Chapter 447


    After the car left, Benjamin and Anthony intentionally went over to take a look.


    It was an ordinary shop that sold general stuff like food and beverages. There weren''t a lot of products


    sold inside, but the building was pleasantly clean.


    They walked around the shop, and it was then Thalia raised her eyes and saw the surveince camera


    above her.


    “Anthony!” she shouted and used her eyes to signal him to look at the surveince camera above them.


    Following her line of sight, Anthony saw the surveince camera and narrowed his eyes in response.


    “Return to the car!” Anthony was ready to leave.


    Upon shooting a nce at him, Thalia said, “There''s no need to make thingsplicated!” Then she


    headed to the cash register and chatted with the shop owner.


    After talking with him for a while, Thalia bribed the owner. He immediately smiled and agreed to let


    them watch the surveince footage.


    The boys promptly approached her when they saw that.


    As the owner retrieved the footage she asked for, Thalia lowered her voice and asked, “What do you


    think? My way is faster, right?”


    Anthony nced at her. “It''s possible to do that without spending any money.”


    “Then would you have known the frequency of these people showing up here?”


    “Are you saying...”


    Thalia nodded at him with a grin.


    Immediately, Anthony asked, “What did the owner say?”


    “Didn''t you say it''s doable without spending money? Give it a try yourself!”


    Knowing when to eat humble pie, Anthony quickly said, “That''s because I know how excellent you are.


    I just don''t want to admit it.”


    “Then why are you admitting it now?”


    “Well, that''s because... you''re just so excellent that nothing can hide it! Even if I don''t want to admit it, I


    have to.”


    Despite knowing that he didn''t really mean it, Thalia still felt great when she heard it. She was greatly


    satisfied, especially when she saw how unwilling Anthony was to say it.


    “It pleases me when you humble yourself before me, Anthony.” Thalia smiled.


    “All right, that''s enough. Don''t go overboard, Thalia. You have money, but I have money too. I could''ve


    gotten the same answer!” Anthony warned.


    “Try it, then. I want to see you try!”


    That prompted him to withdraw his smile and raise his head to stare at the person in front of him. “Sir


    —”


    “Do you think his fear of death is less than his desire for your money?” Thalia interrupted.


    Anthony forcefully swallowed his words and turned to look at her, who was currently smiling brightly.


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    Anthony knew what the store owner would pick, of course. People naturally had a hard time resisting


    the allure of money, but when faced with the possibility of death, money would lose its value almost


    At that thought, Anthony could not be bothered to continue arguing with Thalia. “You really are


    incredible, Thalia!”


    The speed with which he changed his expression wasparable to that of a performer.


    However, Thalia knew Anthony was feeling pretty anxious about the matter, so she didn''t push on.


    “All right, since you have said so, I''m going to be nice and tell you what the shop owner said.


    Otherwise, someone like you, who''s far removed from the ordinary folks, won''t understand it!” Abruptly,


    Thalia reced her smile with a serious expression. “When I asked the store owner earlier, he said


    those people had been passing by the ce often recently. While those people weren''t the ones who


    showed up today, it''s obvious they belonged to the same group.”


    There was an indescribable look in Anthony''s narrowed eyes.


    “This means they probably live nearby!” Thalia spected. “It''s possible that this ce isn''t far from


    Vermillion Base.”


    Anthony frowned when he heard that.


    Right then, the owner retrieved the footage. He spoke to Thalia briefly before leaving.


    Thalia, Anthony, and Benjamin gathered in front of theputer and watched the footage.


    The first thing they saw was Natasha. She was seen exiting a car and entering the shop. Following her


    were two people maintaining a one-meter distance from behind her. Even though they seemed like they


    were her bodyguards, they were actually there to keep an eye on her. However, it was as though


    Natasha didn''t care about it at all because she just shopped around normally after stepping into the


    building. She appeared very focused as she picked what to buy.


    Seeing that, Thalia couldn''t help but say, “Even though these two people were keeping an eye on her, it


    seemed that they didn''t want to offend her with how far they were standing away from her. She doesn''t


    look like she''s been kidnapped at all.”


    Benjamin and Anthony simply stayed silent as they stared at the screen.


    In the footage, Natasha stopped for a moment in front of a shelf. When Anthony saw her picking up an


    item, he suddenly went over to the same shelf.


    “What are you doing?” Thalia shouted as she watched him leave.


    Benjamin whispered, “This is the signal that Nat left us!”


    “Signal?”


    “Nat''s azy person, so she rarely goes to the supermarket. When she does, she rarely shops around


    because she already knows what she wants to buy.”


    Thalia lifted her eyebrows. “You two assumed that''s what she was doing just because of that? That


    seems kind of reckless. Besides, how did Nat know you two would be here?”


    Unsure of how to exin that, Benjamin simply said, “Nat just knows.”


    That confounded Thalia further. “What kind of strange logic is that...”


    It was then Anthony returned with an item in his hand.


    “This is what she grabbed when she left.” He ced it on the table.


    Thalia picked it up and nced at it. “Isn''t this just a drink?”


    “Nat never drinks this kind of beverage,” Benjamin said.


    Thalia was stunned. The instinct she had honed after working in the same field for years told her that


    something was indeed odd about it.


    Those kinds of signals were often only known by the people closest to them or who understood them


    the most.


    Upon arriving at that thought, Thalia turned to Anthony. “Really?”


    Anthony nodded.


    Thalia nced at the drink. “What kind of message is Nat trying to tell us?”


    All three of them studied the drink for a long while, but they couldn''t figure anything out.


    The surveince footage was still ying on the screen. When Natasha had almost finished picking


    what to buy, Boss came in. Just as she was going to pay for the products she had picked, Boss tried to


    pay for them on her behalf instead.


    “Seems that Boss treats Nat pretty well. He even helped pay for her stuff. She looked more like she


    had been invited to leave with him than kidnapped,” Thalia joked.


    Benjamin and Anthony remained silent.


    Yet, the next moment, Natasha pulled out her own money, paid for the items, and left.


    As though everything had happened within his expectations, Boss used his money to buy a box of


    chocte instead of putting it back into his wallet.


    Both of them then exchanged a few words at the door, which was what Benjamin and Anthony had


    seen earlier, before getting into the car.


    After watching the footage, the trio had an idea of what was going on.


    Indeed, Natasha''s current situation wasn''t as awful as they thought.


    As she still appeared fine and well, on top of the fact that she could ignore Boss without consequences,


    it meant her situation wasn''t as he had described.