“Apologize on your knees for the earlier disrespect. “An apology won’t cut it, though. I expect some substance behind the apology.“I’m not asking for much. Just ten percent Perfect World Group shares. Oh, and doll your assistant up and send her to my bed before I consider pardoning you. “That’s all I’m asking for. Tick, tock. The choice is yours. “You can choose not to go along with my request, but when I go for you, I’ll be expecting a lot more than this.” Jackson grinned ruthlessly, bringing to life the character of a cocky rich boy. Apart from Snow, Jackson’s minions, Miranda, and Vance gloated over Kaze’s predicament. A single insult toward Jackson demanded a hefty ten percent stake in Perfect World Group.Kaze had to pay for his insolence. It was a huge price to pay. Nevertheless, no one took pity on Kaze because he deserved it. That was the punishment for getting sassy with Jackson, who was part of the Ridgesouth Quints and the son of a deputy governor.
“I’ll leave you unharmed if you get down on your knees and use yourself to wipe my office down like a rag. “Otherwise, even your dad can’t save you.” Kaze’s flat yet arrogant statement hung heavy in the air, leaving the office silent. That remark could only come from a madman. Jackson was taken aback at first, but he quickly burst out laughing. “You expect me to wipe your office down like a rag before you consider sparing me?“Am I dreaming, boys?” “Hahaha!” Jackson’s followers started snickering. Miranda and Vance held back from laughing, but their eyes reflected their disdain for Kaze. Kaze sure had the nerve. Miranda and Vance could not believe the audacity of Kaze. “Do you think I’m joking with you?” With a smirk playing on his lips, Kaze did not waste his breath and went up to swing his arm. “Smack!” Jackson fell back, his head hitting the ground with a loud wham. The wooden floor cracked. Blood seeped out of Jackson’s head. “Ow!” Jackson let out a h
After a brief shock, Jackson’s bodyguards snapped out of their trance. “Let Mr. Quint go.” “You’re asking for it, boy!” They growled menacingly. The bodyguards were in for it if anything were to happen to Jackson. Without hesitation, they pounced on Kaze. Kaze raised his hand to slap Jackson, never looking away from him. “Come and get me if you don’t want me to kill him.” “Argh!” The extinguished cigar was slapped out of his mouth as Jackson shrieked in horror. “Ugh…” Jackson sat up, his hand holding onto his neck distraughtly. His mouth was covered in blisters from the scalding. He was in agony. “Are you alright, Mr. Quint?” his sidekicks and security team asked. With his hands still on his neck, Jackson lifted his head and looked at Kaze. “You’re going to get it, Lee.” Jackson’s voice became hoarse from the scorching cigar. “Smack!” Kaze responded with a slap. “I’m going to get it? “Well, come and give it to me.“I’m still waiting, though. It coul
Though Jackson did not hail directly from the Ridgesouth Quints, his family was recognized as a branch of the main family.Besides, his father, Mason, served as a mayor of a major city in the South State for a while, a rank equivalent to a deputy governor. That sort of connection would put Jackson on par with other rich and powerful heirs. Hence, Jackson had people eating out of his palm in the South State. He would crush and insult any member of the upper society who rubbed him the wrong way. No one scared Jackson. However, a country bumpkin in Lilyrose was his downfall.The torture did not stop with Jackson having a lit cigar stuffed in his mouth. Kaze even sat there, telling Jackson to call anyone for help. Rage overtook Jackson’s every being. Jackson would never live down the humiliation unless Kaze was dead. He whipped out his phone and started dialing numbers. “Call all the heads of Lilyrose’s governing bodies for me. Tell them I want Lee and Perfect World Gro
“Don’t be mad, Mr. Quint. I called the deputies of the Commerce Administration and Health Authority, and they are on their way.”“The leaders of the Audit Office and Urban Management are driving here as we speak.” “Once the leaders of these governing bodies get here, they can point out and make a big deal out of a tiny issue in Perfect World Group, forcing the corporation to shut down.” “That’s right. He doesn’t take you seriously now, but he’ll be begging for his life in tears later.” Jackson’s sidekicks consoled him. Their families had a long history of government service, granting insight into the system. These departmental heads might have a huge influence on their own, but together, they could shake down an entire corporation. Within ten minutes, a motorcade of high-ranking officials’ cars had converged on Perfect World Group, clogging the area in front of the building. They were Elijah Howden, the deputy of the Commerce Administration; Houdini Creek, deputy of the
In the end, all eyes were on Kaze. It was hard to look away from Kaze when he sat on the couch, his legs sprawled out. To add shock value, Snow stood subserviently behind the mysterious young man. The group could not presume that the young man was the chairman of Perfect World Group. “You can stop making your assumptions. He is the elusive chairman of Perfect World Group.” Jackson sneered. “You have the nerve to defy me just because you’re loaded. Why don’t you ask around and get the number of rich fools my father put behind bars? “The Ridgesouth Quints are mega-rich. Your wealth doesn’t give you an edge.” The handprint on Jackson’s face gave the leaders all they needed to know. Jackson had just been insulted. The leaders were there to stick up for Jackson. The group was put in the spot. On one end, Jackson, belonging to the Ridgesouth Quints, was the son of the upcoming mayor.On the other end, the chairman of Perfect World Group was rumored to be associated wi
“I also called Victor Little, the police department’s second-in-command. He’s already on the way.“I told him that if he plays his cards right, he will be the next police chief. “I hope you can keep up with your tough act once he gets here later,” Jackson said grimly. Kaze smiled faintly. “Victor Little?“Sorry to let you down, but his rank isn’t quite there yet.” “His rank doesn’t matter. He has enough to kill you.” Jackson could not take Kaze’s offhanded attitude. “Mr. Quint.” A voice resounded. A tall and beefy armed man in uniform swaggered into the place. Several intimidating-looking uniformed officers followed him in the back. The stout man was Victor Little, the police department’s second-in-command. “Victor.” “Vic.” The heads of governing bodies greeted Victor. Victor was a real tough guy. He made a name for himself during his younger days, fighting against drug dealers. Rumor had it that he busted a drug cartel on his own, wiping out the drug dealers.
The crowd, including Victor and the heads of government agencies, was mostly locals.They turned a deaf ear to Jackson’s country bumpkin comment. Victor nodded. “The guy sure is cocky. What punishment are you thinking, Mr. Quint?” He would need to know Jackson’s request to grant it. Jackson let out a menacing smile. “I want to break his limbs and make him plead on his knees. I don’t mind killing him if he refuses to follow through.” “Kill him? Um…” Victor was hesitant. He could explain the limb fractures as accidental while enforcing the law. However, no excuse was good enough to cover up the loss of a life. “What are you worried about, Victor?” Jackson said indifferently, “I don’t know how things work with your former mayor, but my dad doesn’t tolerate nonsense. “He won’t stand for criminals threatening abuse and violence on his turf. He doesn’t mind enforcing the death penalty in this case. “My dad doesn’t care for the criminals. His focus will be Lilyrose’s ec
“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