THE BLACK SWAN BEHIND (BEAUTY OF FIRE) - Chapter 273
273 Trash Man
Thanks to Britneyâs help, Nicko managed to get rid of the heavy door from his body. The man angrily threw the door beside his lying body.
He was still lying on his back breathlessly once he was freed. His energy was completely drained just because of one door. That was embarrassing.
âAre you okay?â Britney asked breathlessly, kneeling beside Nicko who was still on his back with his whole face drenched in sweat.
Then the man nodded briefly. âYes. So, they ran away, huh? Of course, they did,â he said as he sat up and looked around. âThose cowards…â
âThanks for saving me. That door is so heavy. I donât know what would have happened if I had been there alone,â Britney said.
Nicko shook his head. âDonât worry about it. Weâd better get back to the front to help the others,â
Britney nodded as she helped him to his feet. Then the two of them rushed back to the big battle arena in front.
âWhatâs your name?â Nicko asked in their brisk pace.
âYou can call me BR,â Britney replied.
…..
Nicko chuckled. âAn abbreviated name, huh? Of course you all keep your identity down to the very detail.â
âOur identities are very important. We donât want our private lives to be disturbed by meddling in this dark world. I hope you understand.â
âI do,â Nicko said.
**
The battle was getting rougher and rougher. Draggerâs men were indeed strong, thus making the Black Swan group start to be overwhelmed.
Those girls had been fighting since a few hours ago. This was their 2nd round fight. And their stamina had started to erode.
Fortunately, just when reinforcements were really needed, Troy and Ian finally arrived. Jita Kyoeiâs strongest core team, with a few of their members, came like a wave that rushed over all the remaining Dragger and Beast Empire members.
The arrival of the reinforcements made all the members of the Black Swan, who had felt like dying, finally able to heave a sigh of relief. Like watching a light creep in amid the enveloping darkness, Jita Kyoei was a saviour soldier.
The arrival of Jita Kyoei made Derric and RB, who had been just hiding and watching from the car, panic. Now, the number of members of the two opposing groups had finally become quite fair.
âThis is terrible! We might lose!â Derric said, looking out the window.
âWhereâs Juan? Why canât we get in touch with him?â RB asked.
Derric shook his head. âLastly, he was in the panic room. I donât know why my calls are no longer getting to his phone. This also happens to the heads of the transit warehouses,â
âIt must have been those bastards who did it,â RB murmured.
âWe have to get inside before itâs too late. We can still salvage the captivesâ documents to sell to Dragger?â Derric asked.
RB nodded. âThe captives have been released. At least, we can still look for them again. Thereâs no way theyâll escape too far in just a few days,â
âLetâs take the back door,â Derric said.
There was a small locked door behind the location of the Beast Empireâs main warehouse. The door was made of iron bars like a prison cell and was locked using a manual system and not connected to the Smart Home system. Because of that, the door was very rarely used so far.
Wherever Derric went, he would always carry a spare bundle of keys to all his warehouses and base. With one of those keys, he opened the back door and sneaked inside.
âI canât believe I have to sneak inside my own property. They have to pay for this.â Derric muttered in annoyance, walking into the building.
Because the battle took place outside the warehouse building, the situation inside was quiet. The chaotic conditions of the warehouse due to the early battle made Derric drown in anger.
The man just kept walking towards one of the cell wards which was the way to the hiding room.
Finally, they came to an open cell door and went inside. Derric and RB looked up and found that the door to the hiding room could not be opened from the outside.
âJUAN! Itâs me, Derric!â
Although there had been no response, after several times shouting and throwing things at the ceiling, the door above finally opened.
âDerric!â Juan said as soon as he opened the door and lowered the ladder that was connected to the door.
âAre all the documents still there?â Derric asked.
âYes,â Juan answered. âHow are things outside?â he asked, poking his head down.
Derric shook his head. âThis is bad news, Juan. Looks like weâre about to lose. Weâd better get everything important out of here.â
âIâve packed things up. We can escape immediately,â
Then, Derric and RB started climbing the ladder that Juan had lowered.
âAre you good?â RB asked Juan.
Juan nodded, âI am. I still managed to escape in time, but suddenly my cell phone couldnât be used. My signal disappeared completely,â
âThatâs because we installed a signal jamming device,â
The three men turned their heads in shock towards the bars of the cell door.
Unbeknownst to them, four men were already in the cell room and closed the door. It was Emma, ??Rachel, Calvin, and Nicko.
Previously, when Emma and Rachel left the cell room, they didnât just leave like that. Emma had purposely attached the jamming device Kathy had given her to the wall of the room because she knew that Juan had to communicate with Derric.
In addition, Emma also asked Kathy to keep guarding the cell door to see if Juan would get out of there.
Before the ladder was pulled up again, Calvin and Nicko immediately ran to hold it, while Emma and Rachel pulled Derric and RB down the ladder they had not finished climbing.
âYou guys have nowhere to run. Itâs over,â Emma said with a big smile behind her mask.
Nicko pulled the cable ties out of the back pocket of his pants and threw them at Emma.
Emma caught the clear package, and then forced Derric to sit on the floor. Then, she tied both of the manâs wrists.
âYouâve already released all our workers. What exactly do you want now?!â Derric exclaimed, watching his subordinates being tied up just like himself.
âWorkers? You mean captives?â Emma rose from her crouched position and walked in front of Derric. The dark aura that burst from her body felt terrifying.
âIf you just want to save those people, thereâs no need to destroy all my property! You ruined my business without a trace. Why do you have the heart to do that?! What did I do wrong to you?!â Derric asked in a trembling voice.
The question infuriated Emma. She swiftly kicked one of the shoulders of the man sitting in front of her, and pressed it with the soles of her shoe firmly, so that Derricâs back pressed against the wall behind him.
âYou idiot! You really think you can say something like that after all the cruel things youâve done to all innocent people? Do you have to hurt me directly so I can do the same to you? Isnât it exactly your purpose? You hurt weak people because you know they can never avenge you?â Emma said.
Then she chuckled sarcastically. âAll this time, youâve always looked down on women. You think of them as an object that can give you satisfaction as well as a mine of money.
You feel like youâre always higher than them just because youâre a man with a trashy brain. You are so condescending to women as if you were born from the dirt like a potato. Do you even have a brain?!â Emma continued before hitting the man on the head in annoyance.
Derrick was silent. While the two subordinates who sat beside him also could only look down. They knew they were wrong. However, all this time, they chose to be wrong, as long as they could enjoy a luxurious life. They would never care for the people they had hurt.
âThe men who feel so superior over women are actually this weak, while your men are fighting outside and you are hiding here. You canât fight back in the slightest when captured. Can you be called men? â Emma chuckled before getting off her foot roughly.
Then, she turned to Nicko. âPlease take care of them. Iâm going to dismantle the room,â
Emma, ??Rachel, and Calvin went up the ladder which led them to a closed room. There were no other doors or windows.
In the room, there were several chests containing packaged food and drinks. It turned out to be a âPanic Roomâ as Kathy had said. However, there was an iron chest of drawers which contained several documents.
Emma smiled with satisfaction when she found that it was the Beast Empireâs land and building documents. Upon further inspection, it turned out that the drawer was where Derric kept all his asset documents.
Even though she found the treasure, Emma didnât feel relieved yet because what she had been looking for in the first place, had still not been found. The captivesâ data documents were not there.
Then, Emma came out of the room. She returned to Derric who looked very frustrated lamenting his fate.
âWhere do you keep all the captive documents?â
But Derric smiled faintly. âYou think Iâll tell you?â