"The people who wish for me to live all want to use me to carry the Herrscher's power for their own ends. Apart from that, no one wants me alive. Even my father, after the experiment ended, wondered if it would be better if I died."
"Yes, I am Raiden Mei. I am the lowliest, most deserving of death... I am the person who least deserves forgiveness and pardon. Every extra second I live in this world is the greatest disrespect to this entire city. I... really want to be happy. I really, really want it... but I don't deserve it."
Raven was stunned.
She had anticipated Raiden Mei's reaction—
Anger, crying, excuses, or futilely defending the person who left.
But Raiden Mei just recounted her past with Li Wu one by one, then sank into deep self-deprecation.
Raven hadn't expected this situation, as if Raiden Mei had long anticipated that things would turn out this way.
She thought Mei was just a foolish girl who had been deceived. She hadn't expected Raiden Mei to be far more sober than she imagined—so sober that she couldn't find any fear or terror in her eyes anymore.
Raiden Mei released her grip on the bedsheet. Her fingers uncurled, leaving deep indentations on her palm. A few drops of blood seeped out from under her fingernails and fell onto the sheet.
She laughed very softly, a smile as shattered and desolate as broken glass.
She raised her hand and gently touched her forehead with her finger.
A few hours ago, by the takoyaki stall, Li Wu had flicked her right there.
Raven watched Raiden Mei's every move, thinking to herself:
What the hell is going on with your increasingly miserable life?!
Raven couldn't bear it and tried to comfort her: "Maybe it's just a misunderstanding? In the file the employer gave me, it says Raiden Ryoma loves you very much."
"Yes, because he loves me, he wishes for me to die. Before the experiment, I couldn't sleep every night because of the pain. The pattern on my back would glow and heat up, and then my spine would start moving chaotically. It hurt so much that I fainted several times... After the experiment, I occasionally lose consciousness and say things about exterminating humanity. Rather than letting me bear infamy and live the rest of my life in guilt, dying might be a better ending."
Raiden Mei changed into the white T-shirt, her gaze becoming firm again: "Let's go."
"Where do you plan to go?" Raven asked curiously.
"To find a suitable place to die. No need to wait."
After answering, Raiden Mei walked toward the door, completely unafraid of how many crises were lurking in the darkness outside waiting for her.
Raven stood rooted to the spot, clutching the cold black card tightly in her hand, her eyes terrifyingly cold.
She suddenly remembered a long time ago, when her brother stuffed her into someone else's car. He looked at her with a similar gaze and said in a similar voice: "Live on, Natasha. Don't look back."
Then her brother turned around and charged into the tide of Honkai Beasts, never to return.
This is clearly the tone of someone seeking death and self-destruction!
"Fuck!"
Raven cursed loudly and slammed the black card onto the floor.
The card hit the wall, bounced back, and landed in the center of the floor. Raven squatted down to pick it up, but this time she stuffed it directly into her bag and pulled her hood back up.
Violent emotions churned in her wine-red eyes.
Disgust, anger, shame.
Disgust for that Li Wu who so easily abandoned Raiden Mei.
Anger for this Raiden Mei who sought only death.
And a bone-deep disgust for herself from many years ago, who could only watch helplessly as an important person went to their death, unable to do anything.
"Stop!" Raven shouted sternly.
Mei stopped in her tracks but didn't turn back.
Raven strode over and grabbed her wrist, gripping it so hard she almost crushed the bone.
Even though her wrist was pinched until it bruised, Raiden Mei didn't make a sound.
"Raiden Mei, you listen to me right the fuck now." Raven yanked her around, forcing Raiden Mei to look into her eyes. "I've changed my mind."
"I'll play that two-hour game with you until the end. Not because I believe that bastard will come back, and not because I suddenly grew a conscience."
"It's because I'm fucking sick of it! Sick of your little house-playing game where one runs away dashingly and the other dies simply! Sick of this self-righteous sacrifice and self-proclaimed tragic abandonment!"
"I'll hide you in a place no one can find. After two hours, if that kid hasn't come back..."
Raven paused, the corners of her mouth curling into a dangerous smile:
"I'll take you to find him. Let you see with your own eyes how that person who kept saying he'd come back is hiding in some safe corner, rejoicing that he survived while calculating how to spin a story to trick the next fool and get his black card back."
Mei stared at her blankly. In her empty eyes, a tiny ripple finally appeared.
"You will indeed die today. I can't save you."
"But before you die, your life temporarily belongs to me."
Raven picked up Raiden Mei in a princess carry, stood on the windowsill of the broken window, and then leaped, disappearing into the boundless dark night.
Left in the room were only a few jet-black raven feathers, identical to the night sky.
No one knew.
During Raven and Raiden Mei's brief exchange, Li Wu had killed the mercenary at the door, gritted his teeth, and continued forward, his body trembling.
And by the time Raven made up her mind to take Raiden Mei away, Li Wu had already arrived at the opponent's temporary base.
Except now, only an inhuman dead silence and emptiness remained in his eyes.
The corridor was deathly silent. The motion-sensor lights had been intentionally disabled, leaving only the eerie green glow of the emergency exit signs.
A blurry black shadow hugged the wall, slowly creeping toward the power control room.
With professional stealth steps, almost melting into the darkness, he soon reached the door of the power control room.
The door was open a crack, exactly the size of a bullet. This was an opening Li Wu had deliberately left.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out. Li Wu pulled the door open expressionlessly and skillfully stripped the weapons from the mercenary's body.
That battle-hardened, experienced mercenary died with a bullet through his head without even seeing Li Wu.
Li Wu took out the mercenary's phone, swiped away the messages, quickly browsed the contacts and recent calls, found a contact labeled "Alpha Wolf," put on the headset, and adjusted the voice changer.
"Mission failed. The target killed all mercenaries inside our base. Requesting evacu... He's here!"
After leaving this recording, Li Wu threw the phone on the ground.
He needed a bigger commotion. He needed to draw "aggro" completely, letting the entire industry know the fate of the Blood Wolf Mercenary Corps.
Only in this way would those mercenaries weigh whether they were qualified enough before accepting a mission.
Unlike the fully armed mercenaries, the firearms Li Wu carried were pitifully few, but this didn't hinder him from coming and going freely in the opponent's lair.
"Only one left."
Li Wu's voice was cold, so cold that even the blood on his face seemed to radiate a chill.