A thug with a baseball bat in his hand pointed at Conan, threatening him. “Put it away,” Kaze said indifferently. He then looked at the thug and asked, “Who are you guys?” Conan put his phone away immediately. His men were capable enough to deal with the thugs. In other words, they did not pose a threat to Kaze. “You will find out real soon.” The thug glanced at Kaze and then took his phone out. “Mr. Libra, we got the punk here in the parking lot of the five-star hotel.” “Great. Nicely done. I’m on my way! Keep him busy! I want to teach him a lesson that he will not forget. I want him to know who he can mess with and who he cannot. “After tonight, I want him to be terrified of Cole Libra for the rest of his life!” A few minutes later, a Mercedes drove into the parking lot, drifting to a stop in front of Kaze and the other thugs. Then, several more jeeps followed in through the entrance. A dozen more thugs came down from the jeeps and some of them even had a female
“That’s because you are shallow-minded, but now you should have seen it.” Kaze remained composed and leaned back against the car despite being mocked by Cole. “Shallow-minded?” Cole laughed but it felt strange and cold. People who knew him better knew that whenever he cackled, someone would have to suffer. Cole might not be the young master or wealthy lord of a big family but since his uncle was the mayor of Riverbank, possessing the authority and power of a vice governor, he acted arrogantly and always disrespected people. He was afraid of no one in Riverbank. “Kaze Lee, you think too highly of yourself.” Cole took a deep puff from his cigar as he stared at Kaze as if he was a dead person. “You really think because you saved my uncle’s life you can act like a fool before me? Yeah, my uncle appreciates your help and values you, he thinks you are some disciple of a grandmaster. “But we checked your background. You are just a live-in son-in-law who got kicked out, you
Cole took a few more puffs from his cigar. Even the clouds of smoke failed to shield his smirks at Kaze. He saw a frosty glare from Kaze but it did not bother him. “Punk, do as you are told. I am sure that if you wait until Cole makes you do it, you will suffer badly.” The woman who Cole hugged earlier came over to curl her arms around his arm and mocked Kaze. The thugs stared at Kaze with a ferocious grin, their eyes had nothing but contempt. They thought Kaze was someone powerful, which explained his confidence in defying Cole, but it turned out that he was just an idiot from a small city. With Cole’s status and position, even though he was not the strongest in Riverbank, he had dealt with many arrogant playboys who crossed his path. All of them looked down at him for just being the mayor’s nephew but in the end, they all got down on their knees and begged for mercy. To be honest, Kaze was nothing compared to those arrogant playboys. With Cole’s power, he could step
Everyone was stunned. No one thought Kaze would hit Cole under such circumstances, and he did not hold back at all. Cole’s woman and the thugs were all petrified, their eyes widened in disbelief. It was the first time they saw someone had the nerves to go up against Cole in Riverbank, let alone one-sidedly beat him up. Everyone knew Cole as the nephew of the mayor. Even the gangsters of the underworld would bow and smile to him when they learned of his identity. Every gangster would try to curry favor with him. Offending Cole would mean total annihilation, regardless of how big or powerful the gang was. It was foolish for the ordinary to go up against the authority. No matter how powerful the gangster boss was, he was no match for the police officers from the police department. The sultry woman was petrified. She covered her mouth in disbelief and her body was shaking. Kaze was on a spree and would not just stop after a kick. He grabbed Cole by the hair and slappe
“If the people you called can scare me, I will break my arms and legs for you.” Kaze then slapped Cole again, sending him sliding away. The poor guy curled up on the ground and twitched in pain. “Don’t just stand there! Get him! Why do you think Cole is paying you?” The sultry woman shouted at the thugs, urging them to do something. A dozen of the thugs regained their senses and quickly jumped on Kaze. “Bro, I can take this.” Conan stepped in and volunteered to deal with the thugs, with his bare fists. Following a barrage of slaps and ceaseless cries, more than a dozen thugs were slapped to the ground. Ever since Conan started following Kaze, he learned from the best and realized slapping people in the face dealt the most damage, physically and emotionally. Cole never took Conan seriously before this. After Conan slapped all the thugs to the ground, Cole was terrified. He could not believe even Kaze’s followers were that strong. “Give me my phone, I have to call
Kaze sent Darcy a picture of the fish he ate for dinner and came up with all kinds of lame excuses to tell her that he was doing well in Riverbank, telling her not to worry. Darcy had no idea how ‘amazing’ Kaze’s first day in Riverbank was. Kaze smiled happily. Everyone said he was kicked out by his wife’s family but only he knew that if Darcy could, she would abandon everything just to accompany him in Riverbank. His happy smile felt like an insult to Cole. Vroom! Ten minutes later, expensive cars drove into the parking lot one after another. All the cars looked flamboyant with lights and decorations around it. One could tell the driver or the owner was a show-off. Cole had a lot of friends in Riverbank and he called all of them here just to support him. They might not be able to help him physically but they represented their family or organization. Their backgrounds and influences could easily threaten the ordinary. Cole planned for this the moment he dialed the n
Kaze might not sound as harsh as Cole but it sounded real. People in the parking lot knew that he was serious. They looked at him with eyes widened in disbelief. How dare a bumpkin like him challenge Cole in front of more than a hundred people? Cole did not expect Kaze’s bold challenge either. He stomped on the car and shouted, “Kaze Lee, if you keep pissing me off, you will only end up worse! When I get my hands on you, you will suffer even more!” Kaze scanned over the crowd and smiled. “Cole, if these pieces of trash are all you brought, then I would suggest you start kneeling and crawl toward the exit. There’s quite a distance, I’m afraid you might not make it outside in one night.” Cole was furious. “You motherfucker! Kaze Lee, you will know what are the consequences of pissing me off!” “Consequences? What consequences?” Kaze pursed his lips and said casually, “I just gave you a kick, a few slaps, and burned you with the cigar.” To the crowd, it sounded like Kaz
Collier heard that someone from another city came to Riverbank and challenged Cole. Without further ado, he decided to take the matter into his own hands. He failed to crush Kaze but he was confident this time. If this person decided to come all the way to their turf and challenge one of the most powerful people here, then he would suffer the consequences of doing so. Collier gathered his men and headed to the scene. “Mr. Ettinger, you are finally here!” “You’re hurt? You have to be more careful!” “Yeah. Young Master Collier, you are the representative of the younger generation here in Riverbank…” When Collier arrived in the parking lot, the other young men and women made way for him by stepping back and greeting him with the most flattering smile, trying to leave an impression on him. Listening to all the flattery, Collier felt a surge of pride welling inside him. The confidence that he lost returned to him. “Mr. Ettinger, you are finally here!” Cole jumped down
“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