In the study, seeing Buck and Clifford walk in, Brandon stood up and spoke. When he saw the slightly dishevelled appearance of the two, his eyes became slightly puzzled again.
"Mr. Buck, how is the situation at the wharf? Did those lackeys get a taste of our power?"
Listening to Brandon's words, Buck's brows furrowed slightly, and then he spoke in a deep voice.
"This morning, did the Hunter Squad only mobilize after receiving the flowers we sent? Did they not have any long discussions or meetings before that?" Without directly answering Brandon's question, Buck spoke seriously instead. Listening to Buck's words, Brandon couldn't help but be startled, and then he responded.
"Yes, Miss Ada at the front desk mobilized the Hunter Squad after receiving the flowers, just as we planned. They left very suddenly; many people had just arrived for work and had no time to prepare... Hmm, is there a problem, Mr. Buck?"
Brandon asked doubtfully. Listening to Brandon's words, Buck fell into thought, but seemed unable to figure out the reason for a while. He had initially suspected that Brandon's defection had led to their side being ambushed, but if Brandon had truly defected, another team of Hunters would have been waiting for him at home, not just the butler and servants. He had been very careful upon his return to confirm that only their own people were inside the stronghold.
Buck wanted to figure out how the intelligence had been leaked to the An Yin Bureau, but he couldn't figure it out for a while, so he temporarily put the question aside and spoke slowly to Brandon.
"There was a slight accident at the wharf. The situation is urgent now, and it's not the time for explanations. Let's take everything from the secret room and retreat from Igwinte first. Oh right... Did you get everything from the An Yin Bureau?" Buck asked Brandon, and Brandon immediately nodded, patting the briefcase he was carrying.
"Yes, it's all here, but I'm sorry, Mr. Buck, I had a slight accident on the way out, hmm... I lost a little."
As he spoke, Brandon's tone became a little weaker, and his eyes drifted. Seeing him like this, Clifford, who was nearby, became anxious and quickly spoke.
"Lost some... How much did you lose? No, how much is left? You didn't just bring back a little, did you!" Clifford said anxiously. They suffered heavy losses at the Sunken Wharf, with almost only the two of them, the Extraordinary, successfully escaping. At this time, their only comfort was the things Brandon had stolen from the An Yin Bureau. Now that Brandon said that much of this only comfort was also lost, it would certainly make them anxious.
Hearing Clifford's urgent and stern words, Brandon showed a hint of difficulty, then placed the briefcase on a nearby table and spoke.
"I can't say for sure about this, please take a look yourselves..."
As he spoke, Brandon turned the opening side of the box towards Buck and Clifford, then prepared to open it. Buck and Clifford also focused their gazes on the box for a moment.
Then, under their gaze, Brandon opened the briefcase.
"Bang!!"
The moment the box opened, a crisp sound rang out from within. A burst of white ash was ejected from the box, spraying violently towards the opening, covering Buck and Clifford's faces and severely obstructing their vision.
This box was not brought out by Brandon from the An Yin Bureau, but was prepared by Dorothy beforehand. Inside was a small spring mechanism, and the box was filled with lime. The moment it was opened, the spring mechanism would activate and eject the lime towards the opening, causing visual impairment.
Using Brandon for the infiltration, Dorothy had anticipated a situation where the box might be opened for inspection, so she specially made this contraption. This kind of prank-level small mechanism was simple and easy to create. And even if it was just a prank mechanism, it could be lethal when used in the right place.
"Ugh! My eyes!"
"Cough... You brat, how dare you..."
Clifford and Buck were caught off guard by the sprayed lime. Since Clifford was closest, his eyes were directly hit. Buck was further away and managed to block the lime with his arm in time, but his vision was also temporarily obstructed.
The moment the box opened, Brandon picked up a pistol from the box and prepared to shoot at the suffering Clifford, who was covering his eyes, intending to shoot him in the head. However, the widespread lime not only obstructed Clifford and Buck's vision but also prevented Dorothy, who was observing the battlefield through Brandon's eyes, from aiming accurately. She could only shoot at a general location.
"Bang!"
The bullet roared out of the muzzle, and the surging air current broke through the diffused dust. In a near-blind shot, Brandon hit Clifford in the chest. At this moment, he had already removed his heavy iron armor on the run. The bullet entered his chest without any obstruction, but unfortunately did not hit his heart. However, it caused Clifford, who was already covered in injuries, to lose his balance and fall directly.
"Wah... So painful..."
Just as Brandon was about to pull the trigger for a second shot, a sharp sword thrust straight towards Brandon from the rising dust. Its speed was extremely fast, exceeding the limit of Brandon's physical ability to dodge. Brandon, holding the gun, was thus pierced through the brow by the sword, and then, with wide eyes, he fell heavily to the ground.
Holding the cane sword, Buck walked out of the white dust. Looking at Brandon lying on the ground, clearly dead, Buck's brows were tightly furrowed, and his gaze was as heavy as stagnant water.
"You really are a mole from the An Yin Bureau... No, that's not right. If you were a mole for An Yin, it wouldn't have developed like this. Could it be..." Looking at Brandon, who was now a corpse before his eyes, a flood of thoughts began to appear in Buck's mind.
...
Just as the gunshots rang out upstairs, the three servants who were tidying up downstairs immediately stopped what they were doing and looked upstairs in astonishment. At this moment, the butler, who had been supervising them from the side, shouted at the servants.
"Something happened upstairs! Grab your weapons and quickly go up to protect Master Buck!"
"Yes!"
At the butler's command, coupled with the unsettling gunshots from upstairs, the servants quickly drew pistols from the things they were tidying up and hurried upstairs via the stairs. The butler also drew a pistol and followed behind all the servants, until they reached the corridor in front of the study.
Holding their weapons, the servants ran together along the corridor towards the closed door of the study. Meanwhile, the butler, who was closely following behind the group of servants, had a hint of gloom in his eyes. Raising the pistol in his hand, he continuously fired at the three servants who were a short distance away and had their backs to him.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!..."
In one breath, the butler emptied the magazine of the pistol in his hand. Under the continuous close-range gunfire, the servants who were suddenly backstabbed were hit and fell to the ground in astonishment.
Then, Dorothy, who was in the carriage outside the mansion, had a focused expression. She consumed 2 points of """enlightenment""" to instantly raise the control limit of the Corpse Puppet Ring to four Corpse Puppets.
Subsequently, the three servants who had just been shot and fallen immediately stood up. The expression in their eyes became as gloomy as the butler's had been earlier. Standing in the corridor, they raised their guns in unison and continuously fired at the closed wooden door of the study ahead. For a time, gunshots echoed continuously above the mansion.