Soon, Harry arrived outside the study and lightly leaped onto the balcony. He pressed his ear against the door and listened for a while; it was completely silent inside. Harry pulled out a small tool he carried with him, fiddled with the lock for a few seconds until it clicked open with a "pop." He slipped inside and quietly closed the balcony door behind him.
"Found the computer, connecting now."
As soon as he entered, he saw a huge desk with the computer sitting atop it. Harry connected the interface of the data collector to the computer and pressed the power button.
The screen emitted a bluish-green glow, and Paso's voice came through the earpiece: "Alright, connection established. Hold on, I'll need a few minutes to crack the password."
Inside the truck, Paso's fingers flew across the keyboard. For him, ordinary personal passwords were no big deal; he could just use his self-made cracker tool for a basic brute-force attack.
"Failed, failed, failed."
Minute by minute passed, the sound of Paso typing filling the earpiece. Finally, there was a "beep," and Paso laughed heartily on the other end. "Got it! I'm in. I knew I was the best... Let me look for it. Oh, here it is, just a few more minutes, the files are transferring..."
...
Outside the villa, a guard walked a dog past the swimming pool. His flashlight suddenly caught sight of broken ice in the pool—a black hole stood out starkly against the glowing white surface. The guard couldn't believe his eyes and confirmed it again before shouting into his walkie-talkie in Swedish.
"Something's wrong! Something's wrong!"
Standing atop the car, Simon had been closely monitoring the situation with binoculars. Just moments ago, the guards had abruptly halted their patrols, clearly reacting to something they discovered.
Inside the study, Harry acted as if he hadn't heard Simon's warning, focusing intently on the computer screen.
97%... 98%... 99%... 100%
"Transfer complete, evacuate immediately!"
Standing in the hall, Owen had also sensed that something was off. The guards scattered around the hall were interacting much more frequently, and their glances were filled with suspicion. Upon hearing Simon's evacuation order, Owen turned on his heel and walked briskly, speaking quietly, "Harry, exit directly from outside, don't come back."
Outside the wall, just about to return to the second-floor balcony, Harry immediately abandoned that idea upon hearing Owen's words. He decisively jumped from the second floor and sprinted into the night.
Owen didn't exit through the main door; he chose the kitchen back door, just like when they entered. However, there he ran into the head chef again.
The chef recognized him and was about to speak when Owen beat him to it, snapping fiercely, "What were you doing? Didn't you hear me tell you to change out the food earlier?"
The head chef looked a little aggrieved. "I did change it. Those cookies were freshly made."
"Go taste those cookies yourself—can people even eat those? You trying to get me fired? Replace them immediately!"
Owen barked while striding past, disappearing out the kitchen door before the chef could say another word. The chef stared suspiciously at Owen's retreating figure, then looked at the cookies on the table, grabbed one, and muttered, "What's wrong with the taste?"
Exiting from the kitchen back door, Owen walked outward at a deliberately normal pace, pretending to be on a phone call. There was no other choice—the number of guards had doubled compared to when they entered, and quietly sneaking back to their landing spot was impossible.
Inside the villa, Clay led a large group of guards up to the third-floor study, only to find the computer still powered on, the file transfer window still visible on the screen. Furious, Clay smashed his beloved antique vase and grabbed the security chief's walkie-talkie, roaring, "Shut the gates! No one leaves without my permission!"
The guards received the order just as Owen was only a few steps away. Owen continued to act as if he were engrossed in his phone call.
"Sir, please return to the villa."
Owen pretended not to hear and kept walking.
"Sir, please return to the villa. This is an emergency."
Owen still pretended not to hear.
"Sir—"
BOOM~~~~
The nearby small wooden cabin exploded violently, flames shooting three meters into the night sky. Owen knew immediately that Harry had been exposed—that was the bomb Harry had planted earlier. If everything had gone smoothly, it never would have been detonated.
Seizing the moment of chaos, Owen delivered a swift knifehand strike to the guard's neck, knocking him out cold. However, this move was witnessed by another guard walking a dog not far away. The guard shouted in Swedish, and more guards immediately turned their attention toward Owen.
Owen no longer cared about remaining hidden. He sprinted at full speed as bullets began whizzing past him, thudding into the snow around him. He suddenly remembered what Simon had said before the mission: If our identities are exposed or if we're captured, the country will not acknowledge us, and there will be no rescue operations. So, good luck.
Thinking of this, Owen ran even faster.
He sprinted across the snowy ground without stopping, bullets constantly kicking up plumes of snow nearby.
According to the original plan, if everything went smoothly, they would return the way they came. If exposed, Harry would detonate the explosives to draw attention, allowing both of them to escape amidst the confusion.
However, the situation had clearly been misjudged. When Simon gave the evacuation order, the enemy had only suspected something was wrong; they hadn't fully exposed themselves yet.
Thus, Owen had initially decided to return the original way. But during the retreat, Harry was exposed and triggered the bomb, inadvertently putting Owen in even greater danger.
At this point, though, thinking about it was useless. His only chance now was to run desperately and reach the water for a slim chance of survival. Owen crouched low and sprinted furiously across the snow, the swimming pool just over a hundred meters away.
Suddenly, a chilling sensation struck him. Glancing back mid-run, Owen caught sight of the new threat—those hunting dogs, previously leashed, had been set loose. Several of them, eyes glinting viciously, were now bounding toward him.
"Damn it!"
Cursing under his breath, Owen raced toward the spot where he had hidden his bag earlier. Leaping over a thicket, he didn't dare slow down for a second. He ducked low, grabbed the large hidden bag, and continued his mad dash toward the pool.
Behind him, he could hear the "huff huff" of the hunting dogs' breathing—they were already alarmingly close. Owen didn't dare glance back; he knew if he lost focus even for a moment, the dogs would tear him apart.
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