Deia and Darius quickly moved through the passageway on all fours. Deia had a curious expression on her face and asked quietly.

"Why did you pull me back?"

Darius was silent for a while before answering in a sullen mutter. "… I don't want to be distracted."

Deia tilted her head in confusion for a while before her eyes widened as she understood. Immediately, she smiled playfully, her right hand reaching out and grabbing Darius' butt.

Darius himself almost yelped in shock, angrily turning his head to glare at Deia who was smiling innocently. Unfortunately, he was completely at her mercy in this situation, so apart from his angry stares, he would have to endure it for now.

Deia understood his situation and abused this situation. She continued harassing Darius' behind through various means.

"What the hell are you doing?" Darius asked furiously in a hushed tone.

Deia shrugged. "Getting revenge for the slap and the beating."

Darius could only release a breath of anger as he picked up his tempo. "Just you wait, once we get out of here, I'll return this tenfold!"

Deia paused and retracted her hands. The duo continued to move along, and eventually reached a place where they could hear some slight noise.

Darius paused slightly to listen and was shocked to hear the voice of some gruff men speaking.

"Have you finished rounding them up?" A voice asked.

"Yes boss, they are all here except the target." Another voice answered respectfully.

"Hmm. Then, let's ask the VIPs about the target's whereabouts." The first voice commanded.

The boss' voice became slightly distant, indicating that he had changed the direction he was facing. "Alright, Mr. Rothschild, Mr. Davis, and Mrs. Lister, could one of you please share with us the location of Mr. Stone?"

Darius' eyes widened when he heard that their target was him. He had initially believed that it was just his bad luck that pirates would attack his yacht, but apparently, all of this was a direct plot against him.

He might not know who was behind it, but he could certainly guess why.

Darius cursed himself for being foolish enough to come all the way out to sea just to make this discreet signing. He could have easily stayed in the country, but he had wanted to relax after dealing with his traitorous ex.

"Last I saw of him, he was heading to a random cabin to partake in some fun." Germaine answered calmly, seemingly not at all bothered by the situation.

"You'd have better luck waiting for your men to report back than ask us." Tion supplied with a slightly irritated tone of voice.

"The only thing I want right now is to be as far away from that misogynistic asshole, how can I know where he is?" Anne answered scathingly.

If Jeremy, Jason, and Kevin were there, they had remained silent, wisely opting to allow their bosses to speak instead. The 'pirate' boss sighed audibly and spoke after some time.

"Alright, please wait here sirs and madam, while we continue our operation."

His politeness towards them was not out of place, but rather common sense. The moment they had boarded, the captain had long informed the coast guard and their own personal mercenary groups who would be here in 5-7 days at max speed.

If they did anything to these VIPs, there is no way it would remain unknown. Offending the Rothschild Family alone was a terrifying thing to comprehend, much less when one added Microsoft and also the Lister Family.

Darius was willing to bet they hadn't even been jostled or tied up at all, but had been respectfully led to the lounge and given nice seating no different from when he had met them.

As for what happened to the other 11 girls apart from Deia, as well as the rest of the crew, Darius did not know but could easily guess since many mercs were still missing.

After what was likely a few weeks on sea, anyone would look to have fun, and what better targets than nobodies who could not mount any meaningful revenge on them?

Just because they respected the head honchos didn't mean they were a pleasant group of honest thieves.

Darius turned his head to gaze at Deia who was behind him with a strange glint in his eye. Deia saw this and snickered coldly.

"What? Worried I might sell you out? How stupid do you think I am?"

She pointed upwards to the lounge above while whispering furiously. "If I sell you out, forget about a nice reward, I'll be subjected to whatever they feel like doing to me because to them I'll be just another nobody."

"Right now, I'm more grateful that you chose me over them." Deia muttered sullenly under her breath.

Darius nodded and continued moving quickly, with Deia following along behind him. Soon, they came across a long horizontal shaft with a ladder that Darius paused in front of.

There was now much more space in the shaft, so instead of being on all fours, they had been crouch walking. Darius had a troubled expression on his face that Deia found cute, but would never say out loud due to her pride.

"You'll have to go down first."

Deia had a look of incomprehension. "What is it this time?"

Darius pointed to the ladder. Deia looked at it for a while before suddenly understanding. She couldn't help but smile no matter how well she tried to control herself, for this was too shocking.

"You're actually bothered that you might see my underwear if you look up? How cute." Deia sniggered.

Darius frowned. "Can you stop with that sarcasm? I get that this must be a coping mechanism for you, but we are still not out of harm's way. I initially chose you because I was attracted to you, so obviously seeing you in that skimpy dress is giving me a headache, much less seeing your genitals."

"It has nothing to do with gentlemanliness, but the situation we are in. It calls for no distractions, so hurry up." He prodded.

Deia's playful smile faded as she too adopted a serious demeanor and passed by Darius before climbing down the shaft quickly. Darius waited for a bit before following her down.

Once Deia reached the entrance of the mini-sub, she jumped into the passenger seat and patiently waited for Darius while marveling at the tech around her.