Chapter 1734:
She shrugged nonchalantly. “They’ve all been killed.”
Saul’s face contorted with disbelief. Presley was shocked. All of them—killed?
These weren’t ordinary guards but top-level mercenaries—the best money could buy. Yet somehow, Corrine had killed three of them without breaking a sweat.
Since when had top-level mercenaries become such easy prey?
At Corrine’s casual revelation, Nate’s grip on her hand tightened almost imperceptibly.
“As your partner, I refuse to be the weak link,” she whispered, noticing his reaction. Sensing his discomfort, Corrine gently squeezed his hand and shifted topics with a curious smile. “How are you maintaining outside communication?” The question had been nagging at her—if their devices worked, why had Nate’s phone been supposedly useless?
“The entire island is blanketed with signal jammers,” Saul explained evenly, his eyes carefully tracking Nate’s expression. “Our equipment uses specialized anti-jamming technology to break through. But appearing disconnected was necessary to lure them into the open.”
The truth crystallized in Corrine’s mind—Nate had orchestrated this from the start.
What seemed like enemies encroaching on Nate’s domain was actually an elaborate snare, with the hunters unwittingly becoming the hunted.
Meanwhile, Barton Chadwick, the mercenary leader, hovered over a drone monitor, watching events unfold with growing unease.
The abrupt silence from his snipers drew a string of curses from his lips as realization dawned—something had gone terribly wrong.
What had begun as a straightforward operation had violently tilted against them without warning.
LΑτєѕτ chαρτєrs ιn g𝓪l𝑛ovєl𝑆.𝗰𝑜𝗺
Barton struggled to process this sudden reversal of fortune.
His eyes burned with fury at the surveillance feed before he violently kicked a nearby chair, sending it crashing across the room.
The shrill ring of his phone cut through his rage. Recognizing the caller ID, he snatched it up and barked before the caller could speak, “You guaranteed Nate would be completely vulnerable and unprepared for our ambush, didn’t you? What’s with the drone? How were my men silently taken out?”
The response from the other end of the line made Barton’s eyes narrow to slits, a dangerous gleam flickering within their depths. “He always slips through dangerous situations? Well, let’s see if fortune smiles on him this time!” Slamming down the phone, Barton snatched up the intercom and began rapidly restructuring his plan to ensnare Nate.
Yet in his arrogance, he grossly misjudged what he was up against.
Within mere minutes, every single one of Barton’s operatives had either disappeared or gone silent. The implications weren’t lost on him.
Soon, even Barton himself was captured.
“Nate Hopkins, you’ve been playing me like a puppet from the beginning!” Barton spat, his eyes burning with a fury that threatened to consume him whole.
The bitter truth dawned on him—control had never been in his hands.
The question plaguing him was where his perfect plan had unraveled. If Nate had the capability to neutralize his forces all along, why wait until this moment?
Why had Nate deliberately delayed and hidden from the pursuit?
“Is this outcome what you envisioned?” Nate reclined with casual elegance, his legs crossed, his demeanor betraying not a hint of concern.
Despite the gun trained on him, Barton stood his ground, defiance etched into every line of his face. “You think I’d let you walk away unscathed? You’ve slaughtered my men like cattle!”
The sharp ring of his phone sliced through the tension.
His brow creased as he glanced at the caller ID.
Headquarters never called unless some emergency had occurred.
Nate tilted his chin upward, his voice a blade of ice. “Answer it.”
A sense of impending doom crawled up Barton’s spine as he reluctantly accepted the call.
The moment he pressed the phone to his ear, a deafening explosion thundered through the line. His heart lurched painfully as his fingers tightened around the phone.
“Mr. Chadwick, our base is under attack, and the damage is significant!” Blood rushed to Barton’s throat, nearly choking him.
Fighting to keep his voice steady, he demanded, “Who’s behind this?”
“The police!”
The cacophony of explosions and agonized screams flooded through the phone, painting a hellscape in Barton’s mind.
Corrine’s eyes flickered toward Nate, a whisper of surprise dancing across her features.
She couldn’t help but admire the brutal elegance of his strategy—this devastating blow to Barton’s power base had been perfectly timed.
Ruthless yet undeniably brilliant.
Barton’s eyes blazed crimson as he fixed Nate with the desperate glare of a cornered predator. “Nate, if I’m going down, I’m dragging you straight to hell with me!”
If Nate had only deployed Saul and Presley to lead the assault, they might have stood a fighting chance. But with their headquarters reduced to rubble, all hope had evaporated like morning dew.
Nate wasn’t merely clever—he was devastatingly treacherous.
He had meticulously ensnared Barton, methodically eliminating his men before delivering the final blow to his base of operations.
The mercenary group was Barton’s greatest accomplishment, his life’s work, and Nate had dismantled it without breaking a sweat. No wonder hatred consumed him.
Blinded by fury, Barton disregarded the gun pointed at his own chest, resolving that if he was going down, Nate would fall with him.
With lightning speed, he drew a concealed pistol from his jacket and aimed straight at Nate’s heart.
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.
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