“Arrogant?” Rory gestured at his men behind him. His gaze was as sharp as a blade, scrutinizing Kaze. “You’re damn right. The Viper’s Den West State Branch Execution Hall is that arrogant. We have the right to be! We also have the right to execute first and ask questions later. Why wouldn’t we be arrogant with it?” The agents of the Viper’s Den West State Branch Execution Hall looked at Kaze as if he was a clown, wondering where the rural bumpkin was from and where did he get the confidence to question them. They found his ignorance laughable. Kaze said, “Even if you have the right, it is for you to execute your official business, not for you to use it on ordinary people.” “Hahaha!” Rory laughed hysterically, cocking his head back as if he heard the funniest joke. “Young Man, I don’t know where you are from but you are stupidly naїve and childish.” As he spoke, he glanced at Scorpion and asked, “Is it him who beat up Rhys?” “Yes! It’s him!” Scorpion glared at Kaze a
“Kaze.” The call got through and Collier’s voice came from the phone. “Herbal Spring. Rory Conroy of the Viper’s Den West State Branch Execution Hall is here.” Kaze then hung up the phone. He was discussing with Collier about the support from the Viper’s Den West State Branch behind Rhys earlier. He just did not expect Rhys to call for help so quickly, seemingly trying to seize the advantage. However, Kaze was not afraid. He put his phone away after the call and sat down on the couch. “How dare you sit in front of the captain?! You’re dead!” An agent held the sword at his waist and wanted to draw the blade. Kaze narrowed his eyes and slid his foot forward. “Clank!” The sword that was tossed in front of him earlier was kicked forward. “Thump!” Before the agent could draw his sword, his hand was perforated by the flying sword. Blood splattered upon impact and the momentum of the sword dragged the agent backward, ultimately pinning his wrist on the wall. Kaze
Once again, Rory looked at Kaze with surprise. “Young Man, I must admit that I’ve underestimated you again.” The deputy chief of the Viper’s Den South River Branch was certainly an officer with a higher rank than him. However, Rory was merely surprised, not deterred or scared as if he was not afraid of Kaze who brought Collier into the conflict. Kaze smiled. “You’ve underestimated a whole bunch as well.” Rory grunted heavily and then turned to Collier and his men walking into the lobby. Without even standing up, he curled his lips into a fake smile and said, “Mr. Ettinger, of what do I owe the visit? You and your men are here to see the doctor? Too bad. You are one step late. Scorpion and his men had already thrashed the…” Scorpion simply smiled awkwardly, afraid to make a noise. He could not afford to mess with the deputy chief. ‘I’ll thrash your skull if I can!’—if it was some other time, Collier would certainly argue with Rory and scold him in the face. However, his
“Swoosh!” The knife hit Collier in the shoulder, pushing him back against the wall. He tried to move his body but when he felt the pain in his shoulder, his face paled. He was shocked that the knife perforated his shoulder and pinned him onto the wall, like how Kaze pinned the Execution Hall’s agent to the wall earlier. Rory did it as payback to Kaze for what he had done earlier. Collier did not want to look bad in front of Kaze. He steeled himself up as he held the knife. With his teeth clenched, he pulled it out from his shoulder, drawing an arch of blood in the air. “Deputy Chief!” It was only then Collier’s men reacted to the situation and drew their weapons. “Hmph!” Collier grunted without looking at his men. “Clank!” The agents from the Execution Hall armed themselves as well and dashed forward. “Thump! Thud! Sheen!” The two groups of agents engaged in a fight with cries and clanks sounding ceaseless. Amid the painful cries, Collier’s men were struck
No one cared about the thoughts in Collier’s head. Rory looked at Hannah and said heavily, “I wonder what you mean by that, Chief Delmore.” Hannah nodded at Kaze and then said coldly, “Cut the crap. Take your men and leave!” Rory furrowed his brows, his lips still curled. “Chief Delmore, that doesn’t sound right. I am here on legal Execution Hall’s business. Even if you are the chief of the South River Branch, you have no right to stop me. Or is the South River Branch no longer under the West State Viper’s Den jurisdiction?” Hannah did not even flinch when Rory tried to accuse her. She said, “I said, cut the crap. Come on, show me what you got. I’ll let you go first.” Rory’s lips twitched helplessly. He knew Hannah was known for her quick sword stance in the West State Viper’s Den. According to the agents who once went on a mission with her, many experienced fighters and experts could not even see her moves before they were killed on the spot. Now that Hannah had recove
Like how Rory attacked Collier earlier, the knives did not slow down after striking his shoulder. The momentum dragged his body backward and ultimately pinned him against the wall. The pain from both his shoulders caused his body to tremble but the pain was not Rory’s main concern. He could not accept that he ended up exactly like Collier when he faced Hannah. He endured the pain as he stared at her, his expression turned ashen. Collier and the others might not see how Hannah countered the attack but Rory saw everything clearly. It was simple. When Rory launched his knives at Hannah, before the blade could even touch her, she swung her sword forward. It was just one simple swing of the sword and she deflected his strongest attack, using it to hit him on the shoulders. It was at that moment, Rory realized how ridiculously powerful Hannah was. She lived up to the name of one of the top ten prodigies of West State Viper’s Den. Looking at Rory being pinned on the wall
Rory never took Kaze seriously. He believed if not for Hannah’s intervention, he would have taken Kaze away and tortured him. Yet Kaze spoke to him in such arrogance—making him nothing more than a clown using borrowed powers. “You!” Seeing the disrespect toward Kaze, Hannah’s expression darkened, and wanted to teach him another lesson. Kaze raised his hand to stop her. He then walked over to the two knives coated with blood on the floor. Rory was alarmed. Recalling how Kaze defeated one of his men earlier, he quickly got into a battle stance. His shoulders might be hurt but his legs were fine. With his speed, he might not be able to dodge a hit from Hannah but he was confident that Kaze could not lay a finger on him. At the next moment, Kaze swiftly extended his right foot and tapped twice in succession. “Swoosh! Swoosh!” The two knives seemed to come alive as they flew toward Rory, slicing the air with a sharp, whirling shriek. Although surprised that Kaze did
Hearing Kaze, the agents of the Execution Hall stopped abruptly, looking at him in horror. Rory’s face twitched in pain. He shouted, “What do you want?!” He knew Kaze was not planning to kill him, but if death was not the goal, then why was he being pushed to the brink of it? He had no idea what Kaze was trying to do. The helplessness made him terribly aggrieved. Kaze pointed at the doctor on duty at Herbal Spring and said, “Ask the doctor to use acupuncture to stop the blood flow and you can pull the knives out.” It was the reason why he said Rory could not go to a common hospital. The doctor nodded. “Mr. Lee is right. If we don’t stop the blood flow, it’s going to get dangerous.” Rory was being tormented by the pain and his patience was running low. He shouted, “Then get on with it!” The doctor grunted, his brows furrowed. He had never seen such a rude demand to save a life. However, his duty and responsibility as a doctor drove him to his needle box. “There’s no
“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