Chapter 310
Chapter 310
Owen settled back into the couch and took a slow sip of his drink. He could already picture Lucas—isolated, betrayed, utterly defeated. This war, dragging on for more than a decade, was finally approaching its endgame.
And he would be the only winner.
What Owen didn't know was that at the very moment he gave his orders, in another room thousands of miles away, an invisible net was also closing in.
---
Lucas's penthouse.
Clarence stood in casual clothes, but his posture still carried the unmistakable rigidity and authority of a military man.
Lucas stood beside him, expression cold and sharp.
Five minutes ago, Kate had sent the final piece of intelligence. The most critical one.
Owen's entire operational plan.
Detailed lists of infiltrators—names, photos, entry times, rendezvous points.
The complete financial flow chart for Operation Tsunami, precise down to every shell account and transfer timestamp.
And Owen's personal flight route back into the country, including his estimated landing time.
Milo stood in the corner, silent.
He'd lost weight. His eyes were bloodshot. He didn't dare look at the tactical board anymore—every red dot meant Kate was in more danger.
"Ambitious." Clarence set down his coffee with a soft clink. He gestured toward the board. "The 'Noctule' unit. Owen's most elite mercenaries. Twelve men, all former Foreign Legion, all with blood on their hands. He's planning a direct strike—physical elimination of the obstacles on the Sharp family's board."
"The money trail's even more ruthless." Lucas pointed to another cluster of flashing data streams. "Thirty billion dollars. Routed through over a hundred offshore shell companies. He wants to launder and inject it all within three days. He's planning to crater the Sharp Group in the stock market."
"Once they're in, let them come." Clarence's voice was steady as stone. "To catch your target, you have to let them walk into the trap first. I've coordinated with Customs and Border Control. We'll monitor Noctule's entry every step of the way—no spooking them. Every safe house, every drop point, every weapons cache they plan to use on our soil—we've already got people in place."
Clarence looked at Lucas. "What about the money? Your people confident?"
"The NSA and the Anti-Money Laundering Center's tech team is standing by." Lucas's tone was flat. "I don't want to intercept. I want to wait until every dollar he has enters our domestic accounts. Then, one second before he hits 'transfer,' we freeze it all. I want him unable to pull back a single cent."
Scorched earth.
Clarence nodded, satisfied.
"As for the man himself..." Clarence's mouth curved into a cold smile. "Airspace control. The moment his plane enters our airspace, it's not leaving. I'll have a welcoming committee waiting at the airport."
A net woven from iron threads, invisible and inescapable.
From the border to the interior, from financial markets to back alleys, military, police, and NSA forces mobilized in silent coordination—all waiting for one man to arrive.
"What about her?" Milo finally spoke, his voice hoarse. "What happens to Kate? Once Owen falls, what happens to her?"
Kate's position was too sensitive. She was Owen's blade. Her hands might not be clean. Even if she'd earned merit this time, how the scales would balance—no one could say.
"The poison in her wrist—we have a solution." Juliana emerged from the study, tablet in hand, its screen filled with dense molecular diagrams.
"I sent the Cicada sample data to my relative's lab. They spent three days and nights and finally found an antagonist that can suppress its activity. It won't completely eliminate it, but it'll keep her alive long enough for us to develop a real antidote."
A flicker of light returned to Milo's eyes.
"As for her future..." Juliana looked at Clarence. "A witness willing to trade her life for a clean slate—I don't think we should disappoint her."
Clarence studied Juliana, then Lucas, and finally let his gaze settle on Milo's stubborn face.
He was silent for a long moment. "Execute the mission."
First, bring the criminals threatening national and public security to justice. Everything else could wait.
That was his principle.
Milo clenched his fists tight.
He knew this was the best outcome. The only outcome.
Lucas walked over and clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"Go. Bring her home."
---
The operation began in the darkest hour before dawn.
A Gulfstream G650 with no markings sliced through the night sky and touched down smoothly on a quiet auxiliary runway at Binhai City International Airport.
Owen descended the steps and inhaled deeply, tasting the salt-heavy air.
He was back.
He liked this feeling—like a king returning to his domain.
He didn't see the infrared scopes locked onto him from elevated positions around the airfield.
A black Hongqi sedan rolled up beside the plane.
The door opened. The person who stepped out wasn't the contact he'd expected.
It was Clarence.
Owen's smile froze.
He realized he might have miscalculated.
"Mr. Kingsley," Clarence said, his face expressionless. "Welcome home."
---
Owen didn't piece it together until he was back in his safe house.
Clarence's appearance had been too composed.
And he'd let Owen walk away.
That unsettled him more than an arrest would have.
Who?
Who leaked his private flight route?
Kate's calm face flashed through his mind.
A 'discarded pawn,' exposed and burned—yet within days, she'd obtained 'core intelligence' on the Sharp family's internal collapse? And it just happened to land in his hands right before he was set to move?
Too smooth. Smooth like a play staged for his benefit.
Owen let the cigar burn down to his fingers. The sting snapped him back.
He dialed a number.
"Ace. Go see her." Owen's voice echoed coldly in the empty room. "Don't tell her I sent you. Just say you're worried."
Ace hesitated on the other end. "Yes, sir."
"Test her. See how much of what she feels for Milo is real."
"Boss, I—"
"That's an order." Owen hung up.
He wanted to see just how far his nightingale's wings had grown.
---
Kate was in the kitchen making hangover soup when Ace called.
Milo had barely left her side these past few days, wound tight as a wire. Only when he looked at her did his eyes soften with exhausted tenderness.
"I need to go out for a bit." Kate hung up and spoke to Milo in the living room.
"I'll come with you." Milo stood immediately.
"No need." Kate shook her head and walked over, straightening his rumpled collar. "An old friend. I'll be back soon."
Milo didn't push. He just said, "I'll wait for you."
---
Kate met Ace at the agreed-upon café.
"He sent you?" She cut straight to it.
Ace shook his head and lit a cigarette, not meeting her eyes. "The boss has me shadowing him. I think he doesn't trust you anymore."
Kate lifted her glass of water. "I was always disposable."
"You've lost weight." Ace said it suddenly.
"Have I？"
"The boss's plan this time—it's dangerous." Ace exhaled a cloud of smoke, his expression blurred behind it. "The things he's having us prepare... it doesn't look like he's just trying to take down a company."
Kate's chest tightened.
"Did he send you to tell me that?"
Ace fell silent. He pulled a small USB drive from his pocket and slid it across the table.
"This has intel on one of the Noctule operatives. His family's being held hostage by the boss. He's been looking to flip. The boss told me to eliminate him as a warning to the others." Ace's voice dropped low. "Give this to Milo. Let him go save the guy. Play the hero. This is your last chance to prove your value to them."
Kate stared at the tiny drive like it was a glowing brand.
This was a trap.
A perfect, two-birds-one-stone trap.
If she gave the drive to Milo, Clarence—being who he was—would move to save the hostage. Win or lose, Owen would learn exactly how deep her cooperation with the authorities went. He might even use the police to eliminate a traitor he already wanted dead.
If she didn't hand it over, it meant her feelings for Milo were fake. Her defection was fake. She was still Owen's loyal nightingale.
Either way, she lost.