Marcellus was targeted in an assassination attempt. As a group of people exited the congressional building, a sniper shot was fired from a great distance—far beyond the effective range. It was clear that the intent wasn't to kill him, but rather to provoke or create chaos. Marcellus, the target of the assassination, remained calm and composed as his bodyguards surrounded him. In contrast, his guards looked tense, their faces full of vigilance.
The congressional building was tall, with no suitable sniper points nearby. Clearly, the building had been designed with the possibility of assassination in mind. Looking around, the only person in the world capable of successfully killing a target from such a distance, beyond the effective range, and with no buildings around, was Arabella. However, the shooter was clearly not Arabella, nor was he even among the top ten martial experts.
Marcellus pushed through the circle of bodyguards, and the captain of the guards hurriedly intervened, "General—"
"Why are you afraid? They can't hit us."
"General, although we've already sent people to capture the suspects, it's better to be cautious."
Marcellus glanced at the captain and slowly replied, "The person's already gone, what's the point of capturing them?"
The captain was somewhat surprised. He thought to himself that from the moment the shot was fired, it only took a few minutes for the police to rush to the streets. If there had been any suspicious person, they would have been captured immediately. How could the shooter have escaped so easily? However, despite deploying a large number of officers and almost completely sealing off the area, no suspects were found. It was impossible to hide a long-range sniper rifle in such a short time, especially when there were no residential buildings nearby. The assassin shot from a bridge at such a distance, with nowhere to hide. But the person didn't jump into the river, nor could they have flown away. So where could they have hidden?
Marcellus knew that the police wouldn't be able to capture the person. Although the shooter wasn't among the top ten martial experts, he thought of another ranking—the Investigation List. He wasn't surprised to find that someone on the Investigation List worked for Arabella. He silently lamented that this person had been placed so close to AE all along, perfectly fitting Arabella's shadowy and cautious nature.
Back at the general's residence, Marcellus began to remove his tie as he walked down the corridor toward the inner chambers. After walking a few steps, his eyes narrowed, and a dangerous glint appeared in his gaze. The captain of the guards, walking beside him, momentarily had the illusion that the general was smirking, but after a closer look, he realized there was nothing unusual.
Marcellus muttered under his breath, "There's a rat in here." After surveying the surroundings, he pointed toward the distant courtyard and ordered, "Level those trees over there, it's easy for rats to get in."
The captain of the guards, seeing the lush trees in the garden, couldn't understand how a rat could be lurking so high up. However, since it was the general's command, he didn't question it and immediately ordered the trees to be cut down.
As Marcellus entered the inner room alone, he removed his coat casually, and with a nonchalant tone said, "Come out. You first fired a shot at the congress to greet me, then came to my house to hide. Isn't it obvious you came to find me?"
Caracal hadn't expected to evade Marcellus's senses. After all, Marcellus was a top expert, and his simple trick was nothing in the face of Marcellus's sharp awareness. Caracal revealed himself and stood calmly not far from Marcellus, his gaze lingering on his face. When he had been lurking around Julius's place, although he wasn't the most trusted person and didn't know all of Julius's secrets, there had been a time when he delivered something and saw a stack of photos on Julius's desk. One of the photos showed a half-body shot of a young man with delicate features, looking no older than a teenager. He had glanced at it hurriedly and didn't think much of it at the time. Later, while gathering information on Julius, he never imagined that this young man had such a complicated past with Arabella.
In that moment, when seeing the grown version of the person in the photo, even Caracal couldn't help but feel a stir of curiosity. Would Arabella not feel as though she had stepped into the past time upon seeing him? From every whispered fragment of intelligence, he could discern the tangled threads that had once been so difficult to articulate. And now, before him stood the man who was the very eye of this storm—another focal point of the turmoil.
"Master Unknown asked me to give General Ackerley a message."
"Refuse." He didn't even look up, his hands steadily undoing the buttons on his shirt, his reply firm and unyielding.
Caracal paused for a moment, then blurted out, "General Ackerley, you haven't even let me finish speaking."
He raised his head, letting out a cold snort. His gaze towards Caracal grew inscrutable, but his tone remained gentle. "Go back and tell Arabella that if she wants something, she'll have to come back and take it by her own skill. I don't accept any deals or threats."
It was clear that Caracal had been instructed by Arabella beforehand. Upon hearing Marcellus's response, he immediately added, "General Ackerley, Master Unknown said that she would exchange what she seeks for ten years of peace for your country. This is a deal you can't lose."
"Ten years? Arabella really has a big mouth for a stray dog," Marcellus scoffed, his smile laced with mockery. "I didn't expect that after all these years, she hasn't gotten any better at anything else, but she sure has learned how to talk big. If she dares come back, I might pity her and let her take a look at what she's been yearning for."
Caracal fell silent, clearly having delivered the message. He began to fade into the shadows, but to his surprise, Marcellus added, "I've given her enough time. If she doesn't come back next year, I'll destroy whatever it is she's seeking."
The boy watched hungrily as Arabella stood by the campfire, grilling skewers. He swallowed, hesitated for a moment, then said, "Hey, woman, we've known each other for a while, can't you share a little food?"
Arabella calmly adjusted the skewers in her hands, smiling lightly in the firelight as she gestured for the boy to come closer. His eyes lit up, and like a dog wagging its tail after smelling the food, he trotted over to her side. Arabella handed him a freshly grilled skewer. The boy took a bite, his mouth instantly dripping with juice, and he mumbled, "This is so good—woman, you're amazing."
Arabella continued grilling the meat, lost in her own thoughts. The production zone of Jingle was vast and sparsely populated. Many artisan families had built their homes within fenced areas, and at night, with gates shut, the outskirts were eerily quiet. The place where Arabella had chosen to cook was near a graveyard, even more desolate and forsaken.
Arabella had been searching for someone in this area for several days. She knew that in this place, food could only be obtained through one's own efforts, so every day, she carried a backpack full of provisions and traveled back and forth.
Seeing the boy devour another skewer and reach for more, Arabella gently tapped him with a smile and asked, "Are you satisfied after these few days?"
The boy was taken aback, wiping his mouth carelessly before saying, "I've been hungry for days, what's there to be satisfied about? By the way, woman, you just left after we ate that day, that wasn't very considerate."
Arabella smiled as she handed him another freshly grilled skewer, responding softly, "Isn't it special that I came out today to lure you out with food?"
"You're an interesting woman," the boy said, "This whole area is full of graves. No one dares walk around during the day, and at night, it's completely deserted. How did you end up picking this place to grill?"
"Then why did you choose to appear here?"
"I'm a beggar," the boy replied. "Of course, I look for a quiet place to sleep at night. I can't sleep at the doors of those houses far away; the guards will kick me out early in the morning."
Arabella nodded quietly and continued with her task. The boy had managed to eat two skewers, enough to stave off his hunger, and decided to squat down nearby, resting his head on his hand as he watched her work. When Arabella finally extinguished the fire and sat down beside him with a large batch of food in hand, the boy couldn't help but ask, "Why didn't you ask my name?"
Arabella, with food in her mouth and a smile in her eyes, shook her head and replied, "Didn't you come today just to tell me your name?"
Arabella's response made the boy, who had been holding a skewer of meat, pause. He pouted and seemed slightly uninterested. "You didn't figure out who I was the moment you saw me, did you?"
Arabella smiled and nodded, then responded with a question of her own, "Didn't you come to find me because you knew who I am?"
The boy fell silent and seemed a bit unwilling to admit defeat. "Boring, I thought I was fooling you."
Arabella sat beside the campfire, the flames casting a warm glow. Yet, as she sat there, the shadows fell across her face, as if the malice hidden deep within her heart was being projected onto her features, making her expression far more terrifying than the cold, eerie atmosphere surrounding them. The boy, however, seemed oblivious as he continued talking, "I've heard of your reputation for a long time, but I never knew what you looked like."
Arabella turned her head, a smile on her lips, but with a trace of killing intent in her eyes as she asked, "Then how were you so sure of who I was that day?"
The boy smirked and said, "Any woman who dares walk down the street like that in Jingle, and she's a foreigner, I can't think of anyone except you, Arabella."
Since her identity had been revealed, Arabella didn't hide it anymore. She got straight to the point. "Since you know who I am, you must also know why I'm looking for you. After observing you these past few days, are you satisfied with your partner?"
The boy was clearly not happy that he hadn't managed to fool her over the past few days. He muttered sulkily, "My name is Norris White. You can call me by my nickname, Naby."
Perhaps his pronunciation wasn't quite right, as Arabella thought he said "Baby". She slightly furrowed her brow but kept her smile, replying, "Okay, Baby."
"Ah?" The boy looked at her in surprise, about to correct her, but then realized how amusing it was that the famous Arabella was calling him "baby." Norris moved closer to Arabella, gesturing with his hands as he asked, "Which weapon from that batch did you find the easiest to use?"
Arabella smiled and pondered for a moment before replying, "The K90 heavy machine gun."
Norris was a bit surprised and instinctively asked, "That machine gun is very heavy, hard to control, and not very mobile. It takes multiple people to carry. How could you think that gun is easy to use?"
"I can carry it myself."
When he heard this, Norris's eyes lit up. He seemed completely unafraid of Arabella, scanning her from top to bottom. He was excited, "I've been waiting for someone like you who can fully utilize the weapons I design. Finally, I've found that person."
