Chapter 8 - THE SHOWDOWN AT THE SILOSEduardo looked up in confusion. High above on the catwalk, illuminated by a flash of lightning, stood Nicolás. He was holding a small black device, pointing it directly down at Eduardo’s hands.
A green light on Nicolás’s scrambler flashed CONNECTED.
"What is this nonsense?!" Eduardo screamed, losing the last thread of his sanity. "DIE! ALL OF YOU DIE!"
Eduardo slammed his thumb down on the red detonator button!
CLICK.
Nothing happened.
Eduardo’s eyes bulged. He frantically smashed the button again and again! "No! NO! WHY ISN'T IT WORKING?!"
"Your transmitter signal was hijacked three seconds ago, Eduardo," Gabriel said, taking two swift steps forward.
In a desperation-fueled rage, Eduardo raised his assault rifle toward Gabriel’s face and pulled the trigger!
CLICK.
Vance—who had reached his absolute breaking point—had quietly removed the firing pin from Eduardo’s rifle before they left the mansion.
Eduardo stared down at the useless weapon in horror.
Gabriel didn't hesitate. With the lightning speed of a trained veteran, Gabriel closed the distance, grabbed the barrel of the rifle, twisted it out of Eduardo’s hands, and delivered a devastating right hook straight to the tyrant's jaw!
CRACK!
Don Eduardo Salcedo—the terrifying, untouchable billionaire of Los Altos—flopped backward into the filthy, muddy water at Gabriel’s feet, his nose shattered, spitting blood and teeth onto the wet concrete.
Federal marshals instantly swarmed the area, rifles raised, pinning Vance to the ground and handcuffing Eduardo as he squirmed like a wounded worm in the mud.
"Get your hands off me!" Eduardo screamed, his aristocratic face covered in sludge. "Do you know who I am?! I am Eduardo Salcedo! I own you all!"
A high-ranking Federal Prosecutor stepped out from behind a marshal vehicle, holding a thick stack of federal arrest warrants and a digital tablet showing the frozen assets of the Salcedo empire.
"Don Eduardo Salcedo," the prosecutor said coldly. "You are under arrest for attempted murder of a minor, corporate fraud, tax evasion, illegal possession of industrial explosives, and human rights violations. You will spend the rest of your natural life in a maximum-security federal prison."
As the officers dragged Eduardo toward the police transport van, the disgraced tycoon locked eyes with Gabriel.
"You ruined me..." Eduardo sobbed, his voice stripped of all power, leaving behind only the pathetic whimpering of an old coward. "You filthy dirt farmer... you ruined my life..."
Gabriel walked up to the side of the police van. He leaned in, his voice quiet, calm, and deeply profound.
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"We didn't ruin you, Eduardo," Gabriel said. "Your own hatred did. You thought our blood was dirt. But you forgot... dirt is where real things grow."
The van doors slammed shut, locking Eduardo in total darkness.
