Inside the abandoned warehouse, thick with dust and the smell of mildew, the atmosphere of victory for the predators was soaring to its peak.
Owen's figure was slowly lowering... Both his knees touched the cold concrete floor. His head bowed lower and lower until it was only a foot away from the ground. That posture looked submissive and hopeless, like a lamb surrendering before a pack of wolves.
"Hahaha! Look at it! Look at the state of the 'tough guy' now!"
The mocking laughter of Jagger and his minions echoed through the warehouse. They grinned broadly, relishing the satisfaction of trampling their enemy's dignity into the dirt. The caution they held earlier had completely vanished, leaving only the arrogance of believing they had total control over this board game.
However... in the split second that their complacency reached its zenith.
BANG!!
The thunderous sound of a rifle roared! It tore through the laughter and the silence, shredding them in an instant, like a firework signaling the opening of a festival of blood!
The scene cut sharply to a corner of the open area... where a chubby minion was standing guard over Finley as ordered.
A split second earlier, he had been licking his dry lips, his lecherous gaze fixed on Finley's smooth white thighs exposed by the shorts with lust. Twisted fantasies were running wild in his brain, leaving him completely off guard.
Splat!
Suddenly, his head snapped forward violently as if struck by a giant hammer! Fresh blood sprayed out in a mist across the area before his bulky body collapsed to the floor with a loud Thud! An armor-piercing bullet from the sniper hiding on the high beam had drilled through his skull from behind with precision and ruthlessness.
The lifeless body lay still in a pool of blood, the "lustful smile" still frozen on its face... He had died without even knowing when the Grim Reaper had come to steal his breath away.
"W... What? Wh... What happened!?" One minion exclaimed with a trembling voice.
Jagger's laughter cut off immediately like a broken record. A chilling silence covered the warehouse for a split second. Every eye widened in shock, staring at the corpse of their teammate who had died such a gruesome death.
Jagger's brain hadn't yet processed where the gunshot came from, because deep down he still believed the sniper controlling the high ground was his own man.
However... the death didn't stop at just one bullet.
Click...
Amidst the confusion and chaos... the 4 "puppets" standing mingled near the Finley containment zone who had previously put on an act of threatening Owen to blend in with the others began to move simultaneously and abruptly!
Although their eyes were vacant and devoid of life, their movements were fast, continuous, and orderly, like killing machines executing a program.
Shink! Shink! Shink! Shink!
The 4 puppets drew their pocket knives and short swords, then stabbed them into the vital points of the teammates standing next to them without mercy! Their goal was clear... to wipe out the enemies "closest to Finley" to clear a safe zone for the hostage.
"Arghhhh!!"
"W... What the hell are you guys doing!?"
Screams and curses rang out. Jagger's 4 minions fell to the floor in confusion, hands clutching deep wounds with blood gushing out. Their eyes were filled with incomprehension as to "why" the friends they were laughing with just moments ago had turned their blades on them like this.
And after executing the kill, the 4 puppets moved to stand surrounding Finley on all four sides, raising their guards to protect the hostage with a calmness akin to stone statues.
"You bastards!! What the hell is this!!"
Jagger roared with fury. Veins on his temples bulged to the point of bursting. In that second, he realized immediately that this wasn't just a simple betrayal, but it might be some ability of the enemy like "Mind Control." That meant... Owen didn't come here alone! and he was the one who had been completely played.
The tables had turned... from the gamemaster to the one being ambushed! His rage broke through its limits until he couldn't take it anymore.
"You scum! How dare you!!"
BOOM!
A wave of pitch-black Mana exploded from Jagger's body violently! The pressure of a Rank B radiated out until the air around him distorted. The concrete floor beneath his feet cracked into a spiderweb pattern.
With raw instinct, he knew he had to salvage the situation... and the only way was to snatch the "hostage" back!
"Die!!"
Jagger crouched down and launched himself forward like a cannonball! His speed was incredible, befitting a Rank B. His body tore through the air straight toward the group of "traitors" surrounding Finley, intending to use all his power to crush them in his hands in one go!
The distance closed rapidly... 10 meters... 5 meters... Jagger cocked a fist wrapped in black Mana, preparing to punch through the skull of the first traitor.
But...
No matter how fast he was... he could never be faster than Owen's "Thought"!
In the eyes of Owen, the user of [Instant-Mind Palm], Jagger's movement was merely a slow-motion scene that could be read easily.
"Where do you think you're going?" Owen simply spoke softly.
Vwoom!
Crimson Mana formed in mid-air, blocking Jagger's path abruptly! A massive energy palm appeared and "slapped" back at Jagger's mid-air body squarely!
Smack!!!
"Urgh!!"
Jagger cried out. His body, which had been rushing in at high speed, was blasted back by the massive impact force, tumbling backward like a fly swatted by a racket! He rolled across the ground several times before using his feet to brace against the floor, braking himself clumsily back at his starting point.
His plan to snatch the hostage in a blitz had failed completely!
Every pair of eyes... both friend and foe turned back to look at the source of that palm.
The figure of Owen, who had been kneeling... was now slowly standing up to his full height.
He brushed the dust off his trouser knees lightly with a relaxed demeanor, as if he had just gotten up from a picnic. The submissive and weak posture from a moment ago had vanished completely, leaving only an imposing elegance and a murderous aura radiating from those golden eyes.
Owen looked up at Jagger, who was panting with rage. The corners of his mouth lifted into a smile... a smile that looked polite, gentle, but made anyone who met his gaze feel chilled to the bone.
"Where are you rushing to, Mr. Jagger..."
Owen's voice was flat but echoed throughout the warehouse.
"Come back and talk first... because the real party has only just begun."
BUZZZZZZZ!!!
As Owen's decree ended, the sound of wings flapping that induced goosebumps erupted from all directions!
From the shadows on the ceiling... from the crevices behind piles of wooden crates... a swarm of 20 parasite larvae shot out like a flock of tiny Grim Reapers! They dove to attack the 6 "ordinary people" of Jagger's faction who were holding guns and baseball bats frantically.
"Hey! What the hell are these things!?"
"Help! It's burrowing in! It's burrowing into my shirt!"
"Get out! Hit it! Hit it, damn it!"
"Arghhhhh!!"
Screams of pain and fear echoed throughout the warehouse, mingled with the sound of dozens of insect wings flapping rapidly, creating a buzzing sound that was nerve-wracking. The image in front was the chaos of a group of people fighting and fleeing from being swarmed by tiny reapers. Some stumbled and fell, some fired guns wildly into the empty air.
Amidst this storm of confusion and the hell on earth that had just spawned... Owen stood calm and still like a mountain standing tall amidst a monsoon.
He secretly let out a soft sigh of relief... His shoulders, which had been tense, relaxed slightly. The faint smile adorning the corner of his mouth did not convey satisfaction in the enemy's torture, but it was the smile of a "Strategist" seeing every piece on the board move according to the melody he had composed perfectly.
Owen hadn't been fighting alone from the start...
From the second the wheels of his SUV stepped into this old port district, his mind had been perfectly connected to Iris's [Psionic Network] via the psychic waves they created together.
The voice of the Parasite Queen whispered in his brain in Real-time, reporting every movement and position of every "pawn" on the board.
That was why Owen could walk into the enemy's den with confidence, because he knew very well that the "Sniper" Jagger used to threaten him as a trump card had actually become Iris's "puppet" long ago.
Thinking back to when Jagger stood posturing and threatening him with confidence, Owen couldn't help but chuckle internally. Beneath that impassive face, he had to use a lot of effort not to burst out laughing at the other party's stupidity, unaware of whose head that deadly gun barrel was actually aiming at.
'Alright... let's summarize the numbers a bit.'
Owen swept his eyes to assess the current situation. His genius-level brain began calculating the "Mathematics of War" rapidly like a machine (even though it was just primary school math that a kindergartner would know, Owen still wanted to use a fancy name to make it look cool).
'Before the clash started... the enemy side had a total of 29 people. If we deduct Iris's 5 puppets... the real enemies remaining were 24.'
He began listing the enemy reduction equation in his head:
[Phase 1 : The Opening] The attack with [Nine Asura Palms] just now took out 6 minions who were ordinary people and injured the 3 C-Rank physical Awakened... Enemies remaining: 18...
[Phase 2 : The Betrayal] As soon as he signaled by kneeling... Iris ordered the sniper to blow the guard's head off, and had the other 4 puppets stab their teammates in the back... 5 more enemies gone instantly... Remaining: 13...
[Phase 3 : Insect War] And now... the swarm of 20 parasites is doing its job. Although they are small and lack the destructive power to kill a person instantly, with a ratio of 3 on 1 (using 2 to fly and distract vision, and another 1 to find a chance to burrow into the body), it is enough to stop the movement of ordinary people... Another 6 ordinary people are about to be cut from the equation...
'Which means... the enemies surviving the screening are only 7 people.'
And among these 7, there were 3 who were just minions losing their minds and running for their lives... not worth paying attention to.
"Heh..." Owen's smile widened as the final result appeared clearly in his brain.
From a situation that looked like a suicide mission of 1 against 29... now only 4 real threats remained: Jagger (Rank B) and the 3 Awakened minions (Rank C).
While on his side... the 4 puppets had set up a tight defensive line around Finley, with the sniper providing support fire from above. The chance of the hostage being snatched back was very slim.
'The probability of successfully saving Finley... has skyrocketed past 90%.'
This was the true reason for that smile... the smile of an alchemist who mixed every ingredient perfectly until a complete explosion occurred.
However...
Owen shook the numbers and thoughts of plans out of his head immediately. The screams around him slowly faded from his attention. His eyes focused on a single point... the most dangerous point on the battlefield.
The sturdy man standing gritting his teeth in fury amidst the corpses of his minions... Jagger.
The smile on Owen's face vanished, replaced by solemnity and extreme caution.
'Don't get cocky yet, Owen... the job isn't done.'
No matter how well he planned, no matter if he saved Finley successfully... if he slipped up and got killed by Jagger right here, everything he did would be meaningless.
Jagger was a genuine Rank B Awakened... not a fake. His combat experience and instincts were real. And the most terrifying thing was... Owen still didn't know the information about his "Special Ability" at all.
'Unknown variables... are always the most dangerous variables.'
In a battle of this level, a single misstep could mean death.
Owen inhaled deeply... adjusting his focus to be razor-sharp, scanning Jagger's every movement in detail. Both his hands slowly clenched tighter.
Vwoom...
The [Sun God's Gauntlets] on both hands responded to the wearer's killing intent. They began to vibrate gently, emitting a low hum "Hmph...", releasing a faint orange heat aura around his fists, ready to attack or defend against unexpected strikes at any split second.
Owen stepped his left foot forward slightly, taking a full combat stance, staring at the last 4 enemies remaining.
'Alright... it's just you left, Jagger.'
'Let's close the account!'
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