Chapter 280 - 279: The President of Astraeus Group Is Not a Good Person

Chapter 280: Chapter 279: The President of Astraeus Group Is Not a Good Person

I watched the man warily. ’The leader of The Resistance must want to kill the CEO of Astraeus Group to make a statement to his own people. If this Isaac Sullivan is really the CEO of Astraeus Group, I have to find a way to save him.’

"Drag him over," the leader said in a low voice, and his men hauled Isaac Sullivan in front of the safe.

Isaac Sullivan’s face went white with fear. You could tell he was a timid rich kid, yet it was this very same timid person who had stepped up to protect that woman.

The woman cried, shaking her head and clinging desperately to Isaac Sullivan.

"Heh..." The leader sneered, grabbing the woman by the hair and slamming her to the ground.

"Hey, have a little decency with the lady," I said with a frown, trying to draw the leader’s attention.

’Asher always understood my intentions.’

’I had to protect Isaac Sullivan.’

"There are so many of us! Why are we afraid of them? We still have a chance! We need to be brave for ourselves, just this once! Everyone, please, help me!" Isaac Sullivan pleaded, looking around at all the people squatting on the floor—the millionaires, the ones who used to call him brother.

The fair-weather friends who had pestered him to bring them on this cruise ship.

Not one of his so-called friends and relatives dared to make a sound. In fact... no one even dared to look up.

Despair washed over Isaac Sullivan. His eyes grew red as he clenched his fists, refusing to open the safe.

The leader’s gaze never left me. He chuckled. "Don’t be anxious. We’ll go one by one. If it’s not him... it will slowly be everyone’s turn. You’d all better pray you’re not the mysterious CEO of Astraeus Group—the one who donates money and supplies to The Genetics Organization, secretly funding their operations!"

The leader’s voice was low, laced with a palpable hatred for the CEO of Astraeus Group.

I took a sharp, cautious breath. Just as I was about to speak, Asher grabbed my wrist.

"Don’t do anything reckless," Asher said, looking at me.

I nodded.

The leader walked over to Isaac Sullivan and punched him.

A coddled heir like Isaac Sullivan had never felt that kind of pain before. He crumpled to the ground, almost unable to get back up.

But Isaac Sullivan was tough. He kept his fists clenched, flatly refusing to cooperate.

’This seemingly fragile heir was actually making me see him in a new light.’

No matter how much the leader’s men beat him, Isaac Sullivan refused to comply.

"Stop hitting him! Please, stop!" The actress he had saved, who clearly had a conscience, knelt and begged the leader. "I’m begging you... please. I’ll go with you. Just let him go, please? He’s not the CEO of Astraeus Group."

Isaac Sullivan grit his teeth and spat out a mouthful of blood. "Stella Abbott, don’t beg them! Get up..."

The woman just cried, shaking her head.

"That’s going too far!" Unable to watch any longer, Julian Fletcher was actually the first person to stand up.

I shot him a look. ’What’s he trying to do, play the hero?’

’Is he asking for a beating?’

Sure enough, one of the leader’s men stepped forward to beat up Julian Fletcher.

Erin Whittaker hid behind Julian Fletcher, terrified. "Julian, don’t..." she said nervously.

Julian Fletcher did have a commanding presence. When he got angry, most people would be intimidated.

I rolled my eyes and made a bet with Madeline Quinn and the others. "Place your bets. Who wins?"

Madeline Quinn whispered, "If there are no guns involved, my money’s on Julian Fletcher."

I didn’t say anything. ’Julian Fletcher did... look like he could take a beating.’

But just as the goon was about to strike, the leader stopped him.

"Cooperate, or I kill her." The leader’s knife was pressed against Stella Abbott’s throat. A red line immediately appeared on her delicate, pale neck.

This time, he had found Isaac Sullivan’s weakness, his breaking point.

Isaac Sullivan gritted his teeth and slowly unclenched his fists. "Fine... I’ll try. Just let her go."

"Humans are such gluttons for punishment. You could’ve just cooperated, and I wouldn’t have to take your lives. But no, you have to resist." The leader laughed, a strange and eerie sound. The expression on his face was stiff; he was wearing a ’human face’ mask. ’I’d felt something was off about him before,’ I thought. ’It wasn’t his appearance, but his voice...’

His voice had obviously been disguised by a modulator, but for some reason, it felt inexplicably familiar.

Creepy.

’It sent a chill down my spine.’

"Everyone needs to be obedient. Cooperate, and you’ll live," the leader said with that same eerie laugh, grabbing Isaac Sullivan by the hair and forcing him toward the iris scanner.

’He was taming them, like it was all some kind of obedience game.’

’Subtly teaching everyone a lesson.’

Soon, an alarm blared from the safe. "PALM PRINT MATCH FAILED..."

The leader shoved Isaac Sullivan away and glared at everyone. "He’s not the CEO of Astraeus Group. You dare to mess with us... there’s only one consequence for that: death."

The leader advanced on Isaac Sullivan with his knife.

Zeke Shaw and Lucas Grant exchanged a look, preparing to rush forward and save him.

They couldn’t just stand by and watch...

Even if they had no chance of winning.

"Hey! You’re the one who planned this game, that makes you God," Asher spoke up before the two hotheads could charge in. "But if God can just smite people whenever He wants, what’s the point of the game? An unfair playing field makes for a really bad user experience."

His voice was low, laced with a taunting tone.

The leader whipped his head around to face Asher. Their gazes locked, as if engaging in some invisible battle of wills.

Seeing the leader change direction and start walking toward Asher, I frowned and rose to my feet, placing myself in front of him.

Julian Fletcher instinctively moved to protect me but was blocked by members of The Resistance.

Perhaps because he saw no fear in my eyes, the leader stopped. He looked at me, then back at Asher, and suddenly chuckled. "You’re absolutely right."

With that, he turned to his men. "No matter. We have all the time in the world. We’ll go through everyone here, one by one. Even if I have to test all thousand-plus of you... I *will* find him..."

The leader pulled over a chair and sat down to the side.

His men grabbed another person and forced them to try the palm and iris scanners.

The safe’s alarm meant it wasn’t a match.

"Doesn’t this safe lock you out after too many failed attempts?" I muttered quietly.

"This kind of safe is highly secure. The system allows you to customize whether it locks out or not," Lucas Grant explained. "These people clearly have experts of their own. They must have tried to crack the safe by force and failed, so their only option was to alter the programming to disable the lockout."

I nodded, watching from my spot on the floor. "This Astraeus Group CEO is buried deep... His sense of self-preservation is off the charts. Definitely not an ordinary person. He has to be a genius."

"Mm," Asher agreed in a low tone.

I reached over and pinched Asher’s waist. "You told me not to do anything reckless, but then you go and play the hero."

Asher pulled me into his arms and whispered, "I know how to use my brain, unlike some people who are just plain stupid."

’Asher was obviously mocking Julian Fletcher.’

Julian Fletcher clenched his fists, shooting Asher a warning glare.

Not far away, Ace, who had been sitting calmly and elegantly in a corner the whole time, scanned the crowd. There wasn’t a trace of fear in her eyes.

It was as if... she, too, was desperately trying to figure out who the CEO of Astraeus Group was.

"The CEO of Astraeus Group might not be a good person—he provides The Genetics Organization with a constant stream of funding, allowing them to pour more money into genetic and human experimentation," I whispered, reminding Lucas Grant and Zeke Shaw. "But he is crucial. We need him to further understand and infiltrate their ranks, and maybe even find the mastermind pulling the strings."

’No matter what, we have to find a way to keep the CEO of Astraeus Group from being exposed.’