The next day, around 3 PM, Sean stood beneath a large tree across from his college’s entrance. The shadow of the tree concealed most of his body.

A woman in her late twenties stood beside her. "When is that boy going to come out?" she asked while casually chewing bubble gum.

"The classes should end soon, Miss Echo. He’ll be out any minute now."

Echo said nothing further and continued staring toward the college gate.

Two minutes later, the bell rang.

Students immediately began pouring out of the main entrance like bees swarming out of a hive. Sean was about to search through the crowd when his phone suddenly rang.

Without even glancing at the screen, he rejected the call.

A second later, it rang again.

Sean rejected it once more.

Then it rang a third time.

His face darkened. Annoyed, he finally answered and pressed the phone against his ear.

"Motherfucker, don’t you understand I’m busy?" he snapped, trying to keep his voice low. Even so, veins bulged on his forehead from the stress.

However, the moment the person on the other end spoke, Sean’s expression froze.

"Mr. Bowen, you better have a damn good explanation. Those five of my men you hired yesterday? I found all five of their corpses this morning."

Sean’s eyes widened. "What?"

"You heard me. Dead."

Sean immediately replied, "But why are you reporting this to me as if I had anything to do with it? Maybe they offended someone they shouldn’t have and got themselves killed."

"Don’t try to play dumb with me, Mr. Bowen."

The man’s voice turned cold. "The postmortem report says they died yesterday at around ten in the morning. The exact same time they went to pick up the person you wanted crippled. It was either that person’s doing or someone protecting him. Either way, I lost five men. So you’re going to compensate me. Five million." He spoke without stopping.

"And if I don’t?"

"If you don’t, I’ll personally have both your legs broken." The man laughed coldly. "Don’t think that just because I work for your father, you can treat me like a servant."

The call ended.

Sean slowly lowered his phone. His mind was in complete chaos. ’That boy is really this strong? But he didn’t look special at all. I was sure Jenny only agreed to be with him because of his money.’

His brows furrowed. ’Wait... Donald said it could have been him or someone protecting him.’

A realization suddenly struck him. ’Bodyguards! He must have bodyguards!’ His expression darkened.

Beside him, Echo noticed the change immediately. "Don’t forget why we’re here."

Her calm voice sounded like a blade against his throat.

"You can deal with your personal problems later. But right now, focus on the mission." She slowly blew a bubble before continuing. It popped the next second. "If you make a mistake today, your head won’t remain attached to your shoulders."

Cold sweat instantly formed on Sean’s forehead. "Y-Yes, Miss Echo."

He quickly pocketed his phone and focused on the crowd again. ’I will deal with that bastard later on.’

A few minutes passed. Then Sean’s eyes suddenly lit up.

"There!" He pointed toward the college entrance.

Two figures had just walked out together. One of them was Noah.

"It’s him," Sean said immediately. "The boy with the gray hair and silver backpack."

Then his gaze shifted to the person beside Noah.

A girl.

Jenny.

The two were chatting while walking together.

Sean’s expression twisted with rage. ’This bitch.’ His fists clenched. ’I thought I’d treat her like a princess for the rest of her life. But look at her now. Yesterday she was hanging around one guy. Today she’s with another. Just like a whore changing customers.’

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He looked toward Echo.

"Can we take that girl too?"

Echo raised an eyebrow.

"I have some personal matters to settle with her." Sean said.

A mocking smile appeared on Echo’s face.

"Can’t keep it in your pants, huh?"

Sean awkwardly lowered his head.

Echo shrugged. "Whatever." She waved her hand dismissively. "Consider it a bonus payment for your father’s assistance."

Sean’s eyes brightened. "Thank you, Miss Echo."

He looked back at Jenny. A cruel smile appeared on his face. ’I’ll show you today what happens when someone disobeys Sean Bowen.’

Meanwhile...

Noah and Jenny continued walking toward the road.

"You really don’t know where your brother went?" Noah asked.

"I already told you, I don’t." Jenny sighed helplessly. "When I went to wake him up this morning, I found a note on the bedside table."

"What did it say?"

"That he had some work to do outside and it might take a while. He told me not to worry."

Noah frowned. "But what if he’s in danger?"

Jenny rolled her eyes.

"What danger? He promised he wouldn’t go near another gate until he got his hunter license." She waved her hand casually. "Relax."

’Relax?’ Noah nearly panicked. ’Brother told me yesterday that an unidentified helicopter breached Delvan’s airspace.’ His expression became increasingly grim. ’And those two hunters who escaped the hidden realm with us other then Emily Flemming and her brother were both killed. What if that helicopter came for Leon and me? What if he’s already in danger? I need to warn him immediately.’

But before he could say anything...

Two figures suddenly appeared behind them. Two palms struck their necks simultaneously.

Thud!

Their eyes rolled backward. Without even understanding what had happened, both Noah and Jenny collapsed onto the ground unconscious.

Elsewhere, at the same time...

A group of hunters emerged from a dungeon gate.

Moments later, the gate vanished behind them.

"Today’s raid was easy." One hunter stretched lazily.

"Of course it was." Another laughed. "With Captain Neil leading us, what monster would dare cause trouble?"

The group chuckled.

However, after walking only a short distance, they suddenly stopped.

Two people were standing directly in their path.

The hunters immediately became vigilant.

"Who are you?" Neil stepped forward.

Before either stranger could answer, one of the hunters suddenly exclaimed,

"Wait... isn’t that Simon Bowen? The chairman of K.R. International? The company that sells the most high quality weapons to hunters? What is someone like him doing here?"

Simon didn’t even bother looking at the hunter who just spoke about him. His gaze swept across the group before settling on a particular female hunter. Then he looked toward the person standing beside him.

"Delta." He pointed directly at the woman.

"That’s the target. Meridith Solace."