Lost and Found: Return of My Mysterious Fiancee

Tina had been on the perimeter, watching Courtney's direction through a thermal imager. Jared was beside her, tapping rapidly on the computer. Three seconds later, he announced, "Tina, it's connected."

Tina pressed her earpiece, "Vanguard team, can you hear me?" All members, including Courtney, were momentarily startled. Courtney tapped in Morse code through her earpiece-Miss Reed?

"It's me. Advance according to my command. There are more bombs here than the previous infrared scan detected. Proceed with caution." Everyone in X Bureau knew that Tina was Jared's fiancée and naturally followed her commands, aware that Jared was surely by her side. This reassurance inexplicably calmed the advancing vanguard team.

"Number one and number two, move to the left; three and four, follow half a meter behind them. Courtney, you lead the rest from the nine o'clock direction, and be careful not to touch the walls. There are electrified nets on the walls that could alert those inside."

The vanguard team followed Tina's directions, successfully avoiding many triggers and getting closer to the buried bombs. In the command vehicle, Nathan, watching the images from the thermal imager, instantly understood. Jared and Tina must be nearby; this method of operation was Tina's style. Careful and lethal. Nathan, who had been with Jared and Tina for years, knew this well.

Moreover, Tina's equipment was more advanced than that of X Bureau, capable of detecting traps they could not. This would allow Courtney to complete the mission more swiftly. Elsa, leading the national intelligence bureau, was also ready. They were not experts at defusing bombs, but provided ample support from the perimeter.

Under Tina's command, Courtney quickly dismantled the first bomb site. She tapped a few times on her earpiece-point A successful. Tina nodded in satisfaction. Elsa's team also received the signal and moved in.

In the command vehicle, Grace was diligently recording everything, yet she felt something was amiss with this operation. The involvement of both the national intelligence bureau and X Bureau suggested they might be targeting GTO. This was unacceptable-if GTO was compromised, she would surely face punishment, an experience she never wanted to repeat. Regardless of whether this was about GTO, she couldn't take that risk.

Meanwhile, Nathan had rejoined Christopher and Linden to discuss further tactics, none noticing Grace. Silently, Grace approached the command console and quietly turned on the external loudspeaker.

Nathan returned, unaware that the loudspeaker had been activated-a device usually untouched unless they were completely surrounding a target to intimidate criminals. For a covert mission like this, activating it was unthinkable. Nathan picked up the microphone and began, "Second squad, encircle from the rear..." His words left everyone stunned, including Tina and Jared on the perimeter, and Courtney and Elsa, who were in the midst of the bomb dismantling. Suddenly, the calm resort erupted with a massive explosion starting from a secret passage. In just two seconds, the entire resort was reduced to rubble. Even the command vehicle shook violently, its special bulletproof glass shattering from the intense vibrations.

Countless glass shards flew through the air, embedding into the bodies of X Bureau's special squad members.

Hayden and Jason had sustained various injuries, their bodies riddled with countless shards of glass. On the outskirts, Tina and Jared also experienced ringing in their ears, temporarily deafened by the noise. Inside the command vehicle, people collapsed, with Grace striking a machine and losing consciousness. Everything happened in an instant, almost within milliseconds.

Jared, supporting Tina, was the first to snap out of it. He quickly connected to the command vehicle and shouted, "Nathan, go catch them!" Nathan, his ears buzzing, heard Jared's voice as if it were a message from beyond, echoing in his mind.

"Nathan, go catch them!" Jared yelled again, urgency in his voice. The spy base had already detected the pursuit and, having managed to detonate explosives, had surely planned escape routes.

At this point, catching even one was crucial; they couldn't let anyone get away! Finally regaining his senses, Nathan personally grabbed a gun and descended from the command vehicle.

"Hayden, Jason, are you still alive?" Hayden rose from the rubble, bleeding from glass cuts on his legs, abdomen, and shoulders among other areas.

"Alive, I'll go catch them!" Jason also stood up, more severely injured than Hayden, with his abdomen pierced, yet he still managed to rise.

"Can't die now," he said, and headed towards a hidden passage.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

His teammates were still inside.

"Captain, you go catch them; I'll look for the others." Nathan responded, "Hurry, we must find all of our people." There were ten in the vanguard, and none could be missing. By now, Tina had also recovered. She holstered a pistol on her leg and donned a bulletproof vest, "Uncle, you take the Mountain Veil Order to catch them, I'll go find Courtney and Elsa."

"Okay, be careful," Jared kissed Tina on the forehead as they split up.

Jason had reached the passage, which had collapsed in places, some directly vaporized by the explosion. Enduring the pain, he lifted debris and pressed forward, "Courtney, where are you?" Courtney was unconscious, buried under bricks and dishes, her head wounded. When Jason found her, she was deeply comatose, breathing more in than out.

"Courtney, Courtney!" Jason slapped her face but, getting no response, he hoisted her onto his back.

The others were found as well, but few were alive, and even fewer unharmed. Jason, tears welling in his eyes, ordered, "Collect the limbs of our brothers, hurry back to avoid a second explosion!" Tina, meanwhile, found Elsa unconscious with a fractured leg grotesquely twisted and a wooden stake piercing her chest, just millimeters from her heart. Tina administered a healing pill to Elsa; the stake in her chest couldn't be removed without risking her life.

By then, Jason was carrying Courtney out. Seeing Tina, his face brightened. Tina distributed the few healing pills she had, "I didn't bring many, just the essentials; the rest need to be rushed to the hospital. Uncle has already alerted the doctors to be on standby, the severely injured go first, my mother is already at the hospital waiting."

"Yes," Jason took the healing pill, distributing them, and was left with just one.