The mourners were talking about the Powells. The family’s strength shocked and scared many people at the scene. Before this funeral, the Glowmoss Powells were just a foreign faction with noble roots. They might be powerful and hold a prestigious status but they did not have a strong foundation in Arcadia. A faraway enemy was not as terrifying as the local families. The threats they used to pose were near to nothing. Now, they were all proven wrong by the sheer display of strength. When Gunter stepped up and gathered all the scattered Powells in Arcadia, they immediately became a powerful force that should be reckoned with. Their combined strength could easily crush even the strongest family in Arcadia, yet they gathered because of Kaze. Even if Kaze was the mayor of Lilyrose and his wife had a few sizable companies, it was still an overkill. Some even said they were squashing an ant with the elephant’s foot. Many knew the display of strength was not just to target
“I, Gunter Powell, represent the Powell family of Glowmoss and all the other family branches in Arcadia, hereby declaring war! “If the city council stands in my way, I will run them down; if the South River State Governor’s Office stands in my way, I will tear them down!” Gunter’s fierce declaration shocked everyone at the scene. He was ready to run down the city council and tear down the governor’s office! No one else but him had the nerve and audacity to speak so boldly. Both the governors of different states, Morgana and Neegan, looked at Gunter with an enthusiastic gaze. They were governors themselves and knew better than anyone what the position of governor meant. Gunter had the audacity to disregard the governor’s office. His boldness and confidence convinced Morgana and Neegan that following their distant relatives from another country was the right choice. With his lead, the Powells and their career would welcome a bright future. In short, their personal gains
The Vikrom, Logman, and Joestar families came to the funeral. Behind them was a group of eighteen men, carrying an expensive and large casket. What was the casket for? Was it an act of provocation? As the attendees pondered, Gunter, at the forefront, said coldly, “Vikrom, Logman, Joestar, you are late, but since you’ve prepared an expensive casket for Sonny, I’ll spare your lives. “Now, come up here and get on your knees!” Gunter had known since yesterday that the three families bought an expensive gilded agar wood casket. He simply thought the three families were late because of the delivery of the casket. Despite that, he insisted that they kneel and pay respect to Sonny in front of the other attendees because they were Kaze’s loyal followers. With them on their knees, it would send a message to the others, thus deterring and scaring them. As Gunter spoke, the other participants were struck with realization. The three families were late due to the delivery of th
As soon as Bernard’s voice subsided, the air became so heavy that it felt like the air molecules froze. What followed were the shouts from the Powell family. “Vikrom, you are going to die today!” “Where is Kaze Lee?! I will kill him!” …Even Morgana and Neegan, who were more esteemed than the others and could maintain calm in the worst situation possible, could not help but be infuriated by Bernard’s disrespectful words. Kaze asked the three families to prepare the casket for Gunter and demand him to bury himself? How ridiculous! No one believed Kaze had the capability to make it happen, so they could not understand what gave him the confidence to say such bold words. Even if they were just empty words, they were provocatively infuriating. All members of the Powells were fuming with anger. “Master Powell, this is too much! Not only did Kaze Lee refuse to show up and beg for his life, but he continued to challenge you!” “We should not wait any longer! We shall go
“You think you can challenge the Powells just because Kaze Lee is on your side?” As the shouting continued, the killers from the Powells stepped forward, planning to take action. “Step down!” Gunter bellowed all of a sudden. “Master Powell…” One of the gangsters was unhappy that Gunter had stopped them. However, before he could finish his sentence, Mosiah stepped forward from the back and struck the man on the chest with a palm strike. Baam! The gangster was one of the stronger ones from the north, yet he did not even react to the attack in time. The palm strike sent him flying. Blood spurted from his mouth as he crashed to the ground far away. A few tremors later, he died. The air went silent. Gunter’s strongest Legatus was ridiculously powerful! “I said step down!” Gunter did not even spare a glance at the body on the ground. He simply looked at the other killers. All the killers shuddered in fear and decided to comply without saying a word. “Vikrom, Logma
Everyone shuddered in fear when they heard Gunter’s words. Gunter was infuriated by Kaze’s doings. Therefore, he came up with the most wicked and vicious way to get revenge, which was to bury Kaze’s wife together with Sonny and make him watch so that he could never rest in peace. “That is a great idea, Master Powell! We will bury Kaze Lee together!” The killers from the other Powell family branches echoed loudly and agreed with Gunter’s idea. They were stimulated by his speech. The urge to kill Kaze got stronger. “Master Powell, we will be taking our leave now.” The other attendees and mourners dared not linger for long and decided to leave. Even a blind man could tell a war was imminent, or more accurately, a massacre, a one-sided massacre. The Glowmoss Powells were considered a foreign faction, so they were not afraid of the local laws. The locals, however, wished not to be involved. “Let’s go. We will go after Kaze Lee and his family. Also, we will capture ever
Then, Morgana stepped up and stared at Kaze. Her face was emotionless. She said strongly, “On your knees, repent your crimes! Following her strong voice, the unique aura of superiority was blasted at Kaze, attempting to scare and pressure him. Kaze was not just anyone, he was not afraid of the woman. “Who are you?” Since Gunter simply smiled and did not feel like talking, Kaze glanced at Morgana. “How dare you!” Morgana was furious. Her eyes were burning with rage as she bellowed, “I am Morgana Powell, the governor of West Hill of the North State! How dare a mayor of a city speak to me like that?! On your knees!” Kaze was not moved. “Neegan Powell, governor of South Ashmore of the South State.” Neegan stepped up and stood beside Morgana. With a smirk, he said, “Mayor Lee, shouldn’t you be on your knees when you see me? “Oh wait, I just remembered. The send-off party was held at the city council earlier and you are no longer the mayor. You are just a commoner now,
There were nine provinces and eighty-one states in Arcadia. The number of cities in each state varied, ranging from a dozen to as many as thirty. Other than the mega cities under the direct rule of the federal government, which also granted the officers their outstanding authority, a mayor in a rural city was certainly not powerful enough to challenge the top brass. Morgana looked at Kaze condescendingly and said coldly, “Kneel if you know who you are dealing with. You are dead either way, but at least I can ask Master Powell to grant you a swift death.” However, Kaze did not react as the others expected. Instead of kneeling on the ground in terror, he remained composed. “Why is the world filled with stupid idiots like you?” Kaze sighed and shook his head. He said without looking back, “Sven, Wolf, can you two silence our honorable governors? A slap on their faces would do just the job.” He came for Gunter, not the governors whom he did not even bother to remember their nam
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
“Can you make him stop? If the man comes back, we’ll be done for,” someone said. The kid’s crying made everyone anxious. “What can I do? He’s crying because he’s scared. I can’t just stop him.” The mother was afraid as well, and she did not want her son to be taken advantage of. “Calm down. Just don’t alert the men and we’ll be fine,” Miguel said, hoping to ease the situation. “I’ll fight him if he comes in. I believe I can make it,” someone said. Those with an impulsive nature grew restless from being kept on the bus for too long, feeling like livestock being kept in cages. “Shut it. They are coming,” Barney said after a glance outside the window. The other passengers fell silent, sat back down, lowered their heads, and tried their best not to look out the window. The mother quickly hugged her son and covered his mouth to prevent him from crying. Kaze felt peace and quiet once more, even the air felt smoother. He knew the passengers were merely ordinary people and
Unfortunately, Leah knew she would not get an answer out of Snow since she was refusing to help. Everything seemed to have changed following her mother’s disappearance. She tried to stay for answers but when security came in, she could not resist them anymore. It was the first time she was escorted out by security guards and it impacted her. She used to be the daughter of the CEO of Northborn Group—everyone respected her. She used to enjoy a privileged status. No matter where she went, she was the star of the event. Yet when her mother disappeared, everything changed. She wanted to look for Kaze but she had just lost the chance. Snow turned her down and gazed at her with contempt and irritation. Leah could not accept the changes but some things felt like they were destined to change. She was forced to leave the branch office but then had no idea where else to go. She felt abandoned by the world. Before this, she could still hope for Kaze’s help, but now she had no
Leah went to her mother’s company but did not find her anywhere. Joey was busy working in the CEO’s office. Leah went over and asked, “Joey, where’s my mother? I can’t reach her.” She wanted to know what happened to her mother. “I don’t know about your mother either. We went out together earlier in the day but I don’t know where she went. I can’t get in touch with her.” Joey was so busy that she could not even free herself from the desk to explain to the girl. “Where did she go? How am I supposed to find her?” Leah panicked. If even Joey did not know where her mother went, then something must have happened. A bad feeling rose from her heart. Things just got serious. “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask someone else?” Joey did not have time to deal with the girl. Leah was unfamiliar with Joey’s coldness. Joey had always treated her with kindness and flattery, so the sudden coldness caught her off guard. She felt like something had changed. “Who should I be looking f
“No! My daughter is still in the hospital!” Katie refused to accept her punishment. She started to regret her decision but it was too late. “Now only you think about your daughter? I guess you are not that foolish, but have you thought about her when you betrayed Chairman Lee? “Don’t worry. Leah knew Chairman Lee personally and we won’t hurt her, but she might not live a good life anymore,” Snow said coldly. She did not want to put the girl in a difficult situation but her life as a princess would come to an end. “You can’t do that!” Katie could not believe Snow would do that. “I bet you never thought of the consequences when you leaked the information. Too bad. You’ve lost.” Snow revealed the truth because she wanted Katie to suffer for the decision she made. Katie would now regret every decision she made because she knew she had jeopardized her daughter’s life. She would feel like a fool. She devoted her life to climbing higher to gain more power but she ignored the
“I went to a bar to have a drink and I bumped into an informant of the Viper’s Den.” Katie looked helpless as she explained as if everything that had happened was planned out for her, pushing her to the edge step by step. It was a lively night at the bar. The atmosphere was pleasant and most of the guests were having a good time. Katie was a single woman. She needed care and love at times. She was alone when she visited the bar. She started off by ordering some drinks at the counter, waiting for a chance to meet a man who shared the same ideals. A drink or two later, maybe she could get herself a company for the night. As a grown-up woman, she had her desires. It was a way to release her stress. Katie entered the bar in a casual outfit but it did not diminish her elegant demeanor. When she sat down at the counter, a few young men approached her but she was not interested in immature boys. She continued drinking. She looked at the dance floor occasionally, searching for a
“Who do you think will believe you?” Arthur frowned. There were too many coincidences that it felt like a giant setup. “I’ve explained what I need to. Don’t interrogate me like I’m a criminal. I am the CEO of the Northborn Group.” Katie left them speechless. She had said the necessary and it was up to them whether they wanted to believe it or not. They did not have the evidence to charge her anyway. “You really think we can’t hold you responsible?” Snow was not really looking for a definite answer. The moment she suspected Katie, whether or not she was truly the traitor, Snow already had the right to hold her accountable. It was necessary to make things clear and it was to find out who Katie leaked Kaze’s information to. “It has come down to this. No matter how you deny it, it’s useless. We already know what you have done and you can’t escape. Even if you don’t want to confess, we can continue the investigation, and we’ll eventually find out the truth. “If you come clean