“Is it urgent? Want me to give you a ride?” Lock said as he put down the teapot. “It’s okay, Mr. Yemen. They are sending a car to pick me up,” Kaze said before he walked out of the door. “Hmph! He’s just calling a ride but he has to act like someone is here to pick him up, like he’s some big shot.” Ryna grumbled after Kaze left. She felt uncomfortable with Kaze in the house. Now that Kaze had left, the air felt fresher. …Kaze went downstairs and waited for Hamlin at the entrance of the neighborhood. In less than a cigarette’s time, a black Audi with the car plate ‘Riverbank 00001’ arrived before him. “Mr. Lee.” Hamlin came down and opened the door for him. Kaze glanced at Hamlin’s messy hair and the claw marks on his face. He nodded and got into the car. “What happened to you?” After the car drove off, Kaze asked curiously. As the mayor’s driver, Hamlin always had to make sure his image was presentable, decent at least. Yet he looked like he just fought a
“We’ll see when I see her,” Kaze said. It was better to determine with his eyes than speculate with thoughts. “Is the mayor okay?” he asked. Last night, he did not reveal that the curse on Myra was probably targeted at Kent. There were multiple attempts on Kent’s life before this and he even got cursed recently, which almost succeeded if it had not been for Kaze. Now that Kent was aware that someone was after his life, using his daughter to deliver an unexpected strike was completely possible. Of course, it might be entirely about something else either. Regardless, be it Kent or Myra, both of them were cursed almost at the same time, which meant that the mastermind had been planning this for a long time. Hamlin gulped nervously. “It’s such a coincidence that you broke Cole’s arms yesterday. He came back to us and cried to Mr. Synder, asking him to avenge him. “So in order to give Myra some peace and quiet time, Mr. Synder went downstairs to the living room and he did
Kent and Jane were behind the bodyguards. Their eyes teared up and their faces pale. “Don’t use the tranquilizers, don’t hurt Myra! She will stop when she gets tired!” Kent said anxiously as he hugged his exhausted wife. The tranquilizers required skills to fire and a little mistake could inflict irreversible damage on the target. Even though Kent had no idea what caused his daughter to behave like a beast, he did not want to hurt her unless absolutely necessary. “Mr. Synder, Mr. Lee is here!” Hamlin quickly ran over. “Kaze!” Kent looked at Kaze before tapping on Jane’s shoulder, calming her down. He then let go of her and went up to Kaze. He said softly, “Kaze, I was sorry about last night. I should have trusted you. Like you said, Myra is on a rampage right now.” He looked guilty as he apologized. He deeply regretted dismissing Kaze last night. Kaze said Myra was cursed and the curse might be lethal, yet no one believed him. This morning, when Myra entered the t
In other words, no matter what kind of trouble Kaze got into, Kent would vouch for him and even protect him with his life and career. If news about this got out, many people would be jealous of Kaze. After all, in Riverbank, the mayor’s authority and power were only second to the South River State Governor. The slightest favor from the mayor was considered a lifetime worth of benefits for an ordinary person. “Why would I want your life for, Mr. Synder?” Kaze smiled vaguely. The mayor of Riverbank might be a prominent figure that people admired but it was nothing to Kaze. However, with Kent’s promise and help, Kaze could do things a lot more easily in Riverbank. “Come on, let’s go have a look at Myra first.” Kaze gestured at Kent, telling him to lead the way. “This way!” Kent took a deep breath and then brought Kaze into the house. When they entered the living room, they saw the elf-like girl in her pajamas and messy hair. The pure and innocent demeanor that she us
“Mr. Lee, Mrs. Synder is a religious Christian and a loyal patron of St. John Church. When she realized Professor Wilson couldn’t cure Myra, she contacted the church and asked for Pastor Angelo’s help.” Hamlin was worried that Kaze might misunderstand, so he quickly explained to Kaze softly. Kent did not disagree with inviting Pastor Angelo over because he could not be sure if Kaze would agree to help. Even if Kaze agreed, he might not be able to fully cure Myra. Pastor Angelo was different. He was a reputable clergyman in Riverbank and all of West State; many people had faith in him. If Myra was cursed like Kaze said, then inviting Pastor Angelo over might be the more suitable choice. Kaze nodded and did not say anything. It was understandable that the Synder family wanted more options to save their daughter. “Pastor Angelo, please save my daughter! If you can save Myra, I will donate to your church and support any kind of reconstruction!” Jane was behind Pastor Angelo
Kaze ignored Cole. He looked at Pastor Angelo and said, “Pastor, why don’t we have a test? Let’s see if your religion can save Myra, or if my murderous intent can bring her back from hell.” Usually, he never bothered to reply to mocking or sarcasm but Pastor Angelo pointed out that he was in hell with just a few glances—physically here, but mentally in hell. It meant that Pastor Angelo was not trying to mock or insult Kaze but he did see intense murderous intent in him. Kaze knew exactly what caused this condition. Killing one man would be a crime; killing ten thousand would be a monster. Killing nine million would be the monster of all monsters. Back on the foreign battlefield, tens of millions of lives perished in his hands. It was not exaggerating to call Kaze the embodiment of hell. He knew Pastor Angelo was not a fraudulent charlatan like Dr. Raph Tyson and was a man with true capabilities, so he decided to challenge him. Yet when the others heard him, they felt
Even Cole, an unbridled playboy, felt the power of the chants. He felt goosebumps and even had the urge to kneel. Pastor Angelo was indeed powerful. His chants filled the living room instantly. “That’s some powerful hypnosis technique. Is this the secret hypnosis practiced by the church?” Professor Wilson, who got beaten up earlier, finally recovered and came to the scene. He stood behind the group and watched Pastor Angelo work in admiration and awe. He might not understand the chants but as a professor with high achievements in psychology, he too had the urge to kneel. The strongest and most effective form of hypnosis would be religion. A religion had the most number of followers compared to any other psychologist. Even the most powerful politician, the richest man in the world, or even the most vicious criminals had their own beliefs in religion. Professor Wilson used to study different religions and had a decent understanding of Christianity. He knew the church
Upon hearing Kaze, Hamlin’s expression shifted a little. Kent’s heartfelt smile faded and his brows furrowed. “Hmph…” Cole wanted to continue mocking Kaze but then a frosty voice interrupted him. “Old man, you’re dead!” Everyone was shocked by the cold and hoarse voice because it came from Myra, who looked calm and peaceful a moment ago. Myra spoke, but the voice from her mouth did not belong to her. It sounded rough and demonic. It felt like something vile and filthy was inside the girl’s pure and innocent body. “Myra…” Kent and Jane were horrified. Despite looking at the familiar face, their daughter felt like a total stranger to them. Under everyone’s horrified gazes, Myra lifted her foot and took a step forward, seemingly trying to approach Pastor Angelo. “Protect the pastor!” The clergies quickly surrounded the pastor. “Stand down!” Pastor Angelo bellowed all of a sudden. Shocked, the clergies reluctantly stepped away. Pastor Angelo stepped forward an
“Give me an answer. Are you taking the job? If you are, you should sort out your affairs. Don’t bring your personal feelings to work.” Snow was not the type to go easy on fragile women. If Leah did not have what it took, she could be forced to leave the company. Nevertheless, Katie had left a lot of assets to Leah. Even without work, Leah could very well survive. The girl would have trouble keeping the wealth, seeing that she was without power or connections. If Leah had a job, she would have the resources to hold onto her assets. Leah had seen the best and worst of mankind. She was once the center of attention, and now, everybody avoided her. It dawned on Leah that it was over for Katie. If Leah could not even keep a job, she would lose everything. “I didn’t know things would happen.” Leah never thought that Katie was capable of stabbing Kaze and her in the back. The thought of betrayal put Leah in distress. Kaze was a great guy who helped Leah a lot. Feeling ete
Leah got dressed and was ready to leave, but she did not know who to turn to. She thought about going to her wealthy friends to see if they could uncover anything through their connections. However, Leah could not get a hold of them. It dawned on Leah that loyalty would fade when power was gone. Even though Katie was just missing, intel spread around Butterworth very quickly. These people must have found out and have chosen to stay away. Leah had always been treated like royalty. Nobody had ever avoided her like the plague. Nevertheless, she had not been in touch with these friends since her injury. Now, in her attempt to contact them, she could not reach them. “Why is this happening? My good friends have gone MIA, and I’m getting silence from those who have been trying to connect.” Sitting on the couch, Leah looked out the window in despair. She tried to seek help with her mother’s search, but her efforts were futile. She could do nothing for her mother. All al
“I have to work hard starting today. But before that, I have to get some sleep.” Snow remembered that Kaze punished her to get some sleep. He said her face looked tired and pale, signs of how hard she had been working. It felt great being cared for. It was because of his kindness, Snow fell for Kaze uncontrollably. Yet she understood not all things were meant to be. After she returned home, she went to sleep immediately without talking to anyone. She only woke up in the afternoon after a comfortable and easy sleep. Next, she would have to work on many things, first being taking over Northborn Group. Katie’s disappearance had the company shaken, but it gave many others a chance. They tried to calm their subordinates down and contact the higher-ups for more information, hoping that they could replace Katie as the new CEO. Little did they know, their preparations would eventually fall short. Snow and her secretary arrived at Northborn Group in the afternoon, and her a
“Worried about the mercenaries? I’ve taken all of them out and anyone with a sane mind would know by now not to come after me. Why would they make the same mistake again?” Kaze killed all the mercenaries. There was no one else the mastermind could send after him anymore. Even if there were, they would have to reconsider it after what had happened. Taking out the mercenaries in silence was a strong showcase of his strength. Once the mastermind found out, he or she would definitely stay away. Besides, Kaze had decided to continue his journey to Westeros without telling anyone. He could board a random flight to his destination, and no one would ever know. “Take me to the airport,” Kaze said to the driver. He and Snow were in the rear seat. “When you go back to Butterworth, don’t rush things. Now that Katie has made a mistake and is forced to step down, you can take over Northborn Group,” Kaze said. “Speaking of Katie, after I locked her up, her daughter, Leah, came to me
Miguel stated his strength so that Kaze and Snow would look at him differently. “That doesn’t mean we have to choose you.” Snow saw nothing stellar in him. Snow’s harsh words surprised Miguel and left him deeply displeased. Yet when he looked at Kaze, he dared not say a word. “I can work hard. Even if I am not qualified now, I can work toward that goal.” “Of course, you are not qualified now. You need to improve yourself to meet the basic requirements. Then we’ll talk about you joining us.” Snow just wanted to get this matter over and done with, so she handed Miguel her name card. “When you think you are qualified, you can give me a call.” Since she would eventually take over the largest force in Butterworth, she needed to build a team of her own—one she could truly trust. Miguel might just be an ordinary man who looked fierce but he was courageous and had the potential to be better. “Can I follow him instead?” Miguel took the name card and learned Snow’s name. He
“You did well,” Kaze praised Miguel. It was not easy for someone to fire a gun and take a life, even when he had basic training. Though without the proper technique and training, the shot was nothing stellar. “Really?” Miguel was thrilled by the praise. He might be tall and fit and have arms full of tattoos, but he had never gotten into a fight before. He was happy that someone he admired praised him. It made his day even more than escaping alive. Kaze wanted to continue but the cars had arrived. He walked forward and revealed himself in front of the headlights. The hostages were scared. They stepped back, some of them entered the hangar once more and tried to shut the door. Miguel stood in their way and stopped them from closing it up. “What are you doing? Kaze is still here and help has arrived. Stop hiding,” he said. He detested their selfish behavior. Kaze saved them but they did not even thank him. They even continued to suspect Kaze’s identity. Their be
“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