He was afraid that even killing Charlie wouldn’t help him restore his dignity. After all, the horrifying beating which he had endured was already known to every Japanese in Japan. It was already rooted deeply within the hearts of the people.Machi’s expression turned sour and he was thinking of ways to comfort his son. During that moment, his cell phone rang.Machi took out his cell phone and saw an unfamiliar number. He pressed on the answer button and answered the call.From the other side of the call, a familiar voice rang. It was Ito Yahiko!“Oh, Brother Machi! I heard that Eikichi was beaten up by someone in Tokyo today?”Yahiko’s voice seemed to be somewhat concerned at first but anyone with a brain could have figured out that it was actually sarcasm.Machi replied with a blackened face. “Yahiko, I remember saving your number. Did you change it?”“No.” Tahiko replied with a cheerful tone. “My number is still the same. This is my personal assistant’s cell phone. I was afrai
For so many years, Machi and Yahiko merely had friendly rivalry with one another. It could be said that in those years, the two of them only saw each other as their biggest competitors.However, both of them were only around their early fifties. They grew up in the post-war period where Japan was at its weakest, most fragile moment. It was an era where people had no vision and self-esteem. They grew up during the peaceful moments and thus, there was no longer the viciousness and wickedness that their predecessors once had in their blood.That was why after competing with one another for so many years, their main motive for competition was only for business advancements. They had never had the intention of killing their opponents.It was like Alibaba and Tencent company bosses. Despite their competition being very fiery, they still abided by the laws and regulations.No matter how upset they were with one another, they will still try to remain as polite and rule-abiding as possible.
That night, the four of them took shifts monitoring. The shift was split into two and for each shift, two people would be monitoring while the other two would rest. Each person would be working for four hours to ensure that the rest of them got enough rest.They thought that their plan was perfect but they had no idea that everything had all been planned by Charlie.Till now, Charlie hadn’t taken any actions because he didn’t want to tip off the enemy. Additionally, he wanted to proceed more flexibly as things unfolded.The main reason as to why he was not interested in dealing with these ninjas in Tokyo was because he didn’t want the Takahashi family to be on his tail since he would be travelling to several other cities as well. If he were to kill off the ninjas, the Takahashi family would definitely watch him like a hawk, which would cause more problems in the future.Instead of all these unnecessary problems, it would be better to just let these four ninjas follow him. When the
The moment Sophie heard the words that were spoken by Machi, she couldn’t help but raise her brow.In her heart she couldn’t help but feel suspicious.Yesterday, Father just had a conference to collaborate with one of their families to eradicate the other family. Why would the Takahashi family suddenly offer the idea of collaborating with us to eradicate the Ito family today?! Did Takahashi Machi eavesdrop on the three-way conversation?Sophie felt that maybe her hypothesis might not be too far-fetched.In her mind, she thought.Yesterday, before they entered the hotel, the bodyguards had already made a thorough inspection. It was confirmed that the room had no eavesdropping bugs nor any recorders. Nevertheless, this is Tokyo. This is the Takahashi family’s area. If he wants to eavesdrop on my brother and I, then it shouldn’t be too difficult to pull off…Jaime too felt suspicious, wondering if Machi had eavesdropped on them.However, due to Machi’s presence, Jaime couldn’t disc
Isaac had booked the best hotel in Nagoya for everyone.Charlie could also sense that the four ninjas who had been following him had followed him to the hotel.After Charlie had checked in, Fujibayashi Masatetsu, who was the leader of the ninjas, brought the other three to the front desk of the hotel.They booked two rooms on the same floor as Charlie.Moreover, they were very clever to reserve four different rooms. These four rooms were next to the two elevators and the emergency staircase.Due to the fact that Japan was an earthquake prone country, their hotel designs therefore revolved around the concept to ease the escape of the people in case such a natural disaster were to occur.Two emergency escape staircases in a single building was not something one can find elsewhere.They had purposely chosen these locations to monitor Charlie’s every move. This really helped ease the monitoring process.As to why they did not book the rooms surrounding Charlie’s, that was mainly du
The main reason why Charlie wanted to leave Isaac and Albert’s group was so he could operate by himself. He wanted to test out the ninja who was tracking him. He wanted to know how strong the ninja who had been tailing him all this while was.Moreover, he knew very well that the other party had followed him to the hotel and he was able to theorize that the opponent would have the mindset that since Charlie had checked into the hotel, he would definitely return to the hotel. Therefore, they would not track him down with all four men.It was not that Charlie was afraid of being surrounded by the group. Instead, to Charlie, it seemed like Mr. Takahashi might be lacking in manpower since only four of them had followed him all the way from Tokyo. If he were to sweep all of them under the rug, then the rest of his days in Japan would be very boring.Therefore, Charlie was hoping for them to separate so he could take them out one by one.Only by taking them out individually like this woul
However, the use of the shuriken is quite different from that of a dagger.The dagger is mostly used for piercing and cutting whereas the shuriken is normally used for throwing.It could be said that the shuriken is closer related to the flying daggers used by the Circus Dagger Masters, which is performed by throwing their daggers at moving objects.If martial arts is about glory and righteousness, then Japanese ninjutsu would more closely resemble cruelty and heartlessness.Ninjas do not like face-to-face confrontations. They prefer attacking from the dark where their victims have no idea where they are. This is the ultimate path a ninja would pursue.They would use weapons such as shurikens, darts, and blow darts. They also like coating their blades with highly toxic substances so their opponents cannot escape death even if they were to fail in the upfront assassination. In case they fail, the toxins would work their magic and eventually kill the opponent.A minute had passed a
When Aota heard this sound, he was overwhelmed with terror.This confirmed the scariest assumption that he had in his heart!The Oskian man had indeed been here all along. He had never left before!Furthermore, he had not heard the sound of this person’s breathing or heartbeat, from the very beginning to the end! How did he do it?Moreover, he had also hit his shoulder twice. This proved that he had been very close to his own body at least twice but he did not hear anything at all! He did not even hear the sound of his footsteps!At this time, he subconsciously wanted to turn around and throw his shuriken at the other party. However, he was a little worried deep inside his heart.After all, he only had six shuriken. He had already thrown four of his shuriken earlier. Therefore, he was holding onto the last two shuriken in his hands now!What if he missed again after throwing out his last two shuriken?His opponent was directly in front of him and he would never give him the opp
Ares LLP was the biggest law firm in the States, and only the best of the best were recruited as associates.If Jimmy got to pick ten of their partners, he was basically taking a huge chunk out of their human resources.Moreover, the partners' salaries would be very expensive. With Jimmy included, eleven of them meant over a hundred million US dollars at minimum. Ares would definitely be maimed if they had to pay that much money while losing ten of their elites! Naturally, Jimmy didn't feel confident about achieving that, and he asked Charlie, "Mr. Wade… Don't you think it's too much? Would Nate even agree to that?"Charlie shrugged. "Of course he won't agree if you're the one asking, but he would definitely say yes if it were Julien."Julien almost rolled his eyes.The man was truly ruthless, ready to inflict so much damage at the drop of a hat.Worst of all, he was going to play the villain for Charlie.Still, he said confidently, "Don't worry, Mr. Wade! I will pressure him
However, Jimmy realized something important even as he sighed in relief. "Wait, Mr. Wade… I know I should settle things in the family Stateside, but won't I be arrested upon arrival?""That's Julien's department," Charlie chuckled and turned toward the man. "Tell your butler not to send the evidence to the feds. If it has reached them already, ask to have it back and tell the feds they saw nothing."Julien promptly nodded. "I'll text him right now. You have nothing to worry about, Mr. Wade."Jimmy remained worried. "But sir, I think Nate's not going to let this slide. The man is cunning—he deliberately dug a pit so we'd fall into it, and he gathered all the dirt he could on us to be used as leverage when necessary."Charlie shook his head. "That's no big deal. Julien can make sure that you're fine even if the feds get the evidence."Julien nodded nearby. "Don't worry, Mr. Wade. The decision remains in your hands, either way. Just say the word, and it's 25 to life… otherwise, not e
The fact that Jimmy was a partner in Ares LLP already meant he had skill, while Matilda had herself been retired for years and definitely had lost her touch a little. So, having someone like Jimmy who had stayed on the frontlines all this while would definitely be no issue.And in turn, it was a good thing for Jimmy as it was better than the kennels either way.Charlie then asked Jimmy pointedly, "You say you're interested, but are you sincere about it?"Jimmy nodded without hesitation. "Yes, absolutely!""No regrets? We're talking about ten years here.""None, absolutely none!""Do you know what to say if anyone asks?""Yes, of course! I chose to further my career here in Oskia, and it was absolutely voluntary! That's what I'd say even if my family asked!"Charlie nodded. "Good. Then, you will have two weeks. Go home and set your affairs in order and report in for work afterward.""No problem!" Jimmy nodded repeatedly, actually surprised and grateful that Charlie would let hi
And yet, Julien was suddenly clapping his hands, and exclaiming excitedly, "Yes, right! We should get his wife and son over too for a happy reunion!"He then paused and quickly corrected himself, "Wait, no! I mean, they should each be caged with one empty cage separating each of their cages. They can see each other and talk, but there will be no touching. How dare he flex on me—I gotta teach him a lesson to remember!"Jimmy dropped limply on his rump, and Matilda beckoned for Paul to help him up while turning toward Julien as she pursed her lips. "Please, Mr. Rothschild… Even if you don't accept his apology, don't bring his family into this. It's against Oskian tradition—you'd insult your family's name!"Julien shrugged, not hesitating to retort, "What do your traditions have to do with me? If I mean to hurt him, forget his family—I'll drag his dogs over too!"Seeing that Julien was so furious, Charlie decided to stop him, or he might actually go through with it."That's enough, J
Holding up a thumb at Charlie, Julien exclaimed in approval, "You're right, my friend! That's far more exciting than having him jailed!"Just hearing that he would be sent to a kennel, Jimmy knew nothing would come of it—even if he didn't know the details, it was so obvious that Julien was thrilled by the very idea!Turning nervously toward Charlie, he was sobbing as he asked, "Mr. Wade…? What's this about a kennel…?"Julien chuckled coolly even before Charlie said a word. "A kennel is where you keep dogs, of course. Though there are literal dogs and metaphorical dogs, and you are the latter."Oh, don't worry. It's a really nice place where you get your own cage, and you'll be fed every day. You don't even have to work, so just sit tight and keep eating until the day you die."Jimmy's soul left his body in that instant.He was going to be locked in a cage?! That was way worse than being locked up and sent to jail! Where was the humanity around here?!Even as the thought struck h
Matilda was actually caught off guard by Jimmy's pleas, and even Paul found it hard to watch.Turning to Charlie, he said, "Please, Mr. Wade—my uncle can be a little despicable, but he is my father's brother. Please, let him have a chance to turn over a new leaf, seeing that he's earnestly repenting."While Paul spoke with Charlie, Jimmy was still confused and wondered why Paul would plead his case with Charlie instead of Julien. If there was anyone Paul should ask, it was Yolden since he was Julien's friend. So, why would he ask some young man instead of Yolden?That was when Charlie asked in curiosity, "You want to let him off? After he tried to take away your parents' legacy?"Paul smiled awkwardly. "I mean, I know the guy. He made sure to travel all this way to make a scene because he had nothing legal that could help him claim Smith Group Corporate Law from us. Otherwise, he'd have already filed the lawsuit in the States. Sure, it's a dirty move, but that's basically a des
As Julien finished, he realized something was wrong and turned toward Charlie before he knew it.Charlie held his gaze in turn, his expression quizzical and amused.Julien cleared his throat right then. "See, there are people who can order me around, but they have my utmost respect. However, a third-rate lawyer like you? Who do you think you are?"That was when Julien's butler called, and he reported respectfully as soon as the call was answered, "Sir, I've spoken with Nate Ellis, the owner of Ares LLC. He has since agreed to fire Jimmy Smith right away as well as disbar him nationwide."Julien asked, "Good. Anything else?""Well, Mr. Ellis also delivered some documents that can be used as evidence against Jimmy Smith, which he claims is enough for a lifetime sentence. If you deem it necessary, we can have it sent to the FBI.""Yes, let's go with that!" Julien replied, his tone satisfied. "And ask the director to handle it personally—I want this prick to never set foot stateside
Jimmy was sweating profusely in fear, but he argued back before he knew it, "That's impossible! Everything you say is bullshit! Gaiman simply thought he had a fair chance of winning and didn't want to pay Ares that much, and I have no idea who he partnered with, and I'm certainly not involved. Don't you try to slander me!"Nate chuckled. "Come on, Jimmy. We're all adults here, so there are things we shouldn't have to be so direct about. Mills Gaiman and your old classmate met in private many times, not to mention the private conferences you three had in secret, discussing your overall strategy and decisive points. Just so you know, Gaiman recorded every conversation, and I have the tapes with me."Jimmy's heart was left pounding as he blurted, "B-Bullshit! That's impossible!""Grow up, Jimmy," Mr.Goodman chuckled. "Every partner in every law firm always strives to rise higher, so I'm going to need as much leverage as I can. Otherwise, I'm not about to let them advance any further, e
Although the ringtone and vibration frequency were the ones Jimmy always used, this call somehow felt more urgent, leaving him exceedingly uneasy.When it abruptly stopped and left a missed call on his log, Nate Ellis soon sent a text: [Answer your damn phone this instant!]Just seeing the text left Jimmy feeling like his throat had gone dry, and as he gulped, it felt like his throat was being ripped, leaving him hurting.Still, he couldn't care less as his boss called again.Having seen the text, Jimmy didn't hesitate this time and promptly answered, watching Julien's smug face as he started tentatively, "Y-Yes, boss...?"Nate immediately yelled at him hysterically, "What the hell did you do?! Why did the Rothschilds call to complain about you?! And the complaint was from their heir apparent, at that! I worked hard for them and always toed the line for years, and I still haven't gotten a chance to meet the man, so how the fuck did you upset him?!"Jimmy's heart sank to rock bott