Chapter 265 - 265: Miscalculation

Elle was in a trance after witnessing Phantom collapsed. Because of her worry towards her master she was distracted for a moment that she failed to notice Kevin and Kelsy's advances.

"ELLE! WATCH OUT!" Erick yelled as he warned her.

Erick's voice pulled her back from the dazed. However, it was too late for her to avoid the bullet.

Elle just stood there frozen in her spot, waiting for the bullet to hit her. Then she heard the sounds of the gunshot.

Bang!

Bang!

The first bullet missed to hit her because of Erick's intervention. He also fired at Kevin's direction. The two bullets collided with each other thus protecting Elle.

But Kelsy also fired her gun aiming at Elle's direction. This time Elle felt a large hand pulling her as Erick engulfed her, shielding her from Kelsy's bullet.

Bang!

"Argh!" Erick grunted as he was the one who was hit.

"Erick!" Elle mumbled.

Elle's eyes widened in fright. Her heart was racing rapidly on her chest because of her worry and nervousness. On impulse, Elle immediately threw her dagger towards the direction of Azumi Twins.

"Argh!" Another groan was heard. This time it was Kevin. The dagger hit him in the right corner of his eyes.

"Brother!" Kelsy exclaimed as she witnessed the scene.

Both Kevin and Erick were bleeding because of their wounds. Bryan quickly took cover for Elle and Erick as he continued to exchange shots with the members of the Dark Knight.

"Erick, are you alright? Why did you do that!" Elle said worriedly and anxiously at him. 

"Don't worry this is not serious. The bullet only hit my left shoulder." Erick reassured her.

Elle surveyed and assessed his body. She felt relieved when she confirmed that Erick was telling the truth.

"I told you that I would protect you. Don't be upset wifey. This is also a good way for redeeming myself. Just think of this as my punishment for shooting you before." Erick added to appease her as he felt like Elle wanted to scold him for shielding her.

Elle turned to Bryan.

"Bryan, come here, help Erick. He is currently wounded. I will take cover for you. Leave now!"

After saying that Elle grabbed Erick's gun.

"I told you I will never leave without you!" Erick said with so much conviction.

Elle just looked at him helplessly.

"I am not planning to stay here. I am going with you. I will just follow you behind. Erick...please don't argue with me. Trust me!" she begged him desperately.

Erick just heaved a sigh of defeat before he complied with her plea.

"We should leave now. This ship is gonna explode in less than 20 minutes," Elle added.

"What?? This ship is gonna explode!!?" Bryan exclaimed as he repeated her last sentence.

Elle just nodded as a response. With that, Bryan immediately pulled Erick and guided him towards the exit going to the lower deck.

"Listen to her! We must hurry and leave now!" Bryan said. There was a hint of panic and urgency in his voice.

Then someone appeared in their back. It was Captain Jason. Both Erick and Bryan were surprised upon seeing him.

"Captain Jason!"

"Captain Jason!"

Erick and Bryan called him in unison. Jason just nodded at them. He frowned the moment he saw Erick was injured.

"The two of you... Leave quickly! I will help her to take cover for all of us. Btw who is she?" 

"She's the real Catseye!" Bryan blurted out.

Captain Jason was taken aback for a moment but he recovered quickly.

"Ok! Go now!"

Captain Jason didn't ask them further. Their main priority was to escape this place, safe and sound.

The shooting continued for several minutes. Captain Jason's arrival was a great help. With Elle and Captain Jason's assistance, Bryan and Erick were able to leave the middle deck without hassle.

Meanwhile, Elle didn't waste any more time as she contacted Brother Yu.

"Brother Yu, please secure Master Phantom. I saw him collapse just a while ago! Get him out of here as soon as possible. Keep him safe!"

"Noted Lady Boss."

Brother Yu followed Elle's command. He was also worried after knowing that Master Phantom suddenly collapsed. He rushed into the Master's location and saw him lying on the floor, unconscious.

Yu immediately checked his body to know if he was wounded. Fortunately, there was no wound. Yu knew that Master Phantom was sick due to the bio-weapon exposure. His body was still weak and this mission exhausted him more.

He started to carry Phantom when he heard Elle's concerned and very anxious voice through their communication device.

"How is Master? Does he have a gunshot wound?"

"Lady Boss, Master is not hurt."

"Then why did he suddenly collapse?" Elle asked him again.

"I think he fainted due to exhaustion."

Brother Yu paused for a moment. After contemplating for a moment, he decided to tell Elle the truth.

"Lady Boss. I am sorry. Honestly, we hide something from you. Master Phantom is not feeling well. During our mission in the countryside, he was exposed to bio-weapon and his body did not fully recover yet."

Elle was dumbfounded after hearing that. She had no idea that Master Phantom was sick. If she had known that she wouldn't allow him to do this mission.

"Why did you do that?!" Elle said through her gritted teeth. She was really upset right now.

"Sorry, Lady Boss. It was an order from Master Phantom. He wanted to hide this and not make you worry."

Elle's grip on her gun tightened. She clenched her teeth as she fired continuously at their enemies. She wanted to vent her anger and frustration right now.

"Stupid Old Man! Do you think I will be able to forgive myself if anything bad happens to him because of this mission!" She was really mad right now and very worried at the same time.

Brother Yu just continued apologizing to Elle. He knew that their Lady Boss was very upset about what they have done.

"Just keep that old man safe! I'll make sure to give him a good scolding after this mission!"

"I understand Lady Boss."

After a few seconds, they heard the emergency alarm reverberated in the entire Ship along with the crew's announcement.

"Evacuate the Ship immediately! There are bombs. The ship will explode in less than 15 minutes from now."

With that announcement, the attention of Dark Knight's men had been diverted away from Catseye. They were in a panic. They needed to keep themselves safe first or else they would die there.

Captain Jason and Elle grabbed that opportunity to follow Erick and Bryan.

Meanwhile, Kevin was covering his right eyes which was still bleeding. He was trying his best to endure the pain. Kelsy was with him.

"Brother…" Kelsy didn't know what to say.

Kevin brushed her off. "This is your fault! I told you not to believe Black Shadow! Because of his lie, we are also deceived by Catseye and that Chief Detective." Kevin was fuming in rage as of this moment.

Kevin pushed Kelsy away from him. "We became a laughingstock for them!"

"Go! Kill Catseye, if you don't want to be a laughingstock!"

Kevin was emanating a frightening aura. He wanted to kill Black Shadow as of this moment! He couldn't accept the fact that Black Shadow outsmarted them. He felt like he became a fool because of that.

Kelsy gritted her teeth. She somehow felt responsible for this. The man whom she trusted betrayed her. Even her twin brother got hurt in the process. 

She couldn't blame Kevin as he was really disappointed with her. She was the one who insisted on her brother that Black Shadow wouldn't lie to her. She was very confident, but in the end, she was wrong. Black Shadow already changed a lot. He was not the same man she knew before.

To make it up with her twin brother, Kelsy immediately followed Catseye. She also made sure to give Dark Knight's men an order to bring her twin brother to somewhere safe. They also heard the announcement that there were bombs in the different parts of the ship.

She only had a few minutes left to make things right. Catseye must die tonight no matter what!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*** At the Lower Deck ***

The members of the joint task force as well as Erick's parents were patiently waiting for them to come.

After a while, they saw two figures come out of the exit door. Their faces brightened up when they recognized them. The newcomers were Chief Lee and Sergeant Velasquez.

The two of them headed straight and boarded the ferry boat. Their colleagues heaved a sigh of relief as they welcomed them cheerfully.

"Chief Lee! Bryan! Now, it's a good thing that you are here. We also heard the announcement! This Ship is gonna explode soon! We must hurry and leave!" June said to them.

"We know that! That's why we are here!" Bryan replied. He was still panting. They ran so fast just to get there.

Sarah immediately hugged Erick. 

"Son, I am glad that you are just fine," she said with her trembling voice. She started to cry once again.

"Mom, don't cry. Everything will be alright. We are going to leave this scary place. I will protect you." Erick comforted his mother.

Raymond just smiled as he watched the mother and son. He also felt relieved now that Erick was with them.

"Where's Captain Jason? Did you see him?" Carl asked them.

"He is also coming this way… together with Catseye." Bryan replied to him.

Everyone except Erick was taken aback after hearing Bryan. 

'Catseye is also coming with us?' Disbelief was written all over their faces. 

Then after a while, another figure appeared coming from the exit door.

"Oh, Catseye is here!" Bryan exclaimed as he pointed Elle to them.

Everyone averted their gaze towards the direction where Elle's figure suddenly appeared. Erick and Elle's gaze met each other. He gave her a gentle smile while Elle waved at him.

Suddenly, another loud bang resonated in the area.

Bang! Bang! Bang!