CHAPTER 842: CHAPTER 841

"I don’t have the guts to go alone, but with you leading the way, I can face anything with courage."

"So my purpose is to beef you up?"

"That’s called strength in numbers, boss! Because you’re tough as nails and care about us, no matter what, you’re always the first to jump in and shield us from danger. Now that we’ve grown up, it’s our

turn to protect you."

"Like you did last night?" Rosemary teased.

Horace chuckled as he remembered being surrounded by thugs with weapons the night before.

Rosemary’s lips curved into a beautiful smile, joining in on the laughter.

7 PM. Horace pulled up to the hotel, but instead of opening the car door for Rosemary, he stood in front of it, hemming and hawing, preventing her from getting in.

"Boss." Horace didn’t know where to begin, his expression one of troubled hesitation, "Let me go meet Sean tonight. They don’t know who the real buyer is anyway, don’t know what you look like. I’ll just say I’m interested in buying the island. I’ll go talk to them alone."

"What’s wrong?" Rosemary sensed something amiss, "Spit it out."

Horace struggled for a bit before deciding to lay his cards on the table. He knew the boss was capable,that even if he didn’t tell her, she would find out anyway.

"They just told me the meeting place, and I found out it’s on an island. The island is owned by Sean,infamously known as ’Beast Island.’"

In Belloria, as long as you had a permit, you could privately own dangerous animals.

"They say the island is home to cheetahs, lions, tigers, you name it. All roaming free."

Meaning once they set foot on the island, there was no guarantee they’d meet Sean. They could very well be torn to pieces by the beasts first.

"Did you forget where I’ve been before?" Rosemary yanked open the car door and settled into the seat.

She had been injured in the Triangular Zone before, and even when wild beasts approached her,drawn by the scent of blood and her vulnerable state, she had survived in the end.

"But boss." Horace couldn’t help but protest as she got into the car, "There are so many dangerous animals there, in great numbers, what if."

"If he wants to sell the island, if he wants to make 70 or 80 million dollars off us, he won’t just watch his pets screw up the deal. At most, we get a few scratches, some bruises, a little drama for entertainment. When it’s time to stop, he’ll step in."

After all, 70 or 80 million dollars was at stake, not 7 or 8 million.

"Besides, if he’s inviting us to the island, doesn’t he want to hear why we’re so desperate to buy that island?"

At the very least, he’d spare their lives, but whether they’d get hurt, that was a real possibility. Horace found the logic sound but was still worried about the boss’s safety.

After all, there was only one boss. Even if they didn’t die, if the boss was seriously injured, her subordinates would never stand for it.

"Scared?" Rosemary teased.

"Who’s scared? If a tiger shows up, I’ll let it fill up on me first as long as it doesn’t bite you." Horace said, but then couldn’t help but add, "If things go south, you run and find someplace safe to hide."

"You’re so skinny; a tiger would swallow you in two bites. By the time I start running, it would already be in front of me."

"Then should I pick up a few dozen pounds of meat on the way to throw it off?"

Rosemary found it amusing.

Sure enough, once they arrived on the island, a tiger was lying in wait, eyeing them hungrily.

"Don’t run," Rosemary cautioned, well aware that predators like felid had an instinct to pounce on anything that moved quickly. Standing still might be safe, but the moment you bolted, you were pretty

much asking to be chased.

Horace ground to a halt, his knees wobbly with fear, "So, boss, what do we do now?"

Wait around to be tiger chow? Hardly an option. If only they had thought to bring some meat from the market earlier. That might have spared them this terrible dilemma.

He spotted a rock on the ground and was about to reach for it when Rosemary interjected, "Don’t crouch down."

In the eyes of a tiger, making yourself smaller only increased its urge to attack.

"I saw some stones over there. We could throw them at it," Horace explained.

"Don’t provoke it. If that tiger had wanted to eat us, it would’ve pounced the moment we set foot on this island. It’s got plenty of ways to take us down without warning. We’re in its territory now, and its appearance is more of a warning than an attack."

"So what’s our move?"

"Stay put for now."

Despite his fear, Horace stood still.

"Follow my lead. We’re going to back away slowly. Take the path through the weeds."

Horace didn’t understand the logic, but he mimicked Rosemary, stepping backward, one cautious step at a time, towards the overgrown shrubbery.

The tiger watched them retreat, yawning before turning and sauntering away.

"Boss, this place is so eerie." Horace shivered as he stayed close to Rosemary, "How do you stay so cool?"

"I’ve got a taser."

No wonder Rosemary was so brave, "But boss, are we really faster than a tiger? If it charges, can we really hit it first with a taser?"

"Humans can’t outrun tigers, but whether we can hit it first depends on the situation."

Anyway, the best policy was to avoid angering the beast at all costs. Then, other animal cries echoed across the island.

"Boss, let’s pick up the pace." Horace almost wished they ran at once, "That Sean really left us in the lurch. No one’s come to meet us since we arrived."

Clearly, Sean wanted to see them become a laughing stock, attacked by wild animals.

"Surely he set the meeting here just to watch the show."

No one scheduled a business meeting in a place like this unless they were up to no good.

"The only lights on the island are from that villa up ahead. I can’t believe Sean actually lives in this haunted place. Doesn’t he get the creeps coming in and out?"

"The predators here are domesticated by him. They’re familiar with him and his crew and normally don’t attack. Because of long time of staying close to human, that tiger didn’t go for us right away."

That was why Rosemary had chosen to retreat cautiously.

"So that’s the deal." Horace said, gaining some insight, "Boss, if we start running now, do you think other animals might jump out and go for us?"

"It’s possible," Rosemary preferred to walk as if on a leisurely stroll.

Inside the villa, a man stroked a young tiger like a pet cat, his interest piqued as he watched through the monitor that the newcomers were approaching his lair with an air of calm.