"You shouldn’t trust these criminals..." Rafael’s voice rang out just after the gunshot, startling the bodyguard.


    He barely ducked in time, narrowly avoiding a shot to the head from the driver, who had pretended to cower in fear to catch him off guard.


    Rafael was right; he shouldn’t have let his guard down just because the enemy appeared defeated.


    After all, they were criminals ustomed to ying dirty. Honor meant nothing to them; survival was all that mattered.


    They would resort to anything, even biting someone if necessary, to stay alive.


    Acting cowardly to catch their opponents off guard was amon tactic, and only a fool would believe otherwise.


    The driver who had just tried to shoot Rafael’s bodyguard was now dead, his head blown apart by Rafael, who stood just a few steps behind.


    The driver’s lifeless body slumped forward onto the steering wheel, triggering a loud honking sound that echoed through the deserted road.


    With no one else around, Rafael and his bodyguard remained unfazed. Rafael quickly checked the van for any hidden threats, and once they confirmed there were no ambushes waiting, he began searching the interior for Minerva.


    Meanwhile, the other three teams arrived on the scene, winching slightly at the gruesome sight of the body on the road before ignoring it and joining Rafael in the search.


    Before Rafael continued, he barked, "Get the wounded to the hospital—ASAP!" Only then did the others realize someone had been shot and was on the brink of death.


    Without hesitation, two bodyguards rushed to assist their injuredrade and sped off to the nearest hospital.


    Meanwhile, Rafael and the remaining team members searched the van, but no matter where they looked, Minerva was nowhere to be found.


    There were no hiddenpartments or anything of the sort. Rafael’s heart thudded violently in his chest, anxiety coursing through him.


    It was painfully clear that the other party was aware of Rafael’s actions and was closely monitoring them.


    Despite Rafael’s efforts, they had managed to slip from his grasp, indicating they had thoroughly nned this kidnapping.


    A growing dread settled in his stomach as he imagined what might be happening to his sister.


    Rafael felt a chill sweep through his entire body as he quickly reached for his phone to contact his assistant.


    "Minerva isn’t here!" he growled, his eyes shing red with a mix of anger and fear.


    Rafael’s assistant gasped in horror on the other end of the line and quickly ryed the news to Sasha.


    However, Sasha was already one step ahead. He began to search again, acutely aware that their adversaries had outsmarted them despite all precautions.


    Since thest known contact point was the underground route, he decided to start there, checking the railway exits to see if they had used them as a diversion.


    It was clear they had orchestrated a ploy to lead him astray, likely aware that Rafael had enlisted a hacker on his side.


    They understood their actions would be monitored, prompting them to act with deceptive cunning.


    Feeling deceived, Sasha’s blood boiled with anger. Determined to take down the hacker on the other side, he made it his personal mission to trace the adversaries’ movements.


    He quickly noticed multiple vehicles exiting the railway at the same time, all filled with individuals who resembled mafia members.


    Their suspicious behavior and the guns they clutched only heightened his sense of urgency.


    Sashapiled all the CCTV footage from the railway exits and meticulously reviewed it.


    However, several blind spots in the camera angles prevented him from seeing whether there were any additional individuals with the suspects, apart from those who asionally strayed into the obscured areas.


    However, another piece of footage caught his attention. He zoomed in, momentarily disregarding the suspicious railway exit footage.


    A smile crept across Sasha’s face. <i>’Ha! Trying to throw me off again, are you? The more overtly suspicious your actions be, the more discrepancies emerge. It’s clear you’re doing this on purpose,’</i> he thought to himself.


    He then contacted Rafael’s assistant again. "I have some footage for you to review. (Video attached.)"


    The assistant received a video of the underground route again, this time capturing the moment the van entered.


    In the footage, a seemingly ordinary Toyota Coro caught the assistant’s attention.


    It entered from Rafael’s side and exited where the van had gone in.


    At first nce, it appearedpletely unremarkable, but something caught his eye—a small,ced red ribbon dangling from the backpartment.


    The assistant remembered that it was part of Minerva’s dress before she went missing.


    If Sasha hadn’t zoomed in and circled that specific detail during his editing, he might have overlooked it entirely, dismissing the footage as irrelevant.


    The assistant perked up and quickly forwarded the short video to Rafael, urging him to confirm with the bodyguard who had stayed with Minerva.


    He needed to verify whether the ribbon matched what the bodyguards remembered.


    Given the cunning nature of their enemies, it was possible this could be another diversion meant to mislead them.


    As soon as Rafael received the video, he immediately called the bodyguards who had been stationed to guard Minerva that night.


    They all nodded in acknowledgment as he pulled up a picture of her—a screenshot taken through the crack of the door when someone delivered food before the kidnapping.


    In the image, Minerva wore a form-fitting white dress with aced red ribbon sewn at her waist, designed to entuate her slim figure and curves.


    However, despite her beauty, she appeared listless and haggard.


    As they cross-referenced Minerva’s dress with the small ribbon dangling from the Toyota Coro, Rafael’s suspicions deepened.


    The more ordinary the car appeared, the more uneasy he felt.


    He recalled making eye contact with the amiable-looking old man behind the wheel—a sight that had seemed harmless at the time.


    His unease grew, and it struck him that he and the others had been misled, all while the kidnappers likelyughed as they transported Minerva to an unknown location.


    He quickly instructed his assistant to have Sasha trace the car’s route.