“Tell me, is it the mayor?” the other officer with a buzz cut asked with an impatient tone. Kaze scrutinized the three of them and said with a smile, “What’s the matter? You guys wanted me to call the mayor?” His words surprised the three of them, making their expressions change for a moment before they returned to normal. Donovan scoffed, “Yes. We want you to call the mayor, but can you do it? You are just the mayor’s dog, not his master. Do you know how bad things are for you? Even the Ryokanians are looking. “You really think the mayor will risk his career for a dog? Face reality! You are just an expendable pawn the mayor will throw away once you have no value!” Listening to Donovan’s provocation, Kaze smiled and said, “You can say whatever you want. I’ve called for help and he’s arriving soon. You guys should be prepared.” “You’re bluffing!” Donovan grunted and mocked Kaze, “The mayor is the most powerful person in Riverbank and he has the same authority as the deputy
“You worked for the mayor as his lapdog and probably did a lot of dirty shit. Maybe you can hint at him through the phone and he will come for you,” said the officer with the glasses. It was no longer a hint if Kaze had to say it out loud. Kaze did not expect that the mastermind’s plan was also to drag the mayor into this mess. He said, “Then just you guys wait. Maybe when you guys are transferred to other substations, you can meet the mayor yourself.” “You!” Donovan and his officers were furious. If they were transferred to other stations, which were all sub-branches to the state police station, Kent would be able to reach out to them. Kaze could easily snitch on them to Kent and they would suffer. Soon enough, Donovan scoffed and said, “Hmph. Don’t think about how you are going to take revenge on us, think about how you are going to survive this.” “Cap, this guy says he wants revenge on us. Why don’t we teach him a lesson or two?” the buzz-cut officer said. The of
When Donovan and his officers came to the front lobby, they saw multiple police cruisers parked outside with the sirens glaring. Among the motorcade was a shining Audi A6. When the door opened, Donovan and his officers saw the chief of the state police station, Morgan Bale, coming out in full uniform. The lights in front of the station shed a light over his face that night, and it was not a smiley face. The chief wanted to see Donovan in person and based on the look on his face, he was not in a good mood. Donovan’s heart sank, but he steeled himself and went up to greet the chief. “Chief Bale, good evening sir! I’m Donovan Tenby. You asked to see me, sir?” Morgan walked up to Donovan with a cold grunt and said, “I heard you arrested someone called Kaze Lee earlier in the day.” “Yes—” “Yes? Where is he? Where is Mr. Lee?!” Morgan shouted. Mr. Lee? Frightened, Donovan quickly said, “H-He is in the interrogation room…” Morgan then went off without any explanation.
“Nope.” Kaze shook his head. “Phew!” Just as Donovan and his men breathed a sigh of relief, Kaze pointed at the phone belonging to the officer with the glasses on the table and said, “But you can listen to the recording inside this phone. It’s from a few minutes ago.” His words made Donovan and the other two officers nervous once more. Minutes ago? Minutes ago, the three of them were trying to teach Kaze a lesson. The officer with the glasses widened his eyes in fear. After he put the phone on the table for Kaze to make a call, hoping it would be to the mayor, he forgot to take the phone back. On the second round of questions, Kaze somehow turned on the recording function! “Oh?” Morgan glanced at Donovan and the others as he picked up the phone. He stopped the recording and played it from the top. “Kaze Lee, you have one last chance! If you can call the mayor to save you, you can walk, or else don’t blame us for being rough.” “You should know that we have coun
“Based on my understanding of the investigation, the witnesses and evidence are against you. Especially when you threatened the victim to cancel her, more than twenty people at the Yemen mansion heard you. “I know it might not mean anything and it’s not enough to cause the series of events that followed, ultimately leading to the victim’s death, but it has gained attention. More and more media caught wind of this and people are watching, including people from foreign affairs. “To be honest, we received many requests from our website to prosecute you so that the family of the deceased can be at peace.” Kaze nodded. He said, “Chief Bale, I heard you used to be an inspector, so I assumed you are a pro in this? “Then can I also assume that you are clear that it is taboo to be prejudiced during an investigation? Have you investigated under what circumstances I threatened the victim to cancel her online?” Morgan was slightly taken aback. He shook his head and said, “No.” “You guy
Kaze was forced to take Reiko seriously. The woman was smart and skilled, plus vicious. Then, a sudden thought hit Morgan and he said, “Mr. Lee, I heard from my men that earlier in the afternoon, Aiden from the Krad family came to our station and he said out loud that he was willing to use his connections and resources to bring you out, but he wanted to have dinner with Ms. Darcy Quint and Ms. Snow Frost.” His expression ashened when he explained. As the chief of the state police, it was humiliating to hear someone openly declare that they could release a detainee right in front of the station. Morgan did his homework and found out that Aiden was an enemy of Kaze. Kaze had expected this, so he simply smiled and said, “Aiden is planning to ruin me mentally.” Morgan did not understand, but he said, “And I also know that Ms. Frost rejected the offer directly. She and Ms. Quint did not go to dinner with Aiden Krad.” “Snow did the right thing.” Knowing that Snow did not lo
“Mr. Lee, this is bigger than what I can see. Can you tell me other than Aiden Krad, who else is in this?” Morgan asked softly. Kaze did not hold back and was not afraid of scaring the man. “The Ryokanians from Refined Blade Dojo.” Morgan gasped in shock. He knew the Ryokanians had tremendous power, not only in Riverbank, but all of South River State. He also knew about the vendetta between Kent, the mayor, and the Ryokanians. Now that the Ryokanians colluded with Aiden to target Kaze and even Kent, if it made the news, the whole city or even the entire state would be shaken. This clash would inevitably drag countless people into its vortex; their fates rising and falling with the victories and defeats of the opposing sides. “What’s the matter, Chief Bale? Afraid?” Kaze asked with a casual smile. He wanted to test Morgan if he was fit to be on his side. The chief of the state police department could be a great help against the Ryokanians if Kaze could get him on his sid
Kaze smiled and shook his head. “The evidence and witnesses are indeed against me, but have you thought about how the police work? Is there anything wrong with the way your officers are carrying out the investigation? Like are they looking in the right direction?” “Direction?” Morgan was slightly surprised and embarrassed. Despite making his stance, as a professional law enforcer, he found Kaze’s words to be insulting. Kaze said, “I think the investigation might have hit a dead end. All the investigations are based on me, finding out my motive, my problem, and even suspecting me committing the crimes I did not do. “My suggestion is why don’t you guys investigate Mika as well, while investigating me. Maybe you can find a clue or two about her.” He sounded calm and confident. He had the thought in his mind for a while now but he did not want to tell it to Donovan and his men. After making sure he could trust Morgan, he spoke up to give a kind reminder. “You want to make the
“Do ask around,” Kaze said without being overly concerned. Since he was with Dwight, if they got any news, it would attract even more attention. However, if they did not ask around for more after causing a scene, it would also be strange. Therefore, Dwight’s little investigation was a great cover. “I have to use the toilet. Wait for me here,” Kaze said as he got up. Dwight nodded at Kaze as he was going to make a call. “Sure. If you want to leave, just give me a heads up.” He then sat down on the couch, took a sip of beer, and leisurely watched girls dancing on the dance floor. After seeing Dwight’s casual reaction, Kaze lowered his guard against him. He had been observing Dwight since the start and now he finally knew the man well enough. Dwight never saw Kaze as an outsider or some VIP guest. He was thoughtful and kind and never harbored any ill intentions. “He’s really a simple guy.” Kaze headed to the toilet as he muttered to himself. On the way there, he sa
“She’s quite capable but this will cost her.” Kaze thought Rosie was not being rational enough. If a customer crossed the line, she would have every reason to throw him out. There was no need to endure him or suck up for the sake of a little business. Rosie might seem to be the boss of the club but she often had to endure ridiculous requests for the sake of the well-being of the establishment. Dominic’s words made many uncomfortable, especially the waiter and the security guards. They were ready to throw him out. If he continued to be rude, they would not mind being physical with him. When Dominic calmed down, he would realize what he had done. After all, when one was drunk, one would not have total control over his or her actions, which would lead to making mistakes. Such mistakes would easily slip due to the person being drunk but it only worked when the person could not remember or was not conscious at all. If a person remained sane and could act logically, then be
“I’ll let this slip but you guys can’t always ruin my fun,” Dominic said with a frown. His plan of having fun was foiled before anything could happen. Rosie’s expression turned bitter. “That girl is just an innocent lady, our customer. You can’t just force yourself on her.” Dominic was not deterred. He believed that with his status and how much he had spent at the club, he could do anything he wanted. Yet the boss interrupted his plan and even let the girl go. It fueled his resentment. “Since when is Absolute Zero scared of anything? That girl is just some random girl, and even if I drag her to my bed, nothing bad will happen,” he said confidently. He even moved closer to Rosie, putting his chubby hand around her waist. Dwight was surprised as he had never encountered such a situation before. Dominic acted like he owned the club. He tried to force a girl against her will and now he put his dirty hand on the boss of the club. He was just the boss of a company who
“Stop causing problems!” The security guards gained on Kaze and Dwight, trying to get them out of the club. Dwight was also a hot-tempered person and he could not allow injustice to happen, especially to himself. “It’s that fat prick who started it! Why aren’t you guys throwing him out? The girl has made it clear that they don’t know each other! Why are you two gaining on us?!” He was not weak and could easily take down two security guards, but he remained resentful. They tried to help a girl but the situation turned on them. “You can’t be sure. Maybe the girl is playing hard to get. This is not Mr. Jarbosky’s first time here, and he will never break the rules here,” the security guard said. His words attracted even more attention, but they dared not speak up. Vivi’s face turned pale. She wanted to explain but nothing came out of her mouth. Her explanations seemed weak. Everyone seemed to believe that she seduced Dominic, but she was the victim. “No! It’s not like t
“Kaze, you might not know since you are new here but he’s the boss of Dominion Group, Dominic Jarbosky. We can’t offend him. His company works closely with the Viper’s Den.” Dwight came over and whispered into Kaze’s ears. He just wanted to inform Kaze to rethink his decision. The girl might be in danger but she had it coming. Coming to a club in a skimpy outfit was certainly a bad idea. Since Dominic had his eyes on her, and she did not want his company, then it was up to her to break free. Dwight thought that by explaining Dominic’s status to Kaze, the conflict would be resolved. “I said, it’s time for you to stop,” Kaze said once more, his tone colder than before. Dominic frowned after being interrupted once more. He finally got his eyes on a young girl who looked beautiful and innocent, thinking he could release his sexual desires on her for the entire night, yet someone poked his nose into his business. “What do you have to do with this? Are you into this girl as w
“Seems like there’s nothing to see here.” Kaze was slightly disappointed. He came here just to find out more about the club’s operations and the person running the place. Yet there was nothing he found, or maybe he did not get the right chance. Clubs were loud and messy, fights even broke out occasionally. Men would fight over a woman, and once the fight broke out, the person in charge of the club must step up to resolve the conflict. Kaze just needed to wait patiently for the chance to arrive. With alcohol involved, people tended to be impulsive and physical once the girls rejected them. Dwight continued to test his luck but got turned down every single time. A few minutes later, a void formed around him with no girls wanting to be close to him. He was annoyed. He was tall and handsome, yet no girls wanted to be with him. He saw other men, who were shorter and looked normal, surrounded by girls. The only difference was the watches and branded outfits they wore.
As they arrived, they saw a dozen expensive cars parked outside. The customer base was relatively stable as the establishment was targeted at the upper class. The people lining up at the club were young men and women of ordinary background. All were allowed inside Absolute Zero with an entrance fee. Since this would be a chance for ordinary people to meet and interact with the upper-class elites, they cherished it and tried their best to look good. Even movie producers and scriptwriters came to the club, seeking investments or a role in movie production. It was a shortcut to reach out to the upper crust after all. Yet they were just a bunch of fresh graduates with no resources and connections, so the club was their only chance at achieving something great. Dwight would never understand how rare the opportunity was, as he was narrow-sighted. He had never experienced power and wealth before, so he lacked the understanding of how things worked in society. “I never thought
With that in mind, Dwight checked his outfit. His black leather jacket brought out his height and wild side. He then observed Kaze. The latter was dressed casually. Dwight was worried that they would not be allowed into Absolute Zero because of their attire. Nevertheless, he could not let slip that he had never been to Absolute Zero. Without a word, Dwight led Kaze down the apartment building. Kaze could pick up on Dwight’s nerves. While in the elevator, Dwight could not stop straightening out his clothes. It was clear that he was nervous. Even so, Kaze said nothing and pretended not to notice. They got into the car and drove to an alley. The area was not huge, but there were stands selling street food. “The food is great here. Since it’s early, we can grab a bite.” Dwight was not being tight with money. As their destination was a bar, there was no need to get a proper meal. “I’ll get a skewer then.” Kaze did not have much of an appetite anyway. “Okay. I’ll or
“You’re the guest. I should be hosting you, but I don’t seem to be doing a good job.” Dwight knew he had to do better. “It’s okay. I don’t have much to do. It’s just a delivery anyway.” Kaze bought a lot of stuff online. All they had to do was wait for the delivery. Once the items arrived, they could head out. Dwight talked about taking him to a bar under the Viper’s Den’s umbrella. It was a great opportunity for Kaze to check out the scene. He had heard that the Wittersons were tied to all the Viper’s Den’s business operations.Kaze would not meet Edmund and Morris in person, but he would grasp all information related to them. Then, Kaze would stir things up between them and sit back while reaping the benefits. Kaze had it all planned out. He simply had to take his time in playing the long game. Nevertheless, it was important for him to remain discreet. At the very least, he should not show them what he was made of. It was easy to execute his plan when everybody