Chapter 1543

[ 650 words ]

“Boss!”

The two men begged Dane to reconsider.

But Dane’s decision was absolute.

“Brooks, if I… just tell Ablett to look after my grandfather!”

Ablett rarely involved himself in the family’s daily affairs, but if the Green bloodline was on the verge of collapse, he wouldn’t turn his back on them.

“Take care of yourself, Boss!” River tried to argue further, but Brooks grabbed his arm, stopping him.

They couldn’t waste another second. It was painfully obvious that Dane was entirely devoted to Claire. Nothing they said would drag him away from her.

Their only option was to follow his orders, secure the exit route, and pray that they were leaving Dane with a fighting chance.

River was still resisting, practically being dragged out of the cavern by Brooks.

“Brooks, why are you stopping me? The Boss could easily walk out of here with us!” River just didn’t understand.

They had grown up beside Dane. The thought of leaving him behind to die was unbearable.

Brooks smacked the back of River’s head hard. “Are you blind? The Boss is staying for Claire. He’s never going to leave her.”

“Begging him is just wasting breath.”

River wasn’t an idiot; he just couldn’t accept that both of them were willing to die in this hole.

Brooks shot him a look of absolute pity. “This is exactly why you’re still single.” River rubbed his head indignantly. Was the personal attack really necessary? As if Brooks wasn’t single too!

Officer Miller led the remaining survivors out of the cave.

Before disappearing into the tunnel, he looked at Dane with deep respect. “I’m leaving Miss Claire’s safety in your hands. Hold the line until I can bring reinforcements!”

Miller was torn. He despised the thought of civilian casualties, especially since Claire wasn’t military personnel.

She had no obligation to die for a black-site lab.

Yet, as a Solenian soldier, walking away and letting Sundara’s atrocities vanish without a trace was a bitter pill he couldn’t swallow.

“I’m trusting both of you!”

Miller gave them a crisp, deep bow before rushing into the dark with his men.

The only people left in the cavern were the critically wounded who couldn’t be moved.

Claire’s eyes never left the screen. She didn’t even spare Dane a glance, terrified that breaking her focus would cost them everything.

But she knew Dane had stayed. She had heard him quietly arranging his affairs, preparing for the very real possibility of death.

Determined not to let the people who stayed behind die with her, Claire pushed her processor to its absolute limit.

Exactly fifteen minutes later, the final encryption layer shattered.

“I’ve got the sequence=”

Dane followed the string of numbers flashing on her monitor and rapidly punched them into the keypad.

*Beep-beep-beep-*

The heavy blast door hissed, and the ominous red lock light flipped to a steady green.

The self-destruct protocol was offline!

“We’re in!”

Rory and Jace let out a triumphant shout, immediately high-fiving each other.

Claire exhaled a shaky breath, a

bright smile breaking across her

face. She looked up at Dane. “net

data inside must be highly classified. Should we extract it?”

Although she had aborted the primary detonator and unlocked the door, there was no guarantee the lab wasnt rigged with secondary incendiary traps.

She had no idea if the physical files inside were even intact.

Dane glanced over at the lieutenant Miller had left behind.

The man was bleeding from his shoulder, but he was still fully combat-capable.

“We’ll take point. Miss Claire, Mr. Green, please maintain a safe distance. You can even wait by the cavern entrance if you prefer.”

Miller hadn’t left this squad behind just to act as human shields for the VIPs.

They weren’t useless liabilities waiting for rescue.

They were here to secure the black site the moment the doors opened.

“We’ll go in together,” Claire insisted. She was worried there might be internal digital locks that required her expertise. Making these battered, bleeding men do all the heavy lifting felt wrong.

“Then we would be incredibly grateful for your assistance, Miss Claire, Mr. Green.”

The lieutenant’s name was Gabriel, though everyone called him Officer Gabriel.

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