CHAPTER 392: CHAPTER 390: LIFE AND DEATH ARE IN MY HANDS_1

Some say the Dupon family is a Chapter of American history.

They personally witnessed the United States’ rise from weakness to supremacy, and they too were once engulfed by the torrents of history, only to be carried back to strength by the genius of their own family.

If one thing has remained constant over the years, it has likely been their dedication to ensuring the birth of geniuses.

The family preserved the custom of intermarriage.

The Dupon family was different from ordinary people; they had enough capital to bet on whether their children would be geniuses, mediocrities, or born with deformities.

George and his cousin married and had six children; five were deformed, and only Hill was normal.

He was the third son George prided himself on, having inherited the family’s excellent genes. Hill excelled in academics from a young age, was quick-witted, and George considered him the future successor.

As for the other five children, he had not seen them for a long time; he just let them live out of sight.

"I killed your son. If you want revenge, follow his phone’s location to find me."

It was a familiar number, but the voice on the other end was unfamiliar.

George sat on the sofa, his expression momentarily stunned. His grip on the phone tightened. Before he could even unleash his fury or utter a threat, the call disconnected.

BEEP. BEEP.

The sound immediately provoked his rage, and he violently kicked the woman before him, knocking her to the ground.

Her face, adored by countless men, showed no hint of resentment. She merely swallowed hard, kneeling as docilely as a loyal dog.

The collar around her neck also indicated her status.

The so-called famous actress was merely a persona constructed by financial backers.

George, still unappeased, snatched a wine bottle from the table and smashed it hard against the woman, bellowing, "Bastard! I want him dead! Brad, gather my guards right now! Trace Hill’s phone location! I want the person who killed Hill torn to pieces!"

As George spoke, his rage gradually dissipated, and his mind grew calm.

He remembered Hill had accepted an invitation from the "Hornet" to discuss business.

George had long heard about his son secretly building a sales network. But unlike how most people would react to their child being involved in such activities, he thought his son’s actions were truly the mark of a genius.

Hill had somehow managed to build such an immense sales network without relying on the family’s resources.

Therefore, George had always refrained from meddling in his son’s affairs.

He had faith in Hill’s abilities and believed nothing would go wrong.

Why would something like this happen so suddenly?

George began to ponder. Could someone be trying to emulate the Rockefeller Family?

When The White House was in turmoil, the Dupon family’s escape from disaster wasn’t, as the CIA guessed, due to advance warning; it was simply because they had multiple hideaways—the cunning rabbit has three burrows.

The Dupon family had intentionally used fake addresses to mislead others.

In reality, given more time, the Rockefeller Family might have truly found their actual stronghold.

This led the current Dupon family to live scattered, to avoid being wiped out in one go.

Someone wants to use Hill’s death to lure me out.

Even though George knew this, he had no intention of fleeing. He was confident in the strength of the guards he had assembled.

Still, he called his father to explain the situation.

"Alright, go then."

As expected, George received permission.

The Dupon family was never afraid of overt threats. As long as they knew who was targeting them, they could respond. This was especially true now that the former eleven financial conglomerates had been reduced to six. The wealth the Dupon family could monopolize had increased, and their influence in political and military circles had grown in tandem.

George knew he had become a Forerunner in his father’s eyes.

Yet he didn’t really care; as long as a Forerunner performed well, rewards would follow.

「...」

Outsiders couldn’t track Hill’s phone location, but as his father, George naturally had ways to monitor his son’s phone, allowing him to quickly find him if necessary.

This was the first time in years George had used the tracking feature, and he never imagined it would be for such a reason.

He sat inside an armored vehicle, holding a shotgun, wearing a bulletproof vest, a helmet, panoramic night-vision goggles, and noise-canceling headphones.

His waist pack contained flash grenades, stun grenades, and hand grenades.

Although George was a businessman, he was privately a military enthusiast who often went hunting fully armed.

Small Latin American countries served as his hunting grounds.

The members of his personal guard, thirty men in total, were all retired elites from the SEAL team.

George had paid for their early retirement so they would serve him.

"Mr. George, we’ve spotted the phone’s location."

The team leader’s voice came through his headset.

George replied, "Excellent, lads! Let’s go hunt the enemy!"

The armored vehicle stopped.

A RUMBLE echoed from the sky as a military helicopter descended.

Its searchlight swept across the building pinpointed by the phone’s location.

It was an unfinished office building, nine stories tall.

Externally, it appeared nearly complete.

Doors and windows had yet to be installed. Only the eighth and ninth floors had glass curtain walls, and scaffolding covered the facade.

The perimeter was fenced with corrugated metal sheets, and the main gate showed clear signs of being forced open.

George opened the vehicle door but didn’t expose himself, instead hiding behind the armored door. He ordered, "Team One, go in first and assess the situation.

"Team Two and Team Three, check the surroundings.

"Team Four, prepare to provide fire support from the air. Teams Five and Six, stand by!"

"Roger."

Affirmations echoed through his earpiece as George watched Team One’s five men quickly rush into the building, while Teams Two and Three fanned out to check the surroundings.

The helicopter’s searchlight swept toward the building. A heavy machine gun was mounted at the hatch, its muzzle tracking with the searchlight beam.

The searchlight beam cast some light into the building’s interior.

Aozawa gauged the helicopter’s position from its light. He picked up a two-meter-long piece of rebar with his right hand, rushed to the edge of the unfinished curtain wall, and hurled it at the aircraft.

The spotlight also swept across Aozawa, and the heavy machine gun immediately let out a sharp roar.

"Enemy spotted!"

RAT-TAT-TAT! Aozawa kicked back, his feet sending up sprays of mud like heavy rain lashing a lake’s surface.

In an instant, an untold number of bullets rained down.

Aozawa watched as a concrete chip, sent flying by a bullet, grazed his ankle.

Indeed, physical strength has its limits; it can’t block sharp projectiles.

A light graze from a concrete fragment kicked up by the bullets was enough to break his skin.

However, the wound wasn’t serious—it was the type of minor injury that would quickly heal on its own if left untreated.

A loud CRUNCH came from outside as the rebar struck the helicopter’s rotor blades. The aircraft immediately tilted, its searchlight sliding upwards, and bullets peppered the scaffolding and walls.

"We’re under attack!" the Team Four captain yelled out.

「...」

George didn’t need his notification. He watched the helicopter plummet from the sky and crash, exploding in a brilliant fireball that lit up the night and the scattered needles and trash on the ground below.

What kind of weapon was that?

Confusion flickered in George’s mind; he hadn’t even seen what brought down the helicopter. He ordered, "Team Six, fire a Rocket Launcher at the seventh floor for suppressive fire! Teams Two and Three, rush in now! Kill anyone you see!"

"Roger."

The team leaders’ acknowledgments came over the earpiece.

They were all elites, veterans of countless firefights, and showed no sorrow or fear at their comrades’ deaths.

In their line of work, they were always prepared to die.

Team Six quickly fired a Rocket Launcher at the seventh floor.

BOOM!

Using his Sound of Everything Ability, Aozawa captured the explosion’s sound. For these noises, he didn’t need to touch them; merely making a grasping gesture with his right hand was enough to draw in the sound.

Then, he turned and ran down the stairs.

Teams Two and Three quickly stormed into the office building, their night-vision goggles rendering the darkness irrelevant.

Red laser dots danced with the movement of their gun barrels.

They covered each other, advancing rapidly. Instead of recklessly charging upstairs, they searched the lower floors first.

"Ground floor east, clear." "Ground floor west, clear." "South side, all clear."

"Proceeding to the second floor."

The Team One captain had just stated his plan when a thunderous explosion erupted overhead. Aozawa, using the captured sound of the Rocket Launcher combined with his own immense strength, blasted through the reinforced concrete ceiling, unleashing a lethal downpour of cement fragments.

CRACK! THUD! BAM!

The captain’s helmet protected his head, but his bulletproof vest offered little defense against sharp fragments compared to a stab-proof vest.

Cement shards deeply pierced his hands and thighs, and then large concrete slabs crushed three men to the ground.

The two remaining team members reacted with professional calm.

One aimed his rifle upwards while the other immediately lobbed a grenade through the hole.

Aozawa dropped, swatted the grenade back with a backhand, and kicked up a nearby corpse with his right foot to use as a shield.

BOOM! The grenade exploded.

Hundreds of steel ball bearings scattered instantly, riddling the two men near the blast.

Aozawa quickly dodged into an adjacent room and then leaped out of an open window frame.

Not enough time. If I delay any longer, I’ll be late for class. I need to end this hunt.

「...」

The world washed over in a grayish-white filter as Aozawa activated his Time stop Ability. He didn’t waste a moment, sprinting from the side of the building to the front. He saw the robust, armored-car-like bulletproof vehicle and the man standing there, directing his forces.

My improved physique seems to have extended the Time stop’s duration. Nine seconds now allows me to do much more than before.

His legs powered him forward. In just two seconds, he reached George, circled behind him, and punched clean through his heart.

Aozawa withdrew his hand, entered the vehicle, twisted the neck of the man in the driver’s seat, and punched through the torso of the man in the backseat.

He then fired the Rocket Launcher at their men.

After doing all this, Aozawa leaped out of the vehicle.

Time resumed its flow.

"AAGH!"

The Team One captain’s scream reached George’s ears. Just as he was about to ask what had happened, he heard a sickening THUD.

His entire body was flung forward over the car door, tumbling onto the ground.

What—?

George couldn’t even register his own death as his consciousness faded to black.

Aozawa’s body seemed to dissolve into a light breeze as he activated his Global Travel Ability to return to school.