Multiple gunshots were heard simultaneously, and the scene swiftly turned chaotic.Riley watched as Yulissa was shot in the shoulder. When the bullet dug into her flesh, blood spilled out of her wound instantly.However, she wasnât the only one injured. Xavier also failed to dodge her attack and was shot in the abdomen.He didnât bleed because the projectile she shot out wasnât a bullet. Instead, it was a tiny needle filled with an unknown drug.The moment he returned to his senses, he immediately pulled out the needle from his abdomen and threw it to the ground.Having been drugged by her once before, he had grown to be wary of such things.âWhat did you inject into me?â Contempt was plastered on Xavierâs face as he stared at Yulissa. âWhy are the tactics you employ always so dirty?ââMy tactics?
Dirty?â Pressing on her still-bleeding gunshot wound, she revealed a half-smile. âYou should be grateful that I didnât use a real bullet. Otherwise, you wouldnât be living to see the sunrise tomorrow.âHis abdomen felt as though it was on fire. Gritting his teeth, he pointed his gun at her again. âIf I donât get to live till tomorrow, neither will you. How about I send you to meet with Hades right now?âHe truly was prepared to kill because what she did had crossed far beyond his bottom line.However, the instant he raised his gun into the air, Riley abruptly lunged toward him.The old man staggered and hugged Xavierâs arm before pleading nervously, âNo, Xavier! You canât do this! You didnât experience the things Yulissa endured, so you canât empathize with her. However, both of you were in a romantic relationship before, so you two mustâve loved and admired each other once. You should know better than anyone that Yulissa is fundamentally not a bad person!âUsing his body to block the barrel of Xavierâs gun, Riley continued, âI know she changed a lot after she came here, but she had no other choice! None of us wouldâve wanted to end up like this if we had a choice! What she did today was done in the name of reuniting with me! Sheâs not a bad person, so please, put your gun away. I promise you that Iâll convince her to return to the country with us.âXavier peered at him with furrowed eyebrows. Sweat was forming on his forehead as he struggled to speak.When the old man saw that, he panicked. âWhatâs going on with you, Xavier? Are you feeling unwell?âXavierâs heart was throbbing violently. His hand flew up to grasp his chest as he began having difficulty breathing. At that moment, he couldnât speak at all.When Riley realized what was going on, he turned to face Yulissa. âWhat did you inject him with?
Are you trying to kill him?ââIâm not!â Yulissa reflexively argued, âI never wanted to kill him! Heâs the one trying to kill me! Look at me, Grandpa! Iâm the one bleeding right now! I still am!ââYulissaâ¦â As he gazed at his granddaughter, an indescribable feeling swelled in his heart. Itâs like she has become a totally different person. Still, sheâs my precious granddaughter.Riley started comforting Yulissa, âMy dear, apply force on your shoulder first to stop the bleeding. Letâs not talk about this for now, but you must tell me what you injected into Xavier. Heâs having trouble breathing. Itâs possible he may suffocate at any moment.âIn response to his words, she subconsciously glanced at the red-faced Xavier while looking as though she was in a bit of a daze. âItâs probably because I modified it by increasing the dosage. Back in Chanaea, I injected him with test sample No. 53. However, they seemed to have found a drug that could suppress No. 53, so I increased the dosage.ââWhat?â Riley thought his ears were playing tricks on him. âDid you say No. 53? Yulissa White! How could you inject No. 53 into a personâs body?âNo. 53 was the number he assigned to one of his test samples. It was a failed drug he created during an experiment. It could stimulate a personâs nerves and inflict a nerve disorder on them. The effect was uncontrollable and would last for a very long time.In the long run, the drug would deal immense damage to the human body. He hadnât conducted in-depth research into No. 53 because he abandoned it soon after.However, based on the experimentâs data and report, No. 53 might still very likely have plenty of other side effects, including numbing the human nerves and slowing down a personâs reaction, among other various irreversible effects.No. 53 was too powerful and destructive.
Hence, after the experiment failed back then, Riley sealed it away. He never thought his own granddaughter would steal it.At the time, he hadnât tried to escape yet, and he hadnât created a drug that would satisfy Harold. Thus, he could only meet with Yulissa once a month back then.He never imagined his granddaughter would steal the deadly poison he had locked inside his laboratory.âHow could you, Yulissa? By doing this, how are you any different from Harold and the others?â Riley stared at his granddaughter with teary eyes. âDid you bring the antidote with you? If you did, take it out now.âBeing reprimanded by her grandfather sent Yulissa into a state of disbelief. âGrandpa, who do you think Iâm doing this for? I did it all for you. How could you say that to me? How could you compare me to that animal, Harold?âFilled with disappointment and sorrow, he repeated, âYulissa, give me the antidote first.ââAre you not even going to comfort me, Grandpa? How could you still be asking me about the antidote?â She was growing agitated. âNo! There is no antidote! I may be the granddaughter of the famous Professor White, but Iâm not a genius chemist! While I can fumble my way through making No.
53, I lack the ability to develop a cure! Why else do you think Xavier and his woman risked their lives to rescue you from Haroldâs den? They donât give a d*mn about your survival! Their goal couldnât be any more obvious, which is to bring you home so you can create an antidote for them!ââBut youâre the one who injected No. 53 into Xavier, Yulissa.â Rileyâs heart broke as he faced his granddaughter. âBased on what you said, it seems that this isnât the first time youâve used it. I developed No. 53, and now that youâve abused it, I have the responsibility to create an antidote for it. We should atone for this sin.ââGrandpaâ¦â Yulissa was choking and sobbing uncontrollably as she exclaimed, âWhat are you saying, Grandpa? Weâve always been the victims! Why should we atone? What did I do wrong? I was forced to do what I did! You were forced, too, to help Harold for so many years!â âAll the more reason we need to atone! Quickly, help me find out if thereâs any water around! Xavier needs a lot of water right now.âShaking her head, she refused, âNo! I wonât help him do anything!ââYulissa.â Rileyâs heart ached terribly. âWill you not listen to what I say anymore?âTears covered her face. âWhat about me?
Whoâll listen to me?ââFine, there are other people around.â Upon scanning his surrounding, Riley realized that, after the firefight, both Xavierâs and Yulissaâs mercenaries had gone down.Aside from the three of them, only Jacinta and Christopher were left on the rooftop.Jacinta couldnât move due to her leg injury, but Christopher still could, even though his condition wasnât great.Thus, Riley asked Christopher for help. âCan you check if thereâs any water in the tank over there? Xavier needs a large amount of water to dilute the toxin in his blood.ââIâll check it right now.â Without delay, Christopher went to the water tank and kicked the protective door below it open.Behind the door was a valve and a reel of hose.He immediately turned on the valve. A few seconds later, water rapidly flowed out of the hose.The water seemed fresh, and it didnât have any impurities or odd smells.After he tasted the water and found no problems with it, he dragged the hose to Xavierâs side.Under Rileyâs instruction, Xavier was forced to guzzle plenty of water.It wasnât until Xavierâs condition gradually stabilized that the old man let out a sigh of relief.However, that stability was only a sign of temporary relief from the poisonâs symptoms. While Xavierâs breathing had mostly returned to normal, his mood was still affected by the drug.Much like every previous instance of his condition acting up, he grew violent as his eyes turned red.However, he still retained some rationality as he pushed Riley away and warned, âStay far away from me. I donât want to hurt any of you by accident when my condition acts up. Take away my gun, too. Donât put it in front of me.ââOkay!â Immediately, Riley picked the gun up. He had always hated cold, merciless weapons that could end a personâs life in the blink of an eye.Instead of keeping it, he threw it directly into the two-meter-tall water tank. He didnât want anyone to pick that thing up again.Seeing that Xavier was still lying in a small pool of water, Christopher stretched his hand toward him.Borrowing Christopherâs strength, Xavier stood up and suppressed the violent tendencies rampaging through his mind. âThe choppers will be here soon, Captain Bennett. There are two in total. When the first one arrives, take Professor White and Mdm. Sumner with you first.âChristopher frowned. Anyone could tell Xavier was in a horrible state at that moment. âWhat about you? Shouldnât you return as soon as possible to receive treatment?ââNo.â Xavier shook his head. âWinnie and Josiah havenât arrived yet. I need to wait for them here.âChristopherâs frown intensified. âI can wait here too! You should leave first.ââNo need,â Xavier refused firmly. âI wonât leave until I meet Winnie. You donât need to care about me. Besides, if I board the helicopter, I donât know what Iâll do. Only she can control me.âThe second he ended his sentence, they could hear the sound of a helicopter in the distance. The first chopper had arrived.Christopher raised his head and glanced at the aircraft before nodding at Xavier. âFine. Iâll do as you wish.âRiley also saw the helicopter in the sky. Turning to Yulissa, he spoke to her again. âReturn with me, Yulissa. I alone will bear all the consequences. This way, you can start a new life.ââGrandpaâ¦â Stepping toward her grandfather, she asked, âAre you really not going to consider any other options aside from going back?ââReturning to the country is my only choice and wish, Yulissa.âA bitter smirk formed on her face. âAll right, then, Grandpa. Letâs do that.ââReally?â Riley couldnât help but smile. âIâm glad youâve finally thought things through.ââMhm.â Yulissa flashed a grin at him. âI want to hug you, Grandpa, just like when I was still a kid.ââSure.â Opening his arms, he was ready to embrace his granddaughter.To his utter surprise, his granddaughter pushed him toward the edge of the rooftop.âWhat are you doing, Yulissa?â Riley was dumbfounded. âWeâll die if we fall!ââI know that, Grandpa. Since you insist on returning to the country to help that wretched couple, weâll just jump down from here!â Yulissa had been wholly consumed by madness.When Xavier and Christopher noticed she was going to jump off the building with Riley, they rushed toward them.Christopher staggered and fell flat on his face after he strode one step forward.Thus, only Xavier was holding on to Riley, who was half hanging on the railing.âLet go!â Yulissa tried stopping Xavier, so he kicked her away.Meanwhile, the chopper had arrived. When the pilot saw the situation on the rooftop, they promptly released the ladder down.Xavier let the old man grab onto the ladder first before releasing him.Originally, he wanted to let Jacinta and Christopher join Riley. However, Yulissa pulled out her gun and started shooting at the pilot. âStop! Put my grandfather down now, or Iâll crash this helicopter!âXavierâs eyesight was slightly blurred at the moment, and he was having a challenging time controlling his emotions.Still, he was lucid enough to recognize that if the pilot were shot, the helicopter would crash, and Riley would be dead.Considering there was still another chopper en route to their location, he sent a signal telling the pilot to leave first.After that, it was time for him to deal with Yulissa.Xavier feared nothing at the moment because he had already been injected with her poison.Thus, he strolled toward her and threw her to the ground.As Yulissa watched the aircraft bring Riley away, she hammered the ground in fury with her fist.However, she was afraid Xavier would go crazy and assault her, much like what happened during Garland Groupâs fiftieth-anniversary celebration, so she speedily crawled up before negotiating with him. âDonât come any closer. Do you know that the black badge Winnie wants is still in my possession?
If you let me go, Iâll give you the badge. If not, you can say goodbye to this thing forever!âJust as she expected, Xavier paused when he heard that.Christopher, on the other hand, knew how cunning and ruthless she was. Thus, he reminded Christopher, âDonât believe her! She doesnât deserve your trust!
Sheâll change her mind on a whim!â