“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
“Mr. Lee, you are overstating it. Let’s go to my office for tea and I’ll make it up to you with a gift,” Alan said respectfully. “I am not interested in your gifts.” Kaze shook his head. The others were annoyed by his arrogant attitude. “Kaze Lee, Master Cummingham once ruled the underworld as a kingpin, he’s not someone you should talk to in that tone.” “You are just a guy who married into a second-tier family! Someone who has no status or position at all!” “Master Cummingham is showing you enough respect just by talking to you. Don’t push it!” Kaze instantly became a common target. Miru strode over to him and scolded him in a low voice. “Kaze, my godfather is lowering himself to apologize to you! You better just accept it! If you continue to give him a hard time, even if my godfather is tolerant of you, what about the others? “Others might go after Darcy and her family just to flatter him because of what you did. Can you just save Darcy some trouble? Aunt Agnes woul
The voice sounded firm and steady but strangely, when it came from the entrance, it silenced the entire room. Everyone turned to the entrance. A small group of people, who were closest to the entrance, were horrified the moment they saw the person. The horror spread like cancer in the room. Even Alan, on the stage, was stunned for a moment before his body started shaking. Then, he bent over for a bow and spoke in a high-pitched voice due to the uncontrollable excitement. “C-Chief Commander Lang! Chief Commander Draco Lang! Sir!” The entire River Watcher Inn was filled with continuous noises of astonishment. The crowd bent over like a wave sweeping over them. Multiple pairs of eyes shot a glance of fear and reverence at Kaze. The retard son-in-law of the Quints called in the chief commander with just one phone call?! Who exactly was Kaze Lee? Even Alan had a few more peeks at Kaze. Kaze was indeed the chairman of Perfect World Group. Even the richest man in the c
“Miru?” Draco looked at the woman that he had no fond impressions of. The woman was self-righteous and always stood against his boss. Even though his boss did not take her seriously, he had always wanted to teach the woman a lesson for being rude to his boss. Unfortunately, Miru was Darcy’s good friend and he dared not offend his boss’ wife in any way. “Chief Commander Lang, I am Miru Scarlet,” Miru introduced herself confidently. Although Draco’s position refrained him from openly reprimanding Miru, he could not help but give her a few stern words so that she could behave better in the future. “Miru Scarlet, just because you are Albert’s cousin, it doesn’t mean you can look down on people. Albert and I are friends but if you continue to be rude, not even he can stop me from teaching you a lesson.” Miru was stunned. She did not understand the prejudice the chief commander had against her. She looked up for a better look at Draco. She somehow found him to be familiar a
Alan knelt instinctively. Even when his knees hit the ground, he still could not believe Kaze was the God of War! Draco’s response toward Kaze explained everything. Other than the God of War, who else in the world could order Draco around like a butler? Alan was horrified. Kaze, the well-known useless son-in-law of the Quints, was actually the youngest God of War in the country’s history. Those who laughed at him were the real clowns! “Alan Cummingham, do you accept my terms?” Kaze asked condescendingly. If Alan accepted all his terms earlier, things would not have reached this stage. “I accept!” Alan said without a second thought. Not only that, he even said, “It was my mistake for dragging the God of War into Lefteria Group’s affairs! I am willing to offer the company to you and Ms. Quint as a token of apology!” Lefteria Group was his life and blood, but he had no other choice. With Kaze’s power, he could kill Alan like squashing an ant. The only way Alan coul
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.