Things had escalated to this point, and even Hayden, despite any dullness he might have possessed, could smell a hint of conspiracy in the air.
General Jaelynn had barely left when the power plant malfunctioned, followed closely by the prison.
“No, something’s not right. Come with me to the power plant, quickly.”
“Yes.”
Hayden led the remaining less than twenty people to the power plant. Along the way, all they saw were scenes of river water flooding the riverbanks. This was the highest water level in five years.
“It’s winter now; the water level shouldn’t be this high.”
Not only did they need to avoid it, even the poisonous snakes around miraculously hid away. Snakes that used to be everywhere were now seen only after walking a dozen meters.
“Master, there are many paper boats here.”
“Hmm?”
As one of his subordinates passed through a thicket, he happened to see a paper boat washed up by the river.
“How come there are paper boats here? Bring it to me.”
“Yes.”
The person carefully picked up the paper boat and presented it to Hayden. He took it and glanced down.
The paper boat had been soaked in water for a long time, causing the contents on it to blur, but it could still vaguely be seen that it was drawn with some common geometric shapes.
Circles, triangles, squares, rectangles…
Clearly, these were things he recognized, but when put together, even he couldn’t understand what they meant.
“Master, I didn’t study much, only went to elementary school. What are these drawings?”
Curiously, the subordinate asked.
Hayden impatiently threw the paper boat back into the bushes beside him.
“What else could it be? Just some doodles from bored kids. Let’s continue forward.”
“Yes.”
As they continued forward, they found more paper boats. Without exception, they were all combinations of incomprehensible shapes. If it were just one boat, it might be a coincidence. But they kept finding these paper boats one after another; it couldn’t be just a simple coincidence.
The further they went, the stronger Hayden’s sense of unease became. At this moment, a thought emerged in his mind.
Perhaps these shapes were conveying some kind of message, connecting the prison and the power plant from outside the prison to upstream on the river.
Could it be that someone outside was passing messages to the people in the prison, colluding with insiders?
If his guess was correct, then who was this person?
Perhaps… even his current actions were predicted by the other party.
Just then, a cold wind blew, carrying not only damp water vapor but also a long-lost sense of danger.
“It’s windy.”
This seemingly random statement left his subordinates bewildered.
But soon they understood the meaning behind these words, although by then it was already too late.
Many people dressed in deep green uniforms, their faces painted with camouflage, emerged from the bushes, holding long guns in their hands, surrounding them.
Unexpectedly, the leader was a little boy not even up to his knees.
He looked delicate and lovely, only about four or five years old.
With a face resembling Kelvin’s to a great extent, one could easily guess whose child he was.
A child of this age should still be in his parents’ arms, perhaps crying at the sight of such a scene.
However, Oliver stood among them with a calm demeanor, exuding the inherent aura of a natural-born leader.
Seeing this, one couldn’t help but admire: like father, like son!
“I never thought that I, Hayden, would be defeated by a little brat. Ironical.”
He had schemed and calculated his whole life, only to fall into someone else’s carefully laid trap in the end.
Was this a kind of karma?
Oliver looked at him coldly, unaware that Hayden was actually the biological brother of his most respected Uncle Omari. At this moment, he only saw him as a bad person.
“All is fair in war. Losing means losing. What difference does age make?”
“Tell me, where did you imprison my mom and dad?”
Kelvin and Cheyenne?
At the mention of the two, Hayden burst into a wild laughter, sounding exceedingly pleased:
“They… are dead.”
These two light words exploded in Oliver’s mind like deep-sea torpedoes, stirring up huge waves.
It took a long time for him to calm down.
“What did you say? That’s impossible! My parents couldn’t have died. You, you evil person, you must be lying!”
Just yesterday, he had been in contact with his mom using a small boat. How could she have left him and Cierra behind?
Oliver’s emotions were written all over his face, and Hayden could easily read his thoughts. After all, he was still a child, even if he was intelligent, his mind couldn’t compare to Hayden’s cunning.
“Do you think I would let them leave that place alive before I left?”
“Before I left, I locked them in the laboratory, pulled the circuit, and by now, they’re probably nothing but bones.”
“Little one, from now on, you’ll be an orphan without parents. Are you happy?”
In an instant, Oliver’s face turned pale, and a mist gathered in his ink-like eyes.
“No, I don’t believe you! You’re just an unforgivable villain!”
“Take him and bring him to Uncle Iker’s place, and the rest come with me!”
He wanted to find his mom and dad himself. Until he saw their bodies with his own eyes, he couldn’t trust anyone’s words.
As soon as he finished speaking, Hayden was dealt with.
Seeing this, the people behind him had no choice but to drop their weapons and surrender.
At the base, Iker had just handed Jaelynn over to his subordinates, instructing them to keep a close eye on her.
Unexpectedly, Oliver brought him a big gift right after – Hayden!
The young master of the Lara family and the current head of the family were unexpectedly involved.
As their eyes met, both sides saw astonishment in each other’s eyes.
In just a few seconds, it felt like a century had passed.
They had had a peaceful coexistence.
However, because of an Emily, two unrelated people were now compared by everyone.
At that time, Iker was just a disabled man, while he was the acclaimed Mr. Lara.
The tables had turned, and now not only had Iker’s legs recovered, he had also returned to the army and held a higher position than before. The Todd family’s power remained.
On the other hand, Hayden, after losing his status as “future son-in-law” to the President, had begun to decline, now becoming his prisoner.
Unfortunately…
Hayden didn’t feel the satisfaction of revenge because he had long stopped liking Emily.
“Take him away and watch him closely.”
“Yes.”
“You don’t need to bother. I’ll go by myself.”
“Master Iker, you’re so imposing. On that day, I took away your fiancée. Now, if you want to retaliate against me, it’s only natural. I don’t blame you!”
Everyone only knew that Iker had once retired because of a leg injury, but they didn’t know that their cold and aloof superior had once had a fiancée.
And she had been snatched away by this pretty boy. It was truly maddening!
Iker walked past him expressionlessly, not caring about what he said.
“Mr. Lara, you’re overthinking it. I’m just doing my duty.”
“Take him away!”