?


    "We should first move to the shore and quickly shift Miss Nicole and Master Joel to a safer ce. After that we can immediatelye back and search for Master Victor." One of the men said, knowing he couldn''t just give up this easily.


    "We will have to inform Boss Markus first. Seven ships are heading our way. We can definitely not act ording to our will." The captain said, thinking rationally.


    Yes, even the captain felt that he should return by now and search for Victor, but he had no way out. Looking at those enemy ships closing in, informing Markus about their current status was the best thing to do.


    And all of them nodded in unison, knowing they needed to inform Markus about Victor''s situation and then act ordingly, even when somewhere deep down they felt that this was wrong.


    *MARKUS''s TEAM*


    "Boss, we have an update from Master Victor''s team." One of the men informed Markus, who was about to ask for Victor''s situation.


    "What is it?" Markus asked, wanting to know if all of them were safe.


    "Boss, Miss Nicole and Master Joel have been safely shifted to the shore along with rest of the team…" the man was still speaking when Markus instantly caught up on the main point.


    "What about Victor?" Markus asked almost instantly, not knowing why they would omit Victor''s name while updating him.


    "Master Victor is nowhere to be seen. The lifeboat had less capacity and Master Victor asked the rest of them to leave, saying he would join them from behind. But as soon as they were down in the lifeboat, a safe distance away from the ship, waiting for Victor toe out, the ship exploded and sank. Currently we have no news on Master Victor." The man informed, while Markus stopped talking, nobody knew what was going inside his mind.


    With another pause, the man continued.


    "Boss, Master Victor''s team is waiting for your orders to act ordingly. Should they stay at the shore for defence or move inside?" The man asked, knowing how important it was to convey every single word from the other side.


    "Ask them to move inside. They alone won''t be enough to battle the person who is arriving." Markus said, knowing that without Victor''s support, the team wasn''t in any condition to face their enemy, that too without knowing their men and weapon count.


    "Yes boss." The man replied curtly before conveying the same to the team on shore.


    "What should we do about Victor?" Andrew asked in a low voice, immediately after the man left.


    "I guess we need a change of ns." Markus said, his voice hiding no intentions of killing everyone without failure now.


    "What do you mean?" Andrew asked with a raised eyebrow.


    "From what I can deduce, we are already halfway through the pce, which means done with at least 40-50% of their defence. Professor is simply luring us all inside his den and then calling for allies to close all the doors and attack us from behind as well. Which means we would be trapped from both sides. Why walk right into his trap then?" Markus said, as if signalling towards something.


    "You want to leave this now? Are you sure?" Andrew asked, not quite understanding Markus''s sudden n change.


    "Look, we will start moving backwards, towards the shore. Anyways the team there is at their weakest now. We will leave this ce and go help them. Instead of walking into that psycho''s trap, let''s lure him out in the open and fight. Who knows what kind of poisons await us if we were to go inside.


    Instead let''s take him to his weaker side, out in the open. What do you think?" Markus asked, finally exining everything that was on his mind.


    "I get this. But what if his men attack us from behind while we are moving out?" Andrew asked instantly.


    "We won''t be leaving our backs open for attack likest time. Let''s not repeat the same mistake again." Markus said, his voice a little cold after thinking about those seven ships that would have attacked their sole ship.


    "Fine. We can follow this. Ask your teams to move out first as that would give you all a breather. Our team will be thest one to move while keeping a watch on our backs." Andrew suggested, knowing that Markus and his teams had taken severe blows aspared to them.


    Markus nodded, approving of Andrews statement. Some of his men were severely injured and needed a little rest. Simply moving out without much of an attack would give them enough time to stand back strong, which was much needed at the moment.


    With that, the teams, opposite to Professor''s expectations, reversed their route.


    *JASON''s TEAM*


    Jason''s team was taking a small breather before moving ahead, when they were suddenly informed about Victor''s disappearance.


    "Jason, look, the second brother is missing. We don''t have any exact information on him. And no news is always good news. Second brother isn''t stupid enough to leave this battle and sacrifice his life unnecessarily by remaining on that ship. We just don''t know where he is. So till then, let''s consider that he is somewhere safe. As you said, we can not risk wasting time." This time Rose was quick to speak up, knowing Jason shouldn''t be affected by all this news as it would onlynd their lives in danger and nothing else.


    Jason listened to Rose before nodding, understanding what Rose was imnting.


    "Enough of a breather. Time to barge in and attack." Jason said in a low voice, filled with nothing but a single motto of ending this for once and all.


    But before they could take another step, they had news from Markus''s side.


    ---------------------


    Hellooo lovelies!!


    I know sorry should be the first word I should be saying. I had exam preparation, convocation and finally my entrance exam in the past three months. I know keeping you all on waiting was definitely not the solution, but had no way out. The exam was tough and I am waiting for results. Also if possible I would share my convocation photos with you all on instagram. Stay tuned. And thank you for not abandoning FTMTD! Have a bright day ahead!!


    - Kizy