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,
Kaze was a bastard. He talked about rights as if Buffy was some tool. Buffy saw red. However, she calmed herself down and grinned while tucking a wisp of hair behind her ear. “Yes. I was going to remind you. I always keep to my promises.“How about it? Why don’t I get us a room, and we can talk?” Kaze was taken aback. Buffy was supposed to blow up. Instead, she suggested taking their conversation somewhere private. There was nothing much to talk about when a man and a woman were alone in a room. Kaze took a good look at Buffy until her cheeks turned rosy. She snapped. “What are you looking at? Are you in or not?” She had never been so bold to put herself out to the opposite gender. Buffy was not as composed as she let out to be. She did not intend to take things further with Kaze, though. Buffy needed him around to talk about her father’s treatment. Kaze shook his head. “Forget about it.” “Forget about it?” Buffy was surprised by Kaze’s rejection. She asked, “W
Rose looked up at Kaze pitifully, her concern for him showing. She had encountered trouble with Kaze before, but nothing of this magnitude. Smashing heads with beer bottles was bad enough. However, Rose was scared stiff by the finger cutting and the Ryokanian’s near-fatal encounter. Instead of celebrating Kaze’s fighting prowess, Rose was worried about his safety. Those people Kaze was up against tonight came from powerful families. Kaze tapped his finger on Rose’s head. “Don’t say that.” “I’m just concerned about you.” Rose pouted her lips. Kaze grinned. “Don’t worry. I will avoid trouble from now on, but sometimes, I have no choice but to fight back when people are out to get me.”Rose realized that Kaze had a point. Luis and his friends pushed the envelope tonight, leading to Kaze’s retaliation. It was quite a mental strain for Rose after such a dramatic night. She quickly dozed off against Kaze. Kaze pulled a throw over her and told Conan, who was behind
As a long-standing family, the Queens had extensive connections to find the people Kaze needed. If Conan failed to meet his demands for security, Kaze could also access his resources. His people would be overqualified for the job in Riverbank City, though. Conan gave his word. “I knew a few people, Kaze. They are experts in protection, but they don’t come cheap.” Kaze replied indifferently, “Money is no object so long as their competence lives up to the rates.” It was a quiet night. Kaze slept in the next day. By then, Conan had brought him breakfast. After breakfast with Rose, Kaze got a message from Hannah, saying that Cyan had gone to Golden Scale Corporation to sign the contract. Thanks to Kaze, Golden Scale Corporation offered Cyan the best contract. Streamers signed to Golden Scale Corporation typically earned 20% of their profits.However, the profits were split in half between Cyan and Golden Scale Corporation. After the deduction of the operating cost, Cy
“You don’t need a job?” Lock said angrily, “What’s the meaning of this, Kaze?“I just told you to get up where you fell. Were you listening at all?“What are you going to do if you don’t buckle down and work hard?“Are you going to go through life with no achievements? Are you going to numb yourself in vanity with all the meaningless bragging? “Have you any idea the trouble Cyan had gone through to get you a job? “Don’t let Cyan down, Kaze. I don’t want to be disappointed in you.”Lock was distressed. He was disappointed in Kaze for lying about owning Villa No. 1 in Wyomspring just to impress others. “I may have come off harsh yesterday, Kaze, but it’s all for your own good.” “I have always had high hopes for you. I can’t let you continue on the wrong path. “I wouldn’t bother if you were anyone else.” Kaze’s hands were tied. Since Kaze owned Golden Scale Corporation, there was no need for him to take up an insignificant position in the same company. However, he
After hanging up, Kaze got a notification of a wired transfer. Lock gave him 10 thousand dollars to purchase a fitting suit when he was on his way to Golden Scale Corporation. Kaze had to accept Lock’s kindness. Lock would call and give him another earful if Kaze refused. Kaze had no intention of buying or wearing a formal suit. The owner did not need to dress up like the other employees at his place of business. Leaving Rose to roam around the house, Kaze drove the Phaeton from Kent and arrived at the city’s commercial street. Golden Scale Corporation’s office building had quite a visual impact, especially when the public looked up to its sheer size.The building was filled with well-dressed individuals, all looking like they were important businesspeople.Kaze found a spot to park the car before taking strides into the building. He quickly spotted Cyan standing in the crowd. Cyan wore a simple blouse and shorts, showing the skin of her long neck and long legs. A pai
Cyan was in the culture and entertainment division of Golden Scale Corporation. However, she brought Kaze to a sub-department of one of Golden Scale Corporation’s many business divisions. This department was primarily responsible for government procurement projects.Golden Scale Corporation was able to expand due to its connections with the Viper’s Den. These privileges demanded respect from both sides.Golden Scale Corporation acquired many government contracts thanks to these privileges. As Cyan had informed beforehand, the line manager welcomed Kaze with open arms upon their arrival. Kaze’s onboarding was processed swiftly. “Congratulations, Kaze. You’re now a temporary employee at Golden Scale Corporation, making three thousand dollars a month. “Work hard to pass the probation. With hard work, you might catch up to me and make millions in a year,” Cyan said while dumping the paperwork on Kaze. “That reminds me. My dad said that he would make the downpayment for your
“Hadn’t I mentioned earlier? I’m here to check out our new employee.” Wesley’s gaze fell on Kaze, and he said with a pretentious smile, “You sure are lucky, Kaze. You managed to walk out of Bronze Sparrow alive last night.”“Mr. Gwake, what does Kaze have to do with Bronze Sparrow?”Cyan was taken aback. She had heard about Bronze Sparrow. Even Cyan could not get into the high-end club, but somehow, Kaze gained access there. Cyan looked at Kaze in disbelief. She pondered on the possibility that Kaze lived in Wyomspring. Both places were rather abstract concepts to Cyan. Given the exclusive clientele to Bronze Sparrow, the same people on the list would be able to afford Wyomspring too.Wesley scoffed. “Stop guessing, Cyan. Buffy had her birthday party at Bronze Sparrow last night. He was just somebody’s plus-one to get free food. He upset Mr. Presley and nearly got himself killed.” “Oh, I see.” As the realization hit Cyan, she looked at Kaze in disdain. “Can you be a
“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