Chapter 214: Chapter 214: Airborne Debts and Whispered Tragedies
Marcus navigated the silent, frozen crowd with slow steps until he was standing away from Alexander. The hundreds of students watching from the courtyard and the second-floor windows gripped the railings, convinced a bloodbath was about to erupt.
"Hand over your phone," said Marcus, his voice quiet but carrying clearly in the dead silence.
Alexander reached into his pocket, unlocked his device, and flipped it around.
"There it is," said Alexander, pointing t, massive notification from his bank interface. "One million dollars just cleared into the primary account. Looks like the Kingsleys actually paid up for the total on the Shelby."
"Good" said Marcus, nodding once as he handed the phone back. "Have you managed to get a hold of Aria or Victoria yet?"
"Yeah, I tried calling both of them multiple times" said Alexander, his expression darkening as he shoved the device away. "But neither of them is picking up. The lines are dead."
"I don’t think you’re going to be contacting them anytime soon" said Marcus, leaning back slightly and crossing his arms. "I just got word from the upper channels that they were pulled out of the country. I don’t know exactly where they were sent, and I don’t know the specific reasoning, but they’re officially gone. On top of that, I heard a congressman tried to flee the country earlier yesterday. Supposedly, he had some sort of deep relationship with Aria... His name was... it was... what the fuck did they tell me his name was..."
"Goebbels" said Alexander, his eyes narrowing instantly. "Ryan Goebbels."
"Yeah, that idiot" said Marcus, snapping his fingers. "You’re never going to guess what happened to him. Wait, how the hell did you even know it was him?"
"What happened to him, Marcus?" asked Alexander, ignoring the question.
"Tell me how you knew his name first" said Marcus.
"He had his personal security detail give me a massive beating back when I was assigned as Aria’s escort" said Alexander bluntly.
Marcus blinked, a low, mocking chuckle escaping his chest. "Heh... you seriously need to train harder, man. Every single time we sit down to talk, I find out a different person handed you your own ass."
"Shut up, you idiot" growled Alexander.
"Whatever, it doesn’t matter" said Marcus, his tone turning dead serious as he glanced around the perimeter. "Yesterday, while you were busy sleeping like a goddamn Cinderella in that hotel room, Goebbels tried to run. He boarded a private jet to escape the border, but Joseph Kingsley found out about the flight path. Let’s just say his plane exploded mid-air, and officially, nobody knows his current whereabouts."
Alexander stood perfectly still, digesting the heavy piece of intel. "Could it be that idiot? Do you honestly think he was the one pulling the strings behind everything that went down?"
"I have no idea" said Marcus, shaking his head. "But they also assassinated the state security chief. It seems like someone inside the department was hiding crucial intelligence while everyone was scrambling to locate Victoria. I also found out that the very second the Kingsleys recovered that missing data, they started tearing the city apart looking for something specific, and then immediately after, they blew the congressman out of the sky. I’m guessing he was definitely the mole. No way in hell would the Kingsley family risk launching an open, brazen attack on a federal politician over a simple misunderstanding."
"You’re right..." whispered Alexander, his knuckles tightening in his pockets. "Nobody would pull a trigger on a target that high without undeniable certainty."
"And that’s not even the half of it," said Marcus, his voice dropping an octave as he leaned in closer, his eyes scanning the whispers of the crowd one last time before focusing on Alexander. "It looks like you were actually right about something, old friend. Yesterday, I got confirmation that Big Black officially made a move. His heavy hitters mobilized and had a direct, bloody confrontation with the Kingsley forces."
Alexander’s eyes sharpened. "And the Sinclairs?"
"They mobilized too," said Marcus, a dangerous, mocking grin spreading across his face as he watched Alexander’s reaction. "But you are never, in a million years, going to guess who they were trying to help."
"Big Black," said Alexander, his eyes narrowing as he guessed.
Marcus burst into a sharp, dark laugh, shaking his head. "No. They tried to help the Kingsleys. From what I’ve been told, Big Black himself actually ended up taking a lot of bullets, but the bastard still managed to rescue Vanessa and escape with her nobody knows their current whereabouts."
Marcus paused, his smirk turning cold as he leaned in even closer. "And the cherry on top? TMC officially got involved in the mess. I received an encrypted broadcast signal through the agency network today with a massive bounty attached. They want every single one of Big Black’s remaining people dead..."
"Are you planning on stepping into that hornets’ nest?" asked Alexander, his voice flat.
"I’ve already stepped in" said Marcus, turning his back to the crowd as he prepared to walk away, casting one last grim look over his shoulder. "And you’re already buried in it up to your damn neck anyway. Keep your eyes open, Alexander. Every piece on the board is moving in this city right now."
As the two men continued to exchange low, casual remarks, the surrounding courtyard began to ripple with a wave of utter, profound bewilderment. The students who had been eagerly waiting for punchlines or broken bones were frozen in shock.
"Wait... are they... are they literally just chatting?" a student in the front row whispered, his jaw dropping as he watched the "King" chuckle at something Alexander said.
"Look at them... they look like regular friends," a girl near the lockers murmured, her eyes wide. "I thought Marcus dragged him out to execute him two days ago! Why is the King acting so casual with a guy who ruined the library?"
The terrifying rumor of a brutal campus hierarchy shattered right before their eyes. The intense, lethal aura that usually surrounded Marcus seemed to perfectly blend with Alexander’s cold demeanor, creating a strange, unreadable alliance that left the entire student body terrified to even look in their direction.
