BEYOND THE LOVE

CHAPTER 20:

The following day, our team was busy trying to track down the Eviscerators. Their network was elusive, making it challenging to find any leads. We were more determined than ever to stand up to them.

"Juan, have you uncovered anything?" I inquired, hoping for some good news.

Juan, engrossed in his laptop, responded, "No, Nara."

Kyoto then chimed in, "And the Phoenix Syndicate?"

As Ji Woon lifted his gaze from some documents, I turned to Kyoto, wondering where our focus should lie.

Suha then suggested, "I believe we should prioritize the Eviscerators; they've proven most difficult to apprehend."

Suddenly Juan's face turned grim. "Nara, the Phoenix Syndicate is planning an assassination tonight."

"Who's the target?" Suha demanded.

"I couldn't extract a name, but it's happening at a warehouse in the forest," Juan said, showing the coordinates.

Without wasting a second, we armed ourselves and headed to the location.
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The dense trees shadowed our approach, making the warehouse's dim lights look like faint stars.

Inside, the vast space echoed with whispered conversations. Men and women from the Phoenix Syndicate stood in formation, ready for action. I signaled my team to split and cover different areas.

Suha, with her unmatched precision, took a higher vantage point, while Kyoto, with his mastery over traps, began discreetly setting snares at strategic spots. Juan maintained communication, keeping us updated about any unexpected moves.

As I moved forward,; immediately locked into combat with a Phoenix member, displaying  my formidable fighting skills. A swift kick to his chest followed by an elbow strike rendered him unconscious.

Kyoto, meanwhile, managed to lure a few opponents into his traps, rendering them immobile. Suddenly, a bullet whizzed past him; it was from Phoenix Syndicate. However, Suha had him in her sight and with a single shot, incapacitated him.

Juan, despite being engrossed in his laptop, was no pushover. A Syndicate member tried to approach him stealthily, but Juan, using a taser, paralyzed him on the spot.

But instantly  Ji Woon was cornered by three Syndicate members. Instead of showing fear, he smirked. "Do you truly believe you can outsmart me?" With a swift move, he used a smoke grenade to cloud their vision. By the time the smoke cleared, Ji Woon was nowhere to be seen, but the three members were down.

As I turned a corner, I came face-to-face with the Syndicate's main assassin. Before I could react, a voice boomed from the shadows, "Do you think Ji Woon is working for you?"

Caught off-guard, I replied, "Of course. He's one of us."

The voice chuckled, "He's definitely working against you."

Confused, I tried to process the information when a sudden blow to the back of my head made everything go black.
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Dizzy and disoriented, I found myself tied to a chair in the center of the warehouse. The dim lighting cast eerie shadows on the walls, and the chill of the cold metal beneath my wrists seeped through my skin. My team was scattered, each restrained in their own way. Suha's rifle lay dismantled on a table beside her, Juan's laptop was destroyed, and Kyoto's tools were out of his reach.

Before me stood a member of the Phoenix Syndicate, his face obscured by a mask, but his eyes piercing through. He paced in front of me, enjoying the power he held. "It's intriguing, isn't it? To think Ji Woon was initially against you."

Ji Woon, his head hung low, looked defeated, guilt evident in his posture.

The Syndicate member continued, "Perhaps, you'd like to hear how he planned to betray you?"

My eyes darted between Ji Woon and the Phoenix Syndicate operative, searching for answers. Ji Woon finally looked up, meeting my gaze. "At first, I was against you," he admitted, voice heavy with emotion. "But it all changed when I saw the dedication, the passion, and the purpose in your team. I couldn't go through with their plans."

The Syndicate operative's face contorted with rage. "You were supposed to be our inside man!" he hissed, pulling out a knife and slashing it across my wrist, letting the blood seep onto the warehouse floor and "consider this as a taste what is to come" he hissed once more.

As the knife grazed my wrist, a sharp gasp escaped my lips. Pain shot up my arm, and my eyes welled up with tears. I tried to pull away, but the ropes held  firm.The fresh scent of iron filled the room as blood began to drip slowly onto the cold floor.

Ji Woon, spoke up, voice filled with conflict and concern, “Nara, it’s true. At first, I was against you. But the more time I spent with your team, the more I realized what real camaraderie is.”

“And what do you propose we do with this newfound camaraderie?" The Syndicate leader asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice. “It doesn’t change the fact that you've betrayed us.”

As Ji Woon and the leader exchanged tense words, I could feel the blood trickling from the cut on my wrist. I needed to act fast.

But as he prepared for another strike, an explosion echoed through the warehouse. Smoke and debris filled the air, causing confusion. It was Kyoto's traps, belatedly set off by Juan's remote hack.

Through the haze of the smoke, I struggled to loosen the ropes binding me, the sharp pain from my wrist intensifying with every movement. The cacophony of gunfire, shouts, and shattering glass filled the warehouse. But amongst all the chaos, a distinct noise stood out: the sound of windows breaking.

Shadows flitted through the shattered windows, landing gracefully amidst the disarray. The silhouettes of the Eviscerators became clearer.But why were they here?Were we caught between two enemies now?