Chapter 146: Scavenging the Battlefield

Jason, Falcon 1, and Falcon 2 immediately began securing the massive area. The alley was a gruesome scene of destroyed vehicles and fallen men.

"Falcon 1, secure the warehouse," Jason ordered, his voice sharp. "Falcon 2, gather every surviving member of Celestial’s team—dead or alive—and transport them to the headquarters. We need to scavenge their tactical gear and, more importantly, any communications logs or ID tags. We need to know who we just fought."

The remaining Royal’s obeyed instantly, moving with grim efficiency to clear the scene of any evidence linking the battle to them.

Meanwhile, Ethan, hidden in the shadows, slowly dragged his injured body away from the main chaos. His chest was screaming, and the technical readouts from the System still flashed warnings about his cracked ribs. He knew he couldn’t stay near the North End operation. His presence would compromise Jason and link him directly to Royal Private Security.

Ethan limped to a less-trafficked street a few blocks away and hailed a passing taxi.

Ethan thought "I need a place to hide, somewhere unexpected and safe. Sarah’s."

They hadn’t spoken much since that intense night in his car, but her apartment was relatively close to North End, and he desperately needed to disappear fast. He paid the driver without a word and gave him Sarah’s address.

Ethan thought: If I stay here, Celestial or Olympus will find me. Jason will clean up the mess, but I have to trust him and get out of the spotlight.

Jason and Falcon 1 walked toward the wreckage of the Jeeps, where Santiago lay bleeding. One of the original Dukes members, a burly man named Gus who had some battlefield medicine knowledge from his past, was already attending to Santiago.

"Gus, how is he?" Jason demanded, seeing the three severe bullet wounds.

"He’s alive, Boss," Gus said, applying tight pressure to the wounds to stem the flow. "He’s lost a lot of blood from the leg and shoulder, but the one to the stomach missed anything vital, luckily. I’ve stopped the worst of the bleeding for now, but he needs a hospital, immediately."

"No hospital," Jason ordered coldly. "Take him to the private clinic Davies uses, discreetly. If the police or media get wind of this, the whole operation is compromised. He needs to survive, but his survival can’t lead back to us." Jason looked at the destroyed Jeeps, his expression hardening as he considered the intelligence they might contain. "Falcon 1, start checking those Jeeps. I want to know who is and why he thought he could target our Boss."

Jason thought "Celestial... My old master, the Old Falcon, mentioned them as a rival group years ago, but they were never a threat to us. They had no conflict with Ethan, and the boss bought that $150 million house from them without issue. This is far too strange.

Just then, Falcon 1 shouted. "Boss, I found this!"

Falcon 1 rushed back, carrying an antenna attached to a large black box. Jason instantly recognized it. "A signal jammer," Jason said, his voice grim. "That’s advanced, expensive technology. It can neutralize every phone signal within a fifty-meter radius. That explains why the Boss lost his signal."

Falcon 1 quickly shut the device down. "It’s made by a company called TFS Technologies. They’re a global subsidiary that sells gear like this, but they have no official office in the Americas. Everything from that company is smuggled in from Asia. The Old Falcon uses them as a supplier for some of his operations."

Jason thought "If Falcon says it came from there, it’s impossible to trace the buyer. The Old Falcon is intensely cautious; those companies are impenetrable."

Just after that internal monologue, Jason’s cell phone rang—it was Ethan.

"Jason listen closely," Ethan instructed, his voice tight with pain and urgency. "The man’s name is Axel Rhodes. They are agents of Celestial, the owners of the Garden. They want me dead because of the Congressman, Vance," Ethan relayed.

Jason’s face went pale. "Celestial? But Boss, why—"

"It doesn’t matter why! Cassandra must leave that house and that community immediately! There is no time to hesitate. For some reason, Celestial has started a war with us. The situation is out of control: Celestial and Olympus are now both at war against us," Ethan informed him.

"I understand. I will carry out your orders immediately regarding Cassandra," Jason confirmed, his professionalism momentarily faltering due to the sheer escalation. "But what about you, Boss? We couldn’t escort you because we didn’t want to connect the dots. It would be disastrous for us to be discovered in that manner; they would hunt you down to destroy Royal immediately," Jason expressed his concern.

"I appreciate you being so careful with my situation," Ethan said, feeling genuine gratitude for their loyalty. "I won’t return to MIT; it must be monitored. I’m taking a taxi to a safe location now. And..." Ethan paused, struggling for breath, "...I’m slightly injured."

Hearing the word "injured," Jason’s composure shattered.

"Injured? What happened? Are you okay? Did you take fire? How can I help you? Should I send a team? Should you go to a hospital, Boss?" Jason barraged him with frantic questions, his panic overriding his tactical discipline.

"Jason, calm down. I’ll be fine. It’s nothing," Ethan reassured him quickly, trying to minimize the severity of his cracked ribs. "I’ll be fine. Just focus on Cassandra and cleaning up the mess here. I’ll call you when I’m secure."

"But Boss, you sound terrible! At least tell me you’re not bleeding severely!" Jason pleaded, the pain in Ethan’s voice alarming him deeply. "I don’t care about the risk; I will come get you right now!"

"No, Jason," Ethan said firmly. "Follow the orders. My survival depends on you operating flawlessly, not coming to hold my hand. I’ll manage. Just focus on finding information about Rhodes and getting Cassandra out. I need you to trust me."

"Yes, Boss. Understood. May God protect you," Jason said, his voice now a strained whisper of compliance.