Chapter 1690: You’re younger

"We’re still in the Red District, but on another street."

Dean looked back at Atlas and continued, "At least we’re not in the same row as the nightclub we came in."

"No wonder that guy just disappeared no matter where I looked when I followed him," he hissed, shaking his head as everything he’d been thinking began to unravel. "Clever, and I hate to admit that."

Atlas mostly ignored him as he casually sat on the edge of the bed, not wasting a second in compiling all the photos and evidence he gathered and sending them to the rightful recipients.

"What are you doing?" Dean frowned. "That can wait."

"It can, but I can’t."

"Tsk." Dean clicked his tongue once more, shoved his hands into his pockets, and then scanned the room. After a second, he smacked his lips and took a step forward. "Well, now that we’re out, I guess this is where we part ways."

"I didn’t have fun," he added as he walked past Atlas, waving at the man without looking back. "But surely, it’s a night I’ll never forget until I get dementia."

But then, just as Dean reached for the door, Atlas’s voice stopped him.

"I don’t think it’s safe to go out for now."

"Huh?" Dean looked back at Atlas, who was still busy with his phone and not looking in his direction. "What do you mean? We’re already out, and we’re not even on the same street as the club."

"And search protocols also widen their range when they can’t find their targets."

Dean’s brows crinkled, staring at Atlas in silence. After a beat, Atlas looked up and met his eyes.

"If the people who were trying to break the vault managed to break it or melt it, then it means they knew someone had been there," Atlas explained, his voice still flat but stern. "If they see you or me — familiar faces around Jonathan — do you think they’d just leave us alone?"

He paused before adding, "They stabbed him to death. If Zoren and his men weren’t there, he would’ve inflicted more stabs until he died in there. And that wasn’t even the first time his life was threatened."

"He was almost shot in the head if not for Penny hijacking his car. The moment you underestimate these people, despite knowing that, you’d end up just like Jonathan," Atlas warned, his eyes sharp, and his voice harsher. "And they’d kill you not because you’re on their list, but because you now know something you shouldn’t."

"I hope being nosy and this thrill you’ve been looking for is worth it."

After saying his piece, Atlas looked down again and continued what he was doing. He acted as if he hadn’t just lectured Dean with a cold fact.

Meanwhile, Dean stood rooted in the same place. His eyes were fixed on Atlas, gulping. As much as he hated how everything was worded and delivered, what Atlas said was true.

Those people might have no reason to kill him yet, but once they saw him, they’d have one.

"Shit," Dean breathed out as he walked back in, dragging a single love chair and sitting on it. He buried his face in his palms before dragging those very hands along his face, then up to his hair.

"So, what now?" asked Dean. "We’re just going to stay here? All night?"

"If that assures our safety, then the floor is wide."

"Why am I going to sleep on the floor?"

"You’re younger."

"..." He clenched his teeth but didn’t dwell on it. This concern was nothing but a mere distraction.

Dean ruffled his hair and loosened his tie even more. He watched Atlas, who was taking photos of the documents they had taken. He huffed, shaking his head as he pulled out his phone as well. Checking his gallery, he just mass-sent all of them to Atlas since he had also taken pictures in that underground vault.

Once he sent everything, he couldn’t help but study the photos. However, there was just too much information. Even someone with a high IQ like him would have to break all of these down to understand their purpose.

All he understood was that Jonathan seemed to be investigating something huge and illegal. And just that alone made him want to stay away from it. Besides, Naylani Pierson was also involved, and Dean was not here to witness this prelude to reckoning.

Yet, he continued looking at the pictures just to kill time until...

"By the way..." Dean broke the building silence between them, lifting his eyes to where Atlas was. "Who are you sending this critical information to? To my uncle?"

"He’s one of the recipients," Atlas answered without bothering to glance at him. "He’ll make use of all of this better than you and I."

Dean shrugged and snapped his eyes back to his phone. "By the way, I just want to clarify something. Tell my uncle that the pills I analyzed in that short period of time looked like copies of the lethal drug Penny’s been working on not long ago."

"But aside from not having the same secret ingredient that answered all our theories in making the antidote, I found something odd in it," he added, watching Atlas, who wasn’t paying attention to him. "That pill might not have the same threat as the lethal drug that kills silently, but its properties, when put together, can have side effects."

This time, Atlas paused and looked up at the man. "Like?"

"So, you’re listening, huh?" Dean pointed out and then shrugged. "Like confusion, nausea, and the like. I’m still not sure about any other side effects, but the bottom line here is: it can mess with a person’s head when taken for a long period of time."

He then leaned back comfortably in the chair. "This is all in theory, though. It still needs proper and thorough analysis to back it up and gather more information about it. But it’s worth giving that piece of information on top of all the things we gathered."

"..." Atlas remained quiet. "Do you remember all the ingredients in it?"

"Did you ever beat me in the Star Section?" Dean returned sarcastically. "Of course I do — though not accurately, since I could be wrong. It’s not that simple."

"List them all for me." Atlas didn’t ride along with his dry sarcasm as he resumed his activity. "I’ll ask your auntie for another quick analysis."

Yep, Atlas didn’t ride along — but hitchhiked for a second before getting off. Classic Atlas.