“D-Did he discover us?” Anthony asked.
“No, I don't think so. It's dark at night, and I don't suppose human eyes could see that well when there's barely any light source,” Benjamin replied.
At this moment, Thalia lowered her head and glanced at Benjamin. “Get behind me.”
Benjamin got up on his feet immediately and went behind Thalia, who whipped out a mirror from her pocket. She reached out her hand with the mirror as she attempted to capture the movements across the road through the reflection.
Upon capturing no movements, Thalia heaved a sigh of relief and turned to look at the kids. “Okay, come with me. Be careful.”
“Okay!” Anthony and Benjamin nodded obediently, looking like students eager to learn from their teacher.
Thalia started moving forward, and the kids followed closely behind. They would look back from time to time nervously as if they were acting out a hot pursuit scene in a movie.
However, when they arrived at the corner where Dave had just stopped, they were dumbfounded. What appeared before them was a forked road.
Which path Dave took remained a mystery to them, as they had not stalked him closely.
“Why don't we split up?” Benjamin suggested.
Thalia walked toward the intersection, and after taking a closer look at the surrounding, she said, “It's fine. This way!”
“Why?” Anthony was confused.
“Sniff around.” Thalia curled her lips into a smile.
Anthony and Benjamin started sniffing while frowning in response. “Cigarette smoke?”
“That's right. He was smoking just now, so the scent should lead us to him!”
Anthony looked at her. “That's pretty good, Thalia!”
“Do you think the Darknetz Ace is just a joke?” Benjamin stood up for Thalia.
“All right, enough with the flatteries. We should pick up our pace, or we'll lose him!” Thalia said.
With that, the three of them continued following their target, only to have themselves questioning their decision about the path they had taken. Just as they thought they had lost Dave, Benjamin raised his head and noticed a familiar figure.
Quickly, he tugged the other two and gestured for them to duck.
“What's wrong?” Thalia asked.
“That's Mr. Dave over there!” Benjamin pointed at a building not far away from them.
Thalia immediately turned toward the direction Benjamin pointed, and just as he said, she saw Dave ascending the stairs to a building.
However, they did not give chase. Instead, they started observing in the dark.
“What is Mr. Dave doing here?” Benjamin wondered.
“Well, if you want to know, all you have to do is go up and take a look,” Thalia replied.
The three exchanged a look and went after Dave.
Meanwhile, when Dave entered the room, he was welcomed by the sight of countless needles poking into Kenneth's head while the man beside him was slowly extracting the needles from Kenneth's head.
Kenneth frowned slightly. “Why are you here?”
Dave walked over and had himself seated comfortably before locking his eyes on Kenneth helplessly. “I'm done with those two sons of yours.”
“What now?” Kenneth picked up the cup of water from the side and took a sip.
“They received news about the severe injuries on Boss as well. They told me they would team up with those men on the bounty list to find a way to rescue Natasha if they couldn't find you.”
“They're trying to bait you. They want to use you to force me out.”
“I thought of that, of course, but do you think they're really going to stop? If they couldn't find you, what do you think they would do? I can't even guarantee what they'll do.”
Kenneth thought about it for a while before replying, “Dave, get them out of here no matter what!”
Kenneth's eyes dimmed. “Nat said that we must respect their decision, and we mustn't impose our thoughts and beliefs on them. She said we should grant them the freedom to decide.”
“I reckon you guys are the only two in the world who are that carefree about your children's future!”
“It can't be helped when the husband and wife think alike.”
Dave was rendered speechless. “Okay. Then again, I have this feeling that their plan could work. Why don't we give it a try?”
“Yes. I have to admit that their plan could actually work, but it's not entirely safe!”
“And here I thought you were saying something about granting them the freedom to decide on their matters. We can use this chance to train them. It will be worth it!”
“You'll only understand this feeling when you have your own children. You'd rather take on everything than put them near harm's way.”
Dave nodded in response.
Although he was no father, as an adult, he could never bring himself to let two kids take the risk.
“Then what do we do now? It's a little too late to talk about it now, isn't it?”
“What do you mean by late?” Kenneth asked.
Dave crossed his legs and looked outside. “Barring accidents, they should be here now.”
Kenneth was utterly dumbfounded.
“I saw someone tailing me on the way here. If I'm not wrong, it should be them.”
Kenneth rose to his feet abruptly, but before he could say anything, a huge bang was heard. The door was slammed wide open, revealing Thalia, who was holding a gun in her hands.
“No one moves!”
The fuss she kicked up instantly drew the attention of everyone around.
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