105: Chapter 105 Appeal Fails

Inside the United Nations, upon hearing Mary's request, the receptionist set down their teacup, picked up the phone, and dialed a number.

The phone rang twice before being answered. The receptionist spoke in a low voice for a few moments, hung up, and looked up, their expression still maintaining a professional, polite smile: "Please wait a moment. The Ball Chief is currently in a meeting, but someone will be here shortly to handle your matter."

Before long, the elevator door behind Mary opened.

Danzo walked out of the elevator, followed by two penguin soldiers.

The matte, gray-black luster of the penguin soldiers' exoskeletons reflected in the light, every scratch looking like an unspoken warning.

The sporadic footsteps and chatter in the lobby vanished almost in an instant.

Peter Parker felt his fingertips begin to tingle, as if his entire body were having some sort of peculiar reaction.

Danzo glanced over, walked straight to the front desk, and asked coldly: "Who was it that wanted to appeal to the Interstellar Court?!"

The receptionist immediately pointed at Mary and the other two.

Danzo came before the three of them and looked down at them: "What are the grounds for your appeal?"

Looking into Danzo's inhuman eyes, Mary forced herself to swallow, then proceeded to describe the whole sequence of events.

"Absurd!" Danzo slammed his cane down heavily. "Chen Mu established the Interstellar Court, not to handle these trivial matters for you!"

His cold, sinister gaze swept over the three of them. Mary froze in place; she felt that the elderly penguin before her exerted even more pressure than that A-Zu had.

Gwen subconsciously gripped Peter Parker's arm, and Peter Parker's back began to break out in cold sweat uncontrollably.

"That's enough. Leave at once." Danzo turned and walked away. The sound of his cane tapping against the marble grew more distant, until the soft click of the elevator door closing swallowed the last remaining echoes.

Peter Parker grabbed Mary's sleeve and gave it a tug. "Team Leader Mary," his voice was extremely low, "we'd better leave quickly! That is the Guga Planet Chief of Staff, Danzo! The news says even the Ball Chief is under his supervision. We should leave immediately!"

The three of them had no choice but to make their way outside the United Nations Building.

The fountain at the entrance was still spraying water, the droplets shattering into a fine mist of light under the sun.

Mary stood in front of the fountain, her chest heaving several times, before she pulled out her phone and started dialing: "Don't worry, I'll call my sister and have her help us tell the Ball Chief."

Before long, the side door of the United Nations was pushed open, and Maya, dressed in formal attire, walked quickly toward them.

Maya wasn't wearing any makeup, her hair was casually tied behind her head, and her steps were hurried, her work ID badge swinging with every stride.

"Sister!" Mary ran two steps toward Maya and waved excitedly.

Maya did not wave back; she practically rushed right up to Mary.

As soon as she stopped, she grabbed both of Mary's shoulders, her gaze instantly sweeping over Mary's entire body.

"Are you hurt?" Maya's voice was urgent. "Where did he touch you?"

She rolled up Mary's sleeve to check her arm, then turned over her palms.

"Sister, I'm fine." Mary felt a bit embarrassed being turned back and forth, but she felt warm inside. "I'm really fine. His eyes just flashed red, and then my classmate pulled me away."

She pointed at Peter Parker, who stiffly raised a hand from a distance.

Maya's hand was still checking the back of her neck, but upon hearing Mary's words, she lowered her hand and looked at Mary with a serious expression: "Do you know that A-Zu is an A-rank Esper?"

"A single full-force strike from him could destroy half of New York. If he really wanted to kill you, it wouldn't even take him a second. How could you still be alive to come here?"

Mary, who had been acting very brave just a moment ago, was scolded by Maya and immediately bit her lip, retorting with a grievance-filled tone: "But he called humans a lower species, and he's selling fake medicine. He's clearly treating humans like fools."

"Enough. Just take it as a lesson learned." Maya interrupted her, smoothing out the wrinkles on the sleeve of Mary's school uniform. "I'll transfer you some money in a bit."

"Sister!" Mary's voice exploded. "This isn't about money! That A-Zu insulted all of humanity!"

"That is not your business!" Maya's volume finally rose. "You are still young; you don't know how dangerous the things involved here are. Even if he insulted humans, you weren't the only one who heard it. No one else did anything, so don't you go sticking your neck out!"

She reached out, wanting to grab Mary's shoulders again, but Mary took a step back.

"Just because no one else is doing anything, does that mean no one should?" Mary's voice also began to rise, but she didn't take a second step back.

"Today he insults us in his shop, and we say nothing. Tomorrow he insults us on television, and we say nothing. The day after, he steps on our heads and insults us; by then, we'll be used to it, and we won't be able to speak up at all!"

"By then, humans will truly have become the lower species he claims we are!!!"

"That still isn't your place to manage!" Maya's voice cut through the sound of the fountain. "Who do you think you are? Are you the Ball Chief? Are you the President? You're just a high school student! You don't even have a driver's license. What right do you have to reason with someone who can destroy half of New York?"

"You're able to stand here and argue with me today because he happens to be in a good mood. What if he's in a bad mood tomorrow? How am I supposed to explain that to our late mom and dad?"

By the last sentence, there was a hint of a sob in Maya's voice. "Mary, listen to me, I don't want anything to happen to you!"

Standing behind them, Peter Parker and Gwen heard this, and both of them stepped back toward the fountain, leaving more space for the sisters in their silence.

Mary looked at her sister's reddened eyes and took a step forward, making up for the step she had retreated earlier.

She placed her fist over her heart and tapped it. "Sister, you are the Ball Chief's personal assistant, the highest-ranking human in the entire Guga Era."

"If even her sister doesn't dare to make an alien apologize, then who else in all of humanity dares to?!"

Maya wiped away a tear, looked into Mary's stubborn eyes, and said in a hoarse voice: "Do you think being the Ball Chief's secretary is something amazing? Sitting in that position, I see things every day that you simply cannot imagine."

"It is precisely because I see so much that I know some things are simply not meant for us to touch."

Maya took a deep breath, suppressing the sob in her voice. "This matter ends here. I'll transfer you another five hundred thousand dollars tonight. Go and relax with your classmates, and stop dealing with those aliens."

"Just do it for me, okay? Mary."

Mary stood in place, looking into her sister's worried eyes, and nodded silently.

Maya let out a sigh of relief, looked at Peter Parker and Gwen behind Mary, and smiled at them in a friendly manner. "Alright, go and play with your classmates! I have another meeting."

Mary turned and left, never noticing that the stubbornness in her eyes had not dissipated.