Chapter 255: Finding The Human Crab [Edited]
The noon sun hung high over the white sands of the resort cove, its warmth turning the shallow water into a sheet of glittering glass.
Beneath the shade of a beachside palm, Katie sat cross-legged on a woven straw mat with a massive wooden bowl of shaved ice balanced in her lap. Coconut cream, mango puree, and passionfruit syrup covered the dessert in bright layers, making the whole thing look less like a snack and more like a tiny mountain of gold.
"This is so good!" Katie declared, digging into the mountain of shaved ice. "The mango is my favorite!"
"Just eat it before it turns into soup, sweetie," Marina laughed, sitting back on the adjacent lounger with her own bowl. She reached over to wipe a stray speck of yellow syrup from Katie’s cheek, her sun dress and straw hat giving her a calm and unhurried look.
Nicholas leaned against the trunk of the palm tree with his arms folded, watching Katie finish the last of her shaved ice before scrambling off the mat.
Katie immediately marched toward the tide line with a clear plastic bucket clutched in one hand. She followed the edge of the foam, stopping every few steps to collect polished pebbles, pieces of sun-bleached coral, and fragments of green and amber sea glass that the waves had left behind.
"Look, Big brother!" Katie shouted, holding up a bright piece of teal sea glass. "I found another pretty one!"
"Keep it in the bucket, Katie," Nicholas called back, the faintest trace of a smile touching his lips. "Don’t pick up the broken shells with sharp edges."
"Katie possesses superior hazard assessment!" she yelled back proudly, already darting after another shiny pebble washed up by the swell.
A pair of heavy footsteps crunched softly over the dry sand behind the palm trees.
Nectron emerged from behind the palm trees in dark swim trunks and a loose navy sleeveless shirt, two large dry bags slung over one shoulder. Vixen walked beside him in polarized sunglasses, while Julie followed with a compact waterproof camera hanging from her neck.
"The catamaran is fueled up at the private dock," Nectron rumbled, offering Marina a friendly wave. "We’re heading out to the outer atolls for the afternoon reef tour. Crystal caves, shallow sandbars, and zero crowded village markets."
"And best of all, the water is calm enough for perfect drone footage," Julie chimed in, adjusting her pink bucket hat. "Marina, Katie, pack your sun hats! We’re going to find sea turtles!"
Katie gasped, abandoning her bucket of sea glass to sprint up the beach like a miniature rocket. "SEA TURTLES! Nectron, are they the size of battle tanks?!"
"Not quite, kid," Nectron chuckled, easily scooping the little girl up onto his broad shoulder. "But they’re big enough to make a splash."
Marina stood up from her chair, gathering the empty bowls into a basket. She looked over at Nicholas, raising an eyebrow with a quiet, knowing look. "You and Selena aren’t coming with us?"
"Selena and I need to pick up a few extra supplies from the distributor," Nicholas replied smoothly, his expression giving nothing away. "And check on a minor issue with the villa’s water filtration system."
"Right. ’Maintenance,’" Marina smiled, stepping forward to give his arm a gentle, affectionate squeeze. "Don’t spend the whole afternoon working. Take Selena somewhere nice along the cliffs."
"We’ll see," Nicholas said.
Within ten minutes, the catamaran pulled away from the private dock with a low, steady rumble of its diesel engines. Katie was leaning over the bow railing waving frantically with both hands, while Julie leaned against the cabin framing a wide-angle tracking shot of the open sea.
Nicholas watched the catamaran clear the breakwater and head toward the outer reef. With his sisters well outside the range of Port Azure and the southern caves, and two of the strongest heroes on the continent accompanying them, there was little left for him to worry about.
The perimeter was clear.
Inside the cool, quiet master suite of the villa, the relaxed vacation atmosphere shifted into focused, understated preparation.
Neither Nicholas nor Selena put on combat armor. There were no heavy utility belts, no glowing rank insignias, and no high-profile Association tactical vests that might alert local villagers or spark a media frenzy.
Instead, they changed into simple clothes that would let them move quickly without drawing attention. Nicholas pulled on a dark charcoal long-sleeve shirt, black cargo trousers, and lightweight trail boots. He concealed two carbon-steel utility blades beneath his shirt and added a spool of reinforced fiber cord to his belt.
Across the room, Selena pulled her dark hair into a tight ponytail before slipping into a dark-blue windbreaker, black compression top, and tactical joggers. She tucked several shock-baton cartridges into her inner jacket pockets, then checked the volcanic-stone bracelet on her left wrist—the one Nicholas had bought for her.
She clipped a compact, suppressed shock-pistol into an inside holster, adjusting the collar of her jacket.
"The southern caves are half-submerged at high tide," Selena said, bringing up a satellite map of the coastline. "Cutter has been using the old smuggler tunnels beneath the limestone bluffs. According to the fishermen, he’s been storing stolen cargo there, so the cavern dry-dock is our most likely entry point."
Nicholas checked the tension on his blade sheaths with a light, practiced tug. "Those caves won’t give us much room to move," Nicholas said. "We’ll have to be careful not to get cornered. Seems he’s not so dumb"
"Exactly. And don’t get reckless just because he’s weaker than you."
Selena switched off the tablet, setting it down on the dresser before turning to face him.
She walked over, stopping barely a foot away. Her dark eyes were sharp, calm, and fixed squarely on his.
"Nicholas," she said, her voice dropping into a quiet, firm tone.
Nicholas looked down at her. "Yeah?"
"This isn’t Denvi town," Selena said, crossing her arms lightly. "You are not facing any high end impures or syndicate mercenaries, and you’re definitely not facing any fake phantom. It’s just one low-level rogue thug with overgrown crab arms."
"I’m aware," Nicholas replied mildly.
"Which means," Selena continued, stepping half an inch closer, her expression turning dead serious, "we are handling this as partners. You are not charging alone. We scout, we flank, we neutralize, and we do it cleanly. Understood?"
Nicholas looked at her determined expression. Beneath the sternness, he could see what she was really worried about: him getting hurt.
Something warm settled quietly in Nicholas’s chest. In his past life, every contract had been a solitary walk into the dark, where no one watched his back and no one cared whether he came home in one piece. Now Selena was standing in front of him, already prepared to lecture him over a scratch before the fight had even begun. Somehow, that felt remarkably good.
A soft, easy smile broke across his face.
"Understood, Supervisor," Nicholas murmured, his tone relaxed and sincere. "I won’t take a single hit. We do it your way."
Selena blinked, briefly caught off guard by the warmth in his smile. A hint of color touched her cheeks before she quickly masked it with a satisfied nod.
"Good," Selena said, turning toward the bedroom door. "Let’s go crack a crab before the ice cream at the villa starts melting."
Nicholas matched her stride down the hall, slipping out into the bright afternoon sun, ready for a clean, quiet job.