Midnight fell over the European Division, unusually quiet. Only the corridor lights outside the archives remained on. Ethan leaned alone against the window, gazing at the empty streets. The city slept, but it was far from peaceful.
"Strange," he murmured."I've died once before, and I wasn't this nervous. Now, just being watched… feels more thrilling than going to hell."
Just as he spoke, he noticed a black car at a street corner, parked there for three days. The windows were always tightly shut, like a pair of dead, motionless eyes. Every time he looked out, he saw the same figure sitting in the driver's seat, flipping through the same newspaper.
"A newspaper? Three days without changing it? Either the news is that exciting… or I'm a fish worth endless baiting," Ethan whispered, smiling.
The next day, during an operation in the city outskirts to investigate Nightmare energy fluctuations, he joked,"I'll bet ten minutes, and a black car will be behind us. What do you think—Audi or Mercedes?"
Carl rolled his eyes."Ethan, do you have a persecution complex?"
"Persecution? Darling, that's called experience," Ethan said, pointing to the rearview mirror. Sure enough, the familiar black car slowly followed them, its lights flickering, keeping a strange, deliberate distance.
Alicia squinted."…That's not a Division vehicle."
"See?" Ethan spread his hands innocently."Even the European government is starting to pay attention to me. I knew I'd make headlines eventually. Just don't be surprised if the title reads: 'Mysterious Agent Dissected and Studied—Internal Structure Surprisingly Simple.'"
That evening, Alicia pulled him into a meeting room, her expression cold."Ethan, are you sure you haven't done anything to draw government attention?"
Ethan raised an eyebrow, feigning innocence."Besides dying once, getting stabbed by a friend, signing an unreliable contract, and sneaking a peek at some forbidden files? Nope. Really, totally mundane."
Alicia's gaze didn't waver, as if she wanted to peel him open with her eyes.
Ethan laughed suddenly."Relax. If I were a traitor, I'd have written my resignation and run by now. Problem is… I never got a paycheck, so even if I ran, no one would give me severance."
Late at night, Ethan secretly reviewed the files he had taken from the archives. One passage made his blood run cold:
"Target: Ethan Veil. Suspected special host of Nightmare energy. Recommend containment or transfer to experimental facility. If exhibiting uncontrolled tendencies, immediate termination."
He froze for a moment, then let out a dry chuckle."Wow, what a heartfelt evaluation. Containment, experimentation, termination… sounds more straightforward than a date."
In the margin, a handwritten note read:"Maintain surveillance, await orders."
That confirmed it—this black car was no illusion.
The next morning, he ran into the deputy supervisor in the hallway. The man's gaze lingered on him with a deliberate meaning.
Ethan greeted him with a smile:"Good morning. I guess breakfast is still that unpalatable black bread? Want me to perform a little 'poisoned by it' scene to lighten your mood?"
The deputy said nothing, merely nodded coldly, and walked away.
Watching the man's back, Ethan for the first time thought seriously:He wasn't merely under suspicion—he had already become a target.
That night, he looked out the window again. The car remained, the newspaper unchanged.Ethan raised his hand, forming a gun with his fingers toward the black silhouette, grinning:
"Keep watching. But don't get too invested… or I'll start charging admission."
The smile lingered, but the coldness in his eyes was unmistakable.He knew that from this moment on, he wasn't executing a mission—he had become someone's prey.
And prey… always has a day to turn on the hunter.