Chapter 176: Zero Tolerance for Violence Against Medical Staff
Gunfire suddenly erupted outside.
Someone had finally found the location.
The woman immediately grabbed Ethan and pulled him in front of her as a human shield.
The very next second—
John burst into the room.
Ethan nearly teared up with relief.
Brother, you finally made it.
John stopped after entering, his eyes instantly sweeping across the situation, evaluating everything in a fraction of a second.
Ethan checked his condition.
It felt like he could finally cast Power Word: Shield again.
As he began gathering Holy Light, he shouted:
"Don't worry about me—!"
Before he could finish, John noticed the familiar shimmer of Holy Light rippling around Ethan.
He didn't hesitate.
He fired immediately.
The woman dropped.
Chaos exploded throughout the room.
Using the confusion, Ethan tore himself free and stumbled away from his captors.
Several cultists fell dead.
The survivors retreated with remarkable speed.
John didn't pursue them.
Instead, he walked over to Ethan and silently looked him over.
Ethan let out a long breath.
"Looks like that trip to Rome wasn't for nothing."
He grinned weakly.
"At least we've got decent teamwork now."
With John accompanying him, Ethan returned to the clinic.
Outside, the entire area had descended into chaos.
Vehicles packed the streets.
Voices overlapped in every direction.
Somewhere in the distance, helicopter rotors thundered through the night sky.
Ethan didn't stop.
He walked straight through the confusion and pushed open the clinic door.
The door closed behind him.
It felt like stepping between two different worlds.
Compared to the turmoil outside, the interior was unnaturally quiet.
Only the faint hum of the lights remained.
There were only a handful of people inside.
The moment Helen saw Ethan, the tension visibly drained from her face.
She hurried forward and wrapped her arms around him.
Pressing her cheek lightly against his, she whispered,
"Thank God you're okay."
The instant she embraced him, the tension that had been coiled inside Ethan ever since the kidnapping finally loosened.
He exhaled deeply.
Then he looked around the clinic.
Besides John and Helen, there were two other women present.
One of them was Eve Maccaro.
The other...
He didn't recognize at all.
Ethan's gaze lingered for a moment on the unfamiliar face.
She was a beautiful woman.
She stood apart from Helen and Eve, maintaining a deliberate distance from both of them.
Dark jacket. Hair tied back. Perfect posture. Calm expression.
And when she looked at Ethan, there was neither confusion nor surprise in her eyes.
She clearly already knew who he was.
Ethan quickly looked away and returned his attention to Helen. He gently patted her back, reassuring her that he was fine.
"I'm okay," he said. "Just tired."
Helen nodded, though she didn't release him immediately. After a moment, she finally let go and stepped to his side.
At that moment, the unfamiliar woman stepped forward.
"Dr. Rayne, hello."
"Have we met?" Ethan asked.
"Not before today."
She smiled slightly, her tone warm and composed.
"Which is why I've been waiting here for you."
She extended her hand.
"Natalie Rushman."
For the briefest instant, Ethan's expression froze.
Of course he knew that name.
Black Widow.
A S.H.I.E.L.D. operative.
Her real name should be Natasha Romanoff.
"I'm here to confirm that you're safe," Natasha said.
One of Ethan's eyebrows twitched.
"Confirm my safety?" he repeated.
"Yes."
She nodded.
"After you were taken... and I apologize, because I doubt that was a pleasant experience for you."
"Once contact with you was lost, certain people became concerned that the situation might spiral out of control. So I was sent to check on you."
She didn't explain who had sent her.
Nor why it had been her.
Ethan didn't ask.
Instead, he glanced around the clinic.
Eve Maccaro appeared unusually tense.
She stood straight, her gaze calm but vigilant, clearly having categorized Natasha as someone requiring special attention.
John stood nearby in silence.
Helen, meanwhile, didn't seem surprised by Natasha's presence at all.
Ethan withdrew his gaze and pushed aside the questions in his mind.
There were more urgent matters to deal with first.
He looked at John and Eve.
"Why aren't you hunting down the cultists?"
"People are already doing that," John replied.
"I stayed behind to ensure your safety."
"I'm inside the clinic," Ethan immediately said. "And there are plenty of people outside. You don't need to worry about me."
He looked between John and Eve.
"You two should go now."
"Make sure every last one of them is eliminated."
"They won't get far," Eve added.
"Several thousand people are chasing a few dozen survivors."
"It'll be over soon."
Ethan blinked.
"Several thousand?"
He thought about it.
The numbers were certainly there.
But numbers weren't everything.
The cultists who remained were elites.
A few dozen elite operatives could easily carve through a much larger force.
In his mind, it was like dozens of elite ninja facing thousands of ordinary shinobi.
Not exactly reassuring.
Unable to help himself, he voiced the thought.
"What if those few dozen people are all Kage-level ninja?"
The room fell silent.
John and Eve both stared at him.
Natasha frowned, clearly having no idea what he was talking about.
Only Helen answered.
"They could all be Hokage and it still wouldn't matter."
She rolled her eyes.
"Just stay here and wait for news."
Ethan blinked.
"Helen... did you finally watch that anime I recommended?"
Helen gave him a flat look and ignored him completely.
"No."
Ethan shook his head.
"I'm still not comfortable with this."
Everything that had happened had left a heavy weight in his chest.
He desperately wanted to do something.
Then he suddenly remembered something.
"Wait."
"What happened to those gold coins?"
"And Gianna's marker?"
"Weren't they stored upstairs?" Helen asked.
"You put them there yourself."
"Right."
Ethan immediately turned toward the stairs.
"I'm going to get them."
As he climbed, he continued issuing instructions.
"John, call Gianna."
"Tell her I'm cashing in the marker."
"I want them involved in the hunt."
"Helen, contact both the Whitmore and Harrington families."
"Tell them I'm collecting on my promise."
"I don't care how they do it."
"I only want one result."
"The cult disappears completely."
"And the Continental."
"Use every coin we've got."
"Put a bounty on every remaining member."
He stopped on the stairs and turned around.
"Violence against medical professionals—"
"Zero tolerance."
The moment he said it, some random joke surfaced in his mind.
A doctor can only tolerate "zero."
Maybe some other doctor somewhere could tolerate it... but not me.
The absurdity of it hit him.
A low laugh escaped before he could stop it.
The others watched him in confusion.
One moment he was storming upstairs in righteous fury.
The next, he had stopped halfway and was laughing to himself.
All four of them looked completely baffled.
Helen's expression gradually shifted into concern.
Something about Ethan seemed off.
The kidnapping had clearly shaken him more than he was letting on.
At that moment, Natasha spoke.
"Dr. Rayne."
"You don't need to worry."
"I can assure you—they won't escape."
Ethan looked up, about to reply.
But Natasha's phone rang first.
She answered.
Spoke quietly for a few moments.
Then ended the call.
She looked directly at Ethan.
"They're all dead."
Ethan froze.
"...All of them?"
"Yes."
A moment of silence passed.
Then Ethan said,
"Have the bodies brought back."
"All right."
Without hesitation, Natasha picked up the phone again.
The bodies arrived near the clinic not long afterward.
Ethan walked over to inspect them.
John remained glued to his side, never more than a step away.
One by one, Ethan unzipped the body bags.
The people who had threatened him only hours earlier now lay cold and motionless.
Yet as he stared at them, he felt something unexpected.
Not satisfaction.
Not relief.
Not triumph.
Nothing at all.
After a long moment, Ethan turned away.
He walked back into the clinic without giving the corpses another glance.
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