Even the master control codes for Specimen Fourteen had fallen into that woman's hands.
In less than two hours, a phantom had systematically dismantled Obsidian Sun's carefully constructed empire.
The Raven had never been humiliated like this in his life.
Just then, his encrypted comms device lit up.
He glanced down, and the moment he read the transmission, his pupils shrank to pinpricks.
"Specimen Fourteen... was pushed onto the auction stage?"
"The buyers are demanding a live data audit and a full auction?!"
"That woman... she shoved Specimen Fourteen into the spotlight? How dare she... how fucking dare she!"
The Raven violently kicked his chair back and stood up.
Smash! His fist cratered the reinforced metal of the command console.
The deafening crash made the nearby operatives jolt in terror.
No one dared to speak. Even their breathing turned shallow.
The Raven gripped the comms device so hard the veins on his hand looked ready to burst.
The Panacea!
It was always The Panacea!
That bitch tore Specimen Fourteen out of his grasp.
And now she was publicly parading it on the auction block?!
Serving it up on a silver platter for every power broker on Project Zero-Transit to dissect, evaluate, and salivate over!
Obsidian Sun had bled to stabilize that specimen!
Who gave her the right?!
The Raven's chest he heave.
Up until now, he had managed to suppress his rage, sacrificing the base to sever her digital trail.
But this time, the tether on his sanity snapped completely.
She hadn't gone through hell to steal Specimen Fourteen just to hide it.
She did it so she could drag it out into the blinding light!
"What the hell is she trying to do..." The Raven practically hissed the words through
his teeth.
No one answered.
What was she trying to do?
This was a provocation.
A naked, merciless declaration of war!
She didn't just want to steal
Obsidian Sun's ultimate weapon; she
wanted to grind their faces into i
the
dirt while the entire world watched!
This kind of reckless, scorched-earth arrogance...
The Raven's eyes snapped wide.
A sudden image flashed violently in his mind.
A photo attached to a highly classified dossier.
Serena Lancaster.
At the thought of that name, his predatory gaze narrowed into slits.
The girl who had systematically annihilated Obsidian Sun's operations back in Severia.
The granddaughter raised personally by Aria Wynn.
Using the legacy of Aria Wynn's
research as bait, he had perset
extended an invitation to her. He
knew she wouldn't be
able to resist."
Yet, his operatives had found zero evidence of Serena Lancaster boarding the ship.
But right on schedule, this Panacea had appeared out of thin air.
Sure, The Panacea looked entirely different from the girl in the dossier.
But... there was a terrifying, undeniable familiarity to her methods.
The Raven looked up, his eyes locking onto his subordinate. "Still no sign of Serena Lancaster?"
The operative flinched, clearly stunned that his boss was bringing her up in the middle of this crisis.
But he quickly bowed his head. "No sign of her boarding under that alias, sir. The access pass you issued remains dormant."
"We've swept every manifest and surveillance grid. Neither legitimate channels nor the black market have any record of Serena Lancaster."
"Remains dormant..." The Raven repeated the words slowly, a freezing shadow overtaking his face.
Just because she didn't use the pass...
Didn't mean she wasn't on this ship.