Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 1571

He interrogated seven or eight people in a row, but all he got in return were terrified wails and shaking heads. None of them knew Emmy. When the evacuation order came, these maniacal laboratory experts only cared about saving their own skins. Who would possibly waste time checking on an outsider who had snuck in?

Eventually, all the desperate experts were slapped in handcuffs and hauled away.

The deck fell empty, save for the howling ocean wind. It was as if every last ounce of strength had been violently drained from James's body. He stumbled back two steps, his towering frame swaying violently before he collapsed onto the ship's railing. The very hands that never even trembled in a hail of bullets now rested on his mud-stained knees, shaking uncontrollably.

"Master Sergeant..." Will approached with red-rimmed eyes, his expression full of profound guilt and despair. "I'm sorry. I'm completely useless. I failed to protect her."

James didn't look at him, nor did he speak. He sat there like a statue entirely stripped of its soul, staring blankly at the thick black smoke rising from the horizon. That was the direction of the collapsed laboratory. The chained explosions and the rushing seawater had utterly annihilated that underground fortress.

If Emmy hadn't made it out before the self-destruct sequence... if she was still trapped inside...

A single, scalding tear uncontrollably rolled out of James's bloodshot eyes. It struck his blood-stained combat boot and instantly shattered. The absolute worst-case scenario acted like a venomous snake, taking bite after agonizing bite out of his heart. An unprecedented wave of despair and sheer terror instantly consumed him. His heart plummeted downward, freefalling into a bottomless abyss with no light in sight.

His wife, carrying his unborn child... was she truly buried forever beneath that murky seawater?

Just then, Zach sprinted over from the bridge, his assault rifle in hand and an urgent look on his face. "Master Sergeant. The major general's radar just picked up two heavily armed vessels speeding straight toward our location."

Clearly, these people were coming for Dean yet again.

But James sat there as if his soul had been ripped out. Only after a long while did he slowly raise his head, a ruthless, lethal glare surfacing in his crimson eyes.

Will viciously kicked the railing and swore. "Have these bastards lost their damn minds over Dean? Coming here one after another just to throw their lives away?"

Will lowered his head in deep shame, his eyes completely bloodshot. He knew he bore an unshirkable responsibility for Emmy's disappearance. If... if something terrible truly happened to her, he wouldn't even have the face to see Abriella ever again for the rest of his life.

"Don't worry, Master Sergeant. I swear on my life, Dean will not die before I do."

At James's absolute command, the captain rapidly swung the bow around, tearing toward the coastline at maximum speed. The extraction convoy had already received the message and was waiting out of sight near the shore. The moment the cruise ship docked, the fully armed operators of Dragonscale leaped ashore.

The convoy assembled in record time. Dean, wearing a torn custom suit with his hands bound tightly behind his back, was shoved into the center off-road vehicle. He kept his head lowered, his indifferent eyes radiating a suffocating gloom and deadness. He seemed completely oblivious to the world around him, like a rotting marionette. Will sat right beside him, gripping a heavy sniper rifle. Trailing behind the convoy were the regular troops from Fiji, commanded by Lieutenant Barrett.

The off-road convoy sped violently along the rugged, uneven mountain roads. As they rounded a massive bend in the mountain, a group of people suddenly appeared in James's line of sight.

His pupils violently contracted. He instantly pressed his earpiece and issued a sharp, commanding order. "Halt the convoy."