The contract Helena signed with Bai Qi was indeed genuine, and the mention of being notarized by the world's essence was also true. However, the world's essence here was divided into two types: righteous energy and dark energy. Bai Qi's contract was notarized by dark energy.
Given Bai Qi's relationship with dark energy, any penalties could be erased with a mere thought, just as it happened now. The moment the contract was signed, the dark energy mother immediately erased the contract's mark on Bai Qi.
What was originally a two-way contract, through Bai Qi's manipulation, became a one-way contract useful only to Helena.
However, Bai Qi had no intention of playing dirty in this transaction. The contract itself was something Bai Qi had just created, and he wasn't entirely clear about its effects, which was why he used Helena as a test subject.
"Alright, the contract is signed, now give me what I want."
Helena no longer paid attention to the mark on her hand, impatiently demanding the information she needed from Bai Qi.
"Of course, we demons are always true to our word."
With that, he waved his hand, and a dark shadow ninja, hidden in the shadows, handed Helena the scroll containing Mandralla's whereabouts.
Taking the scroll from the ninja, Helena thought to herself, "Demons are so troublesome, even selling information requires so many tricks."
Despite her thoughts, her actions were swift. She opened the scroll, confirmed the contents were correct, and without even saying goodbye, turned to leave. However, Bai Qi called out to her.
"Don't be in such a hurry."
Bai Qi took out a signal flare gun and threw it to Helena.
"What does this mean?"
Looking at the signal flare gun in her hand, Helena was bewildered. She looked around; it was just an ordinary signal flare gun. Why would he give her this?
Bai Qi said, "You might not be able to take down Mandralla alone. If you need help, use this signal flare gun, and I will intervene. Of course, there are conditions."
Helena looked at the signal flare gun in her hand and then at Bai Qi's smug expression. She really wanted to throw it back at him, but she reconsidered. She tucked the signal flare gun into her waist and quickly left.
"What an impolite little brat."
Watching Helena disappear, Bai Qi was not angry but instead grinned with satisfaction.
Although the contract only stipulated that Helena would help Bai Qi with three tasks in exchange, this was merely bait. The real show was yet to come.
Bai Qi summoned the dark shadow ninja and said, "Go and tell Anthony that the plan has begun. Helena is heading his way."
That's right, Bai Qi had played a little trick. On one hand, he sold Mandralla's whereabouts to Helena. On the other hand, he had Kravin protect Mandralla. When Helena was losing, she would fire the signal flare gun to summon him. Then, Bai Qi would play the hero saving the damsel, and extract more from Helena. It was a plan with three benefits in one stroke.
The night did not bring silence to the port; in fact, it was even busier than during the day.
The scene shifted to the port of Gotham City. A large number of stevedores were loading tightly sealed wooden crates onto a cargo ship. Although the crates were labeled as toys, anyone with eyes could tell that they certainly didn't contain mere toys.
Looking at the stevedores, each one was more heavily covered than a bank robber, their waists bulging, clearly armed with handguns.
What kind of toys required loading at night, and why would each stevedore be armed?
Not to mention, there was a strict rule that cargo loading was prohibited after 10 PM.
Of course, rules were made by humans, and humans were adaptable. With a little money, the person in charge was quite willing to lend a hand.
"Faster, faster, get the goods moved. If you're slow, the master might just throw you all into the sea."
The leader, with a voice like a duck, kept urging the stevedores, as if he were about to whip them.
No one gave this man, who puffed himself up with undeserved authority, a good look. They only tolerated him out of respect for the boss.
*Boom!*
Just as the foreman was hurrying his men to speed up, a commotion erupted in the distance.
"What's happening now?"
Hearing the noise, the already impatient foreman became even more irritated. However, for safety's sake, he called two burly stevedores to accompany him to investigate.
When the foreman arrived, he discovered that a spotlight had suddenly malfunctioned, causing a forklift to collide with a nearby cargo container.
If it were just that, it wouldn't have been a big deal. After all, it was night work, and minor incidents were normal. But the problem lay with this particular container.
The forklift's tines had pierced the boss's cargo, and a significant amount of the contents had spilled out – a pile of plastic toy models.
On the surface, there seemed to be no issue. But the foreman knew very well that these toys contained items strictly prohibited by the government. If even one was discovered, they would be in jail for years.
And if it were just jail time, it wouldn't be so bad. More importantly, after they were released from prison, he might be the only one left alive in his family.
Thinking of this, the foreman broke out in a cold sweat. But in front of his subordinates, he had to maintain a calm facade, channeling his inner fear into anger and unleashing a barrage of kicks and punches on the man who made the mistake. After venting his frustration, he ordered the mess to be cleaned up. He then took the two men with him to investigate why the spotlight had suddenly gone out.
Just as the foreman reached the tower, a shadow suddenly appeared before him. Before the foreman could react, he was kicked in the abdomen. The unsuspecting foreman rolled down the tower like a ball all the way to the bottom, unconscious.
The two men waiting below, seeing this, knew something was wrong. As they were about to fire a warning shot, two whistling arrows flew towards them, hitting them precisely in the neck. The next second, their vision went black, and their bodies went limp as they collapsed to the ground.
After the two fell, a figure emerged from the darkness – it was the huntress, Helena.
"Mandralla's henchmen, nothing more."
The sudden extinguishing of the spotlight and the forklift crashing into the container were all orchestrated by Helena. Her goal was to lure Mandralla out and then kill him with a crossbow from a distance.
This was the safest method. After killing Mandralla, Helena would disappear immediately, making it efficient and secure.
Unfortunately, this small disturbance did not draw out Mandralla, only a foreman and two subordinates to investigate. There was no choice. Helena had to deal with these insignificant pests first and then find Mandralla again.
"If you won't come out, I'll come find you."
With undisguised killing intent, Helena once again retreated into the darkness, beginning her next plan.