Chapter 302

Maisie idly swirled the hot spring water with her toes. “Alright, let’s get in the hot spring already. I’m exhausted after that long ride. Now that we’ve finally had dinner, I really need a good soak to unwind.”

“Yeah, I’m definitely joining in. This hot spring looks so inviting. I’m going to soak for a good long while.” As Zinnia spoke, she crouched beside the steaming hot spring, trailing her fingers through the water.

The guy waiting outside listened through his earpiece, catching both the voices and the faint splashing sounds. Once he was sure Zinnia and Maisie were in the water, he slipped away quietly.

Maisie perked her ears up, listening for any signs of movement from the outside. Once she was sure the guy had left, she pulled her feet back out of the water.

She began pacing slowly along the edge of the hot spring.

Then, she knocked on the wall of the next room and called out softly, “Emily, could you come over for a sec? I need to talk to you.”

“On my way,” Emily responded.

Emily came over to their room soon. Before Maisie and Zinnia could speak, Emily raised a finger to her lips, signaling them to stay quiet.

Both Maisie and Zinnia immediately understood and kept quiet.

Emily swiftly searched the room and soon found two small black devices. “Alright, you can talk now,” Emily said, chuckling at how the two girls were holding their breath in silence.

Maisie scoffed, “So, those guys aren’t completely brain-dead after all.”

‘At least these guys had half a brain between them. They’d planted bugs and eavesdroppers. Looks like the infiltrators here are sharper than those down the mountain,’ Maisie thought.

Word had leaked out two days ago that Zinnia and the others would be coming here for vacation. This was their first stop–if those guys had any sense, they’d definitely plant someone inside.

Those people must’ve had their own tricks to escape, so it was no surprise they could plant bugs.

Emily whispered, “Give me a sec to disable this. Just keep chatting so they don’t get suspicious.”

Emily pulled a palm-sized cell phone from her tracksuit pocket and began reprogramming the bugs.

Zinnia and Maisie chatted about all sorts of things, such as what they should eat the next day, what to do after the hot spring, if there were any good new shows recently, and fashion. It was all just carefree and innocent chatter.

The eavesdropper lurking in the shadows scowled and gritted his teeth. ‘Damn those spoiled rich girls!’ he thought resentfully. ‘While we’re working ourselves to the bone, all they do is have fun every day!

He had been listening to nothing but this trivial chatter and had completely lost interest. Therefore, he turned to eavesdrop on the men in the hot spring.

Stephen’s voice came out. “Hey, Warren, wanna see who’s bigger? OMG, I didn’t know you had it in you! You really make me feel so small.”

Hearing this mundane topic, the eavesdropper immediately lost interest and began to have doubts. ‘There’s no way that’s Nathan–he wouldn’t talk about something this boring,’ the eavesdropper thought.

And just like that, he lost interest in both sides.

Nash turned and glanced at Zamir, who was lounging lazily on the sofa. “I don’t think that guy is Nathan either,” Nash said. “This job shouldn’t be too tough–once we pull it off, we can get out of here.”

“I told you it wasn’t him. What’s Boss so paranoid about, anyway? If they had found us, we would have been caught already,” Zamin sneered, that Boss being a coward.

“He’s always doubting everything. Seriously, it’s just two girls. With so many of us, how could we possibly mess this up?”

“Laystoland has the strictest security controls,” Nash said, casually taking out a cigarette. “It’s good that Boss is being cautious.”

He flicked his lighter and lit the cigarette. “Let’s get out of here once this job is done. If things blow up, none of us will make it out alive.”

Zamir suddenly spoke up. “You know, I kinda like it here in Laystoland. People actually live such safe and peaceful lives–nothing like where we come from.”

Nash fell silent for a moment. “Peace is such a blessing,” he said quietly. “Too bad we don’t belong to this country. After everything we’ve done, there’s no way this country would ever accept us.”

Who wouldn’t want to live in a peaceful country? Nobody wanted to spend their days hiding like rats and dancing on a knife’s edge.

Meanwhile, over at the men’s hot spring, Stephen shouted, “Hey, Warren, come on! Let’s have an arm wrestle. You look thin, but you’re really strong!”

Stephen and Nathan sat facing each other across a low table. Stephen rolled up his sleeve and planted his elbow firmly on the coffee table, ready for an arm-wrestling match.

Stephen flexed his muscular arm, making his biceps bulge. Nathan also stretched out his arm. Compared with Stephen’s visibly strong build, Nathan was wiry. His muscle definition was strikingly elegant–lean yet not scraggly.

Their wrists locked together, and their arms strained against each other in a test of strength.

Stephen strained with all his might but couldn’t force Nathan’s arm down–yet Nathan couldn’t budge him either. Their arms were locked in a stalemate.

Stephen was genuinely surprised.

“It’s all about technique,” Nathan said with a gentle smile.

Time crept by. The night grew deeper. All sounds on the mountaintop seemed to be deliberately muffled. An ominous tension hung heavily in the air.

“Maisie,” Zinnia murmured, “I’m so sleepy. I just wanna sleep.” She rested her head on the little couch, let out a soft, sleepy yawn, and idly poked at the pillow in her arms.

“Man, I’m really sleepy too,” Maisie mumbled sleepily. She was sitting beside Zinnia, idly scrolling through her phone. “How about we take a nap?”

Up above, a hidden bug was glowing red, just a little bit.

“Emily,” Zinnia called out softly.

There was no response from next door.

“It seems that Emily is already asleep. Let’s also get some rest. After a short nap, we can go back to the villa to have a proper sleep.” Maisie put a peeled grape into Zinnia’s mouth.

“Okay. I’m so sleepy. Maybe I haven’t been resting today, so I just keep wanting to doze off.” Zinnia’s cheeks puffed as she chewed, the sweet tart juice of the grape flooding her mouth. Her eyes crinkled with delight.

“Warren, maybe I’ve just been too tired these days, but I’m suddenly exhausted. Keep an eye on the young ladies. I’m going to take a nap. I’ll relieve you later,” Stephen said as he kept a vigilant eye on the surroundings by the window.

Nathan sat in the chair, his gaze lowered to the mountain surveillance feed on his tablet.

The surveillance footage showed three figures stealthily approaching from the base of the mountain. There were two more on the mountaintop.

The hidden bug pulsed with a faint glow, silently confirming it was functioning as intended.

Not far away, in a private room, Nash relaxed his expression as he listened to the sounds coming from the bug. “The drug’s taking effect. They’ll be out cold any minute now.”

Zamir also felt much more at ease. “That man really isn’t Nathan after all. If he were, with his sharp senses, he would have detected the drug in the air.

He thought to himself, ‘If that man were really Nathan, it would be a complete nightmare. However, after several tests, we’re sure it’s not him. Things have become much easier. As for those two girls? No problem.’

Just the thought of how Nathan wiped out their entire base made their spines tingle. To think that he single-handedly destroyed an entire underground syndicate–that kind of power was truly terrifying.

If it weren’t for the poison still lingering in their bodies, they would never want to cross paths with Nathan again in this lifetime.