Chapter 1

When they heard that, they glanced toward my car.

My car was fully reinforced with bulletproof and explosion-resistant features. After the crash, there was only a dent in the outer shell. Nothing inside was damaged. His car, on the other hand, was half-wrecked with all four airbags deployed.

Frustrated that his luxurious Maybach couldn’t withstand a crash with a Volkswagen, the owner was fuming.

“You’re only driving a Volkswagen, yet you’re trying to act smug here? Do you even know how much my car costs? It’s worth more than your life!”

“My life?” I frowned, catching a strong whiff of alcohol from his breath. It all made sense. “Well, I don’t know about that.”

Hearing that, the Maybach owner seized me and sneered.

“Why the hell am I wasting my breath on some broke loser like you? You’d better start calling your family and friends for money now.”

However, the truth was that he had been the one breaking the law by racing down the emergency lane at over 200 km/h.

Even though he saw that I had already merged into the emergency lane, he didn’t even bother slowing down before slamming into me.

Now, he even had the nerve to turn the story around, blaming me.

I scoffed upon hearing his words. “Borrow money to compensate you? You’re the one who should be paying me.”

“You’re not even supposed to drive in the emergency lane unless it’s an emergency, but you were doing at least 200 km/h, didn’t slow down one bit when you saw me and just rammed right into my car. It’s going to be all on you when the traffic police arrive.”

Instead of getting angry, the Maybach owner laughed.

“My fault? Do you even know where I just came from? I was at the Jacksboro City’s Traffic Bureau chief’s house! So, when the police show up, who do you think they’re going to side with? Me or you?

“So what if I hit you? My car drives in and out of the Jacksboro municipal compound without a hitch! You’re the first idiot who’s ever dared to block my way!”

Spitting as he shouted, I took a few steps back in disgust, but he mistook it for fear and burst out laughing.

A woman stepped out of the passenger seat, fixing her disheveled clothes. Her expression was dripping with disdain.

“Honey, don’t waste your time on some lowlife like him. Guys like this get nervous even around normal police officers, let alone the chief of the Traffic Bureau.”

I sniffed the acrid stench of alcohol and sneered.

“Well then, let’s see who will be the ones scared when the traffic police show up.”

With that, I lit a cigarette and took out my phone, about to make a call. However, the Maybach owner, who was visibly flustered, snatched it from me.

“People like me don’t have time to waste with people like you. Just call your family and beg them for money already!”

I had just returned from military service and honestly didn’t know who the so-called big shots in Jacksboro City were.

However, no matter how powerful someone thought they were in this province, I doubted any of them outranked my father.

Frowning, I shoved him aside and snatched my phone back.

“I’ll repeat myself. If anyone’s paying, it’s you. You’re fully at fault. Got that?”

As I pushed him, I saw the Maybach owner’s face turn a furious shade of red.

“Do you even know who I am? I’m Gabriel, the second boss of Jenkins Construction! How dare you push me?!”

Hearing that, some of the other drivers who were implicated in the crash gasped.

“Gabriel? That individual is notorious for using his family connections to exert influence. That poor dude is screwed now!”

“Yeah. I heard some guy once accidentally bumped into him and, the next day, Gabriel beat him half to death and dumped him in front of the police station.”

I heard all the muttering around me, but I kept my tone ice-cold. “You snatched my phone first. If you keep acting like a nuisance and refuse to pay, I will call the police.”

“Who’s paying for what, you asshole?!” Gabriel snapped, rage boiling over. He grabbed a baseball bat from his car and charged at me.

Instead of backing away, I stepped forward.

With one hand, I clamped down on his wrist like a steel claw. With the other, I grabbed his upper arm. One swift twist and… Clang! The bat hit the ground and Gabriel was pinned beneath me face-down.

“Let go! So what if you can fight? Out here, it’s not about fists! It’s about connections and power! Do you think I can’t make a single call and have hundreds of people come over here to beat you up?”

He kept squirming and shouting arrogantly.

I let him go. Not because I was afraid, but because arguing with him any longer was only going to delay my trip home for my family dinner.