Chapter 59: The Raid

Charles didn't hesitate for even a moment.

The instant he spotted the column of black smoke slowly rising into the sky, he slammed on the brakes and steered the off-road vehicle into the trees beside the road.

The moment the vehicle came to a stop, he threw open the door and jumped out. He snatched the scoped rifle from beside the passenger seat before grabbing two spare magazines from the rear cargo compartment.

Charles drew a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm.

But the thought of the two children still back at the house made his hands tremble uncontrollably, his mind racing with horrific possibilities.

Then, a relaxed voice spoke behind him.

"Need a hand?"

It was only a simple question, yet it pulled him out of the spiral of panic as though someone had yanked him out of his panic.

Charles slowly turned around.

Standing behind him were Xia Jiuwei and Lu Nian'an.

At that moment, they looked like the last lifeline he had left.

The next second, he dropped to his knees.

"Please..."

"Please... let my children be safe."

"Calm down. Don't panic."

Xia Jiuwei hurried over and helped him back to his feet.

"You've got your house so well protected. Don't scare yourself before you know what's happened."

Charles shook his head.

"I can't take that chance."

"Even if the odds are small... I can't gamble with my children's lives."

As he spoke, he started to kneel again.

"Please..."

"Help them."

Looking at the man who had completely lost the composure he usually carried, Lu Nian'an asked calmly,

"You just want us to confirm they're safe?"

Charles nodded vigorously.

"We can do that."

The moment she finished speaking, both she and Xia Jiuwei vanished.

A moment later, the two of them appeared on the first basement level of Charles's house.

Xia Jiuwei hurried into the surveillance room, her eyes sweeping across the rows of security monitors.

Yet neither Lukas nor Elena appeared on any of the screens.

"...That's strange."

She frowned.

"Where are they?"

Without another word, she grabbed Lu Nian'an's hand and headed downstairs to the second basement level.

The instant she stepped off the staircase, she felt two pairs of nervous eyes fixed on her.

A moment later, the entire bookshelf beside the recreation area swung outward, revealing a hidden doorway behind it.

Lukas and Elena were crouched inside, each clutching a pillow.

The moment she saw them, Elena let out a sigh of relief—only to realize someone was missing.

"Where's Dad?"

Lukas immediately chimed in.

"Yeah!"

"Did Dad already beat all the bad guys?"

Unlike his anxious sister, he looked almost excited.

Xia Jiuwei crouched down and gently ruffled both of their hair.

"How about I take you to your dad?"

The two children immediately nodded.

An instant later, all four of them disappeared from the besieged house.

Back in the woods, Charles stood gripping his rifle when the air in front of him suddenly began to ripple.

Xia Jiuwei, Lu Nian'an, and the two children appeared together.

The moment Charles saw that Lukas and Elena were unharmed, the tension that had been holding him together finally gave way.

He immediately dropped to one knee and pulled both children tightly into his arms.

"I'm sorry..."

"I never should've left you home alone."

"Dad?"

Lukas tilted his head in confusion.

"Don't cry."

Charles froze.

Only then did he realize his eyes had already turned red.

He took several slow, deep breaths until his emotions gradually settled before rising to his feet once more.

Then he bowed deeply toward the two girls.

"Thank you."

Xia Jiuwei and Lu Nian'an simply waved their hands in unison.

"It was nothing."

Charles shook his head.

"No."

"It wasn't nothing to me."

"Alright, alright."

Xia Jiuwei jerked her chin toward the house.

"You can thank us later."

"Let's deal with the people outside your house first."

Charles nodded.

After taking one more look at his two safe and healthy children, he let out a long breath.

The turmoil in his heart finally settled.

Picking up his rifle once more, he said,

"Time to clean out a few rats."

Keeping low, Charles slipped swiftly through the woods.

By the time he reached a point roughly a hundred meters from the house, the trees had begun to thin, giving way to a stretch of open grassland.

He had cleared that area himself years ago to prevent anyone from approaching unnoticed.

Dropping into the tall grass, he peered through his scope.

A panel van sat beside the house, still smoldering from the trap it had triggered.

There were eight people surrounding the building.

One of them—a gaunt-looking man—had both hands pressed against the steel shutters, apparently trying to melt through them with his Ability.

Charles made a quick estimate.

Eight people.

About the maximum that van could carry.

Once he confirmed there weren't any others nearby, he became completely calm.

He crawled into a shallow depression in the ground, leaving only the rifle barrel and scope exposed.

The grass in front of him formed a perfect natural blind.

Carefully, he parted a narrow gap between the blades.

The crosshairs slowly settled over the gaunt man's chest.

The steel front door had already been heated until it glowed a dull red.

Sweat streamed down Beat's face as he stood before it, both hands continuously pouring intense heat into the steel plate.

Yet despite all his effort, the protective barrier still refused to melt through.

He was beginning to lose confidence.

"Boss..."

"You sure the people inside are gone?"

Standing behind him, Kant sounded completely unconcerned.

"Didn't we watch him drive through the tunnel earlier today?"

"This is the perfect chance to move in and take the place for ourselves."

He patted the rifle slung over his shoulder.

"Besides, what are you worried about?"

"There are eight of us, and every one of us has an Ability."

"Eight against one. How could we possibly lose?"

Off to the side, Gray had long since run out of patience.

After watching Beat spend what felt like forever trying to melt through the steel without making any real progress, he finally grumbled,

"At this rate we'd be better off just shooting through it."

He strode toward the van and pulled out a rifle.

Before he could raise it, Kant snatched it away.

"Have you lost your mind?"

"You start firing at a steel plate, and the ricochets are just as likely to kill us."

Gray clicked his tongue but said nothing more.

Kant slowly looked around, clearly pleased.

"Be patient."

"The tougher it is to get inside, the better this place will be as a base."

He chuckled.

"No pain, no gain."

Despite his confident words, he never truly lowered his guard.

His eyes continued scanning the surrounding woods.

Just then, someone shouted from the distance.

"Boss!"

"I think I found a hidden entrance!"

One of the group was crouched in the grass, tugging hard on a concealed handle.

As a section of earth lifted open, a staircase leading underground was revealed.

Kant's eyes lit up.

"Send two people down."

The pair immediately drew their weapons and disappeared into the passage.

Only a few moments after they vanished—

Bang!

A gunshot rang out.

Beat's body jerked violently before collapsing onto the ground.

Kant's pupils contracted.

A sniper?

This just got a whole lot worse.

"Down!"

"Everyone, find cover!"

he roared.

The truly terrifying part was that none of them had any idea where the shot had come from.

Charles slowly let out a breath.

The crosshairs settled onto his second target.

He squeezed the trigger.

Thump—

Even fitted with a suppressor, the rifle still produced a low, muffled report—quiet enough to obscure its exact location.

Without pausing after the first hit, Charles kept firing.

Within only a few seconds, five shots left the barrel in rapid succession.

Two more attackers dropped where they stood.

The remaining two, however, made him frown.

One of them held his right hand in front of his face.

The bullets ricocheted off his body as though it were solid steel.

The other was even more troublesome.

He moved with unbelievable speed, dodging every shot just before Charles pulled the trigger.

While sprinting across the battlefield, Gray carefully watched the trajectories of the incoming rounds.

A few seconds later, he finally pinpointed the approximate direction.

"Boss!"

"I found him!"

He pointed toward the woods to the left of the front entrance.

"He's somewhere over there!"

The instant Kant heard that, he raised his submachine gun.

The next second—

Tatatatata—

A storm of bullets tore toward the forest.

Wood chips and shredded leaves exploded into the air.

Charles couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath.

"This could be a problem..."

Before he had time to think of a new plan, Gray was already moving.

His body became little more than a blur as he charged straight toward the trees.

Seeing that, Charles smiled.

The instant Gray crossed an invisible boundary, Charles activated his Ability.

In the next moment—

The incredible speed that had propelled Gray seemed to vanish as though ripped away by an unseen force.

His familiar speed vanished without warning.

His body instantly lost its balance, pitching forward.

Impossible.

Terror flooded his eyes.

Before his mind could catch up—

Bang!

The rifle fired.

The shot went straight through his head.

Gray's body crashed into the grass and never moved again.

Watching Gray die on the spot, Kant felt an icy chill race up his spine.

Something's wrong.

There's no way Gray would've suddenly lost his speed.

The enemy must've set up some kind of ability field... or some sort of trap.

If I'd charged in instead...

I'd be the one lying there.

Realizing that, he found himself almost grateful that Gray had rushed in first.

Any thought of entering the woods vanished instantly.

Instead, he simply kept pouring fire into the trees.

One magazine.

Then another.

Then a third.

Yet aside from splintered wood and shredded leaves flying everywhere, they hit nothing.

At the same time—

A bullet grazed Charles's left arm.

Blood immediately welled from the wound.

Charles grunted and glanced sideways at the injury.

It wasn't serious.

But continuing like this wasn't a solution either.

The problem was that Kant had been thoroughly frightened.

No matter what happened, he refused to take a single step toward the woods.

For the moment, neither side could make a move.