“This mayor's residence used to be the embassy of Ryokan. After the Ryokanians moved out, in order to save money, the city council used what they had left behind, that’s why it feels like that,” Hamlin introduced the place to Kaze. Upon hearing the introduction, a thought came to Kaze’s mind. Kent was cursed by the Ryokanians and it almost got him killed. The mayor’s residence that he was living in used to be the embassy of Ryokan. Could Myra’s condition be related to the place? Kaze subtly asked, “If I may ask, did Myra’s condition begin after they moved in here, or did it already exist before?” Hamlin was slightly surprised but he quickly understood the question. “Ms. Myra’s condition started shortly after Mr. Synder became the mayor. Ms. Myra was still a college student, so she moved in with her parents. “Mr. Lee, are you saying that Ms. Myra’s condition is related to this place? Is it because she moved into this place?” Hamlin asked with a grim look. He was Kent’s
Standing at the top of the stairs, Cole looked down at Kaze with contempt. He returned to his arrogant and hostile self, like when he first met Kaze. The respect he had for Kaze after Kaze saved Kent had faded. There was another group of people behind him, men and women with some locals and some foreigners. Two of them captured Kaze’s attention. The first one would be a young and beautiful woman who exuded a powerful aura. Her professional business attire and black heels made her look stern and fierce. People would easily notice her at first glance. The other one would be a man with blonde hair and blue eyes. The glasses he wore gave him an academic demeanor and composed presentation. “Cole, Mr. Lee saved Mr. Synder back at the train station. You saw it with your own eyes as well. Mr. Synder told me to take good care of Mr. Lee and I was with him when I received the call about Ms. Myra. That’s why he is with me. “Mr. Synder also agreed to let him come along. You can’t j
“How unfortunate.” The man named Professor Wilson scrutinized Kaze and shrugged. As the target of ridicule, Kaze barely felt anything. He simply smiled at Hamlin. Hamlin awkwardly bowed at Kaze. “I’m sorry, Mr. Lee. For Mr. Synder’s safety…” Back on the train, after Kaze left, Hamlin had run all kinds of background checks to find out about Kaze’s true identity. It was to protect Kent, especially after multiple assassination attempts. It was his duty to investigate every person who approached the mayor. Now that Cole exposed it in front of everyone, especially in front of Kaze, Hamlin felt a little awkward. Kaze would never tolerate Cole’s arrogant attitude. “It’s okay. You are just doing your job,” Kaze said to Hamlin. He then looked at Cole and said, “Cole, I prefer the humble and respectful you back on the train. You were arrogant and disrespectful at first but you learned quickly and started to show some respect after I saved Kent.” Cole’s face turned bitter wh
Kent had a frosty glare at Cole. Myra’s condition was kept a secret, and only a handful of people knew about it. Now that Buffy learned about the condition, she must have learned it from Cole. Cole’s heart skipped a beat. He quickly introduced Professor Wilson to Kent. “Uncle Kent, Myra’s condition is not getting any better, so I took the liberty to tell Buffy about it. I just hope that I can help. “Look, Uncle Kent. Professor Wilson is a psychologist from Kalifornia University of Uleania. He’s well-known in the field. “He came to Arcadia for a symposium and since Buffy knew him, she was able to invite him over to have a look at Myra’s condition. We also paid a hefty price to have him here.” Kalifornia University was a world-renowned institute. Kent was delighted and his grim look softened. He said with gratitude, “Ms. Gwake, thank you for your concern about my daughter. I can’t thank you enough.” No matter what Buffy was after, if she could get a world-renowned psych
If the professor could cure Myra, Cole’s position in Kent’s heart would skyrocket and he would surely rise to prominence in Riverbank. Whatever trouble he got himself into, his uncle would surely cover up for him. Buffy did not say anything but her eyes showed delight. If Professor Wilson could cure Myra, then Kent would be in her debt and she could ask for his help to further expand Gwake Corporation in Riverbank. Only Kaze remained calm and composed. Professor Wilson had not even seen Myra, yet he claimed it was a mental condition. He seemed to have jumped to a conclusion a little too early. “This way please.” Kent was focused on his daughter and did not further comment on anything. He led the way and brought Kaze and Professor Wilson into the mansion. When they went to the second floor, they saw a middle-aged woman in an expensive sleeping robe sitting outside a room, looking pale and dispirited. The woman was Kent’s wife, Jane. Jane’s eyes were glued to the ta
Professor Wilson was not shy to accept the monetary reward. A million dollars was a decent amount of money even for a world-renowned psychologist like him. Back in Uleania, a talk at the presidential campaign or anything similar would only pay him tens of thousands. “Kaze…” Kent then looked at Kaze. Kaze raised his hand. “I’m okay. I don’t need the money. Let’s just wait for Myra to wake up first.” “Thank you, Kaze.” Kent nodded with gratitude. Cole grunted softly. He believed Kaze was just acting and refused the monetary reward, but he did not refuse the mansion from Hamlin. Buffy frowned in displeasure. She had a feeling that Kaze was trying to make Professor Wilson look bad. Kaze did not make any comments. He went to the parlor, sat down, and enjoyed some tea. The others came over and waited together. “Myra, what’s wrong?” As expected, Myra’s sleep was light. In less than ten minutes, Kent and Jane’s anxious cries could be heard outside the room. The group
Seeing a positive reaction from Myra, Professor Wilson seized the chance and continued to communicate with her. When Myra finally spoke, even briefly, Kent teared up and Jane sobbed. It had been a while since the girl spoke to her parents. “See, Professor Wilson is the professional here. Not like you, a conman. You can never be like him.” Cole appeared beside Kaze and whispered his sneers. Kaze had a glance at him and decided to ignore the fool. He continued to watch Professor Wilson communicating with Myra. His brows furrowed as the process went on. Professor Wilson continued for another ten minutes. He did most of the speaking and Myra briefly replied a few times, but it was enough to move her parents. Myra started to accept Wilson and her subconscious saw him as a friend. She even began to listen to him and would do as he said. “Sleep. Once you sleep, you can forget all your troubles,” Professor Wilson said softly, attempting to lullaby her to sleep. Myra did as
Kaze shook Cole’s hand away and said, “Mayor Synder, your daughter is not suffering from a mental illness. She’s like you—someone poisoned her. We have to get the poison out of her body right away and not put her on hypnosis. “Her body has been infiltrated by the strange poison for a while now and it has started to affect her mind, that’s why she’s been acting strangely and trying to kill herself. “If you force her into hypnosis, it will only worsen her condition. Worst case scenario, she might die.” He emphasized the last part, where Myra would lose her life. He was not trying to scare Kent. From the moment he saw Myra, he noticed the girl’s worsening health and it was not due to her mental condition. If a girl grew up under the protection of her parents and lived a happy life without any major incidents until recently, how could she be so severely mentally ill? The only explanation was her condition was caused by an external factor. After a quick inspection, Kaze was
“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