Chapter 1545
[ 646 words ]
“We can debrief the casualties later. What’s the tactical situation on the ground?”
Colonel Harrison locked eyes with Miller.
He needed pristine intel before sending his battalion into the meat grinder. He refused to lose any more men to blind ambushes.
“We have confirmed that the local guide, Zeke, is a deep-cover Sundaran operative. He was running interference for a black-site laboratory hidden deep in the mountain network.”
“They hollowed out a massive cavern and converted it into a state-of-the-art biological testing facility for human experimentation.”
“They are cultivating massive yields of Dreamweed—the exact botanical asset Captain Carl’s unit was deployed to secure.”
“According to Miss Claire’s analysis, the facility is designed to weaponize the Dreamweed fruit, extracting the fluids to synthesize a highly lethal neurotoxin with catastrophic potential.”
Miller knew this wasn’t the time to mourn.
“I led the wounded out to relay the intel. Silas pushed deeper into the subterranean network to hunt down the lead scientist and the tactical commander.”
“The syndicate likely rigged their escape tunnels with secondary traps. I’m deeply concerned about Silas’s unit.”
Colonel Harrison wasn’t entirely familiar with the specific individuals Miller mentioned, but the sheer gravity of the situation was crystal clear.
“Is the laboratory still intact? Did you secure the research data proving Sundara is conducting illegal human experimentation?”
Physical evidence was the only leverage they had. Without it, the incident would be buried in classified files, and they could never publicly expose Sundara’s atrocities on the global stage.
“Right before they fled, the Sundarans engaged a catastrophic self-destruct protocol.”
Miller recounted the terrifying countdown. “Miss Claire was hacking the blast doors
to override the detonation sequence when we left.”
“As of right now, I have no idea if she succeeded.”
Colonel Harrison looked stunned. “Where the hell did you find an asset with those capabilities?”
Was she a National Security cyber-warfare specialist?
Cracking top-tier Sundaran military encryption in the field was no small feat.
Miller shook his head. “I honestly don’t know. She was brought in by Mr. Green, the CEO of Vertex International from Cabinda.”
“From what I understand, her primary profession is medicine.”
Brooks, who was standing nearby, overheard the exchange and immediately
stepped in to correct the record. “Miss Claire is currently a student.”
Miller and Harrison both snapped their heads toward him in disbelief.
“Are you serious?”
Miller found it entirely impossible to believe.
Claire’s surgical precision and flawless crisis management made her look like a hardened trauma surgeon with decades of experience.
“Miss Claire is our Boss’s fiancée. We are intimately aware of her credentials.”
“She isn’t even twenty years old yet,
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but her intellect is unparalleled. She’s enrolled at Cabinda Medical School and is an absolutely perfect match for Mr. Green.”
Brooks never missed an opportunity to establish Dane’s claim.
“That’s incredible,” Harrison raised an eyebrow, visibly impressed.
However, a sliver of doubt regarding a teenager’s ability to crack military firewalls remained.
“What about this guide, Zeke? Wasn’t he a highly vetted local asset?”
“How did a Sundaran cell turn him into a sleeper agent right under our noses?”
Zeke had been navigating these mountains for years without triggering a single red flag.
If a deep-cover Sundaran asset had free reign over The Aila Highlands, the amount
of intel he could have leaked was staggering.
“I have no idea. Based on his confession, he was a sleeper agent from the very beginning.” Discussing sick
Zeke made Miller physical net
He and Zeke had been close.
Zeke had bailed his unit out of trouble on multiple occasions.
Whenever hikers went missing in the treacherous peaks, Zeke was always the one leading the search parties.
The fact that none of them had ever suspected a thing was humiliating.
As a commanding officer, Miller felt like an absolute failure.
The betrayal sent him into a dark spiral of self-doubt.
He couldn’t even begin to calculate how many patrol routes Zeke had mapped out
and fed to the syndicate over the years.
And worst of all, considering Zeke’s flawless reputation as a guide, how many innocent trekkers had he purposefully marched straight into the laboratory to be used as human guinea pigs?
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