"I think this filthy hellhole isn't exactly great for a kid's mental and physical growth…" Kelly said weakly after a long pause, her usual cold demeanor faltering.
"Real talk, a kid who got mowed down by a machine gun in a lab doesn't exactly have a shot at 'healthy growth,'" Li Yexing shot back, ruthlessly twisting the knife. Lilith stepped forward, wrapping both arms around his. "Lilith wants to stay with Li Yexing."
Kelly stared at them, sighed, and fell silent.
…
Over a hundred kilometers from Roples, at a roadside gas station, a tall white man in a black combat suit sat on the curb, an HK-416 slung across his back. Sunglasses hid his eyes, but his bald head, usually gleaming, was dulled by blood and dirt.
He seemed to be waiting. Soon, the roar of a helicopter filled the air. A transport chopper landed on the highway, and a dozen armed men in matching black suits spilled out, securing the area. Finally, a towering Black man with a gruesome scar across his face stepped off, heading straight for the disheveled bald guy.
"Looking rough, Norman. Heard you fucked up. Boss sent me to clean your mess," the scarred man said.
"Piss off, Naraza. The cargo's in BSAA's hands. Your backup's pointless," Norman replied.
Naraza grinned. "Don't be so cold, man. I'm not here to laugh at you. Wanna hear something fun? Guess why your convoy got ambushed by BSAA?"
"T-Lilith project had a leak," Norman said.
"Bingo!" Naraza snapped his fingers. "Guess who? Don't worry, it's not our security team's screw-up."
Norman's blank face twisted into a snarl. "That bitch Kelly!"
"You nailed it?" Naraza was surprised. "How'd you figure?"
"That neurotic idiot, treating a monster like her daughter. I knew she'd be trouble, but not at a time like this!" Norman growled, then asked, "How'd you know she's the traitor?"
"After Freeman's message, the boss had us hack everyone's devices. Found out later—cute little Kelly was chatting with BSAA. Boss is pissed. Speaking of, where's Freeman?"
"Dead. Didn't bother with the body," Norman said. "So what's the deal? I see you brought the crisis response team, not the usual security rookies. This overkill just to pick me up?"
"Nah, Norman, we've got a new job," Naraza said with a grin. "Found more than BSAA chats on Kelly's computer. Like… T-Lilith's location."
"She's near Roples?" Norman asked, shocked. "BSAA didn't take her?"
"Here's the thing…" Naraza scratched his head. "The boss had that local fixer, Argall, hire a Roples guide for you, right? What's up with that guy? Intel says he ran off with our little princess."
Norman's face looked like he'd eaten shit.
"Kelly's already ahead of us, probably meeting that guide by now," Naraza said, chuckling. "If it were me, I'd pop that bitch and take the girl back for a fat payout. Classic merc thinking. Not so bad, right?"
"So the boss wants to buy the cargo back from some third-rate merc?" Norman asked.
Naraza scoffed, pointing at the armed team. "If the boss was paying, why'd I bring these guys?"
"How do we handle the kid? He knows too much. I bet Kelly's dumb ass spilled everything," Norman said.
Naraza grinned, dragging a finger across his throat.
"Just kill him."
---
Kelly left.
"Real talk, Lilith, we shouldn't have let her go," Li Yexing said, leaning against the doorframe, watching her disappear.
"It's fine. I trust Miss Kelly," Lilith said. "Besides, Li Yexing didn't really want to kill her, right?"
"Why say that?"
"At that range, no way you'd miss three shots," Lilith said. "If you wanted her dead, she'd be gone."
"Tch." Li Yexing felt oddly annoyed.
"Lilith, we need to talk. We're gonna live together, so I gotta say—you trust people too easily. I'm happy to be with you, but we went from meeting to deciding to stick together in two days," he said. "Even a hookup doesn't move that fast."
"You want to be with me just for a hookup?" Lilith asked.
"No way!" he snapped.
"Then it's fine," she said, face blank.
Li Yexing couldn't tell if she was genuinely naive or playing him. He sighed, closed the door, and dropped his plan to tail Kelly. If Lilith trusted her, he'd give her a chance.
"Whatever. Let's eat. Food's cold."
Kelly pulled on a black mask, walking the streets, her mind a mess. Her plan was simple: tip BSAA's European branch about T-Lilith's convoy, let them take her, and keep it quiet. T-Lilith would get a new life, no strings attached.
But a third-rate Asian merc in Eastern Europe screwed it up. Where was the heartless, money-grubbing stereotype? When she tried to take the girl, he lost it, nearly killing her. If Lilith hadn't intervened, she'd probably be in that warehouse, hacked to pieces by now.
A hotheaded merc in love with a BOW? How novel.
Like a mother-in-law sizing up a shady son-in-law, Kelly could see Lilith adored Li Yexing, and he seemed to care for her too. But she couldn't leave the girl with him. Bottom line: she didn't trust him.
In a deserted alley, she hesitated, then pulled out her phone.
"Forgive me…" she whispered
---
Chris, in a thick jacket, sat with his team's sniper at Li Yexing's usual diner. The owner glanced at him, vaguely recalling the guy passing Li Yexing last time he was here, alone.
Hard not to notice Chris—his muscles practically burst through his clothes, a rare sight even in Roples. But he looked down, his face heavy with gloom.
"Two steaks, one big ice-cold beer," Chris said.
"Make it two beers," the sniper added.
The owner eyed the woman behind Chris. Tall, attractive, reddish-brown short hair, healthy tanned skin, wearing a jacket with a strange logo. She looked sharp, not very feminine.
Food arrived. Chris stayed quiet, chugging his beer.
"Honestly, I'm surprised. Didn't think BSAA's iron man Chris would look like this," the sniper said, cutting her steak. "Don't beat yourself up. It's not your fault."
"You don't get it, Lenny. You don't…" Chris said softly. "I've been through this too many times. From Raccoon City to now, worldwide, I'm fed up. I keep wondering if our fight even matters. This year, the FBC's mess proved bioterrorism isn't slowing down despite us. What are we even fighting for?"
The FBC—Federal Bioterrorism Commission—was meant to protect the U.S. from bioterror. But this year, Li Yexing's arrival coincided with a scandal: FBC head Morgan Lansdale supplied BOWs to the terrorist group "Hound" for power, causing the 2004 Floating Island disaster. Chris helped uncover it.
Lenny, the sniper, had less experience with bioterror and BOWs than Chris. She'd never lost teammates like he had. The Tyrant fight was her most dangerous mission yet, but Chris had faced worse, countless times. Honestly, she wasn't qualified to console him.
She sipped her beer in silence. The table grew heavy. Then Chris's phone rang.
He answered, his glum expression turning serious.
"I understand. I'm heading back now," he said.
"What's up?" Lenny asked.