Chapter 587
“Don’t worry! I’ll look after Old Mr. Tanner for you. Just take care of yourself. You needn’t dwell on this.”
Right now, Sophie had to deal with a particularly nasty virus.
Tristan was worried that Sophie would not keep calm if she knew what had happened to Josiah. If anything more serious happened because of that, the consequences could be disastrous.
“Okay. I can’t stay for too long on the phone. I’m quite busy here as well,” replied Sophie. The virus was very malignant, targeting and altering the host’s genes for the worse. They had to act quickly in order to prevent further transmission.
“I know you’re busy, but you have to watch out for your health too, okay?” Tristan could only say this much.
“I know. You needn’t worry about me. I’ll be home safe and sound.” Sophie believed in herself and Arius.
“All right.”
How could such a short conversation soothe his frayed nerves?
Tristan knew that there was no point in saying anything more. Besides, he could tell from the sound of her voice that she was exhausted. Thus, he decided not to distract her further so that she could get more rest.
Sophie then hung up and returned the phone to Arius.
“Let’s keep going!” There was barely any time to rest. All they could do was continue their efforts in stopping the virus because this was a time-sensitive matter.
Arius stood up and said, “Didn’t I tell you to leave to get some rest? Regardless, you’re still a woman. Your body can’t handle this for much longer.”
Arius was a man and could work for longer periods of time without needing to rest as often. It was high time Sophie stopped working for a bit.
If she continued on this path of working non-stop, her body was bound to give up on her.
“Cut the crap. Let’s continue working.” Time was currently a luxury they could not afford to waste.
In the meantime, Eustace had already apprehended S and was interrogating the man. However, S was proving too good at resisting their attempts at gaining information.
Not a single shred of information left the man’s lips.
Danny had been with Eustace this whole time. As such, he was starting to grow anxious as well.
“Captain Sheppard, what do we do now? Many people have already been infected by this virus. On top of that, the rate of infection is progressing at a rapid speed!”
If this continued, then they were going to be sitting ducks in no time.
Eustace’s expression turned very grave.
Ever since he had found out about this, he had not slept for three days now.
Initially, Eustace could have handed the suspect over to someone else for interrogation before getting some much-needed sleep. “Don’t worry! I’ll look after Old Mr. Tanner for you. Just take care of yourself. You needn’t dwell on this.”
Due to how important this case was, however, Eustace stayed behind with the others to handle the interrogation personally instead.
Just then, someone brought Tristan over.
Eustace had not expected to run into Tristan here, but he still greeted the latter respectfully.
“Mr. Tristan, what brings you here?” asked Eustace warily.
Information about S and the virus were both classified, so nobody else knew about it yet. However, if Tristan had decided to come over, it meant that the cat was out of the bag.
“I’d like to take over the interrogation,” said Tristan to Eustace.
“Mr. Tristan, the suspect is of national importance. How can I just hand him over to you?” queried another officer, who happened to be the SWAT team leader.
Tristan merely looked at the man indifferently, not saying anything.
“Aren’t you caught in some kind of impasse right now? Since that’s the case, hand this suspect over to me,” said Tristan, looking at Eustace.
“Captain Sheppard, this is a violation of state protocol. We cannot let a civilian interrogate the suspect!”
Tristan’s lips were curved into a wry smirk.
“I wonder how many more will die if we follow protocol,” retorted Tristan coldly, leaving no room for negotiation.
“Fine. I’ll hand the suspect over to you. However, you only have eight hours,” replied Eustace with a sigh. That was about as long as he could handle the pressure.
Eustace decided to hand over the suspect to Tristan because he thought the latter could get information out of S, not because he feared Tristan.
Since they had exhausted all options and made no progress, why could they not hand over the reins to someone more suitable?
“Eustace, have you gone insane? If the higher-ups find out that you’ve let a civilian do this, what do you think they will do?”
Eustace merely gave the team leader a pointed look.
“Please be assured that I know what I’m doing. We’re racing against the clock here. Since we can barely get through to this guy, there’s no harm in letting someone else try. Regardless of the outcome, I will ensure that nothing happens to you. I will take full responsibility.”
If someone had to be held accountable for this in the end, Eustace was willing to shoulder the burden.
Regardless of what the outcome was, Eustace could bear the consequences.
“But—” The team leader trailed off, unsure of why Eustace was willing to do this. “It has taken you so long to get to where you are. Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes,” replied Eustace resolutely.
For the sake of Chanaea’s safety, Eustace was willing to sacrifice anything.
“Very well. Don’t say that this is your burden to bear alone. We’ll both make this judgment call. Regardless of the outcome, we’ll share the accountability.”
Finally, the SWAT team leader relented.
Seeing that the two commanding officers had come to an agreement, nobody else dared to object.
“Captain Sheppard, don’t worry. Regardless of what happens, we’ll be with you all the way.” Given how unique the circumstances were, the other agents had no choice.
“Felix, bring the suspect to our base. I’ll interrogate him myself,” said Tristan coldly. Since this situation involved Sophie, how could Tristan stand idly by?
“Yes, Mr. Tristan,” replied Felix.
Danny brought Felix over to bring the suspect out. Everyone then watched as S was transported away.
When Danny came back, he was shocked to see that Eustace was still there. He promptly walked toward Eustace.
“Captain Sheppard, there’s nothing much we can do but wait for Mr. Tristan.” There were many rumors about Tristan in Jipsdale. Surely such a capable person could find a way to get information from S.
As such, everyone waited in anticipation.
“I want you to tell the others to stand down and get some rest. They can return after eight hours,” said Eustace. Since they had not rested for so many days, the other officers were going to start dropping like flies if this continued.
“But what about you?” asked Danny worriedly.
“I’m going to see if there’s anything else I can do,” said Eustace, rubbing his throbbing temples. With the virus still spreading and mutating the genes of the infected, Jipsdale was soon going to fall. If that happened, then Chanaea would be unable to keep things under control.
Eustace was a true patriot.
He was determined to not let such a scenario happen.
Therefore, regardless of what happened, Eustace was not going to give up so easily.
“Captain Sheppard, I’ll stay behind with you, then. I’m not in the least bit tired.” Since Danny was a technician, he could at least provide Eustace with technical support.
“Danny, I know that you’re already very exhausted. You need to stop acting tough and get some rest.” After all, Danny was just a technician. His IT knowledge was vast, but there was little he could do in this particular situation.
Having said that, Eustace left. Danny felt uncomfortable as he stared at Eustace’s retreating figure.
