Pampered by my three brothers: the return of the neglected heiress novel Chapter 1694

Chapter 1694: Just following orders

The commander and his men walked back into the vault, the smoke from the explosion thinning in the air. None of them showed concern as they approached the source of the blast.

One more step—and the commander stopped.

Creak...

Everyone paused, listening to the loud creak as a section of the wall parted, revealing a door.

Since the path ahead was unlit, one of the men switched on a flashlight and pointed it inside.

Sure enough, the beam revealed drawers built into the wall, like safety deposit boxes. As the light moved further ahead, it revealed a path—a long one, so long that the light could barely reach its end.

"Follow the path and send location pings to track where it leads," the commander ordered coldly.

His men didn’t waste a second. A group of armed operatives immediately entered the passageway. At the same time, another team was instructed to monitor their underground movements from outside and estimate where the tunnel might lead.

That way, they could intercept or block the exit from the outside as well.

As the men split off to complete their tasks, the commander remained in the underground vault. Holding a flashlight of his own, he stepped into the secret passage and stopped just in front of the drawers lining the rough wall.

He reached for one of the drawers and pulled it open.

As expected, it was empty. He moved to the next. Same result—empty.

The commander didn’t say a word as he turned around and walked out of the passage back into the vault. A few armed men remained with him. His eyes drifted back to the pile of ash where barely any information had survived.

"..." He stayed silent for a moment, then raised his chin and turned to one of the men. "Bring that staff member here."

The soldier nodded silently and walked off to fetch the staff member who had opened the hatch leading down to this vault. The commander had been kind enough not to involve the man earlier, to avoid an unnecessary mess. _{freewёbnoνel.com}

But in a place like this—an underground vault barely anyone knew existed—cleaning up messes was no longer a concern.

---

Moments later...

Men dragged a bloodied man into the center of the vault and forced him into a chair. His face was swollen from a series of punches. His uniform was crumpled and stained. It hadn’t been long since he was brought here, but he’d already lost a tooth.

A strand of bloody saliva dripped from the corner of his mouth as he slowly lifted his eyes. One was swollen shut, but the other remained open—just enough to look around.

Standing a few steps from him was a tall, bulky man with a scar that ran from his brow down to the middle of his eyelid. His expression was unreadable—stern, cold, and dangerous. His gaze alone was enough to intimidate most men... but not the staff member.

"I..." The staff coughed, spitting blood to the side. "...don’t know, sir. I just... I just follow orders."

The commander’s expression darkened. He’d heard the same answer too many times already. The man had been beaten, yet still refused to tell them what they needed to know:

Who was the person who got here before them?

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