Miru’s words drew the attention of many to Leo. Leo pulled himself together from the excitement by then. He sneered. “What’s your motive for pinning this accusation on me, Miru?“We all saw that you were the first to rush over to Jeremiah. Here’s a question for you. Why were you in a hurry to get to him? Were you trying to cover something up?” Gazes bearing doubt fell on Miru. The crowd was filled with confusion. They felt like they were playing a game of Mafia, except the murder was real. There was no telling who was telling the truth or lies. Amid the mayhem, Leo’s trusted chauffeur approached him and whispered in his ear, “We have eyes on Angel and his people, Leo. They are here in the lobby.” “Perfect timing. Miru and Angel will die today.” Leo smirked coldly and shouted, “Quiet!” His yelling silenced the room. Leo suddenly pointed at Angel who was among the crowd, but his eyes fixed on Miru. “Miru, I can’t believe you would sneak Cronus’ men to the funeral to ki
Rock was the Blade Enthusiast. Jeremiah was the Sword Fanatic. Together, they were a dynamic duo, famed for the skill of their crafts. Twenty years ago, Rock and Jeremiah were the two biggest menaces of the South River State underworld. Jeremiah was the No. 1 killer. Rock was the No. 1 gladiator. The pair had withdrawn from the public eye in the last twenty years. However, their glory and legend lived on in the criminal world. When a founding member of Lefteria Group recognized Rock, a commotion erupted.All eyes fell on the man with a blank face. The man stood tall like a gladiator with his burly build and face of beard. It was clear now that the badminton racket bag did not carry badminton rackets. Instead, a broad and heavy blade was in it. Jeremiah owned a sword with a broken tip. Rock’s choice of weapon was a heavy blade. He was never seen without his trusty companion. Not just anybody could carry a blade weighing dozens of pounds everywhere. It was said
“What is the idiot son-in-law of the Quints doing?” “The moron must be delusional again. He probably thinks Master Cummingham will come back to life to save him.” Kaze’s behavior was unexpected and drew mockery instead. They thought Kaze had gone mad to pin his hope on a dead man. It was old news that the son-in-law of the Quints got out of a mental institution. Everybody was not surprised by his psychotic behavior. “What has gotten into you, Kaze?” Miru scowled at Kaze’s disrespect toward Alan. “Save your breath, Kaze. Alan is dead.” Angel ridiculed. There was no way Alan could survive Cronus’ Shadowbane Essence. Kaze paid them no heed and simply grabbed one of Lefteria Group’s fighters who surrounded him. “What are you doing?” The furious fighter soon realized he could not overpower Kaze. Kaze grabbed the knife out of the fighter’s belt and threw it. Swoosh. The knife scythed through the air, narrowly missing the crowd. Finally, the knife’s tip wedged in t
“Godfather?” Miru was the first to run up to the coffin and pulled Alan out of there with the help of a few founding members. “I’ll tell you later.” Alan nodded at Kaze. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to hide in the coffin. The cover was sealed shut, and my people hadn’t opened it.” “Now that you’re out, you can sort out your own mess. All I want is an answer.” Miru and the others looked at Kaze suspiciously. They had many questions. Nevertheless, they got one thing straight. Kaze was not trying to destroy the coffin earlier. He was merely trying to release Alan. “Alan, you…” Angel pointed at Alan, looking like he had just seen a ghost. Alan said indifferently, “You must find it strange that I am back from the dead even though I was poisoned with Shadowbane Essence.” Angel fell silent, his expression telling. He could not figure it out. “Where are you, Mr. Anemo?” Alan suddenly shouted. An old man in a lab coat walked out of the crowd. “He’s the No. 1 doctor of t
“I took Mr. Anemo’s suggestion and rolled the dice.” Alan glanced at Leo, who was pale-faced, and said coldly, “I played along and let the traitor activate the poison in me. I was dead for a moment.“Mr. Anemo is worthy of his title as the No. 1 doctor in the South River State because he formulated a cure after figuring out the source of the trigger. “In the two days I lay in the coffin, my body expelled the toxin. I only regained consciousness this morning.” Alan’s brief narrative sparked conversation in the room. Charles lived up to his reputation. While Alan recounted the event, Charles was busy treating Jeremiah. Jeremiah, who lay unconscious seconds ago, jolted up. His chest rose and fell in ragged gasps, his throat raw as he groaned. “Blegh!” He spat out black blood which splashed on the tiles. Wisps of smoke rose from the pool of blood. The blood was the toxin of Shadowbane Essence. Charles used needle insertion therapy to force the toxin out of Jeremiah.
“No way. Is Rock the Blade Enthusiast afraid of Jeremiah? Did he just make up an excuse so that he didn’t have to go through the duel to the death?” A commotion ensued at River Watcher Inn. All stared at Jeremiah in reverence. The Sword Fanatic had retired from the underground scene for twenty years, but he beheaded Cronus’ best fighter in an instant upon his return. Even Rock the Blade Enthusiast, an equal in fighting prowess to Jeremiah, backed away. Jeremiah glanced at Kaze. The expression on Rock’s face before he left did not go unnoticed. Rock only left because he had reservations about Kaze. With Rock gone, it put Angel in an awkward spot. He wanted to slip away while no one was looking. However, Lefteria Group had eyes on him. He could not find a chance to slip out. “Hold it right there, Angel.” A clamor of angry voices erupted the moment Angel turned around. Angel shuddered and looked at Alan with a nod. He said, “Congratulations, Master Cummingham, for yo
The founding members of Lefteria Group saw Leo as one of their own. Miru was the outsider of an unknown past. Yet, Alan wanted to hand the reins to Miru. If they were Leo, they would not be able to accept Alan’s decision too. Leo simply went for a far more drastic extreme. Several founding members stepped forward to help Leo. “Leo is right, Alan. We practically raised him. He made a poor judgment because he was fooled by Cronus and Angel.” “That’s right, Alan. Cronus’ Shadowbane Essence caught you off guard too. Leo was probably drugged or poisoned, so he didn’t think clearly.” “We should give him a chance to turn over a new leaf.” The founding members gave Alan something to think about, and he hesitated. Leo’s father, Bando, died saving Alan’s life. That was the very reason why Alan took Leo in as his godson and raised him as his own. “I’ll spare your life because I owe your father one.” Alan waved his arm aloofly. “Thank you, Godfather.” Leo was overjoyed. H
Waves of criticism crashed down on Kaze.No one took Kaze seriously, and his requests were dismissed. These people believed Kaze was not worthy of their attention. So Lefteria Group pinned the blame on him by mistake. He was fortunate enough to be alive now that his innocence was proven. Kaze should be grateful. He was out of line to demand apologies. Ignoring the group, Kaze fixated his gaze on Alan. He then proposed a worse, crazier, and more moronic request. At least that was what everybody believed it to be. “Because you played along, I somehow got tangled in this and became your pawn, Alan.” Kaze’s voice was cold as he said, “Don’t you owe me an apology too?” Alan had explained that he had been unconscious for the last two days and only came back to life this morning. Still, Kaze knew that Alan must have known about Leo’s plans before he devised a plan with Charles to fake his death. In other words, Alan knew Kaze would be framed as the killer after his suppo
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.