Chapter 355 - 170: Plane Crash (2)

Late at night.

Moratana International Airport.

Terminal 1 was ablaze with light.

A runway normally used for other flights had been temporarily cleared, awaiting its designated clients.

"Hey, Boss, is this really going to work?"

Standing beside the tarmac, a young blond man in a floral shirt asked the man in the suit next to him, "After we’ve gone to all this trouble, you think they’ll get scared and not show up?"

Theoretically, a plane could always just turn around.

The Kovloki Family had sealed off every airport in Sonaros State except this one. Anyone could tell something was up—it was a guaranteed ambush. If it were him, he’d never be stupid enough to listen to the airline and land at Moratana International Airport. Otherwise, just like in the movies, he’d be surrounded by hundreds of men in black the moment he stepped off the plane, with nowhere to run.

"You don’t understand."

The man in the suit’s tone was somber. "There are certain people in this world who are born thrill-seekers. The more obvious the trap, the more they want to walk right into it. They wouldn’t even come if there wasn’t any danger."

The blond man blurted, "Isn’t that insane?"

’Some people just aren’t happy living a nice, quiet life. They have to go looking for trouble.’

"Maybe they just don’t see us as a threat," the man in the suit said.

’When you thought about it, that was probably normal,’ the man in the suit mused. ’After all, these guys just wiped out the Florist Family. A bit of arrogance is to be expected. Besides, Siracle State is so far from Sonaros State, they know nothing about the Kovloki Family. They don’t understand that there’s always a bigger fish.’

"Just wait here."

The man in the suit said, "Miss Bofunova said they’ll definitely be here."

"Yes, sir," the blond man replied, then turned and shouted, "You all hear that?"

Though there was no one behind him, a powerful, unified roar echoed from the darkness, "We heard!"

Judging by the sound, there were at least a hundred of them.

All of them were using Invisibility, hidden in the darkness.

’Honestly,’ the blond man thought, ’Miss Bofunova is making a mountain out of a molehill.’

The intel said the enemy only had about ten people, with an average Tier of 4.5. That was weaker than some of the local Wizard Organizations in Sonaros State. There was no need to send out so many people, especially not elites like them.

But even so, the blond man himself was more than happy to take this kind of job.

After all, missions came with a bounty, and this job was a cakewalk. It was basically free money. Who wouldn’t love that?

"Boss, I’m gonna hit the convenience store," the blond man said with a chuckle. "Getting a little hungry."

The man in the suit glanced at his watch. It was 2:00 AM, still an hour before Sean and his group were expected to land. He nodded. "Go on. Grab something for the other guys, too."

"You got it."

Everyone had been called in for the mission at the last minute, dragged out of bed in the middle of the night. Some had been sleeping, some had been sleeping *with* someone, and some had been getting slept with. In any case, they were all starving now. They needed to grab a bite, get their energy up, and get in the right headspace. That way, they’d have the strength to fight those out-of-town Wizards and show them just whose turf this was and who called the shots.

The blond man was quick on his feet.

He quickly made it to the convenience store, planning to buy out all their food—bread and the like—and have the owner deliver it to the tarmac.

Their boss was a reasonable man and quite considerate, but that was only when they had time to spare. When it was time to work, the Kovloki Family’s discipline was ironclad. Rule number one: never be late.

It was like boot camp; guys who ran missions long enough developed a built-in sense of urgency. The blond man was no exception. Even without the man in the suit telling him to, he ran the entire way, not wanting to waste a single second. He just wanted to eat his fill so he could get the job done.

"I’ll take all of this. How much is it?"

The blond man went to the counter to pay.

He made a point of checking his watch. The tarmac was out on the airfield while the convenience store was inside the terminal, a fair distance away. Yet he’d only taken ten minutes, and that included his shopping. This was why his boss let him leave his post before a mission—he knew the kid had his priorities straight and would never let anything get in the way of the job.

The blond man was quite satisfied with his own speed.

Until the next second.

A voice from air traffic control crackled in his earpiece.

"Attention, all personnel on the tarmac: the target has appeared."

"I repeat, attention, all personnel on the tarmac: the target has appeared and is preparing for landing."

The blond man froze, then glanced at his watch again.

’It’s only been ten minutes, right?’

’Weren’t those Wizards supposed to be an hour out?’

At almost the same moment, a call came through from the man in the suit. His voice was grim. "Get back here now!"

"Yes, sir!"

The blond man broke into a sprint.

He cursed as he ran.

’Goddammit, I’ve only ever heard of flights being late, never early.’

’And not just by a few minutes, either.’

’They know there’s an ambush waiting at Moratana Airport, but they’re still rushing to get here. Are they afraid they’ll be late for their own funeral?’

"Boss!"

The blond man raced back to the tarmac and asked, gasping for breath, "What’s the situation?"

The man in the suit’s face was thunderous. He didn’t answer, just tilted his head toward the sky.

In the distant night sky, a few flashing lights had entered their vision, the blurry silhouette of an aircraft becoming visible.

With it came a roar that grew steadily more deafening.

"They’re accelerating," the man in the suit said. That was the reason for his grim expression.

Just as the blond man had thought, they knew an ambush was waiting, yet they were accelerating. To the man in the suit, this was a provocation.

A blatant provocation!