"Haunted? Aren't you vampires?"

"Yes, but a lot of people did say they saw a little girl last night. We've never seen anything like this before." Amalie followed closely behind Ophelia, holding a heavy business laptop in her hand. "I don't have the energy to care about this, so Casimir is leading the investigation."

"This castle is so old, it's normal for ghosts to appear. Maybe that little girl just wants to play with you." Ophelia caught a glimpse of a small white leg in a blue skirt and cotton socks passing by in the corner. She couldn't help but sigh and reached out to take out a cigarette. "Let's focus on the mission."

"Yes ma'am."

"I didn't mean you, I meant Casimir."

Ophelia turned her head and glanced at Duke Casimir, who was walking behind her on the right. "Are there any changes to the hunting list?"

"Nothing has changed at this time, ma'am. However, as you know, our screening process isn't particularly rigorous. We rely heavily on partner identification information gathered from past business dealings." Unlike Amalie, Casimir, clutching a bag of documents, spoke in a typical, old-fashioned manner. "Prague has made significant efforts to control the situation. Their internal struggle for interests is also fierce, but we can't rule out the possibility that some of their deceased targets have back-ups."

"This kind of thing is hard to avoid. After all, the scope and scale of our operation are so large, and we don't have much time to prepare." Ophelia glanced at her watch. She had carried out assassinations and kidnappings based on lists many times before, but not every time she could devour her target, she was mentally prepared for this situation. "Continue monitoring, and report to me immediately if anything happens."

"That's exactly what I wanted to tell you."

Casimir shook his head. "We've found a new target. He's believed to be the illegitimate son of the Deputy Minister of Transportation. His name is Fratmund. He was previously abroad, but upon receiving the news of his father's death, he flew back to Prague to collect the inheritance. Unfortunately, most of the money had already been taken by us, so Fratmund contacted his father's former colleagues to inquire about the situation, which is how we were alerted."

"Then I guess he discovered his father's dealings with the vampires?"

"It's highly likely. We believe his father must have left behind some documents that we didn't discover at the time." Casimir paused. "Also, he might not be familiar with the recent situation in Prague, otherwise he would have packed up and fled immediately."

"He doesn't really want to avenge his father, does he? What does he want?"

"It's not clear yet."

"Then it seems I have to talk to him, tell me the target location, and then notify Prague and the surveillance personnel on the scene." Ophelia turned and walked towards the garage. She was wearing a dark red Chinese cheongsam today. The black and gold intertwined patterns of the Eastern Dragon wrapped around most of her body from bottom to top. Combined with the pair of high heels, she revealed the softness and sexiness unique to mature women.

"I'll do it right away, ma'am."

Casimir was familiar with the procedure, so he bowed and turned to leave.

"You don't have to follow me anymore, Amari. Forget about that little girl. Go do your job and remember to submit what I want on time." Ophelia dismissed the vampire guards in the garage, took out her combat uniform from the jeep, and began to change on the spot. "Or do you have something else to report?"

"Of course, ma'am."

Lady Amalie stood with her legs together, closed her laptop, and smiled as she admired Ophelia's seductive figure wrapped in the cheongsam. "I was just imagining you wearing this dress in the sun. It must be beautiful. It's a pity that I can't see it with my own eyes."

Ophelia didn't say anything, simply turning back to give her a look before climbing into the jeep and starting the engine. Soon, accompanied by the clatter of electric gears, sunlight filtered through the gaps in the slowly rising heavy door. The woman raised her sunglasses, and the jeep roared to life, skidding onto the ancient cobblestone road of the High Castle.

She turned on the car radio, caressing the little head in her arms while steering with a leisurely expression. Ophelia was the only one in the car; four Hydra soldiers had followed in a separate vehicle from another garage to avoid disturbing their interest.

"Can we get ice cream later?"

Alesha continued to hold Ophelia's chest for a while, then looked up and asked.

"Do you like ice cream so much? Why not try something else?" Ophelia let go of the accelerator and tapped the brake lightly to slow down for the turn. "Prague isn't much to see, really. It's not much different from Bratislava. These ancient European cities are all the same anyway."

"Shall we go to the library?"

"It's not impossible, but you have to wait until I finish my work."

"Okay! Then let's go to the amusement park?"

"...You'd better think it over before telling me."

"Yeah! Then I want ice cream!"

At this moment, the phone in the passenger's handbag rang. Ophelia turned down the volume of the car radio and answered the call with her tentacles: "It's me."

"This is Casimir, ma'am. We've received new intelligence." Duke Casimir's voice came slowly from the other end of the line. "Someone is trying to take away our market share. They just contacted Prague, but the results were not smooth."

"who is it?"

"An antique dealer from Austria. We are still investigating his identity."

Casimir finished speaking and added, "But considering the timing of their intervention was so clever, I think only Hydra could have done it."

"Hydra."

Ophelia couldn't help laughing. "Okay, I understand. Let's leave it at that for now. Keep me informed if there's any new developments."

"Mom, aren't you the Hydra?"

When Alesha saw Ophelia hang up the phone, she looked up at her little face with a well-behaved expression.

"You were bullied and persecuted by your classmates back in school, let alone Hydra? It's a good thing they didn't shoot you in the face." Ophelia touched her face and began to browse through the information about Hydra forces in Central Europe in her memory fragments. "Don't worry about me. I said I would go out with you after I finish my work today. No one can make me break my promise."

She cast her eyes towards the road ahead, and the image of Baron Wolfgang von Strucker emerged in her mind. She currently did not have the ability to collect information about this Hydra high-ranking official, nor did she know whether Hydra's intervention in the Prague situation was related to him.

Be careful.

There was a red light ahead and Ophelia had to stop.

The pace of life in Prague is very slow, so a slight traffic jam can easily make her upset, because the drivers really don't seem to be in a hurry at all, the pedestrians are also very slow, and there are even tourists who stop on the zebra crossing to take pictures when the light is green.

But you can't even honk the horn to urge them on.

Taking her eyes off the lazy traffic policeman on the sidewalk, Ophelia adjusted her sunglasses and turned her attention elsewhere. In places like this, it had become her habit to constantly observe her surroundings. Although her spider sense could always predict danger, Ophelia was also happy to exercise her eyesight.

For example, there was a gray Mercedes-Benz SUV across the lane from me on the left. The man and woman in the front seat didn't look like a couple; the atmosphere was visibly tense. Although the driver had a kind smile on his face, it was probably just a habitual courtesy. He looked a lot like someone I knew...

Much like...

No, they are too similar.

Ophelia tilted her head slightly, her eyes focused on the gray Mercedes-Benz SUV through her sunglasses.

Phil Coulson, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Why is he here?

"Attention everyone, change of destination." Continuing to glance at Coulson, Ophelia activated the intercom buried in her body and called the Hydra soldiers behind her: "Attention everyone, the action plan has changed. I repeat, the action plan has changed. Follow me from now on."

"Roger that, ma'am."

After hanging up the call, the light at the intersection turned green, and traffic began to slow. The gray Mercedes-Benz SUV drove across the street. Ophelia took the opportunity to pull out her phone and called Amalie and Casimir. Then she took the steering wheel and drove the jeep to a parking lot in the city.

The Hydra soldiers drove to a nearby location to avoid any close contact with their boss.

Back in the High Castle, two high-ranking vampires, receiving the order, sprang into action, informing Prague to conceal any traces of their communications and suspend surveillance and all related plans to prevent S.H.I.E.L.D. from becoming aware of the situation. The vampires were well-versed in handling this kind of exposure risk. Based on past experience, the greatest threat undoubtedly came from the Hags; if they could be controlled, nothing would go wrong.

The interior of the jeep was spacious. While changing back into her cheongsam, Ophelia was thinking about the important operations that S.H.I.E.L.D. had recently carried out in Prague. Although Phil Coulson was a key character, his agent level in 1999 was not very high, so it was common for him to carry out some medium-difficulty field work.

It would be best if it wasn't drawn in by recent events.

However, the appearance of SHIELD agents also most likely indicates that Hydra has indeed extended its reach into Prague. Otherwise, Ophelia couldn't think of anything else that would be worthy of SHIELD's presence. If the target is herself, then she really has to admire SHIELD's intelligence gathering capabilities in Europe.

After hiding the necessary weapons and ammunition in her body, Ophelia put on a birdcage veil hat decorated with feathers. Without even taking off her sunglasses, she pulled the little girl Alesha out of the car, left the parking lot from another exit, and walked hand in hand into the ancient streets of Prague's old town.

The floating cloak turned into a one-arm velvet glove, which also matched the style of the cheongsam.

But in this kind of European classical architectural living area, wearing a cheongsam is indeed very eye-catching. Mrs. Viper has a good figure to begin with, and the birdcage veil hat half covers her eyes and nose, making her delicate red lips even more attractive. If she hadn't been holding a little girl, she would probably have been approached by enthusiastic men.

In fact, the first person to get the chance to chat up was the ice cream vendor.

After responding politely, Ophelia glanced at the satisfied Alessa and walked towards the intended destination.

It wasn’t that far anyway.

When the gray Mercedes-Benz SUV appeared in her sight, the woman couldn't help but frown slightly.

The worst-case scenario came true.

What is this thing called?