Kaze smacked Rose’s head. “Jesus Christ. A date in the morning? What’s in that head of yours?” “Well, I’ll never know. Maybe you’re scared Darcy will check up on you at night.” Rose meant business. “I need to watch you like a hawk for Darcy’s sake. “What’s with you and Ms. Gwake?“Zenika texted me this morning to scare me. She said word has been going around the Riverbank higher society that you were alone all night with Ms. Gwake. Casius will make you pay when he returns.” Kaze said helplessly, “Oh, please. You should know better than anyone where I was last night.” “I know that you were home, but no one else does.” Rose pouted. “Besides, you were talking about making Ms. Gwake your woman and getting handsy with her last night. What are you really up to, Kaze? “I’m going to have a hard time justifying your behavior to Darcy.” With Rose driving him up a wall, Kaze sighed and replied, “Fine. I’ll tell you the truth, but you need to promise to keep this between us.” “I
Though Kaze was not fond of Alexander, he nodded in acknowledgment since it involved Agnes. “Alright. I’ll pick out a nice gift for him. You can come along. I could use your opinion too.”Rose was on board with the idea. Her phone then rang. “Zenika’s calling again.” Rose looked at the screen display and scrunched her nose. She really did not want to take any calls from Zenika. Despite Rose’s repeated rejected calls, Zenika continued to bombard her phone. Kaze said with a stoic face, “Why don’t you take the call and see what she has to say?” If Zenika was out to get Rose, Kaze would need to send a stronger message to Zenika. Rose accepted the call. The call ended briefly after that, and Rose gave Kaze a strange look. “Here comes trouble for you, Kaze.” “What’s the trouble?” Kaze asked nonchalantly. Rose replied, “According to Zenika, Luis instructed her to make the phone call. Apparently, Luis went back and realized his mistake upon reflecting on the incident at
Among these fighting schools, the most prominent dojo was Drake Gym. Though Drake Gym was linked to the Viper’s Den South River Branch, the school was run by the Gwake family. Kaze parked the car. While walking with Rose to Drake Gym, he came across a Ryokanian-inspired building across from the gym. “Refined Blade Dojo!” Kaze narrowed his eyes at the signboard hanging on top of the door. Only Kaze could pick up on the killing intent surging from the signboard. The Refined Blade was consistently ranked among the top three swordsmanship styles in Ryokan, with a long history of producing renowned masters.Kaze was aware that the ninjas of the Kailan Clan were taught in the ways of the Refined Blade. Daiso, who died at the hands of Kaze, was also a master in the Refined Blade. In other words, Kaze’s long-standing nemesis, the Kailan Clan was connected to the Refined Blade. Having spotted the Refined Blade Dojo, Kaze needed to keep an eye on them. His biggest enemy in Ri
Luis lowered his head humbly in Kaze’s presence. Zenika and the others said ingratiatingly, “Please give us a chance to redeem ourselves, Kaze.”“Adversities bring us together. Kaze, you’re a big brother to us!” Rose was confused. Since she knew Luis and his friends were bad news, she prepared herself for some nasty stuff they would do to Kaze. To her surprise, they apologized to Kaze. What was going on? “At least you can recognize your mistake. I’m not a petty person.” Kaze said indifferently, “In that case, we can forget about last night. We can still be friends.” “You’re such a generous man, Kaze. Had I known, I wouldn’t have crossed you in the first place.” Luis was overjoyed by Kaze’s cordiality. He drew close, put his arm around Kaze’s shoulder, and said with a smile, “Though you’re younger than me, you are stronger than all of us. “I think Zenika is right. You are a big brother to us.“You heard me. He will be our big brother. “Just address him as such
Joel reigned supreme as the top fighter in his age group at the Viper's Den South River Branch.He had proven his worth to Jude through his contributions. There had been whispers that Joel was a protégé of a senior in the West State. Apparently, Joel was with the South River Branch to hone his skills to be the next branch leader. Joel’s competence even rivaled Hannah, the top ten most promising members of the Viper’s Den West State. That was only a year ago. Joel would have become stronger by now. Rumors went around, saying that Joel would represent Jude in fighting Hannah and Collier in the ring. Joel rose to be a hot commodity in the Riverbank higher society. The feud between Joel and Luis started six months ago. Luis came to Drake Gym and took a fancy to a female student. He started feeling her up. For the first time, Luis met his match. The female student was involved with Joel. Joel was not going to stand by as his woman was harassed. He showed up, beat the
Joel’s crew were Jude’s core members in the Viper’s Den South River Branch, and they were skilled fighters. However, Luis’ socialite group was no pushovers. They did not just rely on their family’s connections. They had equipped themselves with skills to go against Joel’s party. It did not take long for both parties to engage in a fierce brawl. Nevertheless, they kept things physical without involving weapons. Both parties were rooted in powerful organizations or families. One was affiliated to the Viper’s Den South River Branch while the other had the backing of Zoro, Casius’ right-hand man. Injuries were to be expected in fights. However, the trouble was when fatality was involved.Still, the fight quickly got out of hand. “These clowns have the nerve to show their faces at Drake Gym. Did they forget the time we threw them out?” “I’d kill you if we weren’t here at the gym!” “Bastard!” The fight got serious really quickly. Luis was beside himself with rage,
Reality hit Rose. “So you stirred the pot. You’re not in it to help them, right?” It nearly slipped her mind that Luis and his friends did not call Kaze to Drake Gym with good intentions. Kaze did not owe them anything. He was doing Luis and his friends a favor by not making things worse for them. “Let’s get further away from them. If anything happens, we can make our escape.” Rose pulled Kaze to the door and watched the drama from afar. “Bastard!” Catching Rose and Kaze from the corner of his eye, Luis, who was beaten black and blue, made a sour face. Kaze started the fight, and yet he fled far away. Luis had never met anyone as shameless as Kaze. Dismissing the evil look from Luis, Kaze watched the fight and gave pointers. With Kaze’s help, Luis and his friends rose and fought back. Luis’ party was on the losing end at first. They would probably last three minutes against Joel’s crew. Thanks to Kaze’s guidance, the fight went on for ten minutes with no end i
“Go to hell!” Joel yelled angrily while pouncing on Luis. He pulled a punch, smashing Luis right in the face. The intensity hit Luis before Joel’s fist touched him. Scared stiff, Luis tried to dodge. Kaze’s voice boomed in Luis’ ear. “Step back on your right foot and punch his ribs.” Luis got the message loud and clear. As if a lightbulb went off in his head, Luis followed Kaze’s instructions. “Smack!” Luis stepped back to the left and dodged Joel’s punch. At the same time, he threw his fist and struck Joel on his unprotected ribs. “Ugh!” Joel staggered back and spat out blood. “This isn’t possible.” Barely finding his balance, Joel looked at Luis in disbelief. Luis’ sidekicks paused and stared at him, dumbstruck. Zenika and the other socialites looked up in surprise. What was going on? Luis made Joel bleed. Just six months ago, Joel beat Luis to a pulp. This was beyond anyone’s imagination. “Um…” Luis stared at his hands in a daze, wondering whe
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