The sense of unease rose again, this time more strongly. Passing quickly through the first floor, Kerr
directly went up the stairs to the platform on the second floor. His heart pounded as his fear almost
unmanned him when he immediately recognized Nicole, who seemed unconscious and was tied up
against a concrete pillar.
"Nicole?" he called on her as he quickened his pace towards her direction. Kerr felt his throat tightened
when she did not respond, and her eyes remained close.
Kim intuitively stood beside them in a protective stance while he swiftly observed their surroundings
vigilantly and not even daring to relax a little.
He knew that the storm was yet to come, thinking further that an ambush was usually imminent in this
kind of scenario. But strangely, it was so tranquil around that it somehow confused him.
"Master Kerr, there seems to be something wrong. We need to get out of here as soon as possible,"
Kim warned him apprehensively. The weird stillness of the place was getting on his nerves.
But Kerr remained mute. Not hearing him respond, Kim swiftly turned around and noticed that Kerr had
been staring at the place behind Nicole, motionless as if transfixed.
Sensing something amiss with Kerr, he purposely eased his way near him. Glancing at the direction of
Kerr's gaze, he couldn't help but roll his eyes in shock.
"Master, you can leave now. I will take Miss Ning out of here safely,"
Kim urged Kerr while cautiously looking at the time bomb in front of him, assessing it mentally. But
apparently, Kerr didn't want to leave yet.
He merely turned a deaf ear to Kim. Crouching down, he calmly stared at the countdown on the time
bomb without a trace of anxiety in his eyes. He figured out that Nicole and the explosive were
connected. And once they cut the rope on her, the bomb would explode.
"Master!"
There was not much time left before the hour hand. Kim looked worried as he fought hard the panic
fueling him. He couldn't let Kerr have an accident, but he also knew that if Nicole hadn't been safe, Kerr
wouldn't have left the vicinity.
"Shut up! Get out of here with all our people!"
Kerr ordered him rather decisively. He knew that Kim had arranged a lot of people around to protect
him, but he wouldn't let these people be buried with him.
Although he felt confident in unraveling and disengaging the bomb, he still needed to devise an "if"
plan.
"Master, my duty is to protect you. I won't leave if you don't,"
Kim insisted. Kerr had carefully nurtured him and trained him to be such a great assistant. So he
couldn't just leave Kerr at this critical moment.
There were only ten minutes left blinking on the screen, and Kerr couldn't afford to waste another
minute on Kim. Instead, he focused his thoughts on removing the bomb. But this seemed not as easy
as he initially thought, so he continued scanning the device above intently. Kerr could discern that a
slight movement would trigger its explosion.
And it was clear to him that his enemy had accurately estimated the time and waited for him to come.
Soon, Nicole regained her consciousness. She frowned as she felt her body sore. Slowly, she opened
her eyes, but her frown deepened while looking at a strange place. With her eyes in utter disbelief,
Nicole attempted to move her arm only to realize that she was tied.
"Don't move!"
Kerr immediately stopped her as soon as he felt her move. He was afraid that his deduction would turn
out to be true that the level of the system of this bomb was the same as he figured out. And that it was
very likely to explode once there was a movement, even a bit of it.
Hearing Kerr's voice, Nicole was startled. She weakly turned her head in confusion and saw sweat
formed on his forehead. Kerr frowned and nervously held her gaze.
"What happened?"
Not noticing the bomb behind her, Nicole asked Kerr curiously. The last thing she was aware of was
that she was in the bedroom and sleeping. How could she get to such a strange environment as soon
as she opened her eyes?
Kerr looked up at her and smiled, seemingly to assure her. He then said, "It's okay. I'll take you out of
here soon. Don't be afraid."
He didn't want to scare her, so he tried to comfort her by avoiding what was relevant and dwelling on
the trivial. But he didn't dare to feel a little composed. He swiftly turned his face and looked at Kim
beside him, and once again urged him,
"Get everyone out of here right now. Kim, this is an order. I can't let these innocent people take risks
with me."
Kim's eyes suddenly reddened when he heard this. Since he was with Kerr, he had no regrets staying
with him. But he understood that even if he could take risks with Kerr,
the people waiting for them outside were all innocent. Kim nodded apologetically at Kerr and started to
head out.
Looking at the way Kerr and Kim behaved, Nicole instinctively knew that there must be something
wrong. Lowering her head, following Kerr's eyes, she saw the time bomb tied to her.
Subconsciously, she almost gasped as she opened her eyes wide. Although she knew nothing, her
gaze landed on the countdown without her realizing it. And from where she was, she could distinctly
see that time was ticking by.
It was already three minutes that had passed since Kerr arrived here, and now, there were only seven
minutes left. And he had no choice but to try his best to keep his hands steady.
"Kerr... What happened?"
Nicole stammered as she tried to calm herself down, but when she realized how grave their situation
was, she couldn't help crying.
"Don't be afraid, Nicole. I'm here with you. I won't let anything happen to you,"
Kerr soothed her. Though he was comforting her, his eyes were fixed on the bomb as his mind
unraveled what he should do. At the passing of time, he still dared not make a move, because once he
committed a mistake, Nicole would be gone, forever.
Nicole decided to listen to Kerr to shrug off the despair slowly kicking in at her, but the ticking sound of
the countdown seemed to drown him out. For her, it was deafening, that she struggled in calming
herself down.
"Kerr, go away. It's dangerous here. Go quickly!"
Nicole pleaded frantically. It suddenly dawned on her that she couldn't escape this. Because if that was
nearly possible, then Kerr had already taken her away from here, and it would never be like this. If she
was doomed, then all she hoped for was to protect Kerr.
"Kerr, I have never told you before... That I'm so glad that I have met you, and have fallen in love with
you. My heart overflows with contentment with everything that we have. Thank you for loving me. Now,
leave me, please. Kerr, help me take care of Jay,"
Nicole kept on insisting as tears welled up and blurred her sight. She smiled as she fought back her
tears as she stubbornly gazed at Kerr and tried to remember his face, memorizing every detail about
him.
In her body and soul, she didn't want to forget Kerr, even if this day meant to be her last time seeing
him.
"Nicole, I will never allow you to leave me. You are destined to be mine. I will not give up on you. Even
if I die, I will still be with you,"
Kerr countered gently, averting his gaze from the bomb. Raising his head, he looked into Nicole's eyes
earnestly as if he was pleading at her.
From the moment he reached her, leaving this place alone never crossed his mind. He vowed that
whether he was dead or alive, he would be with her.
His words filled Nicole's heart with overwhelming happiness that she felt touched, but she never
wanted him to die in vain with her. When Nicole was about to refute, Kerr shut her mouth in the most
outspoken way she could imagine.
He suddenly stood up and kissed her on the lips.
He suddenly stood up and kissed her on the lips.
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