An Understated Dominance by Marina Vittori

After a hearty meal, the burly Warrick sprawled lazily onto the bed and dozed off. He slept soundly till dusk, lost in a deep dream. When the sky was painted in brilliant hues of the setting sun, only then did he wake up leisurely.

The exhaustion from the previous day seemed to have melted away. He felt invigorated, refreshed, and in high spirits.

At that moment, Leigh had already set the table in the hall with quiet efficiency. Compared to the first meal, this spread was far more lavish.

At the center of the table sat a whole roasted pig. Its golden-brown skin glistened with a rich, crispy sheen. The mouthwatering aroma filled the room, making it impossible not to crave a bite.

Warrick had never been one for formalities. The moment he saw the feast, he didn’t hesitate. He strode over, took a seat, and started digging in. He ate with zero restraint without sparing a single thought for Mulder, who was still out gathering intel.

After a while, half of the roast pig was gone. His face was smeared with grease, and he occasionally let out a satisfied belch.

Just then, the tightly shut door creaked open.

Mulder and his men returned, looking weary from the road..

Seeing Warrick feasting alone, his face slick with grease, Mulder wasn’t annoyed. Instead, he sat beside him and started eating as well.

His subordinates could only watch hungrily from the sidelines and didn’t dare to overstep their bounds.

“Well? Did you find anything useful?”

Warrick asked.

eaten his fill. He set down his fork and knife, let out

news and bad news. Which one do you

deliberately kept

news,” Warrick

Lucozia’s forces are conducting a full-scale manhunt for you. They’re combing

have two days?”

has locked down every port and dock, and they’ve even seized

you’re telling me there’s no

it. Four of the five smuggling routes we planned have already been compromised. With West Lucozia’s forces patrolling the

good news is that there’s still one last hidden route that is yet to be

waiting for? Let’s move,”

blocked, they couldn’t afford to waste any time. If they didn’t act soon, even the last remaining path might be discovered. And if that happened, escaping West

Prescott, don’t be so hasty. Let me

before continuing, ” While it’s good news that there’s another escape route, we can’t rule out the possibility that this is a trap set by Austin. He might have left this opening deliberately to lure us out, only to spring the trap at the last moment

and scoffed. “Austin’s just a greenhorn. Sure, he’s witty, but

concerns our lives, so we can’t afford to be careless,” Mulder