Frowning, Brian surveyed the area with eagle-eyed precision. Thick branches blocked his vision. He
turned around to check on the exhausted Molly and remembered it would be impossible for her to
make it. He cursed inwardly for not considering her state as he planned their way out.
"Let's take a break, okay?" he told Molly. He knew how dangerous it could be to stop in an area where
they were exposed, but Brian was more worried about Molly than he was for himself.
Molly nodded as she was really spent. Her legs were heavy. She slumped into a rock and had no
energy to talk.
Standing beside Molly, Brian continued to inspect their surroundings. He thought Howard was
conceited. But what about himself? Was he not the same way?
All of a sudden, Brian instinctively moved his head as he sensed a bullet whistling towards them. He
dropped down to the ground and pushed Molly to take cover. The first bullet narrowly missed them.
Brian fired his weapon to retaliate. He heard another shot fired from their left side.
Without thinking, Brian jumped to Molly's side to cover her and fired again. He kept Molly pressed close
to him.
Gunshots were still ringing in her ears. Molly was holding her breath, for fear of being exposed to more
gunfire. It was a great relief to feel Brian shielding her with his body. She believed that he would not let
her get hurt. Molly trusted him with her whole heart and knew she could always count on Brian to
protect her.
Meanwhile, Howard, also in night vision goggles, believed he was standing on the spot where Brian
was killed when Mr. Yan started the whole plan for his sister.
"Fire your guns!" he ordered. He was sure of one thing: Brian couldn't take on so many people.
But he was proven wrong and realized he underestimated Brian. His rival ran for cover dragging Molly
with him as Howard's men fired at them from all directions. Exposed to volleys of gunfire, Brian refused
to give up fighting. He took down snipers whenever he had a chance. His flexibility and skills with a
firearm amazed members of Howard's team. When someone appeared too powerful to be human, he
was sure to impress those watching his moves.
He didn't impress Howard but only infuriated him more. As his face darkened, his lips curved upward
into an evil smile. Howard extended his hand to signal one of his men, who immediately handed him a
bullet.
The bullets flying all around them wouldn't stop. Brian clenched his teeth and momentarily hid under a
trunk to keep Molly safe. He shot at two snipers. Brian had no idea how snipers were attacking them.
He looked back and saw they were nearly at the edge of the basin. Any more backward steps meant
falling off a bottomless cliff.
After looking at Molly, Brian frowned and halted at the edge of the basin.
Loading his gun with a single bullet, Howard spoke through the two-way radio and ordered, "Plan B."
"Copy that," his men responded. The second round of the shoot-to-kill battle began, and every sniper
took off their night vision goggles after firing. Howard, meanwhile, trained his gun towards Molly and
fired.
The single shot terrified Brian. By his count, there were only six bullets left from snipers. So the shot he
heard in Molly's direction would be coming from where? Without thinking, he pulled Molly out of the
way to avoid getting hit and fired his weapon. He couldn't step back any further.
By some twist of fate, the two bullets slammed into each other and exploded. Intense light filled the
entire forest from the explosion.
"Aaaahhh!" Molly screamed as she pressed her eyes close.
Already sore from all the crying, the powerful beam hurt her eyes more like a knife slicing through
them.
Brian was stunned as he saw the bullets collide and a loud boom went off. He immediately shut his
eyes, but the strong flash from the blast still managed to blind him momentarily. The night vision
goggles he wore was designed to amplify light in the dark, and this one made by M Country was
equipped with the latest technology, that only intensified the pain in his eyes.
As Brian and Molly shut their eyes instinctively, Howard fired two more shots at them. Two deadly
bullets were headed their way.
From years of training, Brian's right ear picked up the fatal sign and pushed Molly out of harm's way.
But in protecting his beloved Molly, he couldn't dodge the one aimed at him. The bullet slammed into
Brian and sent the lovebirds down the basin.
Amid the chaos, Howard marked the location where the two fell and fired more shots. He quickly
removed his night vision goggles and fired again.
Brian needed a quick counter-attack. He took out a spare clip, threw it high in the air and shot it as he
rolled down the basin while holding Molly. Another explosion followed that had Howard getting down on
the ground.
It was quiet for several minutes. Howard slowly stood up and put his goggles back on, but he was too
late. Brian and Molly - the thorns on his side - were nowhere to be seen.
He stepped forward to inspect the area when all of a sudden, he heard running footsteps coming from
the forest. His face tightened as he screamed, "Enemies!"
His snipers were all shocked by his pronouncement. How could people get up here when their defense
at the bottom of the mountain was so strong?
Tony led Mr. Shen and his men up the mountain in the cover of darkness. He followed the marks along
the path left by Brian intended to help rescue him and Molly. When Tony heard the final explosion, he
knew it was a distress signal from his boss. They fled to the basin without running into enemies. Now,
they confronted Howard and his men. A fierce battle raged between the two teams.
Meanwhile, Brian continued rolling down while holding on to Molly. Brambles slashed through their
coats. The girl had lost consciousness because of the powerful explosion, and Brian kept forcing his
sore eyes to stay open.
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