June looked at Kaze defiantly. She believed there was more to Kaze since he knew what was wrong with Faith. Even Holfman wanted to get Kaze’s opinion. Nevertheless, June doubted that Kaze could win her in a game of poison. “No! It’s not happening.” The Otters made faces. Even Caster said curtly, “You caused this, Kaze. Don’t get my family involved. “Just get down on your knees and beg for mercy.” As if Kaze stood a chance against Holfman’s student. The family’s young generation lost to Sebastian. June had a higher attainment in medicine than Sebastian. The Otters were not at an advantage. Sure, June said that everybody in the Otter family could help Kaze in the match. However, there was no way Caster, a man pushing eighty, would compete with a young woman. Even if Caster was able to put his ego aside, he would risk being the laughingstock once the word got out. No one thought Kaze was qualified to have a match with June. They believed June proposed the match t
June’s expression was one of sheer defiance. Kaze said indifferently, “If you’re afraid of dying, we can add a condition where no one will risk their life. “Before we administer the poison, we should have the formula of the antidote ready. When one party loses, the other party should administer the antidote right away. “If the lethal dose ends up taking a life, that person has to go to jail.” Kaze chose to go through with it. Even Holfman was skeptical. Kaze could be a skilled doctor for all he knew. “Alright. Let’s go with it.” June said grimly, “You’re going to bow down to me, Lee.” She turned to Caster. “Please let us use your family’s laboratory.” The Otters, a family of medicine practitioners, had their own laboratory and supply of medicinal ingredients. The room was also available to the family’s young generations to study medicine. At this point, Caster could say nothing but nod. “Fine.” “Hang on.” Kaze said, “You only mentioned what you expect me to d
Still, June was not going to give Kaze an edge. She went straight to the medicine cabinets. Each tiny drawer was labeled with the ingredients, but June did not even have to look at these labels. She grabbed the ingredients without thinking twice. Though the arrangement of herbs may vary from one to another laboratory, there was a certain system in place. June was familiar with these herbs. Soon, she pulled out over a dozen ingredients and combined them in several different ways. It was all about efficiency in creating poisons. There was no time to prepare the cure in many unexpected circumstances. Hence, it was best to make do with whatever material that was available on hand. The process of formulating the poison was straightforward. The herbs were crushed and mixed in water. There was no brewing involved. The method was ideal for matches. The poison was potent enough to be effective but not as strong to cause death, making a good compromise between efficacy and saf
Raising a brow, June looked at Kaze in disbelief. “How did you get the answer by smell?” The crowd was surprised by June’s reaction. They thought Kaze was taking a stab in the dark, but he was right on the money. The Otters looked at Kaze as if they had seen a ghost. “He was just lucky!” Max and Maxine were not having it. Jealousy reared its ugly head. Kaze outshined them in the medical field, and it did a number on their egos. “How did I get it? Just smell it. “It’s no big deal,” Kaze said nonchalantly as if he was talking about the weather. June nearly choked on his words. Of course, she knew that it was by smell. Brushing June off, Kaze walked toward the medicine cabinets and took out several ingredients. He ground them together, added water, and created poison. The color of the concoction was brownish red like black tea. The potency of Kaze’s poison was yet to be determined, but at least it looked good. “Hm… It tastes good.” Kaze took a sip of his po
While grounding the mixture, June read out the ingredient names and their uses out loud. She was showing off to take Kaze down a peg. In a way, she was intimidating him too. However, she was in for a surprise when she cocked her head back. “What are you doing, Kaze? Do you really want to die?” June asked sternly. Kaze was not freaking out as she had anticipated. Instead of working on an antidote, he sat on the chair and trimmed his nails. In other words, Kaze was not taking the match seriously. June grimaced and said coldly, “I won’t stop you if you want to die, Lee. Don’t drag me into this and put me behind bars. “I’m telling you now. Every second you waste may be the reason you die today.“I decreased the potency in the poison, but the toxin is still a slow burn down to hell.” Darcy and the others panicked.“Don’t just sit there, Kaze. Find the cure!”“The longer you wait, the poison will catch up to you. You’re playing with your life.” Darcy and Rose urged Kaze,
“Arghhh!”Maxine could feel the excruciating pain in every inch of her skin, every piece of her bone, and her organs.June was right. “Maxine!” “Maxine!” The Otters were thrown for a loop. Adam, Max, and other family members rushed to her side in a fluster, but there was nothing they could do to help her. Caster drew close and forced the venom out with a silver needle, alleviating Maxine’s symptoms a little. However, he was not close to lifting the poison. Though Maxine stopped screaming, the toxin nearly took her life. She lay on the floor groaning, her complexion sallow. “I told you not to touch the poison. “Even a child would know not to put anything in their mouth.“See. That’s what you get from trying to prove me wrong.” Sitting on a chair, Kaze shook his head and sighed. He looked sympathetic, but really, he was laughing his head off inside. Maxine had been harsh and critical of him since he entered the Otters’ residence. Finally, she got what she deserved
“Thump!” June collapsed to the floor, her breathing labored. Even her hair turned white as if she aged in an instant. Aghast filled the room. Holfman jolted to his feet, approached June, and bent over to save the student he had so much hope for. “Dr. Wright, this is a fair match between me and your student. Surely, you won’t get involved,” Kaze said emotionlessly. Holfman paused and sighed before looking up at Kaze. “I’m throwing in the towel for my student.” “Woah!” The crowd broke out in an uproar. Holfman considered his student beneath Kaze. That was quite a bombshell to drop. Even Darcy’s family widened their eyes. “I don’t recognize him anymore,” Agnes mumbled in disbelief. Most of the people there shared the same sentiment. It was hard to link Kaze to the moocher. Ignoring everybody else, Kaze pushed June’s poison ahead and said to Holfman indifferently, “I want to hear it from her.” “Just admit defeat, June.” Holfman cocked his head back and urged J
The others could not believe their ears. They would think that Kaze had an accomplice if the words did not come from Holfman himself. Without another word, Holfman got up and grabbed the remaining poison that Kaze made for June. “No, Dr. Wright!” As Holfman brought the jar to his mouth, the crowd shouted to stop him. The Otters panicked. June’s horrific reaction to the poison was still vivid in everybody’s minds. The Otters would be held responsible if anything were to happen to Holfman. Disregarding the public’s concern, Holfman gulped down the poison. Soon, Holfman grimaced in pain. As fear gripped the crowd, Holfman approached Kaze and drank a little of June’s leftover poison. It did not take long for everybody to realize that Holfman’s complexion was restored to its pink. Holfman was as good as new. “W-What’s going on?” The crowd was in a daze. Holfman took Kaze’s poison, consumed June’s poison, and miraculously got better. Faced with disbelieving look
Oblivious to the situation, Aloysius felt a shiver down his spine. It was as if the world had crumbled. “What happened? Did we hire protection? How did Mr. Frost get hurt?” Aloysius heard the commotion, but he did not expect his employer to be the victim. Jet was talking smack at the time, and Aloysius assumed that he had the upper hand. Kaze was on his own. How could he take the win despite being outnumbered? Aloysius was baffled and curious about what had transpired. Nevertheless, now was not the time to ask questions. Aloysius had to get Jet medical treatment for his bleeding wound. Things were the opposite of what was planned. They intended to bribe Kaze into telling the truth. If Kaze refused to cooperate, they would resort to force. The horrible conflict was the last thing Aloysius expected to see. The plan went through, but the roles were reversed. Jet lay on the ground heavily wounded, and the brawlers were down too. Kaze, who was supposed to be rest
Kaze sat by the table and dumped an unconscious man sprawling across the surface to the ground. He then opened a new bottle of liquor to take big gulps. “Sorry we’re late, Mr. Lee.” Arthur rushed to the scene, only to find such a bloody mess. He felt bad because he and his team were tasked to protect Kaze. Yet, Kaze had to get his hands dirty with these low-life scums. “Mr. Lee, why didn’t you wait for us? You didn’t have to do it yourself.” Arthur and his team came as quickly as they could when they picked up on the commotion, but it was too late. Nothing could stop Kaze when the fight started. He acted swiftly, and help could not come in time. Arthur and his crew felt sorry. The Viper’s Den’s members took in the aftermath and stared at Kaze in reverence. They had no idea that Kaze was amazing. They did not even know who he was. The only thing they were told to do was protect him. It only dawned on them now that Kaze was a terrifying force. “I could use a little
“Who the hell is he? He must be trained because he’s one hell of a fighter.” “I think he might be military.” “What do we do now? Do we still fight him?” The brawlers grew scared. “Things won’t end well for us if we cross the Frosts. You can hide and choose not to attack him, but you’re doing it at your own risk,” the head of the fighters uttered.They were not given the option to back down the moment they took the job. “How do we approach this? This is strange.” “He’s aggressive.” The fighters looked at their injuries. Despite the extent of the damage, they could not walk away from the conflict. “What do we do? Are we fighting him?” Once fear took over, the brawlers lost the will to win. Kaze let out a mocking smile as the fighters turned into cowards. “Are we doing this or what? If you’re not, I can save my energy.” Kaze sneered at the group, finding them disinteresting. Here he thought he could get a good workout with these guys. Kaze guessed he gave them t
“I guess you want to do this the hard way.” Jet thought he could intimidate the truth out of Kaze. It never occurred to him that Kaze would hold his ground and keep his composure as if Jet had no way of prying information from him. Jet thought it was absurd. For that reason, his emotions took over, and he swung the bottle of liquor at Kaze.Picking up at the velocity of the bottle, Kaze tilted his head to dodge the attack and snatched the bottle out of Jet’s hands. Without much thought, Kaze smashed the bottle on Jet’s head. The glass bottle broke to pieces, and the scent of hard liquor filled the room. Before Jet knew it, his head was hurting, and he struggled to stay on his feet. Everything felt like a blur. He then collapsed straight onto the couch. Everything happened too quickly, catching everybody off guard. As reality sank in, the fighters realized that their employer was knocked out cold. Though things did not look good for Jet, he was still alive. “You’v
Kaze’s attitude ticked Jet off. “Tell me who the hell you are. Who are you working for? Why are they doing this to me?” The whole situation left Jet tethering on edge. With Kaze emerging in the picture, Jet believed he was linked to everything. Yet, Kaze would not talk. He was indifferent, and there was nothing Jet could do about it. “Why won’t you say anything? Is it some sort of secret? Or do you have something to hide?” Jet looked at Kaze with composure, feeling that he was one step away from madness. At this rate, Jet would soon lose his cool. “Why won’t you talk?” Despite all that was said, Kaze remained aloof. He would not answer any questions. All the fighters could see was their employer going manic with no one to turn to. They were eager to fight. However, their primary task was to guard the door and refuse any exit. Hence, they stayed where they were and observed the situation. Sensing the tension, the fighters raised their fists to be ready. Jet
Picking up on the tension, the other women stood up to leave the room to the men. “Get out now!” Seeing that Kaze would not give him any respect, Jet had no reason to be polite. Without hesitation, the ladies burst out of the door. Jet looked at Kaze as if he were a dead man. He had done all the necessary. He set the meeting at the club and stationed a lot of his people around. Having witnessed Kaze’s methods, Jet would not underestimate him. “You can forget about leaving.” Jet acted like he had it in the bag. He narrowed his eyes dangerously at Kaze. Kaze met his gaze with a pretentious smile, turning his nose up at his assertion. “Come at me and show me what you got.” Kaze remained fearless. He even taunted Jet. “You are asking for it. Things didn’t have to turn out the way they are. I just want to know who you are.” Jet tried to reason with Kaze. “All I asked was whether you had wronged anyone and if you showed any remorse. I guess you didn’t care.” Kaz
“Nothing much, but I’m interested to see whether you’re going to kick yourself.” Kaze’s comment left tension thick in the air. Proficient in navigating social settings, the ladies grabbed their glasses to calm the dynamics. They did not care about the conflict. Only by pleasing the customers could their bank account grow. “I’m sure whatever it is, we can talk it out, Mr. Lee. Why are you upset? You’re not hurting yourself.” “I’ll drink with you, Mr. Lee.” “Mr. Lee, let me peel grapes for you.” These women pulled all the stops to please Kaze. Jet fell into thought, unsure of how to sort the issue. He had no idea who Kaze was, so he could not just burn the bridge. Kaze was not the least bit appreciative. Despite Jet’s humility, Kaze still gave him an attitude. Usually, Jet would be pissed by now. Yet today, he had to tuck his tail between his legs and swallow his rage. He could not let his emotions get the best of him. No matter who Kaze was, Jet did not want to b
The women had been given an order. These were questions they could usually get their hands on, but now, their efforts hit a wall. Kaze would keep his mouth shut when it came to the key questions and simply drink wine. His silence sparked the ladies’ will to win. “Mr. Lee, why aren’t you talking? Is it because you don’t hold much power?” Since their less aggressive tactic did not work, these ladies tried to rile Kaze up. “Jet, do you really want to know who I am?” Kaze suddenly turned to Jet. Jet was surprised to be brought into the picture. He was having fun with one woman while listening to the conversation. These ladies were witty, asking the right questions, but Kaze would not give a straight answer. “I was just curious. I wonder if you are happy to let me in on it.” Jet believed he could drop his act now. Since Kaze knew he was after something, there was no use hiding. “I have a question for you,” Kaze uttered while prying a woman off him. He then forcibly r
Kaze wondered what Jet would do to him. To think Jet would adopt one of the oldest tricks in the book—the honey trap. Jet was forced to take this approach as he could not get information on Kaze. “Mr. Lee, these girls have a clean bill of health. You are free to use a room next to this one.” Jet subtly hinted. Jet was confident that no man would resist a gorgeous lady, and Kaze would be lost in lust. He poured himself a glass of wine and waved at the ladies to tend to Kaze. These women were veterans in the business. Despite their lack of knowledge about the situation, they knew what to do. They approached Kaze and sat around him. “My, you’re a handsome man, Mr. Lee.” “Do you want some grapes, Mr. Lee?” “Mr. Lee, I’ll pass the wine to you, and we can do it mouth-to-mouth.” The ladies, surrounding Kaze, started caressing him. “Is that all you got, Jet?” Kaze was in disdain. Jet did not take Kaze’s comment seriously. These ladies would take any man’s breath away.