Chapter 6 - They Stole My Wife. I Took Their Empire.

Flames shot into the sky above Petro Estate, and the explosions were deafening.

You could see it clearly from three miles away.

The elite unit had five vehicles, twenty men each.

But under Leo's relentless fire, three of those vehicles had already been blown apart.

It wasn't that the elite soldiers were stupid — they simply never imagined something like this could happen inside Petro Estate.

They never even made it to the battlefield before losing more than half their men.

The last two vehicles stopped advancing. Every remaining soldier jumped out and used the cars as cover, slowly pushing forward.

But the thick smoke, flames, and wreckage from the burning vehicles had already become the best cover of all.

Leo charged into the inferno, gun in hand.

BOOM —

Two more massive explosions.

The last two military vehicles blew up one after another. Half of Petro Estate turned into a sea of fire — brutal and devastating in the dead of night.

Natasha was hiding in the underground lab. She could feel the violent tremors shaking the ground above her.

Every researcher in the lab stopped what they were doing and moved to the doorway, staring at the woman on the other side with confused looks on their faces.

"Who are you?" one researcher worked up the nerve to ask.

Natasha's expression hardened. She raised her gun at the group. "Nobody move!"

They immediately threw their hands up in a panic. "Please — don't kill us!"

"Relax. I'm not going to kill you. I just need somewhere to lay low for a bit."

Time passed.

Ten minutes?

Twenty?

Natasha had lost track.

Only when everything outside went completely quiet did she finally open the door to the underground lab, her heart still uneasy.

The first thing she saw was rolling black smoke. Then a sharp smell hit her — blood mixed with gunpowder.

Natasha waved a hand in front of her face, frowned, and stepped out of the basement.

Behind her, the researchers followed in stunned silence.

"Oh my God — what happened?"

"Why are there so many bodies?"

"Who did this?"

The ground outside the basement door was covered with the bodies of patrol members, scattered in every direction.

In the distance, the military vehicles had been burned down to smoldering husks.

Around them lay the bodies of the elite soldiers — guns, blood, and severed limbs spread across the ground.

The blood had pooled together, soaking the bodies where they lay.

It was absolutely horrific.

"My God!"

The researchers stood there, completely speechless.

Even Natasha froze at the sight of the carnage.

After a long moment, she seemed to come back to herself and murmured, "Where's Leo? Leo! Leo!"

As if he'd heard her.

From behind the wreckage of one of the military vehicles straight ahead, a figure staggered out — a man in shredded clothes, drenched head to toe in blood, an AK in his hand. But his eyes were burning bright.

"Natasha."

Natasha's eyes widened. She stepped forward eagerly. "Leo? Is that you?"

The blood-soaked figure nodded. And the first thing he asked about was the antidote.

"Do you still have it?"

"Yes!"

"Good. Let's go."

Natasha opened her mouth, stunned for a moment, then asked, "What about them?"

"They're all here." Leo glanced at the bodies on the ground, his voice calm.

"You — you did this alone? All of them — they're all..."

She looked around quickly. There were at least a hundred bodies, maybe more.

Leo. Alone.

Killed over a hundred people.

It was unbelievable.

"You're... you're really..."

Natasha stood there expressionless for a long moment, then slowly raised her thumb.

"You're an absolute monster."

The researchers didn't dare say a word or get in their way.

Natasha followed Leo to her refrigerated transport van. Leo wiped the blood off himself as best he could and climbed into the driver's seat.

Now that he had the antidote, he wasn't wasting another second. He floored the gas, the engine roaring like a beast, and the van tore out of Petro Estate.

The van headed north.

Along the way, passing through Queens, Leo pulled over and let Natasha out.

Then he kept going north and soon reached Manhattan, stopping in front of a gun club called Eagle.

This was where he and Isabella had agreed to meet.

"Quentin! Open up! It's me!"

Leo pounded hard on the heavy iron door.

A moment later, there was movement inside.

The door cracked open, and a shaggy head poked out.

It was Quentin.

Quentin was a man in his sixties, with a full beard and slightly curly hair.

"Leo, it's really you? I heard you were back, but I could barely believe it."

This wasn't the time for catching up.

Leo asked urgently, "Are my wife and daughter here?"

Quentin hesitated, then nodded. "They came, but..."

"Tell me inside."

Leo stepped into the room.

In the dim light, Emily was lying on the couch.

Quentin had already given her an injection to slow the neurotoxin.

But she was still very weak — pale, with no color in her face at all.

"Dad..."

When she saw Leo, a flicker of joy crossed her eyes.

"Emily! I'm here!"

Leo quickly took out the antidote and had Quentin inject it.

He gently stroked Emily's forehead and smoothed her hair.

"Emily, don't be scared. You're going to be okay."

"I know."

Emily was strong.

When Quentin gave her the injection, she clenched her teeth and didn't make a sound — so brave it was heartbreaking.

"There. It's done, sweetheart."

Leo held Emily and spoke softly. "You're going to be fine."

Then he looked around the room.

"Emily, where's your mom?"

"Mom, she..."

Emily's eyes filled with tears, and she started to cry.

"Mom was taken."

"What did you say?"

Leo's face went tense. "Taken by who? When did this happen?"

Quentin said, "The girl came alone. There was no one else with her when she arrived."

Leo looked confused. He watched Emily's red-rimmed eyes and asked gently, "Emily, don't be scared. Tell me — what happened?"

Emily held back her tears and spoke in broken pieces. "Mom and I ran into a group of people on the way here. They kept chasing us. Mom wanted to cover for me, so she pulled over and told me to hide by the road. Then she drove off to lead them away. I searched for a long time before I found this place."

Emily finally couldn't hold it in anymore and burst into tears. "Then a car drove past me, and I saw Mom inside — she'd been knocked out. Dad, am I useless? I couldn't do anything."

Leo pulled Emily into a tight hug. "No. Emily, you did the right thing. The fact that you found this place on your own means you're smart, and strong, and brave. But do you remember anything about those people — what they looked like?"