The Million-Dollar Heart

Barnaby chuckled, a hint of steely resolve behind his humor. "I choose to have the chip removed even if it means I have to be conscious during the process."

No matter the pain, she refused to let someone else dictate the course of her life!

"The chip is currently lodged in your brain, and I'll be performing the surgery with my mom. We'll keep chatting with you throughout, and you'll even hear and feel us poking around in your noggin, so brace yourself."

It sounded simple enough, but only those who have been through it knew the agony was beyond any normal threshold of endurance.

It was akin to the trauma Arabella suffered after Brody and Vivienne had planted and then diffused a bomb inside her. The psychological scars were likely still unhealed.

Not that she had much time for healing.

Barnaby nodded in agreement. "Alright, let's get on with it."

Time was of the essence. The chip could travel through her bloodstream to any part of her body.

Noah had met his end when a similar chip had migrated near his heart. Barnaby was luckier; the chip was near her stomach when Karen intervened, sparing her life.

But now the chip had moved to his brain, and if F-Poison struck again, it would be too late.

Soon, Barnaby was wheeled back into the OR, with Karen and Vivienne scrubbing in together.

Throughout the procedure, Barnaby's eyes remained open. She could feel the drill and other surgical instruments stirring inside her skull, each nerve echoing the whine of the drill, her glands vibrating with every movement.

The sensation was indescribable.

If she had to label it, 'terrifying' would be a vast understatement.

"When was this chip put in? Can it track our location?" Barnaby inquired, curious despite the circumstances.

Belle, Scott, Rowan, and Ismene don't have chips, or they'd be dead by now," Vivienne said, her gaze fixed on the screen displaying Barnaby's brain scan. Karen, manipulating the scalpel, added, "The chip can track and explode inside

a moment, then said, "I can't recall anything. Maybe we ingested it without

a possibility," Karen agreed, nodding

we swallow a chip without noticing?"

and switched instruments to dig deeper. "The chip could dissolve upon entry and then slowly assemble its particles inside the body." Pausing, Karen mused, "That's a promising

market booming, who could resist a device that pinpoints your pet's location? We could even link it to the pet's retina, offering a pet's-eye view of the world," Vivienne rambled on, already hearing the cash register in

not expected her casual question to spark such a lucrative

to form, they were quite the

it!"

hours later, Karen and Vivienne successfully extracted the

slipped

to be

nodded her head reassuringly. "She'll be fine. She just needs some sleep, and my mom

Madam, thank you, former captain. I'm in your debt," Caspian said,

only family left. After years apart, it was only thanks to Vivienne and

you're truly grateful, go

Caspian was eager. "Anything you need, just

a satellite map appeared on the screen, dotted with numerous red

red dots were

"Yes, right away!"

task; it was

individual, using a jamming device developed by Karen

if F-Poison wanted to kill them now, there was no way

remained at large, all

was Vanguard Agency's first major victory since the "Destruction Plan," earning