Echo had barely made it back to her seat when Adolph’s sudden attack startled her.
It all happened in an instant.
Without wasting a second, she sprang toward the gun that had fallen to the floor earlier.
Her heart raced, but seeing Ryan’s calm demeanor, she knew Adolph wasn’t about to seriously hurt him. Nobody in their right mind would pick a real fight with Ryan inside the Dark family’s headquarters.
Still, Ryan’s body wasn’t what it used to be-his physical condition had deteriorated. She couldn’t let them escalate things any further.
Echo grabbed the gun and spun around, aiming it at Adolph just as he made his next move.
But before she could shout a warning, Ryan shifted slightly, and Adolph used that moment to his advantage. His hand brushed against Ryan’s arm, and with a quick yank, he tore off half of Ryan’s sleeve. Adolph took two steps back, now holding the torn fabric, his expression cold and grim.
Ryan remained seated, not even flinching. He glanced briefly at Echo, who still had the gun pointed at Adolph. For once, he allowed a faint smile to cross his lips.
“Come here,” Ryan said softly.
Confused by how easily the two of them switched from fighting to complete calm, Echo hesitated for a second. But when Ryan called her over, she walked toward him and shoved the gun into his hand.
Ryan chuckled quietly, set the gun aside, and pulled her into his arms like she was some kind of human pillow.
Adolph, still staring at the sleeve in his hand, narrowed his eyes and asked, “Ryan, what the hell happened to your skills?”
He knew something was off the moment he walked into the room, so he tested Ryan by throwing him off with small talk. It didn’t seem to work, but that wasn’t the issue. The issue was that Adolph had actually managed to outmaneuver Ryan-something that shouldn’t have been possible.
Nobody knew Ryan’s abilities better than Adolph. There was no way this was some sudden improvement on Adolph’s part. No, something was wrong with Ryan.
Ryan didn’t answer Adolph. He glanced at the torn sleeve, raised an eyebrow slightly, and leaned back on the couch with Echo still in his arms.
Seeing Ryan ignore him, Adolph’s expression darkened. His eyes narrowed as he caught sight of the red blotches on Ryan’s arm. He took two quick steps forward, grabbed Ryan’s arm, and demanded, “What the hell is going on? What happened to you?”
Ryan replied coldly, “It’s nothing.”
Adolph’s face instantly twisted with frustration. He angrily threw the torn sleeve to the ground and yelled at Ryan, “Do you think I’m a kid? Hawk rushed back in a panic, there was that massive explosion in the Cape Mountains-and don’t forget, Cobra pulled those explosives and planes directly from my people! You think I wouldn’t put two and two together? If something happened to you, who else could push your people to go this nuts? I know them better than anyone. Now tell me-what are those red blotches on your arm?”
Echo watched Adolph roar at Ryan like a raging lion. It was clear now that Adolph wasn’t interested in fighting-he had come here to get a good look at Ryan’s condition. And now that he’d seen the strange red marks on Ryan’s skin, he was losing it.
Ryan stayed silent, meeting Adolph’s furious gaze with a cold stare.
But as Adolph’s anger gradually subsided, a heavier, more serious look replaced the fury on his face. In a low voice, he asked, “What is it, Ryan? I thought we were friends.”
After a brief silence, Ryan finally muttered, “Radiation.”
Adolph’s eyes widened with shock. He stepped closer and examined the red blotches on Ryan’s arm more carefully.
“Radiation? What kind of radiation? How did this happen? What the hell went down these past couple of days? I barely got back from the Middle East and hadn’t even settled into my seat, and you’re already in deep trouble. What the hell were you thinking? You should know better than anyone-you don’t need to handle everything yourself. That’s what your people are for!”
The more Adolph spoke, the more heated he became, practically scolding Ryan at this point.
Adolph explained that the moment he delivered the shipment of weapons to his buyer in the Middle East, he rushed back to Italy, where the turf wars were at their peak and he was needed to maintain order.
But before he could even get his footing, Hawk lost it, and Cobra deployed bombers straight to Africa.
There was no way Adolph could miss what was going on.
The Dark family didn’t operate diamond mines or anything like that in Africa, and those bombers had come from Adolph’s forces stationed there.
Such drastic action could only mean one thing-something had happened to Ryan.
The situation had thrown Adolph off so badly that he abandoned the merger he’d been working on and rushed straight to Ryan.
Ryan’s face darkened at Adolph’s words. He shot Adolph a sharp glance, but Adolph took a deep breath, calming himself down.
In a quieter tone, Adolph said, “Ryan, I’m sorry. I got too worked up.”
From the sidelines, Echo watched the exchange between the two men. Adolph’s anger had seemed too genuine to be fake. Even if she couldn’t tell, Ryan definitely would have noticed if it had been an act.
And with Ryan’s temper, if Adolph’s outburst had been just for show, Ryan would’ve already thrown him out. The fact that Ryan kept his cool meant there was something real between them-something deeper than titles and power.
Ryan and Adolph had always lived as crime lords, each ruling their own territories.
Echo had figured that no matter how close they used to be, there was no way they truly treated each other as friends.
In a world like theirs, emotions were just words, nothing real. But now, seeing them together, Echo decided she needed to change her thinking.
Maybe-just maybe-there was a kind of bond that could surpass rank, status, and everything else.
Maybe real friendship did exist.
“Don’t squeeze his arm like that,” Echo said, frowning as she reached over to pry Adolph’s hand off Ryan’s arm. “Even if it doesn’t hurt you, doesn’t mean it won’t hurt him, idiot.”
Adolph immediately let go, realizing she was right. After years of working side by side with Ryan, he’d grown used to thinking of him as an iron man, forgetting that Ryan’s body was still made of flesh and blood.
“I need to know, Ryan,” Adolph said firmly, locking eyes with him.
Ryan could see the determination on Adolph’s face and decided not to keep anything hidden. In just a few brief sentences, Ryan summed up the whole situation-what happened, how, and the aftermath.
Echo couldn’t help but admire how he managed to boil down everything they’d gone through, all the life-or-death moments, into just a few sentences.
Adolph’s brow furrowed as he processed the story. “Something like that actually happened?” he muttered.
Given his extensive experience, it wasn’t easy to surprise him, but Ryan’s account of mutants left even Adolph a little stunned.
But Adolph quickly shook off his surprise, focusing on the immediate problem. Glancing at the red blotches on Ryan’s skin, he asked, “What do you need me to do?”
Before Ryan could respond, the door swung open, and Bill walked in, cutting off the conversation.
“There’s nothing you can do,” Bill said flatly.
Adolph’s face darkened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Bill saw the storm gathering in Adolph’s expression. He knew Adolph wasn’t just upset about being kept in the dark earlier; he also recognized they’d deliberately tried to keep him out, treating him like an outsider. Now, being told so bluntly that his help wasn’t needed only made things worse.
Bill’s tone turned serious. “Mr. Adolph, it’s not that we don’t want to tell you or accept your help. It’s just that there’s nothing you can do.”
Adolph’s expression grew even grimmer as he shifted his gaze from Bill to Ryan, who still looked as if nothing were wrong. “It’s that serious, huh?” he said quietly.
There weren’t many problems in the world that Adolph couldn’t help with, especially when it came to Ryan’s well-being. But from the way Bill was talking, Adolph could tell this was something far beyond his reach. His grim expression shifted into one of deep seriousness, reflecting the gravity of the situation.
Bill gritted his teeth before admitting, “Yes. It’s thorium radiation combined with a blood infection.”
The mention of a blood infection hit Adolph like a punch to the gut. He had already sensed that something was terribly wrong, given how frantic Hawk and Cobra had been.
When Ryan first mentioned radiation, Adolph had thought it was serious, but not unmanageable-Ryan’s resources should’ve been more than enough to deal with it. But hearing about the blood infection now, even Adolph, who wasn’t a doctor, understood the implications. This was life-threatening.
“There’s no way to fix it?” Adolph asked after a brief silence, clenching his jaw.
Bill’s face remained grim. “We’re working on it.”
“If there’s anything you need,” Adolph said, rising to his feet in a flash, urgency written all over his face, “even if the cure’s locked up in the White House, I’ll blow it up and bring it to you.”