Night gradually descended.
The mountain wind swept through the observation station.
Crow was still sitting where he was.
The distant mountains had already been swallowed by darkness.
Only a few scattered lights remained.
He quietly stared into the distance.
He did not leave.
Nor did he continue observing what was happening on Lucian's side.
Because there was no longer any need.
Viper was dead.
Cobra was finished.
At least, that was how things appeared on the surface.
And his thoughts slowly returned to many years ago.
That year.
It was the first time he had met Viper.
Back then, Viper had not yet established Cobra.
He had none of the influence he possessed later.
He was simply a young leader rapidly rising through the underworld.
Crow, meanwhile, had already begun operating independently.
Selling information.
Trading information.
Surviving through information.
That day.
The meeting place was an abandoned bar.
Rain poured heavily outside.
There were only a few people inside the bar.
Crow sat in a corner.
As usual, he observed everyone.
The entrance.
The windows.
The back door.
The locations of the weapons.
The escape routes.
Every detail was already recorded in his mind.
It was a habit.
It was also his way of surviving.
And then.
A young man walked in.
Black coat.
Calm expression.
No guards around him.
Crow glanced at him.
Then immediately looked away.
New faces appeared in the underworld every day.
Most of them did not survive for a year.
There was no need to waste energy on them.
However.
What happened next made him frown slightly.
After entering the bar.
The young man did not sit down.
Nor did he order a drink.
Instead, he walked straight toward the counter.
Then he said a name.
The next second.
The entire bar fell silent.
Because that name belonged to the leader of a certain gang.
And more importantly.
He was the true owner of this place.
Several minutes later.
A group of people appeared through the back door.
More than twenty of them.
Every one of them was armed.
An ordinary person would have fled the moment they saw such a scene.
But the young man simply stood there.
He did not move.
Then.
The negotiation began.
Or rather.
It could hardly be called a negotiation at all.
Ten minutes later.
The gang leader was dead.
More than twenty armed men were dead.
And the young man walked out of the bar.
As if he had merely finished an ordinary task.
That was the first time Crow remembered his face.
Later.
He learned that man's name.
Viper.
From then on.
Their interactions gradually increased.
More accurately.
Viper was the one who actively sought Crow out.
The first time.
He bought information.
The second time.
He still bought information.
The third time.
He bought information again.
And every transaction was extremely simple.
Give money.
Take the information.
Leave.
No unnecessary questions.
No probing.
No threats.
And certainly no attempt to investigate Crow's identity.
That was extremely rare in the underworld.
Many clients would find ways to control information brokers.
Because nobody liked having their secrets in someone else's hands.
But Viper did not.
As time passed.
Crow began paying attention to this man.
Not because he trusted him.
But because he was rational.
Everything Viper did was rational.
When to attack.
When to retreat.
When to negotiate.
When to kill.
There was a reason for everything.
Even when he betrayed someone.
He could find a reasonable explanation for it.
This reminded Crow of something his teacher had once said.
The truly dangerous people.
Were not the madmen.
They were the ones who could control their madness.
And Viper was exactly that kind of person.
Later.
The two sides cooperated more and more.
Before one particular operation.
Crow provided some information.
It indicated that the target warehouse was an ambush site.
After reading it.
Viper immediately abandoned the original plan.
That very night.
The warehouse exploded.
Everyone involved in the operation died.
The next day.
Viper personally came to see Crow.
He said only one thing.
"You saved me once."
Then he left double the payment.
He turned around and walked away.
He did not say anything else.
Crow stared at the bag of money.
For the first time.
He was surprised.
Because very few people in the underworld remembered things like that.
Most people would simply assume they had been lucky.
Or that it was only natural.
But Viper remembered.
Some time later.
A large gang prepared to swallow Viper's territory.
The difference in strength between the two sides was enormous.
Almost nobody believed Viper could win.
Many people had already begun waiting for his death.
However.
Crow received a commission.
The client was Viper.
There was only one sentence.
"Tell me how to win."
Crow stared at the piece of paper.
He remained silent for a long time.
Because this was not a normal question at all.
But in the end.
He still wrote down a plan.
Three days later.
That large gang disappeared.
Its leader was dead.
Its executives were dead.
Its financial chain had collapsed.
Its members betrayed one another.
The entire organization completely fell apart within a week.
And Viper took all of its resources in the process.
From that point on.
The underworld began to truly notice the name Viper.
At the same time.
Crow also began to realize.
This man was different from everyone else.
Not because he was kind.
And certainly not because he was noble.
Quite the opposite.
Viper was a complete bastard.
He would use others.
He would betray others.
He would sacrifice others without hesitation.
But the problem was.
He treated everyone the same way.
There were no double standards.
No hypocrisy.
No moral disguise.
He never claimed to be a good person.
Nor did he pretend to uphold justice.
He simply did what he believed was right.
That kind of purity instead made him seem unusually genuine.
One day.
Viper suddenly asked Crow.
"Do you trust anyone?"
Crow answered.
"No."
"Not a single person?"
"Not a single person."
Upon hearing this.
Viper suddenly smiled.
"That's pitiful."
Crow frowned.
Because it was the first time he had ever heard someone describe him that way.
But Viper continued.
"If there isn't a single person in this world you can trust."
"What meaning is there in staying alive?"
Crow did not answer.
Because his teacher had taught him.
Never trust anyone.
That was the correct answer.
At least, it had always been.
However.
After that day.
Those words remained in his mind.
They never disappeared for many years.
Later.
Viper began building an organization of his own.
Back then, it was not yet called Cobra.
Its scale was nowhere near what it would eventually become.
There were only dozens of people.
A few vehicles.
A few warehouses.
Many people thought it was just another ordinary gang.
It would disappear sooner or later.
But Crow knew that would not happen.
Because Viper had already begun searching for something bigger.
After one transaction.
Viper sat on the edge of a rooftop.
He gazed at the city lights in the distance.
Then suddenly spoke.
"This place is too small."
Crow stood beside him.
He said nothing.
Viper continued.
"These gangs."
"These territories."
"This money."
"They're all too small."
The wind swept across the night sky.
Neon lights flickered in the distance.
And Viper slowly smiled.
"I want to build a kingdom of my own."
Crow remembered it very clearly.
That was the first time he had seen Viper wear an expression like that.
Like a madman.
Yet also like a dreamer.
Two contradictory things existing at the same time.
Later.
Viper went to the lawless zone.
And then.
Cobra was born.
The wind swept through the observation station.
Crow slowly opened his eyes.
The darkness in the distance had grown even deeper.
Viper was already dead.
That madman who had once said he would build a kingdom.
Had finally fallen.
Crow quietly stared into the darkness.
For a long time.
Then slowly stood up.
And at that very moment.
On a distant mountain ridge.
The scope of Scope's rifle.
Had already quietly locked onto his figure.