Deborah’s eerie smile gave Darcy the chills. It was a hair-raising moment for Darcy. “You’re despicable.” Darcy shook in rage and said angrily, “You’re the devil, you know that? “You’re only going to get yourself killed.” “Devil?” Deborah chuckled smugly. “So be it.“Besides, I only became the devil because of you and Kaze. “Are you scared? Tsk, tsk. This is only the beginning of my revenge.” Deborah sniggered. Her laughter echoed in the empty mansion, adding a spooky vibe. Fighting back the nausea, Darcy raised her arm and looked at the time before uttering indifferently, “Kaze will be home soon. “You better leave if you don’t want to be thrown out.” Deborah shuddered. The smug look on her face vanished, bringing forth the terror. Even now, Deborah could not shake off the fear she had for Kaze. It was a result of multiple defeats and humiliations at the hands of Kaze, and the trauma haunted her. “Hmph! I’ll get even with him once he signs the Victim I
Kaze was furious. Deborah crossed the line when she threatened the lives of Hector, Agnes, and more. It was always better to be safe than sorry. Kaze did not want to sit around and wait for an attack that could put his family in danger. He would rather nip danger in the bud. After the phone call, Kaze dialed Loid’s number. “Are you cracking down on gangs or foreign entities again? Do you need my help in exerting control over the situation?” Once the call connected, Loid’s perky voice rang through. Kaze raised a brow. “Aren’t you happy? You must have good news. You don’t even mind me bothering you.” “Hahaha. I won’t call you a bother. Heck, I don’t mind helping you more.” Loid burst out laughing and said, “To be honest with you, I’m leaving the South River State soon.” “Oh? It sounds like a promotion to me. Congrats.” Kaze congratulated Loid. Loid replied with a smile, “You flatter me, Mr. God of War. It’s not exactly a promotion. “During your recent eradicat
Kaze went through the trouble of getting Loid to pass the message to avoid getting directly involved with internal affairs and stirring up gossip. He represented the military after all. “I’ll be sure to pass the message alone.” Loid was happy to help. “One more thing, Loid. Give me the resumes of those competing to be the mayor of Lilyrose.” Kaze relayed another request. Right from the start, Kaze was not going to interfere with the selection of a new mayor. He did not want to end up like Trent. However, circumstances forced his hand. Fanny was dead set on settling Miru up with Jerome to squeeze her husband into the mayoral position. The Quints’ main house, the Ridgesouth Quints, joined the race too. Even before a new mayor was announced, the Quints were ready to offer businesses to the main house in exchange for fame and privilege. It struck Kaze that the mayoral position in Lilyrose put many vested interests at stake.Lilyrose meant a lot to Kaze as a city.
Taken aback, Caleb asked, “Are you from Ryokan?” “No… Not yet, at least.” The woman clarified and said, “I was a student at the globally renowned Cousbank University. I manage Cherry Capital’s portfolio of investments. Cherry Capital runs under Cherry Bank.“But I trust my efforts will be rewarded with citizenship in Ryokan soon enough.” She was known as Violet Ren before. Rina always wished she had been born in Ryokan. Though she had not acquired citizenship there, she legally changed her name to reflect so. The woman’s abnormally fervent gaze rubbed Caleb the wrong way. “I see. Are you here on Cherry Capital’s behalf?” Caleb asked in a calm voice, the annoyance buried deep within. His personal feelings should not affect his work. It was only right to remain professional. Rina glanced at the seated stout man and said solemnly, “Mr. Leed, it’s believed that Lee Investment is putting their acquired private hospitals back into the market, and the ownership is for the may
The stout man slammed the armrest of the chair and got up with his finger up Caleb’s face. He launched into a tirade in his native language. “What did the idiot say?” Caleb asked with a grimace. Despite his unfamiliarity with the Ryokan language, he caught the familiar slur, ‘idiot’. Hence, Caleb called the stout man the same thing. Given his position as deputy mayor, Caleb would even swear to uphold the dignity and power of the mayor’s office. “Mr. Leed!” Rina yelled sternly. She said with a solemn face, “Please show some respect to Mr. Aki. “Mr. Aki heads up the investment division at Cherry Capital. His family, the Akis, is prominent in Ryokan. Caleb scoffed. “Show him respect? Are you saying that he can call me an idiot, but I can’t? “Are you from Ryokan or Acardia, Ms. Rina?” Rina scowled and said angrily, “Mr. Leed, please watch your manners. You represent the mayor’s office. “If you continue to make these personal attacks on me, I have the right to sue you
“Either way, the six hospitals are mine.” Aki, despite his short stature, spoke with an air of superiority. If the policy was a fake, another should be structured in a manner that would uniquely position Cherry Capital as the most suitable candidate.However, the policy, if real, should be abolished. He presented such demands as perfectly reasonable.“I’m calling it a day, Mr. Leed. I hope you will consider what I just said.” Aki straightened his collar and walked out. The group of men and women followed him. Nevertheless, Rina cocked her head back at the door and stared coldly at Caleb. “I hope you got the message, Mr. Leed. “You won’t be the deputy mayor for long if you can’t meet his requests. “I don’t have to elaborate on Sanwell Finances’ influence in Arcadia.” The group then strutted out. In the reception area, Caleb grimaced hard. Moments later, Lou entered the room and gasped when he learned of the incident from Caleb. “I can’t believe Sanwell Financ
“Even if the driver was acting under instructions, we need to wait for him to wake up to interrogate him.” Caleb spoke in hushed tones, “Excuse me for asking, Mr. Lee. Are you involved?” Kaze was not the only one who found the timing too coincidental. Caleb thought Kaze was behind it right away. “Yeah, right!” Kaze glared at Caleb and said with a smile, “I only said I’ll deal with the situation. Did I say anything about killing him? “Besides, if I were to do something like that, would I resort to such a crude tactic?” Crashing a car was pretty crude. However, it did get the job done. If the problem could not be solved, then the source of the problem should be addressed. Kaze had thought about adopting extreme measures. In the worst-case scenario, Kaze was going to get someone influential to get a message across to Wells. Kaze would figure something else out if he could not get through to Kai. To his surprise, Kai died. “Regardless, it is a cause for celebra
“Chairman Lee, let’s not talk about the unhappy past. Come. Enjoy the food. We should clink glasses later.” Samson made light of the conversation. The owner of Dynasty Hotel played a gracious host too. “Let’s dine.” Kaze smiled nonchalantly, not accepting Samson’s invitation to sit at the dinner table. He and the owner of Dynasty Hotel went way back. Plus, Lilyrose Commerce Guild operated in the same building, so they often came across each other. Faced with Kaze’s disrespect, Samson kept a smile on his face and did not take any offense. Food and drinks were the best way to break the ice.The owner of Dynasty Hotel excused himself, leaving the pair some space to talk. “Just get to the point, Mr. Hobbs,” Kaze said while drinking some broth. Samson said, “To be honest, Chairman Lee. I wanted to have this meeting with you in the hope we can put the past behind us. “Technically, you and I have no feud. I only went after you under the Lees’ order because I worked for
“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