Chapter 483 Xiara
Vehicle upon vehicle roared into the Lumonburg military base’s training ground, one after the other. Soldiers bearing arms loaded with live ammunition started to leap off the vehicles even before their transports came to a complete halt.
“First Division is assembled, Commander. All personnel accounted for. Standing by and awaiting orders!” “Second Division is below fighting strength, Commander. Two men are currently in the ICU and unavailable for action.”
“Third Division is assembled, Commander. All personnel accounted for. Standing by and awaiting orders!”
“Code Orange” meant preparations for battle, but this time, what Hayes had issued was “Code Red” which signified that combat was imminent.
For that reason, no one dared drag their feet.
Apart from those who were hospitalized and unfit for deployment, the remaining active members of the Lumonburg military, all sixty-eight thousand strong, had convened in under an hour’s time.
Hayes was silent and impassive as he listened to the incoming reports.
Just then, the director of the Intelligence Bureau hurried over with two of his own subordinates in tow.
“Commander, collation for all charters of the M03 sniper rifle from the First to the Sixth Division has been completed.”
“Round them up!” Hayes bellowed through gritted teeth.
Today, I shall see who exactly it was who had such audacity to attack Asura.
Less than twenty minutes transpired before some troops were formed up neatly before Hayes.
With their sniper rifles clutched to their sides, these were some of the finest soldiers amongst all the six divisions’ scouts.
“All the soldiers who are assigned sniper rifles are currently present, Commander,” the director of the Intelligence Bureau said.
“Did their ammunitions count check out?” Hayes asked sternly.
“It did. All the ammunition requested by these soldiers have been accounted for, but—”
Coming to that point, the director started to sound hesitant.
That prompted Hayes to turn around to look.
“Out with it!”
“Yes, Commander!” The director handed the tablet in his hands to Hayes. “All the M03 sniper rifles from the six divisions have been duly inspected, except the one from your residence.”
“From my residence?” Hayes reacted in astonishment to what he heard. “Who does it belong to?”
“Finley Xenos!”
With the mention of that name, Hayes’ eyes narrowed as he recalled the incident involving Finley in the Yaeger residence’s garden.
“Where is he?” Hayes turned to ask of the directors.
“A team was sent out to your residence to apprehend Finley just now, but we weren’t able to locate him…”
Elsewhere on the busy streets of Lumonburg, Jonathan casually snuffed out a cigarette.
Although he did not manage to capture that sniper on the mountain previously, it did not mean that nothing came of it.
Jonathan had uncovered tracks made by a motocross bike some two hundred meters away from the sniper’s nest. It was by following these tracks that led him all the way to the bustling New District inside Lumonburg’s metropolitan area.
Quinton has fled, so I suppose that the Gomez family must have received news of my arrival in Lumonburg by now.
He had considered staying in Lumonburg for a couple more days to conduct a thorough investigation into the family, but now, it would seem that he had no choice but to call on them directly.
Just as Jonathan was preparing to leave, a frantic shriek suddenly emanated from a dark alley not far away.
“What are you doing? Let go of me! Help!”
Turning around, Jonathan spotted a girl dressed in a school uniform being accosted and dragged into the alley by three men.
He frowned in response to what he had witnessed. Taking one glance at the school bag that had been scattered on the floor, he then strode forward with purpose.
Standing at the entrance of the alley were two of the men. They regarded the passing Jonathan with wary eyes but were surprised that Jonathan merely smiled at them and continued on, as though he had no interest in interfering.
In the instant that Jonathan passed by the alley, a shrill cry rang out from within.
With a quick glance over his shoulder, he saw the female student stumble out of the passageway and straight toward him.
“Help. Call the police. Please!”
The girl came close to Jonathan, sniveling as she reached out to grab him by the arm.
With her face wet with tears, that delicate-looking girl looked piteous enough that any other observer might have been inclined to become protective of her.
That, however, was not to be the case with Jonathan who merely took one step back and shrugged her off outright.
“If they want to kidnap you, that’s their business, not mine. Stop following me, or I’ll kill you.”
Jonathan wore a disinterested smile while he said that, and acted as though that was the natural course of things.
The girl was so stunned by the answer she received that she forgot to give chase. She stood stymied while she watched Jonathan leave.
“How dare you kick me, you f*cking b*tch. I’ll f*ck you up right now!”
Behind the girl, one of the thugs barreled toward her with the dagger in his hand aimed toward her back.
Twisting around, the girl lashed out with a foot that sent that man squealing and hurtling several meters out.
That left the other two ruffians rooted to the spot.
One of them mustered up the courage to go forward to investigate, only to find that the fallen man was frothing crimson from the mouth mixed with dark, reddish fragments of flesh.
That kick from that mousy-looking girl had shockingly shattered the man’s innards.
“M-Murderer!”
The three rascals were local hoodlums only good for extorting protection money or scaring people with the knives they wielded, so nothing in their experiences could have prepared them for an encounter of that caliber.
Seeing their companion die was enough to spook them into turning tail, scrambling to get themselves as far away as they possibly could.
In response to that, the girl merely snorted. She took the time to straighten out her slightly disheveled attire before she started off in the direction Jonathan went.
“Jonathan Goldstein. Wait up!”
The girl jogged all the way until she caught up with Jonathan.
“Hey, how were you able to tell? With my acting chops and my getup, it shouldn’t have been possible that I’ve given myself away.”
With lips pursed and both hands held behind her back, the girl came across as looking rather aggrieved.
“I’ve brought along quite a bit of cash on me to bait those three ruffians, just to lure you in. Why did you refuse to save a pretty lady like myself? Don’t tell me that you’re not attracted to women?”
As they walked side by side along that dusky side road, anyone who spotted them might have mistaken them for a couple who were secretly seeing each other.
Only Jonathan alone was aware that that girl was constantly adjusting her own position along that stretch and poised to unleash a lethal strike at any given moment.
The girl however, felt wildly conflicted inside.
She regarded Jonathan beside her smilingly. Even though every step he takes exposes his weaknesses, he still feels dangerous. Who exactly is this guy?
“Why don’t you just tell me why you didn’t fall for it, Jonathan? I’ll let you off if you can manage to convince me. How does that sound?” the girl purred coquettishly when she saw that Jonathan was ignoring her.
Jonathan finally turned to look at her.
“Your acting was indeed convincing, but through coincidence, I’d recently come across the Heaven List on the Dark Web. I know that you ranked ninth on it, Xiara.”
