Vampire base like this; we can come back for revenge in 100 years when the Elder wakes up."

Because of Locke's situation, she had rarely lost her composure and proposed such a foolish plan.

However, hearing this proposal, the corners of Locke's mouth curled up even more. He shook Serena slightly with his hands and said solemnly:

"Serena, listen to me first, okay?"

"Mmhmm, if you agree, we can leave right now."

Selene, being shaken like that, regained a bit of her composure, then looked steadily at Locke, waiting for his explanation.

Locke, with a confident look on his face, said calmly:

"We don't need to leave. Since I dared to agree to Kraven, I naturally have my plans. If those five really want to kill me, it's not necessarily me who will end up dead."

"But I'm not even sure I could kill those five people simultaneously."

After calming down, Serena, seeing him so confident, couldn't help but show a look of worry.

At this moment, Erica also rushed into the room and joined in trying to persuade him:

"Locke, Serena is right; you have absolutely no need to take this risk."

"There really won't be any risk; just believe me." Locke said helplessly.

Erica walked up to him, also slightly worried: "It's not that I don't believe you, but Kraven just gave those five people a direct order to eliminate you during the upcoming plan..."

"Honestly, I am not afraid of them." Locke helplessly lowered his hands. "How can I make you believe me?"

"I know your marksmanship is excellent." Serena stepped forward again and took his hand. "But if those five are of one mind, you won't be able to kill many at once, and if you are surrounded, then..."

Speaking to this point, she seemed to think of some unacceptable ending, her voice choking up.

Seeing this, Locke gently patted her shoulder: "You two, please have some faith in me, okay? I still have trump cards, and since I already know they want to harm me, I can make full preparations in advance and give them a big surprise when the time comes."

"But..." Even though Locke said this, Serena was still a bit worried.

"Stop with the 'buts'. If we don't want to take any risks, how can we possibly defeat that insidious guy Kraven?"

"Alright." Serena nodded, barely convinced by him.

"I agree to let you go, but for these few days before you go, you must accept my combat training and wear the best bulletproof vest."

"Okay, I agree." Locke naturally wouldn't refuse such a simple request, then he turned his head to look at Erica, who was still leaning against the door with her arms crossed.

"Erica, thank you for bringing us this valuable information; it is very helpful for my upcoming plan. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Erica, seeing the two being lovey-dovey, twitched her mouth unhappily: "This was also voluntary on my part; as long as it helps you, that's fine, but I still don't support you taking on the mission."

"Why?"

"No reason, I just don't want to watch you go to your death."

Erica sighed: "In my opinion, why don't you just sneak away before the mission starts? The world is so big, Kraven won't be able to find you."

Speaking of which, she cast a slightly envious glance at Serena.

"And if you did that, you and Serena could get away from the conflict, fly off together, and live a happy life forever. Wouldn't that be better?"

Locke pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

"We could run, but what about you? Surely Kraven sent you here to monitor me, right? If you let me go, what will happen to you?"

It was true; if possible, he could accept the life Erica described, but that mastermind behind the scenes was clearly lurking and watching him.

He couldn't just run away in such a pathetic manner.

"Me?" Erica hadn't thought about this question; she had only been worried about Locke.

"Yes, you." Locke said with a serious expression: "If we leave, will Kraven let you off?"

Erica was silent for a long moment.

"But that's still better than us all dying together, right?"

Locke took Serena's hand and walked up to Erica, then took her hand as well.

"Both of you, rest assured; the one who will die in the end will definitely be Kraven. I can swear to God, just believe in me."

Seeing him speak so sincerely, although Erica and Serena were somewhat skeptical, they still nodded in agreement.

Serena's eyes flickered.

She agreed on the surface, but in reality, she had already secretly decided in her heart:

If Locke were to be killed by Kraven's people this time, she would absolutely fight Kraven to the death.

Even if it meant perishing together, she would not hesitate.

It was just that she didn't intend to tell Locke this.

And for the next three days, Serena planned to give Locke intensive training to improve his marksmanship and combat skills.