Casius looked surprised when he heard the update from Veron but he managed to keep calm. A quick thought later, he said, “Aunt Faith, it seems like Buffy is prepared to elope with this guy. She never wanted to marry me from the start.” Faith immediately knew what he was referring to. Casius must have assumed that Buffy expected a pursuit and decided to resist, which explained why all his men drowned in the dam. Faith went blank for a moment before she clenched her teeth and said, “That fool! She used our family’s influence to defy my arrangements?! Who does she think she is?” She, too, believed Casius’ assumption. Buffy must have foreseen this and arranged for her men to fight back, which explained why Casius’ men were defeated. At least it was more acceptable than Kaze beating up and killing Casius’ men single-handedly. Both Faith and Casius tended to believe Buffy was the one who resisted, not Kaze. “Casius, I’ll call her father immediately. I can’t control her now,
Veron said, “Sir, Kaze Lee then said if you don’t want to die, keep your hands away from the Viper's Den affair…” “Keep my hands away from the Viper’s Den’s affair? Is that what he said?” Casius asked. “Yes, sir!” Veron answered as she lowered her head. The atmosphere in the car felt intense and pressuring. A while later, Casius chuckled. “Interesting. Kaze’s first message makes me feel like he’s just a clown; his second message makes me realize he’s not that simple.” Kaze was anything but simple. As an outsider, Casius had long harbored a plan to infiltrate the Viper’s Den South River Branch and ultimately take it over. To keep his plan inconspicuous, he even had to come up with another plan to achieve his goal. Marrying Buffy and helping Jude to become the deputy chief were parts of his grand plan, and he eventually would take over. He was confident that not more than a handful of people knew his true goal. Yet a rube from a small city saw through him easily. Ho
“You lured Casius out?” Hannah was struck with sudden realization and her admiration for Kaze grew. As expected of the man the Viper Queen made the branch leader and was tasked to cleanse the Viper’s Den. With just a few words, he was able to lure the mastermind behind Jude out to the front and force him to enter the fray. To Hannah, Jude was not much of a competition. After all, manpower and resources were limited and no matter how ambitious Jude was, he was just the deputy chief of the South River Branch, which was the same position as Hannah. The people that he could use and the allies that he could gather were all laid out on the table. However, Casius was different because he had been hiding in the dark, supporting Jude to seize the position of chief. He was one of the Riverbank Seven. Aside from being rich and resourceful, he was also connected to the prominent figures in Westeros. With his support, Jude became so powerful that even Collier and Hannah felt press
The South River was an important waterway for transportation, and traffic was always heavy. The Four Ocean Commerce Guild who crossed paths with Kaze before relied on monopolizing the South River and Butterworth's waterway transport to become a titan in the industry. If there were people who rose to prominence relying on waterway transportation, then there would be people living the life of a pirate, robbing cargo ships that passed through a certain checkpoint on the sea. Leron was a captain who reigned the waters of the South River and the pirates who worked under him were ferocious and ruthless. Their gang was notorious in the waters and on shore. Hannah continued, “Kaze, I also heard that Casius had sent Leron after you, so you better be careful. Do you need me to arrange for bodyguards to keep you safe?” Kaze looked surprised. “It’s just a pirate, what’s the big deal?” Hannah knew her own strength. Leron was a target that even she had to be cautious of, so Kaze’s words
Bang! A deafening blast went off, followed by a burst of smoke that concealed Leron from sight. The MPV that Hannah and her men arrived in was instantly covered with countless black holes. The tires were also punctured, causing one side of the car to sink. The two agents, who had turned to open the door and exposed their backs, suddenly groaned in pain as they were slammed against the car by a powerful force, sliding down onto the ground. Both were riddled with numerous bleeding holes in their backs from gunfire. Hannah and the others were shocked to see that their colleagues had been shot. The human body was no match for a shotgun. Leron must have anticipated that they would use the car as a cover or even as an escape route, so he aimed at the vehicle first instead of targeting the individuals directly. “Take cover!” Kaze quickly grabbed one of the fallen agents in front of him and tossed him behind the damaged car. His words were not just meant for the fallen ag
“So you are Leron, a.k.a the Hydro Dragon?” Kaze did not mind Leron reloading his shotgun and simply stared at him while standing still in an open area. “You know me?” Leron raised his brows, speaking in a rather hoarse voice. “It seemed like you were not a rube whom Mr. Weather claimed you to be.” He did not expect Kaze to know his name at the first meeting. Knowing his name indicated that Kaze was already well aware of his background and capabilities yet was not hung up on it. If Kaze were not at least this capable, Casius would not have sent him. Staring at Kaze further away with narrowed eyes, Leron asked, “So my brothers died at your hands?” “You meant those two idiots who fell into South Hill Dam?” Kaze smirked. “That’s not my fault. They were the ones who couldn’t drive properly, thinking they were Dom Toretto, but this ain’t Fast and Furious, and they don’t get to live past the sixth movie.” While he was distracting Leron, Hannah and the other two agents h
Leron did not stop dashing even after he pulled the trigger. Bang! He slightly tilted his shotgun and fired another shot. Another barrage of shotgun pellets followed swiftly, like a swarm of hornets, flying through the air rapidly and aiming at Kaze’s left. Kaze’s front and sides were all locked by the shotgun pellets, and the only way left for him was to retreat backward. Yet no human was faster than bullets. In fact, Kaze’s back was also shut off, leaving him nowhere to escape or dodge. Leron’s ability to wield the shotgun with such precision and skill was a testament to his terrifying capabilities. Kaze knew he was in danger and facing a shotgun with just his fists and body was foolish, like hitting a stone with an egg. As though he realized Kaze was caught between a rock and a hard place, Leron smirked and said, “Kaze Lee, I’ll make sure you die absolutely!” As Leon spoke, Kaze moved. He tiptoed and jumped high into the sky, reaching almost two meters. Bang!
In the blink of an eye, several blasts went off between Kaze and Leron, causing dust and shrapnel to scatter in the air. The three bullets exploded before they even hit Kaze. Leron widened his eyes in shock when he saw his bullets were stopped. His pupils shrank and his expression turned heavy. He did not expect Kaze to turn mere chunks of concrete into projectiles that could rival a gun’s bullet, effortlessly countering his attack. On top of that, Kaze escaped his passive stand and stood on equal grounds as Leon.His hand that fired the chunks of concrete was as powerful as a gun! “Why don’t you try my handgun’s power?” Kaze smiled as he continued to flick smaller chunks of concrete. The projectiles tore through the air itself and aimed at Leron. Bang! Bang! Bang! Leron knew the projectiles could rival bullets. He dared not be careless. Given their proximity, he dared not perform any dodging maneuvers for it would expose himself to more of Kaze’s attacks. He quickly
“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