“Then do you think Kaze can make it this time?” the woman asked curiously. Even though Kaze was able to force Magnus out of his turf by auctioning the Nether Viper Sword, the man was still the branch leader of the Viper’s Den in the West State. Magnus had access to all resources, connections, and branches in the entire West State. He was a force to be reckoned with. Kaze might be slightly powerful in Lilyrose but his powers and resources were nothing compared to Magnus’. Sieg shook his head. “I can’t tell. Logically, I think Kaze is dead meat. Though a part of me wants him to perform another miracle. “Only then he is worthy to be my opponent, my grinding stone that I can hone my skills with. Let’s just wait and see…” As Sieg’s voice grew softer, the courtyard returned to peace and quiet. …Viper’s Den Westeros branch. Magnus sat on his executive chair, emotionless and silent. “Branch Leader, the representatives from thirty-five branches asked why can’t we deal with a
On the second day, the auction proceeded as planned. After Kaze sent Darcy off to work, he strolled back to the entrance of Skylar View District. “Brother!” Conan, who had been waiting since early in the morning, came over attentively. Kaze glanced at him and asked, “How’s your hand?” “Nothing to worry about.” Conan smiled and waved his hand around to show that he was fine. Kaze nodded. “Come on, let’s go get your revenge.” He had gotten news that Magnus left West State last night and had already arrived at South River State. The upcoming auction would surely be a party. Dallas Moneylender rented the exhibition center for the auction, which was the same place where Rove held their investment auction. Kaze did not grant any backdoor access to Dallas Moneylender to rent the place, nor did he inform the city council about the auction. Even though Dallas Moneylender Lilyrose Branch had been eliminated, their influence in the city remained strong. Given how strong
Kaze did not mind the authenticity of Honey’s words. If Dallas Moneylender had the nerve to come to him for revenge, he would just eliminate them all once more. “Mr. Lee, please wait at the VIP lounge area. I still have to welcome other guests. There are quite a number of VIPs attending the auction today.” Honey told one of her men to lead Kaze to the lounge area before she went off. After Kaze and Conan sat down, more guests were being brought into the VIP lounge. A tall young woman with a hair bun walked in surrounded by people. Conan was surprised to see the young woman. He leaned closer to Kaze and whispered, “Bro, this woman is Ruth Wyrm, one of the leaders of Dragon’s Nest in South River State. Like Hannah Delmore, she’s also one of the young prodigies…” Before he could finish, he realized Kaze was looking behind him with an interesting look. “Bro, what’s the matter?” He instinctively turned around and saw Ruth behind him, staring at him fiercely. He was not a
Kaze put the Nether Viper Sword away and said, “Since Conan started it, I’ll let you off the hook this time. There won’t be a next.” “Hmph!” Ruth grunted coldly but dared not continue the argument with Kaze. She was no idiot. From the moment Kaze successfully ambushed her, she knew she was no match for him. She knew Kaze defeated Hannah and two teams of Viper’s Den’s agents. She was skeptical at first but after the brief encounter, she was forced to accept the fact. Kaze ignored the young woman. He was not trying to be arrogant or overprotective of his followers, but because the auction would be flooded with people from different factions. It was necessary to ensure his and Conan’s safety. Ruth was from the Dragon’s Nest, so it was almost certain that the Wolf’s Den and Tiger’s Cave would also send representatives over. After all, it was uncommon to see Viper’s Den in shame. Based on how fierce and rude Ruth was to Conan, it was no surprise that people from the four
Vigar had another glance at Kaze but did not say anything. He simply sat down in the corner as well. Other than the Viper’s Den, the Dragon’s Nest, Tiger’s Cave, and Wolf’s Den had sent their representatives over. More guests arrived. As for the local Lilyroseans, the family heads of the Vikrom, Joestar, and Logman families came to support Kaze right after they were discharged from the hospital. Some influential figures of the city also attended and greeted Kaze when they arrived. However, not everyone respected Kaze. “Kaze Lee, I wonder if you will die today…” Madam Hacks, Christian, and the others attended as well. The one who spoke was Mary Sue. Her words ignited the spark of conflict in the air. Dakota and the other investors from all over the country attended as well. They attended, hopefully, to witness Kaze’s death. They had gotten the news that Magnus would attend the auction. Magnus’ arrival would mean Kaze’s death. Kaze glanced at them and toyed arou
After Honey’s introductory speech, the auction staff brought the Nether Viper Sword on stage. The auction also arranged for some experts to demonstrate the sharpness of the sword by performing a few moves on stage, cutting wooden planks, iron rods, and whatnot. The crowd was in awe of the sword’s sharpness. As expected of the sacred weapon of the Viper’s Den. Despite it being a replica, it possessed unparalleled sharpness and power. However, only the amateurs were impressed by the demonstrations. People like Ruth, Sol, and the others were calm and quiet, simply waiting for the auction to start. They knew how strong the Nether Viper Sword was. In fact, each organization had their own sacred weapon. They would not attend the auction if they were solely after the sword’s sharpness and power. After the demonstration, Honey officially started the bidding. She said, “Now let us start today’s auction. Allow me to state the rules first. “The starting price for the Nether
Honey looked at Sirius and his men with a gentle smile, speaking in the softest tone. Her words sounded weightless. Sirius glanced at her and nonchalantly said, “An underground organization stepping into the light and auctioning the sacred weapon of the Viper’s Den. Aren’t Dallas Moneylender afraid of being eliminated?” He was overflowing with murderous intent. He disregarded Honey’s words and Dallas Moneylender entirely. Honey remained smiling and said nothing. Then, a large number of Dallas Moneylender’s staff swarmed out from the corner and went straight for Sirius and his men, surrounding them. They were so quick that Sirius and his men were unable to respond in time. Bang! Following another heavy thump, the agent who attacked the staff earlier was kicked out of the hall with blood spewing from his mouth. “You!” Sirius’ men were furious. They glared at the staff members and took a cautious stance. Sirius reacted grimly. Even after he revealed his identity, the
Right after Sirius’ words subsided, everyone looked at Kaze. They heard it was Kaze who cut off Sirius’ arm with the Nether Viper Sword. Now that the rumor had been validated, it explained Sirius’ resentment toward Kaze. He was willing to spend a fortune to bid for the Nether Viper Sword just so he could use it to kill Kaze for revenge. The brief confrontation pressured even Conan, yet Kaze remained nonchalant. He smiled at Sirius and said, “Then it’s going to be costly. You are spending a few billions just to kill me.” Sirius scoffed and said, “I can get it back when I take you and your wife’s company. Their combined assets would be enough to buy a few Nether Viper Swords.” The meaning of his words was self-explanatory. After killing Kaze, Sirius planned to take Kaze and Darcy’s companies to cover the cost of the sword. “We’ll see if you can win the sword,” Kaze said with a hint of fierceness in his eyes. Sirius sat down and then said, “Auctioneer, you may continue
“How dare those men hijack the plane and take Kaze. They must be punished…” Despite her grumbles, Snow grew anxious. “Given Mr. Lee’s capabilities, he won’t be hurt.” The agents around her tried to comfort her. They believed she was being too nervous. “I know, but we as subordinates have failed him by allowing this to happen. We have to do our best to make up for the mistake, and not rely on Mr. Lee to get out because he can.” Snow drowned in self-blame and regretted not being able to help. It was her negligence that allowed the hijacking to happen. “But there’s nothing you can do now. It’s late. Even the hijackers need to rest. They won’t do anything yet.” “It’s because the hijackers need to rest that we have to hurry and beat them to it. That’s the only way to solve this matter!” “But we’ve searched high and low and didn’t find anything. No one knows where they have gone. Even if they transported the passengers via buses, we didn’t see any tracks.” The agents discu
Kaze breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly went over to Miguel and pressed his hands with the gun down so that it would not misfire. “Good job.” “Thanks.” Miguel curled his lips into a nervous smile. He frequently trained in the gym and mixed martial arts but had never encountered any real-life incident before, thus being inexperienced. Fortunately, his mentality was stronger than the others and allowed him to act accordingly. “I’ll be taking the gun. This is self-defense, you won’t be charged and you won’t need to take responsibility,” Kaze said. Miguel’s pale face looked relieved. “What should we do now? Are there more of them?” Miguel dared not let go of the gun, worried there might be more enemies. “I’ve counted the numbers and this guy here should be the last one.” He then took the gun from Miguel’s hands. “Really? Gosh! That was crazy! I was so terrified!” Miguel finally loosened up and let his instinct take over. His heart was pounding so fast that it
Manson came over and saw the mercenaries lying in their own puddle of blood. The gore shocked him and made him sick. He tried his best to hold back the urge to throw up as it would attract attention. “Don’t look if you can’t take it! Don’t make things worse!” “Yeah! Professor! Grow a pair of balls!” “I have never seen dead bodies like this before!” he explained with a flush of embarrassment on his face. “Can we go out now and run away?” The hostages were eager to leave as things had settled down outside. They thought the danger was over. A dead mercenary was inside the container with them and they were still horrified. Once the others found out about this, the hostages would be shot to death. “If you want to die, be my guest. The moment you step out, you’ll be shot!” Callahan said as he looked at the others scornfully. One of the hostages had already put his hand on the handle of the door and was ready to dash out, but he quickly pulled his hand back after listening
“Tsk. Hold on.” Vexed, the man clicked his tongue and then waved at his colleague. “Come here. Someone fainted. Help me get him out.” The man wanted to take the professor out of the container. Manson’s heart pounded as he listened to the man. He was afraid he might be exposed, but there was no turning back now—he had to play along. Kaze stood behind the door, calming his breath down to lower his presence. “Get back. Stay away from the door. If anyone gets close, don’t blame me for being rough,” said the man as he unlocked the container. He opened the door and saw a number of hostages still sleeping. He then looked at the professor on the floor. He went closer to nudge him but did not get a response. It seemed like the professor needed medical attention. “Come on. Help me get him out.” The other man outside the container was on edge, looking as if he would pull the trigger at the slightest movement. “Why don’t we do it?” Callahan and Miguel volunteered. “You two
“It’s freaking troublesome.” “Boss, don’t worry about it. We’ll get an update tomorrow.” “Yeah. It’s late. Get some rest.” Tiguan’s men told him to get some rest and not worry so much. A few of them were already snoring on the chair. Tiguan sighed and killed the cigarette. He then closed his eyes to get some rest, too. The container that Kaze was in fell into silence once more. No one dared to make any noise but they all looked at Kaze, hoping to find out about his plans. Kaze’s eyes remained fixed on the window and showed no intention of revealing his thoughts. Miguel and Callahan were annoyed by the other hostages. “If you people want to get out of here alive, you better cooperate or come up with your own idea. No one is responsible for saving you.”“Yeah. I don’t want you guys to turn on us after we do all the heavy lifting. It will cost us our lives and you people won’t even be grateful.” Miguel’s tone was sarcastic because he disliked how the others looked at t
Kaze read the hostages’ minds and refused to be used. He wanted to leave but not under such circumstances. “That’s not true. We just don’t have the skills for this kind of situation. You guys are stronger, of course, you should be in the front,” said the man in glasses and a suit. A hint of sharpness gleamed in his eyes. Miguel knew what the man was planning, either. “That’s some plan you have there. You are just trying to use us to escape this place and no matter what happens, you’ll win.” “That’s not it! I just want everyone to stand together and get out of this place. I’ve never thought of using anyone!” the man argued, trying to look innocent. Even a monkey knew what he was planning, yet no one dared to speak up because they would benefit from it too. “Why don’t you guys think of something? If you need our help, we’ll help,” said another middle-aged gentleman who looked more just and fair, as if he could lead the group. “Then what is your plan?” Kaze suddenly wante
The hostages were locked up in the containers. Some of them were elites in their own field while some were ordinary people with average income, yet all of them got into trouble when they boarded the plane. Most of them could not accept their fate. Yet they dared not defy or resist the mercenaries. When things started to calm down, they broke down in tears, weeping in silence as resentment consumed them. Kaze sat down at a clean corner that allowed him to look outside the window. The window was dirty but at least he could see outside. The space inside the container was filled with people sitting closely, offering comfort to one another. They were aware they were just temporarily safe in this container. No one knew what the mercenaries would do to them at the next moment. “My parents must be worried. I said I would call them when I land but now I can’t even get in touch,” Barney muttered as he sat beside Kaze. He too looked outside the window, his feelings mixed. He watc
Kaze thought of what he had overheard in the toilet. If he told the hostages about that, they would probably panic. “It’s nothing. They are just going to separate us into different rooms or containers. They said the buses would be disposed of,” he said. He did not want to reveal too much because it would cause panic. Once the hostages knew their lives were on the line, things might spiral out of control. The mercenaries could kill a few of them to make an example, and none of the hostages would dare to cause problems anymore. Kaze kept it a secret because he wanted to protect the people. “That’s it?” “Is there anything else? How many men are there? What is their plan? Who are they looking for?” “We want to know because we want to survive. This isn't our problem—we just got caught up in it.” The hostages looked at Kaze, their eyes filled with worry. They felt aggrieved because they should not be caught in such a huge problem. “I don’t know either.” No matter how m
“There’s a room there. Get in.” The mercenary pointed his gun at the mother and son, which led them to look at Kaze nervously, seemingly asking for help. “What do you want?” The mother was nervous. She clutched her son’s hand tightly, nearly making him cry, but she reacted quickly enough to cover her son’s mouth to prevent him from doing so. “All women must go into that room. You go in now,” the mercenary explained. He did not want the woman to get the wrong idea. “You people won’t hurt me, right?” the mother asked, worried that she might be ravaged. “We are not into MILF,” said the other mercenary who was escorting Kaze, indirectly assuring the mother. Kaze shot a glance at the mother and nodded at her. “They told us they were going to separate us, so there’s nothing to worry about,” he said, worried that the mother and son would not cooperate. The mother then carried her son and followed the other mercenary into the room. It was called a room but it was actually ju