Before anyone could react, the phone started ringing again. The leader stared at it but didn’t answer.
It answered by itself.
“Why aren’t you answering?”
“Master.” He was relieved upon hearing the familiar deep, robotic voice that disguised their master’s real voice.
“Get out of there. Now.”
“I know.” He signalled with his eyes and everyone moved fast, shoving their most important things inside worn-out rucksacks and duffel bags. He was also moving while staying on the line with their master.
It was a pity that they couldn’t take every single one of the dead computers with them but at least the devices were now all fried. Each had been customized to be untraceable as well. Time was of the essence. The most important thing to do right now was to flee.
“I got an alert notifying me that the phone I gave you got breached,” Master El Payaso said as they hurried down the fire escape staircase.
There was a small group of other hotel clients also using the staircase but his brothers ahead of him quickly hit the back of their necks. The unsuspecting people fell unconscious before they could see their appearance and identified them as an unusual group of foreigners.
Nobody wasted their breaths with any unnecessary talking. Even the leader and their master didn’t continue talking on the phone. They were all focused on fleeing.
They ran out of the hotel, dodging the sight of any passersby with great expertise. Then they hopped inside vehicles waiting a few blocks away. They would always prearrange getaway vehicles like these during missions just in case of emergencies.
The drivers were mainland natives. The group didn’t recognize any of the drivers at all but they knew that these natives were their organization’s people planted in the country in advance to assist missions.
It took two large vans to fit all of them. The two vans split upon reaching the highway. One van headed to a nearby safe house secretly owned by the organization using a native’s identity while the other headed in another direction.
About half an hour later, the other van drove to an underground parking lot. The leader and half of his brothers changed vehicles. In contrast to the nondescript getaway van that they just used, they hopped into three, flashy luxury sports cars this time. They also quickly changed their clothes which were packed inside the sports cars.
The leader drove the first sports car with a brother sitting shotgun beside him while another brother squeezed into the small, narrow seat behind them. The two other sports cars followed them before they all beeped their horns to the van driver who helped them flee. Then they left the underground parking lot.
All of them maintained their silence during the entire drive. The phone call with their master was still active but nobody spoke.
They finally arrived at the five-star hotel that they had been staying. Three valets immediately welcomed them and took their car keys before they entered inside. The hotel employees were already familiar with their group and gave them a warm welcome. After all, the leader was checked in at the hotel’s most expensive suite where world-class celebrities and even other nations’ leaders would stay. The other brothers’ suites were also the next expensive after the best suite. In addition, the group had been living in the hotel for some time now and had grown quite familiar and friendly with the employees.
The brothers—their numbers cut in half after the others went to the safe house instead of returning with them to the hotel—all headed straight to the leader’s luxurious suite. Once inside, the smiles that they wore while responding to the hotel employees’ greetings disappeared from their faces.
“Master,” the leader spoke as he walked straight to bar fridge for beer. He tossed his brothers a bottle each before opening one for himself.
“You’re back at your hotel.” It wasn’t a question but a statement. Their master knew exactly where they were due to the phone. “I already blocked Drakon and he wouldn’t be able to breach this phone and attempt to pinpoint your location again. Be more cautious next time, child.”
The leader gritted his teeth at being called “child” but he still looked like he was smiling with two dimples showing on both cheeks. “I understand, Master. This won’t happen again.”
“It better not.”
He didn’t reply, looking at his beer instead. He hadn’t drank it yet. He originally wanted to but now had lost his appetite after their master’s gentle reprimand.
Tonight’s operation had been entirely under his command. No matter the result—whether it was a success or a failure—it would be his responsibility. And now that it was an utter failure, he felt responsible all the more.
Instead of feeling defeated, however, it fired him up even more than before. Battling a formidable opponent like Drakon never failed to stimulate his competitive spirit.
Was this how Master El Payaso felt whenever he battled Fantom years ago?
“So it seems that Drakon is already at this level,” he heard their master murmur. It sounded rather chilling with the robotic voice.
His other brothers looked like they were resting while drinking their beers but he knew that they were listening to the phone conversation. Most of them had excellent hearing compared to normal people, hence they could hear the phone conversation, but he still set the call to loudspeaker because their levels weren’t all the same. Some had better hearing and senses like him while the others were slightly worse.
“We’ll defeat Drakon next time.” It was a promise, not only to their master and their organization, but also to themselves.
“Hmmm.” The sound was unpleasant with the robotic voice but all of the brothers were already used to it. “Drakon has surpassed my initial impressions. I thought until now that he’s only slightly better than you, children, but it seems that…I’m wrong.”
All of them straightened their backs, their expressions turning ugly.
The leader spoke carefully but there was an edge in his voice. “So Master, you think that we are inferior to Drakon?”
“What do YOU think?”
“I still think that we can win in a battle against him. Definitely.”
“Hmmm.”
The brothers looked at each other, not liking their master’s ambiguous response. Their pride didn’t want to accept the insinuation in that unpleasant robotic sound.
