Briar raised an eyebrow and said, “So, I should thank you?”

    Feeling awkward,n scratched his head and said, “No need for thanks. Just don’t beat me up.”

    If he hadn’t taken it upon himself to bring Emily along, their operation tonight would have been much smoother. After all, with Emily, the risk of being discovered by Ashton’s people only increased.

    Briar smiled and said, “I won’t beat you up tonight.”

    ‘But after tonight? Well, no promise,‘ she thought.

    Briar had seen all kinds of people who had thrown their own family under the bus, butn was on another level. He didn’t just screw over his teammates; it was as if he was dying to rip off her disguise himself, afraid that she was hiding too well.

    With Ashton’s razor–sharp instincts, he would figure out in no time how they managed to sneak two people through a military base and all the way to the

    dock.

    Once Ashton realized the security footage had been tampered with by a hacker, and knowingn was just a mercenary who was only good at fighting, Ashton would rule him out right away. That would leave only one possibility.

    No matter how well Briar had been keeping up her act, in a situation like this, where all the suspicious points had been eliminated, even the most impossible answer would be the only one left.

    ‘So yeah, my hacker persona is about to be blown wide open,’ she thought to herself.

    After hearing Briar’s analysis,n kicked Sawyer several times and said, “Briar, it’s my fault. I acted too impulsively. Is there any way to fix this? Maybe! can get a hacker friend to take the fall and say he did it remotely?”

    Briar chuckled and said, “That kind of reason might fool others, but Ashton will see right through it. Don’t forget, he’s got Brannon controlling the border forces and a Dark Net at his disposal.”

    “Briar, your man is so powerful. He monopolizes most of the big–money gray businesses both in the country and abroad,”n said, and could no longer

    make excuses.

    Ashton was practically a devil. With terrifyingly powerful border forces and Dark Net intelligence where information shifted by the second, just these two industries alone were enough to make his assets skyrocket year after year.

    By international convention, any organization with border forces usually operated one unspoken ck–market trade–arms trafficking.

    Especially in a few small Laozari countries gued by constant warfare, outdated weapons from developed nations could be sold there at sky–high prices, with demand far exceeding supply.

    Moreover, ino /imatter how high a mercenary ranked internationally, they always obtained their weapons through their own sources.

    Although they ordered all their weapons and equipment through the official DDC Vanguard base website, ording to unofficial sources, even the official arsenal of the DDC Vanguard base sourced its arms from specific private forces.

    Briar shrugged and said, “Well, we can’tpete with that.”

    “Yeah, we really can’tpete with that. Let’s just stick to doing what we can; something safe and within our abilities,”n said.

    Ian brought Sawyer and Emily into a small, pre–prepared shipping container. Staring out at the endless stretch of sea, he let out an awkwardugh and said, “Briar, do you think when Sawyer and Emily wake up tomorrow morning and realize they’re floating on the ocean, will they freak bout/bb?/b”

    bChapter /b205

    b“/bbThat /bI have no clue, Briar said and nced at the time. “But if you don’t move fasterb, /bwe’re the ones who’ll get busted

    b“/bDamn! I’m done soon,” Ian eximed as he quickened his pace. He loaded the container onto the yacht, started the engine, and just before the yachti pulled away, he nimbly jumped back onto the shore.

    pping his hands, he said, “Done. Briar, let’s get out of here.”

    In a corner of the dock where no one was paying attention, Briar andn dashed through the darkness. For their safety, there was no way they could risk taking the shortcut near the base on their way back.

    ‘What if we run into Ashton and his people? Wouldn’t Briar beat me to death on the spot?‘n thought.

    When they saw the yacht had already drifted away, with that strange container on board, Reece couldn’t help but p. “Nice move!” he said.

    Hamish had to admit he was impressed. “Ashton, in all these years, this must be the first time someone’s been this brazen on your turf, huh?” he said.

    ‘Dodging the surveince near the base was one thing, but stealing a yacht from Ashton’s dock and setting people adrift out at sea? That was next level.

    ‘The tactic is both nasty and ruthless, yet it’s neither legal nor illegal–and the worst part is, there’s nothing we could do about it, Hamish thought.

    “If it was Briar and her friend who pulled this off, Ashton, here’s my advice–bringn onto your team. You rarely find such a talent,” Hamish said.

    Brandon brought his team to haul the yacht back to the shore. When they opened the container and saw Emily and Sawyer with their hands and legs tied

    upi, /itheir faces swollen, Hamish and Reece burst outughing simultaneously.

    Even Ashton, seeing how miserable the two looked, couldn’t help but smirk and say, “This little brat hits pretty hard.”

    One wouldn’t aim for the face when attacking someone. Seeing the miserable Emily, Ashton was 100% certain it was Briar’s doing. It was clearly a case of

    settling personal scores.

    “Alright, now that we’ve found them, let’s get out of here. It’s freezing on this dock at night,” Reece said, patting Ashton on the shoulder.

    Ashton nodded and told someone to send Emily to the hospital. As for Sawyer, it was good enough that he was alive. Besides, they had nned to talk

    with him anyway.

    As everyone returned to the car, Reece, sitting in the back seat, suddenly thought of something and blurted out, “Wait, how did Briar and her friend manage to get two living people through the military base without a scratch?”

    Hamish’s eyes lit up, and he said, “Yeah, seriously, how did they do that?”

    Ashton, who was about to start the engine, paused, turned to Reece, and said,. “Reece, let me see the surveince footage from the base again.”

    Reece retrieved the surveince footage his fellow soldier had sent over and said, “Here you are. Take a look. I didn’t spot anything off in there myself.”

    Ashton took over the phone and watched the footage with Hamish. It was pretty long, so Ashton estimated the right time by calcting the distance the yacht had drifted from the dock, then zeroed in on that section of the surveince.

    Finally, about twenty minutes before the video ended, Ashton spotted something and said, “So that’s how they did bit/b.”

    Hearing that, Reece leaned in and asked, “What? Did you spot something? Are they in the footage? Where are they?”

    Ashton shook his head and said, “They’re not bin /bthe footage…”

    “Not in the footage?” Reece was curious and asked. “Then what’s with that smug look on your face?”

    Hamish seemed to realize something and said, “Don’t tell me Briar’s some kind of skilled hacker and tampered with bthe /bsurveince bfootage/bb?/b”