“Ten people!”
“Where are the others?”
“Four are at the road entrance, three are at the dock. If our mission fails, they’ll split into two groups to intercept you!”
“Please, don’t kill me!” the man, whose eyeball had been slashed by Arthur, screamed hysterically.
Arthur twisted his wrist and struck the man’s throat with the hilt of his knife. The man immediately collapsed unconscious, his body sliding down the wall and crumpling to the floor like a ragdoll.
“Hurry! Put on your coat, we need to leave now!” Arthur shouted, picking up the gun on the ground and tossing the coat to Tang Mi. He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door.
As they rushed outside, the sky was just beginning to lighten, and a strong sea breeze whipped against their faces, stinging like a whip. Dark clouds covered the sea, and waves crashed violently against the anchored fishing boats, signaling the imminent arrival of a snowstorm.
There were still only a few people at the dock. A Dodge pickup truck used for transporting goods was parked beneath a lamp post, and a man in a shipping company uniform sat in the driver’s seat smoking, his hand holding a coffee cup and tapping it rhythmically against the car door as if lost in a tune. Two dark-colored sedans were quietly driving towards their residential area from opposite ends of the road, appearing like ugly yet fast-moving beetles under the dim sky.
Arthur stopped in his tracks, his muscles tensing as he watched the two sedans. Unexpectedly, he ran toward the pickup truck, grabbed the smoking driver by the collar, and pulled him out through the window.
Arthur opened the door and shoved Tang Mi into the driver’s seat before climbing in himself.
“Drive! Those two sedans are from Country A!” he said quickly.
Tang Mi immediately started the car, shifted into reverse, and slammed on the gas. Before the two sedans could stop, their pickup crashed heavily into one of the cars and then suddenly surged forward to ram the other.
Compared to the monstrous, aggressive pickup, the small sedans were as fragile as sheep. The car in front swerved to avoid the impact, crashing into the iron gate of a nearby shop with a loud “bang,” setting off a warning alarm.
“Head to the fourth fishing boat at the second dock!” Arthur shouted as he fired at the pursuing vehicles. The sedans had shaken off their initial panic, started their engines, and were now chasing after them with dented bumpers and smashed fronts.
Tang Mi nearly floored the accelerator, her hands and feet moving mechanically, numb from the tension.
The northern wind whipped past her face and ears, cold to the extreme yet biting with a stinging heat. The scenery seemed to blur and fly past her as if pulled by an unseen force. Her mind was empty—no fear, no anxiety, only the single thought of escaping, racing against the inevitable approach of death.
The sound of gunfire echoed sporadically, and suddenly Arthur lunged forward, the smell of gunpowder filling the car. Tang Mi glanced sideways and saw Arthur gritting his teeth, using his hand to dig a bullet out of his shoulder. Blood poured from the wound, exposing pale muscle and tendons. He let out a muffled gasp before tossing the bullet onto the floor.
The moment felt like the bullet had exploded inside Tang Mi’s heart, shattering it into countless pieces.
“I’m fine. Keep driving, the second dock is up ahead!” Arthur breathed heavily, his large frame hunched like a dying beast, but his voice was eerily calm.
Tang Mi saw the blue sign marking the second dock and quickly turned the wheel, a taste of blood and numbness filling her lips—she had bitten through them in the tension.
Arthur stiffened again, raised his arm, and fired at the vehicles behind them. The gunfire intensified, and more blood streamed from his shoulder, staining much of his body.
The sound of breaking glass came from behind as the enemy’s bullets shattered the rear window of the driver’s seat, sending the windshield cracking in a web-like pattern from the impact. A small, oval object hissed as it fell to the floor beneath the driver’s seat.
“Grenade!” Tang Mi screamed, staring at the black object still emitting white smoke.
“Jump out!” Arthur’s voice rang out immediately.

Tang Mi almost crashed her shoulder into the car door, leaping outward. Her entire field of vision spun, and soon, searing pain shot through her shoulder blades and thighs. Her body tumbled across the concrete ground, the deafening explosion ringing in her ears, and the shockwave almost forced her heart and lungs to burst out of her chest.

She didn’t know how much time passed—maybe a few minutes, maybe just seconds. Gradually, the darkness before her eyes faded, and light pierced her vision. Her chest felt like it was about to explode, as if something solid needed to be expelled for relief. She couldn’t see anything clearly, but in the dizzying light, she heard gunshots and the sound of heavy objects flipping. Suddenly, an arm helped lift her, and Arthur’s anxious face grew larger in front of her.

“Are you alright?” His voice seemed to come from a distant place. She wanted to speak, but her throat was tight, and she could only faintly shake her head.

“Can you walk?” he asked.

She nodded, her steps unsteady, as if the cold asphalt beneath her feet had turned into soft cotton candy.

“Then hurry, run to the fishing boat. The one going to Canada has already set sail!” Arthur half-lifted, half-dragged her toward the edge of the dock.

In her still-uncertain vision, Tang Mi saw two overturned cars and Arthur’s blood-soaked shoulder and back. She didn’t know how she made it to the dock’s edge, nor how she stepped over the narrow, high ramp to the deck. All she could see was the red stain that had spread across her vision, the world around her tinted a dark crimson.

When she finally regained some clarity, she found herself inside the ship’s cabin. Arthur was sitting beside her, breathing heavily while pointing a gun at the head of a crew member kneeling on the floor, trembling. The crew member was tearing off bandages, with some hemostatic drugs lying at his feet.

“Let me do it!” Tang Mi said, taking the bandages from the crew member’s hands. Her eyes began to well with heat.

Colorless hydrogen peroxide dripped onto his wound, foaming up into a series of pink bubbles, like strong acid eating away at exposed muscle. When she saw his shoulder and back suddenly tighten, her tears couldn’t help but spill, flowing with his blood over his still-strong, upright back muscles.

“Don’t cry. It’s just a small wound. I’ve survived injuries ten times worse than this,” Arthur said with a comforting smile, gently grasping her trembling hand. Unaware, his casual words only made Tang Mi cry harder. She wiped her tears away, fighting back sobs, and bit her lip as she injected the orange-yellow hemostatic serum into his vein.

As she wrapped the bandage around his chest, he took her hand again.

“We will definitely get out safely,” Arthur lifted his face to look at her, his face so pale it was almost frightening, making his dark green eyes appear even deeper, with sharp starlike glints shining through, like the first light of dawn breaking through the darkness.

“I know,” Tang Mi wrapped her arms around his waist from behind, pressing her face against his back. The warmth of his touch soothed the fear and anxiety she had just felt. His broad back felt as solid as a small mountain, giving her tired heart the most peaceful rest. She tightened her arms around him, holding onto the only source of light in the vast, dark night.

The fishing boat struggled to make its way through the wind and waves, like a clumsy and helpless little beast. The sea and sky outside the porthole were the same color, dark and ominous, swirling without boundaries or life, like an impenetrable dead zone. Inside the cabin, the two of them, tightly clinging to each other, used all their strength to break through this sea of death, heading toward the last island of their lives.

The Bering Sea at night grew increasingly terrifying, with towering waves repeatedly crashing against the fishing boat, pressing the bow down, then suddenly lifting it up and throwing it into the dark sky. The waves, mixed with the sharp sea breeze, lashed against the deck like a waterfall. The wooden planks creaked and groaned under the intense impact, as if they would break apart at any moment, with snapped ropes flying around like countless arms reaching out in desperation.

The whole ship shook and heaved with the wind and waves, repeatedly tossed up and slammed down. The painful moans were swallowed by the next wave’s onslaught.

Suddenly, a huge explosion split the night sky, piercing through the roar of the waves. Tang Mi leapt from the bed, but before she could steady herself, the tilting ship slammed her against the wall. A wave of heat, mixed with flying debris, shattered the porthole’s glass, raining down on her.

In the darkness, she saw the reflection of a blazing fire and moving shadows outside the window. Screams, footsteps, and the sounds of objects colliding filled the air, like countless frantic notes composing the final symphony of the world. The ground beneath her feet constantly shifted, with no place stable, and her body was tossed around like a bead in a lottery machine.

In the chaos, Arthur grabbed the heating pipe on the wall with one hand and pulled Tang Mi’s clothes with the other to stop her from falling further.

“What’s happening?” Tang Mi clung to the heating pipe with his arm for support.

“The people from Country A are chasing us. They used armor-piercing rounds to puncture the hull!”

“The ship might explode, we need to get to the deck!” Arthur tightened his grip on Tang Mi’s arm. As the ship tilted, he slid across the floor to the door and pulled it open, rushing out.

“On the next wave, head toward the bow!” Arthur’s voice shouted.

The bow of the ship suddenly sank, and Arthur pulled Tang Mi forward with the force, throwing them to the front third of the ship. But the bow quickly rose again, lifting off the water with the pull of the waves. Tang Mi had no time to grab anything, and she was thrown out, feeling a sharp pain in her arm as the downward pull suddenly stopped.

Looking up, she saw that Arthur had grabbed the rope at the bow with one hand and was tightly holding her wrist with the other.

“Hold on to me!” Arthur shouted, looking down at her.

Tang Mi grasped his arm, and a warm, salty liquid slid down his hand into her palm—it was blood! She widened her eyes and saw a large spray of blood on his shoulder, soaking through his coat, dripping onto her face.

His wound had reopened, likely torn when he had pulled her earlier, causing the already fragile muscles to tear further.

Before she could make a sound, a stronger impact came from behind, accompanied by a deafening explosion and shockwaves. The entire stern of the ship shattered, and blinding light and smoke seemed to devour the sea. The second armor-piercing round had been fired from the yacht behind them, delivering the final, fatal blow to the already precarious fishing boat.

The entire ship tilted back, the stern taking in water as the bow was lifted high, slowly sinking into the sea.

Amidst the violent shaking, Tang Mi felt Arthur’s grip on her fingers tremble. Her body began to slide down, but before she could slip from his grasp, he pulled her back with all his strength.

Tang Mi looked up and saw Arthur’s face pale as paper, cold sweat dripping from his forehead, sliding down to his brows, the pain across his face was evident.

His injured shoulder could no longer bear the weight of her body. If this continued, both of them would be dragged into the cold water, and maybe they would survive, or maybe they would sink forever to the ocean’s depths.

Tang Mi knew that Arthur, in his severe blood loss, wouldn’t last long in the cold seawater. Preserving what little strength he had left was the most important thing now.

She couldn’t be his burden, not like Isa had said, like poison that could kill him. At least within her control, she couldn’t let that happen.

“Let go, Arthur!” Tang Mi shouted loudly, releasing his hand.

“No! Don’t let go!” Arthur yelled back through gritted teeth, desperately holding onto her hand.

They tugged at each other, their fate hanging by the intertwined fingers. Amidst the waves and firelight, their figures were like two injured butterflies, struggling to fly with broken wings, constantly battered by the ferocious water and fire, their desperate resolve shining through the tragic beauty of their struggle. As long as one of them survived, it became their shared voice, passed through their connected fingers, reaching their hearts, a final song in the night sky, rising and falling with the roaring waves, spreading across the turbulent sea.

But the ruthless wind and waves would not relent.