The Spider Queen

Chapter 152: The Delightful Children From Down The Lane

(Planet Calypso)

(City of Trinidad- The Slums)

Two days had passed since Sophie and Cleo had moved into their new home and life was going just as well as could be expected.

The streets smelled like shit, the neighbours were all murderous cutthroats, Cleo had been hit on seven times by the street prostitutes even with a face full of hideous pus-filled boils and Sophie had gained the reputation of being a mad beast. 

This was to be expected as she had intentionally sent Cleo to pay information agencies to spread various rumors about her sick, twisted appearance and madness induced bloodlust.

Well if there was one positive about this whole ordeal…. the weather was quite nice.

Concerning the mission, there still had not been a significant breakthrough as neither girl was any closer to figuring out how to gain access to the inner-city area.

Long John Daggers must be one of the most lowkey pirates on planet Calypso as almost none of the tavern owners had even heard of the guy despite his file showing that he frequented bars in the outer area often.

Today’s goal was to enter the slave market areas and try to rescue as many captives as possible. 

Sophie was not naive enough to think that her and Cleo alone could destroy the different organizations and free all the slaves.

Firstly, because they lacked the power to kill everyone in charge as well as defeating the Blackguards that would certainly rush over once they heard any commotion.

Secondly…. it would not solve the issue and only be a temporary relief.

As long as planet Calypso continued to exist, then new slave trade organizations would simply replace the old ones.

The plan was to use her monster persona to buy as many young slaves as possible under the disguise of experimental material.

Cleo had brought with them a portable teleporter with a direct link to their starship so the newly bought slaves would be beamed up.

The ship had enough dehydrated food and nutrient vials to last for an extended period of time so they would be fine for the few weeks.

Sophie’s pointed ears suddenly perked up as she heard a soft, milky voice talking,

“Excuse me sir, may I have some food?” 

A small boy no older than nine or ten was holding a metal pan and approaching a middle aged gentleman while begging for something to eat.

This was the harsh reality of those who lived in the slums, the origins of these children were unclear as some were brought to the planet while others had been raised here their whole lives.

It was a hard life for these children and very few would grow up safely to reach adulthood. This especially true for the boys and girls who were slightly cute. 

No one would be concerned about the disappearance of these kids, so they were a prime target for sexual predators and those with dark desires.

Sophie felt an uncomfortable twinge of guilt as she wanted nothing more than to step forward and give the boy some money or supplies but that would break her disguise.

Fortunately, the older gentleman who saw the tiny beggar was clearly a man with good character as he pulled out some dry rations and placed them into the pan.

“Why don’t you share these with some of your friends,” the man smiled and went on his merry way.

“That’s sweet,” Sophie muttered to herself as a trace of a smile graced her lips.

Perhaps even in the darkest and lowest points of humanity, there was still compassion and kindness that flourished. 

The boy waved goodbye to the kind old man and headed towards one of the side roads to meet up with the rest of his companions.

There were about seven of them in total with the average age being somewhere between pre-teen and early teenhood.

Sophie kept a casual eye on the boy to make sure that no one would be tempted to hurt him for those scraps of food.

It was a relief to see him reach his friends without any trouble and he immediately broke the food into smaller pieces and passed them around.

Thump! Thump!

Sophie clenched her chest in pain as her heart slowly began to race. 

She stood still for a moment as an uncomfortable feeling of bloodlust swelled up.

Thump! Thump!

Sophie’s eyes gradually shifted from a golden hue to a dark crimson shade of blood red. The world in her vision turned into one with different shades of inverted and messed up colours.

The children who seemed so innocent and adorable were now completely black with each child having a small blue mass implanted in their lower spine.

Sophie’s pupils dilated as she tried to get a closer look at this mysterious organ. 

This blue mass was pulsating like a heart, but thick slimy tendrils were spreading from its body and directly connecting to the brain of each child.

Suddenly, each of the blue masses started to vibrate and the children turned their heads around, but something was terribly wrong.

Their movements were…… jerky and uncoordinated as if they were no more than puppets dancing to the tunes of strings.

Sophie could feel her fangs slowly protruding out of her mouth as acidic saliva dripped onto the ground and burnt small holes in the cheap road material.

Cleo was feeling a bit confused when Sophie had stopped in the middle of the road but followed her line of sight until she also saw the children.

At first glance, they simply looked like ordinary street urchins with thin physiques, tattered clothes, and grime over their faces.

Without warning, the kids dashed away from the pair and immediately disappeared into the darkness of the slums.

Sophie clenched her fists tightly and had to take a few deep breaths before her hunting mode finally calmed down.

She resumed her appearance of a lumbering oaf when the sweet voice of Cleo entered her mind via the mental link.

Cleo: (Something wrong?)

Sophie: (Those kids triggered some kind of instinct in me…. I had the urge to rip out and consume the blue organ inside them)

Sophie: (I don’t know what it was, but I could tell that it was afraid of me)

Cleo: (Blue organ?)

Sophie: (I’ll talk later once we reach the house)

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Little did Sophie know that she would be seeing those lovely children again very soon.