Chapter 855 Hunting for Shade (12)
Their next destination was clear: Gabriel\'s villa, which Erik saw through the man\'s memories.
"I expect a lot of resistance there," he said, reflecting on Gabriel\'s role as the puppet leader of the underworld.
"Even if he\'s technically under Shade, Gabriel\'s power is undeniable. It is very unlikely that the place is not massively guarded, and I bet those guards are not weak."
Camille nodded in agreement. "Entering that place won\'t be easy. So, what will be our approach?"
"If June and I go alone, we could easily take the onyx sculpture and leave," he said.
They did this missions several times, there wasn\'t a place where they hadn\'t been able to enter yet.
The proposal was met with immediate skepticism. "Are you out of your mind?" Camille said.
"There will probably be a lot of guards," Ramon said, but Erik already knew that and still thought it wasn\'t a problem. "If you two go alone, you will just die."
"Then what do you suggest?"
Ramon was quick to respond. "We should stick together. To sneak in would be the best approach, but done together."
Erik knew the security at Gabriel\'s villa was high and that it would make sneaking in large groups challenging, but held back his reservations. The others had all serious faces, like they were mad at being underestimated.
"If you think we can handle that level of security, then I won\'t stop you," he said. The last thing he wanted to do was for them to resent him and think he was arrogant.
With a series of nods, the group solidified their plan, and soon, they arrived at the outskirts of Gabriel\'s property.
The building was set within a private park inside Nokisi Point, a luxury even the members of the Band of Giants found unusual.
However, given Gabriel\'s wealth, it wasn\'t entirely beyond the realm of possibility.
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The villa, nestled among the trees, presented a serene picture from afar. They finally arrived.
After having parked the car outside, they prepared to infiltrate the property under the cover of the natural surroundings.
As they made their way through the streets, the villa\'s imposing structure grew larger with each step, and the vegetation grew taller.
Gabriel\'s villa was massive. There were at least 80 hectares of land surrounding the villa itself, was not less small, it was at least 4000 square meters divided into multiple floors. In one word, it was massive.
They jumped over the tall stone fence that surrounded the area and then entered unseen.
"Let\'s go."
As the group advanced through the park, they moved with a silent coordination, using the cover of trees to shield themselves from view.
The density of the trees, while initially a concern for spotting all the guards, turned out to be an asset.
The natural camouflage allowed them to observe the guards\' movements and plan their approach with minimal risk of detection.
Despite the protection offered by the foliage, it became apparent that the area was heavily guarded.
Camille was the first to spot a group of ten guards patrolling the vicinity and headed in their direction.
"Incoming at 3." Ramon looked at her and nodded. The others saw the patrolling unit, too.
The silent consensus was clear: they needed to neutralize the guards quickly and without raising an alarm.
Erik signaled to the group, each member nodding in understanding before splitting up to use the trees as both shield and vantage point.
They circled around the guards, staying low and quiet, their movements barely disturbing the underbrush.
Camille and Ramon, leveraging their team play, took positions behind two guards who had strayed from the group.
They incapacitated them using chokeholds, their actions synchronized to avoid any chance of alerting the others.
Then they brought their unconscious bodies inside the foliage, where they killed them. Erik absorbed their mana as the bodies were within range of his biological supercomputer.
Rebecca and June, meanwhile, took down another pair of guards, their actions swift, ensuring the guards were rendered unconscious before they could react. Then, hiding them in the foliage, they killed them.
June didn\'t care, but Rebecca was not entirely OK with killing two unconscious people.
Instead, Erik did the rest. He didn\'t even have to use his Brain Crystal Powers as he was simply too fast for the guards to even react.
He took care of the remaining six with ease. The others arrived, and after having hidden the bodies again, they killed them.
"Good."
However, there was concern in Erik\'s eyes. He already knew the number of the people inside the villa based on Gabriel\'s memories, but he didn\'t know how strong they were, or if the number increased.
At some point, they reached the middle of the park, but there were many guards around. Erik used his instability brain crystal power to find the guards, and one by one, he scanned them all.
They were much more powerful than the others thought. These guys were all around the ι level, as they all had around 30 neural links. This meant they had 9 neural links more than the average. Nôv(el)B\\\\jnn
Their stats ranged between 130 and 108, with the weakest being their intelligence around 40.
Despite his confidence in his team\'s abilities, especially not that of June, the number of people in the area was too much, and he doubted everything was going to go smoothly.
"Are we sure we want to proceed?" Erik asked, offering them one last opportunity to reconsider.
"The guards are not only many, but also exceptionally strong. If we\'re found out, the element of surprise will no longer be an option and kills won\'t be as easy."
A silent communication passed among the group, their resolve manifesting in different ways.
Camille\'s eyes sparkled with a mad glint, almost welcoming the challenge and the kills she was going to make.
Ramon\'s expression was set in a grim resolve, understanding the stakes yet ready to confront them.
Rebecca, however, showed a hint of hesitation, reflecting her awareness of being the weakest among them.
Yet, the collective decision was palpable; retreat was not an option they entertained.
"I\'m in," Camille said. Ramon simply nodded. Rebecca, instead, thought about it for a second. "Let\'s go," she said.
Erik turned toward the Villa, still far away but not as before. Resolve surged through him.