Chapter 53: kathe code
Spending all evening with the old lady had been of great help to Kathe, especially in lifting the suspicious feelings she had toward Jark.
’After all, they were both married by contract, nothing serious. So he’s entitled to have as many mistresses as he wishes, right?’
She tossed on the bed uncomfortably at her last thought.
"No, it’s a contract, and the rules state that we won’t be engaged in any relationship scandal. That means he can’t be in a relationship."
She tossed again, this time checking the clock. It was already past midnight, and he wasn’t picking up her calls.
’Why should I worry about a man who will be occupied by his mistress’s presence?’
"You should never doubt your partner."
The old lady’s words rang through Kathe’s mind, forcing her to scream in frustration.
"Ahhh!"
She tossed the pillow away as she clung to the bed, forcing herself to fall asleep.
Meanwhile, in a dark, lonely alley, Jark and Seline stood side by side while Marcus checked the guns carefully.
"How sure are you that the lab is located here?" Jark asked as he tossed his cigarette away.
Seline stepped on it before replying confidently,
"Eighty-five percent. From my last source, the girl was moved here."
"Risk?"
"Fifty percent." Seline suddenly realized something and turned to Jark with a teasing smile.
"Since when did you start caring about risk?"
Marcus, who was focused on his gun, suddenly joined in teasing Jark.
"He has a wife now, remember?"
Seline placed her hand under her chin thoughtfully.
"Oh, I forgot. She is indeed cute."
For the first time, Jark felt embarrassed and uncomfortable with them bringing Kathe into their mission.
"What does she have to do with this mission?"
He turned his face away toward the car, hiding his embarrassed expression.
"I just remembered Thompson called. He said Kathe might be planning your funeral by the time you get home."
Marcus decided to add more fuel to the fire.
Jark returned his poker face and looked at his uncle.
"Why would he say that?"
He paused thoughtfully, but seeing the teasing smile on Marcus’s face, he knew that wasn’t all Thompson had said.
"Is that all he said, Uncle?"
Marcus rolled his eyes.
"Why spoil the fun? You’ll find out soon enough."
He paused and walked toward the weapon bag.
"It’s a pity I won’t be there to see the drama."
He tossed a bag of syringes to Jark.
"I need the shotgun."
Jark tossed the syringe bag to Seline, who secured it around her waist.
"The dagger is too short."
Jark said as he adjusted the daggers strapped around his boots.
"Here’s your masks. And don’t forget to cover yourselves properly. We might end up becoming famous tomorrow."
Marcus handed each of them a mask.
Jark looked at him with a cunning smile before taking it.
"Uncle, what are you up to?"
Marcus smirked before walking away.
"You know I prefer dramatic entrances. You’ll find out tomorrow morning."
Knowing Marcus’s personality, they both shook their heads before making their way toward the lab.
"Wait, the door is hidden within the wall."
Seline took out a round object that looked more like an orb and pressed it against the wall.
Marcus and Jark stood aside, waiting for her to locate the hidden door.
Jark was more focused on observing her every move, while Marcus was more obsessed with his gun, cleaning it over and over again.
Beep!
Seline smiled as the hidden door was located.
"Gotcha."
Jark walked over to where she was standing, Seline stepped aside for Jark.
Marcus stood by the side and tossed a bag to him.
Jark took out his tiny tablet, which looked more like a keyboard, and connected a cable to the door’s control panel. As his fingers flew across the keys, he hacked into the security system within a minute.
He quickly called out the code for Seline.
"5... 5... 9... F... X... L."
Marcus frowned as he looked at the code.
Seline quickly entered it.
Bang!
The door rolled open, revealing a dark hallway.
Marcus frowned in dissatisfaction as he looked into the hallway.
"You forgot to hack the lights."
Jark ignored Marcus’s words.
"Let’s go in."
Seline turned to Marcus, who was still standing there, lost in thought.
"Aren’t you coming in?"
His eyes were still fixed on the security panel.
"Jark, don’t you find something strange about that code?"
He pointed at the code displayed on the system.
"Strange in what aspect?"
Marcus shook his head with a smile.
"Forget it. Let’s go in. We might find out once we’re inside."
Jark looked at the code once more and found it oddly familiar.
He knew his uncle wouldn’t have brought it up if it wasn’t important.The three of them walked through the hallway.
Seline looked around skeptically.
"Isn’t it too quiet? Nobody has attacked us."
Just as Seline finished speaking, they were suddenly surrounded by men dressed as ninjas.
Marcus turned and glared at Seline.
"Can’t you keep your foul mouth quiet for once?"
He spoke with his face downcast, looking like a poor victim who had just been sentenced to death.
Seline merely smirked at him.
"Let’s get the party started!"
Marcus yelled as he pulled out his gun.
The once peaceful hallway instantly turned into a bloody battlefield.
Jark held the shotgun in his left hand while gripping a dagger in his right.
"Jark, behind you!"
Marcus, who was engaged in a fight with one of the ninjas, shouted.
Without even turning around, Jark threw the dagger backward. It struck the ninja directly in the head.
Jark turned toward his uncle, who immediately tossed him another dagger.
The two of them returned their focus to the fight.
Seline preferred using syringes and hand to hand combat over guns and daggers.
She twisted one ninja’s neck before driving a syringe into his shoulder.Within seconds, his body began burning from the acidic chemical inside it.
The remaining ninjas instinctively stepped back. Choosing Marcus as their target instead, they decided they would rather not die at the hands of a psycho woman.
Seline only grinned as they retreated from her.
The ones who charged toward Marcus suddenly regretted their decision, but by then it was already too late because they were either dead or hanging onto their last breath.
Although Marcus was using only his gun without engaging in hand-to-hand combat or using a dagger, his killing method was brutal and traumatizing.
He deliberately targeted the men’s private parts, a mischievous smile spread across his face, showing how much he was enjoying himself.
Jark, on the other hand, used a completely different method.
He was surrounded by the largest number of ninjas, yet although his killing style was smooth and clean, he was considered the greatest threat because of his incredible reflexes.
Within seconds, half of the ninjas surrounding him were already lying dead on the ground.
"Hey, save some for me!"
Marcus jumped in and finished off the remaining ones.
Jark and Seline exchanged glances with sly smiles.
Marcus turned and caught them staring at him.
"What? It won’t be nice if the cake goes to waste. Let’s go. I don’t think we’ll face any more hindrances."
The three of them continued walking until they stopped in front of a lab door.
Marcus and Jark stepped back.
Seline stepped forward and delivered a powerful kick to the door.
Bang!
The door fell flat to the ground.
Just as they were about to enter, a strong stench hit them. The foul smell coming from the room forced all three of them to step back and wrinkle their noses in disgust.
After a while, the smell became bearable, but the lab was pitch black.
Marcus turned to Jark with a frown.
"Do you need an invitation to hack the lights now?"
Jark shook his head slightly.
"Why hack the lights when the switch is right there on the wall?"
He walked over and flipped the switch.
Immediately, the lights came on.
Marcus feigned a cough.
"I knew it. I was just joking."
Jark and Seline only smiled before walking into the lab.
The farther they walked inside, the stronger the foul smell became.
Just when they thought they had seen enough, they discovered human body parts preserved in bottles.
Most of them had already begun to rot, while others were horribly deformed.
"What kind of psycho scientist carries out experiments like this?" Seline muttered.
Jark looked around with a frown.
"Let’s leave. The girls aren’t here."
"Wait."
Marcus said as he took out his flash drive.
He found an old computer by the side that looked completely dead.
After switching it on, he quickly typed a few commands, and all the contents were transferred to the flash drive.
"We might find something useful in here."
The three of them made their way out of the lab.
They found another room, and indeed, young boys and girls were locked inside cages.
The moment they saw Jark and his team, they all shrank back in fear.
Seeing the fear in their eyes, they decided to let Seline approach them instead.
Seline opened one of the cages.
"Use the hallway and run. Tomorrow morning, you’ll all find your parents waiting at the subway station."
At first, the children looked at her suspiciously, wondering whether it was another trick or simply a different way to kill them. But after realizing these people meant them no harm, they all rushed out through the hallway.
"She isn’t here."
Seline looked around the cages.
"They must have known we were coming, so they moved her."
Jark looked around cautiously.
Marcus remained thoughtful before adding,
"That’s why we met so little resistance."
"Let’s get going."
Just as they were about to leave, a door slowly creaked open as though it had been pushed by the wind.
The three of them exchanged glances before cautiously walking toward it.
What greeted them was a huge picture of Kathe with a large red X marked across it.
Below the picture, the door code was written in blood.
"I understand now why the code looked strange."
Marcus turned to Jark.
"It is the registration number on your underground marriage certificate."
Jark looked at the code more closely.
Indeed, it matched exactly what Marcus had just said.
"Do you think that..."
"No."
Jark interrupted him as he walked toward the wall, tore the picture down, and walked out of the room.
Marcus and Seline exchanged worried looks before quickly following after him.