“Mr. Lee, Cronus is all bark and no bite now that his best fighter is dead.“Should Dan and I take Jackal and his team to vanquish the guy?” Gold Tooth stood ingratiatingly before Kaze and asked shyly. Standing in a corner, Dan looked rather excited. A major shift of power rocked the Lilyrose underworld within 24 hours.Alan was dead. Cronus lost his right-hand man. Gold Tooth and Dan realized that this was their golden opportunity. It was their time to become the new kingpins of the underworld. Before that could happen, they needed Kaze’s support. Without his support, they could not stand a chance against any enemy. It was a good thing Cronus crossed Kaze, and his fate was now sealed. Kaze knew what was on their name and said without a care, “Take Jackal and his team to Azure Estate.“If Cronus behaves, you can spare his life. If he doesn’t, you can decide what you want to do with him.” “Of course, Mr. Lee.” Overjoyed, Gold Tooth and Dan took Gabriel’s body along
Jeremiah’s presence at Azure Estate scared the hell out of Cronus. Cronus knew that Jeremiah was not easy to deal with like Gold Tooth and Dan. He ditched his men and fled out of the estate with Angel. His whereabouts were unknown. Gold Tooth and Dan were glad to be alive. They scrambled out of Azure Estate and reported back to Kaze that instance. Kaze was calm as the duo gave details of what happened. Upon hearing that Cronus admitted to poisoning Alan, Kaze raised his brow in surprise. “So, Cronus recreated Shadowbane Essence himself?” It took great skills to synthesize Shadowbane Essence. Not many knew about the ancient poison. For centuries, the knowledge of crafting Shadowbane Essence resided solely with the families of medicine, inheriting through word-of-mouth. Only a handful could recreate the poison. Kaze learned about Shadowbane Essence from the old fool who raised him. There must be more to Cronus since he could craft the poison. Gold Tooth and Dan co
Sieg saw Jeremiah raise his sword. For all Sieg knew, Jeremiah could be coming for him any second. His hair was standing on end. He cleared the air right away. “You got the wrong idea about me, Jeremiah. I’ve been with Alan as long as you. How could I possibly collude with an outsider to harm him?” “Hmph! I doubt you have the brains and guts to be a mole anyway.” Instead of wielding his sword, Jeremiah scoffed and let Sieg go. Sieg turned ashen, feeling uncomfortable by the statement. Jeremiah’s words were not hurtful, but they did bruise his ego. It was clear that Jeremiah looked down on him. “You have a point, Jeremiah.” Sieg smiled awkwardly without refuting. Ignoring Sieg, Jeremiah swept a cold glance around the room and said, “We have a mole in Lefteria Gang, and I know so. “It could be just one person or more. I don’t care how many of you are involved, but I will uncover and kill you.” A deafening silence ensued. Jeremiah looked away and offered his fina
“Alright. Thank you.” Darcy gave a nod. Kiev soon drove his car over. It was a Maybach with a Sunrise City license plate. He got out of the car and opened the door to the front passenger seat for Darcy. Darcy hesitated for a moment. Since it was rude to sit in the back seat, she accepted the gesture and took a seat. The Maybach drove away. Behind the willow tree by the lake, Kaze watched the Maybach kick the dust behind it while clenching his fists. He was filled with a mix of emotions. Kaze had witnessed the sweet moment Darcy and Kiev shared in front of his home entrance. “Mr. Lee, Kiev’s father is the vice commander of the South River Strategic Department. When you were taken away to the holding cell, he asked his father to stop Lefteria Group’s retaliation against Ms. Quint’s family.” Don cautiously reported to Kaze his knowledge of the situation. “I don’t need him to butt in on my family affairs,” Kaze said curtly. Kiev’s feelings were apparent at the Lily
“Renew your vows? As if that’s going to happen. “Haven’t you given us enough problems, Kaze? “Remind me how many times we have been in trouble since you married into our family? “You’re a train wreck and a curse. The nerve of you to say you’d renew your vows with Darcy. Get lost now!” Agnes glared at Kaze in disdain. If Don was not there, Agnes would have gotten in Kaze’s face and hit him. “Come on, Don.” Without another word, Kaze took off. He planned to stay at the residence next door which Draco bought. Unless Darcy said the word, he would never give up on her. “Leave now and never step foot on Horizon Mirror Mansion again.” Not done with Kaze, Agnes shouted at his back. “Cut it out, Agnes. Kaze has done everything for you before this happened. When you and Sky were forced to kneel yesterday, he was the one who came to your rescue. “The child was fooled and led astray,” feeling bad, Hector said. Agnes felt awkward as yesterday’s incident came to mind. She
Darcy looked her best friend in the eye nervously. She knew that Miru must hate Kaze after losing her godfather. Her words might anger her. Darcy did not want to lose her best friend. Nevertheless, she needed to seek the truth and find out whether Kaze was framed. To her surprise, Miru displayed no anger. She stared into Darcy’s eyes and asked, “What if we find evidence that Kaze killed my godfather?” Darcy clenched her teeth. “Then I have nothing to say. He deserves it.” “Alright. Let’s check it out.” Darcy was not expecting Miru to be on board and rather quickly too. “After clearing my head, I realized something wasn’t right about my godfather’s death,” Miru explained indifferently. She put on her sunglasses and drove away. The car soon hit the highway. Darcy asked in confusion, “Where are you taking me, Miru?” She had the utmost trust in Miru, so she doubted Miru had sinister motives to take her out of Lilyrose. “How are we going to work the case with just
“100 million dollars is too much.” Miru frowned. Even Darcy was shocked. 100 million dollars for a piece of intelligence was daylight robbery. Shane shook his head and said with a smile, “I’m not asking for a lot. Mr. Cummingham is the underworld kingpin whose influence extended to the South River state. His passing is more than meets the eye. I’m putting my people at risk to investigate his death.” Miru was without a word. The key players of Lefteria Group stripped her of power, so she had no access to funds. “If you find the price expensive, you’re welcome to leave, Ms. Scarlet. I won’t charge you for the drinks. We are all friends. There’s no telling if we will have business deals in the future.” While talking, Shane showed them the door. The man may seem friendly and approachable, but he was a seasoned professional who knew what he was doing. “100 million dollars, it is, Mr. Blanc,” Darcy got up and said. She believed 100 million dollars was worth confirming w
Leo soon arrived in Melrose. He met Shane who had been waiting at the logistics park. “Business has been booming here in the past two days. I have met two successors of Lefteria Gang now.” Shane said with a smile, “I’m sure you’re here to see me about investigating a mole.” “Do you know who the mole of Lefteria Gang is?” Leo asked emotionlessly. “Yes, but you should follow my rules in business. My services don’t come free.” Shane carried a drink over. Leo held the drink in his hand without taking a sip. He asked, “How much did Miru spend?” “Her companion, Ms. Quint, spent 100 million dollars. She has paid half up front.” Shane revealed without holding back. Leo scoffed. “These women are sure willing to pay a lot.” He glanced at Shane. Shane was a classic businessman. If it were a regular transaction, Shane would not disclose as much as he did. For Shane to divulge the amount Miru spent, Shane must have discovered that Leo was the mole at Lefteria Group. Leo
Kaze watched as the senior citizens took off. The place was quiet as usual, and many things in the unit were left uncollected. “Mr. Lee, does this arrangement work?” Arthur awaited Kaze’s orders. “It will do for now.” After being out for the day, Kaze had seen some stuff. Business was all about making money, but some lines should not be crossed. As long as things remained within reason, there would not be scrutiny or blame. It was astounding the lengths Jet would go to. “The area will be demolished after a while. I want all of the Frosts’ projects on hold. Don’t approve any of them.” One word from Kaze could shake the very foundation of the Frosts’ business. “Alright. My team is on it. “But the Frosts will ask questions and find out who is behind this.” Arthur looked at Kaze worriedly. “They can’t find anything.” No one would know who Kaze was without his permission. It probably never crossed Jet’s mind that Snow had a powerful friend. Otherwise, he woul
Kaze was confused. Surely, the authorities would not disregard human lives and demolish the place by force. “Well, we tried to relocate them, but they refused our services. If they are still not on board, they will be sent to the retirement home tonight.” That was all Pax knew. The retirement home was just another place for the senior citizens to await death. “Is there nothing else you can do? So you signed the contract without thinking about the consequences? Karma will get back at you.” Pax’s shamelessness shocked Arthur. Pax mentioned that he would put the demolition on hold. It had not been long, and now the rights to the land were handed over. “It’s out of my hands. Jet went to my superiors to seal the deal. We are not allowed to intervene. “We had been figuring out ways to reach reconciliation for these senior citizens, but Jet was determined to make them pay.” It was the best Pax could do. He was just an employee, working to make a living. He did not have a say
“I want to see the person in charge of the demolition project now.” It was not a matter of time before the area was bulldozed, but Kaze hoped to delay it. Generally, it would take a large amount of capital to launch a project. Any delay would cause massive losses. Jet had several projects that had been put on hold, and it was a heavy blow to him. If Jet could not fix things quickly enough, all his money tied to the projects would be gone. He would be forced to ditch some projects to cut his losses. “I’ll get him here right now.” Arthur went out to make phone calls. He believed Kaze did the right thing as the senior citizens had nowhere to turn to. The senior citizens could only survive with some help. “Thank you, young man. Why are you helping us?” The senior citizens were old, but they could tell that Kaze genuinely wanted them to be okay. “I don’t think it’s right to bully you.” Kaze looked at the senior citizens earnestly, feeling sorry for them. Jet lack
“We agreed on relocation because we would get a place to stay. “But these people were unreasonable. We were offered only one-third of what everyone else got.” The senior citizens were going to swallow their losses. They just needed the money to live their last days, and they did not have family, to begin with. Later, the same people had their eyes on their money and tried to put them up at an old folks’ home. The senior citizens refused to relocate and finally chose to protect themselves by contacting the media. These people sure left the senior citizens to die. Kaze was sympathetic to the senior citizens. He went back with them to a unit on the ground floor. The place was bare, with several beds placed together. The senior citizens must be sleeping in the same room. There was little to eat, only some water and dry provisions.The old residents did not have much savings. It was good enough that they had something to eat. “Have a cup of water, boy. We don’t have any
“Are you one of those people from the pier? Are you trying to get us to leave?” A grizzled-haired man looked at Kaze warily. “I was just passing by when I saw you struggling with the buckets. I came to help you.” Kaze explained patiently. He could understand why their guards were up. They must have been lied to many times before. “Are you here to help?” “Yes, I am. My companion has gone to get you some water. He’ll be back soon. There’s no need for you to fetch water,” Kaze said kindly. “We’ll pay you.” The senior citizens exchanged glances before accepting Kaze’s gesture. They could not handle the weight of the heavy buckets. “The building here is about to be demolished. Why are you still living here?” Pretending to be in the dark, Kaze asked. “This is our home. Someone is trying to take this land away.” The grizzled-haired man was upset. “What? I thought no one could demolish the building unless they had the residents’ permission.” “You’re right, but there
“Jet sure is bold to ensure business. Isn’t he afraid of shooting himself in the foot?” Kaze had never met a man like Jet. “He has done a lot to get to the top. His ruthless methods got him a lot of money. A lot of people are happy to support him.” Arthur was impressed with Jet’s tactics. However, his approach was too cruel for his liking. “Let’s head to the residential building.” Kaze just wanted to check out the area. He was happy to help when needed. The flashy, red sports car was eye-catching. However, the flamboyant car was uncommon in these places. Most workers would express their amazement, but they would not ask questions. The car pulled up outside a soon-to-be abandoned building. It looked desolate. The power lines and infrastructure were not visible either. Kaze knew that was one of the Frosts’ methods. Sometimes, nothing, not even demolition, was required. The goal was to get the residents out. All Jet needed to do was cut the water and electricity.
“Just tell me what you need, Arthur. You wouldn’t be calling unless you have received orders.” Philip was surprised to get a call from Arthur. Though they were acquainted, they had only communicated because of work. “We have just left Rising Sun. Don’t approve the films for now.” Arthur was blunt. “I can do that, but can I ask why?” Philip was caught in a dilemma because he had just promised Jet to release the films. Philip needed to know if the orders to delay came from a high power who could cover his ass. “Since you got a call from me, you should know that there are eyes on Jet. “You should know what you can and cannot say. Otherwise, you never know when you’re going to lose your job.” Arthur threatened. Philip was reluctant. He accepted Jet’s payment, and now he had to go back on his word. Nevertheless, Arthur was part of the Viper’s Den, and his status was rather unique. Arthur provided services to confidential individuals. These individuals were elites among t
A balanced, profitable dynamic had been developed among the ports in Butterworth. Jet spotted his chance in the lucrative port business. He covertly took out some money to invest in a dying port. The port was situated in a more remote area. Some businesspeople favored more accessible ports. This drove shippers away from the dying port. Jet snagged the steal and improved the logistics and facilities around the area. The port was up and running again. Business at the port was decent enough. As the Frosts would run their business through the port, the local economy took off too. It was a good thing. However, Jet set his sights on several residential buildings around the area. He needed space to accommodate containers. The land was required to make business at the port more profitable. This triggered a whole new thing. Jet could spend some money to buy the residents out of their homes. However, the residents preferred to stay put in their long-time homes. No a
“I’ll keep the bank cards for now. I’ll talk to our superiors and give you a decision. Since the man said that the cards are meant for us, they won’t be going anywhere.” Knox had no idea who Kaze was, but he knew Arthur was with the Viper’s Den. Arthur must be someone from high places. Eli soon put the little incident behind him. He got a call from Aloysius yesterday and was made aware of Jet’s plans. The films had been put on hold for far too long, and the people above Eli were anxious to get things moving. Though Eli was surprised by the review board’s visit, everything was still in his control. Eli left the matter at that without reporting the incident to the higher-ups. The flashy, red car sped along the road. Arthur kept looking back at Kaze, eager to find out about the next plan. Arthur brought Kaze out today to witness how Eli and his team operated. As it happened, Eli adopted such a shallow ploy. Arthur was not surprised, though. Eli’s methods were common.