Several hours ago, after working nonstop for over ten hours, the agent felt a pang of hunger in his stomach. Having heard of a century-old restaurant nearby, renowned in the area, he decided to pay it a visit and try it for himself.
This foreign agent was accustomed to spicy food. He ordered a plate of spicy beef pasta, accompanied by a few side dishes. As the steaming pasta entered his mouth, he felt a wave of relief from his fatigue.
At that moment, a woman emerged from the back courtyard of the restaurant and walked into the dining hall. She sat down at a small table across from him, glanced at the menu, and then spoke to the waiter with a clear, crisp voice: "Ten plates of beef pasta."
Her voice, sharp and distinct, cut through the bustling noise of the restaurant, allowing the agent to hear every word clearly. "Eating that much?" he thought, a little surprised. He lifted his gaze to look at her, only to meet her eyes directly. After their gazes locked, it was the agent who quickly averted his eyes. He felt a strange unease—there was something unsettling about the way she looked at him, and her face seemed oddly familiar. Yet, he couldn't quite place where he had seen her before.
He buried his head in his meal, eating while pondering. As the last bite of pasta entered his mouth, it suddenly hit him—the woman across from him was none other than Arabella, the suspect he had been investigating recently.
He almost choked on the meal, quickly wiping his mouth as he sneaked a glance at her. She was still focused on eating her meal, seemingly unaware of his actions. He swallowed hard, didn't bother to wipe his mouth, and quietly ran to the counter to pay before leaving.
Once outside the restaurant, he took deep breaths, recalling the team leader's description of Arabella's terrifying abilities. He hid in a corner and quietly observed the shop, then nervously pulled a pager from his pocket. After dialing, he quickly reported what he had seen and informed them that she had already eaten half of her meal, urging them to send reinforcements quickly.
The director was the liaison officer assigned by the chief of police to work with the international team on the Arabella case. Upon hearing the news, he immediately understood the gravity of the situation. He ordered all nearby special forces to head there and reported the matter to his superiors. Coincidentally, the chief of police was at the state guesthouse escorting guests, so he couldn't get in touch with him. He instructed his subordinates to keep calling to ensure they reached the chief, while he himself drove to the scene.
The reinforcements arrived quickly, with five or six armored vehicles speeding to the scene, accompanied by other patrol cars. As soon as the patrol officers got out of their vehicles, they set up a perimeter and started evacuating the crowd. Meanwhile, the foreign police officer had already sneaked back into the restaurant, found the manager, and discreetly signaled him to open the back door to evacuate the restaurant's customers.
Arabella, sitting at the table, calmly ate her meal, seemingly oblivious to the strange behavior of the surrounding customers, and unaware of the pedestrians slowly clearing from outside the restaurant. By the time the police began shouting through megaphones, Arabella had already leisurely finished all the food on her table. She then took a strange weapon from her bag, a series of steel rods, and started to hook them together.
Unsure whether the suspect inside was carrying lethal weapons, the special forces leader decided to send in the assault team first. Although the restaurant was large, the entrance was spacious, with floor-to-ceiling windows, allowing for a clear view of the interior, which made it ideal for a direct assault. At the command, the assault team advanced, with guns in their left hands and shields in their right, preparing to breach.
As the glass shattered, the five assault team members quickly rolled to the ground and took up defensive positions. However, to their surprise, Arabella, who had been calmly sitting at a table in the hall, had vanished without a trace. Before they could react and begin searching, a sharp whistle filled the air, followed by a gust of wind. The five assault members didn't even have time to grunt before they were all killed instantly.
The closest special forces officer to Arabella had his skull shattered, brain matter splattering in all directions, his body crumpling before it even had time to react. In the next instant, Arabella swung her strange weapon, sweeping it across and disarming him in one fluid motion. She then held the gun with one hand, swiftly turning to aim outside, and fired. A distant armored vehicle, encircling the area, erupted into flames. It was the command vehicle. The rear door swung open, and the commander and communication officers hurriedly exited, attempting to flee. But Arabella's gun didn't stop. She fired again, and another vehicle nearby was struck, the gas tank igniting instantly in a fiery explosion. The explosion sent a shockwave that startled pedestrians beyond the barricades, causing a flurry of shocked exclamations.
Arabella held the gun in one hand and swung the long steel weapon in the other. She aimed at a car outside and fired, hitting the fuel tank with perfect accuracy. The car exploded, smoke rising everywhere. Chaos erupted on the scene. Not far away, director arrived just in time, grabbed the megaphone, and shouted, "You're surrounded! Put your hands up and surrender!" The special forces leader, stepping aside, hurried to his side and urgently said, "Director, stop shouting! We're no match for her. Call for reinforcements!"
Director, holding a high-ranking position, had limited real combat experience. Upon hearing the commander's frantic voice, he instinctively put down the microphone and asked, "Does the enemy have a lot of weapons? Or are there other accomplices involved?"
The commander, his eyes still stinging from the thick smoke, was shedding tears from the irritation as he spoke urgently, "The enemy's marksmanship is impeccable. She's holding a specially crafted Simon Flail. To deliver a fatal strike with a Simon Flail requires a master—only someone of exceptional skill can wield it with such precision. Just one flick of her wrist, and five lives were taken. She's no ordinary figure." Before the director could respond, several SWAT officers rushed in, guns blazing, aiming at Arabella. But as they entered, she swiftly changed her position, her movements so fast they seemed like instant teleportation. The officers, confused by her sudden shift, found themselves caught in a wide sweep of gunfire. They didn't even have time to aim properly, and before they could locate her, one officer let out a blood-curdling scream. The others didn't even have the chance to adjust their weapons before the sound of a sharp wind filled the air, and several more officers fell, their skulls shattered, their lives snuffed out in an instant.
While Arabella swung the weapon, she didn't forget to shoot. She aimed and fired several headshots at the third wave of police charging outside. With a flick of her wrist, the empty gun dropped to the ground, and she kicked up a nearby machine gun, catching it mid-air. Walking slowly over the shattered glass, she began heading outside. In just a few minutes, more than ten special forces officers were dead.
Because she held a gun, the remaining special forces officers dared not act. But as they hesitated, Arabella moved with lightning speed. Just as she was about to step out of the door, she suddenly leaped into the air and swept her flail horizontally. With a swift motion, she reversed her hand and elbowed sharply. The officers surrounding her felt intense pain in their wrists, as if they were being torn apart. One of them had his bone snapped, the broken bone jutting out, blood pouring from his wrist.
"Ah—!" The pain of broken bones and torn tendons made even the toughest of men howl. Before they could scream again, Arabella spun mid-air, side-kicking. Her foot landed on a nearby officer's shoulder, and as she leapt further, she was already aiming her gun at the distant officer and the team leader, firing.
The team leader reacted quickly, drawing his gun and shooting. But his speed was nothing compared to Arabella's. After two gunshots rang out, both officers fell. As Arabella landed, she spun again, swinging her weapon. The special forces officers, still howling in pain and unable to react, suddenly felt as if a heavy weight had crushed their chest. They gasped for air, blood choking their throats. The next second, they stopped breathing.
The few patrol officers huddled in the corner, their calves trembling. It wasn't their fault—after all, in recent years, Scalien had enjoyed peace and prosperity, and the capital was especially flourishing. They had probably never witnessed such a bloody scene in their entire lives.
From the time the assault began until Arabella emerged and wiped out all the officers, only a few minutes had passed. For the officers, it was beyond comprehension, pure terror. Yet for Arabella, it was effortless. She hadn't even used half of her strength to kill.
Arabella walked toward the patrol car parked to the side, smiling faintly. Beside the car, a female officer was half-slumped, barely standing against the police vehicle. Trembling, she raised her gun to aim at Arabella and weakly shouted, "Freeze, raise your hands!"
Arabella glanced at the female officer and, hearing the distant sound of sirens, her expression softened with slight regret. "Time's up. Sorry, I won't be able to play with you for much longer."
As the words left her mouth, the female officer barely had time to register a flash of movement before she felt her handgun instantly trapped by the barrel, preventing it from being chambered. In the next moment, a sharp elbow drove into her throat. She instinctively opened her mouth to gasp for air, only to hear the sound of a bullet being loaded into the chamber. Before she could react, her neck was tightly gripped, and something foreign was forced into her mouth. Desperately struggling, her peripheral vision caught sight of the bullet being shoved into her mouth. Her entire windpipe was trapped in the assailant's grasp, and the suffocating pressure overwhelmed her senses, her vision going red as her eyes bulged in a final, desperate struggle. But her assailant, seemingly uninterested in prolonging her suffering, tightened their grip and with a sickening snap, her neck was broken, her head falling limply to one side.
It seemed like just a few movements, but in reality, Arabella's actions were too fast—no more than a few seconds. Another life was extinguished in her hands.
Arabella tossed the female officer aside, opened the car door, and sat in the driver's seat. However, she didn't drive off immediately. Instead, she lightly tapped the steering wheel with her fingers, seemingly waiting for reinforcements to arrive. When she saw dozens of police cars approaching in the rearview mirror, a smile tugged at her lips. She slammed her foot on the accelerator, revving the engine to full power, and drove off.
The entire street was a horrifying sight. The crowds that had once gathered to watch had long since dispersed, and only a few brave men stood far off, peeking cautiously. Even they were repulsed by the river of blood and scattered body parts, gagging violently at the scene.
A large number of police cars gave chase, but Arabella seemed utterly familiar with the escape route. She was, after all, an expert at high-speed driving. The police simply couldn't match her speed. After a relentless pursuit, Arabella was the first to leap from her car and make her way into a distant factory.
No one noticed the foreign agent who had been the first to spot Arabella. He had been hiding in the alley beside the store, watching the entire chase. After she drove off, he took out a communication card, inserted it into his phone, and dialed.
"The mission at Master Unknown's went smoothly. How about yours?"
The voice on the other end was Bramwell's. "I've already brought the team into the factory. We're in the process of withdrawing now. Once you make your appearance, you can start preparing to disguise yourself and head to the prison. With your current identity, you'll have a heart attack and die suddenly tonight."
"Understood. Let's confirm the time and the code, just in case you can't recognize me at the prison."
