Pampered By My Three Brothers: The Return Of The Neglected Heiress - Chapter 1172

Chapter 1172: Duty over family
“Building B, we’re in,” a man reported, signaling his team to search the building. Each team formed small groups of three, dispersing so one group could check the floors while the rest went up to the next level.

They were aware that Penny hadn’t been seen. Only Atlas, Benjamin, and now Hugo were safely accounted for. There was still no sign of Penny, Zoren, Mark, Slater, or Mint. This put a lot of pressure on everyone, especially after seeing the scene.

“Third floor clear,” came through the comms. “Second floor, clear.”

On each floor, a few enemies were hiding, all of whom were quickly apprehended. There were also hostages inside, but unlike the syndicate members who were willing participants, their team was more lenient with the hostages.

“Fourth floor — clear.”

“Fifth — clear.”

“Heading to the rooftop now,” said the last team as they made their way to the steep stairs. But just as they reached the stair landing, they quickly raised their weapons upon seeing someone seated on one of the steps.

Mint raised an eyebrow and glanced down at them. “Put those down. It’s just me. How’s my cousin?”

The men studied Mint for a moment before slowly lowering their weapons. This was the first time they had met Mint, but thanks to Butler Lee, they recognized her face. She was Benjamin’s cousin.

“He’s already with us,” one of them said. “Miss Mint, you can come with us.”

“Can’t,” Mint shook her head, sighing in relief at the news of her cousin’s safety. “There are people on the rooftop — men and women. All of them are unwilling members of this syndicate. I’m keeping them there.”

“Miss Mint, we can gather them once your colleagues arrive.”

“No,” Mint glanced over her shoulder. “Keep the felons there, and keep the hostages away from them. I’ll deal with them later.”

The men exchanged looks before turning back to her. Because she was Benjamin’s cousin and Butler Lee had nothing but praise for her, they didn’t feel the need to question her. There was nothing to check. They had seen the gruesome aftermath of the battle and the casualties.

“There are a few hostages scattered around the building,” one of them said. “We’re putting them in a safe room. If you want, feel free to contact us for assistance to transfer the rest from here.”

Mint smiled subtly. “I’ll move them once all those felons are locked up. For now, they’ve been through too much.”

“We understand,” said one of them, while the other reported their location.

“By the way,” Mint called out. “Is Penny okay? She went in with Zoren Pierson, but I haven’t run into her since I infiltrated this hellhole.”

Her question made the three men furrow their brows. They were just about to ask if Penny was on the rooftop, but with Mint asking, a sense of dread crept up their spines.

“Miss Mint, it’s not that we’re suspicious, but may you let at least one of us check the rooftop?” one of them asked sincerely and politely. “Until we check it ourselves, we can’t report back that this floor is clear.”

“Smart. I thought you’d just leave without checking just because I said what I said.”

“It’s part of our training.”

“Sure.” Mint nodded, scooting to the side. “But be gentle, though. Those people… are very pitiful.”

The men didn’t answer, just nodding in acknowledgment. As they walked past her, they remained sharp and alert in case something went wrong. However, when they opened the door and checked, they understood why Mint had kept everyone on the rooftop.

These people… were just too traumatized by what they had gone through in this place and what had happened tonight. The dimness in their eyes showed that. Moving them also meant confronting the gruesome scene on every floor. Besides, the rooftop was already crowded, even though all of them were sitting on the floor.

‘There are even children,’ one of them thought, feeling the knot in their stomach tightens. Pressing the button on his walkie-talkie, the man spoke, “Building B — Miss Penny isn’t here, but the hostages are all here.”

—

Meanwhile, Mint kept her eyes lowered. Her hands were filled with dirt, blood, and sweat. She could even smell the scent of gunpowder on them.

“Damn,” she whispered, her heart feeling heavier. “In the end… I still chose duty over my family.”

What happened wasn’t something that scared her off. Mint had faced countless life-and-death situations. Not only that, but there had been many times people had wanted her dead. Her actions were just, and she would forever carry the burden that came with imposing justice.

Even so, it weighed on her heart.

She came to this place tonight to save her beloved cousin. Mint had tried a few times to disregard the other people, planning to rescue them later. That was the plan. So what changed? The thing was, while Mint was fighting, one of the men had used the hostages as shields to make her stop. Although she managed to turn the tables, she realized that leaving those people unsupervised would only complicate things. Even though many of them had cowered in the corners, a few were too overwhelmed by the situation, forcing them to flee from their hiding spots.

In other words, Mint had to restore order before more of them got hurt.

“I… really don’t deserve to be his cousin.”

—

Meanwhile, outside the base…

“It’s me!” Slater shouted as he saw some men raise their weapons in his direction. He came from the side where he and Benjamin initially escaped. “It’s me!”

“Third Brother!” Benjamin perked up from the trunk he was sitting on. He quickly rushed to Slater, while the men who had come to their rescue slowly lowered their weapons.

Standing in front of Slater, Benjamin bobbed his head up and down, inspecting him. “Third Brother, are you okay? Goodness! Sir Atlas and I were so worried about you!”

“I’m fine,” Slater whispered, his gaze moving to the approaching Atlas. “First Brother, I’m sorry…”

Slater trailed off when Atlas tossed a blanket over his shoulder. The blanket fell softly on top of Slater’s head.

“I don’t like that you won’t listen, but I’m glad you’re fine. Don’t do that again,” Atlas said, watching his little brother lift his eyes to meet his. “So, you didn’t find Penny?”

Deep lines appeared on Slater’s face at the question. “Penny hasn’t come back?” Slater looked around the area. He stopped searching when he saw that help had arrived. Since all the enemies were being subdued, he knew he had to rush out and meet everyone.

“Angel is still looking for her,” Atlas said, peeling his eyes from his brother to the entrance. As soon as he did, he saw Hugo walking out.

Just like Slater, Hugo was taken aback when they heard that Penny hadn’t come out. The men had kept them posted, so they knew they had already seen Mint. Now, it only left Penny, Zoren, and Mark.

Minutes later, all of them decided to search for Penny. After all, she, Zoren, and Mark weren’t in any of the three buildings of the base. It made them wonder:

Where in the world did they go?