Free Web NovelChapter 45: Ch 44: Lemurian Star Hijack IV
Veritas’s black painted smile on his mask seemed to stretch just a little bit wider.
He opened his arms again, welcoming the digital audience. frёeωebɳovel.com
"I wanted to share some very good news with everyone," Veritas announced cheerfully. "I am not the lonely Jester anymore. I’ve finally made some friends!"
Luke stepped in and draped an arm around Batroc’s shoulder, pulling him into the frame.
"Everyone, meet Georges Batroc, my new friend," Veritas said, his voice brimming with happiness. "Our professions are actually very similar. He’s a very relatable guy, and we hit it off instantly. It was basically friendship at first sight!"
Watching himself on the phone’s screen as the front camera recorded them, Batroc unknowingly gave an uncharacteristically awkward, stiff smile.
Then, the camera panned further back, showing the heavily armed men standing behind them. Veritas removed his arm from Batroc and gestured toward the group.
"And these guys? They are Batroc’s friends. Which makes them my friends too, by correlation!"
The camera floated back to center on Luke. He clasped his hands together in front of his chest, his tone shifting into one of deep, mocking sympathy.
"But there is a very small issue, America. You see, Batroc and his buddies are in dire need of money. For very deep and emotional reasons...." Veritas paused dramatically. "They want to buy expensive stuff."
He sighed, shaking his head. "He offered me a cut, too. But that’s not the point. A friend in need is a friend indeed! So here we are, floating somewhere out in the beautiful Indian Ocean, on a very covert ship, accompanied by some truly amazing guests."
The camera hovered just behind Luke’s head, tilting down to show a room filled with hostages tied up in chairs.
The public chat on the livestream immediately started moving so fast that it was a complete blur of panic.
But before the public could even process the view, the phone snapped back to the Veritas. He grabbed it with both hands, pulling the lens close to his mask. Too close.
His cheerful demeanor vanished instantly. "Listen to me very closely, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nicholas J Fury. This ship is Lemurian Star, your satellite launch vessel. And I have some very nice and bound guests here... some of the very brave people who work for you. So, if you want them to go back to their homes and families in one single, non-scattered piece... you’re gonna have to send..."
Luke tilted his head slightly away from the camera and whispered loudly toward Batroc. "How much was it again, buddy?"
The scene managed to look goofy even in this terrifying situation.
"A billion and a half dollars," Batroc replied, arms crossed over his chest, giving off a cocky grin. He was starting to actually like this madman.
Luke instantly snapped his head back to the camera, repeating the amount. "Right! You’re gonna send us a billion and a half American dollars. In a nice, untraceable transfer. Bartoc’s gonna send you the details in a bit."
Veritas’s tone shifted back into that cold voice, "Now, I really don’t want to wait here for too long. So, if I don’t get a nice and agreeable response in thirty-five minutes..."
His next words were so terrifying that none of his earlier goofiness could possibly make the public suppress the fear they caused.
"Well, I’ll have to start a very bloody fireworks show. Your brave agents would suffer the same fate as Patrick Sein."
He tapped an impatient rhythm on the side of his mask. "So... chop chop, Nicky Freaky. Time’s ticking!"
"Veritas," Batroc spoke up from behind, "I am heading up to the command deck. To the radio room."
"Sure thing, Batroc!" Veritas chirped.
Batroc turned to the men flanking him.
"Allons-y, au pont de commandement. Les otages sont à Veritas."
(Let’s go, to the command deck. The hostages are Veritas’s.)
Batroc ordered in French, but Luke got the gist of it.
The two mercenaries nodded and followed their boss out of the steel doors.
Veritas waved them a slow, slightly sad goodbye, "Well, Batroc has to go send the banking details so S.H.I.E.L.D. can actually wire the ransom to us. So yeah... Batroc is leaving me alone for a while with his other buddies."
He grabbed a metal folding chair and dragged it across the floor until it was directly in front of the center of the crowd.
Screeeech.
The piercing screech of the chair’s metal legs on the floor grated on everyone’s ears before it abruptly died, plunging the room in suffocating silence.
Veritas sat down on the chair, leaning back casually.
"Now that my best friend has left for some work..." Veritas sighed, crossing his legs. "I’m feeling very lonely again."
Right now, the gallery contained Veritas, 5 mercenaries with rifles, and 47 tied-up hostages.
The Jester’s mask still had that unmoving grin. He hadn’t even raised a weapon yet, but those simple words sent a cold shiver down the spines of the newer agents.
He raised his chin, looking at the rows of faces. "Ah yes, that reminds me! Didn’t I say I’d befriend you all? Yes... That’s right. I’ve got a great idea."
He stood up suddenly, clasping his hands together. "You see, we have to choose some people who will have to die if S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t pay up in thirty-five minutes, right?"
"So, why don’t we play a game for it? It’ll help us form an actual bond while also helping us create that final ’To-Be-Executed’ list in the meantime. Two birds with one stone! Isn’t that... great?"
He began to pace, his boots clicking rhythmically. "The name of the game is: Truth or Die. It’s just a slightly modified version of Truth or Dare, really..." fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
He walked between the hostages and finally stopped directly in front of a female hostage in the third row.
He leaned down, putting both hands on the armrests of her chair, matching her eye level. The painted lips on the mask seemed to stretch even wider as he moved closer.
"Will you be the first player, Agent Luna?"
Luna Graham kept her face perfectly indifferent. She stared back at the glaring white mask without blinking. Her S.H.I.E.L.D. training had taught her well: terrorists of this kind drew sick pleasure from their victims’ reactions.
She was absolutely determined not to give this madman the fear he wanted.
But Veritas wasn’t looking at just her. It was very faint, but he noticed a shift in the expressions of the two male agents sitting directly beside her.
They had flinched just barely...
However, they weren’t afraid for themselves, no-no-no, they were afraid for her.
Luna Graham was a relatively new recruit, having worked in the communications and router configuration team for about eight months.
To her small team of 8 agents, she was absolutely the most cheerful girl in the whole world.
Her personality was exactly like that classic "sunshine" character in a fantasy adventurer novel—the one whose pure, sweet nature completely melts the hearts of an entire guild full of grumpy, hardened veteran adventurers until every single one of them is ready to die to protect her.
And right now, this brave, beloved girl was staring directly into the unreasonable madman’s eyes.
Veritas straightened up, "Marcel, drag her seat to the front."
A couple of minutes later, Luna was positioned directly in front of a seated Veritas. Her expression hadn’t changed, her fearless eyes stared right back at the dark, hollow eyeholes of his white jester mask.
Veritas sat with one leg crossed over the other, staring straight at her.
"Now then, let me explain the rules," Veritas said, gesturing with his hands. "You get to ask questions of me, and then I ask them of you. The one who lies, dies. And I am the one who judges the answers for both of us. Basically, I’m the verifier... you can call me Veritas."
He chuckled at his own pun before waving his hand dismissively. "Alright, forget that embarrassing last statement. It just slipped out of my mouth. Sorry..."
Luna didn’t break her gaze. "You’re forgiven," she replied, "But only for those cringy words."
Veritas smiled genuinely behind his mask. "So righteous, Miss Luna... your eyes shine with a glowing fire."
Beneath the Jester mask, his expression shifted into a wry, complicated smile.
’What I’m about to do to you, Luna... you might resent me forever for it. But trust me, it will benefit you in the long run.’
Exactly twenty-three minutes later...
The "sunshine" was gone.
The bright, strong fire in Luna’s eyes was completely gone, replaced by a dark, hollow emptiness.
A twisted, unsettling smile sat on her lips.
Her expression looked like that of someone who had completely snapped and lost her mind.
She was no longer tied to her chair. Instead, she was standing clutching a gun in her small, shaking hands. Her once clean face was now smeared with a spray of fresh blood.
Veritas stood directly behind her, his hands resting on her shoulders. Even his white jester mask was no longer pristine; drops of blood slowly dripped down his mask...
Just a few feet in front of them stood a man.
Or rather, what was left of him.
A large portion of the man’s skull was completely gone, blown away by a bullet fired from the gun resting in Luna’s once soft, gentle hands.
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