Chapter 198: The Raid on the Serpents’ Nest

"Either way, it’s a good thing you were there."

With that, the car drove on for several more minutes before finally slowing to a stop.

"We’re here," the officer said, signaling for the driver to halt.

He turned toward Stan.

"This is close enough. Safe distance. You can observe from here, but don’t get out unless I tell you to."

They had stopped near Imperium Motors, just up the road from the hotel.

Ahead, Stan could already see that the police had fully established a perimeter around the building.

Barricades sealed off the surrounding streets.

Armed officers stood positioned at intervals with weapons raised and ready.

Police vehicles blocked every possible route in or out.

The entire operation carried the controlled tension of people who knew exactly how dangerous their targets were.

The sun hung low on the horizon now, perhaps thirty minutes away from fully setting.

Clearly, the police intended to finish this before nightfall.

The officer’s vehicle rolled forward slightly before stopping again.

He picked up a loudspeaker, lowered the window, and raised it to his mouth.

"This is the Inksea Police."

His voice echoed across the hotel forecourt, cold and commanding.

"The building is surrounded on all sides. Every exit is covered."

A brief pause followed.

"Everyone inside is to exit through the main entrance immediately with your hands visible and empty."

"You have ten minutes to comply."

"After that... we are coming in."

The officer’s gaze remained fixed on the hotel as he continued.

"Anyone who exits peacefully will be processed accordingly."

"Anyone still inside once tactical units move in will be treated as a hostile combatant."

"Ten minutes."

The effect was immediate.

Less than a minute later, the hotel’s main doors burst open as panicked guests began streaming outside.

Men and women hurried out with raised hands, many still dressed in expensive evening wear, their faces pale with confusion and fear.

Some shouted frantically.

Others looked completely lost.

The police detained every single person without exception.

There was no time to determine innocence on the spot.

That would come later, inside interrogation rooms, where genuine guests would be separated from planted personnel, corrupt staff, and anyone tied to the Red Serpents.

For now, everyone was taken into custody.

Ten minutes passed quickly.

Then the tactical teams moved.

They breached through the main entrance and two secondary entry points simultaneously, a coordinated assault executed with the disciplined precision of officers who had clearly trained for operations like this countless times before.

Despite being heavily armed and significantly outnumbering whoever remained inside, every member of the team moved with absolute caution.

Weapons raised.

Corners cleared methodically.

Angles covered without hesitation.

Nobody underestimated what waited inside that building.

This was the nest of the Red Serpents.

No one took that lightly.

The Vanguard team entered alongside the police as well.

Emma and the rest of her detail moved far more cohesively now than they had earlier in the night, finally operating with the discipline expected from trained professionals.

There was obvious determination in their movements.

After all, these were the people who had kidnapped their client.

From his position farther up the road, Stan watched the hotel swallow the advancing teams.

For a long moment, there was only silence.

The fading orange glow of sunset stretched across the skyline as tension hung heavily in the air.

Then, roughly two minutes later...

Gunshots erupted from inside the building.

Sharp.

Rapid. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The sound echoed violently across the surrounding streets before abruptly cutting off just as quickly as it had begun.

Stan remained where he was, watching silently.

A moment later, his phone rang.

The officer.

Stan answered immediately.

"It’s done," the officer said from the other side.

"We’ve secured them. Every man inside carrying that red dragon tattoo is now in custody."

His tone remained calm and controlled.

"Resistance collapsed the moment they realized the scale of the operation."

A brief pause followed before he added,

"You can come down now."

Stan retrieved the Huracán from the Imperium Motors service center after the repairs were completed, then drove back to the secured site.

At the officer’s suggestion, he walked slowly past the line of detained gang members, studying each face carefully.

There were around thirty of them, far more than the handful involved in Amelia’s kidnapping. He recognized every man who had been inside the abandoned building.

But one face was missing.

"The one who led the kidnapping isn’t here," Stan said. "The man with the tattoo on his forearm, the one giving the orders. He’s missing."

The officer let out a quiet breath.

"I figured we wouldn’t get all of them," he admitted. "Some were always going to be off-site. I’d hoped the leader would be among the ones inside the hotel, but..." He shook his head. "It’s fine. The hotel will be confiscated, and a wanted notice will go out for him immediately. Once this operation becomes public, he won’t have many places left to hide."

His expression hardened slightly.

"As for the rest of the network, we’ll get answers soon enough once interrogations begin."

Then he extended his hand.

"Thank you for your cooperation tonight, Mr. Harrison. Without the information you provided, apprehending this many of them in a single operation would’ve been nearly impossible. You’ve done the district a real service."

Stan shook his hand.

"I just happened to be in the wrong place at the right time."

The officer gave the faintest hint of a smile.

"However it happened, the result speaks for itself."

Stan looked once more at the line of detained men.

At the empty space where the leader should have been.

And with it came the familiar sensation of something unfinished.

The man behind the kidnapping was still out there.

And beyond that, there were still too many unanswered questions.

Why had Amelia been targeted?

Why had she left the hotel alone that night?

What had brought her to Inksea in the first place?

And what had happened in her past to leave such a deep, instinctive fear of men carved into her?

Tonight had only pulled loose the first thread.

The rest of the knot remained untouched.