Two Goals

"It was time to rest."

After sorting through the documents, Cocolia stood up, stretched lazily, pushed back her chair, and headed outside.

So cold!

Leaving the office, where the heating had been running constantly, the chill in the corridor swept over Cocolia and made her shiver.

I wonder if the children are sleeping obediently.

As she walked down the long corridor, listening to the click-clack of her heeled boots against the floor, the Iron-Blooded Iron-Fisted Warlord, known for her ruthless coldness, let her thoughts wander, and the smile on her lips unconsciously softened.

But the next second, catching something strange in the air, Cocolia's steps paused slightly before she continued forward at exactly the same pace as before.

Just as Cocolia was about to turn the next corner, a cold glint flashed.

Whoosh!

Reflecting the overhead lights, a dagger shot toward the warlord in an instant.

What a lousy assassin...

Watching the dagger stab toward her lower abdomen, Cocolia could not help thinking.

If she had wanted to kill someone, she would have aimed for the enemy's heart. Only then could she ensure a one-hit kill.

Still, although this assassin's technique was poor, her strength and speed were real enough.

But Cocolia was stronger!

One hand clamped around the assassin's wrist like an iron pincer and twisted. The stainless-steel dagger immediately fell to the ground with a clang, while Cocolia's other hand had already seized the assassin by the collar and slammed her against the wall.

Bang!

Flesh struck the wall with a dull thud, mixed with the girl's uncontrollable cry of pain.

"Who are you? Who sent you? How did you find this place?"

The questions spilled out one after another. Only then did Cocolia look at the assassin's face, and her originally fierce expression froze slightly.

A child?

Instead of the vicious face she had expected, Cocolia saw a thin, delicate little face. Looking closely, she could clearly see traces of past malnutrition.

Pain from Cocolia's rough movements was written plainly across the girl's face.

Yet even in pain, there was not the slightest hint of surrender in the girl's eyes. She merely stared straight at the blonde warlord who held her life in her hands.

Like a kitten driven into a corner.

That thought surfaced in Cocolia's mind.

She did not see the indifference of someone accustomed to killing in the girl's eyes. There was only a stubborn refusal to admit defeat.

"I'll deal with you later!"

Knowing she could not pry anything from the girl's mouth anytime soon, Cocolia struck her unconscious with a chop to the neck, then temporarily confined her in an empty room.

Since the enemy could send an assassin, that meant the orphanage's location had been exposed. The other children...

At that thought, Cocolia rushed toward the dormitory area at top speed.

Two Targets

Enemies had slipped into the orphanage!

Bronya, sleeping lightly, suddenly opened her eyes. Looking at the ceiling faintly visible in the moonlight, she remained motionless and silently went on alert.

The footsteps were light. They were all experts.

Judging by the scattered sounds, there were definitely more than five of them.

The footsteps were deliberately approaching this place. Was she their target?

No, it should be Seele!

Thinking of the kidnapping Seele had suffered more than half a year ago, Bronya immediately understood.

Her greatest value was her combat ability as the Ural Silver Wolf, and that was not something that could be obtained through a simple kidnapping.

If they wanted to make her submit, they would choose another method.

Therefore, the enemy's target could only be the other person in this room!

She should notify Mama Cocolia immediately... No, it was too late!

The moment that thought flashed through her mind, Bronya heard a faint click, followed by a slight cold draft blowing into the room.

The orphanage's facilities were old. The windows did not even have security bars, and they used old-fashioned latch locks that could be opened from outside with a little training.

Along with the gusts of cold air came a strange fragrance that quickly spread through the room.

Sleeping gas.

Alerted, Bronya immediately held her breath.

For the Ural Silver Wolf, who had undergone the harshest training, holding her breath for a long time was not difficult.

After only seven or eight minutes, the window creaked open. A wave of cold air poured in, but the blue-haired girl in the other bed remained sound asleep, completely unaware.

That was fine. Seele would not notice anything, as long as Bronya cleaned up the traces thoroughly enough.

Thinking this, Bronya's body silently tensed.

No matter who the opponent was, she would not let Seele be harmed.

The footsteps were getting closer...

Opening her eyes to a narrow slit, Bronya watched several shadows approach the beds.

"Which one?"

Someone asked quietly.

"The one on the left."

Another person answered.

The first person immediately picked up the blue-haired girl from the bed on the left.

Sure enough, Seele was their target.

Bronya's heart tightened.

"What about the other one?"

The person holding Seele asked.

"Leave her. The higher-ups only want this one. Don't cause trouble."

The person who had answered earlier spoke up.

Having reached an agreement, the two immediately left through the window with the blue-haired girl, remembering to close it behind them.

Phew...

Only after the room became quiet again did Bronya begin breathing deeply, filling her lungs with enough oxygen to bring her body back to life.

Only two people had entered the room earlier. She was confident she could handle them, but the noise of a fight would be enough to draw the other enemies over.

Once that happened, even she would have no way to win.

Besides, there were other children in the dormitory building. Fighting here would inevitably endanger them.

So she had to be patient. Patiently wait until the enemy lowered their guard, until an opportunity arose to defeat them separately, and until they left the orphanage.

With that in mind, Bronya put on a warm coat and silently slipped out through the window as well.

The Ural Silver Wolf was on the move once more!

Under the moonlight, there was a group of eleven... no, twelve people, though one of them was more like baggage.

Such a large group moving through the orphanage should have been extremely conspicuous.

But the reality was exactly the opposite.

Eleven fully armed men walked openly through the orphanage without making the slightest unnecessary sound.

Moreover, they were all well-trained. The eleven had split into several groups of two or three, carefully watching every change in their surroundings. They had not relaxed their vigilance in the slightest just because the mission was simple.

They did not even exchange a single casual word.

Who exactly were these people!?

Following from a distance with the help of her familiarity with the orphanage, Bronya could not help breaking out in a cold sweat.

With skills and discipline like this, they were absolutely first-rate in Siberia, no worse than Bronya herself.

But such a terrifying group had stormed into this rundown orphanage just to abduct a little girl?

What secret did Seele possess that was worth such a massive operation?

Her hand clenched into a fist, nails digging into her flesh. Bronya carefully controlled her breathing to avoid making any sound that might alert the enemy.

This enemy was strong, perhaps stronger than any opponent she had faced before.

Therefore, she had to be cautious enough. She could not make even the slightest mistake.

Her breathing and heart rate slowed, yet Bronya could feel every cell in her body growing more active.

She was already excited.

The orphanage was not large, and both sides moved quickly, so everyone soon left its grounds.

Suddenly, the eleven people ahead stopped abruptly in a clearing in the woods.

The lean man at the front made a gesture. The man carrying the blue-haired girl immediately nodded and carefully laid the girl flat on the ground.

Under the moonlight, it was clear that the girl was deeply asleep from the drugs. Yet the cold after leaving her blankets made her frown from time to time, curling up as if trying to retain more warmth.

It was a sight that would break anyone's heart, making them immediately want to pick the girl up and wrap her in thick clothes.

But unfortunately, everyone present was a well-trained elite. They would not develop any unnecessary feelings toward the mission target.

Click!

The lean man drew a pistol. The sound of it being cocked was crisp and forceful as the dark muzzle slowly aimed at the sleeping girl's head, as though he would pull the trigger the next second.

No, he was already doing it.

In the bright moonlight, Bronya could clearly see the man's finger slowly pressing down, about to reach the point of firing.

What was going on? Was Seele not their target? Why were they going to kill her here? What was the point of this?

There was no time to think. Bronya chose to act.

Whoosh!

Bang!

The sound of a pebble flying out and a gunshot rang out at the same time. The lean man's gun was knocked aside, and the bullet struck the snow beside the girl.

This should have been unexpected, yet the lean man slowly smiled. "You finally showed yourself, Ural Silver Wolf."

Since she had already been discovered, Bronya could only step out from behind a tree.

"Was I your target?"

Bronya asked with a frown, raising both hands to show that she was unarmed.

It was an effective way to lower their guard.

"No, no, Miss Bronya has misunderstood." With the pistol still aimed at Seele's sleeping head, Andre shook his head and quietly denied her guess. "Our targets are both of you."

"Why?"

Bronya asked in confusion.

The Ural Silver Wolf's name might have been impressive, but to those who truly held power, it was hardly something precious.

Bronya did not believe she was valuable enough for these people to make a move against her.

As for Seele... perhaps she was, but why was Bronya also one of their targets?

Did they have some strange collecting habit?