Ivy stepped forward slowly.

She crouched in front of Siya first.

Compared to Paris, who looked like he would rather die than cooperate, Siya’s expression carried a trace of fear, her composure less steady.

Without a word, Ivy took out an injection.

Inside it... milk.

The moment Siya saw it, her eyes widened in pure horror. She shook her head violently, her body trembling as panic surged through her.

But Ivy didn’t hesitate.

She drove the needle in.

Siya’s body jerked slightly, her eyes squeezing shut as the liquid entered her bloodstream.

Then Ivy turned to Paris.

He struggled at first, his muscles tensing as if he wanted to break free, but after realizing it was useless, he stopped resisting.

Instead, he glared at Ivy with pure hatred, his gaze promising revenge.

Ivy met his stare calmly... then slapped him.

His head snapped to the side, and a thin trail of blood seeped from the corner of his lips.

But it wasn’t red. It was blue.

Ivy paused, her brows lifting slightly as curiosity flickered in her eyes. "Interesting..." she murmured softly.

Paris tried to glare again, but the strength in his gaze quickly faded. His vision blurred, and his body swayed as dizziness overtook him.

Ivy smiled faintly, watching the effect take hold. "Do you know what I just injected into you?" she asked calmly.

Neither of them could respond, but their eyes reflected unease.

"As long as I inject you five more times," she continued, her voice steady, "you’ll enter the same state as them."

She pointed behind her.

Roma and Ferrero lay there, completely motionless, neither alive nor entirely dead.

"A suspended death," Ivy added.

Her tone remained calm, but her eyes carried a chilling certainty.

"I’ve tested it," she went on, almost casually. "On myself first."

Her teammates shifted slightly, uneasy at her words.

"One glass makes me lethargic and harm people around me. Two makes me dizzy. Three... my body starts to convulse. Four..." She paused briefly. "It feels like my soul is about to leave."

Her gaze turned colder.

"And five... is where everything stops."

The silence that followed was heavy.

"I stopped at the edge with them," she said, nodding toward Roma and Ferrero. "Their bodies have already died, but their souls are still trapped. I can feel it."

Then she leaned slightly closer to Siya, her voice lowering.

"If you don’t want to end up like that... you’d better start talking."

Siya’s breathing grew uneven. Fear flickered in her eyes, battling against her pride.

"You will answer everything," Ivy continued. "How you hid yourselves... why you appeared... everything. And don’t lie."

She gestured lightly toward Martha.

"My friend can tell when you’re lying."

Siya froze.

Her instincts screamed at her to refuse, to remain silent, but the memory of that injection, the creeping dizziness, and the sight of Roma’s lifeless body shattered her resolve.

’I fought this long just to survive... I can’t die now...’

Gritting her teeth, she made her decision.

’Even if I tell them... it won’t matter. Our kind will still take over this planet.’

Her gaze darkened as she looked at Ivy.

Without speaking yet, she gave a small nod.

Ivy, however, suddenly relaxed.

She sat down casually.

The others blinked in confusion before following suit.

With a flick of her hand, packets of instant noodles appeared in everyone’s hands.

Ivy herself pulled out a box of popcorn, tossing a piece into her mouth as if this were nothing more than entertainment.

"Alright," she said lightly, looking at Siya. "Let’s start simple. Where did you come from?"

Siya stared at her, momentarily speechless. ’Is she... seriously treating this like a show?’

After a pause, she finally answered, her voice low. "We arrived through a portal."

Martha immediately nodded. "She’s telling the truth."

Hearing that, Siya’s expression changed slightly. Now she knew for certain... Martha could indeed distinguish truth from lies.

Ivy leaned forward slightly, resting her chin on her hand.

"Then how did you open it?" she asked. "And what are the conditions? Can more of your kind come through?"

Though her tone was casual, her eyes were sharp.

"So more of you can come from the portal," she murmured.

Siya hesitated for a moment before answering, "To open a portal... a superior being must sacrifice their inner cultivation."

The group fell silent.

"At least a hundred years’ worth," she continued. "Even for someone who has lived for a thousand years... that’s a massive cost."

Ivy’s eyes narrowed slightly.

But Siya wasn’t done.

"That alone isn’t enough," she added. "Another hundred years of lifespan is consumed in the process."

A faint, bitter smile appeared on her lips.

"That’s why... opening a portal isn’t something we can do freely."

Ivy heaved a slow sigh of relief as she heard Siya’s answer.

’At least we are safe... for now,’ Ivy thought, though she did not let her guard down.

Instead of rushing forward recklessly, she turned her gaze toward Paris beside Siya.

Her eyes narrowed,

"What exactly is the relationship between you and Paris?"

For a brief moment, a flicker of something...panic, hesitation, or perhaps fear...flashed across Siya’s eyes before it disappeared just as quickly.

She lifted her chin slightly, forcing a nonchalant expression onto her face as she replied, "We’re just friends."

’Just friends?’ Ivy repeated inwardly.

Her gaze sharpened as she pressed further, "Is he your soulmate? "

Siya’s pupils shrank ever so slightly, and she instinctively looked at Ivy in surprise.

The concept of a soulmate was not foreign to her, yet the meanings differed vastly between the human world and theirs.

In the human world, soulmates were nothing more than a hopeful guess, something discovered through endless trial and error, with no certainty even at the end of a lifetime.

But in their world... it was absolute.

The moment one met their soulmate, there would be no doubt, no confusion...only an undeniable resonance that could not be mistaken.

’She knows about this...?’ Siya’s thoughts wavered.

Her heartbeat quickened.