For once, even the unreachable prominent figures were courteous and friendly with the Lyfes. The delight helped the Lyfes grow a spine. Hart finally showed up. Syed sneered, “Oh, didn’t you talk about loyalty in the family? Why did you heed Mr. Hornberg’s call then?” “I bet you’re kicking yourself because you see how great we are doing now, Hart.” The other Lyfe family members taunted him. Ashen in the face, Hart said nothing. He could not bring himself to ignore Gareth’s invitation. The feeling of apprehension had not left Hart as he wondered why Gareth had summoned him. “Get inside. Don’t stick out like a sore thumb at the entrance.” Syed lashed out at Hart before lifting his chin arrogantly for a scoff. The Lyfes would hit it big time after tonight. They believed the dumbest thing Hart ever did was cut ties with them. Once some heavy hitters entered the scene, the Lyfes stopped attending to guests at the door. The feast began at 7:00 PM. Guests were sea
The air crackled with tension at the start of the feast. To everybody’s surprise, Gareth demanded the new mayor show his face. Either way, the new mayor ran the city. Yet, Gareth, fresh off the plane, had utter disregard for him. Some who kept in the loops of things were aware of Gareth’s motives. Gareth did not come all the way to Lilyrose just to confront Kaze. He had his eye on the upcoming Lilyrose New City project. If Gareth could overpower the new mayor, Gareth would basically be running the city. Anybody who wanted to dip their fingers into the project would have to go through Gareth. The venue was pin-drop silent. Normally, no one dared to break the silence for fear of being caught in the drama. Nevertheless, the crowd was filled with anticipation. The new mayor had been in office for a while now, and he had never made a public appearance, not even on the local news. No one knew what the mysterious mayor looked like. Maybe the identity of the new mayo
The Lyfes consoled Gareth at the front of the hall. “Calm down, Mr. Hornberg. It doesn’t matter whether the mayor comes or not. You’re the star tonight.” “That’s right. No one can take the limelight away from you.” “Please take a seat.” Gareth nodded. He went to the head of the table to sit down. “Weren’t you expecting an answer from the mayor’s office, Gareth? “Don’t bother looking back. I’ll give one to you now.” A harsh voice cut through. The remark caused a stir among the crowd. It was clear that the speaker held Gareth’s threat in contempt. The speaker’s defiant tone was telltale. Gareth paused. As his face fell, he turned his attention to the source of the voice. The crowd looked in the direction of where the voice was coming from too. Many gasped restrainedly when their eyes laid on the face. They recognized who it was. “Kaze!” Mary Sue, Syed, and the others grimaced. They were surprised that Kaze would show up at the Lyfes’ residence. Sur
Kaze said indifferently, “You’re out of your depth, so you used Gareth against me. Get lost. I don’t have time for you.” “You!” Trent heaved heavily and pointed at Kaze resentfully. “Fine. I’ll watch you crash and burn today.” Amid the strange looks from the crowd, Trent took a seat with an ashen face. He looked at Kaze grimacingly. “You sure are cocky in my party, Kaze. Do you even take me seriously?” Gareth said chillingly. Trent’s statement was the last thing on Gareth’s mind. The question of whether Kaze was the mayor was not important because the showdown between Kaze and Gareth was happening anyway. Kaze asked with a smile, “Aren’t you asking the obvious?” Tension hung heavy in the air. Kaze sure did not see Gareth as a threat. Gareth was upset. He eyed Kaze while figuring out where the latter’s confidence stemmed from. He was not in a hurry to set Kaze straight. “You’re taking things far by starting trouble here and disrespecting Mr. Hornberg, Lee.”
The Lyfes shared Darry’s sentiment. Anyone would cower in fear upon learning that Gareth invited Lilyrose’s most prominent figures to go up against them. Surely, Kaze was no exception too. Gareth’s reputation for aggression was well-known, and he would not even show the mayor of Lilyrose basic respect.Little did Kaze know, he upset Gareth without knowing the degree of Gareth’s horrible influence. Now that the Lilyrose VIPs heeded Gareth’s invitation, Kaze must have been terrified and knew he had done it this time. “A numbskull? Ha.” Kaze smiled and looked at Darry like he was an idiot. “What? Am I wrong?” Darry scoffed and swaggered toward Kaze. He said smugly, “You call us out for kissing Mr. Hornberg’s ass, Lee. “I admit that we are ass-kissers. “But you’re just a loser. You don’t even have the right to suck up to Mr. Hornberg.“You’re not worth Mr. Hornberg’s time. He will just kill you. “I might consider giving you a chance to kiss up to me and my family if
Darry exerted all his might. However, Kaze stayed rooted to the ground. “Fuck! Just kneel!” Humiliated, Darry shouted angrily, then raised his hand to hit Kaze. Kaze narrowed his eyes and retaliated with a slap. “Smack!” Blood bled out of Darry’s nose. Darry was knocked back and slammed into the ground, bouncing twice.He did not make a sound the entire time, not even opening his eyes. Silence befell the room. The crowd looked at Kaze, dumbfounded, their eyes widened. Kaze had the nerve to attack the Lyfes in front of Gareth. They wondered if Kaze was aware of his actions. “Darry!” After a long pause, Syed reeled in from the shock and ran to his son with a scream. “Are you okay, Darry? Are you okay?” Since it was not the time to lash out at Kaze, other members of the Lyfe family approached Darry, shaking and calling out his name. Alas, Darry was unresponsive. Syed came to a realization when he stared at Darry’s lifeless body. He reached out his trembl
With his eyes bulging, Gareth stared at Kaze menacingly. He shifted his chilling gaze from Kaze to Mary Sue, Syed, and the others. Mary Sue, Syed, and the group felt chills running down their spines as if they were preyed upon by a vicious beast. They could not understand the body language between Kaze and Gareth. “You’re evil, Kaze. It’s cruel of you to put him in a coma when he only criticized you a little.” Syed stood up with bloodshot eyes and glared resentfully at Kaze. Gritting his teeth, he kneeled before Gareth and shouted devastatingly, “Please kill Kaze, Mr. Hornberg. My family will be eternally grateful to you. We will serve you wholeheartedly.” “Get lost.” Gareth responded with a kick. “Blegh!” Syed coughed out blood and collapsed to the ground. “Grandmaster Hornberg?” Pale in the face, Mary Sue looked at Syed confusedly. Gareth flung his arm back, slamming Mary Sue away. Um… Silence hung heavy in the air. The crowd was dumbfounded. Gareth
Kaze demanded Gareth to leave Lilyrose. It was a last warning to Gareth. The crowd could not believe the words coming out of Kaze’s mouth. They suspected their ears were playing tricks on them. The whole thing was so bizarre. The Quints’ son-in-law just threatened Gareth, the renowned martial artist from Sunrise City. The roles should be switched. It would have made more sense if the threat came from Gareth. “Just do it, sir. Kill Lee!” “We need to make an example out of him!” “Show these bozos in Lilyrose that no one should challenge your authority!” Gareth’s disciples clamored savagely. For Kaze to insult their mentor, he was insulting them too. The disciples would jump on Kaze at Gareth’s command. The tension was coming to a breaking point. Amid the crowd, the heads of the Vikroms, Logmans, Joestars, and several others aware of Kaze’s identity were kept in suspense. Once Gareth chose violence, blood would be shed tonight in Lilyrose. Gareth stared K
“How dare those men hijack the plane and take Kaze. They must be punished…” Despite her grumbles, Snow grew anxious. “Given Mr. Lee’s capabilities, he won’t be hurt.” The agents around her tried to comfort her. They believed she was being too nervous. “I know, but we as subordinates have failed him by allowing this to happen. We have to do our best to make up for the mistake, and not rely on Mr. Lee to get out because he can.” Snow drowned in self-blame and regretted not being able to help. It was her negligence that allowed the hijacking to happen. “But there’s nothing you can do now. It’s late. Even the hijackers need to rest. They won’t do anything yet.” “It’s because the hijackers need to rest that we have to hurry and beat them to it. That’s the only way to solve this matter!” “But we’ve searched high and low and didn’t find anything. No one knows where they have gone. Even if they transported the passengers via buses, we didn’t see any tracks.” The agents discu
Kaze breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly went over to Miguel and pressed his hands with the gun down so that it would not misfire. “Good job.” “Thanks.” Miguel curled his lips into a nervous smile. He frequently trained in the gym and mixed martial arts but had never encountered any real-life incident before, thus being inexperienced. Fortunately, his mentality was stronger than the others and allowed him to act accordingly. “I’ll be taking the gun. This is self-defense, you won’t be charged and you won’t need to take responsibility,” Kaze said. Miguel’s pale face looked relieved. “What should we do now? Are there more of them?” Miguel dared not let go of the gun, worried there might be more enemies. “I’ve counted the numbers and this guy here should be the last one.” He then took the gun from Miguel’s hands. “Really? Gosh! That was crazy! I was so terrified!” Miguel finally loosened up and let his instinct take over. His heart was pounding so fast that it
Manson came over and saw the mercenaries lying in their own puddle of blood. The gore shocked him and made him sick. He tried his best to hold back the urge to throw up as it would attract attention. “Don’t look if you can’t take it! Don’t make things worse!” “Yeah! Professor! Grow a pair of balls!” “I have never seen dead bodies like this before!” he explained with a flush of embarrassment on his face. “Can we go out now and run away?” The hostages were eager to leave as things had settled down outside. They thought the danger was over. A dead mercenary was inside the container with them and they were still horrified. Once the others found out about this, the hostages would be shot to death. “If you want to die, be my guest. The moment you step out, you’ll be shot!” Callahan said as he looked at the others scornfully. One of the hostages had already put his hand on the handle of the door and was ready to dash out, but he quickly pulled his hand back after listening
“Tsk. Hold on.” Vexed, the man clicked his tongue and then waved at his colleague. “Come here. Someone fainted. Help me get him out.” The man wanted to take the professor out of the container. Manson’s heart pounded as he listened to the man. He was afraid he might be exposed, but there was no turning back now—he had to play along. Kaze stood behind the door, calming his breath down to lower his presence. “Get back. Stay away from the door. If anyone gets close, don’t blame me for being rough,” said the man as he unlocked the container. He opened the door and saw a number of hostages still sleeping. He then looked at the professor on the floor. He went closer to nudge him but did not get a response. It seemed like the professor needed medical attention. “Come on. Help me get him out.” The other man outside the container was on edge, looking as if he would pull the trigger at the slightest movement. “Why don’t we do it?” Callahan and Miguel volunteered. “You two
“It’s freaking troublesome.” “Boss, don’t worry about it. We’ll get an update tomorrow.” “Yeah. It’s late. Get some rest.” Tiguan’s men told him to get some rest and not worry so much. A few of them were already snoring on the chair. Tiguan sighed and killed the cigarette. He then closed his eyes to get some rest, too. The container that Kaze was in fell into silence once more. No one dared to make any noise but they all looked at Kaze, hoping to find out about his plans. Kaze’s eyes remained fixed on the window and showed no intention of revealing his thoughts. Miguel and Callahan were annoyed by the other hostages. “If you people want to get out of here alive, you better cooperate or come up with your own idea. No one is responsible for saving you.”“Yeah. I don’t want you guys to turn on us after we do all the heavy lifting. It will cost us our lives and you people won’t even be grateful.” Miguel’s tone was sarcastic because he disliked how the others looked at t
Kaze read the hostages’ minds and refused to be used. He wanted to leave but not under such circumstances. “That’s not true. We just don’t have the skills for this kind of situation. You guys are stronger, of course, you should be in the front,” said the man in glasses and a suit. A hint of sharpness gleamed in his eyes. Miguel knew what the man was planning, either. “That’s some plan you have there. You are just trying to use us to escape this place and no matter what happens, you’ll win.” “That’s not it! I just want everyone to stand together and get out of this place. I’ve never thought of using anyone!” the man argued, trying to look innocent. Even a monkey knew what he was planning, yet no one dared to speak up because they would benefit from it too. “Why don’t you guys think of something? If you need our help, we’ll help,” said another middle-aged gentleman who looked more just and fair, as if he could lead the group. “Then what is your plan?” Kaze suddenly wante
The hostages were locked up in the containers. Some of them were elites in their own field while some were ordinary people with average income, yet all of them got into trouble when they boarded the plane. Most of them could not accept their fate. Yet they dared not defy or resist the mercenaries. When things started to calm down, they broke down in tears, weeping in silence as resentment consumed them. Kaze sat down at a clean corner that allowed him to look outside the window. The window was dirty but at least he could see outside. The space inside the container was filled with people sitting closely, offering comfort to one another. They were aware they were just temporarily safe in this container. No one knew what the mercenaries would do to them at the next moment. “My parents must be worried. I said I would call them when I land but now I can’t even get in touch,” Barney muttered as he sat beside Kaze. He too looked outside the window, his feelings mixed. He watc
Kaze thought of what he had overheard in the toilet. If he told the hostages about that, they would probably panic. “It’s nothing. They are just going to separate us into different rooms or containers. They said the buses would be disposed of,” he said. He did not want to reveal too much because it would cause panic. Once the hostages knew their lives were on the line, things might spiral out of control. The mercenaries could kill a few of them to make an example, and none of the hostages would dare to cause problems anymore. Kaze kept it a secret because he wanted to protect the people. “That’s it?” “Is there anything else? How many men are there? What is their plan? Who are they looking for?” “We want to know because we want to survive. This isn't our problem—we just got caught up in it.” The hostages looked at Kaze, their eyes filled with worry. They felt aggrieved because they should not be caught in such a huge problem. “I don’t know either.” No matter how m
“There’s a room there. Get in.” The mercenary pointed his gun at the mother and son, which led them to look at Kaze nervously, seemingly asking for help. “What do you want?” The mother was nervous. She clutched her son’s hand tightly, nearly making him cry, but she reacted quickly enough to cover her son’s mouth to prevent him from doing so. “All women must go into that room. You go in now,” the mercenary explained. He did not want the woman to get the wrong idea. “You people won’t hurt me, right?” the mother asked, worried that she might be ravaged. “We are not into MILF,” said the other mercenary who was escorting Kaze, indirectly assuring the mother. Kaze shot a glance at the mother and nodded at her. “They told us they were going to separate us, so there’s nothing to worry about,” he said, worried that the mother and son would not cooperate. The mother then carried her son and followed the other mercenary into the room. It was called a room but it was actually ju