Grant could not help but feel a little annoyed by Liam's attitude, but he did not showcase his displeasure and merely continued to scowl at Liam. "You're the first one who's ever looked so calm while facing me, you twat."He sneered, then cracked his knuckles and lunged straight toward Liam, cocking his fists. The speed at which he launched himself toward Liam was so swift that one could barely react. Coupled with Grant's sheer size and power, Liam was, without a doubt, no match for him at all, and Grant was certain he would triumph.All of a sudden, a lilting voice rang out behind them, "Do my eyes deceive me? Is that who I think it is? Grant? What are you doing here? Have you gotten released?"Both Grant and Kaison froze, then turned around to see a Darion swaggering toward them, dragging a foot-long steel bar alongside him. With a smirk, he approached Kaison and slung an arm around his shoulder like they were the best of friends.At the same time, thirty or so thugs showed up, f
"When did you get out, Grant? Why haven't I heard from you? If you had told me you were here, my mates and I would have welcomed you back!" Darion said, smiling. Grant could tell that Darion was here to help Liam and thus felt no need to continue wasting his time with pointless small talk. He said, "Darion, I know what you're here for, so I'll cut straight to the chase. You can have this twat, but only after I'm through with him."As he said this, he glanced at Liam with a malicious glint in his eyes, and the air around him seemed to crackle with electricity. The smile faltered from Darion's face, and he scowled. "Just because I showed you kindness, Grant, doesn't mean I'm scared of you. For old times' sake, I'd like to offer you a piece of advice—stay out of this. You have no idea what you're getting yourself into. Drunham City isn't the place it used to be years ago anymore."What he was trying to say was that the days of Grant's reign were over. Grant's expression turned cold,
The next moment, there came a disgusting crunch, and was soon followed by a bloodcurdling scream. Kaison slumped to the ground, clutching his shattered kneecap and howling in agony. Darion sneered at Grant, then pointed the bloody steel bar in Kaison's direction and said, "I'll give you one last chance to reconsider, Grant. If you try anything, my mates here will continue where I left off with him."Everyone knew what he was hinting at. "Darion!" Grant bellowed, then pointed the blade of his knife at Liam and said, "Let go of Mr. Nasso right now, or I'll stab him!"Darion, however, ignored him and instead gazed at Liam with a look of admiration. "What do you say, Mr. Cole?"Grant froze, then whipped around to stare at Liam incredulously. Did Darion just call this man Mr. Cole?Although he still looked down on Darion, he had to, very reluctantly, admit that Darion had made quite a name for himself after all these years. He was now the ringleader of the most notorious gang in thi
"You twat! You're going to pay for this! How dare you hurt Mr. Nasso right in front of me!" he hissed through gritted teeth, his knuckles cracking dangerously. Liam, however, did not seem at all intimidated. Instead, a taunting smirk flashed across his face as he replied, "Why wouldn't I dare? He almost tried to break my limbs! I'm just giving him a taste of his own medicine!"Liam lifted his head to stare coldly at Grant. The two of them locked eyes. "What's wrong? You were a gangster before this, Grant, so surely you know that's how things work around here."This, no doubt, ignited a fiery rage within Grant. He could not take this anymore."Take this!" he snarled, then lunged toward Liam, aiming the blade of his knife toward Liam's chest!Liam dodged him agilely, and as he did so, he aimed a blow straight at Grant's back while kicking out at Grant's wrist with his right leg.The knife flew out of Grant's grasp and landed on the ground with a clatter. Grant, on the other hand,
It was not until Grant witnessed Liam in action that finally realized just how wrong he was—clearly, judging from the lack of effort in his strikes, Liam had not utilized his full potential. As Grant himself was a War King, the only explanation for his defeat was that Liam's power far surpassed that of a War King!The thought of this made the color drain from Grant's face. It turned out Darion had been right to warn him; times were different now, and things had changed drastically since the last time he reigned. During his peak, Grant had been one of the most powerful martial artists in the region, which was why he had managed to amass a group of loyal followers. He never paused to think that someone better and younger would come along eventually!Grant knew full well that he was no match for Liam at all. He did not say anything but merely wiped the blood from his mouth and got up slowly. Then, with one last reproachful glance at the whimpering Kaison on the ground, he turned and
Was this still the high and mighty Kaison Nasso that everyone knew?Finally, after Kaison had begun to tire himself out from all the pleading, Liam gave Darion a wave of dismissal. Then, he knelt down before Kaison and said, grinning, "Are you pleading with me for mercy, Kaison? Well, look how the tables have turned. You want me to let you go, huh? Well, we can arrange that…"He paused deliberately, so Kaison could lift his head up in ecstasy. "Really? Thank you! Thank you so much, kind sir!""Don't get your pants in a twist. I haven't finished," Liam cut him off. "If I remember correctly, you had threatened to break all of my four limbs and kill me at the end. Well, what do you say about giving me yours? How much do you think an arm of yours will cost? Didn't you used to say that you have so much money in the world that you don't know where to spend it?"Kaison froze, then burst into tears and stammered, glancing fearfully at Liam, "What… What are you trying to say? Do you want mo
Liam, however, took no notice of his threats and merely stared at him, sneering. "Mr. Nasso, you're far more gullible than I thought. The audacity to threaten me when your fate lies in my hands!"Instead, he took the steel bar out of Darion's hands and propped the end of it against Kaison's chin so that he tilted his face up to meet his eyes. There were still streaks of blood stained on the bar, making it look somewhat frightening. "Mr. Nasso, I do not have the patience to bargain with you here. Since you are not willing to put a price on your own life, you shall have to abide by my terms. If you agree with them, just nod, and if you do not… I'm afraid you'll be spending the night out here on the streets."The coldness of the metal against his skin made Kaison shudder, and his fear was further exemplified by Liam's words. "What… What are you talking about? What price? Li—Liam, I'm warning you… You don't know who you're messing with…"Kaison was both outraged and terrified at the sam
This finally made him realize how futile his attempts were and that he had no choice but to admit defeat. "How… How much do you want…" he stammered.Liam smiled at this and shot him a look of admiration. At the same time, his gaze landed on Kaison's uninjured arm, and he said, "Very good! Imagine how easy things would've been if you had agreed to this earlier! Well, I'm not as unreasonable as you think. Let's make it four hundred and fifty thousand, then! Four hundred and fifty thousand dollars for an arm. That's a steal, isn't it?""What?" Kaison could not resist letting out a yelp when he heard this. For a moment, he thought he had misheard and kept staring incredulously at Liam. "Are you insane? Four hundred and fifty thousand dollars?"Kaison had no idea what to do. As wealthy as he was, he still could not possibly fork out such an exorbitant amount of money, not to mention the fact that this was the amount for one arm. He was certain that Liam would ask for far more than this.
What would Liam do if he found out Prince Faber had captured his wife? Surely he would not hesitate to turn the entire city upside down to look for her?Prince Faber was more than familiar with Liam's fierce loyalty and could not help but begin to worry at the prospect of having to face his wrath. He stared at Keyon's leering face and asked with belated realization, "Mr. Yeager, you ordered me to capture all those people from the Drunham City Connoisseurs, but the truth is, your sole target has always been Liam's wife. Is that right?"Keyon nodded, smiling. "That's right. We could care less about those businessmen. All we wanted was to get our hands on Celena Stone!"I must admit I was very surprised when I found out that Celena Stone is the wife of the great King Pendragon. Not only that, but I made an even more shocking discovery—it turns out that Liam is none other than the lone survivor of the Cole family, the noble clan who were allegedly wiped out seven years ago!"The ment
After a few moments' hesitation, he finally decided to shoot his shot. "Mr. Yeager, there is something I don't understand. Why did the Yeagers order these businessmen's capture? I've looked into their backgrounds, and they are all honest businessmen who have not broken the law before. If the media catches wind of this, they will surely accuse me of abusing my power…"This was what Prince Faber had been worried about. He had already investigated the people whom the Yeagers ordered to be captured and did not understand why the Yeagers wanted them imprisoned. They were all civilians who had not committed any crime, and he dared not even imagine the consequences if the public found out he had ordered the incarceration of innocent citizens.Keyon understood immediately Prince Faber's concern. He smiled and replied in a reassuring tone, "Worry not, Prince Faber. We Yeagers have taken care of everything. We have made absolutely sure to cover up all your tracks, and no one will know you were
Meanwhile, Celena and the group were taken out of the hotel and shoved forcefully into a couple of jeeps waiting at the entrance. They were whisked away to a nearby military base. Before they could even get their bearings straight, they found themselves being tossed into holding cells. Celena, on the other hand, was taken separately to a small, dark room, illuminated only by the barest sliver of light that peeped in through a tiny window. The room was entirely empty, save for a metal bed frame. A sour stench hung in the air, and it was clear this room had been abandoned for a very long time. A soldier shoved Celena roughly into the room, and before she could realize what was happening, the soldier slammed the door shut.The soldier had pushed Celena so hard that she fell onto the ground, but upon seeing that her captor was about to leave, she leaped to her feet and sprinted over to the door. "Sir, can you tell me what I did wrong? Can you please have mercy on me? Can you at least
Tristan seemed just as baffled as they were. He returned their puzzled gazes with an equally perplexed one of his own. "I… I have no idea…"The general glanced sharply in their direction, then gestured to his soldiers and declared sternly, "Take them away!"His soldiers obliged and stepped forward to restrain the members of the Drunham City Connoisseurs, who all shrieked in alarm, "Why are you taking us away?""General, what did we do wrong? We didn't do anything illegal, so why are you arresting us?""Mr. Xander, save us! They've got this all wrong!""What's going on here? Why are they arresting only us?"Celena's entire body was shaking like a leaf. She eyed the soldiers around her and asked, stammering, "General, what did we do wrong? Why are we being captured? Where are you taking us?"Tristan, stricken with panic, shoved a soldier aside and shouted at the general, "General, I'm the president of the Drunham City Connoisseurs, and I want to know why we're being taken away. Wh
Celena was utterly terrified by the sudden turn of events. She stared pale-faced at the soldiers around her, not daring to move even a muscle. What was going on?All of a sudden, a man in a uniform stepped into the room. The badge on his shoulder indicated to everyone that he was a general. The heavy thumping of his boots echoed through the silent room with every step he took. All eyes were on him as he stepped onto the stage.He carried himself with great authority, and clearly, this man was not one to be messed with. He scanned the room as if searching for someone. Finally, he announced in a deep, resounding voice, "Do not fear, ladies and gentlemen. We are here on a routine check after receiving a tip-off regarding your conference. We will release you all once we have carried out our investigation, and the process will be quicker and smoother if you all cooperate. "Now, I would kindly request you get your documentation ready so that my men may confirm your identity."Everyone
Derek nodded earnestly and replied, "Of course it's true. My sources have never failed me. I wouldn't have trusted you with this information if I didn't think you'd be interested."Celena stared at him for a moment, then turned to glance in the direction of the people he had pointed. She could not help but be tempted by the offer. She considered this for a few moments, then accepted his offer. "Alright then, Mr. Duncan. I'll go with you. Thank you for inviting me."The smile on Derek's face widened. He could hardly believe his luck—Celena had agreed to go with him! Taking that first step was always the hardest, but he had done it!Unbeknownst to Celena, Derek already knew her long before their first meeting at the conference. Her name was known far and wide in Drunham City, not least because of her beauty, but because of her—in the eyes of the public—tragic marriage. Celena had earned herself a reputation as one of the most beautiful women Drunham City had ever seen, and although
The attention they received, however, was large due to Celena and her young, handsome companion, who was a man named Derek Duncan. Their attractive looks, both individually and combined, were easily the topic of discussion that night. Everyone who laid eyes on them admired both their good looks and brains, for certainly only the cream of the crop were allowed to attend this prestigious event. What made this feat even more impressive was the fact that they were both so young!Aside from her beauty, Celena's name was already known far and wide in the business world, not just because of her strong leadership but due to her association with Liam and her company's connections with many international corporations. She had started her business from scratch, but within a few short months, she had single handedly built it up to become one of the top ten grossing companies in Drunham City.There were hundreds of people gathered there tonight, and their seats had been allocated according to t
The moment Clifford left, Kastor turned to Liam with a wide grin, all hint of his hostility now gone. "Mr. Cole, thank God I arrived just in time."He raised his brows as he said this, and Liam took this to mean he was trying to claim credit. Truth be told, he would have been able to handle things on his own even without Kastor's help, but he decided this was a detail Kastor did not need to know. Instead, he returned Kastor's smile graciously. Kastor, like a child, burst into laughter at this. No further words were exchanged, but they understood the message nonetheless.Jeffrey also grinned. "Kastor, what brings you here all of a sudden?"Kastor replied, "Ah, you might not know this, Mr. Stein, but I actually own this very restaurant that you're sitting in right now. One of my employees called me for help, citing that a brawl was about to break out, so I rushed over immediately. I had no idea it would turn out to be you and Mr. Cole!""Ah, what a pleasant surprise, then!" Jeffrey
Clifford scowled upon hearing this. He cracked his knuckles menacingly as he stared at Kastor through narrowed eyes.Kastor did not seem at all intimidated by this. Instead, he brushed past him and approached Liam, smiling. "Mr. Cole, I apologize for the delay. I rushed over as soon as I heard the news, but I was late anyway. I'm so sorry for the wait."Liam's expression eased up slightly. He tugged the corners of his mouth into a strained smile but did not reply. Clifford's expression turned even more sour when he sensed Kastor's tone. He asked sharply, "What is the meaning of this, Kastor? Are you intent on making me your enemy?"Clifford's reputation was known far and wide, and many feared him, but Kastor was not one of them. He shot Clifford a look of utmost disdain and replied, smirking, "Yes, Clifford, that's exactly what I'm going to do. So what if we will be enemies from now on? What are you going to do about it?"He was confident that Clifford would not dare to retaliate