“Stop.” A cold, commanding voice rang out.
Without hesitation, Echo slammed her foot on the brake. The tires screeched against the ground, and the Jeep came to a sudden halt.
Gunfire erupted instantly but ended just as quickly, fading so fast it was almost like it never happened.
In the vast desert, all that remained was the sound of the wind and the heavy breathing of those inside the vehicle.
Echo could hear Cobra and the others climbing out of the Jeep, and she let out a long breath, slumping back against her seat. Looks like she managed to stay alive.
“Not bad, not bad,” Cobra said approvingly.
Echo ran a hand over her face, feeling the gritty layer of sand stuck to her skin, rough like sandpaper.
The scorching sun baked the desert, driving up the heat.
As Echo touched her face, she realized her back and face were soaked with sweat. She hadn’t noticed it before, but now that the adrenaline wore off, she could feel how drenched she was. With a tired smile, she shook her head, opened the door, and stepped out.
The sand stung her eyes, and she blinked furiously, trying to clear them, but it was no use.
“Let it out and cry,” Ryan said, walking over when he saw her standing there, covered in sand and squinting painfully, unsure whether to rub her eyes or not. He wrapped an arm around her, his voice calm but firm.
“I can’t cry,” Echo muttered, leaning slightly against Ryan, her legs feeling a bit weak. She tilted her head up and closed her eyes. “I’m not an actor. I don’t just cry on command.”
She had always been tough, used to holding it together. It wasn’t hard to make her smile, but getting her to cry? That was another story.
Ryan didn’t say anything. Without warning, he pressed his fingers into her waist, right in her most sensitive spot. Echo gasped, and though it wasn’t exactly painful, the ticklish, aching sensation hit her so hard that tears instantly welled up.
“Damn you, Ryan…” she thought as the tears overflowed, carrying the irritating sand out of her eyes.
Echo instinctively raised her hand to wipe her face, but Ryan grabbed her wrist, frowning at the sight of her sand-covered hands and shards of glass stuck to them.
With a grim expression, he carefully wiped the sand from around her eyes himself. The tears that slipped down her dusty cheeks made Ryan uneasy, and he muttered, “Stop crying.”
Echo blinked a few times, finally able to open her eyes properly, though she shot him an exasperated look.
“Like it was my choice to cry,” she thought. You’re the one who made me cry, and now you tell me to stop? Seriously?
As soon as her vision cleared, Echo startled. The nose of her Jeep was less than a meter away from the enemy’s front bumper. If her reflexes had been even a fraction slower, or if she hadn’t reacted the instant Ryan told her to stop, they’d all be dead. So that’s what Cobra meant by ‘not bad,’ she thought.
She glanced at the two enemy Jeeps ahead. The people inside were riddled with bullet holes, slumped lifelessly in their seats.
Cobra and the local guy were already unloading their weapons from the vehicles.
Echo let out a small sigh of relief-good thing everyone on her side was an expert marksman. She hadn’t seen the shooting herself, but that was probably for the best. If she had, she wasn’t sure she’d have been able to drive so fearlessly straight into danger.
Ryan didn’t even glance at their enemies. To him, they were nothing but small fry. If this was the best they had to offer, he wasn’t impressed. Watching them panic, lose control, and fumble with their equipment only made them seem more useless in his eyes-this whole situation was just a minor skirmish to him.
With Echo leaning weakly against him, her clothes soaked through, Ryan muttered coldly, “Useless.”
Without a second thought, Ryan scooped her up and carried her to the back seat.
“We’re moving,” Hawk and Cobra called out as they loaded the heaviest weapons onto the Jeep.
Hawk noticed Ryan putting Echo in the back and turned to the local guy. “You drive.”
Without a word, the local guy slid behind the wheel, shifted gears, and sped off.
Echo leaned against Ryan, her voice low but sharp with sarcasm. “Where would you even find such a useless subordinate like me?”
Even though she said it quietly, Cobra and Hawk both heard her.
Cobra chuckled. “Eh, you are not completely useless. At least you know how to drive.”
Hawk nodded in agreement. “Yeah, credit where it’s due. You’ve got guts and smarts.” Driving well wasn’t the hardest skill to come by, but being able to stay calm under pressure? That was rare. And if the worst thing that happened was Echo’s legs giving out afterward, so be it.
Hearing that, Echo shot Ryan an annoyed glare. He stared back at her with that same cold, unreadable expression, offering not even the slightest hint of praise.
Rolling her eyes, she muttered under her breath and dropped her head. What kind of boss acts like this? she thought bitterly.
Ryan noticed her frustration and subtly tightened his grip around her waist. His face remained icy, but there was the faintest flicker of amusement hidden deep in his gaze.
By early evening, the group had made it within 150 kilometers of T Town, the place where Clement had gone missing.
T Town was a desolate, forgotten town buried under endless stretches of sand. What was once a grand structure was now reduced to ruins, its edges worn smooth by time and relentless sandstorms.
If it weren’t for the local guy’s directions, none of them would’ve guessed that this place had once been a pyramid.
“Boss, everything’s set. They’re on their way,” Hawk whispered to Ryan as soon as they got out of the vehicle.
Ryan gave a slight nod, saying nothing.
Even though the local guy had some influence in Egypt, it was nothing compared to what the Street family could do. Pitting the local guy’s crew against them would be like throwing minnows at a dragon-not only useless but potentially making things worse.
Ryan had come prepared from the start, knowing there would be trouble along the way. Now that they’d been ambushed once, it was clear more complications were likely.
But Ryan wasn’t one to back down-retaliation was always his style. For now, though, the priority was finding Clement. He’d deal with the Street family later. Time was on his side, and Ryan wasn’t someone who made reckless moves. He didn’t plan to leave any debt unpaid.
“Boss, over here,” Cobra called out after scouting the ruins with the local guy. They circled the area, checking the surroundings and pinpointing key locations.
Meanwhile, Echo had bounced back to her usual energetic self. Like an unkillable cockroach, she always managed to get back on her feet as long as she had a little time to recover.
“Where is it?” Echo’s eyes lit up as she stared at Cobra. The ambush they’d just survived was already forgotten in the face of this new temptation.
Cobra glanced at her, then turned to Ryan and said seriously, “The entrance is right here.” Without wasting time, he took the lead and started moving.
At the same moment, a few cars came tearing through the dark desert, speeding toward them like lightning.
Ryan didn’t even glance back, following Cobra toward the entrance.
Hawk, on the other hand, stepped forward to greet the new arrivals-they were their own men.
The entrance was unimpressive. There was no grand gate several meters tall, just a narrow opening barely wide enough for someone Echo’s size to squeeze through. The passage sloped downward, and the local guy’s men, who’d been standing guard, gave him respectful nods as they waited outside.
“This is it?” Ryan asked, narrowing his eyes with a slight frown as a flicker of coldness crossed his face.
The local guy nodded. “Yes. We found footprints and burial artifacts in one of the passageways. We’ve kept the footprints intact, and here’s one of the artifacts,” he said, taking something from one of his men.