Chapter 1549
[ 701 words ]
Claire offered a sheepish smile.
She genuinely hadn’t expected the trail leading back to the deep pool to become such a nightmare after a single storm.
On top of that, the temperature had plummeted. Her breath plumed in thick white clouds with every exhale.
Despite the misery, Claire gritted her teeth and pushed through.
Her resilience was nothing short of extraordinary.
Officer Miller hadn’t joined the march. Colonel Harrison had ordered him back to the staging area to coordinate the logistical rollout.
Taming The Aila Highlands was going to be a monumental endeavor.
Establishing a permanent garrison in this undocumented, lethal terrain required meticulous planning.
With so many moving pieces, it made zero tactical sense to bury both the commanding and executive officers deep in the jungle.
Miller understood the logic.
He knew his injuries were a severe liability for a rapid deployment unit.
He was far more useful managing the supply chains and medevac routes from the rear.
His intimate knowledge of the terrain made him the perfect logistical anchor, allowing Colonel Harrison to push forward without looking over his shoulder.
Claire was technically the only person slowing the column down, but not a single soldier dared utter a word of complaint.
Her medical expertise was unparalleled, and the emergency treatments she provided were literal lifesavers.
Furthermore, her personal bodyguards, combined with Dane’s elite operatives, provided a massive blanket of security.
They required zero babysitting from either National Security or the border garrison. Aside from the physical toll the trek took on her, she was an absolute asset.
Dane hated seeing her suffer, but he stayed close, doing everything he could to help her harvest the rare flora.
He even initiated a strategic conversation with her. “You are the primary reason we successfully dismantled that black-site laboratory. You hold all the leverage for future negotiations.”
Claire wasn’t wired for corporate maneuvering. Honestly, the thought hadn’t even crossed her mind.
But Dane was different.
He was a ruthless apex predator in the corporate world. The moment Claire showed an interest in the wild botanicals of The Aila Highlands, Dane was already structuring a monopoly.
Since the military was going to lock this entire region down, why shouldn’t they leverage their massive contribution to secure exclusive harvesting rights?
Claire had already agreed to collaborate with the military on previous medical tech.
Didn’t the military owe them a massive show of good faith in return?
Listening to Dane’s cold, calculated logic, Claire just gave him a thumbs-up. “You billionaires are terrifyingly cunning!”
What she actually meant was, *’Your mind is dangerously manipulative.’*
But since he was leveraging his power entirely for her benefit, she wasn’t about to complain.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Dane replied, a predatory smirk touching his lips. He knew exactly what she was thinking, but he didn’t care.
He would never aim his ruthlessness at her. As long as he was tearing the world apart to build her an empire, what did it matter?
Despite the grueling conditions, Claire’s harvest was spectacular, her pack heavy with ultra-rare medicinal ingredients.
Meanwhile, the National Security strike team was the first to reach the underground pool.
Following the subterranean schematics, they pushed deeper to hunt down Silas and the Sundaran fugitives.
Colonel Harrison established a heavily fortified perimeter outside the cave entrance.
They held their position because
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There was still highly hazardous sweep-and-clear work to be done inside.
Since Harrison’s men weren’t CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Specialists, they held
the line and waited for the hazmat teams.
There was also the lingering issue of the deep pool Miller had reported.
“What exactly did this underwater monster look like?”
Harrison looked to Claire and Dane for intel.
They had been at the water’s edge and possessed the most accurate threat assessment of the creature.
Given what Miller had said, it was Claire’s bodyguard who had gone toe-to-toe with the thing.
“Jace, give them the breakdown,” Claire requested.
Jace had dived in, pulled the soldier out, and crossed blades with the beast.
His tactical analysis was the gold standard.
“The creature is roughly three to four feet long. Razor-wire teeth, heavily tapered shout. It acts like a biological torpedo, which is why the soldier sustained massive blunt force trauma to his torso before the bite.”
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“Its kinetic output in the water is staggering.”
Jace had only survived the encounter because of his elite amphibious conditioning and hyper-lethal reflexes.
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