Raven slowly shifted his gaze to Archer, whose expression remained unchanged, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes. He casually said to Archer:
"You must be Archer, right? I heard you were first this time. Are you interested in becoming my subordinate?"
Being personally asked by Raven made many of the youths Raven had nurtured quite jealous.
Archer looked at him but did not respond.
Raven thought Archer was hesitating because of something, so he calmly spoke:
"You don't need to worry. I don't care that you were that loser's subordinate before. And you don't need to worry about those guys; they don't have the strength for revenge against you."
"Besides, they won't live much longer."
As he spoke, he glanced at Archer and others who were standing properly nearby, though Mars didn't seem to be there.
Upon hearing Raven's mocking words, Archer's eyes turned extremely cold, and his fists clenched, making cracking sounds and even turning a little white.
However, he did not act impulsively, because the group of guys behind Raven were just waiting for him to act impulsively!
He glanced at Archer, but there was no ripple in his heart.
Because he knew that Archer would absolutely not betray Giovanni.
As expected, Archer did not disappoint. He spoke with disdain: "You aren't even as strong as him; you only dare to prance around like this because he's not here."
A group of people behind Raven, upon hearing Archer's words, angrily stepped forward and rebuked him, "Bastard, you're asking for death!"
They looked ready to attack Archer at any moment.
Raven, however, raised his hand to stop them. He narrowed his eyes and let out two hearty laughs.
His laughter was somewhat unsettling!
"I really appreciate you!" Raven smiled twice at Archer.
Archer, with an unchanging expression, said to Raven:
"Unfortunately, my impression of you isn't very good. If possible, may I leave?"
A cold light flashed in Raven's eyes. With a movement of his foot, he instantly appeared in front of Archer and delivered a kick.
Bang!
Archer didn't even react and was directly kicked away.
He fell heavily to the ground, spitting out a large amount of blood.
However, he did not let out a single scream. Instead, he coldly wiped the blood from his mouth, endured the intense pain in his body, and slowly stood up from the ground.
Raven narrowed his eyes, raising his foot to step forward again. "You are quite resilient. I want to see how many hits you can endure!"
Ashin, who was watching from the side, couldn't bear it anymore.
He rushed over quickly, and the moment Raven raised his foot, he directly blocked the attack for Archer.
Ashin shook his arm and said to Raven: "Don't go too far."
Archer stood up behind him and shook his head at Ashin, "You were impulsive. He is not him; he wouldn't dare to kill me, at least not now."
Raven coldly glanced at Archer, seemingly very displeased with his words.
Ashin didn't expect that his intervention would even draw a complaint from Archer, which left him quite helpless.
"You little brat, you really don't know what's good for you."
Archer did not reply, only facing Raven together with Ashin.
A group of youths also wanted to step forward, but he stopped them with a look.
Raven's subordinates all stepped forward, coming to his back. Raven did not hide his killing intent, "You two are very bold! Do you really think I wouldn't dare to kill you?"
Archer retorted fearlessly:
"Do you dare? Your courage is not enough to support it. Do you dare to bet everything you have now?"
He was hinting at Raven, betting that he wouldn't dare to act, betting that he was afraid of being exiled as well.
In Raven's eyes, the killing intent was practically overflowing. Besides Giovanni and Petrel, Archer was the third person he particularly wanted to kill.
Raven shouted to his subordinates behind him: "You go, kill both of them for me."
They looked at each other, none daring to step forward. If they violated the rules, wouldn't that be certainly seeking death?
Seeing them like this, Raven immediately felt disgraced, "A bunch of cowardly good-for-nothings!"
However, this did not mean he would leave dejectedly; he was the biggest authority here.
He threatened Archer and Ashin: "You two are brave. I hope you never leave the base your whole lives, otherwise you'll end up like that guy named Mars, going to the spirit world!"
Archer and Ashin's faces immediately darkened upon hearing this.
They didn't expect Mars, who had just been promoted to Squad Leader, to encounter such a calamity!
Just then, a discordant voice suddenly rang out, "Is that so? I don't think so!"
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice, only to see a figure slowly approaching from a distance. It was Mars. He was wearing his signature combat uniform; although he looked a bit disheveled, at least he was still alive.
"Your threats sound rather unoriginal, Raven." Mars said as he walked, his tone relaxed, yet every word was impactful.
"Shana, that good-for-nothing!" Raven's face darkened when he saw Mars perfectly fine. He hadn't expected Mars to still be alive, or to appear at this moment, much less to taunt him so directly.
But he quickly regained his composure, a cold sneer playing at the corner of his mouth: "You're quite lucky to be alive. Since you've fortunately survived, you should have just stayed hidden, not like now, so eager to rush to your death."
Mars, however, shook his head, "Lucky? That's not quite right."
...
A day ago, the squad led by Mars was on a mission to capture Pokémon.
Mars's Snake Squad moved through the dense forest, moonlight filtering through the gaps in the leaves, dappling their bodies.
"Captain Mars, is it really fine now?" one of the team members asked nervously.
He had just been promoted to a full member, and he was both excited and apprehensive about this mission.
Mars stopped and looked back at him.
"Of course. This is our squad's first mission, and it's also a test of our strength. I believe in everyone, and I believe we can succeed."
It was just capturing a high-level Pokémon; he had done it many times when he was in the Snake Squad.
No sooner had he spoken than a rapid sound of footsteps suddenly broke the silence of the forest.
Mars immediately raised his hand vigilantly, signaling his squad members to prepare for battle.
However, what appeared before them was not an enemy, but a panting, scarred youth, who was the scout Mars had sent out.
Mars quickly stepped forward and reached out to support him, "Are you alright, Cilian?"
"Captain Mars! Quick! Go back! Raven... Raven is going to make a move against you!" the youth gasped, his eyes filled with anxiety and fear.
Mars's brows furrowed upon hearing this, but he quickly sensed something was amiss. If Raven was going to make a move,
how could Cilian have possibly come back alive to report it!
He lowered his head and immediately noticed the murderous look in Cilian's eyes, and a fleeting cold glint.
- - -
[T/N: Final exams are coming up in two weeks so imma update only once a day until it passes. After the exams, I'll update back to 3x a day for free.]