CHAPTER 59: CHAPTER 59: [THE SNOW HAS FALLEN] (REVISED)

"Don’t move."

Amid the sound of the waves, Ethan and Anya had already arrived.

They saw Vincent holding Lewis, but hadn’t yet grasped the situation, so they pointed their guns at both of them.

"Turn around slowly."

Vincent, as told, slowly turned with Lewis.

Ethan saw that face clearly.

It was a face very similar to his, but with rougher, sharper, and more mature features, much more robust.

This man...

"Ethan, long time no see."

His voice was both unfamiliar and familiar.

Finally, Ethan searched through a fragment of his former memories in his mind.

"Vincent... you’re Vincent? You’re still alive?"

Vincent Polleta, Alberto’s second son, had disappeared twelve years ago.

Alberto had gone mad searching for him for two years, and later, with no results, ultimately gave up.

The family had basically accepted that he was dead.

So, when the Bolita Clan’s heirs were mentioned, only Leonardo and Ethan were considered.

He was actually still alive...

"Where have you been all these years?"

"Now’s not the time to talk about this, Ethan. Let me deal with this guy first, and then we can chat at length."

Vincent casually yanked the gun from Lewis’s hand and with a simple twist, turned it into a mangled mess.

"Was it you who gave me that note?"

Vincent nodded.

A few days ago, Ethan had received a note warning him that someone bore ill intentions against him and to be extra cautious the day Pupol came.

He never expected that Vincent was the one who sent the note.

At this moment, Lewis started to laugh, though his jaw was shattered and he was barely able to speak, he forced out some gaping, bloody words.

"Ethan... even like this... I’ve won this round... you’re finished!"

"I’m finished? You mean, my craft factory? But Virel is there." Ethan shook his head as he looked at him, a gesture of both lament and mockery at how foolish he was.

"Impossible!" Lewis’s eyes widened.

No, it couldn’t be.

If Virel was at the craft factory, then the Cabreya Clan...

"Your plan was indeed clever, persuading Palon to betray me, then letting Virel go for pacification, attacking the craft factory, to lure me down the mountain and kill me, leaving nothing of me for the world to see, brilliant."

Ethan clapped lightly.

"Unfortunately, you overlooked two things: one, Vincent, and two... Palon didn’t dare betray me, he had already told me everything long ago."

All Lewis could do now was breathe heavily, his eyes bloodshot and red.

"Say goodbye to this world, Lewis."

Vincent grabbed his throat, and with his strength, could crush Lewis’s throat if he applied pressure.

"Stop."

But the next moment, a voice suddenly broke the air.

When this voice rang out, it seemed even the wind in the air and the waves behind them paused for a moment.

At the same time, three gunshots rang out together, striking Vincent from ingenious angles.

Vincent, after freezing for a second, had to release Lewis and dodge.

Ethan and Anya fired towards the source of the gunfire.

"Impossible to hit."

The voice spoke again.

Then, a man appeared before them, shielding Lewis behind him.

Indeed, the bullets didn’t hit him, and he had time to dust off his clothes.

Like Lewis, this man was dressed in black leather, around his early twenties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, looking gentle and refined.

Yet Ethan sensed an aura of menace from him.

Ethan’s gun was already aimed at him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I came here to take my inept colleague back home. While he’s indeed inept, to the point even I find him laughably foolish, I can’t let you kill him here... hmm? You killed him?"

Only then did he realize Lewis was already dead; apparently, when Vincent released him, he had squeezed his throat, breaking it, right amidst the gunfire.

Vincent tilted his head with a ’so what?’ expression.

Ethan, however, smiled: "Agent, don’t talk nonsense. Who killed him? We only saw Agent Lewis accidentally break his own neck."

"You... well played, Ethan... Bolita."

The bespectacled agent, initially enraged, now laughed instead. He adjusted his glasses and said:

"Oh, by the way, let me introduce myself. I’m Albertine Court, a newly assigned Prohibition Agent, just transferred from the Royal Capital. Ethan, I won’t forget what happened today, so let’s get along in the future."

He slightly bowed, full of etiquette.

But the next moment, a dense cloud of smoke surged suddenly beneath his feet.

Ethan immediately moved back with Anya, sensing the malice within the smoke.

"No need to look for him; he’s gone."

After a while, Vincent spoke in the gradually dispersing smoke.

His gaze fixed in one direction.

There, Albertine Court was carrying Lewis’s corpse, darting swiftly agilely like a kangaroo rat, already many yards away.

"Should’ve finished him off too." Vincent shook his blood-stained hand.

"There’ll be a chance." Ethan said that, but his eyes were on Albertine’s receding figure.

This man, whom he had just met, was indeed a formidable opponent.

But, there’d always be a way.

"I suddenly remembered, don’t you have something important going on up the mountain today? Was it delayed?" Vincent suddenly asked after a moment of silence.

"No, I finished early." Ethan turned his gaze toward the cliffs where Winster University stood.

"Let’s go home."

The snow, which had been gathering in the sky all day, finally began to fall.

——————

When the snow fell, within Winster University.

People were still waiting for Ethan’s work.

The falling snow captured people’s attention.

Fortunately, the banquet was being held in a semi-outdoor area with a glass canopy, so the snow couldn’t reach everyone.

But it seemed it was getting late.

The time was also nearing four-thirty.

Only half an hour remained until the final moment.

Some were growing impatient with the wait, privately approaching Loren to say a few things.

Ramon happened to overhear and spoke loudly: "Ladies and gentlemen, it’s getting late. Why not send someone to check Ethan’s progress? If he can’t finish, let’s not waste everyone’s time. After all, if the snow gets heavier and it gets dark, it won’t be easy to descend the mountain."

Many present nodded, El’s face turned extremely grim, and his previously self-induced confidence plummeted.

Seeing that Loren was about to nod in agreement, El quickly said: "Principal, let me go check, after all, he’s my student."

Loren nodded in agreement.

El hurried towards the classroom, purposely slowing his steps to buy Ethan time and because he dreaded the looming outcome.

What if... Ethan hadn’t painted anything?

Upon finally reaching the classroom, his heart sank when he found Ethan was no longer there.

He ran away?!