Buffy frowned. Though she did not agree with Eunice, Luis, and the others’ approach, Kaze was in over his head to challenge Bronze Sparrow. Eunice smiled pretentiously. “Watch your mouth, Mr. Lee.“I’m only following the rules. You weren’t supposed to enter the venue anyway.“You can leave now before I throw you out. “Take your pick.” Kaze shook his head. “None.”“Fine. You want to do this the hard way.” Eunice waved her arm. “Take him out. “He can fight, so get him altogether!”The dozens of burly men pounced on Kaze intimidatingly. “Kaze, you!” Rose shrieked in fear, her face stained with tears. Buffy stepped forward to say something. She had to put a stop to all this. Both women’s jaws quickly dropped. Kaze sent the first man flying with a kick. The man shot away like a bullet, knocking the other men off their feet. They cried in agony. Kaze took down more than half the group with just a kick. He ran into the crowd. “Pow! Smack! Bang!”Following
“Thud!” “You must be the mastermind behind the frame job. You have the nerve to show your face.” “Thud!” “Your family isn’t even that powerful, but you act like you own the world.” “Thud!” “You expect me to kneel and apologize to you.”“Thud!” Kaze saved the slap attack for kicks. Luis rolled and tumbled across the floor from the multiple kicks, barely able to catch his breath from grunting in pain. Even when Luis bumped into the furniture, Kaze showed no mercy. Luis was kicked around like a ball as the socialites trembled with a pale face. Wesley’s lips quivered, his complexion ashen. He was going to give Kaze a piece of his mind, but the horror that happened to Luis stopped him. That was not the only thing. Wesley retreated into the crowd and scooted toward the exit. Wesley was on his way out. All eyes were on Kaze attacking Luis, so no one paid Wesley any attention. “That’s enough, Kaze!” With Luis nearing death, Buffy pulled a sour face and said, “T
Kaze smirked. “You would’ve cut off my finger if you had found the supposed diamond on me.” “You’re being unreasonable, Mr. Lee.” Eunice argued, “I said I needed to investigate just to be sure. Even cops need time to get on a case.” “That’s not what you said earlier.” Kaze said indifferently, “Didn’t you say that Bronze Sparrow’s rules were the law? “You didn’t need time to investigate when you and your men barged in and demanded that I handed over the diamond. “You were sure that I stole the diamond. I thought you were a detective with some amazing skills. “Since you have no ground to stand on, you start talking to me about the law and evidence.“You sure have double standards when it comes to serving guests.” Eunice replied curtly, “I know what you mean, but not all guests are equal. Mr. Presley is a man of great standing and privilege. It’s hard to believe that he’d engage in such an act—” “Smack!” Kaze raised his hand and whipped her across the face. He belie
Kaze was aware of one thing. Given Bronze Sparrow’s long-standing presence in Riverbank City, the establishment surely had a more robust security system than the dozens of untrained security officers. Eunice took out a walkie-talkie in a daze and shouted hysterically, “Get here, Scarface! Some out-of-town bastard just smashed my head with a bottle. He claimed he was going to tear down Bronze Sparrow.“Bring backup! “Kill him! You got to kill him!” Eunice went limp and passed out soon after. Two minutes later, the door to the venue burst open with a kick. A dozen men in suits barged into the place. These men were not particularly strong or muscular. Heck, they paled in comparison to the dozens of burly security officers they replaced. Still, Kaze could tell that they were trained fighters from the bulging veins along their temples. The emergence of this new group gave Kaze insights into why Bronze Sparrow was able to stand tall in Riverbank City for years. With a sk
“They say he committed a massacre, killing a family of 36 in one night. He fled overseas and became an international fugitive, landing him on Arcadia’s most wanted list.“I didn’t think he’d be hiding out in Bronze Sparrow and living the high life right under the police’s nose.”Even those who did not know Gillian before turned pale. The massacre years ago was well known in Riverbank. Gillian’s name struck terror in the hearts of the people of Riverbank City and even the most elite. Instead of taking cover overseas, the ruthless killer unexpectedly remained in Bronze Sparrow. Even Buffy grimaced. While she was not naïve enough to believe Bronze Sparrow was squeaky clean, she did not expect it to be so brazen as to harbor a fugitive.It was the Viper’s Den’s job to arrest a fugitive like Gillian. As far as Buffy knew, Gillian was high up on the most-wanted list. “It’s been years. I didn’t expect anyone to remember me.” Gillian nodded at the crowd and turned to Kaze wi
“Tell you what…” Gillian took large strides ahead and flipped over a long table. The wine bottles on the table slammed onto the floor and broke into pieces. The stench of alcohol filled the air. The glass shards on the ground were a terrifying sight. Gillian narrowed his eyes at Kaze and said with a fake smile, “Get down on your knees and crawl across these shards to me. I’ll call it a day when you bow to me. “I can forget you ever claimed to tear down Bronze Sparrow.“How about it?” Gasps echoed across the room. Kaze was expected to crawl across the floor of broken glass. The thought sent shivers down everybody’s spines. Without looking at the shards, Kaze shook his head and replied, “Not for me.” “So you won’t do it?” Gillian scowled and said menacingly, “Help the guy out and make him crawl here, boys.” “Yes, sir!” The dozen trained fighters behind Gillian pounced on Kaze. The light had been dimmed to find the diamond just now, so no one could get a goo
“Ugh!”The short man grunted in agony. He held his chest and looked down in panic. The broken blade penetrated his skin, leaving barely half an inch sticking out.The jagged weapon nearly tore through his flesh completely. “Wham!”Kaze drew close and kicked the short man away. “A fugitive on the most-wanted list and a Ryokanian. Bronze Sparrow sure operates in the shadows.” The short man slammed onto the ground and whimpered. He spoke in his language before lying stiff on the floor, his hand over his chest. His eyes stuck to Kaze wickedly. Kaze did not even look at him. He was confident in his attack. The blade should hit close to the heart arteries. The attack would not kill the Ryokanian, but a tiny bump while on the road in an ambulance could end his life. The short man was aware of that fact. The only thing he could do was lie still and wait for the paramedics. Though the short man refused to admit defeat, there was nothing he could do about the situation.
Gillian looked up in a struggle, his eyes fixating on Kaze and his menacing scar grimacing. His dozen trained fighters and the Ryokanian were a powerful force in the Riverbank underworld. Barely anyone stood a chance as competition.Yet, his ace team fell apart quickly in the face of Kaze. Kaze carried dominance that ended Gillian’s will to call for backup. With that in mind, Gillian said with a rugged breath, “I admit defeat.” Kaze retracted his foot and said callously, “You should know what to do.” Gritting his teeth, Gillian staggered to his feet and summoned his henchmen. “Trash the place now!” “Scarface, the owner…” A subordinate was hesitant. “Wham!” Gillian sent the subordinate flying with a kick and narrowed his eyes at the remaining men. “Trash the place now!” “Thud! Wham! Bang!” Gillian led his crew to destroy the five-story venue in three minutes right before everybody’s eyes. He picked up a dropped knife from the floor and cut each of Eunice, Luis,
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