“It’s certainly within the realm of possibility,” Cole interjected thoughtfully, “but we can’t be completely sure of their involvement yet. For now, let’s just keep them under careful observation. If they don’t make any moves, we won’t either. My instinct tells me they’re waiting for the crowd to disperse completely before they take any action.”

Jason nodded his understanding. “That makes sense.”

At that moment, Lance rushed over, his face flushed with exertion and his voice tight with barely controlled panic. “We have a serious problem—Taylor has completely disappeared.”

Everyone immediately turned their attention to him. Read complete version only at f?ndnovel.net

“What exactly do you mean by that?” Cole demanded, his voice deadly serious. “Give us the details.”

Lance took a shaky breath as he tried to compose himself. “I was following Taylor at a discreet distance, exactly as you instructed. I watched him enter the men’s restroom, so I positioned myself outside to wait for him to come out. After quite a bit of time had passed and he still hadn’t emerged, I decided to go inside and check on him. The entire restroom was completely empty. He had vanished without a trace.”

Vanished without a trace? A full-grown man didn’t just disappear into thin air like that. Something was definitely very wrong. Without wasting another second on discussion, Cole was already moving with determined strides toward the restroom in question.

Elliana and Jason fell into step right behind him, their faces set with grim determination.

After exchanging a worried glance with each other, Emmanuel and Lance hurried to catch up with the group.

When they reached the restroom, they conducted a thorough search of the entire space, checking every single stall and corner.

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The restroom was a permanent fixture of the venue, constructed with solid masonry walls. The only alternative exit was a small, high window positioned well above head height.

Taylor had clearly entered through the front door and had never been seen leaving the same way, which meant he must have somehow exited through that window. There was no other logical explanation—people couldn’t simply walk through solid brick walls.

Following a quick examination of the interior, they moved outside and circled around to the rear of the structure. As expected, the soft earth beneath the window showed clear signs of disturbance, with a confused pattern of multiple footprints scattered across the ground.

The evidence pointed to an inescapable conclusion. Taylor, his mind no longer operating under his own control, had been removed from the premises under the chip’s influence. A pampered young man from a wealthy family like Taylor would never possess the physical skills or training necessary to climb out of such a high window and disappear so silently into the night. Someone with professional expertise had clearly been here to extract him.

But the question remained—where had they taken Taylor? The restroom backed directly against the stone forest, and the footprints vanished completely once they reached the tree line.

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