Maja's heart skipped a beat as she sat motionless on the wooden bench of the boat, her eyes staring blankly into the distance.

When Beck boarded the vessel, the first thing he noticed was her faraway gaze.

He immediately walked over and gave her shoulder a gentle pat.

"The sea's chilly, and dawn's breaking soon. You should change out of those wet clothes," he said with a touch of concern.

Maja almost shook her head in refusal, but the first light of dawn was already spreading across the horizon, followed by a shout

that jolted everyone to attention.

"Over here!"

She quickly stood up and made her way towards the commotion.

It wasn't so much that they had found lan, but rather his jacket, aimlessly drifting on the water's surface.

From her vantage point, Maja could see the island's sky, where smoke slowly ascended, hinting at the horrific battle that had raged

the night before.

She withdrew her gaze, ready to plunge into the sea, but Beck stopped her.

"There are plenty of people searching down there. If lan's in the water, he'll be found."

Without a word, Maja grabbed a pair of binoculars and began scouring the sea.

Helicopters buzzed overhead as part of the massive search effort. With such a large-scale operation, even if lan had drifted far, he

should have been found by now.

Maja's brow furrowed as she peered into the deep, vast ocean. Could he have sunk to the bottom?

Ignoring Beck's protests, she insisted on launching a lifeboat to search for lan herself.

walkie-talkie, asking the chopper pilots to keep an eye

she searched for any

a cluster of trees in the distance, and without hesitation,

saw the person sprawled among the branches, her heart felt as though it had

by its girth and the leaves floating around, making him

enough to

and then plunged into the water with a splash,

his arm was caught on something, blood diluting in the seawater, the wound sickeningly

heart ached terribly as she steeled herself and yanked the

was unconscious and his

Maja dragged him onto the lifeboat and rowed towards the

the helicopter swiftly landed, and a team

the hospital corridor when she passed

had passed, and she could hear

someone, "So, has the

The island was devastated by the blast. The

everyone. Less than twenty locals survived. We also discovered a self-destruct mechanism in a hidden

the island would have been reduced to ruins and sunk silently

an eyebrow. If someone wanted the island gone, why not just trigger the self-destruct instead

trouble of detonating bombs?

a peculiar underground chamber with a woman inside. Several groups

were stopped. We wanted to bring her back, but she won't leave the chamber. She faces

bandages—probably blind, possibly someone of

she leave

hit by an electric shock.

could respond, he noticed Maja waking

informant away and turned

"Maja, you're awake."

"How's lan?"

"He's still under observation."

her, his eyes and brow etched with

especially since receiving lan's emergency signal from the island. Beck

The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

Comments ()

0/255