The Queen Who Fights Back (by Lily Hastings) novel Chapter 141

Chapter 141

The man from overseas, holding two bloody heads in his hands, was none other than Ghost–Hammer.

He wore a grim, hardened expression, like he’d just stepped straight off the battlefield.

The MMS held only that photo–no words, no captions, nothing else.

But Nova instantly caught the message Ghost–Hammer was conveying–even without a single word.

At first glance, the photo looked like some mercenary had casually snapped it while Ghost–Hammer was

locked in battle.

But the way he stood, the number of heads he held, the arrangement of the bodies and severed limbs on the ground–none of it was random.

Ghost–Hammer had actually orchestrated every detail into a Morse code message, using the positions and arrangements to mimic letters, numbers, and punctuation–each element in the shot was a piece of his secret code for her.

The individual characters in the photo, strung together, formed a sequence of Morse code: SK:.–.-.-

The sequence basically meant he’d run into something urgent and couldn’t explain, so he had to break off contact for now.

But for Kiki, Sophia, and Ryan, the photo was just a horrifying mystery–they had no idea about Morse code.

All they saw was the floor littered with corpses and those blood–soaked heads with wide, staring eyes.

In that instant, their hearts lurched with terror!

“Ah!”

Kiki was always playing the sweet girl with guys and acting all bossy around other girls–just your regular student. But she’d never come close to seeing anything this horrifying before.

She jumped back a few steps, shock written all over her face as she stared at Nova, eyes wide in disbelief.

“Where’d you even get such a bloody photo? That’s seriously traumatizing!

“You got that from a guy or something?”

Even now, Kiki still thought it was just some weird prank from a boy…

She guessed that some guy must’ve sent Nova this gruesome pic, which was why Nova had whipped it out to freak everyone the hell out.

There’s no way a regular girl could get her hands on something this messed up herself.

Ryan, Lily, Leo, and even Sophia Rivers were all straight–up freaked out.

What really blew their minds was that Nova wasn’t acting like an average schoolgirl, chatting with her boyfriend or whatever.

No cutesy romance talk at all.

Instead of trading sweet nothings like a normal girl, Nova was handling some hardcore, bloody horror–like it was no big deal.

Seriously, where did she even get a picture like this?

“Wait a sec… Why does that bearded foreign guy in the photo look kinda familiar?”

Sophia kept muttering to herself, too rattled to make sense of it all.

From where Sophia was standing, she couldn’t see the picture clearly; she only caught a brief glimpse of Ghost–Hammer’s profile.

Nova turned off her phone and, with practiced ease, slid it into her pocket.

Ignoring everyone else, she strode ahead without a second glance.

Kiki, still shaken, kept her mouth shut under Nova’s mysterious aura. The whole crew quietly trailed after her.

*****

Evergreen Film Studios was tucked away on the far side of Ravenport, hidden out in the suburbs just past a big mountain. If one kept going, he’d hit Everseren County next door.

It wasn’t exactly a hotshot studio everyone knew about, but thanks to its killer location, a ton of directors still loved filming here.

The whole place sat right under a giant mountain, nestled at its base.

Explosions, cannons, smoky battlefields, guns–nothing was missing at this set.

Except, all that smoke, those blast craters, and the artillery? Totally staged–just movie magic.

The guns were all fakes—no gunpowder inside, totally harmless.

They were standard props, set up just for filming battle scenes.

Crew members milled around everywhere, surrounded by massive rigs and makeshift trailers, with all sorts of heavy gear scattered about.

Tents had been thrown up right where the sunlight hit hardest.

The nameless background extras had it rough; they just stood out in the blazing sun, getting roasted hour after hour.

Those tents were strictly VIP territory–reserved for the big stars and A–listers. Regular extras like them didn’t even get a shot at stepping inside.

“Sophia!”

As Nova followed Sophia and the others into the set, a guy in modern tactical gear came striding over.

He was dressed in modern, tight–fitting clothes, fake rifle slung in hand, radiating an intimidating vibe with bulging muscles and bare arms on full display.

He rushed up to the group and called out to Sophia, who was standing right next to Nova.

He looked about twenty–eight or twenty–nine, his face hard–edged and intimidating.

That must be Sophia’s cousin–the one playing the ruthless mercenary boss in the movie.

Jace.

Jace’s face was streaked with dirt and sweat.

Judging by the getup, they were probably filming one of those epic mercenary–versus–police battles–a full- on action sequence.

“Jace!” Sophia called out playfully, tugging Nova forward.

“This is the friend I wanted you to meet–Nova. Don’t let her appearance fool you; she’s actually badass!

“Trust me, she could probably teach you a thing or two!”

Jace scanned Kiki, Ryan, and the others, then finally settled his gaze on Nova.

When he finally saw Nova’s face, Jace was honestly taken aback.

‘She’s drop–dead gorgeous and has that innocent, soft vibe… She looks like she’d blow away in a strong breeze,’ Jace thought, skeptical.

He kept it to himself, but honestly, he couldn’t hide his disappointment inside.

‘No way this girl could teach me anything. Bet she doesn’t even know what a mercenary really does,‘ he snarked to himself.

Still, Jace forced a smile and greeted Nova, “Hey there!”

“Calluses all over your right index finger, left thumb, middle, ring, and pinky fingers, and the center of both palms,” Nova said, her voice cool and detached.

“Wait, why those spots?

“So you’ve actually handled real firearms a lot, haven’t you?” Nova said coolly.

Nova kept a stone–cold look, totally unfazed by Jace’s friendly grin.

But her calm, detached words made Jace’s heart jump to his throat, just like plunging on a rollercoaster.

“How do you even know that!?” Jace cried out.

He’d studied abroad in Machie when he was younger.

In Machie, where guns are legal and everywhere, he would spend his free time shooting with his foreign friends at the range.

It was that firsthand experience with firearms–far more than the average person had–that made the casting director pick him for the mercenary boss role in the film.

But just by the pattern of calluses on his hands alone, Nova instantly figured out he’d spent a lot of time with real guns.

‘How did she even figure that out?‘ Jace thought, stunned.

That instantly made Jace think of one of his character’s iconic lines from the movie–the mercenary boss:

*“Every move you make, every word you speak, is like a microbe under a microscope. You’re exposed–no way to hide!“*

*“I’m the king of the underworld. You think I can’t see straight through your façade?“*

‘Why does this girl, who can read people like a book, remind me so much of the mercenary boss I’m about to play?‘ Jace wondered, totally thrown.