Chapter 29

That group somehow managed to catch up with us again - they were just three cars behind us!

Luca cursed again, more crudely and angrily than ever before. "This is downtown! They're driving like maniacs with no regard for anything! Are they planning to ram us?"

But even while cursing, it didn't affect his actions at all.

His hands remained steady as he kept trying to make the turns.

After passing two more small streets, we finally shook them off.

But by then, the car nearly crashed into a wall ahead.

Just as we were about to get out and find a nearby building to hide in, I heard a rush of footsteps nearby.

Vivian reacted quickly, grabbing my hand and pulling me directly into a shop.

Luca followed in after snapping back to his senses.

It was a clothing store with unique character.

Every design looked so wonderful.

If this were the old me, I might have slowed down at this point to carefully look at the items here.

But right now, looking at all this, the only thing on my mind was - I'm being hunted!

Vivian pulled me along, randomly grabbed a few pieces of clothing, and headed to the fitting room to change.

I realized this female bodyguard wasn't just physically fit - she was quick-thinking too.

No wonder Virio had assigned her to protect me.

The small shop wasn't big, and the fitting room was quite basic. Vivian and I squeezed in together.

She turned around to watch what was happening outside, signaling me to change clothes.

I noticed a gun tucked at the back of her waist, her hand resting on it, ready for action at any moment.

Thinking back to that thrilling car chase just now, my heart jumped again.

But at Vivian's urging, I hurriedly started changing clothes.

Sure enough, noisy sounds came from outside the door.

I asked quietly, "What about Luca? Did you see him?"

"We don't need to worry about him. He's way better at this than me."

I could tell Vivian was quite confident about Luca.

What she meant was that the two of them came out this time specifically to protect me.

Hearing this made me feel a bit ashamed, but I quickly finished changing. Just as Vivian turned around to change, I suddenly heard a loud crash from inside the store.

Vivian didn't even turn her head. "They must have followed us in."

These people hunting me had a clear goal - before finding me, they would search these shops one by one.

Vivian moved methodically. After putting on all the clothes, she let down her hair.

Then she turned to look at me.

For convenience today, I hadn't done anything special with my hair - my curls naturally fell over my shoulders.

Vivian thought for a moment, then grabbed a hat we'd just brought in and put it on my head.

"Like this. The two of us will go out. Remember, no matter who you run into, don't make eye contact with them. Just keep walking forward."

"Shops like this usually have a back door. We'll leave through the back door and enter another street."

Vivian's plan seemed sound enough.

But a doubt crept into my mind.

Could such a simple disguise really work?

To me, this seemed like walking straight to our deaths.

But Vivian grabbed my hand. "You just walk forward and meet up with Luca outside. I think he should have already left - his reactions are faster than any of us."

Listening to her instructions, I stared without blinking. "So..."

"I'll be right behind you, covering your back. Don't worry." Vivian told me that when disguising yourself, you must be confident. "Those people probably just got word and started following us from the road. They only recognize the car and how we looked then! Just go out like this now. If you act too timid and scared, they'll actually notice you."

I nodded seriously.

So when I pushed open the fitting room door, I immediately saw several people wandering around the store, seemingly looking at every customer.

Vivian and I had already left our original clothes in the fitting room. Without looking back, we walked toward the other door.

Right up until the moment I pushed open the door and saw the light outside, and saw a man in a hoodie standing across from us - I recognized Luca!

A sense of relief and joy flooded through me.

I couldn't wait to walk toward him, but the next second, Vivian called out behind me. "Oh no!"

The moment I turned back, I saw a man walking straight toward me, eyes fixed on me.

He seemed to recognize me.

That was my only thought in that moment. I quickened my pace, running toward Luca.

Vivian shouted behind me, "Hurry, hurry!"

When I reached Luca, he quickly grabbed me and pulled me into another building.

Gunshots rang out behind us, along with sounds of intense fighting.

At the same time, I sneaked a peek and saw that Vivian seemed to have been shot.

That group chased in this direction but never found Luca and me.

Just as they were still wandering around, suddenly the sound of another car rang out.

I was still thinking about how to help Vivian.

A moment later, Luca suddenly patted my shoulder. "Okay, you can come out now."

"What?"

His sudden call caught me off guard.

Seeing I was still scared, Luca just pulled me out.

Only then did I see that someone had already helped Vivian up and was helping her into a car.

I didn't know this person, but when he saw me, he smiled. "Don't worry, we're here to rescue you."

Although I couldn't be sure if what he said was true, the way he looked at me did warm my heart.

Plus they were helping Vivian into the car. I turned to look at Luca.

Luca nodded at me too. "Don't worry, they really are our people."

Once in the car, Luca told me about this group's background.

They had some connection with Virio, but over the years, being in different places, they hadn't communicated much.

However, in Floridia locally, their influence had gradually grown.

Luca added, "When we first met, I never thought your operation would become this big."

That group of hunters probably feared their power too, so they left as soon as they saw them.

I sat there, still shaken. "So we're safe now?"

"For now, it looks that way." Luca signaled me not to worry.

But looking at Vivian beside me, I felt terrible inside.

To protect me, Vivian had gotten hurt.

It looked like she was injured in the leg. Someone next to her was giving her first aid.

Seeing this, I couldn't bear to watch and turned away, covering my eyes.

Because of our special situation, we didn't go to a hospital. Instead, we took shelter in a house.

That group told us this was their base.