QT: Against My Will-Chapter 604 - 10.16- Enemy’s Food - Rebirt of The Heart

Knox’s eyes fluttered open to the stark contrast of dim, flickering lights overhead. He was no longer in the sleek interior of the hovercar but in an abandoned factory.

The air was musty as he struggled to orient himself. The walls were a patchwork of old metal sheets, and the door was made of sturdy steel bars.

"Knox, you awake?" XiaoPu whispered, his voice echoing slightly in the hollow space.

"Yeah," Knox groaned, rubbing his head. "Where are we?"

XiaoPu inspected the cell, fingers trailing over the cold metal, searching for a weakness, a lock, anything.

"PuPu, PuPu," a toddler’s voice rang in the distance.

"..." XiaoPu’s brows furrowed, ’Wasn’t that just now Stinky Bun’s voice?’ He wondered, having no idea what a bizarre scene had just unfolded outside.

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A few moments ago...

A man was walking beside a young woman who was pushing a sturdy stroller with a happy toddler snuggled inside. The man seemed to be enjoying the leisurely stroll with the woman and the child, chatting and laughing as they walked along the less-frequent path.

"Should we knock politely or just bust in?" Edward mused aloud as if the rusty, foreboding factory doors were no different than those of a neighbor’s house.

"We can’t disturb the birds nesting up there. They look so peaceful," said Seraphine with concern, contrasting the tense atmosphere inside the factory.

A few guards opened the doors and approached them with a mix of annoyance. They were burly men, used to intimidating trespassers with just a scowl, "Hey, this ain’t no place for a walk!" one of them barked, "Get lost!"

Seraphine glanced at Edward, showing a hint of surprise, "Oh dear, we must have taken a wrong turn to the playground," she said in a tone dripping with feigned innocence.

The guards exchanged a confused look, unsure how to deal with these eccentric strollers.

"Last warning, go back to your little picnic or whatever," the other guard grunted, dismissing them with a wave of his hand, convinced they were just clueless civilians, not worth the effort of a chase.

"PuPu?" Stinky Bun wriggled free from the stroller’s restraints and slid onto the ground, his tiny feet carrying him with surprising stealth.

Before the guards had a chance to react, the toddler had already dashed into the gaping doorway of the factory, disappearing into the shadows within.

With a mixture of panic and disbelief, Seraphine exclaimed "My baby!" as she sprinted after him.

The guards, alerted by her sudden movement, spun around just in time to see her charging towards the factory entrance.

In that split second of distraction, they didn’t notice Edward swinging something long and narrow at their heads from behind — the stroller perhaps— sending them crumpling to the ground.

Seraphine didn’t turn around; her sole attention was on rescuing her son from the factory.

While in pursuit of their target, some kidnappers failed to notice a loose cable that was snaking across the floor. One of the kidnappers tripped on the cable and went tumbling forward, flailing their arms and letting out a muffled curse. They crashed into a pile of empty crates, creating a loud noise that echoed through the hollow space.

Their pursuit had turned into a series of unfortunate events, allowing the toddler enough time to wander deeper into the factory.

The male intruder found himself face to face with a dozen kidnappers, some of them had already attempted to aim their guns at him.

In a split second, Edward closed their distance quickly, using the stroller to knock the guns from their hand. With a swift jab here and a strategic parry there, he turned the corridors of the factory into a battlefield.

The kidnappers grew more frantic, their shots more erratic, but Edward ducked and weaved like a mirage! Each component of the stroller, from the wheels to the handlebar, played its part in disarming and knocking out their members like a weapon of mass distraction!

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XiaoPu pressed his face between the cold metal bars of the cell and felt a flicker of hope when he saw familiar figures. "We are here!" he called out, his voice bouncing off the walls.

Seraphine’s head turned sharply at the sound, "My Baby Boy!" With a set of keys clutched in her hand, she approached the cell where XiaoPu stood. She inserted one key after another into the lock, "How are you feeling? Are you injured somewhere?"

Finally, with a satisfying click, one key turned, the lock’s mechanism giving way. A small victory smile played on Seraphine’s lips as she opened the cell door.

Stinky Bun rushed into XiaoPu’s arms. "PuPu!"

Seraphine’s gaze swept across the dimly lit cell, "You are Knox, right?"

Knox nodded, still trying to process the whirlwind of events as Seraphine turned her attention to him. "Yes, ma’am," he answered, his voice steady despite the lingering effects of fear.

Seraphine’s expression softened, "We need to get you out of here too." She finally turned around, "Darling?"

"Yes, Sweetie?" Edward took XiaoPu’s hand in his own. He carefully lifted the smaller Knox with his other arm, cradling him against his chest.

As they moved, their path was a zigzag around the forms of kidnappers strewn haphazardly along the corridors—some groaning in their unconsciousness, others eerily silent. There was no blood, though.

Seraphine paused to address the boys. "Does anyone need to use the toilet or anything?" She directed the boys to a small, dilapidated restroom.

"..." Knox and XiaoPu, understanding the practicality of the moment, hurried into the restroom.

"How did you find us so fast?" XiaoPu asked Seraphine, who was waiting for them outside. They barely woke up from the sleeping drug and were already saved.

"Parent’s intuition, perhaps?" Seraphine answered playfully, "We were walking nearby and noticed this usually empty factory had lights on. It piqued our curiosity."

Edward rummaged through a small pile of confiscated items left by the kidnappers and located Knox’s and XiaoPu’s communication devices. He dusted them off and returned them to the boys after they were done using the restrooms. "Here, you can call your parents now," he said.

Knox switched on his phone and quickly called his father, "Yes, the birthday party has ended. My friend has offered to drive me home in his hover car. No, the bodyguard is not with me."

When Daniel picked up, he didn’t sound worried. Knox looked at Seraphine and Edward, "..." The kidnappers probably didn’t even have time to call his father for a ransom.

Daniel’s voice crackled through Knox’s device, his tone stern and laced with anger. "Knox, why didn’t you go with the bodyguard? You know it’s dangerous to take up on a friend’s offer without proper security measures," he scolded.

Knox bit his lip, "I’m sorry, Dad," he managed to say, even as the urge to cry grew stronger with every word of reprimand.

XiaoPu took Knox’s phone when he heard Knox apologizing to his dad, "It’s you who should be apologizing to Knox for not being here!" he began, "If you were as good at hiring people to protect your son as you are at politicking, we wouldn’t be in this mess!" 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Unfazed by the gravity of whom he was addressing, XiaoPu went on, "My name doesn’t matter. You’re lucky we’re not another headline, ’Politician’s Kid Found Dead!’ Maybe that would’ve gotten your attention!"

XiaoPu abruptly stopped, covering his mouth, "Oh crap." He feared his bold words might backfire, bringing unwanted trouble to his parents’ doorstep.

Edward only smirked in response, patting XiaoPu’s back in support while Seraphine pretended to be deaf as she led Stinky Bun and Knox outside.

"Where is my phone?" asked Knox.

"I left it behind. Better safe than sorry — it might be bugged," responded Xiao Pu.

The cold metal and harsh echoes of the factory were soon replaced by the soft sounds of the evening as they emerged outside.

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When Daniel ordered his team to trace Knox’s device, the response was swift — the location was quickly pinpointed to the abandoned factory. Something must have gone really wrong when he tried to reach the bodyguard assigned to Knox, and there was no response.

Upon arrival at the factory, a disarray of unconscious figures scattered throughout the ground. The scene painted a clear picture of a situation that had gone gravely wrong, a stark testament to the danger his son had faced.

Daniel picked up Knox’s phone, "Find my son at all costs!"

"Senator, we’ve found him! He is outside with another group of people!"

Daniel ran to the back of the factory, following his underling to the outskirts of the forest, "..."

With a campfire crackling, a small group was roasting sausage and marshmallows on the skewers.

"It’s hot; be careful," Seraphine cautioned, blowing on the skewer to cool the sausage before carefully offering a bite to the impatient boy on her lap.

"..." Knox heard some rumors about Edward being extremely self-centered, but the man was currently helping him turn his skewers so his sausage wouldn’t get burned.

Seraphine has "found" some packed sausages and marshmallows in the factory, suggesting they make the most of their time while waiting for help to arrive.

So here they were, cooking the enemy’s food.

The traumatic event turned out to be quite an enjoyable and fun one for both boys.