Chapter 1530

[ 634 words ]

Furthermore, everyone was pushed to their absolute limits. Forcing the twins to carry her would only drastically accelerate their burnout.

Despite their terrifying stamina and superhuman agility, maintaining an unbreakable defensive perimeter around Claire for hours had severely drained their mental focus.

One slight miscalculation right now could be fatal.

Claire firmly rejected their offer and pushed forward, leaning heavily on Dane’s arm for support.

They were only halfway through the trek when a bright streak of light ripped through

the canopy.

“They found it!”

The collective wave of relief was palpable.

They immediately picked up the pace, tracking the trail markers Miller’s squad had left behind.

However, when they finally breached the tree line, Miller and the tactical squad were nowhere to be found.

Instead, they found Zeke. The guide was dragging a bloody leg, desperately trying to drag himself away from the area.

“Zeke, what the hell happened?”

The horrific state of the guide sent a shockwave through the group.

“You… you guys made it?” Zeke gasped, genuinely shocked by how fast they had arrived.

“Zeke, where is Miller and the team?” Silas demanded, his face hardening into a lethal mask.

“Miller… they fell into the lagoon,” Zeke choked out, his face contorted in agony.

Everyone exchanged a look of pure dread. “How could an entire heavily armed squad fall into the water?”

And with so many elite operatives present, how was it mathematically possible that every single one of them was submerged, leaving only the injured civilian alive on the bank?

“We were ambushed by a massive herd of frenzied wild boars. During the chaotic crossfire, the bank gave way, and they were dragged into the water,” Zeke sobbed, his explanation tumbling out in a panic.

“I couldn’t run… Miller threw me clear just as he went under.”

Zeke buried his face in his hands, releasing a gut-wrenching wail of despair.

“If he hadn’t saved me, he would still be alive!”

Silas’s expression turned absolutely murderous. “Lead us to the water! Now!”

“Okay!” Zeke gritted his teeth and tried to drag himself forward.

Silas signaled one of his men to throw the guide over his shoulder. “Just point the way!”

There was no time for pleasantries, and Zeke wisely didn’t bother arguing that he didn’t need help.

Twenty minutes later, they broke through the final layer of brush and stared at the lagoon.

The area was a slaughterhouse. Massive, bullet-riddled boar carcasses were piled on top of the torn, bloody remains of the tactical squad.

Severed limbs and shredded tactical gear were scattered everywhere. It was apocalyptic.

Nothing was breathing.

Not the beasts, not the men.

“How could this happen?”

The sheer scale of the massacre was impossible to process.

“Where are the rest?”

“Are the survivors in the water?” Silas demanded, spinning frantically toward Zeke.

“The air is saturated with Dreamweed neurotoxin! Hold your breath!”

Before Zeke could answer, Claire’s sharp command sliced through the panic.

Silas didn’t hesitate for a microsecond. He violently slapped his gas mask over his face.

His operatives flawlessly mirrored his actions, sealing their bio-hazard gear in unison.

“If the air is toxic, why are you completely unaffected, Zeke?”

Claire’s chilling question instantly shattered the illusion.

Zeke looked up, his expression painfully innocent. “I found a patch of Dreamweed a while ago. I think eating the roots gave me anto immunity to the airborne toxins.”

“But my head is still pounding. If I wasn’t so dizzy, I wouldn’t have gotten gored by that boar and could have reacted faster to help them.”

Zeke’s alibi was perfectly constructed, backed by seemingly flawless logic.

He then reached into his bloody pocket and carefully pulled out a crushed plant.

“Look, Miss Claire. Is this the Dreamweed you’ve been searching for?”

While Silas’s men frantically scoured the bloody water for any signs of life, Dane stood perfectly still in the background, silently analyzing the exchange.

“That is Dreamweed,” Claire confirmed with a slow nod, but she made no move to

take it from him.

Zeke held it out, gesturing for her to examine it closer.

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