Chapter 220: No Witnesses Left Behind
The moment the last kidnapper hit the ground, Lucas shot toward Richelle without a second thought.
“Richelle!”
Lucas rushed to her side the instant the last kidnapper fell.
He dropped to one knee beside her.
Richelle lay motionless where she had landed after Lucas had shoved her out of the line of fire.
At that moment, he hadn’t held back at all.
With bullets flying toward them from every direction, he had used all of his strength to throw her to the ground.
The impact had knocked her unconscious instantly.
During the battle, Lucas hadn’t had the luxury of checking on her.
Only now did he finally have the chance.
He quickly pressed two fingers against the side of her neck.
His expression immediately changed.
“…No pulse?”
His heart skipped a beat.
He lowered his ear toward her lips.
There wasn’t even the faintest trace of breathing.
“Damn…”
Lucas frowned deeply.
He hadn’t expected the force of his push to knock her into such a severe state.
Without another second of hesitation, he summoned the Soul Awakening Needle into his hand.
Just as he was about to use it…
His hand suddenly paused.
His sharp eyes swept across the blood-soaked battlefield..
Five dead kidnappers.
Nine unconscious bodyguards scattered deeper in the forest.
The assistant.
Bullet casings.
Blood.
The entire area looked like a war zone.
Lucas frowned.
“No…”
“Not yet.”
Even if he revived Richelle now, she would wake up surrounded by corpses.
The police would inevitably investigate.
Although Lucas had acted entirely in self-defense, proving that against multiple dead armed men would become a lengthy legal battle.
He wasn’t willing to gamble on the investigation reaching the right conclusion.
The fewer questions…
The better.
Lucas made his decision almost instantly.
Without wasting another second, he grabbed two of the Mexican kidnappers and slung one over each shoulder.
Despite their weight, he barely slowed down.
His enhanced physique made carrying them feel no heavier than sacks of sand.
He ran through the forest for nearly twenty minutes until he reached another section of the underground river~far downstream from where he and Kristine had fallen.
Without hesitation…
He hurled both bodies into the raging current.
The powerful water immediately swallowed them whole.
Within seconds…
They had vanished beneath the rushing rapids.
Lucas didn’t stop.
He turned around and sprinted back.
Again.
And again.
Each trip carried another body.
Each return erased another piece of evidence.
His clothes became soaked with sweat.
His breathing grew heavier.
Yet his pace never slowed.
By the time the final corpse disappeared into the underground river, the battlefield had become eerily quiet.
Only scattered bloodstains remained, soon to be washed away by nature itself.
Lucas looked around one final time.
“…Good.”
“No witnesses.”
“No bodies.”
“Nothing left that can’t be explained.”
Only then did he race back toward Richelle.
She was still lying exactly where he had left her.
Her skin had already begun to lose its warmth.
Lucas knelt beside her immediately.
This time…
He didn’t hesitate.
A silver Soul Awakening Needle appeared between his fingers.
With absolute precision, he inserted it into one of her vital acupoints.
The needle glowed faintly.
An invisible current spread throughout Richelle’s body.
Damaged organs began repairing themselves.
Her stalled heartbeat restarted.
Blood flowed once more through her veins.
Every injured cell rapidly regenerated under the system’s mysterious power.
Twenty-two seconds later…
Richelle’s eyelashes trembled.
Her fingers twitched.
Then~
“Gasp!”
She suddenly inhaled a huge breath of fresh air, her chest rising sharply as life returned to her body.
Nearly half a minute later…
Richelle’s eyelashes fluttered.
She slowly opened her eyes, staring blankly at the sky above.
“…Where…”
Her voice was weak.
She looked around in confusion.
The forest.
The sunlight filtering through the trees.
Lucas kneeling beside her.
Everything felt unfamiliar.
Her gaze was vacant, as though she had just woken from a long dream.
Lucas carefully observed her expression.
“…Do you remember what happened?”
Richelle frowned slightly before slowly shaking her head.
“I…”
“My head hurts…”
“I… don’t remember.”
Lucas let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Whether she’d temporarily lost her memory from the impact or simply couldn’t recall what had happened, this was probably for the best.
There were some things…
She was better off not remembering.
After giving her a few simple instructions, Lucas brought her to the edge of the cliff.
“Wait here.”
“I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Richelle looked at the nearly vertical cliff with confusion.
“…You’re going down there?”
Lucas simply nodded.
Before she could ask another question…
He stepped off the edge.
Using the uneven rocks as footholds, he rapidly descended the cliff with incredible speed.
Richelle’s beautiful eyes widened.
“…How is that even possible?”
She could only stare silently as Lucas disappeared beneath the cliff.
…
A few minutes later…
Lucas landed lightly near the underground river.
Across the water…
Kristine was still hiding behind the same large tree exactly where he’d told her to stay.
She hugged her knees tightly, her eyes nervously scanning the surroundings.
Her frightened expression somehow looked…
Adorably pitiful.
Lucas couldn’t help smiling.
“Kristine.”
The familiar voice reached her ears.
She immediately poked her head out from behind the tree.
The moment she saw Lucas…
Her eyes instantly lit up.
“Lucas!”
Without thinking, she sprinted toward him.
She threw herself into his arms, wrapping both arms tightly around his waist.
“I knew you’d come back!”
“I knew you wouldn’t leave me behind!”
Lucas chuckled and gently patted her back.
“I told you I’d come back.”
“Didn’t I?”
Kristine nodded repeatedly.
But after only a few seconds…
Her smile slowly disappeared.
She suddenly noticed something strange.
A faint metallic smell lingered around Lucas.
Her gaze slowly dropped.
His clothes…
Were stained with blood.
Large patches of dark red covered his shirt and sleeves.
Kristine instinctively loosened her grip and took half a step backward.
Her face gradually turned pale.
Lucas noticed the change immediately.
“…What’s wrong?”
Kristine swallowed nervously.
“L-Lucas…”
“W-Why…”
“Why is there so much blood on your clothes…?”
Lucas froze for the briefest moment.
His mind immediately began searching for an explanation.
After only a second, he answered calmly.
“Nothing serious.”
“On my way back, I ran into a wild animal.”
“It attacked me.”
“I had to fight it off.”
He casually dusted off his sleeve.
“It’s the animal’s blood.”
“I’m fine.”
Kristine stared at him for several seconds before carefully looking him over from head to toe.
Seeing that Lucas didn’t appear injured…
She finally let out a relieved sigh.
“…You scared me.”
Lucas smiled.
“I’m tougher than I look.”
“Come on.”
“We’re going home.”
Kristine nodded obediently.
The two crossed the underground river once more.
When they reached the base of the cliff, Lucas crouched down.
“Get on.”
Kristine blinked.
“…Again?”
Lucas nodded.
“You won’t be able to climb this.”
“I’ll carry you.”
Kristine hesitated for a long while.
“…I’ll be too heavy…”
Lucas couldn’t help laughing.
“You’ve said that three times already.”
After several more seconds of persuasion…
Kristine finally blushed and slowly climbed onto his back.
She wrapped her arms around his neck carefully.
Lucas adjusted her position securely before looking up at the towering cliff.
“Hold on tight.”
“And don’t look down.”
Kristine nodded obediently.
“…Okay.”
Lucas began climbing.
His fingers dug firmly into the cracks between the rocks while his feet found tiny footholds with astonishing precision.
With the system enhancing every part of his body, the seemingly impossible climb looked almost effortless.
Halfway up…
Curiosity got the better of Kristine.
Just for a second…
She peeked over Lucas’s shoulder.
The sight below instantly drained all the color from her face.
The cliff dropped almost straight down.
The underground river looked no wider than a ribbon.
The tree that had saved their lives the night before now appeared no bigger than a toothpick.
One mistake…
One loose handhold…
And they would plunge hundreds of feet to their deaths.
“Ah…!”
Kristine immediately squeezed her eyes shut.
She buried her face against Lucas’s shoulder and didn’t dare look again.
Lucas laughed softly.
“I told you not to look.”
“I know…”
Her voice trembled.
“I won’t do it again…”
A few minutes later…
Lucas climbed onto the top of the cliff without incident.
Not far away, Richelle was still standing exactly where he’d left her.
When she saw Lucas carrying another beautiful young woman up an almost vertical cliff…
She stood frozen.
The scene completely shattered her understanding of what an ordinary person was capable of.
“…Who…”
“…are you?”
She whispered unconsciously.
Lucas simply tapped Kristine’s arm.
“We’re here.”
“You can get down now.”
Kristine climbed off his back, though her legs were still slightly shaky.
Lucas rolled his shoulders.
For the first time that day…
He finally felt a trace of exhaustion.
Between the battles…
The chase…
The cliff climbing…
And everything else that had happened since dawn…
Even with the system strengthening his body, the continuous strain had begun to catch up with him.
“Let’s keep moving.”
“We’re almost out.”
The three continued walking through the forest.
After nearly another hour…
Voices echoed through the trees.
“Chairman!”
“Chairman Lucas!”
Lucas looked up.
Not far ahead…
Lilith and dozens of Lanai Group security personnel were spreading out through the forest, desperately searching every direction.
At the front of the group…
Lilith’s anxious expression instantly transformed into overwhelming relief the moment she saw him.