When Arabella charged into the layers of encirclement, she finally understood why Raven had triggered the distress signal.
Pujivang was a mountainous country, with steep mountains and houses built against the cliffs.
People often walk from the lower areas, and when they emerge from the mountains, they are already at a higher elevation.
It was precisely because of this treacherous and complex terrain that Arabella had chosen it as the site for her final transaction.
If there were a police raid, she could rely on the terrain to facilitate her escape.
However, this time, simple escape wouldn't work. Layers upon layers of sentries, increasingly tighter security perimeters, had completely locked down the area.
The flare that had just been launched was intentionally thrown by Raven to draw the police's attention.
They were not in that position.
Arabella's reputation as the strongest solo operative wasn't just due to her long-range sniping ability.
Her agility and reflexes had always been in peak condition.
In her early years, Vincent had beaten her for several years as a form of training. She had darted, dodged, climbed, and leapt through the steep mountains with speed and strength.
Later, the Ackerley tried to kill Vincent by trapping her in the mountains, sending men to spray gunfire at her every day.
From being injured to recovering, and ultimately to turning the tables with a counterattack, she spent over a year honing skills—learning to distinguish the sounds of firearms, voices, footsteps, and mastering various survival tactics in the wild.
In the long and bloody years, she honed her survival skills, so it was not easy for her to be killed.
The area was vast, with many encirclements. She spent a long time identifying the footsteps, relying on her ability to distinguish the sounds of the walkie-talkie to bypass layer after layer of the blockade.
In the end, she found Raven in a cave between two mountains.
Raven was merely a little disheveled, but he was not injured.
This time, she had selected twenty skilled men, and now only eleven remained.
As for Taras's men, they had long disappeared without a trace.
This was something she had anticipated—her partnership with Taras was just temporary. When the boat capsized, the people left, which was completely normal.
"Master Unknown!"
When everyone saw Arabella, they couldn't hide their excitement.
Raven pressed his lips together, still the same silent figure. He slightly lowered his head, his voice filled with frustration as he said, "Master Unknown, it's my fault. I'm useless."
He was tall, broad-shouldered, and long-legged, with a perfectly fit and muscular build. His physique was graceful and flawless, his sense of style impeccable. Walking down the street, he exuded an imposing aura, often mistaken by others as the true boss.
Now, looking dejected, he seemed like a child reflecting on his actions.
At least, in this moment, it wasn't Raven betraying her.
After finding him, Arabella couldn't help but have such thoughts.
Perhaps it was because she truly had no one left that she could trust.
*
Ferdinand had crossed into Kewa with his men two days ago.
He couldn't get in touch with Arabella.
When Arabella carried out her tasks, she never brought any communication systems. She always relied on single-line contact, never using double-line communication to avoid the risk of being eavesdropped on or followed.
All he knew for sure was that Arabella was in one of the four countries.
But the four countries were vast, and Arabella was incredibly secretive in her operations. If she had completed her mission smoothly, she might have already left with her people, leaving him searching like a headless fly.
He could only send people out to gather information across the four countries.
He stayed at the border between Pujivang and Island, waiting for news.
He hadn't expected the news to arrive so quickly.
One of his men, who was gathering information in Pujivang, reported that they had seen a black skull symbol floating in the sky.
His heart skipped a beat, knowing that was a distress signal from Arabella's subordinates.
Immediately, he rushed over with his men.
Sure enough, there was a tight siege, and it was unclear how many police or even military forces had been mobilized.
With just his small group of men, it was impossible to break through.
He couldn't be sure if Arabella was inside.
The distress signal sent to his companions meant that there were definitely more of Arabella's people outside the encirclement.
If Arabella were outside the encirclement, given her cold, ruthless, and vicious nature, it would be only natural that she would have no intention of wasting any effort to rescue the subordinates trapped within.
Unless—someone trapped inside was Raven.
He couldn't say for sure how much Raven meant to Arabella.
He also couldn't be sure whether Arabella would risk going in for the sake of Raven.
If Arabella and her people were inside the encirclement, then there was only one possibility—she had abandoned everyone and gone solo, and the flare was intentionally used to draw the police's attention.
For a moment, Ferdinand hesitated. He didn't know whether he should fight his way through or stay outside and wait for the situation to unfold.
*
What was unexpected was that the police seemed to have pinpointed their location, as if they had locked onto their very position.
In the vast mountains, it wasn't long before they had discovered the cave where Arabella and the others were hiding.
Arabella led her team without retreating, instead charging directly through the encirclement.
She took the lead, holding a submachine gun, sweeping fire.
Her shooting speed and accuracy were exceptional, and after a single sweep, the ground was littered with bodies.
Without a glance back, she tossed the gun to Raven behind her, then, with a blade in hand, leapt directly into the heart of the encircling trap.
Raven and she were perfectly in sync. He fired fiercely from the outer circle, his movements also not to be underestimated. Together, one inside and one outside, they tore open a path.
Danger lurked everywhere, surrounded on all sides.
The number of people had decreased from eleven to six, with those severely injured unable to move, only waiting to die.
Rather than retreating, their advance caught the police in the encirclement off guard.
After breaking through several bomb-proof lines, Arabella and her team suddenly vanished without a trace.
Despite such a brilliant counterattack, things showed no sign of improvement. The police, as though endowed with supernatural vision, immediately and swiftly locked onto the trail of Arabella and her companions.
They retreated back into the valley where they had originally hidden.
It was indeed a clever and strategic move, yet it was still effortlessly seen through by the police.
When Raven was about to lead the team for another fight, Arabella called for a stop.
Arabella stood there, a smile still gracing her lips, but the curve of her mouth tightened, turning the smile into something chilling, with an unmistakable air of coldness.
"Before I arrived, did you ever get discovered while hiding?"
Raven froze for a moment, then immediately understood Arabella's meaning. His face turned pale, and he dropped to his knees, swearing, "Master Unknown, I swear I've never betrayed you."
Arabella waved her hand, her face still smiling, but her words were light yet cold: "It's not your fault, it's mine!"
As her words fell, she tugged at the thin string around her neck, on which hung an unattractive amulet—one that Nicholas had pressed into her hands before she departed.
He had been so concerned when she left, his expression full of sincerity.
She tugged at the amulet, ripping the cloth apart to reveal the most advanced tracker, wrapped in waterproof material.
The tracker was small and delicate, its green light flickering at that moment, like the infernal flames of the underworld, seeking to claim a life.
*
Arabella didn't crush the tracker in a fit of anger. Instead, she calmly instructed Raven: "You all retreat. I'll be right back."
Raven understood. Arabella was using the situation to her advantage, luring away the pursuers.
He immediately waved his hand, leading the remaining people to retreat.
Without a glance back, Arabella leapt into the air, scaling the sheer cliff with ease. Her movements were both agile and powerful as she slipped into a narrow crevice on the other side of the mountain peak.
When she found herself alone, facing the towering mountain, the humiliation of being deceived and hunted down stirred a fierce anger within her.
Reality allowed no room for hesitation. She had sunk too deep into sin, treading a path of blood and corpses, her name notorious, her nature steeped in viciousness.
She wasn't unaware of love and peace, she was just born far from it.
The warmth that Cyrus gave her, after all these years, had faded to nothing but residual warmth.
She thought that Nicholas's incessant chatter might soften her, but little did she know, it was just a steel blade that pierced her heart.
Such a profound realization struck her with both rage and frustration, yet in the very next moment, she had to summon the strength to maintain an invincible stance.
She had to be flawless, standing alone to face the betrayal and deceit as the storm approached.
Climbing to the highest point of the cliff with bare hands, she threw the flashing green locator into a crevice, burying it for good.
When she went back to find Raven and the others, her face had already returned to normal.
No one in this world is innocent.
When she schemed, she naturally allowed others to sharpen their knives against her.
Everyone played their part, according to their own abilities.
Anyone who wanted to take her life must pay an equal price.
Meanwhile, at Arabella's main base, a bloody storm raged as countless armed soldiers launched a strike.
This time, the three countries—Utschs, Rus, and Viskomo—joined forces, launching a two-pronged assault on the two bases where Arabella was absent, determined to eliminate her as the malignant tumor.
When the battle reached its peak, the once impenetrable city gates suddenly opened, throwing the inside into chaos.
Amidst a sky stained crimson, Nicholas stood with a gun in hand, his eyes as brilliant as fireworks, now reflecting the raging flames of artillery. He glanced at the tracker in his hand, a smirk curling at the corner of his lips. "Arabella," he said, "this time, you're finished."
