Chapter 279: The President of Astraeus Group Steps Forward

I took a deep breath.

These people… they had started rounding up the rich.

When Asher came out after his surgery, his face was a little pale.

“Are you okay?” I asked, stepping forward nervously.

Asher shook his head. “I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry…” the little girl said through her tears. “I was so scared.”

Madeline Quinn comforted the little girl. “It’s okay, it’s okay. Don’t be afraid. We’ll be home soon.”

The little girl just cried harder.

Asher glanced at me. “Stay close. Don’t leave my sight.”

“They’re rounding people up. They’re looking for the president of the Astraeus Group. Right now, the Rebels only know that the president is on board, but most of the wealthy guests brought friends, family, and bodyguards. They can’t identify who the president is because they don’t have a photo.” The president of the Astraeus Group had indeed done an excellent job of hiding his identity.

“You lot! Come with us!” Armed men at the door shoved us out. We were taken to the sixteenth floor, along with the doctor.

Asher held my hand the entire way.

“Have you ever met the president of the Astraeus Group? Would you be able to recognize him?” I asked in a low voice.

Asher shook his head. “The president of the Astraeus Group and I only ever communicated through his assistant. I’ve never met him in person.”

I furrowed my brow. ‘This person is too mysterious. To be able to hide himself so well… could he really be the ‘boss’ of The Genetics Organization?’

The ‘boss’ Killian Lancaster had mentioned.

The person in charge of the entire region.

“Probably… not,” Asher said, shaking his head.

I didn’t say any more and followed the men out of the elevator.

The entire sixteenth floor was now eerily quiet. Everyone was crouched on the ground with their hands over their heads, not daring to make a sound for fear of being fed a bullet.

The people standing in the middle seemed to have more backbone. They were the kind of wealthy individuals who were used to being on top, and they weren’t about to be scared into crouching on the floor by a few minor threats.

Killian Lancaster was among them, and he smiled and waved at us.

“What the hell do you people want?” someone demanded.

The leader of the Rebels was checking people against a list. He stopped in front of Killian Lancaster and said in a low voice, “The president of the Astraeus Group. Who here has had contact with him? If you point him out, I’ll let the rest of you go.”

The man was using temptation, trying to bait the president of the Astraeus Group into revealing himself.

But no one spoke up.

“It seems you still don’t understand the gravity of the situation.” The leader sneered and signaled for his men to act.

One of his men dragged away a wealthy man from the front, forced him into a chair, and used a pair of pliers to pull out his fingernail.

A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the hall.

Everyone huddled closer together in fear, not daring to speak.

“Really, no one has ever met the president of the Astraeus Group… No one,” one woman sobbed, unable to take the pressure. “The Astraeus Group is a company that only took off in the last few years. The boss behind it is extremely mysterious. They say he’s an investment genius. He’s involved in more than just businesses in Meridia—multinationals, joint ventures, he has a hand in all of them, holding shares… We’ve only worked with him. It’s never reached the point where we had to meet in person.”

“That’s right, we only ever met and communicated with his assistant. No one knows what he looks like.”

Others quickly chimed in, agreeing.

I watched our surroundings warily.

These thousand or so people—including chefs, waiters, actors, celebrities, and regular guests—were all gathered here. If the president of the Astraeus Group was on board, he had to be among them.

“This president of the Astraeus Group must be a genius,” Lucas Grant muttered under his breath. “I heard about him years ago. None of his investments ever lose money—it’s all hundredfold returns, like he’s got some kind of sixth sense.”

Felix Foster raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you a genius, too? How come you didn’t get into finance?”

“The world of finance is a dog-eat-dog world that chews you up and spits you out! I’d like to live a few more years,” Lucas Grant snorted.

“Hah… Your current line of work isn’t exactly safe either,” Felix Foster retorted, unconvinced.

“What the hell do you know? My job is to fight crime and protect the innocent. I’m the one who puts people in jail. If I got into finance, I’d be the one getting sent to jail…” Lucas Grant was quite self-aware.

“That just means… you’re not smart enough. You’re dumb,” Felix Foster scoffed.

“Can you two quiet down? Are you flirting? Read the room!” Zeke Shaw couldn’t take it anymore. ‘Could they show a little respect for the kidnappers?’

“Seriously though, is the president of the Astraeus Group really on the ship?” Madeline Quinn asked quietly.

“All chamber of commerce members have a chip. This cruise ship has a recognition system. As soon as they boarded, it would have been registered,” Zeke Shaw explained in a low voice.

I looked at Asher warily. “We have to find the president of the Astraeus Group before these guys do and protect him.”

Asher nodded. “Okay…”

“It seems no one wants to leave this ship, huh?” The Rebel leader laughed, grabbing the rich man’s hand and deliberately squeezing the wound where his nail had been pulled out.

Another bloodcurdling scream echoed through the hall.

These people were making an example of him…

“Now, is anyone going to tell me who the president of the Astraeus Group is?”

The room was dead silent.

“Very well.” The leader smiled, getting up and pointing at one of the wealthy men’s beautiful female companions. “Your woman? I like her… I wonder if she’s enough to entertain us for a night?”

The wealthy man’s face turned white as a sheet. He looked at the leader nervously. “I really don’t know who the president of the Astraeus Group is.”

“Since you don’t know… you’re useless. I’ll give you a choice. Let us have this woman for the night, or you can go jump in the ocean. Hm?” the leader asked with a smile.

The man’s face was deathly pale as he looked at the leader, then he turned to glance frantically at the woman hiding behind him.

The woman was very beautiful, possibly a celebrity. She was crying and shaking her head, trembling with fear.

Who would have thought that the man would shove her forward. “Do what you want… Just don’t kill me.”

I snorted in disgust. ‘Spineless coward…’

The woman collapsed onto the floor in despair, crying and begging for mercy. “Spare me, I’m begging you.”

The kidnappers showed no mercy. One of them laughed, grabbed the woman by her hair, and began to drag her away.

“Let her go. I’m the president of the Astraeus Group.” From the crowd of wealthy people, a handsome young man stepped forward, moving to protect the woman.

The woman looked at him through her tears and shook her head.

The two of them clearly knew each other.

But as for whether that man was really the president of the Astraeus Group, I had no way of knowing.

“Hah… So you decided to step forward on your own. Not bad.” The leader let go of the woman.

The man hurried forward, pulled the woman to her feet, and shielded her behind him.

The leader started to check the man’s information. “Isaac Sullivan, young master of the Sutherland Family… Your father is the president of the Sutherland Group, and you’re the president of the Astraeus Group? Hah…”

Isaac Sullivan protected the female celebrity nervously, pretending to be calm. “So what? My dad secretly backed me when I started my own business…”

There was indeed no evidence to prove he wasn’t.

“Did you think… we have no way of confirming the identity of the Astraeus Group’s president?” The leader laughed and had his men bring over a safe.

“The Genetics Organization requires all its members to store some of their most valuable personal assets on this cruise ship, which boasts the most secure protection system. And… every safe brought on board requires both the owner’s palm print and iris scan to open.” The leader dragged Isaac Sullivan in front of the safe.

“If you can’t open this safe, both you and the woman you’re protecting will die.”

I gripped Asher’s hand nervously. “Is he the president of the Astraeus Group?”

‘If he isn’t… he’s a dead man for sure.’

‘If he is, we have to find a way to protect him.’

Asher shook his head, his gaze profound.