When the two of them went into the room, Winnie led the way ahead while Big Black Bear followed behind her.Therefore, it was Winnie who first entered the room with Big Black Bear on her heels.When they had gone into the room, Big Black Bear furtively locked the door.He thought Winnie didnât notice it, but she had actually glimpsed his action through the vanity mirror right across the room door.Nonetheless, she pretended as though nothing had happened. She merely walked over to the side of the cabinet. Opening the cabinet door, she took out two bottles of wine.One of them was the color of champagne while the other was colorless.She placed both bottles of wine on the table and inquired with a faint smile, âShall we have a drink? Which one do you prefer?âBig Black Bear said nothing, merely staring at her as though he wasnât interested in drinking.Ignoring him, Winnie retrieved two wine glasses.âI suppose youâd better drink foreign wine? You might not be used to drinking local wine,â she muttered as though speaking to herself.As she said that, she started uncorking the wine.But she was left with the use of a single hand then, and it was her left hand to boot. As such, things were rather difficult for her.For that reason, she glanced back over her shoulder and asked Big Black Bear for help. âHey, why are you still standing over there? Come and help me uncork the wine.âBig Black Bear remained silent, but this time, he finally budged. He strolled over to her.However, he didnât approach her to uncork the wine.When he reached her back, he suddenly shot his hands out and wrapped them around her neck from behind.The muscles on his arms bulged, and he had unbelievable strength. In no time, Winnie started experiencing trouble breathing.Nevertheless, he evidently held himself back to a certain extent, not intending to strangle her to death.Realizing that, Winnie promptly demanded, âWhat are you doing? What exactly do you want to ask me?âBig Black Bear lowered his head and glowered at her.âYou were sent over by those in South West Aploth, huh? In this area, no one else could possibly have such a formulation besides me. You must be a spy they sent out. What do they want? Lure me out and capture me back or kill me?âWinnieâs brows creased. It looks like he knows everything, even surmising my plan accurately.âWhat does the answer matter? What is the meaning of this now? Do you want to kill me? If so, why are you not making your move?âBig Black Bear ruthlessly strangled her again. âI donât like to kill! But Iâve got to admit that the formulation in your hands is even better than mine. I believe you donât want to die either, right?âWinnie struggled to breathe. âOf course, I donât want to die. Who doesnât want to live?ââIf you want to live, I can spare you, but you must hand the formulation to me!ââWhat would become of me if I were to hand it to you? Would Leandro still keep me alive?ââI donât care. But if you donât hand it to me, Iâm going to strangle you to death right here and now. You undoubtedly canât last five minutes in my hands. Weigh it carefully!âWinnie was already running of out oxygen, so she relented. âOkay! Iâll hand it to you! Iâll give it to you!â Thereâs a pen and paper in the drawer under the table. Take them out. Iâll write the formulation down for you.âHearing that, Big Black Bear instantly dipped his head and pulled the drawer open.Sure enough, there was a pen and paper in there. He quickly took them out and placed them on the table.
âWrite it down immediately, right this instant!ââOkay!â Winnie clawed at his arm, urging, âLoosen your hold for a bit. I canât quite breathe anymore, and my brain will run out of oxygen. Under such a circumstance, I canât write it down at all.âThat made sense. Thinking that she couldnât escape from him anyway, Big Black Bear loosened his grip a fraction.Relief suffused Winnie, and she took in great gulps of breath. She only started writing several seconds later.After writing two lines, she deliberately paused for a moment.As soon as she did so, Big Black Bear rushed her at once. âDonât drag your feet! Hurry up and write.âIn response, Winnie frowned. âDonât rush me. Iâm too nervous when you do so, and I might make a mistake.âWhile saying that, she crossed off the line she wrote earlier. âLook, I got the quantity wrong.âStaring at the paper, Big Black Bear questioned, âAre you sure itâs wrong? The content of methamphetamine is high in the first place. Why did you cross it out?âWinnie breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that the man had his full attention on the formulation.âYouâll understand when Iâve written down the entire formulation. Now, you only need to keep your eyes peeled.â As she said that, she shook her hand. âD*mn it! I hate using my left hand. Itâs really too inconvenient.âBig Black Bear didnât think much of her shaking her hand, for his thoughts were centered on the formulation. Unbeknownst to him, she was actually looking for a suitable angle by doing so.She prepared everything in that room meticulously, including the pen in her hand.Its tip was exceedingly sharp and fine, so it could be used as a weapon if she had a good grasp of the force and angle.She shook her hand earlier because she was looking for a suitable angle. By then, she already had a rough grasp of the position where she and Big Black Bear stood.After purposefully miswriting a parameter to attract his attention, she shot her hand back and stabbed him with the pen.While her blow wasnât fatal, the tip of the pen punctured his throat unerringly.Never had Big Black Bear expected the woman before him to actually turn the tables and injure him with a mere pen.As the wound was at his throat, he couldnât even shout. He could only make some low and unintelligible sounds.Following her success, Winnie continued striking while the iron was hot. She took out a towel from the drawer. Holding her breath, she poured the bottle of âwhite wineâ on the table onto the towel.In truth, it was no white wine. Instead, it was a bottle of colorless and transparent ether.After knocking Big Black Bear out, she whipped out a lighter and went to a corner of the wall.The two crates of wine Leandro sent over previously were all there. Taking two bottles out, she poured the rest of the wine over the curtains and furniture before lighting the curtains on fire.When she had done all that, she climbed out the window with the remaining two bottles and left.By the time the men keeping watch outside and Leandro noticed something amiss, her room was already ablaze.The instant Leandro saw the fire, he stood frozen on the spot.He suddenly found himself foolish beyond belief.She was the one who set Haroldâs lab on fire. She even managed to play a fool of someone like him; yet, I thought I could subdue her! He was so livid that steam was coming out of his ears. âD*mn it!
Go and get that woman! No matter what, youâre to catch her! I want to cut her into a million pieces and feed her to the wolves! Why are you still spacing out? Hurry up and give chase!âBut not long after he had given that order, he received another piece of bad news all out of the blueâhis warehouse was on fire.All my stock and raw materials are in that warehouse, but that woman actually set fire to it all!The warehouse meant everything to him. At the end of the day, he could give up killing Winnie, but he couldnât possibly give his warehouse up.Therefore, he hastily called back everyone he sent out to pursue her. Right then, they all worked to extinguish the fire to the best of their abilities to minimize the losses.Winnie had made preparations ages ago. After she had set two fires consecutively, especially the one at the warehouse, almost everyone in the entire Zeller residence was dispatched to put the fire out. Only the guard at the gate remained at his post.That granted her a smooth journey all the way to the doghole. In fact, it was far easier than when she escaped from Haroldâs place.Aware that Leandro had no extra manpower to pursue her, she didnât slip into the woods but sprinted along the main road.When she had run for about a kilometer, a car suddenly approached from ahead.She instinctively slipped into the woods at the side of the road, but the car abruptly honked.Not daring to expose herself, she hid in the woods motionlessly. Only when she spotted Greta jumping out of the car while calling out âMs. Garlandâ did she realize that it was Xavier coming to pick her up.She swiftly stepped out of the woods and waved at Greta. âIâm here!âAt the sound of Winnieâs voice, Greta promptly snapped her head around. Just when she was about to head over, a figure swept past her like a gust of wind.Xavier ran like the wind, reaching Winnie in a handful of steps.At the sight of her, he didnât utter a single word but gathered her into his arms right away.Winnie enjoyed the sense of security in his arms, but still, she couldnât help crying out, âOuch! Darling, my hand is broken, and youâre hurting me.ââSorry!â Xavier immediately dropped his hold on her. Cradling her face, he started kissing her face, from her forehead to her chin.Winnie initially wanted to dissuade him from being so frantic, but she suddenly realized that she wanted to kiss him as well. In fact, she yearned to share an intense kiss with him.Alas, it wasnât an appropriate time then. Greta, who was far more rational than the couple, climbed into the driverâs seat and honked at them.At that, both of them became embarrassed. Winnie lifted her head and caressed Xavierâs face. âCome, letâs leave this place quickly.âXavier stared at her unblinkingly. At the same time, he held her hand tightly. âAre you tired? Can you still walk?âBut after asking that, he didnât give her the chance to speak at all and scooped her up without delay.Winnie wrapped an arm around his neck. At that very moment, she felt incredibly relaxed.Subsequently, the two of them got into the car. Before turning the car around, Greta couldnât resist glancing back over her shoulder.In the distance, she saw flames shooting into the sky.She couldnât help glancing at Winnie through the rear-view mirror, querying with a chortle, âMs. Garland, did you also set fire to Leandroâs place?âExhausted, Winnie sounded weak as she spoke. âYeah. I couldnât have gotten out easily if I hadnât created some work for them.
Theyâre all busy putting out the fire right now.ââHaha, how impressive, Ms. Garland! Youâre really incredible! Youâve only been here for a few days, but youâve set fire to two drug caches consecutively.
Hahaha, how gratifying!âWinnie could hear the thrill in Gretaâs voice. She chuckled softly. âYou seem to detest drugs.âAgain, Greta cast a look at her through the rear-view mirror. âYeah. Although Iâve been making a living from a related profession in such a place, it doesnât hinder me from detesting it.âPausing for a moment, she added, âIâve always known what Iâve been doing.âWinnie couldnât shake off the feeling that Greta was different from other mercenaries, but she didnât question her further.After a brief silence, Winnie asked Xavier, âHave you relocated Christopher and Professor White?âXavier smoothed her slightly messy hair as he reassured gently, âDonât worry. Iâve made all the arrangements.
We can convene with them soon.âFrowning, Winnie sighed. âItâs a pity that Yulissa escaped.âXavier continued to console her as he murmured, âItâs okay. As long as Professor White is with us, I believe sheâll definitely make an appearance. You havenât gotten your black badge back, yes?ââYeah. She was adamant about only returning it to me after she had seen Professor White. Unexpectedly, I got the wrong person that night and took Professor Whiteâs assistant instead.ââI was also shocked when I saw Professor White at that time. Fortunately, we all survived in the end,â Xavier lamented.Nodding, Winnie inquired, âOh yes, I couldnât contact you through the ring sometime later. Was there a problem with the receiving equipment on your end?ââYes. I came up with a plan later and got another one, but the previous recordings were all gone. What happened between you both subsequently? I only heard from Christopher that the two of you bumped into Yulissa. Was it her who broke your hand?âWinnie stole a peek at Xavier.It looks like Christopher didnât tell him the events that transpired in the basement. Well, itâs a good thing. Those events are indeed pretty awkward to speak of. Besides, heâs a jealous person in nature. Knowing some things wonât do him any good.Thus, she only revealed a small part of them.âWhen we took off back then, we bumped into Yulissa. Initially, she thought she would be able to see Professor White this time, but it unexpectedly turned out to be someone else when the helmet was removed. She thought I was deliberately playing her for a fool, so she sabotaged us. A row broke out between us. Later, we so happened to bump into Harold. He heard that I blew up his place and fled, so he was hunting me everywhere. Hence, he took both Christopher and me away. Iâm sure you know what happened after that.âAnd so, she brushed over the originally terrifying incident with merely those few words. Xavierâs eyes brimmed with self-recrimination. âIâm sorry. I failed to protect you well.âWinnie nestled deeper into his embrace. âDonât say that. Itâs all in the past. The most important thing is to ensure that weâre careful henceforth.âMurmuring in agreement. Xavier hugged her tightly. âLetâs go to Salinsburgh right now.âSalinsburgh was Shaunâs territory. At present, Jacinta and Rachel were still receiving treatment at a hospital there.Xavier had also sent Riley over. Right then, they were heading there to convene with the others.However, they had no idea of the trouble that awaited them there.