BOOKSDRAMA Chapter 1775
Chapter 1775: Who did it better?
If there were one word Penny would use to describe Jonathan, it would be: diligent. He hadn't wasted his second life. He'd used it to plan, to manipulate, and to rewrite his fate.
And he did it in a quite clever way too.
Jonathan had leveraged his knowledge of the past to orchestrate an escape plan
for a few dozen children, saving them from the orphanage's dark dealings. In doing so, he gained a loyal group-children he raised, brainwashed, and turned into devoted soldiers.
But Jonathan had been just as young as the rest of them. To feed those children, he had to take on multiple side jobs. At first, they begged on the streets. That eventually turned into pickpocketing to survive.
Of course, that wasn't enough.
From what Shawn had shared, Jonathan had done everything he could to keep them alive. He was their big brother-their father figure. But from Penny's perspective, that role was exactly what Jonathan had cultivated to keep them dependent on him. To make them worship him. To make them listen without question.
And then, Jonathan made a deal with the devil to give those kids a "better" life.
That devil was none other than Nathalie Zorken.
Shawn didn't know how Jonathan convinced Nathalie to take them all in, but she did. Their lives changed overnight. No more begging or stealing. They were taken to an island, where food and shelter were no longer problems.
Now, their only problem was training and surviving it.
Their childhood was consumed by harsh, relentless training. Jonathan, of course, climbed the ranks faster than anyone. Nathalie trusted him. Others didn't like him for the very reason Nathalie liked him, but even they couldn't deny he was good at what he did.
Then came their teenage years.
One day, Jonathan gathered his "brothers" and "sisters" to propose a new escape plan. Not from the orphanage this time-but from Nathalie's grasp.
By then, everyone trusted him. He had saved them once. And though they had security now, they were still subjected to grueling punishments and constant deadly missions. They never got to grieve the teammates they'd lost. They never even got to rest.
Jonathan used that to his advantage. With his position, he crafted excuses to deploy a few of them on different missions.
One of those missions was Shawn's.
Shawn had been deployed to Anteca ten years ago. Ten years living a fabricated life so he could eventually infiltrate the Pierson Corporation. But the plan changed, and he ended up inside Prime Group instead.
"He'll take the code, eliminate Nathalie Zorken, force the rest of the Zorken forces to submit, and claim everything," Shawn listed quietly. "And once he's on top, no one will ever hurt us again. That's what he said when this mission began."
Penny nodded slowly. "I don't know if I'm impressed... or scared."
"Nathaniel-I mean, Jonathan-is a smart man," Shawn said. "He cared for us... or at least, that's what I believed. For a long time."
He held on to that belief until he met someone who genuinely cared. And that hurt more than anything.
"He always thinks five steps ahead. And he likes things out of control because it gives him room to take control."
"Well," Penny said, shrugging. "I bet he didn't see your decision coming, did he? Otherwise, he would've had you killed instead of pressuring you to retrieve the code."
Shawn lowered his head. "I wanted to get the code for him," he admitted. "Every time I hesitated, I'd think of everything he sacrificed for us. Even this mission... it's a huge risk for our freedom."
"Your freedom?" she echoed with a hum. "Or his greed?"
She leaned back while thinking about it. "He's cunning, that's for sure."
Penny tapped her knee absently. "So, that stabbing incident..."
"They were part of the plan," Shawn confessed. "The guy who did it... he's one of us."
"An orphan escapee?"
"I told you-we were all deployed on different missions. I was meant to infiltrate Pierson Corp. That guy? He was embedded in the underground, eventually joining the Phantom Circle."
"Hah..." Penny nodded again as the bigger picture formed in her head. "And the underground vault?"
Shawn exhaled a shallow breath. "If it was discovered and accessed, I'm certain it was part of the plan. If someone uncovered something about him... it's because he wanted them to."
"There are no accidents or coincidences in his plans," he added firmly. "He
doesn't even believe in honest mistakes."
"But Mint captured people from the vault," Penny narrowed her eyes. "So those guys fell right into his trap?"
"I heard about it-Commander Nam," Shawn said. "He was one of Nathalie's most trusted commanders. Also, one of our greatest threats."
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"So when Dean and Atlas accessed the vault, Jonathan had already quted himself to Nathalie," she guessed. "She sent Nam to destroy the vault, which led to their arrest." The content is on Novelxo.org! Read the latest chapter there!
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Jonathan may have lost Nathalie's trust, but he used Dean, Atlas-and
eventually Mint-to-gripple Ger. M Taking out one of her elite
commanders was a strategic blow. Once Jonathan got the code, it would
all be over. The content is on
Novelxo.org! Read the latest
chapter there!
"I believe he gave her just enough reason to suspect him," Shawn corrected. "So
Commander Nam started investigating."
"Either way," Penny acknowledged, "everyone was dancing to his tune."
Shawn looked at her. "He's dangerous, Miss Penny."
"I know." She smiled faintly. "But he's not the only one."
Her vague remark made him frown, but Penny had already turned away.
What she meant was this-Jonathan wasn't the only one working to rewrite his
second life. She had been doing the same, ever since the beginning.
Now, the only question that remained was...
Who did it better?
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The one who had built it through
manipulation and deceit fueled by deceit fueled revenge? Or the one who had once
fallen victim, but still chose to fight with a clear conscience? The content is on Novelxo.org! Read the latest chapter there!
They would all find out once this was all over.
With that, Penny and Shawn made their way to their destination in silence.