“We didn’t know! We really had no idea-we weren’t part of their plan and don’t know what they were thinking! Oh…”
Amid a chorus of protests, King George, Prince William, and Count Andy were brought forward by the Street family’s people. As the three men took in the current situation, their faces turned pale with shock and they pleaded their innocence to Kevin and Ryan.
“Enough. We don’t want your excuses,” Ryan cut them off, shouting before they even entered the hall. “I just want the exact layout and structure of this tunnel system-now!” His words were edged with a deadly aura that couldn’t be ignored, chilling the three men to their core.
King George and his companions froze for a moment, taking in Ryan’s fierce look. Glancing at Echo, who was leaning against Ryan, they fell silent, visibly uneasy.
“I don’t care what schemes you’ve been involved in or what you’re hiding,” Kevin said coldly, staring down at the three of them. “All I need to know is how to disarm a ton of explosives in that tunnel.” His tone was calm, but the menace in his gaze was unmistakable.
At Kevin’s words, the trio’s faces turned ashen. They exchanged anxious glances, visibly trembling.
Stepping forward, Edward spoke sharply, “Aren’t you aware that disloyal allies are disposed of? If you talk, maybe your families might live. If you don’t, they’ll die in front of you. And don’t bother with ‘we don’t know’-this is your territory. Whether you worked with those people or let them set traps, it’s your job to know. If you couldn’t, then you don’t deserve to be alive. So, are you going to talk or not?” His voice grew colder with each word, far more ruthless than one would expect from a fifteen-year-old.
As soon as he finished, the descendants of the three families were instantly seized by the other underworld members. Surviving wasn’t their specialty, but inflicting a painful death certainly was, and every person in that hall had honed that skill.
Within seconds, the children and servants of the three families were held down in the hall. King George and the others’ faces went through a series of shifts, clearly calculating their options.
“Guarantee the safety of our families,” King George finally said after a brief silence.
He realized Edward was right. Whether they’d worked directly with those masterminds or allowed the schemers to operate under their noses, their negligence meant death was deserved-that was the rule in their world.
Worse yet, their actions had now entangled all the powerful underworld families, and without some kind of sacrifice, their families might vanish from existence entirely.
“Agreed,” Kevin replied without hesitation, giving his word instantly.
King George and his companions then turned to look at Ryan. Holding Echo in his arms, Ryan gave a cold scoff and gave a silent nod of agreement.
King George steadied himself, trying to mask his nervousness, and addressed everyone, “Follow me. There’s a computer control room back here with screens showing all the tunnel footage.” Instead of heading out, he walked toward the platform where Kevin stood.
He reached behind Kevin’s chair and pressed down on a stone statue, causing the wall at the back of the hall to slowly rise, revealing a computer control room inside. The computers were flickering automatically, but there wasn’t a single person in sight.
King George stepped forward and made a few adjustments, saying, “Here’s the full map of the tunnels. You-” He stopped mid-sentence, completely stunned by what he saw on the screen.
All the lights in the tunnels came on, illuminating every corner in real-time on the monitors. The entire labyrinth was packed with explosives, nearly wall-to-wall, with only a few small sections left untouched. Seeing all those explosives crowded together made everyone’s hair stand on end.
“Damn it!” Prince William cursed, punching the wall beside him. His face twisted, a mix of anger and regret-or maybe something else.
“What are we supposed to do with this…?”
“Oh my God, someone, get a team to start disarming this…”
Chaos erupted as everyone started panicking. The tough, unshakeable demeanor these underworld figures usually wore vanished, replaced by panic and desperation.
Kevin and Ryan stood silently, staring grimly at the screen, brows furrowed. They weren’t making any rash moves, knowing that disarming this setup was practically a joke.
With so many explosives packed in there, it was clear they were dealing with serious firepower. Edward’s display of the detonator earlier told them exactly what kind of explosives these were-if they were disarmable, they wouldn’t have been used to hold them all hostage.
“It can’t be disarmed!” Kevin shouted. Not everyone here was an arms dealer, and one wrong move could set off a blast that would kill them all, unleashing an unstoppable chain reaction.
Ryan quickly analyzed the tunnel scenes on the screen. The setup was tight, strategically precise, and covered all exit points, though the work looked rough in places, even sloppy. Clearly, whoever set it up was rushed. But no matter how rough the job was, the sheer amount of explosives in there left no room to dismantle them, especially with the time they had.
Echo, leaning against Ryan while he pressed against her wound to slow the bleeding, frowned as she studied the screen.
“King George, what’s this area here?” She pointed to a dark, shadowy spot at the edge of the map.
She and Edward had known about the explosives from the start, so they weren’t as shocked as Kevin and Ryan. They’d already been thinking about solutions, realizing the real issue wasn’t whether to disarm them, but how to neutralize such a massive amount of explosives in one go without triggering a blast. That was the key to survival.
King George glanced at the spot Echo pointed to, on the far edge of the screen. After a brief moment of thought, he replied, “That’s the river on the outskirts. This castle was built with a water source nearby.”
As soon as he said that, something clicked in Echo’s mind, but Edward was even quicker. He clapped his hands and shouted, “Flood it with water!”
“Exactly, flood it!” Echo shouted, meeting Edward’s eyes with excitement-they both had the same idea.
Ryan and Kevin exchanged a look after hearing Echo and Edward’s suggestion. Ryan immediately said, “Blow it open.”
But Kevin shook his head, cautioning, “We risk setting off a chain reaction.”
Blasting an opening would let the water flood in, but any spark could ignite the explosives packed into every wall, and the consequences would be catastrophic.
As soon as Kevin said this, everyone’s expressions darkened. If they couldn’t use explosives, were they supposed to dig through? The castle walls were thick, making digging impossible.
Echo and Edward both looked frustrated, and at that moment, the timer in Edward’s hand gave a faint “click” and began to glow faintly, showing that the countdown had started.
Everyone held their breath as Edward looked down at the timer, his face pale. “We have ten minutes.”
Ten minutes wasn’t much, but it was all they had to escape. It wasn’t nearly enough time to dismantle everything, but it would have to do.
Echo shivered slightly upon hearing this. She’d known it might come to this, but the reality of it sent a chill through her.
Ryan felt her tremble and wrapped his arms around her tightly, silently comforting her with his warmth.