The Devilish Assassin Meets The Angelic Detective

It was two days ago when Phantom received the information from Brother Yan that they lost contact with their two comrades, Brother Ling and Brother Xu.

They were the henchmen assigned by Phantom to monitor Alfonso Ramirez. Unfortunately, the two of them were captured by Alfonso's men.

Phantom immediately traveled back to the province in order to conduct a rescue mission. Five of his henchmen assisted him.

After a day, they were able to track the location where their comrades were being held captive. It was a warehouse just kilometers away from the facility which was managed by the Dark Knight Organization headed by Alfonso.

It was midnight when Phantom and his team decided to rescue them. The security in the vicinity was heightened. As expected, Brother Xu and Ling were tortured by Dark Knight members.

They were trying to find out who sent those two people. But to their disappointment, Xu and Ling kept their mouth shut. They didn't expect their loyalty was strong, making the Dark Knight furious.

Not yet satisfied with the physical tortures that they inflicted with those two persons, Dark Knight members decided to use their lethal weapon to scare them and make them talk.

With the approval of their superiors, they used one of the bio-weapon they had created. It would also serve as a trial experiment to know what would be the effect and extent of the impact if a person was exposed to it.

Several minutes later, two men wearing protective gear entered the warehouse holding a briefcase. Inside the briefcase, there was a syringe containing the bio-weapon. 

They chose Xu as the test subject. They isolated him in the corner of the warehouse. The other Dark Knight's men who were holding Ling in place distanced themselves farther away from Xu's location, afraid that they would also be exposed to the bio-weapon once it was injected into the test subject.

They were all focused on the movements of the men wearing protective gear, as they started to prepare the injection. Because of that, they failed to notice that Phantom and his team already succeeded sneaking inside the warehouse.

On Phantom's signal, the power was cut off causing the surroundings to be engulfed in darkness. The rest moved swiftly in shadow and started to attack those men using guns with silencer and daggers. In just several minutes, many lifeless bodies were scattered inside. 

But it was too late for their comrade, the bio-weapon was already injected to Xu. The rest of the team secured Ling while Phantom was the one who came to Xu.

They immediately left the area. When they were already outside the warehouse, Phantom sensed that something was wrong with Xu. He was assisting him to walk.

"Xu, are you okay?" Phantom asked him with concern but Xu was not able to respond to him as he started to cough blood.

The rest also halted on their steps as they turned to look at the direction of Phantom and Xu. They were already near their car.

"Xu, get a hold of yourself. Hang on. We will bring you to the hospital." Phantom was trying his best to encourage him. Xu fell on his knees.

Xu just gave Phantom a gentle smile and a grateful look before he pushed him away from his body. His nose was already bleeding and he continued to cough blood.

The others just looked at him confusedly. Phantom was about to help him stand once again when Xu signaled him to stop.

"M-Master… just leave... w-without me," Xu said in between his cough.

"Save Brother Ling," he added.

"Why are you spouting nonsense, Xu? No one will be left behind. We will all leave this place!" Brother Yan exclaimed.

Xu was very weak. He couldn't understand but he felt a burning sensation all over his body. It seemed like the blood inside his body was about to explode. With his remaining strength, he shook his head and spoke up again.

"I-I'm s-sorry brothers… Master. I-I don't think I can survive this time." Xu showed them his hand which had a mark of injection.

"Thank y-you for coming to save us. I-I am happy... to see you all... for one last time. Farewell, brothers." 

"Hey don't say that!" Ling said to him. 

All their faces were painted with worries and fears. They didn't want to lose their brother. But they already knew that it looked bad this time.

"Wait, Xu… we will find an antidote. Master, Let's go back to the facility!" Brother Chou suggested to them.

Phantom was silent with complicated emotions on his face. He also knew that it was too late. He was blaming himself as of this moment. He failed to protect Xu.

The rest was waiting for their Master's response. Then suddenly Xu collapsed, he was already struggling with his breathing. 

"Xu!"

"Brother Xu!"

They all shouted his name in unison.

"Yan, start the Car immediately! We will all leave this place." Phantom ordered him. 

"I will carry Xu! We will not leave someone behind." Dead or alive, Phantom decided to bring Xu along with them.

"Master, Let me carry him. We didn't know how strong this bio-weapon is. Just a mere contact with him, you will also be exposing yourself to it." Brother Yan said to him as he stopped Phantom.

"No. I should be the one to do this. He is my responsibility. All of you are my responsibility!"

"But Master-" Brother Yan wanted to protest but Phantom cut him off.

"All of you, leave together. Xu and I will use the other car. DON'T LET ME REPEAT MY ORDER! Go now!"

They had no choice but to follow their master. Phantom approached Xu once again as he carried him towards the Car. Just a few minutes when they left the place, Xu died inside Phantom's car.

Everyone was saddened. They were all mourning. It was already dawn when they cremated his body. Phantom was with him in his last moment. The pain and sorrow were consuming him. He felt like he lost another son.

Morning came and brother Yan informed Lu and Yu about the sad news. Phantom and the rest decided to stay there for a moment as they brought Ling to the hospital for the treatment of his injuries.

Phantom and Yan were standing just outside the ward of Ling while the rest were inside, watching over him. They couldn't hide the sadness and anger they felt after losing their brother.

"Master, how are you? Do you feel uncomfortable or hurt anywhere? You were with Brother Xu and I am afraid that you were exposed to that bio-weapon." Concern was evident in Brother Yan's voice.

"I am just fine. Don't worry about me." Phantom replied as he gave him a reassuring smile.

"By the way, can you buy food for us. I know everyone hasn't eaten anything yet since this morning," he added as he requested Yan.

"Alright Master. I'll take my leave now." Brother Yan said before he walked away.

Just seconds later after Yan left Phantom, he started to cough. There was a gleam in his eyes when he looked at his hand and saw the blood on his right palm. He used it to cover his mouth when he started to cough just a while ago.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*** At Falcon Cafe ***

After informing Elle about the bad news, Yu and Lu left the Cafe. She asked them to go and see their brothers and Phantom. They needed to support each other in times like this.

Elle and Elena were the ones who remained in the Cafe. Just when they were about to take their lunch, another set of unexpected visitors entered the Cafe.

Elle was surprised to see Erick's colleagues. Four of them arrived except Erick. Bryan, June, Rose, and April immediately walked towards Elle. She just smiled at them awkwardly.

'Why are they here?' Elle pondered to herself.

Her question in mind was answered right away when April spoke up.

"Elle, can you lend us your time? We want to talk to you about something."

'Eh, so they are here in order to talk to me.'

Elle averted her gaze to Bryan. She gave him a questioning look. Bryan couldn't look straight into her eyes as he scratched his face. He looked guilty about something. Elle frowned upon seeing his reaction.

'What did you do this time, Bryan Velasquez?!' Elle could sense that Bryan had something to do with this sudden visit.

Elle just nodded at them and invited them to sit down. After they settled down on their respective seats, they told her their reason for coming there right away.

"Elle, we are here because of our Chief Lee. You already knew about his decision, right?" April said to her directly.

Elle just nodded in agreement. Bryan had informed her yesterday. And from the look of it, Erick was also troubled and bothered by his decision. Last night, she observed that Erick was acting weird. Even though he didn't tell her anything but she knew that something was weighing on his mind.

"Bryan told us that you were the reason he did that." June blurted out to them.

Elle was astounded after hearing that. She immediately turned to Bryan as she shot him a sharp glare. He just pouted apologetically after meeting her dangerous gaze.

"Elle, please convince our Chief Lee. We need him. We can't do this case without him." Rose mumbled to her with her pleading eyes.

"Elle, we understand your concern about our Chief. But the danger is part of our job. Elle, Marie is still in the hospital because of this case. Please let him do and solve this case with us." April said to her desperately.

Elle didn't know what to say. They fixed their gaze on her, anticipating her response. She could see the desperation and helplessness in their eyes.

After a while, Elle heaved a sigh of defeat before she responded to them.

"Alright. I understand. I will talk to Erick about this."

After hearing her reply, their mood brightened up. The happiness was written all over their faces. It seemed like they found their hopes in her.