Chapter 264 - 264: Not Leaving Without You

"Move to the middle deck! The real Catseye appeared!"

The Dark Knight's men were talking about the sudden appearance of the real Catseye. They just received an order to proceed immediately at the middle deck as a back-up.

Their main goal tonight was to kill Catseye. So the men who were chasing after Erick's team retreated as soon as they heard the order.

The other members of the joint task force also heard those conversations. They were also surprised to learn that the real Catseye was there.

"So Catseye is with us tonight. Does it mean Catseye is the one providing us support during this mission?" June blurted out as he watched Dark Knight's men running away from their location.

"Even I couldn't believe it. Is this really happening? Catseye is helping us." Allen said as he pondered.

Carl couldn't help himself but frown. "If that is the case then it is possible that what we heard just a while ago regarding Catseye and Chief Lee might be true."

"Maybe… because if they have no connection then there's no reason for Catseye to do this." Allen supported Carl's assumption.

"D*mn! Where are they? Captain, Chief Lee, and Bryan… you must hurry and come back. We should grab this opportunity to escape." June said anxiously.

Meanwhile, Brother Yan and Brother Lu were also having a conversation regarding the current situation.

"Hey, Brother Yan! Why do you think they are still here? They should leave already." Lu asked Yan as he stared at the ferry boat of the Joint Task Force.

"It looks like they are still waiting for others to come." Yan simply replied to him.

"Brother Yan, who's Catseye? They said the real Catseye already appeared. Is the guy who is wearing all black an impostor?" Lu asked him again curiously.

"I have no idea. But Lady Boss had mentioned that after securing the hostages, she would try to lure our enemies and to divert their attention so that these people will be able to escape successfully." Yan said as he answered Lu's inquiry.

"Brother Yan, should we go back there? I think Lady Boss might need our help." Lu said with his concerned voice.

Yan shook his head. "No! We should stay here and guard them. This is the task given to us by Lady Boss."

Yan could see the hesitation in Lu's eyes after he said those things to him. He could tell that Lu was very concerned about Elle and he was eager to help her.

He heaved a deep sigh and said, "Don't worry. Master Phantom and Brother Yu are there to assist Lady Boss. They will protect her and won't let anything bad happen to her."

"But I am also worried about Master Phantom. He is not in good condition. Do you think we did the right thing by hiding this to Lady Boss? What if he suddenly collapsed?"

Brother Yan couldn't refute that. Even he was not sure about this. They tried to convince Phantom to stay behind and just let them do this but he refused and insisted on doing this mission.

After much thought and careful consideration, Brother Yan made his decision.

"Okay, Lu. Go back there and help them. Protect Master Phantom and our Lady Boss. I will stay here to keep guarding them."

Lu's face brightened up after he heard Yan's order. He nodded frantically and left immediately after thanking him. He was afraid that Brother Yan might change his mind so he didn't waste any more time as he proceeded to the middle deck.

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*** At the Middle Deck ***

Gunshots could be heard around the area. After Kevin fired in Elle's direction the other men also started shooting her. Fortunately, Elle was fast enough to react. 

She flipped over and rolled down to dodge the bullets. She also picked her gun and exchanged shots with the enemies. Brother Yu was there to assist her. He took care of the rest as he shot them one after another.

"Brother, do something. There is also another sniper hiding." Kelsy said. 

"Let the Dark Knight's men handle that sniper. Our main target is Catseye." Kevin simply replied.

Other back-ups of Dark Knight were kept on coming in the middle deck. There were still a lot of them. Upon seeing that, Brother Yu contacted Elle once again.

"Lady Boss. Are you okay? Do you still have enough bullets?"

With that Elle checked her ammunition. Seeing the increasing number of enemies appearing in front of them, she was not sure if her bullets could still hold for so long.

"Don't worry. Ten minutes from now I will activate Code B. Just wanna make sure first that the Task Force members escape successfully."

As the shooting continues, many Dark Knight's men were killed but at the same time, Elle's gun had no more bullets left. She stopped shooting and just remained hiding on the wall.

Kevin and Kelsy also noticed that Catseye had stopped firing at them. They exchanged glances with one another as a meaningful smile appeared on their faces.

They signal the other men to go and approach Catseye in her hiding spot. They wanted to confirm their assumption. It looked like she couldn't fight back.

As seconds passed by, they could feel the heavy tension in the air. The men remained alert and vigilant. They also felt nervous as they took their steps going to Catseye's location.

"D*mn. They are coming this way." Elle mumbled as she picked up her dagger.

Just when they were one meter away from her hiding spot, they heard another gunshot. They were not able to go near her as some people started to fire at them.

Master Phantom just arrived but someone's presence made Elle startle in her spot.

"What the hell is he doing here? He is supposed to escape now together with his team." Elle said as she saw Erick's figure appeared in front of her, firing at the men who tried to come near her hiding spot.

Elle immediately talked to Erick through their communication device.

"Why are you still here? You should leave already!" Elle said to him firmly. There was a hint of annoyance and helplessness in her voice.

"I can't leave you here alone. We will escape together." Erick insisted.

Seconds later, Elle's eyes widened when another figure appeared beside Erick. It was Bryan. Both Elle and Erick were surprised to see him. 

"What are you doing here?" 

"What are you doing here?" 

They asked Bryan at the same time.

Bryan smiled sheepishly before he replied, "If you are here to protect Elle, then I am here to protect you, Erick. That's my main role."

Elle just shook her head as she stared at the two men helplessly. 'What am I going to do with these two?'

Elle heaved a sigh of defeat. At first, she planned to finish this duel with the Azumi Twins but since Erick and Bryan refused to leave without her then she had no choice but to secure their safety first.

"Ten minutes. Let's leave and escape this place together." Elle said to them.

Both Bryan and Erick nodded in agreement.

Elle also saw Phantom above them as he took cover for them. She contacted him again for the change of plan.

"Master, let's escape now. I will activate also the code B." 

"Alright. Got it, dear. Let's move quickly!" Phantom responded to her.

The exchange of shots between the two opposing sides continued in the middle deck. Elle was also trying her best to run towards Erick and Bryan as they covered for her. 

Kevin and Kelsy could somehow understand what Erick's team was trying to do here. They would escape together with Catseye that's why they came back. They already confirmed that Catseye had no more bullets left. They should grab this opportunity to attack her.

It did not take long when the two of them charged toward her direction. They should not miss this chance to kill her.

Elle was able to go near Erick's location. Phantom gave Elle a go signal to leave and he would take care of the rest. They were about to escape when Elle took one last glance at Phantom.

She was looking at him when she saw Phantom suddenly collapsed in his spot. Elle froze on her spot the moment she witnessed that scene. She was in shock.

"Master!" Elle shouted.

Erick also halted on his step when he heard Elle's voice. He turned to look at her. He could see the worries written all over her face.

Then Erick saw Kevin just a few meters away from them, aiming his gun at Elle. 

"ELLE! WATCH OUT!" Erick also exclaimed.

After that, another gunshot reverberated in the area.

Bang!