"Hold on!"Seeing that he was about to be taken away, Langdon panicked and shouted, "You have no right to arrest me without a thorough investigation or a judge's ruling! This is outright brutality! You're abusing your power!"Austin scoffed. "When I tried to play fair, you pulled every dirty trick in the book. But now that I'm playing rough, you suddenly want to talk about the law? Do you really think that's going to happen?""Mr. Langdon, if you have anything to say, you can tell me in prison. We'll have plenty of time to chat." Axel strode forward with a wicked grin, clamping a firm hand on Langdon's shoulder."Wait! I still have something to say." Langdon swallowed hard. Realizing he had no way out, he finally dropped the tough act and tried a softer approach. "Austin, we're family. Do we really have to take it this far? Look, I screwed up. But can't you cut me some slack, just this once?"In the past, his silver tongue had helped him turn situations around and distort the tr

As night deepened, the streets were nearly empty under the city's full lockdown, save for uniformed patrols. The few civilians who were out walked hurriedly, afraid of drawing trouble.At that moment, a ten-man patrol unit approached the small courtyard where Warrick was hiding.Leading them was Mulder Frank, a burly man with a buzz cut. After ensuring the street was clear, he stepped forward and knocked on the courtyard door.The knocking followed a distinct rhythm, like a secret code. After the first knock, there was no response, so he knocked twice more.On the third knock, the gate finally creaked open a crack. A shadowed figure inside revealed only half their face and muttered in a low, deep voice, "The sun shines bright in the sky."Without missing a beat, Mulder responded, "I raise my glass and ask the blue sky."It was the secret code they had set up beforehand."Come in, gentlemen. Sir Prescott has been expecting you."The courtyard door swung open, and Kalen gestured

With Mulder leading the way, Warrick—disguised as a member of the City Defenders—walked openly through the streets.Night had fallen, and the streets were eerily empty—not a single soul was in sight. Only heavily armed patrols moved through the city.Every checkpoint along the main road was heavily guarded. Even the patrol squads had to show their emblems to pass.Warrick walked at the back of the group. His hat was pulled low so that it covered half his face. In the darkness, it was nearly impossible to make out his features unless someone got close."Austin is more meticulous than I expected," he muttered. "If it weren't for the Hall of Gods' undercover agents helping me, I'd never make it out of Celestria."Seeing sentries stationed openly on the streets and hidden in the alleys, Warrick felt a chill crawl down his spine. In less than two miles, they had already passed seven or eight checkpoints.In addition to the heavily guarded checkpoints on the main roads, countless hidde

"Damn it!" Warrick cursed. "I was just getting started."He was covered in blood. His eyes burned with a wild, excited gleam.Warrick lived for the fight. After two days in hiding, he was itching to let loose—and now that he had, he wasn't ready to stop."Sir Prescott, think about the bigger picture. If we don't leave now, it'll be too late," Mulder urged, grabbing his arm.At the far end of the street, dark figures were already visible in the distance, rushing toward them.Though Warrick still seemed reluctant, he quickly calmed down."Fall back!" he shouted.With that, he and Mulder charged past the checkpoint and led a handful of battered soldiers into the outer city.Unlike the inner city, the outer city had much weaker defenses. The sheer size of the area made it impossible to secure every corner, so only the main thoroughfares had a strong military presence.Mulder had already mapped out their escape route and prepared the gear.According to the original plan—if they ha

"Here's the problem—even if we know Warrick's intentions, how do we stop him?" Austin asked.Right now, Warrick had already disappeared without a trace. Austin's team hadn't even come close enough to get a hold of him, so there was no way to track him down.West Lucozia's vast territory and resources made it impossible to seal off every exit route completely. While it might be manageable in the short term, prolonging such an operation would significantly impact West Lucozia's economy. Wasting resources on a single fugitive wasn't a wise move."Warrick is a wanted man across the entire city. There's no way he's leaving through official channels. He'll have to sneak his way out," Dustin analyzed. He continued, "According to the maritime charts, if he's traveling from West Lucozia to Artea, he'll have to go through Thaloria. That's our lead. Get someone on it immediately—find out how many smuggling routes there are from West Lucozia to Thaloria.""Got it. I'll get it done right away