She Outshines Them All



"I didn't investigate you." Disappointment flashed across Brandon's eyes. "I just thought that you wouldn't really withdraw your application." Lindsay looked at him in a daze and was unable to speak.

Brandon became calm again. "Actually, you migrating or not is not the real problem. The real problem is that you want to become a true citizen of Aeloria, where Aeloria is going to be your home. Where we are now is just somewhere like a temporary lodging to you.

"Just like how you only want to be family with me, but you don't want to be family with my family. You care about my life and death, but not about my family's."

He shook his head slowly. "We're really different. The same goes for you and my family. You are not the same."

At this point, he turned around and left. His voice was as calm as if he was bidding farewell to just another friend. "You can go back after dawn." Behind him, Lindsay cried, "Brandon, What is our seven-year relationship to you? Have you ever loved me?"

Brandon reached for the door handle and didn't turn around. "You're not the only one working hard in this relationship. I've tried my best too. Otherwise, I would've broken up with you when you first came to our house."

He turned the knob, opened the door, and strode out. The door closed behind him, closing the chapter between him and Lindsay and fencing off their past.

Brandon drove away as soon as he got out of the hotel and sped toward Wyomarlo City. At the same time, he turned on his phone and logged in to YouTube to watch the terrorists' live broadcast.

In the video, Zayn was still walking slowly and limping in an abandoned building in the middle of the night, supported by a wooden stick in his hand. There was only a drone hovering above his head, guiding him on a path with its lights.

In front of him, about a thousand feet away, was the main frame of a three-and-a-half-story shopping mall tha was furnished with scattered lights. It should be where the terrorists were holding the hostages.

Even though Brandon knew that Athena and the military must have come up with plans, Brandon still broke out in cold sweat for Zayn.

'Zayn is so close to the terrorist. There must be a lot of guns aimed at him. The terrorists may accidentally let out a fire or shoot on a whim.' Brandon started imagining possible outcomes and actually put a jinx on it.

Just as Brandon delved in his imagination, he suddenly heard a gunshot. Zayn fell to the ground and pressed his chest with one hand. Blood could be seen seeping out from under his palm.

When Brandon saw it, his eyes widened and his blood boiled. It was as if the shot didn't hit Zayn's body but Brandon's head. Brandon felt like his head was about to explode into pieces.

"Zayn!" he shouted, and after that, he couldn't hear or see anything.

The SUV he was driving also lost control because his senses were knocked out by the shock. It rammed toward the divider, crashed into the bushes, and ended up on the one-way road on the opposite side.

Fortunately, the streets were empty in the early morning and his car didn't hit anyone. He was also shaken awake by the bump as the car hit the bushes. His mind regained some consciousness and clarity.

He forced himself to calm down, jerked the steering wheel, and slammed on the brakes. The SUV stopped. Panting heavily, he ignored the cold sweat on his face and called Jaden with trembling hands. The call was picked up immediately.

He said in a quavering voice, "Zayn, he, he..." Brandon couldn't speak. He could only cover his mouth and suppress his cries.

"Zayn is fine," Jaden quickly replied. "Him being shot was just an act."

Brandon's cries stuck in his throat. "Y-You aren't just saying that to make me feel better, are you?"

"No," Jaden said firmly. "That shot was fired by the military. It didn't hit Zayn."

"Zayn played along with the shot. He took out the blood pack that was hidden in his wig, pressed it against his chest, and fell to the ground, creating the illusion that he had been shot by the terrorists."

Jaden's words made sense, and he sounded steady. Brandon felt that he wasn't lying to him. His hands finally stopped trembling. "T-That's good. I saw the live broadcast just now and was almost scared out of my wits."

As the two of them spoke, an angry and ferocious voice came from the live broadcast. "Who shot him? Didn't I say not to kill him for the time being? I want to torture him slowly!

"Forget it, he doesn't seem to be dead yet. You guys go out and drag him in. I want to cut him up bit by bit."

At this point, the live broadcast suddenly stopped and the screen turned black. The comments section exploded. Comments in different languages and from different countries flooded the comment section, mostly asking what had happened.Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

When Brandon saw this, his eyes widened. "The live broadcast on YouTube has been stopped. What's happening now?"

Jaden said, "The military wants to launch a surprise attack, so they cut off all the Inte signals in the area. Can you hear the sound on my end? It's all gunshots."

Under normal circumstances, any country wouldn't allow its people to livestream such bloody, violent, and cruel crimes on the Inte. However, in the beginning, the military was trying not to provoke the terrorists.

They needed to prevent them from killing the hostages in a fit of anger. Secondly, the military also needed to observe the situation at the crime scene through the live broadcast, so they temporarily allowed the broadcast.

Now that the military had information on the terrorists, they had completed strategizing their attack. After Zayn was "shot", they immediately cut off thework and launched a surprise attack.

Brandon let out a long breath of relief. "I'm driving over now. Let me know if anything happens."

Then, he hung up the phone and stepped on the accelerator. He drove the car at top speed, not caring if he had violated the traffic rules. Fury took over his mind.

Gringger City was a big city, and Wyomarlo City was in the suburbs. As the luxurious hotel Lindsay took Brandon was in the city center. No matter how fast Brandon drove or how smooth the traffic was, it would take him at least an hour to get to Wyomarlo City.

'It's going to be an hour to get to Wyomarlo! Who knew what would happen in that hour?' Brandon thought.

He could only pray that everything was well for Zayn and Athena. He was hoping that he'd be able to see both of them alive and kicking when he arrived at Wyomarlo City.

However, the cruelty of war and the scheming terrorists outdid his imagination. When he arrived at Wyomarlo City, he only saw Jaden. He didn't see Zayn and Athena. Jaden's face was grave.

He could feel a yank in his heart. He opened the car door and rushed out. "How are Zayn and Athena?"

Jaden patted him on the shoulder, telling him to calm down. "All the hostages have been rescued, and almost all the terrorists have been captured. It's just that-"

"Just that what? Hurry up!" Brandon said anxiously.

"Jackal managed to escape."

The military used the tranquilizing smoke grenade given by Athena to lock onto the targeted area. When the terrorists were distracted by the shot at Zayn, the military blasted the smoke grenades and successfully tranquilized the terrorists instantly.

However, when the military searched the scene, they found a seriously injured soldier at the back of the shopping mall. The soldier's uniform was nowhere to be found.

The soldier stated that he had been

ambushed by a terrorist suspected

et

to be Jackat and that they had briefly exchanged blows, causing both of them to be injured. While the soldier was in a semi-conscious state, the terrorist took his uniform and left quickly.

There was no one living within a few hundred yards and there were also some areas close to the river and mountains. No matter how much manpower the military mobilized, it wasn't enough to seal the entire city and monitor every corner of it.

Jackal was like the demon that roamed the night. He hid himself in the darkness and wandered around, looking for the right time to harvest the lives of the living.

When Zayn, who was receiving treatment, heard this, he requested to return to the scene immediately and use himself to lure Jackal out. Nicolette didn't agree with his suggestion.

However, Zayn insisted, "The Jackal is coming for me. He will use even the slightest chance to kill me. He won't give up and will definitely try to escape. He might even have a backup plan for himself.

"If he succeeds in escaping, he'll become more wicked and cause more serious damage. There's a probability that he will look for my family." Nicolette was convinced. Zayn put on his military uniform and dragged his injured body to join the battle again.