Chapter 259

As evening approached, Bernard used satellite surveillance to scan half the mountain. Eventually, he found Hera's jacket deep in the forest. Bernard descended from the helicopter and notified Aaron of its location. The group then swiftly mobilized, combing the area surrounding where the jacket was found. As darkness fell, Bernard's expression grew increasingly grim. He was clutching Hera's jacket so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Aaron, who had been on more than a dozen S-class missions with Bernard, had never seen him this tense. He tried reassuring Bernard, saying, "Don't worry too much. Hera will be fine. She grew up in the mountains and knows how to handle herself out here." "Yeah," Bernard replied. He then instructed Douglas through the earpiece, "Bring some searchlights," before returning to the helicopter to resume searching through the surveillance. Night fell, and Nathan finally uncovered traces of Hera in a thicket half a mile away. There were freshly broken