Chapter 1139: What a horrifying sight to behold.

"The base! I think... they’re one of the guys they took to the base because one of them had been snooping around our territory!"

Deep lines appeared between Atlas’s brows as he narrowed his eyes. But the man mistook Atlas’s reaction for doubt.

"I saw them!" the man breathed out, his heart briefly stopping as he realized there was no going back now. "I saw them..."

Yet, Atlas still didn’t answer, causing the man to panic.

"Believe me! I’m telling the truth!" the man exclaimed, clasping Atlas’s feet as he rose to his knees. "That other guy is wearing this white polo and brown shorts! He’s tall and has this pretty face! Then the other guy with him is shorter. I think the short guy is wearing black! He also has slightly curly, wavy hair! And these weird eyeglasses!"

"..." Atlas remained quiet, watching the man try to save himself. Whatever was happening inside must’ve scared the hell out of him, but what could Atlas expect?

Hugo was inside, and that man... rose in the ranks for a reason.

Slowly, Atlas squatted down in front of the guy kneeling before him. As soon as he did, they heard a deafening "bang!" from inside the pub, making the man flinch. But seeing that Atlas didn’t budge, as if he wasn’t worried about Hugo or Mark, the man felt his entire body tremble.

"I’m just new here," the man breathed out, shaking his head. "Please. Even if you kill me, I’m at the lowest of the low in the ranks. All I do is collect money from the shops around here and impose rules—I didn’t do anything to those two."

"You said... they were taken in because one of them has been snooping around your territory?"

"That’s what I heard!"

"You’re wrong," said Atlas. "Your group has been mistaken. Those two might be curious, but they had no idea of what was going on around this island. That, I can assure you."

The man whimpered quietly. "That’s impossible."

"Impossible?"

"I’m sure they’d been followed before they were taken," the man breathed out. "But even if there’s a misunderstanding, if they took them to the base, then..."

When the man trailed off, Atlas unhesitatingly grabbed his collar and asked, "Then, what?"

"Then their life is already in danger," the man said. "No one goes into the base and comes out alive, except for members and a few special cases."

BANG! BANG!

Despite the continuous gunfire inside the pub that didn’t seem to rattle anyone, the man’s words echoed loudly in Atlas’s ears. His breathing stopped for a moment, recalling what the bartender had told them before they left.

"Take us to them," Atlas breathed out, grabbing the man as he stood. "You’ll take us to that base, and if you try anything funny, I can assure you, you’ll be the first person I kill."

The man’s breath hitched, still hearing the round of fire from the pub until it suddenly went quiet.

"Ugh!!" Suddenly, the man heard someone groan. Turning his head to the pub’s entrance, he saw one of his colleagues crawling out of the pub. But, just a second later, something grabbed the one crawling and pulled him back into the pub.

Seeing this, the man choked on his own breath. It was more of a horror show unfolding before his eyes. He hung his head low, wide-eyed. He didn’t know how long he had stayed like that, but later, he heard the two men who went into the pub and started beating everyone.

"First Brother, did you get anything from that guy?" Hugo asked as he approached the two outside the pub, dusting off his shoulder.

Atlas nodded and set his eyes on the man Hugo had thrown out of the pub earlier. "He’s going to take us to the base. It seems Slater and Benjamin were mistaken for someone else and were abducted to their base."

"Those..." Hugo hissed, looking at the man and the pub. "I’m going back and hit them one last time."

But before he could follow through on that plan, Mark placed a hand on Hugo’s shoulder. "Second Brother, if I’m right, if they were taken to the base, then that leaves us with a timeline. They won’t be breathing much longer. I think you know that more than anyone else."

As part of the underground group, the Phantom Circle, Mark knew how such syndicates operated. Even if it was a case of mistaken identity, bringing Slater and Benjamin into their base had sealed their fates. They wouldn’t let them out easily.

Hugo paused and clenched his teeth, glaring at the other man. He grabbed the man by the nape and shook him a bit.

"Take us there, and if you think of anything funny, I’ll tear you apart and make you eat your own flesh until you’re dead," he warned under his breath, leaning his face closer to the man. "Let’s get your truck."

The man held his breath until his neck turned taut, peeking up at the monster who had trashed the place. Despite the close distance, he could tell that the speck of blood on Hugo’s face wasn’t his.

’He didn’t even have a scratch... despite being unarmed,’ was the first thing that crossed the man’s mind as he gulped the tension in his throat. These two brothers were insane! "Ye—yes."

******

The bartender paced back and forth, unable to serve drinks to their customers as he couldn’t stop thinking about the three gentlemen. In the end, he passed his job to his colleague, picked up his revolver from the drawer, and then went out to check the situation.

He had told the three gentlemen where to go, and even if he understood their reasons, his conscience couldn’t carry the burden of another life. He knew the syndicate and the small gang that operated in the red areas. There was no way those three gentlemen would leave unharmed. Besides, those three weren’t armed!

How could they confront an entire gang known for being violent and out of control?

With that thought in mind, the bartender made his way in the direction he had told the three gentlemen to go. Soon, he reached the small pub where he had instructed Atlas, Hugo, and Mark to go. When he was near it, he stopped and looked around.

"There’s no one," he whispered, his shaky eyes setting on the pub’s entrance. "And it’s quiet."

It was eerily quiet.

Usually, the gang members would be partying outside the pub. If not, they would be inside. But now, not only was no one outside, but it seemed a bit too quiet inside. The usual wicked laughter couldn’t be heard, prompting the bartender to check.

He approached the pub cautiously, knowing he’d be in trouble if caught. After all, the gang might be violent and aggressive, but they were also paranoid. If they saw him, they’d think he was snooping around their business. Strangely, though, the silence stretched even as he approached the entrance.

"I’ll just take a peek..." the bartender trailed off, pushing the door slightly open to see the situation inside. But to his surprise, what graced his eyes was something he didn’t expect, making him fall back onto his bottom, wide-eyed.

"This..." he breathed out, staring at the gruesome scene of the usually lively pub that was full of heartless criminals. All of them -- all those criminals -- had been taken down, and the place looked like a storm had hit it.

What a horrifying sight to behold.

"Did the three of them... do all this?"