“Kaze…” Buffy tipped Kaze the wink, hoping he could do her a favor and put up with her father. Kaze brushed Buffy off and did not even bother to greet Jude. Standing there, he said indifferently, “I guess you must be Mr. Gwake. “Didn’t you send for me? What’s with this expectation from me? “Well, this is certainly a warm welcome. “In that case, I should get going.” Kaze turned on his heel to leave. He was expected to roll the red carpet out for Jude. To be honest, Jude was unworthy. Kaze was the branch leader of the Viper’s Den West State Branch. If they were to go by the rules, Jude should be greeting him on his knees. “Hmph!”Surprised by Kaze’s behavior, Jude let out an angry scoff. Serene narrowed her eyes, her red-manicured hand reaching into her pocket. Jude quickly turned back around and waved at Serene. “Never mind. Kids can be rash. “You must be Kaze. Please sit. Ha. You’re just like me when I was your age.”Serene kept her head down.Buffy let ou
Kaze took the time to sip on his drink before replying indifferently, “I didn’t train under anyone.” He would not tell Jude that his combat experience was built over the war and dead bodies.“Oh, so you’re self-taught?” Jude looked at Kaze skeptically. Since Kaze did not look like he was lying, Jude chuckled. “You must be a genius to dominate Bronze Sparrow through your own efforts.“I guess you can even put Hannah, the most promising fighter of the Viper’s Den West State Branch, to shame.” Jude brought up Hannah. He could be sounding Kaze out or igniting a spark in Kaze to defeat Hannah. Instead of giving his two cents, Kaze simply smiled and took another sip of his drink. Jude put his hands together and grinned. “It’s refreshing that you’re able to hold your ground despite your young age. I heard from my daughter that you carried yourself well among Luis and other socialites at Bronze Sparrow last night. “It takes some type of talent to fight good, but you have qualit
After making his presumptions about Kaze, Jude raised both hands and clapped. A member bearing the Viper’s Den emblem approached with a case. Jude waved his arm. The member carried the case to Kaze and opened it. There were stacks of cash inside. “What’s the meaning of this, Mr. Gwake?” Kaze asked without emotions while sipping his drink. Jude picked up a wad of cash and flipped through with his thumb before uttering with a smile, “There are 10 million Uleania dollars here. Consider it your reward.” “Reward?” Kaze remained unfazed. Jude nodded and adopted a less respectful form of address for Kaze. “You started a fight at Drake Gym and pushed Luis into killing my best fighter, Joel.“This incident has triggered a ripple effect, kid. I can say that this changed things for myself and a few others at the Viper’s Den. Joel was supposed to have a fight with Hannah and Collier in a ring. “I can choose to move past this.“But on one condition. You need to get in the ring
“Kaze, have you ever thought about that? If it works out, even the Lee family who once abandoned you will beg you to go back to them. “Of course, for all that to happen, you must first listen to me and I will have absolute control over you. I tell you to stand, you cannot sit.” Jude looked at Kaze with a strong, determined look. He believed even if Kaze could reject 10 million Uleania dollars, he could not resist the other temptations, especially power. Kaze originally wanted to leave. He did not want to waste time listening to Jude’s unrealistic stories which could only deceive a three-year-old. However, the determined look on Jude’s face gave Kaze a second thought and he sat back down. He wanted to know what gave Jude the confidence. “Mr. Gwake, you don’t look like the deputy chief of the Viper’s Den at all. You look more like a smart businessman who has huge plans for your business.” Kaze no longer took Jude seriously and simply teased him frivolously. “Hmph.” Se
However, Kaze was no ordinary man and there was no way he would fall for Jude’s temptations. “Mr. Gwake, I am not a child. You don’t have to tell me all that.” Kaze stretched his back and lifted the teapot to pour himself a cup of tea. “Firstly, you want me to enter the ring for you. It’s not because you see my potential, but after Joel died, you have no good candidates left. “I simply taught Luis a few moves and he killed Joel. After weighing the circumstances, I am the perfect candidate to replace Joel to enter the ring. “Even if I die, it won’t hurt you at all. I come from Lilyrose and I don’t have any strong background here in Riverbank. I’m at most an abandoned son of the Lee family, so my death doesn’t affect anyone at all. “In fact, you can even use my death as an explanation for Josephine and Abraham Wonfield so that you can still maintain a good relationship with them.” Jude’s expression remained the same when he heard Kaze but his eyes turned cold. Kaze did no
Jude stared at Kaze coldly for a while. His ashen expression then turned into a warm smile. He went back to his seat and sat down. “Kaze, that's just your own assumption, somewhat malicious I must say. But I understand. “This is your first meeting with me and you still don’t know me well, so there might be a little misunderstanding. I’ll forgive you this time, but this time only. Be careful with your words next time. “I regard you highly and I don’t mind what you said, but when your words reach other people, it might cause unwanted misunderstanding toward our relationship.” Jude then picked up the teapot and filled Kaze’s already empty cup with tea. “Do you know why I think so highly of you? It’s because I noticed Buffy’s feelings for you. You have to know that my daughter is a woman with dignity, a lady. She had never been in a scandal with another man for as long as she lived. “Casius might be chasing her aggressively but she kept him at a distance. If I am just trying
Serene and the other Viper’s Den agents looked at Kaze coldly. The Viper’s Den had thirty-six main branches and even more sub-branches under each of them. There were more than a million agents of the organization across the country. No one knew better than them how difficult it was to stand out from so many people. Not only did Kaze reject the olive branch from Jude, but he even despised it. To them, his actions were ungrateful and disrespectful. His repeated disregard for Jude in front of them was also a provocative act that would put his life in danger. Kaze put the teacup down and smiled. “Mr. Gwake, why would I need confidence and nerve to reject your offer? Isn’t that a little bit unreasonable? “Since you mentioned it, for your daughter’s sake, I don’t mind explaining.” Kaze put a finger up. “Firstly, I am the first one who struck Joel but that’s because he insulted Rose, my cousin-in-law. “Luis then beat up Joel and I did give him a tip or two, but it’s also b
“Hold it right there!” “The chief didn’t say you can go!” Agents of the Viper’s Den stepped up and prevented Kaze from leaving. Kaze smiled but he did not even spare a glance at them. “It seems like you don’t cherish the chance that I just gave you, Mr. Gwake.” He turned around to Jude with a grin. Jude grunted coldly and said, “Who do you think you are, giving me a chance? Look in the mirror.” “Are you the branch leader of the Viper’s Den West State Branch or the governor of the South River State?” “Not even Kent Synder, the mayor of Riverbank, has the nerve to speak to him like that! What makes you?” “You’re giving the chief a chance? Are you kidding?” The agents continued to mock him. They saw Kaze as nothing more than a clown. Kaze smiled. “One of them got it right. I am really the branch leader of the Viper’s Den West State Branch.” “What?! You are the branch leader?!” Everyone was surprised before they laughed out loud. Kaze was the branch leader of th
“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