Chapter 165: The Operation Begins

Chapter 165: Chapter 165: The Operation Begins

A man stumbled over, his expression tinged with panic.

Six, who was already in a foul mood, heard the frantic shouting and his anger flared. He slapped the man across the face. "What are you screaming about? If you have something to say, spit it out!"

The people around immediately averted their eyes, focusing on whatever was in their hands, afraid that Six’s rage would be unleashed on them.

The man clutched his face, his expression momentarily twisting into a savage grimace. But before Six could look over, he switched back to his usual timid appearance.

’No, I can’t. I snuck into the country illegally. I’ll need Six’s connections to get out.’

’I can’t afford to burn this bridge yet!’

’Once I’m out, I’ll find a chance to get away from him. I’m done being his dog!’

The man frantically tried to calm himself down.

That slap just now had made him so angry he almost wanted to call the cops and have them arrest Six.

But he crushed the thought the instant it appeared.

If Six were arrested, his own fate wouldn’t be much better. It would be a case of losing eight hundred to kill a thousand.

"There was no explosion at The Lumina, and I didn’t see the two people you mentioned, Boss. Could it be that this guy, Dexter Bishop, was just messing with you? Maybe he never planted a bomb at all?" The man quickly recounted what he had secretly witnessed to Six.

He made sure to emphasize that he hadn’t seen anyone.

A terrible premonition washed over Six. The most intense sense of crisis he’d ever felt in his entire career screamed warnings in his mind.

His survival instincts screamed at him to leave right now. But just as he stood up, the Boss Lady’s voice echoed in his ears again.

Remembering her words, Six gritted his teeth and sat back down.

’Going back now means the mission’s a failure, and I’ll die. But if I stay, everything’s an unknown. I might be able to fight my way out of this!’

Six looked to his side, where his confidant held a phone. The confidant shook his head; he couldn’t get through. "Something must have happened to Dexter Bishop’s crew, Boss. Should we pull out for now? We can come back when things have cooled down?"

The confidant leaned in close to Six.

Six clenched his jaw, thought for a moment, but still shook his head, rejecting the suggestion.

’Whether Dexter Bishop ratted me out or not, the entire city of Varden has to be on lockdown right now.’

’Checkpoints at every intersection will be way tighter than usual. Even the back routes we used to sneak in are probably being watched!’

’Walking out now would be like a lamb walking into a tiger’s den. We’d just be handing them an easy bust!’

"Everyone, get your hardware ready. If those pigs really do breach this place, I don’t mind dragging them all to hell with me!" Six’s gaze shifted to a wooden crate beside the table, a vicious glint in his eyes.

Meanwhile, the "Boss Lady" Six had mentioned, after several failed attempts to call the two men she’d sent to install surveillance, spoke with absolute certainty, "Those two have been caught. Six is probably going down in there."

A man sitting nearby heard this and asked hesitantly, "Do we need to get them out?"

’A rescue mission would probably cost us a good number of our own men. If it’s not absolutely necessary, I’d rather not take that kind of loss.’

The next second, the Boss Lady shook her head. "No need. This is a perfect opportunity to see what kind of hotshot Varden has on its side. To think I’ve already lost so many people to them one after another!"

’It’s also a good time to test if that chess piece I’ve had hidden for years is any use.’

The Boss Lady tapped her fingers lightly on the armrest of her chair, a look of absolute confidence flashing in her eyes.

After hearing the Boss Lady’s words, the man finally relaxed and didn’t bring the matter up again.

Meanwhile, over with Zoe Sawyer, the team from the Provincial Bureau was geared up and ready to go in the courtyard, with Sean Hughes’s squad moving out with them.

In East Varden, under the Chief’s coordination, a team had also been assembled, ready to provide support at a moment’s notice.

Back in the office, Evan Keller and the others were fully armed, all eyes fixed on Zoe Sawyer.

"We don’t know the situation on the other side yet. Zoe, first, try to open the door into the building next to Six and his crew. We need to pinpoint their approximate location," Heath Hale said, holding a tracker.

’First, we establish their position. Then, we have our people surround the area and look for an opening.’

Zoe Sawyer nodded to show she understood.

Then, she gripped the doorknob and began to focus on the location.

Soon, Zoe Sawyer sensed the exact location. But she remembered Heath Hale’s request and mentally maneuvered the door, inch by inch, to the side.

Once she was sure the door was positioned in the adjacent building, Zoe Sawyer carefully opened it.

As soon as she opened the door, Zoe Sawyer came face-to-face with a young woman.

"Oh, someone’s in here? If it’s occupied, why didn’t you lock the door? I thought this stall was empty!

Are you done? If you’re done, let me in." The woman clutched her stomach with one hand and reached for the doorknob with the other.

Zoe Sawyer snapped back to reality and gave her an apologetic smile. "Not yet. I thought my friend was bringing me a pad. Sorry, I still need a minute."

’The situation is urgent, and I don’t know what’s out there. I can’t give up this position. This poor woman will just have to wait.’

The woman gave Zoe Sawyer a weak eye-roll. Before she could say anything, someone opened the door to a nearby stall.

Without a second thought, the woman darted over to it.

Standing in the stall, Zoe Sawyer’s expression returned to its initial seriousness. She took the tracker from Heath Hale, switched it on, and placed it inside the stall.

The signal from the tracker quickly reached Officer Lee. "Zoe Sawyer is in the downtown skyscraper," he reported. "About a fifteen-minute drive from The Lumina."

Zoe Sawyer took a quick look around. Combining that with the direction she had moved the door, she pointed through the window at an inconspicuous three-story building behind the skyscraper. "Six and his men are in that building."

Following her finger, Heath Hale quickly located the three-story building Zoe Sawyer had indicated.

The building’s exterior looked a bit dilapidated, but its balconies were filled with drying clothes—both men’s and women’s. It looked more like a dormitory.

"Buildings like this are usually rented out as dorms for employees of nearby companies. If they’re really hiding in there, it would indeed be hard to find them." Heath Hale glanced over, then patted Zoe Sawyer’s shoulder and said in a low voice, "Move us to the roof of that building."

Zoe Sawyer didn’t question why, she just did as she was told.

Not long after they left, a woman pushed open the stall door, confused. "Huh, nobody’s here. But I could’ve sworn I heard a man’s voice just now..."

When they reached the rooftop, Zoe Sawyer carefully pushed the door open and saw a man with his back to them, standing on the roof and scanning the surroundings.

Although his shirt covered it, the outline of a pistol tucked into the back of his waistband was still visible.

"Knock him out!"