“Watch your manners!” Reiko bellowed, “We have guests here! Why are you shouting like that? You are ruining our dojo’s image!” “I am sorry, Ms. Hara!” The disciple bowed immediately and then pointed at the door, his face horrified. “B-But Jiro…” Aiden raised his brows and looked at Reiko. “Shall we have a look?” Soon, the group arrived at the entrance of the dojo. There was already a crowd in front. Even the people from Drake Gym were watching from the opposite. “Ugh…” Coming from the center of the crowd were agonizing cries. A dozen disciples of the Refined Blade Clan lay sprawled on the ground, bleeding and bruised, writhing in pain as cries escaped their lips. “What is going on?” Standing on the stairs, Reiko saw the scene from a higher angle and her expression darkened. A dozen disciples of the dojo were injured and tossed in front of the entrance. It was certainly the biggest challenge and insult the dojo had faced since it opened. Their pride was being
Jiro died on the spot. After blood gushed from his mouth, he collapsed forward and died. Since he was right in front of Reiko, the blood splattered all over her. Her expression turned ashen. Her white uniform, beautiful face, and fair skin were all covered in blood. “Kaze Lee?” Aiden watched from the side as his eyes narrowed. Half an hour later, Reiko came back with fresh clothes and a clean face. Aiden said to her, “Kaze Lee is retaliating against us.” “Yeah. I didn’t expect him to be so vengeful.” Reiko gritted her teeth and said, “He killed one of my ninjas, and with Jiro’s death in front of the dojo, he’s certainly trying to send us a warning.” Aiden said, “Reuben Swan of the Tiger’s Cave tried to arrest him but failed in the end. “Reuben’s uncle, the new deputy governor of the South River State, Mitchel Swan, broke his legs because of that. “The whole incident felt strange. The Swan family was considered one of the bigger families in Westeros and Mitchel
“Great. It’s decided then.” Reiko nodded and then looked at Aiden. “Actually, I can help you get Darcy Quint. I saw her picture before. I have to admit that even I am jealous of her. “If Kaze messes with the woman that your brother wants, then messing with his woman can also show him how strong the Krad family is.” Not only Reiko but even Aiden had seen Darcy’s picture before. Darcy was a woman that most men on earth would fall in love with. Being with Kaze was simply a waste of her beauty. Aiden chuckled. “We’ll talk about that later. If the chance allows it, I’d like to try.” Reiko chuckled. She knew a man well enough to know the look in Aiden’s eyes that revealed his hidden lust. No men could escape her eyes. “If we are going after Darcy Quint, we need time to plan. We cannot be anxious about this. Maybe we should show some goodwill to Kaze Lee,” she added. “Regardless, based on the strength he displayed, he’s worthy of the feign deference.” With that in mind
Later that night at nine, at No.13 of Rivername Residential District, Kaze arrived at a mansion.He understood why Lock would buy a mansion at this place. When he offered to purchase a mansion for his teacher the other day, they actually came here to have a look at the showroom. However, Agnes’ untimely intervention foiled their plans. Due to that incident, Ryna and Cyan gave him a hard time. Based on the looks of it, even though the Yemen family never took Kaze seriously, they also liked the mansions in the Rivername Residential District. They got richer recently and quickly bought a unit for themselves. Kaze visited the mansion before. Based on what he knew, No.13 was the most moderate of them all, a little shy of thirty million. The one he offered to purchase for Lock had surged from fifty million to a hundred million. As for whether someone was pushing the price, Kaze did not care. Of course, a thirty-million-dollar mansion was something huge for Lock and his fam
“Even though the villa was originally the mayor’s, it’s an old house and might not be in good condition, unlike ours.” Delighted, Ryna added, “Do you know? We went to the South River Branch and asked their deputy chief for a discount, that’s why it only cost thirty million. The selling price of this house was originally fifty million! “And, Lock and I didn’t spend a single dime! Cyan paid for it using her salary from her livestream! You should know the difference between you and Cyan now. “You might be the sales manager of Golden Scale Corporation and you are quite achievable given your age, but the distance between people is sometimes too big to be compensated. “That’s why, whatever Lock said to you in the past, forget it. A snake doesn’t live with a dragon; you and Cyan are people from two different worlds.” Ryan, with her arms crossed, looked at Kaze arrogantly. She hoped Kaze would wake up and understand the difference between him and Cyan. Even though it was great th
Cyan looked at Kaze in disdain. “Mom, your student is something else. With the support of his wife’s best friend, he assaulted a member of the Refined Blade Clan and smashed his head with a beer bottle. “The Ryokanian is the front of the Refined Blade Clan in Riverbank. He’s pretty influential in Ryokan. “Kaze only thinks about himself. He doesn’t consider the long-term consequences.” Cyan and the others asked around about Miru and Kaze’s relationship after leaving. It turned out that Miru was a good friend of Darcy, and Miru backed Kaze up to help her best friend out. With this piece of information in hand, Cyan did not think highly of Kaze for beating Jiro up at Bronze Sparrow. It was human nature for some to act cocky when gaining power. Their fall from grace would be a painful one. Kaze said indifferently, “Well, aren’t you a hypocrite, Cyan? You and your girlfriends cheered Wesley on when he busted a Ryokanian’s head with a bottle.” Cyan scoffed. Her hypocrisy
Though Kaze did not recognize these women, he knew that they were likely in the same business as Cyan. However, these influencers had larger followings. These ladies turned their noses up as if they were superstars. Among the influencers, one tall woman at 5’7” with fair skin, a curvaceous figure, and delicate features, sized Kaze up from head to toe before approaching him.“You must be the guy Mr. Tenby warned us about. “I heard that you have no shame, living off women. You have been harassing Cyan. “Should I make you face the cold, hard fact?” Meeting the aggressive woman’s gaze, Kaze replied callously, “And what is that?” “The fact is—” The influencer paused before smiling. “Cyan has at least ten million jerks like you in her fan base. “These people are just screaming to be with Cyan behind the screen. “All Cyan has to do is smile, and they would give up their wages to her. “How different are you from these people? “You’re no different. “I’d say that you a
Ryna succeeded in starting a fight. Upon learning that Kaze beat up a Ryokanian, Mika was not having it. “W-Who do you think you are! “You’re just a useless piece of trash! Cyan even got you a job. “You have no shame to hang around when you heard that Cyan bought a place. “Who do you think you are by attacking a Ryokanian?“You have some nerve!” Mika pointed at Kaze, her black-manicured finger nearly poking his face. With a frown, Kaze looked at Ryna and said indifferently, “Can you get your guest to keep her distance? You won’t want me to hit her, right?“I’m sure you don’t want your party to be ruined.”Ryna looked uneasy, wondering if Kaze noticed her stirring up the trouble. Nevertheless, she quickly picked her head up and rolled her eyes at Kaze. “Get your story straight. You should be the one keeping your distance, not Ms. Suka.” So what if Kaze noticed her stirring the pot? Kaze was the one who would not leave. Ryna did not see an issue with herself. “
Snow had already sent men to where the plane was found. If the passengers were taken away, then they must still be nearby. It was difficult to transport an entire plane of passengers to some place far within such a short time. It was a race against time. Snow did not know who would do such a thing. Kaze took a common flight like everyone else, yet it was hijacked. It was strange. The coincidence was uncanny. Snow believed the hijacking happened because of Kaze but she did not know why. “The only explanation is that there’s a traitor among us…” She finally came to an unlikely conclusion after combing through the details. If there were a traitor, it must be within the Viper’s Den. Kaze had laid a low profile for as long as he was in Butterworth. Not many people knew about his identity and those who wanted to make connections with him were because of Snow. It was unlikely that someone would go after him so suddenly unless this person knew his identity and background.
If they were sent to capture Kaze, then they were severely under-numbered. In addition, they allowed Kaze to be alone with the captives, which proved that they were inexperienced. Or maybe they did not know what he had done in the past as the God of War. Kaze believed that the mercenaries were after him but they did not know his true identity. There must have been some miscommunication between them and their employer, which was good news to Kaze. Tiguan and his men were eating. Since they were unable to identify the target, they were forced to bring everyone back. The plane was huge. It would be an easy target for the law enforcement to locate them. Maybe the outside world had caught wind of the hijacking. “Boss, what should we do now? That man seems like he vanished into thin air.” “We got his boarding information but we can’t identify him on the plane.” “Who are we looking for exactly? Why is he so mysterious?” The men were baffled. “We are looking for the righ
“We are almost there. We have to transfer these people as soon as possible. The plane must take off right away. We cannot leave any traces behind.” They must hurry or they would be caught very soon. They held the pilot hostage and forced him to do an abrupt landing. The sudden descent caught everyone off guard, shocking them. A few of the passengers even hit their heads. Many of them did not get the chance to fasten their seat belts. Kaze grabbed Barney and protected his head from hitting the front seat. “Thank you.” Barney looked at Kaze with gratitude and then looked outside. “Where are we? Have we reached?” He was worried that they would be completely trapped. “They are going to transfer us elsewhere.” Kaze had a similar experience before and he knew what the hijackers would do next. “Transfer us? Are they going to transfer us to somewhere secluded and kill us all?” Barney looked horrified as he stared at Kaze. He somehow felt safe beside Kaze. “They sai
With trains, there was still an option to jump out. However, everybody was sitting ducks in a plane. Kaze had always been sensitive when it came to safety. He had a sinking feeling in his gut as if something was about to happen. He turned his head back to observe the plane’s interior. Several passengers stood up in the business class section. Strangely, these people were seated separately. However, they seemed to know each other. They exchanged glances as if searching for something. Finding the whole thing bizarre, Kaze observed them. Those passengers went straight into the air stewardesses’ compartment and disappeared out of Kaze’s sight. Kaze could not shake off the eerie feeling. Something was off. He looked back, and several more rose to their feet. These individuals were young but toned. They likely underwent some form of specialized training. Kaze had a bad feeling. Trouble was brewing, and the plane was likely being hijacked. “Why are you looking around? Is
“I see. What bad timing.” Katie was a little disappointed to learn that Kaze had left, but in a way, she was relieved. She had gotten on Kaze’s nerves, and he could turn around and make things difficult for her. Now that Kaze was gone, Katie got to keep her job. She did not have to fear Kaze’s retaliation. The news caught Leah off guard. “Why did he leave without saying goodbye? I didn’t even thank him yet.” Leah had a hard time digesting the news. She had been waiting for a chance to show her gratitude to Kaze and see him again. He was out of her life before she could do anything about it. “I’m sorry. Chairman Lee’s departure was unplanned.” Snow put on a professional smile, appearing friendly and distant. “Please present the gifts to him for us if you can. We are grateful for Mr. Lee’s help.” Katie was annoyed that Leah could not spend time with Kaze. The bond could help with her career. Kaze’s departure cost Katie an opportunity, but there was no point in dwel
“Now that’s the spirit. You can’t take every matter into your own hands. You’re a leader now. You should put the right people in the right jobs.” Feeling relieved, May nodded. “Where’s the guy? I have been wanting to meet him. I missed the chance when I was unconscious.” May came over right away just to score a chance to see Kaze. Kaze saved her life, but she did not have the chance to thank him in person. “I set the date. We’re seeing him tomorrow afternoon. Let’s freshen up. I’m taking you home to rest.” With a time in place, Snow had to get ready. May nodded. The pair returned to the mansion where they felt at home. Even though it had been a while since their return, nothing had changed. “Did Jet say anything when he stepped down?” May was clueless on the specifics. “He went mad and ran out. I get this uneasy feeling, but I can’t locate him anywhere.” Snow was concerned. Jet, as witty as he was, likely played up his meltdown. It was a shame that Jet got aw
“I have pointed you in a direction. If you still can’t trust your team, you can go to the Viper’s Den.“There’s one thing, though. Don’t rely too heavily on the Viper’s Den, or your company will be left without secrets.” Kaze’s suggestion gave Snow assurance. She considered tapping into the Viper’s Den’s resources. However, Kaze warned her against excessive dependence. “Why did you say that, Chairman Lee? Will the Viper’s Den stab me in the back?” Surely, the Viper’s Den took orders from Kaze. The Viper’s Den would always be an ally so long as Kaze was the branch leader. “I just don’t want you to put too much faith in others. You find loyalty by developing your own team. Those who revere me will never trust you completely.” Kaze analyzed the situation. Snow ate her supper and looked at Kaze in confusion. “You can only count on the people you win over. You can’t trust anyone else, and that includes me.” Kaze would never hurt Snow. However, he hoped that she would fin
“As you said, all is in the past. What’s the point of dwelling on it?” Leah perked up. Such was life, but it took her too long to understand the harsh reality. She guessed things were just not meant to be. “I’ll think about what to get Kaze. Rest well. We’ll visit him in a few days.” Taking the matter seriously, Katie wanted to get gifts ready ahead of time to thank Kaze. “Alright. I’ll see what I can do too. I want to be in touch with the outside world. I don’t care what they have to say. This is not my fault. I won’t blame myself.” Leah wanted her phone back to contact her former friends. Ultimately, she needed to move forward instead of backward. She had to face and fight back the rumors with courage. It was the crucial step to kick trauma in the face. The abduction was kept hush-hush for the most part, but Katie’s frantic search for her daughter at the cocktail party did not go unnoticed. Hearing about the incident, the influential people were keen to find out
“When did Kaze start setting it all up? I get the feeling that everybody played into his hands right from the start, and he had controlled every step of the way.” Leah realized that Kaze was an amazing man. Nothing could go past his eyes. “I don’t know.” Katie feared someone like Kaze. She would not be caught dead near him. Even when grasping the situation, Katie dared not look into Kaze for fear she would be targeted. Katie was careful not to show her face around Kaze. For all she knew, Kaze might get back at her. “But he came to Butterworth alone. We met at the train station, and he helped me out of a bad situation.” Leah felt warm and cozy inside just remembering the events. They did not know each other then. Kaze was kind to help a stranger out. From then on, Kaze could do no wrong in Leah’s eyes. Leah befriended him and found him nice. Her interest in him grew. They also got along well. Her memories of Kaze were sweet. Anyone could hurt her in the world, but