“That won’t be necessary. I’ll just take it as a forgettable show. They are nothing, just expendable pawns to the employer.” Kaze already knew who sent Otto, so an investigation was not necessary. He came to Butterworth to deal with Jet, so it would be normal for the man to come after him. It was just surprising that Jet would resort to such a cheap tactic. On second thought, it was understandable because Jet never took Snow seriously. With that, it would only be natural that he assumed Kaze was a nameless lowlife, thus sending street thugs to humiliate him and then abduct him to threaten Snow. Kaze would never underestimate his enemies but Jet did not seem to share the same understanding. “You are just letting them go? Isn’t it a little dangerous? People might think that they can jump on us at any time without consequences,” Arthur asked while looking at Kaze with a serious look. He wanted to find out what plans Kaze had for the thugs. Kaze looked at the men crying on
“I’m okay for now.” “Mr. Lee, are you sure you don’t want to investigate the matter and find out who the mastermind is? I’m sure they are after you for a reason and it’s anything but good,” Arthur said, voicing his concerns. Even if no investigation was launched, he wanted to figure out what happened, or else it would be difficult to fend off potential attacks. “The Frost family won’t let me go this easily, but I have to say they underestimated me this time,” Kaze said nonchalantly, revealing a bit of information to Arthur. Arthur’s eyes narrowed into a serious look. He then gazed into the distance and softly sighed. This little incident might be out of his expectation but it was nothing serious as well. He knew Kaze’s identity, so there was nothing to be worried about. Kaze was the branch leader of the West State Viper’s Den, commanding multiple branches in the state. If he wanted to, he could deal with a lot of matters quietly. He must have had a reason for not using
This also meant that the upcoming schedule would be met with obstacles. Regardless, Arthur felt he needed to be with Kaze to keep him safe. “Let’s go to the hotel first.” Kaze was not in the mood to think about anything else. The car drove into the parking lot. They went up using the executive elevator instead of going in from the lobby. When Northborn Hotel was built, it was accustomed to the guests’ privacy and confidentiality, so an executive elevator was installed for convenience and safety. Due to that, many tycoons in the business world or famous celebrities chose Northborn Hotel when they visited Butterworth, allowing them to conduct business in private and not worry about being exposed. People with certain needs would also choose the hotel for special occasions, such as having an affair. Arthur guided Kaze to the elevator. Kaze scanned around the elevator box and realized there was no surveillance camera. “They did this on purpose?” Kaze said as he pointed u
“Mr. Lee, since you’ve just arrived, do you want to get a shower or get something to eat first?” Arthur picked up the phone to call the front desk and was ready to ask for room service.“I’ll have a shower first. I’m travel-battered.” Kaze might not be a clean freak but he was tired from all the traveling. Taking a shower would be a good way to relax. Arthur then told the front desk to deliver some food. Meanwhile, at Northborn Emerald Residence, Leah was forcefully brought back home by her mother. She was displeased with her mother’s attitude, but she could not defy her and had no choice but to accept her fate. Still, regret and guilt lingered over what had happened. Kaze helped her a lot but her mother misunderstood him and insulted him. Leah was aggrieved but could not do anything. Her mother had absolute control over her life. “Stay at home and don’t wander outside anymore. I’ll call someone to make you some dresses for the upcoming birthday party.” Katie loved
Katie watched as tears streamed down Leah’s face. She reached out to dry her tears. Looking at Leah’s beautiful face, Katie could not be any prouder of her daughter. Her daughter was her pride and joy. Katie wanted only the best for Leah, providing her with the new seasonal fashion collection or the latest tech. She ensured that Leah had an abundance of material things, so she would never go without. Nothing in the world would stray Leah away. Katie’s confidence came from the love she had for Leah. “Trust me. I’m not wrong on the matter. I’d never hurt you. Anything I do is for your own good. “I’ll invite Kaze to your birthday party if I see him again.” Knowing Leah, Katie decided to assure her. “Really? Are you really going to invite him to my party?” Despite feeling uneasy, Leah tried to have faith in her mother. “If I do see him again, I will apologize to him. I came off rude because I was worried about you. You should understand where I was coming from.” Ka
Katie invested heavily in Leah’s upbringing, hoping to marry her up, which would boost her business while securing her daughter’s future. “I got it. I’ll follow whatever you have planned for me.” Leah gave in to Katie’s requests, despite feeling uneasy. Her mother had control issues. However, Katie’s controlling behavior had gone on for years, and Leah did not know how to retaliate. Even if Leah was defiant, she would quickly yield to her mother. Leah was back to her goodie-two-shoes self. Katie was pleased with Leah’s surrender. “I’ll wire you more money. Just buy whatever you see fit.” Katie had always been generous financially to make it up to her daughter. Leah had nothing on her shopping list. However, she would never refuse money from her mother. She accepted the money and saved it in her bank account. “Now, I expect you to be on your best behavior. I have work to do. There is a lot to do for your birthday party too.“That reminds me. You can invite your frie
Leah believed that Kaze must hate her. “I can’t do anything right. This has always been the case.” Feeling sorry for herself, Leah lay against the windowsill and looked out at the view. She did not have the courage to set foot outside. There was simply nowhere for her to seek refuge. She did not have friends whom she could pour her heart out to. Even if she got on with a few, there was always a level of reserve and caution. It was hard to find real friends. The thing with Perry hurt her, and Leah slowly withdrew from her friends. For once, she felt like she belonged when she was with Kaze. They were just strangers who happened to be on the same train carriage. That was the only point where their paths crossed. However, Kaze came to her rescue when Perry picked a fight. It was at that point of time when Leah’s perception of Kaze changed. She could not shake off the feeling that Kaze was a kind and amazing person. “There is still good in the world.” Leah murmured
“Mr. Henner, you are fresh out of a marriage. Are you interested in Madam Loren’s daughter?” “Who am I to say no to a pretty girl?” “But you might be too old for the girl, Mr. Henner. She might not consider you.” “Madam Loren’s daughter will follow her wishes. All I have to do is convince Madam Loren.” Jaime Henner stroked his beard, pleased with how well he had aged. Though he was older, older men were known to be loving and considerate. The group, saying nothing, shook their heads. Still, this had nothing to do with them anyway. It would be a disappointment if Katie accepted Jaime as her future son-in-law. The group had always believed that Katie doted on her daughter. Katie would always get her daughter the latest clothes on the racks. From this action alone, they could tell that her daughter was Katie’s whole world. However, no one was sure that Katie would not sacrifice her daughter for her career. It was anybody’s guess. At the end of the day, it was none
“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