“Boss, what do we do with her today? Same as the past couple of days?”
The two burly men finished tying Elizabeth to the stake, completely ignoring her screams, and turned to Old John for instructions.
“Let me go!” Elizabeth shouted. “My father is a duke of the Great Eagle Empire. I am willing to pay whatever you want!”
Back in Africa she had managed to stay relatively calm because death had not felt absolutely certain. But after personally witnessing Old John torture and kill Louis and his girlfriend Nina over the past two days, she knew her chances of survival were almost zero. Of course she broke down.
There was no helping it. Louis had run his mouth too much, trying to bluff and threaten at the start, so he had been the first to die on day one.
“Pay?” Old John took the cigar from his mouth and smacked his lips. “What a pity. No amount of money can wake my son up.”
“S… sir, we are deeply sorry about what happened to your son, but the people who injured him were not us!” James stammered from the neighbouring cell.
“Those two Chinese?”
“Yes, yes, exactly!” James nodded frantically. At this point it was every man for himself. Get out of danger first, worry about friends later.
Old John took another drag on his cigar and glanced sideways. “Heh, you think I will let them go? Do not worry. They will join you all this evening!”
“What!?”
“Then you already found the culprits. Why kidnap us?” George shouted.
“Pah!” Old John spat right in George’s face. “Do not pretend I do not know the whole story. If you lot had not filmed that damned video, my son would never have clashed with that Interpol agent!”
“What? What Interpol agent?” James suddenly looked up.
“Hmph!” Old John gave a cold snort and could not be bothered to answer.
A bunch of spoiled rich idiots had caused his son’s death. What rotten luck.
“Interpol?” Hope flickered in Elizabeth’s eyes again. “They are Interpol?”
Old John turned back and sneered. “So what if they are?”
Elizabeth forced a smile, trying to sound conciliatory. “Sir, back then we were moments from death at your son’s hands. It was those two who stepped in and saved us. If you say you have caught them and they will arrive tomorrow, could I at least thank them in person tomorrow?”
Old John took a puff, removed the cigar from his mouth. “You think they can save you a second time?”
Elizabeth’s mouth twitched. She opened her lips to speak again, but Old John waved her silent.
“Fine. But every day I kill one of you. If you do not want to die today, you may choose a companion to die in your place.”
He pointed at the three people in the next cell. “Pick one.”
The moment the words left his mouth, James, George, and Catherine all fell silent.
They had felt hopeless already, yet living one more day was still worth something. People always cling to hope. What if something unexpected happened?
So all three lowered their heads. Even James could not bring himself to look at Elizabeth.
Elizabeth’s face turned ashen. Asking her to choose a companion to die for her was something she could not do either.
…
“They have been captured too.”
“And two are already dead.”
“Should we change the plan?”
“No need. Having eyewitnesses actually makes everything easier!”
“You’re right. Start now?”
“Of course. Right now!”
Lu Zheng and Lin Wan stepped back a few paces into the outermost room and took two automatic rifles off the wall.
The deeper part of this basement was the dungeon; the outer layer served as an armoury and guard rest area. There were still some guns, ammunition, and bulletproof vests lying around, plus about twenty guards inside.
They put on tactical body armour, grabbed several full magazines and grenades each, and were fully kitted out.
“Showtime!”
The next instant, Lu Zheng and Lin Wan materialised right in front of two stunned doorway guards.
“What the hell?”
“Oh my God!”
Bang bang bang, bang bang bang!
Two triple bursts opened three bloody holes in each guard’s chest. They dropped dead.
“Now we are not just fighting back, we are also rescuing people,” Lin Wan said.
“So we can really let loose?”
“Exactly!”
Lin Wan grinned with excitement, stepped forward, and kicked open the dungeon door.
Two more thugs came rushing out with guns to see what was happening, only to be mowed down by a full burst from Lin Wan.
“Changing mag!” Lin Wan called out, perfectly professional. Lu Zheng immediately moved up behind her, rifle at the ready, advancing in short tactical steps.
They were acting, after all. Might as well do it properly. Treat it like real-life CS.
…
Deep inside the dungeon.
The sound of gunfire made everyone jump.
“What is going on!?” Old John threw his half-smoked cigar to the floor.
One of his men looked baffled, then immediately grabbed his phone to make a call.
After a few sentences he put the phone down, utterly confused.
“Boss, everything is quiet outside. The gunfire is only coming from the dungeon area. The guards are already converging here.”
Old John’s brows knitted tightly. Decades in the underworld had honed his instincts, and every alarm bell was screaming at him.
“Call every guard in the dungeon to gather here with me, now!”
“Yes, sir!”
He made the call. Outside the inner dungeon, gunfire and grenade explosions never stopped, accompanied by shouts from the guards.
Chaos, and getting closer by the second.
“Fuck!”
Now everyone in the deepest part of the dungeon started panicking.
Clearly someone had infiltrated the villa and started the attack in the dungeon’s outer layer!
Why start in the dungeon?
Either to rescue prisoners or to assassinate someone!
And right now the only prisoners in the villa dungeon were Elizabeth and the other three!
“Gather on me, then we break out together!” Old John roared.
This dungeon had only one entrance. If the enemy was pushing in from outside, the only option was to charge straight back at them.
By now seven or eight men had retreated into the deepest section, less than half the total guards.
Yet the moment they fell back, the gunfire from outside suddenly stopped at the exact same time.
“Fuck!” someone cursed. “Jonathan and the others are all dead?”
“Contact the villa guards. Tell them to attack from outside!” Old John grabbed a dust-covered thug by the collar and bellowed, “What the hell is happening? Who are they? How many?”
“The enemy… there are only two of them!” The man was still shaking with fear. “Asian features, one man and one woman. Extremely dangerous!”
“What!?”
Old John’s eyes bulged. He could hardly believe his own ears.
