Autumn did not delve into the topic. She said, “Invincible Lee, to be honest, all of this started because of the Hidens’ extensive reach. “Back when Albert became the chief commander, it was a move they made to target the West State’s political scene. That woman in the Hiden family has always been ambitious and wanted to inject their influence into the West State. “No one likes a stranger sleeping on their couch. The folks in the West State won’t just sit back and watch the Hidens creep into their turf.” “You are saying it’s the Westeros Fowlers?” Kaze asked with furrowed brows. The Westeros Fowlers were a powerful family whose influence blanketed the whole state. Autumn’s silence practically verified Kaze’s speculation. Kaze shook his head. The relationship between big families was as complicated as always. A while ago, the Hidens tried to arrange for Miru to marry Jerome from the Fowlers. It really seemed like the two families finally got to a mutual understanding and
Kaze said, “It seems like the almighty Viper Queen isn’t as cold as they claim, you even know that I sent Miru to Riverbank. “Are you trying to use me to clean up the Fowlers’ spies in the Viper’s Den this time?” A while back, Jerome was able to get the Viper’s Den agents to give Kaze a hard time. It was proof that the Fowlers had infiltrated the West State Viper’s Den thoroughly, like sand in creeks. Kaze knew what Autumn had in her mind. Autumn did not mind her intention being revealed. She said indifferently, “That depends on how you want to look at things. You ruined the marriage arrangement between the Fowlers and the Hidens, you really think you can walk away from Jerome Fowler?” “Then you are saying this is a mutual working relationship? Hehe…” Kaze chuckled and then hung up the phone. He had to admit that Autumn was insightful in this matter. He did ruin the marriage arrangement between Miru and Jerome, so whether the Fowlers cared about the marriage or not, f
Kaze went up to the young man and asked, “Rex? I’m Kaze, Mr. Yemen’s student…” Rex pulled his attention back from a girl and had a good look at Kaze. When he saw the casual clothes and the sack of luggage, looking like a country man’s first visit to the big city, disdain and contempt immediately appeared on his face. “Where have you been? You kept me waiting, you know that? Is this your first time on the train?” Rex was Ryna’s nephew. A few years ago, when Lock’s business started to profit, they needed a driver, so Rex filled the spot. After driving Lock around for a few years, Rex got the opportunity to meet some wealthy people, so he too, assumed the identity of one. He completely forgot that he was once from the countryside. Even after he moved to the city, he still had the same personality. He looked down on people who dressed poorly. Early in the morning, he received a call from Lock and asked him to pick up someone from the train station. If Lock had high regard
The Mercedes drove off the train station but Kaze did not ask Rex where they were going. He was not afraid that Rex would play tricks on him. People like Rex looked down on those beneath them but feared anyone with greater power. All Kaze needed to do was intimidate him with force and he would stay put. After the kick and slap, Rex already knew that he should not mess with Kaze, or else he would be getting a lesson that he would not forget for the rest of his life. The Mercedes continued to drive across the main avenue of Riverbank. Skyscrapers flew by outside the window. Even though the city was incomparable to Westeros, the capital of the West State, it was still the main financial hub. Its influence reached every corner of the West State, plus a couple of other states as well. It was the heart of the entire state. Someone used to say that Westeros represented the past glory of the West State and Riverbank represented the bright future. Whoever took control of Riv
Kaze knew Magnus alone had 30% shares in Golden Scale Corporation. The other three branch leaders of the West State Viper’s Den, such as Jacob, Malova’s husband, who died in Kaze’s hands, had 10%. In addition, as the branch chief of the South River Branch, Newell also received 20% of the company shares due to its special position in the West State. The remaining percentages of the shares were public assets owned by the Viper’s Den. With the Viper’s Den’s authority and resources, the profits from businesses were mostly shared among prominent figures, which explained why people wanted to join the organization. Now that Magnus, Newell, and his son, Brad, had died in Kaze’s hands, the assets and shares of the company that they had left became a prize for the others to compete. To seize the shares, the entire West State Viper’s Den was in chaos, and the organization had devolved into a dog-eat-dog situation. The competition even involved the outside world, which caused a mess
“This way, Sir.” The waiter led Kaze to Lock’s reserved VIP room. To keep the confidentiality of the guests, all guests who dined in Bourbon were hosted in independent VIP rooms. “Huh? That young man…” The manager of the branch saw Kaze’s figure and furrowed his brows curiously. A moment of hesitation later, he dialed a number on his phone. “Hello, Mr. Queen, I’m Roger, the manager of Bourbon Riverbank Branch. I remember you once told us that if we see Mr. Kaze Lee, we should serve him with our best. I think I just spotted him in my branch…” …Knock, knock. With the sack of medicine in his hand, Kaze followed the waiter to the VIP room and waited for the waiter to knock on the door. “I think Wesley and Cyan are here! Do you know that Wesley’s uncle, Jude, is the vice branch chief of Viper’s Den South River Branch? He’s also likely to become the new branch chief! “Wesley is trying to date Cyan and I like the young man a lot.” Through the door, Kaze heard the voice o
Ryna’s eyes had a brazen contempt and it could not escape Kaze’s eyes. He said, “Mr. Yemen asked your driver to bring me here. He said I can join you guys for a meal before going back to your place.” “What is Lock thinking, asking you to come here? Doesn’t he know this is an important occasion?” Ryna grumbled out of frustration. She then dragged Kaze away to a secluded corner and whispered, “Kaze, this meeting is important to our family. The guests are all wealthy and powerful, you shouldn’t be here.” At the same time, she opened her purse and took some cash out, probably around 2,000 dollars. She shoved the money into Kaze’s hands and said, “Take these and go find something to fill your stomach. If you don’t know the way, I’ll ask Rex to drive you around. You can meet up with Lock at home later.” She obviously took Kaze as a freeloader. Kaze frowned and gave the money back. “Thank you, Mrs. Yemen. I am not here to beg.” “Look at you, what are you talking about?” Ryna
When Ryna saw her husband shove the bank card into Kaze’s hand, her expression turned cloudy. Kaze was no longer a kid yet Lock had to take care of him. He was not just facing a decline in his career. He was broke, bankrupt, and he was obviously here to seek help from Lock. “Mr. Yemen, you should take this back. I have money. If there is one day that I really go broke, I will ask for your help then,” Kaze joked and gave the card back. Why would he want the money? “Alright.” Lock noticed the bitter look on his wife’s face and he simply assumed Kaze wanted to save face, so he did not delve into the topic. “Come on, let’s go in.” He then invited Kaze into the room. “You are just in time. I told you yesterday that I will be having some guests over and they are all seniors in the business world, plus their children. I’ll introduce you to them. “You have to know some friends and secure some connections if you want to expand here in Riverbank.” Not only did Lock offer to s
“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