title = Messing With Her? Are You Crazy! Chapter N
Outside a heavily concealed boarding point.
Nicholas stood alone.
One hand casually tucked into his pocket, his tall, statuesque frame radiated an untouchable, god-like chill. His long, beautiful eyes were stripped of their usual lazy warmth as his thumb traced the edges of a black boarding pass.
The pass was etched with intricate gold filigree.
It was the ultimate symbol of power on the international black market, belonging exclusively to The Sterling Sovereign.
One of the highest-ranking buyers permitted aboard Project Zero-Transit.
His privileges were lightyears beyond what standard passengers received.
Nicholas’s expression was grim. He lowered his eyes, reading the screen of his phone.
It was a message from the shadow operatives he had stationed around the Lancaster estate.
[Mr. Blackwood, the lights in the future Mrs. Blackwood’s room went out two hours ago and have not come back on p>
[However, the other three Lancaster heirs have sequentially left the estate p>
Nicholas arched an eyebrow, letting out a low chuckle. “They moved faster than I anticipated p>
The three Lancaster brothers had indeed taken action.
If they felt comfortable leaving the estate, it meant they were absolutely certain Serena was incapacitated.
They had immobilized her, trapping her at the manor so she couldn’t make the ship.
As long as Serena was safe on solid ground, that was all that mattered.
As for the three brothers p>
Nicholas wasn’t the least bit surprised.
The Lancaster men were fiercely, almost neurotically protective.
Since they seemingly couldn’t board the ship themselves, it made total sense for them to deploy support teams around the perimeter or dig into Whitecliffe Harbor’s underground networks.
They would never just sit around and do nothing.
They absolutely wouldn’t let this slide.
Gaining independent access to Project Zero-Transit was incredibly difficult.
Julian was a businessman in the light; there was no way he could access a ghost ship like this.
Jerrick worked for the government, distancing him even further from this level of black-market operations.
As for Jasper p>
Out of the three, he was the only one with even a sliver of a chance of scoring a pass.
But these tickets weren’t handed out like flyers.
Nicholas highly doubted that anyone other than himself, with his Sovereign-tier access, could secure legitimate boarding rights in such a short window.
So, they couldn’t possibly be getting on that ship.
As long as they were all safely off the board.
That was enough.
Nicholas traced the grooves of his pass one last time before slipping his phone away.
He looked out at the churning, ink-black ocean.
The sea breeze whipped at his coat.
The man who acted like a clingy, affectionate puppy whenever Serena was around now looked like a harbinger of death, devoid of a single ounce of warmth.
Forgive me, Serena.
Once I wash the blood from the deck and come home… you can punish me however you want.
Midnight struck.
The sea was a void of darkness.
Along the perimeter of Whitecliffe
Harbor, five different boarding terminals for Project Zero
flashed green with updated passenger data simultaneously.
The Med-Tech terminal.
The Panacea lifted her gaze, her long black trench coat snapping wildly in the wind.
She handed over her pass.
A green font materialized on the black screen: [The Panacea p>
[Identity Verified p>
[Boarding Authorized p>
The Weapons Buyer terminal.
A man in a dark charcoal suit raised
his hand, the gold-and-black joker
signia flashing under the din
lights.
[Joker p>
[Identity Verified p>
[Boarding Authorized p>
The Mercenary & Security terminal.
A rugged, Eurasian-looking man slammed his pass onto the scanner.
[Fenris p>
[Identity Verified p>
[Boarding Authorized p>
The Hunter terminal.
Beneath a silver, grinning mask, a man let out a lazy, mocking laugh.
[The Grinning Wraith p>
[Identity Verified p>
[Boarding Authorized p>
The Ultimate Benefactor terminal.
Nicholas lowered his eyes as his black-and-gold card slid through the reader.
[The Sterling Sovereign p>
[Identity Verified p>
[Boarding Authorized p>
The night was suffocatingly thick.
The sea fog rolled in.
All five of them, cloaked perfectly in
their underworld aliases, silently stepped aboard Project Zero-Transit
at the
exact same time.
Every single one of them fully believed they had left the people they cared about
safe at home.
Every single one of them was convinced that they were the only ones boarding the ghost ship tonight.
The Lancaster family’s deadly high-seas reunion was officially underway.