As soon as Brandon stepped out of the car, his men lit up with excitement. One of them couldn’t hold back and shouted, “Brandon, can we start now? We’re all itching to get going.“,

    Their hands seemed to have a mind of their own, itching to do something.

    Brandon casually slipped one hand into his pocket and took the AK–47 from a nearby man with a grin. “Can’t wait, huh?”

    Everyone responded in unison, their voices booming, “We can’t wait!”

    The faces of the scrapyard’s bodyguards went pale as they thought, ‘Brandon? Which Brandon? Could it be Ashton’s right–hand man, Brandon?‘

    One of the bodyguards recognized Brandon and blurted out, “It’s really Brandon. Boss, what do we do? Are we still going to fight?”

    The head bodyguard smacked his subordinate on the head. “Fight? You think we’ll live to tell the tale if we do?”

    The subordinate protested, looking wronged. “But you always say, ‘We take the money, we fix the problem.‘ Isn’t that your rule, boss?”

    The head bodyguard said nervously, “Yeah, but you’ve got to know who you’re dealing with. Put your guns away and fall back.”

    He thought, ‘Sure, you take the money to fix someone’s mess, but only if you’re still alive to spend it.‘

    The subordinate shot a look at the head bodyguard, who was already backing off, and pursed his lips, thinking, ‘Look at you, acting all scared. Some boss

    you are!‘

    Still, the subordinate didn’t dare disobey, and he followed the head bodyguard, stepping aside to clear the way.

    He wasn’t being a coward; he was just knowing when to back down.

    Brandon’s men were left dumbfounded.

    They thought, ‘Seriously? You’re throwing in the towel before the fight even starts?‘

    “Hey, what’s wrong with you guys? You’ve got guns in your hands. Why are you chickening out? Stop hiding ande at us,” Brandon taunted.

    Brandon was both amused and exasperated by the bodyguards‘ antics. He didn’t expect that after so many years, Ashton’s name still scared people this

    much.

    “So what are we waiting for? Let’s go in and capture Hayden,” Briar called out from behind. Before Brandon could even reply, she took the lead and walked right in.

    As she passed the group of bodyguards clutching their guns, Briar strolled in like she owned the ce, not even bothering to spare them a nce.

    Brandon wouldn’t dare let Briar go in there by herself. The bodyguards at the door might be cowards who’d back down at the mention of Ashton, but the ones sticking close to Hayden were ruthless thugs with blood on their hands. They only cared about money and wouldn’t show mercy just because Briar

    was with Ashton.

    If things got messy, they’d just ditch their boss, hop to another country, and continue to risk their necks for money.

    Brandon quickly stuck to Briar’s side, guarding her closely. “Miss Jennings, why did youe down here? Capturing Hayden is a trivial matter. Just let us

    handle it.”

    Briar smiled. “Brandon, I’m actually pretty badass.”

    Brandon was speechless.

    He’d definitely heard that one before.

    Thest time Briar said that was thest time they met.

    And that was when her cover got blown.

    ?

    355%

    +33)

    Brandon felt a flicker of excitement. He wondered if Briar still had another persona she hadn’t revealed yet.

    She was already a genius doctor, Speed Queen Bree, and Legendary Hacker Bree.

    Just those three identities alone were enough to leave most people in the dust.

    If she had yet another alias to reveal, even Ashton might not be worthy of her.

    With the bodyguards turning a blind eye, the group strolled straight down to the basement without anyone getting in their way.

    “Briar! Take her out! Kill her now!” Hayden bellowed.

    The bodyguards in the basement had already gotten word about the intruders and were locked and loaded.

    The men guarding Hayden were elite killers, handpicked by Geoff. They were real desperadoes with blood on their hands. With these guys around, Hayden wasn’t scared of Briaring for payback.

    At Hayden’s order, the bodyguards opened fire right away. They didn’t care who wasing. Even if it was Ashton’s men, they’d shoot all the same.

    Besides, the people who showed up didn’t look like much of a threat, other than Brandon, who was the only one who looked like he could put up a fight. In particr, Briar, who was hiding behind Brandon, just looked like some pretty face who probably slept her way to the top.

    Even if they killed her, there was no way Ashton would go all out and put a global bounty on them just for her.

    Feeling fearless, the bodyguards kept firing. Gunshots and Hayden’s screams echoed down theb hallway.

    On Brandon’s side, his men were hyped up. “Brandon, you saw it. They pulled the trigger first. We have no choice but to fire back.”

    “Yeah. Guys, if someone points a gun at usb, /bwhat do we do?”

    “Fight them!”

    “Let’s go!”

    With that, they went absolutely berserk, opening fire like maniacs. The men who looked harmless a moment ago suddenly turned savage, yelling at the top of their lungs and charging forward like they’d just downed a gallon of adrenaline.

    They werepletely unfazed by the bullets flying their way.

    Their craziness left not just Hayden stunned, but even the bodyguards were spooked.

    They thought, ‘What’s going on? Do they have a death wish? They’re actually charging straight into the bullets? Do they think they’re made of steel or something?

    Before anyone could react, a blur shot out from the growd–so fast it was almost unreal–and then, a gunshot rang out.

    “Ow, my legs!”

    Hayden’s scream snapped the bodyguards back to their bsenses/b. They looked down and realized that somehow Hayden, who’d been hiding behind them,

    was now in front of them.

    His legs were gushing blood, his face pale as a ghost, and he was screaming his lungs out.

    And Sasha, who’d been pushing his wheelchair, hadpletely disappeared.

    10:18 Sat, 23 Aug J

    It finally clicked for the bodyguards as they thought, ‘Shit! Sasha wasn’t just some pretty face. She was a mole sent by Briar.‘

    It was obvious where Sasha had gone. Of course, she must’ve doubled back to theb.

    With all those experimental reports and data in there, if she managed to copy even a single file, their whole operation would be finished.

    One of the bodyguards immediately tried to turn back to capture Sasha, but the moment he moved, Briar pulled the trigger.

    The bullet hit the ground right next to his foot, dead on target.

    If he hadn’t spent years living on the edge, with danger always at his heels, that shot would’ve gone straight through his leg.

    ? ??55%

    “Darn it, darn it, kill her! Hurry up, kill her. Oh, it hurts so bad… I’ll pay you more. 150 thousand dors each. Whoever finishes her off gets another 300 thousand dors on top,” Hayden howled.

    Big rewards always brought out the reckless ones.

    The bodyguards instantly stopped backing down. They didn’t care if they pissed off Ashton. With that money, they couldy low, change their names, and live it up for a year. No matter how one looked at it, it was worth the risk.

    “Pathetic,” Briar said,pletely unfazed. Even as the bodyguards unleashed a barrage of gunfire, she kept her grip steady on her gun, not even

    flinching.

    But while Briar stayed cool as ever, Brandon and his men were totally losing it.

    ‘Holy crap,‘ Brandon thought, ‘Miss Jennings is insane with a gun. Not a single shot is missed. With an aim like that, being a doctor is such a waste of her

    talent.‘

    Brandon was freaking out on the inside, but he didn’t miss a beat. He whipped out his phone and started recording, catching every badass second of Briar in action.

    Then he sent the video straight to Ashton, captioned: [Ashton, is this whom you call an innocent and delicate girl?]

    田