?Chapter 456:


    Even as Crown Auctions’ staff respectfully handed over the precious item, Adah and the Four Guardians exchanged puzzled nces. Something was off. Since the…


    Since the inception of their group, they had always locked horns with ze Wildfire during critical events. This was the first time the rival organization had failed to appear. Perhaps ze Wildfire wasn’t aiming to win the auction—they were saving resources to seize the prize by forceter. It was a chilling possibility.


    Once they reachednd, the group moved with heightened awareness. Elliana was prepared to face ze Wraith head-on.


    But strangely, nothing happened. Even after driving dozens of kilometers ind, no ambush awaited them.


    Then, a message came through—Adah’s subordinates reported that ze Wildfire’s men had indeed been present the day before, fully intent on iming the Lunathorn. But inexplicably, they had withdrawn the previous night.


    Adah ryed the update to Elliana. “Could something internal have shaken ze Wildfire? Maybe ze Wraith was forced to pull out?”


    Elliana nodded, her eyes narrowing. “It’s entirely possible. But we can’t afford to rx. Keep digging.”


    “Understood,” Adah passed on themand.


    Suddenly, a jolt of pain gripped Elliana’s chest. She raised a trembling hand to her heart, her breath catching.


    “Elliana, what’s wrong?” Adah asked, rmed.


    Elliana hesitated. A haunting memory surfaced—the nightmare fromst night, drenched in unease. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong with Cole. “Send word. I want Cole’s location confirmed—immediately.”


    Adah didn’t question it. She nodded and carried out the order.


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    Cole was notoriously elusive, his movements like smoke in the wind. But Elliana’s clues, paired with Thorn Rose’s unmatched intelligencework, cut through the fog. News came fast.


    Adah returned with a grim update. “Whispers say Cole copsed this afternoon—suddenly and without warning. He’s unconscious. His security detail tried to rush him back to Ublento, but the private jet suffered a critical malfunction midair. They were forced into an emergencynding in Riverbend. That’s where the Phantom Mercenaries ambushed them. Current status: unknown.”


    Elliana’s brows drew together in a sharp line. None of it made sense. Cole had been perfectly healthy—no signs, no symptoms. His jet was routinely checked, meticulously maintained. And Riverbend? Of all ces—how convenient that theynded in the jaws of one of the most feared mercenary groups on the continent.


    The Phantom Mercenaries weren’t ordinary thugs. They were a brutal patchwork of international killers: elite ex-special forces, former aristocratic enforcers, and…


    The battlefield ghosts who had abandoned gs for blood money. Their reputation in the Delta region was carved in screams and scorched earth.


    With Cole unconscious and Jason recently injured, the odds of survival were slim. Too slim. The coincidences were stacking too neatly. Elliana’s gut twisted. This wasn’t an ident—it was a setup. There was a traitor embedded in Cole’s ranks, and someone had bought the Phantom Mercenaries’ des to make sure Cole never left Podgend alive. But there was no time to dig for motives. At that very moment, only one thing mattered—Cole’s safety.


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