Penny perked up, excitedly waving her arms sideways and yelling, "Second Brother~!"
She and her group had been searching for anyone, but unfortunately, all they saw were remnants of battles. They made a few stops to check for casualties, fearing they might be their own people. Fortunately, they weren’t.
Her smile, however, slowly disappeared as they approached Hugo. Her brows knitted, and she climbed down from the truck’s cab, then hopped off. She almost rolled over because the truck was still moving, but thankfully, she didn’t.
"Second Brother!" she called, running immediately to where Hugo stood.
The mere fact that Hugo didn’t run to her, didn’t meet her halfway, told her something was incredibly wrong. She knew Hugo had a previous injury, but what if he’d been shot or hurt? Even the reopening of his old wound would be horrible enough.
Without even glancing at the other guys around the truck, Penny reached Hugo.
"Penny—" Hugo reached out for her shoulder.
Penny, on the other hand, just held his side and assessed his pale face. Hugo’s expression was still his usual, but he was undeniably pale.
"You’re... you’re okay?" Relief quickly dominated his face, but Penny didn’t answer that.
"Did you get shot?" she asked, gazing down. "That’s a lot of blood."
Hugo also looked down and squeezed his leg. "No, it’s just the injury, but I’m fine."
"Fine?" she repeated, her lips curving down. "Doesn’t look fine to me."
With that, Penny was about to bend down and check his leg. However, before she could, he grabbed her arm and stopped her.
"Penny," Hugo called, gripping her arm and looking her in the eye. He then tipped his head towards the truck in front of his vehicle, making Penny turn to the people she had just run past.
Penny’s brows crinkled as she studied the people until she caught sight of Mint in one of the men’s arms.
"Enemy?" she asked, her question directed at both Hugo and the group of men.
Before Hugo could answer, the man in the middle spoke aloud.
"Hopefully not," he said, raising his chin slightly, his eyes on Penny. "I see you’re using vehicles you shouldn’t."
"A certain grandma told us to pick!" Penny shrugged, though her indifference lacked any playfulness. "I assume you’re from the Shadow Order?"
The men raised their brows, eyeing the woman who had just arrived. They then cast a quick look at Hugo, who seemed a bit confused.
"Penny," Hugo called quietly. "I’m still not sure about them, but they’re offering us an alliance."
"An alliance?"
"Yes," the man in the middle nodded. "An alliance. We will help you, and you will help us. We’ll give you our strength and draw out Nathalie Zorken’s attention while you help us rescue our people she has held hostage in the Mansion."
"We also offered to give him medical assistance, but since you are here, I believe that doesn’t count anymore," he added without breaking his tone.
Penny nodded in understanding before jerking her chin toward Mint. "What about her? What happened to her?"
"They said she was tranquilized—technically by them."
"We were working for Nathalie Zorken for the time being, with her holding our people as leverage. They tranquilized her," the man explained, keeping it short and simple. "However, we may not have any intention of keeping her, but with our numbers, we thought working with people who share the same enemy as ours raises our chances."
"Are you sure about this?" she asked before facing her second brother, pushing his shoulder as a signal for him to sit in the driver’s seat. But before she tore his pants, she pulled away and looked at the guys past the open door.
"What I’m saying is, are you sure that you’d fight Nathalie Zorken when Granny already said she’d rest everything on fate?" she clarified. "I don’t think Granny ordered any of the Shadow Order to join this fight."
The man just gazed at Penny and then glanced at his comrades. The others also exchanged quiet looks before setting their eyes on Penny. Considering the vehicles Penny was using and knowing the person currently holding the highest spot in the Order, it seemed Penny had truly met the Madam.
"Currently, we are just some members who were held hostage," the man finally answered. "We might follow orders without question, but one of the most important rules of the Order is survival. This, tonight, is our survival and our comrades’ survival."
He paused and nodded. "Whether we get punished after tonight’s action is not your problem, but ours."
"Nathalie Zorken already wanted us dead," another one spoke. "So, there is no reason for us to hold back."
"They’re going to execute them—our family, brothers, sisters," another one said. "We follow the code, but there was nowhere in the Order that said we should be mindless."
Pain quickly crawled from his wound as Penny pressed a finger into it—in it—making him twist and fall back on the seat. He couldn’t even move as the paralyzing pain felt like it had even reached the top of his skull.
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