Captured By The Cold Detective (BL)-Chapter 504: Dead Or Alive
Back to the present.
He Juan’s ears were ringing, whether due to the shock of the sudden accident or the lingering echo of the explosion, he could not ascertain. Perhaps even both. He was still unable to wrap his head around the current situation. How? Everything had been going smoothly as planned, so how could everything turn out like this?
His labored breaths throbbed in his ears, and it took him a while to fully register the commotion around him.
"Close the door! We must leave this place as soon as possible before the air force arrives!"
"Prepare for retreat!"
The helicopter executed a sharp turn, retracing its route into the shroud of night. And it was not until the scene of wreckage outside abruptly gave way to the stark presence of the cold metallic door that He Juan snapped back to his senses. Like a kite with its string severed, he slumped onto the floor, his vacant gaze remained locked on the door as though he could see through the door toward the explosion below.
What... had just happened?
Marius, he—
"Mr. Xiu, are you alright?" A concerned voice inquired. He Juan slowly turned to him, so slow that he could hear the sound of his neck cracking, as he questioned with a flat and hollow tone. "The person who attacked M earlier, do you know him?"
"Yeah," the man’s face abruptly darkened. "He’s one of us – was. I couldn’t fathom why he would do something like this. Damn it! How could he betray us at a time like this?!"
So it was really a betrayal, He Juan pondered distantly. But why? Why now, of all times? And how could the helicopter malfunction at the same moment? Perhaps everything was just a series of unfortunate coincidences, but He Juan couldn’t shake off the feeling that it was an intricately woven trap which was designed specifically for Marius. And the only person who could orchestrate such a scheme was—
No! He Juan squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head vigorously, struggling to regain control of his harsh breathing. Impossible, it couldn’t have been Ku Jin. When had he even had an opportunity to act when He Juan had been overseeing the two helicopters all day? But if it was him, if he was truly the mastermind behind the incident, what should He Juan do? What should he do as a member of the same organization as that person?!
Without any warning, Marius’ last smile flashed vividly behind his eyelids and it felt like a thick cotton veil was constricting his airway, leaving him gasping for breath. His broad shoulders shrank and trembled under the sheer weight of anxiety, grief and fury that permeated his whole being, shocking everyone around him. Alas, He Juan did not even register their questions for all of his focus narrowed down on the deafening ringing in his head and the phantom movement of Marius’ lips.
Tell Sirius that I’m sorry.
No, I won’t. He Juan gritted his teeth so hard that he tasted blood inside his mouth. Tell him yourself, M. I will not accept anything else. You must return and tell him yourself!
Less than an hour later, the helicopter touched down on their basecamp’s helipad. He Juan received a report that Marius’ yacht had been seized by the Interpol, yet he showed no reaction to that. After all, the Golden Sand had never been there to begin with. Except for the small sample Marius had carried with him, everything was a clever counterfeit and it didn’t matter even if the Interpol were to confiscate them.
However, a troubling news soon followed.
The Interpol had not only seized the vessel, but also cordoned off the area around the helicopter wreckage, forming a search and rescue operation that very night. He Juan lost his chances to search for Marius himself, but he still deployed his own people to monitor the progress, stressing that they should inform him of any updates at once.
Then he waited.
One day... one week... fifteen days...
He Juan did not even know how he managed to get through those endless days. He was barely sleeping as all of his dreams would be plagued by nightmares of the explosion’s horrifying scene, and he only ate enough to sustain himself so that he would not collapse at such a crucial time.
When the three-week mark finally passed, the Interpol halted their search and withdrew their manpower. According to their assessment, given the extent of the explosion, the dropping temperature, and the turbulent sea currents, it was highly likely that the suspect had met his demise. They merely requested local authorities to pay more attention in the coming days. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
If they could make that analysis, why couldn’t He Juan? Over these past few days, he’d had a lot of thinking. There was no way Marius had not been injured by the explosion, and coupled with the chilling temperature... what if he lost consciousness underwater? Moreover, it was so dark beneath and Marius did not even carry anything on him, could he make his way to the surface? He Juan’s mind almost blurted out the most logical answer based on those unfavorable conditions, yet every single time, he would squash them down without any hesitation. Marius was still alive, he was sure of it! They had not even gotten any results yet, so how dare those people declare him dead?!
Following Interpol’s withdrawal, He Juan dispatched his own team. He gave them only one instruction, "Find him. I want to see him, dead or alive."
Nobody realized how hard his hands were trembling when he uttered the last few words, for he was certain that Marius was still alive. He knew it deep inside him. That man had been through countless rain and storms, had emerged from seas of corpses alive, had withstood a hail of bullets unscathed; so how could he succumb to death now?
He Juan could not accept it. He refused to accept any other outcome!
Marius must be alive, or else...
Thus He Juan continued to wait. Occasionally he would even dive into the water himself to perform the search. The scope of the operation kept expanding, with each passing day deepening the weight of uncertainty.
It was not until a full month after the accident, a full month since Mafius had plunged into the water and disappeared, that they obtained a lead.
Winter had settled in by then, stripping the trees of their leaves, and He Juan was reluctantly having a bowl of noodles prepared by Chen Youzhi. Since the man discovered He Juan’s irregular eating schedule, he had taken it upon himself to prepare He Juan’s three meals a day, even to the extent of waiting outside the door until He Juan finished his meal. This routine was disrupted when they heard hurried footsteps approaching.
"Boss—!" That exuberant cry was in stark contrast to the somber air that had been shrouding the residence, causing He Juan’s heart to skip a beat. Soon after, the door burst open and a man stumbled in, pantong, "Boss, we... we found something!"
