Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  After Cheng Anya and Ye Chen soaked themselves in the hot spring for a while, they went onshore. As the youth had searched this area, they would not be returning to it anytime soon. Hence, the area was safe for now. Third Young Master Ye, who was not by any means an idle person, could naturally sense movement. Cheng Anya, after spending some time in the hot spring, was dazed by the heat. She had to lie down under the sun for a while before she regained her energy.

  Third Young Master Ye took out a small, collapsible telescope and extended it. There was a parking apron at the foot of the hill.

  “Your idea is simply madness,” Cheng Anya said as she basked in the sun, her clothes almost dry. With some energy, Cheng Anya followed his gaze and looked downward. As they were halfway up the hill, they could clearly see the buildings below.

  Third Young Master Ye looked at the map more clearly and plainly said, “Do you think it’s impossible?”


  Cheng Anya nodded her head honestly. “One of the windows in my room faces this helipad, and it’s very well-guarded. You will not be able to even steal an aircraft. You also saw how deadly those EM waves were that day. If the aircraft is in flight and shot down, I want to at least die with my body intact.”


  Third Young Master Ye smiled and mused. “That will do too. It will save the cost of cremating our bodies, and the ashes are directly scattered over the ocean. How free, and how good is that.”


  “You and your jinxed mouth! I cannot die in peace until I see my darling child!” Cheng Anya fiercely replied as she gritted her teeth. Third Young Master Ye suddenly fell silent, and Cheng Anya, too, was stunned.

  From the beginning until now, they were able to deftly avoid the topic about Ning Ning as raising it would hurt feelings. Since they did not know where Ning Ning was imprisoned now, Cheng Anya was extremely worried from the onset. As she had no better solution, she could only quietly bear.

  When this topic was raised, they could not help but recall the photograph of their bloodied son. As Cheng Anya remained silent, Third Young Master Ye clenched his fists tightly to the point he almost crushed his binoculars.

  “We will find him,” Third Young Master Ye said decisively. “Our son will be fine. Do not worry.”


  Third Young Master Ye lightly tapped Cheng Anya’s shoulders. He could only console her that way, and he did not know whether he was consoling himself or her. If he could not even console himself, how could he even console Cheng Anya?

  Fearing that Ning Ning would be in the slightest danger, he thought about Ning Ning every moment.

  “Is there even any information from the terrorists’?” Cheng Anya asked. “You came over from Italy, didn’t you? Did they pass you any information?”


  She was a little panicky and Third Young Master Ye clearly understood that. He did not want to lie to her and shook her head. “Chu Li said that there is no information as of now. His satellites did not locate anybody, and both the terrorists’ and The Dragon Gate are all-out searching for him. I believe that Ning Ning will be fine.”


  She could only believe that for now.

  “Okay, that’s apparently it so far.” Cheng Anya looked at the blue sky and the white clouds that so naturally floated freely above them. They, on the other hand, were trapped on the island with no escape.

  Third Young Master Ye suddenly tucked his lips as a hint of danger flashed across his eyes. “Louis has mobilized helicopters to search for us.”


  At the foot of the cliff, two helicopters took off. Third Young Master Ye pulled Cheng Anya and hid in one of the rock caverns. As Third Young Master Ye had surveyed the area under the cloak of darkness last night, he was still relatively familiar with the area. He quickly brought Cheng Anya to hide in a little cave.

  Cheng Anya had to be extremely careful and remember not to have any skin-to-skin contact with him. The helicopter hovered above their heads for a moment before slowly flying away. Cheng Anya heaved a sigh of relief.

  “With such a large cliff face, Louis would not be able to easily locate a person,” Third Young Master Ye said. “Even if the helicopters are using IR to search for us, any cover will render us invisible to them.”


  “Are you able to steal his aircraft?” Cheng Anya asked.

  “Wait until night falls and you will know,” Third Young Master Ye said in a cryptic manner as viciousness glinted in his gaze. His delicate features were terrifyingly sinister and carried an aura of dominance.

  He was extremely confident.

  Suddenly, a burst of bullets zipped past them and there were a few agonizing screams not too far away. While Cheng Anya was trembling in shock, Third Young Master Ye remained stoic. Cheng Anya did not dare to ask anything, and it was clear a moment later that Third Young Master Ye had no intention to leave.

  As she sat on the rock and waited, there were a few more hours until nightfall. She was hoping that there would be no major changes in these few hours.

  “Ah Chen, I am starting to miss City A a little.” She missed home, their warm home. She had been away from home for almost half a month. She terribly missed it after years of torture, worry, fear, desperation, and pleading.

  She experienced emotions she never had in her twenty-over years in the past few days. She then realized that their days living in City A were, in comparison, so much more comfortable and fortunate. She then had Third Young Master Ye’s roguish streaks and Ning Ning’s elegant smile.

  There was elegant music that flowed, and she did not know when such days would return. She also did not know whether she would return to the happy and fortunate days of yesterday.

  She realized that ‘tomorrow’ was a tad extravagant.

  She did not even dare to think about the future, deeply fearing that a good future that she had planned would be disrupted by changes that caught her off guard.

  “I miss home too,” Ye Chen said. He missed home even more than her.

  “I used to feel that summer in City A was really hot like a steamer—so hot and stuffy. Not to mention how noisy City A’s streets are, the people, cars, skyscrapers—it was so noisy! But after comparing this hellhole to City A, City A is paradise. How could I not miss it? As to the standard of living, I guess it depends on what you make reference to. It seems like I enjoy the air in City A more than I expected, but whether I could get back there is another question.” Cheng Anya mused.

  “What nonsense is that!” Third Young Master Ye barked and looked at her dangerously. “Shut up. I do not want to hear a killjoy.”


  “You even said that planes exploding would help you save on the cremation, so why couldn’t I?” Cheng Anya rebutted unhappily. The two of them were not too different, and nobody was clearly over the other.

  But Third Young Master Ye, being overbearing, practiced double standards.

  “When men speak, what do women get from learning them?” Third Young Master Ye rebutted, brimming with reason while he looked sideways at Cheng Anya. His expression clearly implied, “I am a man, and you are a woman. We are not the same.”


  Cheng Anya kicked him and said, “Are you discriminating against women? When men speak, why can’t women learn?”


  “I do not discriminate against women, but you,” Third Young Master Ye coldly replied. “If you say that I am boxing, why don’t you learn too?”


  “If I can give birth to Ning Ning, why can’t you learn it too?”


  Third Young Master Ye was stunned into silence.

  What kind of awful analogy was that!

  The two of them looked at each other and smiled. Bickering with each other was indeed their pastime. As they went to-and-fro softly and chatted, Third Young Master Ye took out a bar of chocolate wrapped in baking paper for Cheng Anya when she was famished.

  As nightfall quickly came, the people who came up searching for them left while the helicopters hovered behind the mountain. Cheng Anya, afraid of being discovered, broke out in cold sweat each time. Nothing came to pass.

  Louis was looking for them especially urgently, and they could hear the occasional gunshot in the cave, the howls of wolfhounds, and the cursing of men. The whirring of aircraft went on for hours without ceasing. Louis was surely hell-bent on finding them.

  To know that Third Young Master Ye was on the island yet underneath his nose, he could not bear to give up this opportunity to locate him.

  This depended on which of the two could pull off better moves.

  In terms of equipment, Third Young Master Ye was clearly disadvantaged.

  Once he was sure that nobody was around them, Third Young Master Ye then came out of the cave. Cheng Anya naturally did not stay in the cave and followed him out. As lights were ablaze in the mansions below the hill, the whirring of helicopters did not cease.

  The moon, as it rose from the surface of the sea, seemed extremely cold. The night sky was especially dark. The lone stars in the sky seemed somewhat desolate.

  “Is it going to begin?” Cheng Anya asked.

  Third Young Master Ye smiled and said, “Anya, let’s watch a massive bonfire.”


  As he finished speaking, and before Cheng Anya had a chance to ask, the woods they had passed through earlier was ablaze. The fire was not large, but the direction of the wind accelerated the flames and they quickly spread throughout the woods.

  Over ten incendiary bombs were thrown at different parts of the forest at the same time. A huge boom was heard, accompanied by massive fires. The fires burned even more intensely and strongly.

  Chaos ensued at the foot of the hill. The woods covered most of the back of the mountain. The fire carried by the winds quickly spread across the whole island. As Cheng Anya saw this moment, she felt that the ferocity of the gang was nothing short of scorched earth.

  “Are you going to raze the entire island to the ground?” Cheng Anya was shocked and uncertain. This was over the top. How could the few of them start such a huge fire?

  “Why not?” Third Young Master Ye coldly smiled.

  On the island, chaos ensued. Due to the direction of the wind, the huge fire rapidly spread and engulfed the entire woods in a sea of fire. Tongues of flames leaped like an avalanche toward the buildings.

  In the observation room, Louis’ emerald gaze reflected the redness of the fire. The blending of red and green was terrifying. He had indeed underestimated Third Young Master Ye. To think that a few people could start a fire that engulfed the entire woods.

  With the weather in their favor, things were proceeding as they had wished. This was also coincidental, given that the southeastern wind blew today. Even heaven was helping him, that darn lucky fellow.

  “Master, what do we do?” a person in black asked calmly. As the fire was too large to be put out, all of the buildings on the island would be incinerated without a doubt.

  “Did you find them?” Louis asked calmly despite sounding cold and harsh with a sinister gaze. “These useless bumpkins!”


  Louis, out of patience, was clearly enraged.

  The man in black quietly received his reprimand and did not talk back. He stood as still as a statue.

  “They must be in the mountains behind. Capture them at all costs. Save Third Young Master Ye and Cheng Anya, and terminate the rest of them!” Louis said harshly.

  The man acknowledged and walked out respectfully.

  Louis’ sinister gaze was terrifying and he toyed with his knuckles. “Ye Chen, you are not going to get away so easily.”


  In the room, a sinister chill that could not be dispersed from the heat of the fire swept across the room.

  Suddenly, a huge explosion was heard. A demolition charge hit the mansion where Cheng Anya had stayed, causing the mansion to collapse. As this had happened too suddenly, the men amidst the chaos had no time to respond. When they managed to respond, a second demolition charge hit the mansion and leveled it.

  Louis felt the ground shake and the house shudder. The portraits on the wall dropped off and the antiques fell off and cracked. What followed was a violent explosion that extinguished all the lights. All the surveillance footage turned dark and nothing was displayed. While everybody else was in shock, Louis was raging.

  “Kill them all!”


  Murderous intent emanated, and explosions bloomed as the mafia sprayed in the direction the demolition charges flew from. A moment later, somebody in the dark fired his assault rifle into the chaotic crowd on the island.

  Screams were heard.

  “Master, we cannot stay in the house anymore for it is extremely dangerous,” the man from earlier returned and said. Louis walked out without saying a word and calmly instructed, “Repair the electrical circuits, now!”


  “Yes, somebody is already on it,” the man in black said.

  Louis was utterly enraged. Third Young Master Ye, how dare you bring six of them to light my men up. Very well then. “Quickly spread the word. Release poisonous gas on the hill behind.”


  “On it!”


  Once the man received his orders, he quickly left to give instructions.

  Not too long later, a shell burning with white smoke was launched into the hill behind. As white smoke spread, Louis saw the trajectory of the toxin shell and coldly smiled. He should have done this long ago.

  “Ye Chen, I am sure that will force you down the hill.”


  “Master, the fire has reached the parking apron,” a man quickly reported. With the extreme chaos on the island, along with the merciless fire roiling, attacks came from unknown places across the island.

  With the enemy in the shadows, the Mafia suffered heavy losses.

  But they must not lose any of their transportation.

  “Send a few to start up the aircraft. Helicopters, fighters—leave nothing behind.” Louis calmly instructed as he looked at the hill behind attentively. After that man backed off, he beckoned a few others toward him and ordered, “Search the mountains.”


  “On it!”


  At this moment, all the helicopters and military fighters on the island were started up.