Chapter 452: An Arrogant and Complacent Group

Chapter 452: Chapter 452: An Arrogant and Complacent Group

Zoe Sawyer looked at the people in the room across the way and clicked her tongue with a bit of regret.

’But it’s fine. It’ll be much easier later when they split up.’

After that, Zoe Sawyer surveyed the entire cruise ship again, getting a good grasp of the general distribution of manpower.

Patrick Miller’s group was afraid of dying, so most of the guards were concentrated on the floors where they were staying.

Next were the hostages, who were also guarded by a batch of men.

The rest were scattered across the various decks.

Seeing that there was still plenty of time, Heath Hale laid out the options he had discussed with their commander for everyone.

"While we still have some time, let’s go over our current options with you," Heath Hale said, looking at Zoe Sawyer and the others. "The ideal scenario is to rescue all the hostages safely and capture Patrick Miller and the rest to be brought to justice. They’re more valuable alive than dead."

"The alternative is to wait until they’re alone later and just kill them. That’s the simplest method."

But the fallout from that would be huge. As soon as someone outside noticed something was wrong, they could push open the door and find their leader, Patrick Miller, and the others dead.

Although there would be a time window, it would be too short. It’d be difficult to rescue all the hostages without alerting the guards.

"I’ve already contacted the military and explained the situation. They’re going to send a ship to pick up the hostages," the commander added after Heath Hale finished his explanation.

If it weren’t for the hostages, they wouldn’t need to overthink it so much. A single cannonball would solve the problem.

Hearing the analysis from Heath Hale and the commander, Zoe Sawyer stroked her chin and fell into deep thought.

’If possible, I prefer the first option, but the difficulty is immense. One wrong move, and we could easily draw the attention of the guards, putting everyone else in danger.’

’But what if I could follow them the whole time?’

Zoe Sawyer nervously bit her fingernails. When they were clearing the guards from the deck corridors, she could follow them every step of the way.

’Clear out one wave, bring our guys back. When we run into another patrol, send our team out behind them again.’

’It’s a bit more troublesome, but it’s the option with the least risk of exposure right now.’

’As for the hostages, once we’ve cleared everyone outside, what if we just toss in a super-strength tranquilizer grenade?’

’If one isn’t enough, then two, or three!’

’Knock them all out, then send our people in. Wouldn’t that go more smoothly?’

Zoe Sawyer wasn’t sure how feasible her idea was, so she just explained what she had just thought of to Heath Hale and the others.

After hearing Zoe Sawyer’s idea, the commander wiped his face, a little exasperated. He realized he had indeed been overthinking things.

What seemed like an incredibly difficult problem suddenly didn’t feel like such a big deal after Zoe Sawyer explained it.

"Your idea is too idealistic. If it weren’t for the door backing you up, the feasibility would be extremely low!" the commander said, staring at Zoe Sawyer with a hint of resignation in his voice.

In any case, they didn’t have any better ideas at the moment. Since Zoe Sawyer had proposed this, and it sounded plausible, why not give it a try?

"Let’s try it! This approach might just be more effective!" the commander made the final decision.

However, there were still some details to iron out.

First, they had to deal with the cruise ship’s surveillance system. But that wasn’t a major issue. They would have Zoe Sawyer move the door over there and take out everyone in the surveillance room.

Then they’d post a team to watch the monitors, so any problems could be reported immediately.

As for the scattered patrol guards, they would knock out every last one of them and bring them back here. They absolutely could not let them discover Zoe Sawyer’s ability.

The reason they chose not to leave them on the deck was the fear that another patrol might come by and see them after the team had left.

To be safe, it was better to bring them over.

Once the action plan was set, Zoe Sawyer and the others wasted no time, shifting the "battlefield" to the areas outside.

The remaining people split into groups to ensure that when one team brought captured guards back, another could immediately take its place.

Following the plan they had just made, Zoe Sawyer first moved the door to the surveillance room.

Perhaps it was Patrick Miller’s confidence in his cruise ship; he probably thought no one could sneak aboard past all the guards and surveillance.

That was why there were only three people in the surveillance room.

The three of them were slacking off, their feet propped up on the console as they played on their phones. Their relaxed posture instantly reminded Zoe Sawyer of the old security guards killing time in the guardhouse of a residential complex.

But their lax attitude was beneficial for Zoe Sawyer and her team.

Without much effort, the three were knocked out and tied up by Sean Hughes and his men. They were also gagged to prevent them from making any noise and disrupting the plan when they woke up.

At the same time, Zoe Sawyer and the others left a ten-man squad behind to monitor the surveillance feeds and notify them immediately if anything seemed amiss.

After dealing with the surveillance, which posed the biggest risk of exposure, Zoe Sawyer and her team began their sweep from the lowest deck, just as planned.

When they encountered a small patrol of guards, and after confirming no one else was around, Zoe Sawyer moved the door right behind them.

Barry Quinn had been bottling up a bellyful of anger over what he’d seen today. The moment Zoe Sawyer moved out of the way, he led his men and charged out.

Before they could even react, his team made short work of the patrol in Hawaiian shirts, knocking them unconscious and dragging them back.

They didn’t forget to relieve them of the weapons hanging from their waists, either.

When she saw the Hawaiian shirts again, something occurred to Zoe Sawyer. She turned to Heath Hale with a puzzled look and asked, "Is there really that big of a gap between Patrick Miller’s guards and those two brothers’ bodyguards?"

"One side is well-equipped, with grenades hanging where they should be. The other side looks like they were hired for a temp job, with everything just dangling from their waists."

The first time she saw it, Zoe Sawyer’s heart had been in her throat. ’What if they make one wrong move and detonate those dangerous items?’

Especially with a stash of bombs in the lower hull. Back then, Zoe Sawyer was genuinely afraid that these guys would be careless and make everyone on the ship pay with their lives.

"Those two brothers are guests. Worried about the situation, they would definitely bring their best bodyguards to ensure their own safety."

"And these guys in Hawaiian shirts are just Patrick Miller’s thugs and enforcers. Their behavior is a perfect reflection of the overconfidence and arrogance on this cruise ship."

They all believed no one could get past the surveillance and the ship-wide guard presence to sneak aboard, thinking they could do whatever they pleased on their vessel.

But this attitude was a good thing; it brought the team a lot of convenience.

Just as Zoe Sawyer was about to move the door upward, a voice suddenly came through her earpiece from the surveillance room.

"Attention. A small team of bodyguards is heading your way. Their equipment and skills are better than those last few guys in Hawaiian shirts."

Zoe Sawyer froze and turned to Heath Hale and the others beside her.

"Should we take these ones out?" she asked.