Interstellar: Return of the Villain
Chapter 218: Doctor Mystery

Chapter 218: Doctor Mystery

The moment Lyra spotted the ant-people, it clicked—they were the very creatures mentioned in Brian’s files.

Everything about the situation screamed that someone had set them up, but she didn’t have time to dwell on that now.

Below the platform, the ant-people swarmed like a living tidal wave.

The clear blue sky above was suddenly filled with green orbs, which rained down like a violent storm. They sliced through the mass of ant-people, slowing their advance, but only by a bit.

The group atop the platform was frozen, staring in disbelief at the chaotic scene unfolding beneath them.

Then, a chilling sensation crawled down their backs.

Amidst the chaos, Lyra alone danced through the battle with terrifying grace. She wielded twin blades that moved like flowing ribbons, cutting down the ant-people with surgical precision.

One of the creatures spat its venom, but before it could land, a glowing shield appeared around her, deflecting the acidic attack effortlessly.

The shield then morphed into sharp bands of light that sliced through her enemies, leaving a wake of destruction.

Her speed and strength—without even tapping into her powers—left the group in stunned silence.

"What kind of monster is that?" Marty whispered, barely able to contain the fear in his voice.

Strangely enough, his fear of this woman was even greater than his fear of the ant-creatures. Still, a tiny flicker of hope sparked within him. Maybe she could be their way out.

Overhead, small drones buzzed like pesky mosquitoes, capturing every second of Lyra’s fierce battle.

Somewhere far away, in a dim control room, a man in a black metallic mask sat, watching the live feed.

His fingers were gnarled, like old tree roots, and his eyes gleamed with unsettling amusement.

"As always, impressive," he muttered to himself.

Just then, the woman in the footage looked up, her sharp gaze cutting through the air.

"Heh, a little too sharp for her own good."

With that, he flicked off the screen.

At that exact moment, the control room door flew open, and Ivo stumbled in, gasping for air. "Sir...sir! They’re coming to take you!"

The masked man sighed as if dealing with a troublesome child. He pointed one bony finger toward him. "Didn’t you lead them right to me?"

Ivo’s face went pale with terror. "Sir, I didn’t mean to—"

A sharp sound echoed through the room, and a small, perfect hole appeared in Ivo’s chest.

Blood splattered the floor as his lifeless body slumped.

The masked man withdrew his finger, indifferent. "Enough distractions. Time to move."

Outside, back in the forest, Lyra took down yet another drone with frightening accuracy, her strikes growing more desperate.

She was starting to wear down, her breathing ragged from the effort.

Rowena was leaning against a rock with her broken leg, and she bit her lip in frustration. "She’s out of juice," she muttered, hands clenched tightly. She hated being useless in the fight.

Lyra had been giving it her all for nearly thirty minutes, pushing herself to the very edge of her limits. Yet, despite her incredible effort, half of the ant-people remained.

That fragile spark of hope that had briefly ignited in the group was now dimming, replaced by a crushing sense of impending doom.

As Lyra fought, she was forced back to a stone pillar, collapsing against it.

Ryan immediately reached out to her. "Grab my hand, come on!"

If only Lyra could summon her light band, she might’ve escaped. But instead, the green glow vanished from her hands, and she was swallowed by the advancing swarm of ant-people.

Ryan’s face twisted in anger. "What the hell are you doing?!" he screamed.

Then, something changed.

The air shifted, growing thick with moisture. In seconds, it began to freeze, forming dazzling ice crystals in the air.

A biting cold descended on the battlefield, making everyone shiver.

Before anyone could react, the ice spread like raging flood.

Razor-sharp spikes of blood-stained ice pierced through the ant-people, turning them into grotesque statues, their bodies frozen mid-motion. All except the queen, who writhed in fear at the center of the battlefield.

The cold continued to creep over the scene, its chilling tendrils making the survivors on the platform shake uncontrollably.

"Are we... actually safe?" Bruce stammered, tears welling in his eyes.

Just moments ago, they’d all believed they were as good as dead. Yet somehow, against all odds, Lyra had saved them from the jaws of certain doom.

The group stood frozen at the doorway, still reeling from what they had just witnessed.

None of them dared to make eye contact with Lyra, afraid of the raw fury that had burned in her eyes moments earlier.

But within seconds, the sword in Lyra’s hand shimmered, retracting into a sleek metallic ball before vanishing into her Space Button.

The change in her demeanor was just as swift—cold and collected, as if nothing had happened.

Ryan snapped out of his shock and quickly started barking orders, directing the team to handle Ivo’s body and gather any remaining evidence from the scene.

To their surprise, everything was still there. Nothing had been destroyed or wiped—experimental logs, the origins of the test subjects, and even the names of the financial backers funding this hellish operation.

It was all laid out in meticulous detail, almost too convenient. The more they uncovered, the heavier their mood became. They exchanged uneasy glances; each new revelation tugged them deeper into a web far more sinister than they’d anticipated.

Now and then, someone would steal a glance at Lyra, curious about how she was handling all of this. But she remained disturbingly calm, almost as if she’d expected it.

It was as though everything, from the experiments to the funding, had been set up for her to find. And every trail led back to one name: Ansel.

The breadcrumbs seemed too deliberate, as if he had left them for her like a twisted game of cat and mouse.

Without missing a beat, Lyra copied the entire data set and stored it safely in her Space Button.

The team worked to secure the area, preparing for the Alliance Investigation Bureau and the oversight department to arrive. Soon enough, the gravity of the discovery reached the highest ranks, forcing them to oversee the entire operation personally.

Lyra leaned casually against the doorway, her eyes following the workers as they carefully transferred the glass columns holding the monstrous test subjects.

Her mind drifted, pondering Ansel. ’How must he feel now?’

Years ago, he had turned his back on his own family for the greater good. Yet, here he was, his name now entangled with imperial spies and black-market experiments.

The irony was thick—funny even—and it gnawed at her, though she showed no sign of it on the surface.

The mission had come at a high cost. The Special Force had taken heavy casualties. Many were so severely injured that they couldn’t return to Elden Prime anytime soon.

For now, the survivors were stationed on the satellite, allowing their wounds to heal.

With Wolf dead, Ryan was forced to maintain some semblance of order. But despite his role, he knew better than to try to control Lyra. He had seen firsthand how she had executed Wolf without hesitation, her ruthlessness chilling him to the bone.

Ryan feared her—he feared how she erased anything in her way, human or otherwise.

What surprised him most, though, was how cooperative Lyra had been since the mission ended. She followed orders without a single complaint, never stepping out of line.

Ryan couldn’t quite understand it, but he felt relieved for her unexpected compliance.

Just as Lyra was beginning to settle into a fragile routine, trying to recover from the chaos, a shocking piece of news hit her: a level-nine strength-enhancing plant was going up for auction on Macraite.