Jason ran toward the opening, concerned about Ethan's condition, but what he saw stopped him dead in his tracks. Ethan was sweaty and covered in blood, yes, but what drew the most attention was Cassandra, still on all fours, with Ethan's cock deeply embedded in her, right in the middle of the chaos and gunpowder smoke. Jason blushed violently, his eyes immediately looking away.

"Keep advancing," Jason ordered, speaking quickly to his team and avoiding looking directly down. "The boss is... slightly indisposed right now."

Ethan roared with laughter from below upon seeing his lieutenant's reaction, his laughter a hoarse, maniacal sound that mixed with the noise of the bullets.

Jason, Falcon One, and Falcon Two scrambled up the stairs in a hurry, leaving the bizarre scene in the basement behind them. Jason headed toward the office with cold fury, ready to subdue Vance.

"To the office! Now!" Jason ordered.

They reached the top landing, but the scene they found wasn't one of surrender. Congressman Vance and his right-hand man were about to be tackled, but Jason froze, his trained eye catching something in the corner of the office that didn't fit the luxurious decor: a compact device with flashing red lights and a digital timer.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Jason screamed, a chilling feeling of pure terror shooting through his chest. "BOMB! EVERYONE, RUN NOW!"

The shout was a desperate roar that echoed through the entire cabin. The bomb timer was ticking down from less than five seconds. The assault team froze for a fraction of a second, then turned in a wild panic, sprinting down the stairs to escape the imminent inferno.

In the basement, Ethan was barely pulling up his clothes, his breathing still ragged from the adrenaline of the intimate encounter. Jason's soul-shattering scream resonated through the hatch.

"BOMB! EVERYONE, RUN NOW!"

There was no time for thought or planning. Ethan pulled his clothes into place, ignoring the sharp pain of the bullets embedded in his chest. He grabbed Cassandra and, instead of heading up the stairs which were now a suicidal route, he ran toward the small basement window, which seemed ridiculously tiny.

A deafening boom shattered the cabin, followed by a shockwave of heat and shrapnel. Ethan lunged toward the broken window just as the explosion hit the basement. He used his body as a shield, enveloping Cassandra as they were both propelled outward by the brutal force of the blast.

The pain was massive; he felt the impacts of fire, debris, and shrapnel slamming into the surface layer of his skin and muscles. His Harder Than Steel ability activated, absorbing the lethal force. His body became an improvised shield, protecting Cassandra from the destructive violence.

Ethan and Cassandra were launched like projectiles through the smoke and debris of the forest. They landed with a hard thud on the dirt, Ethan landing on top of her, covering her completely.

The place where the luxurious cabin once stood was now a smoking crater. Most of the perimeter guards, both Vance's and Jason's men who couldn't react in time, were ripped to shreds by the explosion.

Jason, Falcon One, and Falcon Two managed to survive. They had reached the door in time, but the shockwave had violently thrown them into the trees, bruised and stunned. As Jason got to his feet, amidst the smoke and the screams of the wounded, he searched desperately through the rubble.

"Boss! Cassandra!" Jason yelled, his voice hoarse from the impact.

Ethan lifted a trembling hand from the smoking wreckage. He was alive. They had survived annihilation.

As the smoke billowed and Jason's men struggled to get back on their feet, two black armored trucks shot out from the rear of the property, taking a hidden service road into the forest. No one was in a state to pursue them; all the combatants were stunned, bruised, or worse.

Jason dusted the rubble from his suit and looked around with a grimace of horror. Of the hundred men he had brought, several dozen had died in the initial shootout, and many more had been torn to shreds by the explosion. Only about forty men remained alive, most also wounded and severely concussed by the shockwave.

"Recover the wounded!" Jason ordered in a harsh voice. "Secure the perimeter! They escaped!"

At that moment, Sarah, desperate, ran out from the tree line where she had taken cover. She screamed Ethan's name, Officer Sparks right behind her, trembling but following suit.

Ethan was carefully lifted from the smoking wreckage. His body, although Harder Than Steel prevented the bullets from penetrating, was ravaged by the blunt force of the explosion: his back was completely shredded by debris, and some bones, though not entirely broken, were severely bruised. He felt every muscle in his body burning.

Ethan looked up, seeing Sarah run toward him. Despite the unbearable pain, he smiled at her, a weak but sincere grimace.

"Everything is going to be fine," Ethan said, his voice barely a whisper. "I just need... a minute."

Cassandra also got to her feet, almost completely unscathed thanks to Ethan covering her. She was dizzy and stunned, but her body had suffered no significant damage. Only a small line of blood trickled down her forehead from some fragments. Seeing Ethan, her body reacted with a surge of panic and relief.

"Ethan! No, no, no! What have they done to you?" Sarah cried, kneeling beside him, her hands covered in dirt and sweat.

"I'm fine, Sarah," Ethan said with difficulty, coughing.

Cassandra joined them, her face now clean of blood but covered in tears upon seeing Ethan's state.

"I promised you we would get out of this, remember?" Ethan said to Cassandra, staring at her intently.

Cassandra leaned over him, her voice broken. "I know, my love. I know," she said. "But look at you... I should have left you alone. I should have done it!"

"Don't say that," Ethan said, reaching out a trembling hand to touch her cheek. "You are... what makes me fight. You need to be here."

Jason approached, his face a map of frustration and rage over Vance's escape and the loss of his men. He saw the two women, one desperate and the other in shock, next to the injured boss.

"Sarah, Cassandra, listen to me," Jason said, trying to impose calm with his tone. "The boss is alive. And he... has endurance. We need to move. Vance and his men escaped in those trucks."

Sarah looked up at Jason, her eyes bloodshot. "Vance? And Officer Sparks? Is she okay?"

Officer Sparks, who was observing the scene, nodded, pale. "I'm fine. Just..."

"She is the evidence," Ethan interrupted Jason, despite the pain. "The witness to everything. Jason, I need... you to escort her back to the city. To the press. Have her give her testimony, with protection. And Vance... we will find him."

Jason looked at the boss, recognizing the clarity of the order despite his injuries. "Understood, Boss. We'll withdraw. But you..."

"I'll go with Sarah and Cassandra," Ethan said. "Give me a moment to stand up."

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