All Chapters of THE UNDERESTIMATED UNDERWORLD KING : Chapter 21
- Chapter 30
89 chapters
NO TIME TO EVACUATE
Dante's expression didn't change, but his hand moved with surgical precision toward the concealed weapon at his waist.Scarlett noticed nothing. Too drunk on her own performance."Tell me more about this Dragon King," Dante said, voice perfectly calm, buying precious seconds.Scarlett's confidence bloomed like poison flowers. "He controls everything west of the Mississippi. Drugs, weapons, human trafficking—industries you can't even imagine." She leaned closer, savoring every word. "Mother promised him the Hayes Archive in exchange for your death. Simple transaction."Behind them, Vincent's hand signals were invisible to anyone not trained to see them. Three operatives melted into position around Scarlett's location, shadows with guns.Dante took a subtle step backward. "And you're telling me this because...?"Scarlett reached for him, desperation flooding her voice like rehearsed theater. "Because I love you! I always have! Marcus was a mistake, Mother poisoned my mind against you!"
GOODBYE, SCARLETT
Vincent's voice cut through the chaos like a chainsaw. "BOMB SQUAD NOW! Everyone evacuate!"Dante was already moving, dropping to his knees beside the nearest explosive device. His hands flew across the wiring with practiced precision, eyes scanning the professional setup—military-grade C4, redundant triggers, fail-safes layered on fail-safes.The timer ticked down with merciless efficiency.2:47... 2:46... 2:45...Isabella grabbed Sophia's arm, yanking her toward the exit. "We have to go NOW!"Sophia dug her heels in, wrenching free. "Not without Dante!""Vincent, get them out." Dante didn't look up from the bomb, fingers tracing wire pathways, analyzing circuits. "I'm staying.""Boss, you can't defuse twelve bombs in under three minutes!" Vincent's usual composure cracked, raw panic bleeding through. "It's impossible!"Dante was already working, wire cutters flashing in the dim light, movements surgical and exact. "I'm not defusing them. I'm redirecting them."His mind worked faster
BOSS, I CAN TAKE THE SHOT
The bullet struck Dante's hand before his finger reached the detonator.Pain exploded through his palm—white-hot and surgical—as the device spun away across the pavement. Blood sprayed in an arc, painting the ground crimson.Sniper. Long range. Impossible shot.Dante dove for cover, his wounded hand already assessing the damage even through the agony. Clean through the palm. No bone fragments. Professional work from a master marksman at a distance that shouldn't have been possible.Scarlett's laughter cut through the night air like broken glass. "HE'S HERE! The Dragon King is here!"The sky erupted with mechanical thunder.A massive helicopter descended from the darkness—military grade, bristling with weapons, spotlight lancing down to pin Dante's team in a circle of blinding white light. The downdraft scattered debris and forced everyone to shield their eyes.A voice boomed through speakers, cultured British accent wrapped around steel authority. "Phantom Lord. We finally meet."Dant
IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE , WEAPON DRAWN
Dante's mind fractured into a thousand calculations simultaneously.Every angle examined. Every possibility weighed. Every tactical option measured against probability of success.None. There were none.Drake's countdown continued with mechanical precision. "Ten... nine... eight...""Dante, NO!" Sophia's scream tore through the night. "Don't do it! He'll kill them anyway!"Isabella shifted position, searching for a clean shot, but Drake's men had positioned themselves with professional perfection. Overlapping fields of fire. No gaps. No weaknesses. Whoever trained them knew exactly what they were doing."Seven... six... five..."Dante's fists clenched, blood dripping steadily from his tourniquet-wrapped hand, forming a small pool at his feet. Each drop felt like a second ticking away. Each second felt like a life he couldn't save.Vincent's voice crackled urgently in his ear. "Boss, I can get police to the truck driver in four minutes—"Drake's smile widened, predator sensing desperat
YOU'RE ALL GOING TO DIE
Scarlett scrambled backward across the blood-slicked pavement, injured hand leaving smears behind her. "Wait! I can help you! I know Drake's weaknesses!"Dante advanced with measured steps, each one deliberate as a heartbeat. "You fed my aunt's body to dogs.""That was Mother's idea!" Scarlett's desperation bled through every syllable. "I didn't want to—""You tried to kill Sophia six times."His voice carried no emotion. No rage. No heat. Just cold statement of fact, which somehow made it more terrifying than screaming ever could."She was a THREAT! She didn't deserve—"Dante's hand shot out like a striking cobra, fingers closing around Scarlett's throat. He lifted her off the ground effortlessly, her feet kicking uselessly at air, hands clawing at his wrist with weakening strength.She couldn't breathe. Couldn't speak. Could only choke as her face shifted from red to purple, consciousness beginning to fade at the edges."Dante..." Isabella's voice cut through the moment, torn betwee
JUST KILL THE BASTARD!
Dante watched the video for the seventh time, memorizing every detail.Sophia's face was bruised but defiant. Her eyes blazed with fury even through obvious terror. The cage barely gave her room to move. The dogs circled endlessly, snarling, teeth bared, occasionally lunging at the bars just to watch her flinch.Drake's voice continued over the footage, smooth and casual. "Your lady love looks delicious. So do my dogs. Fail me, and I'll find out which one is true."The phone shattered in Dante's grip, screen spider-webbing under the pressure of his fingers, plastic casing cracking with audible pops.Isabella glanced up from her tablet, expression grim. "Harold Bennett is in federal protection. Safehouse in Montana. Three federal marshals guarding him around the clock."Vincent studied the map on his own device, calculating distances and time. "Twelve hour drive, or four hour flight. Either way, we're cutting it close on the forty-eight hour deadline."Dante was already moving toward t
IF THIS FAILS, WE ALL GO DOWN TOGETHER!
The senior marshal—name tag reading "JACKSON"—studied Dante with the practiced skepticism of someone who'd survived two decades in federal service by trusting no one."Why should we trust you?"Dante's response was immediate and brutal in its honesty. "Because if I wanted Harold dead, all three of you would be dead already. I breached your perimeter, got to your door, and you never saw me coming."Jackson's jaw tightened. The truth of it sat heavy in the room—no alarms had triggered, no motion sensors had activated, no early warning systems had flagged Dante's approach. He'd walked right up to the front door like he owned the place."Drake has a woman I care about." Dante's voice remained flat, controlled, but something beneath it burned cold. "He has her in a cage with dogs. The same dogs he used to desecrate a grave. I'm going to destroy him." His pause was deliberate. "Question is: are you going to help, or stand in my way?"Harold's voice emerged shakily from near the window. "If.
THE BURNING RAGE
Dante's face remained perfectly still, but his knuckles had gone white around the phone.Isabella's hand found his shoulder, gentle but grounding. "We have the proof. We deliver it, get Sophia back."Vincent's warning came immediately, voice tight with concern. "Boss, it's a trap. Drake won't just let her go. Men like him don't honor deals."Dante's response was flat certainty. "Of course it's a trap. So we spring it on our terms."The plan formed in his mind with mechanical precision, each piece falling into place like a weapon being assembled."Vincent, mobilize everyone. Every asset, every operator, every weapon we have available within a hundred-mile radius. Isabella, I need satellite coverage of Drake's compound. Real-time positioning, thermal imaging, structural analysis."Isabella was already pulling up screens on her tablet. "Already on it. Found it—industrial park, outside city limits. Thirty thousand square feet, heavily fortified. Multiple buildings, main compound in the ce
ALL ABOUT TO DIE
Dante's eyes flashed with something cold and deadly. "You lied."Drake shrugged, the gesture almost elegant in its casual cruelty. "I'm a criminal. What did you expect? Honor?"Dante's hands clenched at his sides, mind calculating automatically. Twelve armed men visible. All professionals. Overlapping fields of fire. Kill zones at every angle. Sophia's cage positioned where any gunfight would endanger her. Perfect defensive setup.Drake continued, savoring every word like expensive wine. "Here's your real first assignment: Kill James Westfield. The billionaire who's been helping you. I want him dead by tomorrow, or Sophia dies. Publicly. Painfully. And before you think about attacking me—"He snapped his fingers.Screens flickered to life across the warehouse walls—massive displays that hadn't been visible in the dim lighting. Each screen showed a different cage. A different hostage. A different person Dante recognized with sickening clarity.Fifteen cages. Fifteen hostages.Dante's b
THE FIVE GHOST DRAGONS
Dante held Sophia against him, feeling her trembling through every point of contact. "Vincent, tell me you have countermeasures!"Vincent's voice crackled through the earpiece, frantic but focused. "Working on it! But Boss, the signal is encrypted, multiple layers, I can't crack it in—"Timer: 0:45... 0:44... 0:43...Drake's laughter echoed through the warehouse, maniacal and triumphant, backing steadily toward what had to be an escape tunnel. "You lose, Phantom! Everyone dies! Your precious hostages, this building, your entire legacy—all of it burns!"Dante set Sophia down gently but quickly, steadying her before releasing his grip. "Vincent, you have the codes I gave you earlier?"Static crackled. Confusion bled through Vincent's voice. "What codes? Boss, you never gave me any—""Check your secure folder. Password: Checkmate."Several seconds of silence. Then Vincent's sharp intake of breath. "Boss... these are... how did you—"Dante's smile was colder than winter death. "Hacked the