Jude even thought about taking the Nether Viper Sword for himself. Considering Kaze’s fighting prowess, Jude probably would fail even with the help of Serene and the other members hidden around the room. Word about the Nether Viper Sword would get out if Jude pushed Kaze too far. At that point, the powerful figures within the West State Branch would fight Jude over the sword. Jude was just a deputy chief. He doubted he could keep the sword for himself. A million thoughts raced through Jude’s mind. Moments later, he raised his drink at Kaze. “Here’s a toast to you, Kaze.” “What are you up to now?” Kaze grinned indifferently and took a sip of his drink. Jude let out a dry chuckle and said grimly, “Don’t be so hostile, Kaze. I was just having a moment. “You haven’t known my daughter for long, and you even got off the wrong foot. “Yet, here you are, giving up the Nether Viper Sword, a symbol of power in the West State for her. I am touched. “I have made up my mind.
Kaze was not lying. Jude was naïve to think that the Nether Viper Sword would make him the branch chief or branch leader right away. The sword alone could do nothing. Without the right competence, possession of the sword would only bring more harm than good. The holder of the sword would risk theft and even their life. Things would not go Jude’s way if he tried to use the sword to demand subservience from Hannah and Collier or to make a deal with a senior member of the West State Branch. This was why Kaze had no qualms about selling the sword off. Kaze had the power to get it back anyway. “Thank you, Kaze.” Wiping away her tears, Buffy said with a smile, “I find it hard to accept what my dad has done, but I’m happy to have a thoughtful friend like you.“I’m not your woman. Heck, I’ve only known you for a few days. Still, you gave up the sword for me. That’s something I won’t forget. “I will do everything I can to seek justice for my mother. “You’ve done enough fo
Jude began plotting ways to maximize his gain through the Nether Viper Sword the moment he walked out of Scarlet Creek. “Kaze sold it to you?” Faith was dumbfounded, her face somber as she asked, “How much was it?” The way she saw it, it was only right for Kaze to present the sword to make up for slapping Jude, causing a scene at the Gwakes’ residence, hurting Faith, and upsetting Casius by hitting on Buffy. Yet, Jude paid good money to acquire the sword. It was absurd. “Two billion dollars.” Jude tugged at his beard, his heart aching for the money. “What? Two billion dollars?” Faith slammed her glass onto the drink hold and said frustratedly, “Have you lost your mind, Jude? It’s bad enough that Lee demanded a fortune, but I can’t believe you’d go through with it too.“He should have presented the sword to you, no questions asked.“We’re talking about two billion dollars, not twenty thousand dollars.” Faith was in great pain of losing two billion dollars. It was a
“Hannah and Collier released the news ahead of us through Golden Scale Corporation, Mr. Gwake.” Serene said with a sour face, “They claimed the Viper Queen sent a branch leader to reach them, saying that the Nether Viper Sword was lost in Riverbank. “They are offering a billion-dollar reward on behalf of the South River State Branch. Anyone can collect their reward at Golden Scale Corporation when the sword is located. “Anyone, including members of the organization, found stashing the sword away will face annihilation.” Silence befell inside the car. “Bam!” Jude crushed the glass in his hand, the shards cut into his skin and drew blood. His face was ashen. “Bastard! “Jerk!” Faith and Serene soon snapped out of their trance. Hannah beat them to the news release. Either way, the Nether Viper Sword was no use to Jude anymore. That was not the only thing. The Nether Viper Sword was more of a nuisance than a treasure. By not turning in the sword, Jude would be su
Color drained from Faith’s face, and she said menacingly, “Justice? Dream on! “They don’t deserve my time even for 20 billion dollars.” She was not saying that out of spite. Faith was a proud woman, and she would rather die than admit her mistake. “That was why I chose to pay.” Jude scoffed. “Do you think I don’t want to kill Lee?“You see what’s going on. Hannah and Collier are out to get me, and they are pushing hard.“I don't know how they manage to get in the new branch leader’s good graces. “It’s not uncertain whether the branch leader is real or not. “Either way, now isn’t the time to take anything lightly. “If I panic and get sidetracked with dealing with Kaze, I won’t just potentially lose my life. You will lose a life of luxuries. “I’ll be in power once I become the branch leader. Kaze won’t be a threat then. “Get that through your head now.” As Faith was not willing to let things go, Jude had to talk some sense into her. He needed to hold Faith stead
Faith lost control of her continence. Losing her last shred of dignity, Faith wailed miserably. “Turn around and get to Eddington Hospital now. Make sure Holfman shows up too. “Make it quick! I’ll hold you accountable if anything happens to Faith,” Jude yelled menacingly even though his hands were soiled. Without hesitating a minute more, the driver turned the car around in a fluster. The Rolls Royce zipped away. Jude did not even open the car windows because Faith could not shake off the cold. He turned the heat on to the highest temperature. Putting up with the stench, Serene took out her phone to call Holfman. Before the call connected, Serene shuddered at a sudden thought. She had been with Jude the whole thing, so she doubted the sudden onset of Faith’s illness was a coincidence. Serene was sure that Kaze had done something. It was just her gut feeling, though. She had no evidence to back it up. … Kaze and Buffy walked out of Scarlet Creek. Jude’s fleet o
Since Kaze was great behind the wheel, Buffy left the driving to him. Buffy paused and shook her head. “You got two billion dollars from selling the Nether Viper Sword. I can’t accept it. I have done nothing to deserve the money from you.“My dad said one thing right. You can use the money to start a business or build yourself up. At least the public won’t remember you as a moocher.” Considering Kaze a friend, Buffy spoke out of concern for him. She knew that Kaze probably had no use for the money since Kent, the mayor, gave him Villa No. 1 as a thank-you.Still, Kaze would have to take Kent’s feelings into account before selling the asset, though. With the two billion dollars, Kaze could set up his own business. Even though Buffy was aware of Kaze’s competence, the public had no idea. The public viewed Kaze as a moocher. He leeched on his wife’s family, got kicked out of the family, and now had to seek help from his mentor in Riverbank. “Thank you for your suggestion,
“Who is it?” Since the ringing would not leave him alone, Kaze took the call peevishly. “Well, someone has a temper this morning.” Cyan’s annoyed and peevish voice came on the other line. “You sure sleep a lot.“You’re getting cocky over a tiny achievement. “Can’t you strive for higher and better? “I doubt you’ll ever meet my standards even if I give you a head start.” Cyan tore into Kaze, leaving him speechless. Kaze interrupted her. “What’s the matter, Cyan? Does Mr. Yemen want to meet me for lunch?” “Is that all you think about? Food?” Cyan said angrily, “Get out of bed and get yourself cleaned up. “Consider yourself lucky, Kaze. Dad said you somehow became the sales manager of Golden Scale Corporation. He’s taking you out to get a house.“Ha! Aren’t you amazing, Kaze? You are getting yourself a place just less than two weeks since you arrived in Riverbank,” Cyan said sarcastically, her opinion apparent on the matter.It made sense why she was upset, though.
“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