Chapter 518

Chapter 518 We Have Been Abandoned by Hades!

In the video, a man and a woman appeared extremely intimate, sitting together at a barbecue stall chatting and laughing, with the man feeding the woman grilled chicken wings, which she accepted without any hesitation, even savoring every bite.

The man in the video was naturally Su Rui, and the strikingly beautiful woman was Danielle Sharp!

“My lord, this video was accidentally discovered by our people on a Huaxia website. It appears that Apollo and Miss Danielle Sharp have already grown quite close.” Stephanie said, her words carrying a faint hint of dissatisfaction toward Danielle Sharp — perhaps beautiful women are always filled with jealousy toward one another.

“What are you implying?” Hades furrowed his brows tightly.

“Perhaps Danielle Sharp never intended to make things difficult for Apollo from the very beginning when she went to Huaxia. There’s a strong possibility that they colluded from the start, putting on this show of ‘surrounding one point to strike the relief force’ together, with their true goal being to eliminate our undercover personnel in Huaxia. To put it more seriously, Apollo may have already deployed a large number of operatives in Huaxia, just waiting for you, my lord, to go there in person, so they can then deal a devastating blow to our Hades Palace!”

Hearing this, Hades furrowed his brows again: “If this video is authentic, then knowing Apollo’s nature, he really might do something like that. However, Danielle Sharp doesn’t seem to have any reason to turn against me.”

“My lord, people change.” Stephanie said.

“Has the authenticity of this video been verified?” Hades thought for a moment about how the whole situation was unfolding, then asked.

The losses Hades Palace had suffered this time were truly enormous, and Hades could not afford to be anything but cautious.

“It’s a fairly raw, original recording with no post-production editing whatsoever. I can confirm with complete certainty that the video is genuine.” Stephanie said.

“Then how did you come across this video?”

The whole matter was full of suspicious points. It was originally just a simple video of two people eating — how would anyone have filmed it in secret? And why would anyone have uploaded it to the internet?

“Our technical personnel stumbled upon it on a candid filming website.”

“What a coincidence. Out of so many websites and videos, how did they just happen to find this one?” Hades replied with a cold laugh. He simply could not help but be suspicious, and he still couldn’t find any reason for Danielle Sharp to betray him.

Seeing Hades’s expression, Stephanie knew he hadn’t taken any of it to heart.

“My lord, I suggest we wait and observe for a little longer.” she persisted.

“Why should we wait any longer? Are we just supposed to let it go after so many people in Hades Palace have died?” Hades said coldly: “I will make Apollo pay for every last bit of this debt!”

“Waiting a little longer shouldn’t cost us anything, because Danielle Sharp has been in Apollo’s hands for so long now and he hasn’t done anything to her — instead, he gave her the opportunity to escape at her leisure. There are far too many suspicious points here for anyone not to be doubtful. Even if the source of the video remains to be verified, waiting and observing for a while longer won’t cause any losses for Hades Palace.”

Hades fell silent. The deity who had always been decisive and ruthless began to let a look of profound gravity settle over his gaze.

He had already lost several Dark Knights in Huaxia, and he absolutely could not afford any more losses — otherwise, Hades Palace’s strength would fall entirely behind that of the Apollo Temple.

Watching Hades sink into deep thought, Stephanie finally let the heavy weight lift from her heart, and continued to advise: “My lord, there is more I wish to say.”

“Speak.” Hades let out a cold grunt.

He had been wanting to set out for Huaxia for some time now, to personally capture Lin Aoxue, since the benefits that Tricuramoline could bring were simply too enormous to refuse.

Drugs were the foundation upon which Hades Palace stood. If they could get their hands on Tricuramoline, they could dramatically increase the production capacity of the new drug “X-one” that used it as a raw material. By that point, Hades would easily surpass the God of Wealth Stadtmeyer and become the wealthiest of the Twelve Deities.

“My lord, Huaxia right now is a place of swirling clouds and treacherous currents, with an extremely complex situation. Apollo may seem carefree and flippant every day, laughing and joking around, but he may well be using Bikan’s Lin Aoxue as his chessboard, playing a very, very big game.”

“He’s playing a very big game? I don’t see it at all — I never thought Apollo had that kind of ambition.” Hades sneered repeatedly upon hearing this.

Since making his debut, the Sun God Apollo had never been known for his domineering presence. In Hades’s eyes, if there was one person among the Twelve Deities with the least ambition, it was undoubtedly this Huaxia man from the East.

“He may have used misdirection to deceive everyone, including you.” Stephanie said.

“He can deceive me?”

Hades glanced at this subordinate’s striking figure and said: “What I mean to say is, Apollo has never been known for his domineering presence, and you have never been known for your brains — so what’s going on with you today?”

Perhaps, to put Hades’s words more bluntly — I always thought you were a brainless woman with a great figure, so why is your head working so fast today?

“My lord, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Go on, keep sharing your thoughts.” When it came to relations between men and women, Hades was extremely disciplined and never fooled around with subordinates — so much so that some people believed he had a preference for men.

Of course, there were also rumors outside that Danielle Sharp was Hades’s woman, because how else could he show such care for her. On this point, Hades had never offered any explanation — not because he couldn’t explain it, but simply because he couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to such gossip.

“Think about it, my lord — how many of the deities in the Western dark world are obsessed with Bikan’s Tricuramoline? How many people on this earth want to get their hands on the key formula that could bring such enormous wealth? Apollo got there first and refuses to let go of Lin Aoxue. Knowing full well that he would face countless enemies, he still shows not the slightest intention of backing down. From what I know of him, he is absolutely not that kind of person.”

Stephanie’s careful analysis sounded very methodical.

Hearing this, Hades’s eyes grew even deeper and more penetrating. In truth, these were all obvious facts, and it was impossible for him not to have recognized them.

But the temptation of Tricuramoline was simply too great. Even though the many deities had so far held back and bided their time, they were certainly all watching and waiting. Unable to contain himself, Hades had first lost the master thief Mata, then Danielle Sharp and a group of Dark Knights — the losses were devastating beyond measure.

“My lord, if this is all part of Apollo’s scheme — working together with Danielle Sharp, holding their ground in Huaxia, luring us in to strike our relief forces — then the consequences would be unimaginable. You have to understand, Huaxia is Apollo’s home turf. We’re unfamiliar with the people and the terrain, and we could end up taking a very serious beating.”

There was one more thing Stephanie left unsaid — several Dark Knights had been personally cut down by Apollo, and now the entire Hades Palace was already in a position where it could not afford to lose again. If they rashly rushed to Huaxia, there was every chance they would fall right into Apollo’s trap, and by that point Hades Palace could be finished altogether.

After thinking deeply for several minutes, Hades finally said: “Just tell Portillo that reinforcements are heading out from here shortly. Have him and Danielle Sharp hold on a little longer.”

Have them hold on a little longer?

Was this abandonment? Delay? Or simply watching and waiting?

Seeing that her leader had finally listened to her advice, Stephanie let out a long breath of relief.

…………

Two more days of running.

Danielle Sharp was already in a daze.

Over these past several days she had been dragged across half of Huaxia, utterly exhausted from the journey.

Jin Taizhu and his people were in relentless pursuit behind them, and even though Portillo had joined, he couldn’t stop the other side’s offensive.

Sitting in the passenger seat, looking at Portillo with his head of short, golden curls, Danielle Sharp said weakly: “It’s been several days now — why haven’t the reinforcements from Hades Palace arrived? Didn’t Hades say long ago that he was coming to Huaxia?”

Portillo was at a complete loss. Several of the men he had brought were now all seriously injured and out of combat, and in order to rescue this young lady, the network of undercover operatives he had painstakingly built over many years had been completely destroyed. Every time he thought about this, he trembled with pain.

However, given Danielle Sharp’s exalted status, even if Portillo had objections in his heart, he could not express them — he could only comply obediently. Otherwise, if Hades were to lay the blame on him, the consequences would be more than he could bear.

“My lord has said he’s already sent people out to provide support, so it shouldn’t be wrong. Let’s just hold on a little longer.” Portillo was driving when he suddenly slammed on the brakes, nearly rear-ending the Accord in front of him. Two consecutive days of fighting and fleeing had drained even this powerfully capable Dark Knight of a tremendous amount of energy.

“Could it be that Hades has already abandoned us?”

Danielle Sharp broke her silence and voiced an answer that had been lingering in her mind for a long time.

“Abandoned? My lord would never abandon us.” Portillo shook his head.

However, even though those words left his mouth, doubt stirred in his heart as well.

Based on the Hades lord’s consistent way of doing things, if he said he would send reinforcements, he would act swiftly and decisively without a single moment’s delay. Yet several days had already passed — so why hadn’t the reinforcements arrived?

Danielle Sharp laughed coldly: “Maybe Hades finds Huaxia too dangerous and doesn’t dare to come.”

“My lord is not that kind of person.” Portillo argued.

“Don’t you feel like you can’t even convince yourself anymore? Your tone isn’t as firm as it used to be.” Danielle Sharp rubbed her dry, tired eyes: “The two of us are in Huaxia — we either die or get captured. There is no third option.”

In fact, Portillo had already come to this realization long ago — he simply wasn’t willing to admit it.

To be strategically abandoned by your own leader — that feeling was truly devastating.

“I’m willing to trust my lord one more time and hold on a little longer. Reinforcements really might still come!”

Portillo was truly a loyal and devoted comrade to his leader — it left Danielle Sharp completely speechless.

She gazed wearily at the shifting light and shadow outside the window, and quietly sighed in her heart: Was she really going to die in Huaxia this time?

Right at that moment, an SUV suddenly burst out from an angle and slammed into the side of the car they were in, pushing it forward continuously until it was pinned hard against a wall.