Chapter 3: Blood Rain Torrent

In the torrential rain, Sylas's figure grew clearer and clearer.

Nicole dragged her injured body, stumbling toward him. Her shoulder wound was still bleeding, but the moment she saw her senior brother, she felt all the pain was worth it.

"Senior brother!" she called out with a trembling voice, "Nicole saved everyone! All the little animals escaped!"

Sylas stood in the curtain of rain, his silver-gray wolf ears pressed against his head, his expression too complex to read. He held something in his hand that glinted with metallic luster under the washing rain.

"Senior brother?" Nicole sensed something was wrong, her steps beginning to slow.

Sylas slowly raised his head, those once-gentle eyes now filled with pain and struggle: "Nicole... you shouldn't have done that."

"What?" Nicole blinked in confusion, "What are you saying, senior brother?"

"You ruined the plan." Sylas's voice was soft, but each word stabbed into Nicole's heart like a knife, "You let those... merchandise escape."

Merchandise.

He said "merchandise."

"Senior brother... you're joking, right?" Her voice began to tremble, "Those are our friends..."

Sylas closed his eyes in pain: "I wanted to protect you, Nicole. The original plan was for you to cooperate, to get through all this safely. But you..."

He opened his eyes, filled with regret: "Why did you have to resist? Why couldn't you just obediently listen?"

Nicole took a step back. The rain blurred her vision, but she clearly saw what Sylas held in his hand—a signal transmitter.

The deep rumble of heavy machinery echoed from the forest depths.

"So... so it was you..." Nicole's voice carried a trace of despair, "Senior brother... you betrayed everyone..."

"I had no choice!" Sylas suddenly exploded, "I had to complete the mission! But I never intended to hurt you! Nicole, as long as you cooperate, I can guarantee your safety!"

"Cooperate?" Fury blazed in Nicole's eyes, "Let me watch helplessly as friends are captured? Watch children be sold as merchandise?"

"You don't understand!" Sylas painfully clutched his hair, "This is far more complicated than you imagine! Some things... aren't for us to decide!"

Rumble—

The sound of hunters' vehicles came from the distance. They had discovered the anomaly at the camp and were racing over at full speed.

"Senior brother..." Nicole's voice became calm, but the disappointment in her eyes was more piercing than anger, "I trusted you... I regarded you as my closest person... but you..."

"Nicole, listen to me!" Sylas urgently stepped forward, "I can protect you! Come with me now, I guarantee no one will hurt you!"

"What about the others?" Nicole asked, "What about those children who escaped? Will you let them go?"

Sylas fell silent.

This silence was the best answer.

The storm grew heavier, Forest Ripples fluctuating violently in the air.

"I won't... I won't go with you." Nicole said firmly, "I'd rather die than become part of your plan."

"Nicole..." Tears welled up in Sylas's eyes, "Please... don't make this difficult for me..."

Just then, the hunters' vehicles burst from the forest. Headlights illuminated this rainy night as dozens of fully armed hunters jumped down from the vehicles.

"Sylas! Where's the merchandise?" The lead hunter grabbed his collar, shouting in his face.

Sylas looked around, "They escaped."

"What?!" The lead hunter roared in fury, shoving him heavily to the ground, "How did you screw this up? Let a little girl ruin everything?"

"Boss, those animals can't have gone far!" Another hunter pointed toward the forest depths, "Their tracks are easy to follow!"

"Then what are we waiting for? Chase them!" The lead hunter waved his orders, "Better to damage the pelts than let them escape! Open fire!"

Dark gun muzzles aimed toward the forest depths.

Nicole's heart nearly stopped beating. She thought of those small animals who had just escaped, thought of Miller, thought of the deer children...

"No!" she cried out in despair, trying to rush forward to stop them.

Bang bang bang—

Bullets poured down, shooting toward the fleeing creatures. Piercing screams echoed through the rainy night.

Nicole collapsed in the muddy ground, the light in her eyes completely extinguished.

Her friends she had saved... the children she had protected with her life...

"Nicole..." Sylas wanted to step forward to comfort her, but Nicole glared at him with hateful eyes.

"You demons..." her voice was terrifyingly hoarse, "I curse you... I curse all of you..."

Just then, the earth began to shake violently. Thunderous rumbling came from the distant mountains.

Everyone felt the anomaly.

Rummmble—

The mudslide was coming.

The mountainside, weakened by the torrential rain, finally could no longer hold. Long-term deforestation had caused soil erosion, and tens of thousands of tons of mud and rock poured down like a flood.

"Run! Mudslide!" The hunters scattered in terror.

Sylas didn't flee. He rushed toward Nicole, wanting to take her away from this dangerous place.

But Nicole pushed him away.

"Don't touch me!" she roared in fury, "I'd rather die here than have you save me!"

The rolling mudflow had already rushed close. Sylas looked at Nicole's resolute expression, his heart undergoing tremendous struggle.

But he still rushed toward Nicole.