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Chapter 83
Bennett was momentarily stunned, not quite understanding what was happening until his gaze fell on Quinlyn.
She was hiding the gun behind her back, covered in mud and looking so small that the abbot hadn’t noticed her subtle
movements.
Now there were only two guns in the entire scene–one in the hands of the criminal and the other in Quinlyn’s grip. Bennett felt his throat tighten but hesitated to respond.
How could he expect a ten–year–old kid, someone who had never fired a gun before, to save a teammate?
But it seemed the blood from the abbot’s wounds was driving him into a frenzy. “You think you can fool me? I swear, if I go down, I’ll take you all with me!” he shouted.
He swung the gun butt against the hostage’s head repeatedly, turning the poor victim’s face into a bloody mess.
“Stop it!” Bennett clenched his fists, but the fear of the situation held him back as cold sweat trickled down his face. At this rate, they would never see the helicopter arrive.
The tension in the air thickened, the anger on the abbot’s face intensifying, his eyes filled with a desperate fury.
Just as he was about to summon his last ounce of strength to find a scapegoat, Quinlyn made her move. Drawing the gun. she recalled how Michael had demonstrated loading it and mimicked the movement.
She raised the gun, aimed carefully, and without hesitation, pulled the trigger. The two gunshots rang out almost simultaneously, separated by mere seconds.
As the smoke lingered in the air, the abbot’s eyes widened in disbelief. He seemed to just notice a child standing next to the trees. In that instant, Quinlyn’s bullet struck true, taking him down.
Unfortunately, his finger had already squeezed the trigger, but in that very moment of impact, his aim went awry, and the bullet merely grazed the face of the investigator.
The outcome was sealed.
For a long while, the forest was silent.
Bennett turned to look at Quinlyn in shock. It was her first time firing a gun; her arm trembled slightly from the recoil, but her eyes remained intense and fierce. Only when the abbot finally fell did she release her grip on the trigger. He had no doubt that if the criminal had still been alive, Quinlyn would have fired again.
After a moment, she lowered her arm and moved down the slope to help Michael up, noticing the bullets lodged in his thigh and arm. Without a word, she pulled medical gauze from her backpack, working to stop his bleeding.
Bennett snapped back to reality, sending teammates to check on the 901 squad while he examined the criminal’s condition. Out of twelve, only one monk remained, his hand injured and ready to be apprehended.
After seeing to their teammate’s wounds, the group decided to head down the mountain.
On the way, the rescued officer approached Quinlyn and quietly expressed his gratitude. “I felt him trying to kill me in that moment. You noticed it too, right? Thank you, Quinlyn. I owe you my life.”
Quinlyn stood protectively by the stretcher with Michael, her gun still tucked against her, and simply nodded in acknowledgment. She didn’t feel much like conversing.
Bennett assumed she might be struggling with the psychological aftermath of firing the gun and instructed the team not to bring it up again.
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Chapter 83
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Finally reaching the foot of the mountain, the sight of the camp brought relief. Numerous parents were already gathered
outside.
Although the military had cordoned off the roads, news had somehow leaked out. After a long and arduous wait, Curtis nodded and allowed the parents to come and greet Quinlyn.
The Hill family, the Wilson family, and Curtis had stayed anxiously at the foot of the mountain, and a collective sigh of relief escaped them when they finally spotted Quinlyn’s small frame emerging through the mud.
“Quinlyn! Let me see if you’re hurt! How could you run off like that? Do you even know how dangerous it was in there?” Elowyn rushed over and enveloped her in a tight hug. After confirming that she was okay, she playfully slapped Quinlyn’s backside twice.
The sound was loud but didn’t really hurt. It was Quinlyn’s first time getting spanked, and she touched her backside with a slightly confused expression.
“I’m just glad you’re back. Now let’s get you cleaned up and rested,” Curtis said, clearly worried for her. He placed a heavy hand on her shoulder, his eyes shining with admiration. “You did well.”
Elowyn almost rolled her eyes at the compliment. “Whose parent praises their kid like that?”
Behind them, Joseph, Stanley, and Larry exchanged glances, hesitant to cheer out loud, but they couldn’t help but give Quinlyn a thumbs up.
They had all made it back alive. This was a result the military hadn’t anticipated. Everyone who had been waiting at the base, having experienced a night of thunder and emergency sheltering, had already assumed that casualty reports were a given.
It was only now that they understood the true weight of Curtis’s praise for the girl he had been bragging about.
Quinlyn had just finished tidying herself up when she spotted a line of officers standing in front of a tent, all wearing suspiciously bright smiles.
“I knew Quinlyn was a gem the moment I laid eyes on her. She’s destined for greatness, perfect to represent our Navy.”
“With your adventurous spirit and insight, you’d make a great scout! You’ll learn so much from us.”
“Cut the sweet talk. I’m just gonna be straight with you–Quinlyn is officially ours now!”
Despite the more refined folks trying to win Quinlyn over, she was unceremoniously lifted onto someone’s shoulders, and it just so happened to be the strong regimental commander she had met a couple of days ago.
He intended to toss her in the car when Ivan seized the moment and intercepted him, leading to an immediate scuffle.
As another commander and the leader of the 901 Military Base, Ivan was quite skilled. He quickly managed to give the Commander a good beating.
“Hey, don’t hit the head! How am I supposed to show my face after this? Where’s the respect?” the larger man shouted, trying to dodge while grappling with Ivan.
Ivan, not showing any mercy, delivered another punch without holding back. “You didn’t think about that when you tried to abduct Quinlyn, did you?”
“You can’t just claim her as yours since she hasn’t officially joined you yet!” the big guy protested, holding his head in pain.
Seeing the commotion, Curtis stepped in with a cold glare. “There are civilians around. Act like you have some sense.”
His authoritative demeanor silenced them. He turned to Quinlyn, who obediently approached him, and a small smile crept onto his face. Ignoring the two bulky men entirely, he asked gently, “Are you hungry? I’ll take you to eat something, and while we’re at it, we might need you to sign a few things.”
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Hearing the last part, the big guy thought, “That’s cheating!‘
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Ivan couldn’t help but chuckle as he walked over to pat his shoulder. “That’s called recognizing a talent. Who told you a couple of days ago that Quinlyn was nothing special?” With that, he swaggered off.
In Curtis’s tent, Quinlyn sat at a command table eating her meal, the clean surface of the panel being used as a tray for her food. She was curious and peered down at the scene below.
“Focus on your meal first,” Curtis said, sitting next to her. He gently nudged her head back toward her food, amused.
Quinlyn swallowed a bite and looked at him. “Mr. Ramirez, didn’t you say I’d be signing something?”
Curtis smiled slightly at her question. “That’s to prevent those guys from pulling any dirty tricks. You can rest assured that I won’t force you into anything you don’t want to do. Your future is yours to decide.”
Upon hearing the word “future,” Quinlyn stopped mid–motion. After thinking for a moment, she pulled out the gun she had hidden in her jacket and placed it on the table. “Today, I killed someone.”
