[37]

A few minutes before the incident.

Leonard chose to sit next to the chair previously occupied by Damian. The man's arrival was quite surprising because there was no prior notice. Leonard thought, with Rebecca coming to the place where he felt Damian was hiding something, Damian would be busy. But apparently, Damian came to this place instead.

“Damn,” he muttered under his breath and finished the wine in his glass. “Pablo, pour some more for me,” he said, pointing the glass at Pablo who had been beside him.

“Yes, Mr. Leonard.”

Leonard continued to observe the people working to move the valuables that needed to be sent to Catterpilar. Even so, Leonard's smile looked satisfied because this part of the shipment had gone according to his plan. Leonard's brain had calculated how much profit he could enjoy once all the goods were sold.

“You can't be too greedy, Damian,” Leonard muttered with a chuckle. “You should have monitored this shipment from the start. Otherwise, this is what would have happened.” With one sip, the wine in his glass disappeared down Leonard's throat.

But the fun did not last long.

Someone hurriedly approached Leonard. The man's face was deathly pale as if something terrible had happened.

“Sir,” he called with his breath caught in his throat.

“What's wrong?” Leonard replied reluctantly. “Can't you see I'm having a wonderful time?”

“Mr. Leonard, it's serious! Our delivery car has been sabotaged. Our stuff is... gone!” whispered the man trying to calm down but it was impossible. Not only was he unable to catch his breath, but he was also thinking about what would happen if Leonard heard this.

Leonard was not a man who enjoyed failure. Especially since this delivery was something he had been waiting for for the past three months. But if he didn't tell him what happened immediately, who knows what would happen to all the men working under Leonard's orders. They could all be subjected to terrible punishment considering Leonard's temperament was as bad as the Joker's.

Leonard glared in disbelief. He immediately straightened his back and stared at the man reading the news with an angry gaze. “What are you saying?”

“We received news that the transport truck encountered problems around the Geo Mountain route. The surrounding CCTV didn't cover the area where the truck ran into trouble. The team at the border was waiting for the truck but there was no signal. We decided to follow up and the truck rolled over on the side of the forest. The driver and another guard were shot dead and the cargo was empty.”

Leonard paled even more. His hands were shaking in shock. “Who would dare do this?”

His men stammered. “We don't know yet, Mr. Leonard. It happened very quickly and we suspect it could be related to Mr. Damian's visit.”

His men were not wrong. There was no way Damian wouldn't know about this. “Make sure you clean up the scene before the police find out.” Leonard clutched the gun at his waist, his anger boiling over. Without thinking, he ran out of the warehouse and approached Damian's car that was just about to move. With a quick movement, he pointed the gun at Damian.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING, DAMIAN?”

His nephew looked ready for a shootout with whoever the opponent was. Both of Damian's hands were ready with a gun that, with one squeeze of the trigger, could take the life of another person.

“What am I doing?” replies Damian with a sickening smile for Leonard. “Shouldn't that be what I'm asking, my dear uncle?”

“You! You think you can just take my stuff?” shouted Leonard. The gun in his hand was still pointed at Damian's head. If this was the end of his nephew, he didn't care. Wasn't it an advantage that Damian often got in his way? A sly smile unconsciously appeared on Leonard's face.

Damian remained calm, not even looking surprised. He gave Leonard a cold, wary look. “Your stuff? The shipment you just smuggled in? That's... your stuff?”

“I took my fair share. You should pay me for the hard work I did all this time at the port. I'm the one who negotiated more with Vladimir and didn't even bother to visit him just for the Dream pill delivery contract. And you? Just acting like this?”

“Jesus, God.” Damian said in a contrived tone. “I forgot about your contribution to meeting Vladimir. It seems my confidant, Victor, couldn't do his job properly back then.”

Leonard looked up haughtily. “If you've realized it, give me back my stuff immediately. I need that stuff right away!”

“Um... okay. Let's recite what you did during your meeting with Vladimir which was mostly, you screwed up. You didn't negotiate on Sawyer's behalf, but for yourself. Pressuring Vladimir to give a lower price than what was agreed upon. You made the impression of a big player backed by people of interest but unfortunately, you forgot one thing.”

Damian stepped closer with confidence. Marcus was always at the ready beside Damian, protecting the man in case one of Leonard's men fired a bullet at them.

“You're not the Joker.”

Leonard growled in annoyance. His gun was trained on Damian. “If you get any closer, I don't care if I have to deliver your corpse to Hera!”

Leonard chuckled, but his laugh sounded terrifying. “Do you think I'm afraid of you? Or... should I write you a last letter for my dear mother to read?”

“SHUT UP!” Leonard scolds unhappily. “You may be smart, Damian, but you've gone too far this time.” Leonard never hesitated to pull the trigger. Damian's death was what he was waiting for the most. Before Leonard could move any further, a gunshot rang out in the distance. The bullet hit the ground near Leonard's feet, making him flinch. From the shadows around the harbor, Harold's men began to appear, their weapons aimed at Leonard and his men.

“This is the last warning, Leonard. This place is surrounded.” Damian's voice sounded cold. “The Dream Pill is mine. And if you think you can betray me, you're sadly mistaken.”

Leonard was trembling, but he tried to defend himself. He knew that no matter how difficult the situation, he would be able to escape. At the same time, Tedy Salomon, one of Leonard's most loyal men, appeared from another corner with his gun raised. He pointed his weapon directly at Marcus. His eyes were full of hatred. Quickly, he pulled the trigger.

The gunshot echoed, but the bullet never reached Marcus. In the air, the bullet exploded into tiny fragments. Tedy was stunned, his face turning pale. “How...”

Marcus stepped forward, his gun already aimed at Tedy's head. But before Marcus could go any further, Damian raised his hand, stopping him.

“No need,” Damian said in a cold yet chilling tone. “Let him know what it means to fight us.”

“You think I'm afraid to fight you, Rancid Boy?” Once again Tedy pointed the gun at Marcus, no, this time at Damian with a mocking look. “You do have a lot of guts, Joker.”

Damian grinned but just as he was about to point the gun at Tedy, Marcus intervened.

“He's my man, Damian.”

“Ah, alright. Handle him properly.” Damian laughed mockingly. “So... what about you, my dear uncle? Do you no longer have the courage to take up arms against me?”

Leonard was furious and ordered his men to attack Damian but... “What are you doing, huh?”

Not many of them moved to obey Leonard's order. One of them said, “Our master is only Mr. Damian. You can pay us but not with loyalty.”

Leonard shot dead the man who had just said such a disgusting thing. He pointed the gun again and fired it at Damian. But again, the bullet only exploded in the air. It didn't hit Damian who was walking casually towards Leonard.

The same was true for Leonard's remaining men. Every time they raised their weapons, before the intention to hurt Damian's men was realized, they had already been shot.

Leonard, who witnessed it all, could only stare in disbelief. His body was trembling even more as the situation was not favorable for him at all. He looked increasingly desperate. But tried to hide that fear behind a hateful look at Damian.

“You think this is over, Damian?” Leonard said. His hands were shaking as he held the gun. His eyes were fixed on Damian who was getting closer to him.

Damian smiled faintly, a smile that was more sinister than any threat. “Oh, it's already done for you. You just haven't realized it yet.” In one fell swoop, the gun in Damian's hand spewed out its contents.

It aimed straight at Leonard's leg and made an audible scream of pain. The man was knocked down by the shot, a reddish trail immediately obvious coming from one of his legs. But Damian didn't care. Once again he aimed the gun at Leonard's hand. If Damian had given the punishment, he didn't care how the man died. But for Leonard, he would do it slowly.

Unfortunately, for the second shot, Damian missed. It was caused by the presence of Tedy who moved very fast. Ah, Damian should have realized that Tedy was a former member of the intelligence agency. The only thing Damian wanted to confirm was Marcus' condition.

And because of his recent inattention, Damian almost suffered a gunshot wound to the shoulder. But once again, Harold, who was hiding among the large containers not far from Damian's location, gave him a surprise. That made Damian turn his head and give a thumbs up. Although they were not close together, Damian would never forget Harold's involvement in this plan.

Tedy took advantage of this to escape. But Marcus was more alert than Damian in terms of pursuit. The look in Marcus' eyes was smoldering, burning with a vengeance that could have made him lose control.

“Marcus,” Damian called out, shouting. “Don't use your emotions in this moment. Make sure he finishes his part.”

Marcus pointed a middle finger at Damian but finally nodded. Damian chuckled and followed Marcus' lead-running after Tedy as well as Leonard who had escaped. It didn't take long for them to catch up, probably due to Leonard's limited movement and Tedy having to reduce his running and hiding skills.

Damian fired a shot towards one side of the container, making quite a noise. It took only a split second for Tedy to slow down but was soon running at a speed that was quite difficult to keep up with.

“Don't whine, old man. We have to get away before Damian catches us,” Tedy said as he grabbed Leonard by the collar. Leonard, who had been feeling aches and pains in his legs, no longer complained because what Tedy said was true.

“There's a speedboat waiting for us at the other end. We should get there quickly and hide in Osla Land for the time being.”

“Whatever your plan is, as long as I can survive, I'm fine,” said Leonard who tried to keep up with Tedy's movements.

Unfortunately, that didn't last long. Marcus, who had been trained to go through many obstacles, took a cut and stopped right in front of them. It didn't take a gun to stop Tedy because the one punch Marcus gave him made Tedy's grip on Leonard's shirt come loose.

“Damn it!” cursed Tedy angrily. “You can't beat me, you son of a bitch!”

“I don't care!” Once again, Marcus threw a powerful kick aimed at the back of Tedy's neck. The well-trained Tedy was able to dodge the kick even though the toe of Marcus' boot hit his face. Tedy spat with a look of displeasure.

“Oops! Did I hurt your handsome face?” Marcus grinned ridiculously. He was already prepared with his fists until he was a little wary when Tedy pulled out a gun. Which Marcus knew very well was any type of gun.

The only murder weapon that hit his coworker-Kenzo's vital organs. Which made the man die on the spot without a fight.

That made Marcus lose his control. He swiftly took the gun from his coat pocket. Aiming right at Tedy's head. His opponent chuckled at Marcus' undaunted attitude towards him.

And they prepared to shoot each other until...

“Stop everything, Tedy,” said someone who made Tedy unable to move. The tip of the gun touched the back of his head. Perhaps in one fell swoop, the bullet would lodge in his head or even pierce a hole in his head.

More than that, Tedy had no idea who was pointing the gun at him. “Harold?”

“Yes, it's me.”

At the same time, Leonard was forcefully pulled and thrown unceremoniously beside Tedy. Damian did it with ease. It also made Tedy let go of his gun helplessly.

“Take care of them immediately, Harold. And report how things are going.” Damian took off his gloves. “You can't do more than kick, Marcus. We had a deal.”

Marcus clucked in displeasure but... “It's a distant memory from me, asshole!” Marcus kicked Tedy in the back of the neck just like he wanted to. And Marcus gave Leonard the same treatment. That made both of them fall down and faint.

Meanwhile, Harold clucked in displeasure. “Go before I change my mind.”

Damian laughed as he embraced Harold. “What's your plan, arrest me? Are you sure?”

Marcus contributed to the extra weight on Harold's other side. “It's not just Damian you're arresting. Me too!”

“What a crazy person!!!”