Thwip!
Seizing the moment, Hunter pulled the trigger, releasing the bolt he had aimed perfectly at the distribution panel inside Steve's villa grounds.
The bolt sliced through the air.
Not only did it strike the panel dead center, but the alloy-forged tip easily punched through the aluminum casing.
A second or two later, the lights in Steve's villa abruptly died.
"Bullseye!"
Hunter grinned, quickly stowing the Tactical Crossbow back into his Personal Inventory.
The next moment, he leaped from the tree.
Relying on his enhanced physique—now more than double that of an average human—he landed effortlessly from the three-meter height.
Then, he exploded into motion.
Sprinting with all his might, he raced down the slope.
Covering the hundred meters in just over ten seconds despite the rugged terrain, Hunter reached the villa's perimeter wall.
Looking at the three-meter wall topped with a high-voltage electric fence, Hunter didn't hesitate. He jumped, grabbing the top of the wall with ease.
Supporting his weight with one hand, he quickly pulled a pair of bolt cutters from his Inventory with the other.
It took him less than ten seconds to snip a gap in the de-energized fence.
Stowing the tool, he hauled himself up and vaulted over the wall, landing softly inside the villa grounds.
"Quick!"
"Get him!"
"Someone hit the breaker! Go start the backup generator!"
"Don't let him escape!"
"Careful! Watch your fire!"
As darkness swallowed the villa, chaos erupted instantly.
Having been under bright lights just moments before, Steve and his men were momentarily blinded. In the confusion, Steve instinctively raised his AK-47 and fired a burst at where Charlie had been standing.
A split second later, he remembered the bomb strapped to Charlie's chest.
But Steve's gunfire acted like a signal.
His men, panicked by the sudden darkness, instinctively opened fire toward Charlie's position too.
In the dark, trigger discipline vanished.
Steve almost caught a stray bullet himself and had to scream at them to stop.
It took over a minute for the chaotic firing to cease as everyone's eyes slowly adjusted to the low light.
"Charlie!"
The moment his vision cleared, Steve looked toward the car.
In the faint moonlight, he saw that the spot where Charlie had been standing was empty.
However, Steve noticed something else.
There were bloodstains on the ground where Charlie had been.
It seemed that in the moment the lights went out, someone's blind fire had hit Charlie.
Steve roared in anger, feeling like he had been played again.
He instinctively started to run toward the villa, knowing Stella was locked inside.
He knew Charlie was here to rescue her. But after taking only two or three steps, he stopped abruptly.
"You three! Get back to the villa! Now!"
He pointed at a few of his men and barked the order.
"Yes, sir!"
The men jumped into one of the armored SUVs and sped toward the house.
Steve, meanwhile, rushed to the car Charlie had driven in.
"Open it!"
He ordered a subordinate to open the driver's door. Empty.
"The trunk!"
Another man popped the trunk.
As the lid lifted, a golden glow reflected the moonlight, dazzling everyone nearby.
"Hiss!"
Steve took one look, and his breathing instantly became heavy.
So did the breathing of the men around him.
"Gold bars?"
Steve heard someone gasp.
His heart sank. Remembering the betrayal of his previous crew a year ago, his face darkened.
"I can't keep these men."
Steve was paranoid by nature. A year ago, a group of his henchmen had discovered he was hoarding a ton of gold and tried to force him to split it.
He had spent considerable effort cleaning up that mess.
Now, a new group of hirelings knew his secret.
In an instant, Steve decided their fate. They were all dead men walking.
But he knew now wasn't the time to act.
He slammed the trunk shut without inspecting the contents closely.
If he had, he would have noticed something.
Although the "gold bars" in the trunk were the right shape and bore the same "Dancer of Bali" stamp as his stolen hoard, their luster and weight were slightly off. They were fakes.
"You guys, check the perimeter. See if anyone else slipped in when the lights went out."
"Then rendezvous with us at the villa."
Steve hefted his AK, his eyes fierce.
His men, who had been working for him for a while, were startled by his intensity.
"Yes, sir!"
One of them responded quickly, suppressing his greed for the gold.
The others snapped out of it and followed suit.
They jumped into the other armored SUV and drove toward the main gate to sweep the area.
Watching them leave, Steve snorted coldly.
The "gold" was back. His mood improved significantly.
He walked to the driver's side of Charlie's car. The keys were still in the ignition.
Steve got in, started the engine, turned on the headlights, and drove toward the villa.
He had no idea that at this very moment, Hunter was moving like a panther through the darkness.
Hunter had already reached the villa. He pulled a heavy-duty window breaker from his Inventory.
With a powerful swing, he smashed it against a ground-floor window.
THUD!
CRASH!
With Hunter's strength—double that of a normal human—the hammer shattered the massive pane of tempered glass.
Hunter crossed his arms in front of his face and dove through the opening.
He stowed the hammer quickly, his right hand trembling slightly from the impact.
"Damn, that guy is paranoid. That tempered glass was at least 15mm thick. Even with my strength, I almost didn't break it in one hit."
Hunter was glad he had prepared thoroughly. During his last visit, seeing all the traps, he had suspected Steve would have reinforced glass.
So, he had specifically bought a heavy breaching tool.
And it had just paid off.
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