From Bullets To Billions

Chapter 738: Follow The Order

Stephen had been racking his brain, desperately trying to figure out a way for them to best the two elite fighters in front of them. Although he possessed a wealth of experience fighting in the ring and training others, he simply couldn’t think of a reliable path to victory. He knew deep down that their opponents possessed far more real-world combat experience than him—especially when it came to life-or-death skirmishes and coordinated team tactics.

It didn’t seem like Na was in a position to figure out a tactical breakthrough either, which was precisely why Stephen had sprinted over to the one person who could turn the tide.

Thankfully, Wolf was still alive, and enough time had passed for him to regain consciousness. The Trickster had spared him from a final, lethal blow only because he assumed the fight was over and urgent support was needed elsewhere on the battlefield.

"Do you have a way to help us? And I don’t mean physically, but a plan to counter the two of them?" Stephen asked, his voice urgent as he checked Wolf’s breathing.

The Trickster and the office worker weren’t about to stand by and let them talk things out. Recognizing the threat, both assassins charged across the stone courtyard toward them.

Na attempted to intercept them from behind, but as he closed the gap, the woman executed a sharp back-kick aimed straight for his head. He managed to raise his guard and block the strike, which halted his momentum for a moment, but the delay ultimately didn’t matter. Using the mechanical power of his exoskeleton arms, Stephen easily scooped Wolf up off the ground and used his unnatural speed to retreat across the grounds.

He couldn’t keep running forever, though. His stamina reserves were strictly limited, and he knew he would exhaust himself if he stayed on the defensive.

"So do you actually have a plan before we lose this completely?" Stephen panted, heavy beads of sweat rolling down his forehead as his heart hammered against his ribs.

"It looks like my role on the front lines has officially shifted to support," Wolf said, a faint, wry smile touching his lips despite his bloody wounds. "But given the nature of the powers I obtained from my Vow, that was always the expected outcome eventually. And besides, the support role is always an underappreciated position—one that can carry the entire team if executed well."

Having carefully observed the flow of the battle from the start, and knowing the specific tricks and combat patterns of the Trickster firsthand, Wolf had formulated a precise strategy. They would only know if it was truly effective once they put it into action.

After rapidly laying out the plan to Stephen, Wolf was carried over to a large tree situated a short distance away—far enough from the main crossfire, yet offering a clear sightline of the battlefield. With Wolf positioned, Stephen bolted back to rejoin Na on the front line.

"Wolf gave us a plan... so listen closely," Stephen whispered, leaning in beside Na as he kept his eyes locked on the approaching assassins.

Once he finished relaying the instructions, Stephen looked over at his partner with a trace of concern. "Are you going to be okay executing all of that? It might be tough. I know changing your rhythm can be tricky when you’ve done things a certain way for a long time."

"It will be fine," Na answered flatly, his face stoic. "I’m used to following orders."

Stephen knew a little bit about Na’s background—specifically that he was a former high-ranking member of the Rejected Corps. That gang was composed entirely of ex-military personnel from various specialized branches who had been dishonorably discharged, left with burned bridges and no path back to civilian service.

If Na was truly that good at following orders, Stephen wondered briefly, then why the hell was he kicked out in the first place?

For Na himself, the high-stakes situation he was currently in, combined with the exact instructions given to him by Wolf, brought back vivid memories of the fateful day his military career ended.

Na had been an exceptional soldier for his unit. He followed every command from his superiors down to the smallest detail without hesitation. To him, rigid obedience was simply the most logical way to operate. He was naturally strong, received constant praise for his discipline, and mastered new combat techniques rapidly because he possessed the rare ability to interpret and execute complex tactical instructions flawlessly.

What he never anticipated was that his absolute loyalty would be weaponized against him.

When a massive financial discrepancy occurred within his department, a large sum of funds allocated for personnel care went missing, triggering a high-level internal investigation. Desperate to cover his tracks, Na’s direct supervisor needed an unsuspecting scapegoat. The supervisor approached Na under the guise of an official directive, ordering him to locate the person responsible for the missing records and handle the suspect directly.

Na executed the order without question, confronting and neutralizing the individual named in the file.

The entire operation, however, had been a meticulous frame-up. In truth, it was his supervisor who had been embezzling the funds all along. The individual Na was ordered to handle was actually an internal whistleblower who had been attempting to expose the corruption. By tricking Na into taking down the whistleblower, the supervisor effectively eliminated the primary threat while engineering the evidence so that Na appeared to be the sole perpetrator acting to cover his own tracks.

With the whistleblower gone, there was no one left to reveal the truth, and Na’s perfect execution only made him look entirely guilty.

Na didn’t even have to piece the betrayal together himself. Before the court-martial, his supervisor privately confessed to the entire scheme, offering a cold apology while thanking Na for being such a loyal soldier until the very end.

The supervisor pulled a few bureaucratic strings behind the scenes, ensuring Na served a reduced sentence in a military prison. His exemplary service record helped lower his time behind bars, but upon his release, his criminal record made him an absolute outcast. No legitimate organization or security firm would hire him, and in the real world, a man still needed money to survive.

He was left with only one viable path: joining the Rejected Corps.

Following that betrayal, Na made a vow never to trust anyone again. But his recent experiences with Abby had gradually altered his perspective, and his subsequent encounters with Max had reshaped his outlook entirely.

Which was why, standing on the stone platform with blood on his brow, he was fully prepared to trust his allies and follow Wolf’s tactical directives to the letter to eliminate the enemies in front of them.

"Let’s do this," Na said, stepping into his fighting stance.