Alaric attempted to land a punch to Norton, but he was unable, due to how weak he was, and he felt as if something was making his body stiff. He looked at his arm, so weak that it was shaking, and was surprised. His body was betraying him.“What's happening…?” At that moment, when he didn't expect it, another sudden pain in his body. This time, it was hotter, louder, and more anguishing than what he had ever imagined, and Norton just looked, shocked by what happened. He watched as Alaric's grip slowly loosened, and how Alaric was expressing pain, slowly, slowly moving down until he fell to the ground. He raised his head and looked at what happened and was surprised to see the goons - the head one with a stick in hand.“What? What did you do to him? Why did you come out of the blues and attack him?” He asked.“I'm sorry for doing that, boss, but I was just trying to protect you. I heard something and I thought that the both of you were fighting, and I had no other option but to cal

"I was thinking that we should take his body and find a nearby place to put it. Maybe in the gutter, the river, or just some bushes,” Bob said. “Wow. That's a good idea,” the head goon said. “What?!” Norton exclaimed, in disbelief. What the hell was wrong with these men? He asked himself. Somehow, they seemed like psychos. Not seemed, they definitely were. "What the hell is wrong with all of you? Do you all realize that this is a matter of someone's life?” Norton asked. “Well, I assume if you were so worried about this person, you wouldn't have ordered us to beat him up,” Bob said. “I don't care about what you say, fellow. I know too well that you're just trying to piss me off and make me get angry at you but that won't work. I only called you guys here because I needed the money, and I want to have my revenge against him,” Norton said. “Revenge? I see. Well, if I may ask, what kind of revenge are you talking about? Do you have beef with him?” The head going asked. “If you c

Alaric lay sprawled on the cold, unforgiving floor, his body filled with bruises and wounds. Each breath sent pangs of pain radiating through him, a relentless reminder of the brutal punches he had endured. His vision blurred intermittently, making it difficult for him to focus on anything beyond the immediate haze of agony. Amidst the throbbing ache, a faint memory sparked in Alaric's mind – the chip. He fumbled with the torn remnants of his coat, desperately searching for the small device that could be his lifeline. The communication chip, a discreet beacon to the A-V squad's commander, held the potential to turn the tide in this dire situation. He knew that the commander might have been trying to get a hold of him, but he didn't know where the chip was and wasn't able to connect to the commander. He wondered how his mother was doing, and was sure that if she knew that he was in that kind of situation, she would have come immediately to help. With shaky hands, he tried to prop

“It is very dangerous right now, ma'am. We have to go immediately to check out the young master and make sure he's totally alright, and if you follow us, it also means we have to protect you. Please, have faith, ma'am. We can't afford for anything to go wrong,” he said. Mrs. Claire didn't know what to do. She wasn't sure if he was telling the truth or not, but the only solution to the problem was to have a little bit of faith. At least, she couldn't do anything. She looked at Steve. “Make sure he's alright, Steve. I will be counting on you,” she said with a serious face. Steve was a bit reluctant to reply to her. “Y… yes, ma'am,” he finally replied, stepping backward a little. He was confused about what would happen. He didn't want to lie to the madam but he had no other choice but to do it that way. He was also feeling guilty that he had lied about Alaric's condition, and that he even said that he was telling the truth to her face. Somehow, guilt was burning him, even though

“Young master Alaric didn't tell us about any personal beef with the criminal. We also need to find Ms. Evelyn,” the commander said. Steve's jaw dropped. “Yes, Evelyn. We forgot about her. Does this mean that she's also inside that house with him?” “I'm not sure about that. We need to confirm if there is any trap anywhere. The question now isn't if there is a trap. The question is…” “What is the trap?” The commander finished the deputy's statement. “So what do you suggest? Do we retreat?” The deputy asked. “I think it's better to escape the trap than to fall inside it or retreat. Once you're in a trap you cannot get out. We don't know if anything has been planted around here. I know what to do,” he said. “Please do something that will not cause any harm to anybody, sir,” Steve said. “Be rest assured, Mr. Steve. We are going to save the young master now. Let's ignore the idea of any trap being set,” the commander said. He looked ahead to see the faces of the guards who were wa