Chapter 445: Binding a Rice Dumpling

Chapter 445: Chapter 445: Binding a Rice Dumpling

The lanky man and the heavy-set man in the monitoring room watched the entire thing unfold on the monitors, and one of them couldn’t help but comment.

The tone shifted immediately. "But you have to admit, that guy acted quickly. Otherwise, once the surveillance footage gets handed over, whether the four of them could keep their lives would be a completely different story."

Their boss wasn’t exactly a patient man. When something like this happened during a mission, they were all likely to be punished together.

So, sacrificing one to save three was a very wise decision.

Meanwhile, on Zoe Sawyer’s end, Sean Hughes was glued to Officer Lee’s computer, his eyes fixed on the screen.

Once the image on the screen returned to its earlier state of calm, Sean Hughes walked over to Zoe Sawyer and the others to report his findings.

"There’s a button on the desk in the downstairs monitoring room. It was pressed the instant the bodyguard upstairs collapsed. Next to it, there’s a red button under a transparent protective cover. I suspect that one is for contacting the outside world." Sean Hughes relayed everything he had seen to the others.

The moment Dean went down, the lanky man, who had been watching the monitors, shot to his feet and pressed the button. Simultaneously, an alarm blared and a red light flashed in the upstairs room.

The lanky man had already flipped open the transparent cover, his hand hovering over the red button.

After hearing A’s reply over the comms, the two men cursed a few times. Saying they wouldn’t report it this time, the lanky man pulled his hand back and snapped the transparent cover shut.

After that, the two commented on A’s actions before going back to staring at the monitors.

After listening to Sean Hughes’s briefing, Heath Hale and Barry Quinn conferred in low voices before making a new decision. "The four bodyguards upstairs don’t have the authority to contact their superiors directly," Heath said. "Let’s take out the two in the monitoring room first, destroy their surveillance equipment, and then go upstairs to deal with the other three."

Whether it was a rule or something else, Heath Hale and Barry Quinn didn’t dwell on it.

’As long as it works in our favor, that’s all that matters!’

With a detailed plan in place, the next phase of the operation went much more smoothly.

To avoid exposing their plan, Zoe Sawyer moved the door behind the lanky and heavy-set men. Two team members then raised their tranquilizer guns and fired simultaneously, hitting both men in the neck.

Unlike Dean, who had a few seconds’ delay before the drug took effect, these two collapsed onto the desk the very next second.

Heath Hale and his team waited cautiously for a full minute. After confirming that no alarm had sounded and no one was approaching from outside, they prepared to move on to the next step.

To prevent anyone from entering and discovering something was amiss, Zoe Sawyer moved the door to the cabin entrance and locked it from the inside.

Once they were sure no one from the outside could get in anytime soon, they returned upstairs.

"What’s the plan now?" Zoe Sawyer asked, looking at Heath Hale.

’No one’s watching from downstairs anymore. Should we just rush them? Or should we use the same tactic and take them down one by one?’

Heath Hale thought for a moment and decided it was better to play it safe.

"We’ll use the same method. Take them down one by one. It’s safer, and you’ll be less likely to be exposed," Heath Hale decided quickly.

Worried about the condition of their five colleagues, Zoe Sawyer wasted no time. She controlled the door and moved it into position behind A.

The moment it stopped, Heath Hale fired his tranquilizer gun.

Before the man even collapsed, Zoe Sawyer was already maneuvering the door toward B.

Thanks to the confined space, Zoe Sawyer and the team appeared behind B and shot him before A had even hit the floor.

C was still processing the sight of A and B suddenly collapsing when he felt a nearly imperceptible sting in his neck.

’So, Dean didn’t just pass out from drinking and overindulgence... this is a real ambush?’

’But where could the attacker possibly be hiding?’

Before C could figure it out, the drug took effect. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed.

Hayden Shaw threw a powerful, pre-prepared signal jammer into the room. Once they confirmed the monitors in the downstairs surveillance room had gone black, the rest of the team entered the room in shifts, as directed by Heath Hale.

They carried their five unconscious colleagues back to their office, then immediately took them to the infirmary that had been prepared for them.

They would receive preliminary treatment for their injuries there before being brought back to the office, where Zoe Sawyer would transport them to Barry Quinn’s former superior.

"We should give them another dose," Zoe Sawyer said, glancing at the four bodyguards—A, B, C, and Dean—on the floor. "Even this enhanced tranquilizer has a delayed effect. I’m worried one shot won’t last long."

Heath Hale didn’t refuse. The moment Zoe Sawyer finished speaking, he picked up the tranquilizer gun and shot each man again.

Sean Hughes led a team over to search the entire room and all four bodyguards.

They stripped the men down to their underwear, and after confirming they weren’t hiding anything, they bound them with iron chains.

"Iron chains?" Zoe Sawyer looked at the chains being handed over, then glanced at Heath Hale in disbelief.

Heath Hale nodded, his tone firm. "We have to. There’s a lot more to do, and we don’t have time to keep an eye on these four. We have to bind them securely to completely eliminate any chance of escape."

’Fair enough. Heath and his team were the experts on this.’

Zoe Sawyer didn’t dwell on the matter. Instead, she watched with interest as Sean Hughes trussed the four bodyguards up securely and even found something to gag them with.

After dealing with those four, they didn’t forget the two from the monitoring room downstairs. They were given the same treatment: searched and trussed up.

"That’s done. What’s next?" Zoe Sawyer closed the door and turned to Heath Hale, who was standing nearby. "Are we going to rescue the girls on the other monitor feed?"

Before Zoe Sawyer even finished speaking, Barry Quinn shot the idea down. "No, their situation is different. Each of those kids has a person standing right behind them, and there’s a tablet in front of them with a live video call running.

Unless we can neutralize the people on both ends of the call at the same time, we’ll definitely give ourselves away."

There were far too many people watching them; it was a completely different order of magnitude than their current situation.

Acting rashly without a foolproof plan would only expose them and put the enemy on high alert.

Heath Hale nodded, his expression showing his complete agreement.

’Those poor kids... but now isn’t the right time for a rescue.’

Hearing Barry Quinn’s analysis, Zoe Sawyer abandoned the idea of a rescue for now. "So, what’s our next move?"

"First, we need to determine this yacht’s position and layout, as well as how their personnel are deployed on board.

Based on their conversation, there are still several guests who haven’t arrived. Let’s first figure out who these upcoming arrivals are," Heath Hale said after a moment’s thought.

’Besides, we don’t have enough people to do this alone. Once we figure out the number of enemy personnel and captives on this yacht, it’ll be time to call for backup!’

"Right!"