Briar raised an eyebrow and said, “So, I should thank you?”
Feeling awkward, lan scratched his head and said, “No need for thanks. Just don’t beat me up.”
If he hadn’t taken it upon himself to bring Emily along, their operation tonight would have been much smoother. After all, with Emily, the risk of being discovered by Ashton’s people only increased.
Briar smiled and said, “I won’t beat you up tonight.”
‘But after tonight? Well, no promise,‘ she thought.
Briar had seen all kinds of people who had thrown their own family under the bus, but lan was on another level. He didn’t just screw over his teammates; it was as if he was dying to rip off her disguise himself, afraid that she was hiding too well.
With Ashton’s razor–sharp instincts, he would figure out in no time how they managed to sneak two people through a military base and all the way to the
dock.
Once Ashton realized the security footage had been tampered with by a hacker, and knowing lan was just a mercenary who was only good at fighting, Ashton would rule him out right away. That would leave only one possibility.
No matter how well Briar had been keeping up her act, in a situation like this, where all the suspicious points had been eliminated, even the most impossible answer would become the only one left.
‘So yeah, my hacker persona is about to be blown wide open,’ she thought to herself.
After hearing Briar’s analysis, lan kicked Sawyer several times and said, “Briar, it’s my fault. I acted too impulsively. Is there any way to fix this? Maybe! can get a hacker friend to take the fall and say he did it remotely?”
Briar chuckled and said, “That kind of reason might fool others, but Ashton will see right through it. Don’t forget, he’s got Brannon controlling the border forces and a Dark Net at his disposal.”
“Briar, your man is so powerful. He monopolizes most of the big–money gray businesses both in the country and abroad,” lan said, and could no longer
make excuses.
Ashton was practically a devil. With terrifyingly powerful border forces and Dark Net intelligence where information shifted by the second, just these two industries alone were enough to make his assets skyrocket year after year.
By international convention, any organization with border forces usually operated one unspoken black–market trade–arms trafficking.
Especially in a few small Laozari countries plagued by constant warfare, outdated weapons from developed nations could be sold there at sky–high prices, with demand far exceeding supply.
lan didn’t believe that Ashton would stay out of such a fast and convenient arms trade. With his terrifying wealth and methods, it was not surprising that he had monopolized the market in that entire region.
Moreover, no matter how high a mercenary ranked internationally, they always obtained their weapons through their own sources.
Although they ordered all their weapons and equipment through the official DDC Vanguard base website, according to unofficial sources, even the official arsenal of the DDC Vanguard base sourced its arms from specific private forces.
Briar shrugged and said, “Well, we can’t compete with that.”
“Yeah, we really can’t compete with that. Let’s just stick to doing what we can; something safe and within our abilities,” lan said.
Ian brought Sawyer and Emily into a small, pre–prepared shipping container. Staring out at the endless stretch of sea, he let out an awkward laugh and said, “Briar, do you think when Sawyer and Emily wake up tomorrow morning and realize they’re floating on the ocean, will they freak out?”
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“That I have no clue, Briar said and glanced at the time. “But if you don’t move faster, we’re the ones who’ll get busted
“Damn! I’m done soon,” Ian exclaimed as he quickened his pace. He loaded the container onto the yacht, started the engine, and just before the yachti pulled away, he nimbly jumped back onto the shore.
Clapping his hands, he said, “Done. Briar, let’s get out of here.”
In a corner of the dock where no one was paying attention, Briar and lan dashed through the darkness. For their safety, there was no way they could risk taking the shortcut near the base on their way back.
‘What if we run into Ashton and his people? Wouldn’t Briar beat me to death on the spot?‘ lan thought.
lan’s worries were spot on. Less than five minutes after they left the dock, Ashton rushed over with Reece and Hamish,
When they saw the yacht had already drifted away, with that strange container on board, Reece couldn’t help but clap. “Nice move!” he said.
Hamish had to admit he was impressed. “Ashton, in all these years, this must be the first time someone’s been this brazen on your turf, huh?” he said.
‘Dodging the surveillance near the base was one thing, but stealing a yacht from Ashton’s dock and setting people adrift out at sea? That was next level.
‘The tactic is both nasty and ruthless, yet it’s neither legal nor illegal–and the worst part is, there’s nothing we could do about it, Hamish thought.
“If it was Briar and her friend who pulled this off, Ashton, here’s my advice–bring lan onto your team. You rarely find such a talent,” Hamish said.
Brandon brought his team to haul the yacht back to the shore. When they opened the container and saw Emily and Sawyer with their hands and legs tied
up, their faces swollen, Hamish and Reece burst out laughing simultaneously.
Even Ashton, seeing how miserable the two looked, couldn’t help but smirk and say, “This little brat hits pretty hard.”
One wouldn’t aim for the face when attacking someone. Seeing the miserable Emily, Ashton was 100% certain it was Briar’s doing. It was clearly a case of
settling personal scores.
“Alright, now that we’ve found them, let’s get out of here. It’s freezing on this dock at night,” Reece said, patting Ashton on the shoulder.
Ashton nodded and told someone to send Emily to the hospital. As for Sawyer, it was good enough that he was alive. Besides, they had planned to talk
with him anyway.
As everyone returned to the car, Reece, sitting in the back seat, suddenly thought of something and blurted out, “Wait, how did Briar and her friend manage to get two living people through the military base without a scratch?”
Hamish’s eyes lit up, and he said, “Yeah, seriously, how did they do that?”
Ashton, who was about to start the engine, paused, turned to Reece, and said,. “Reece, let me see the surveillance footage from the base again.”
Reece retrieved the surveillance footage his fellow soldier had sent over and said, “Here you are. Take a look. I didn’t spot anything off in there myself.”
Ashton took over the phone and watched the footage with Hamish. It was pretty long, so Ashton estimated the right time by calculating the distance the yacht had drifted from the dock, then zeroed in on that section of the surveillance.
Finally, about twenty minutes before the video ended, Ashton spotted something and said, “So that’s how they did it.”
Hearing that, Reece leaned in and asked, “What? Did you spot something? Are they in the footage? Where are they?”
Ashton shook his head and said, “They’re not in the footage…”
“Not in the footage?” Reece was curious and asked. “Then what’s with that smug look on your face?”
Hamish seemed to realize something and said, “Don’t tell me Briar’s some kind of skilled hacker and tampered with the surveillance footage?”
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