Chapter 44 The One With Balls
“To hell with that!” Polly glared at Jonathan fiercely and said, “Just wait till I deal with you if you keep this lackadaisical attitude up!”
Jonathan chuckled, but he then stopped teasing Polly. He knew when he should stop.
After that, Polly said, “You can start speaking now.”
Jonathan didn’t beat around the bush with his narrative. “Kiki grew up in the forests of Smealand since he was a child. His grandfather was a man of prestige, but for some reason, he was severely injured. That was why his health hasn’t been in the best condition all this while. I’ve coincidentally gotten to know his grandfather, so I would visit Kiki and his grandfather whenever I have time. Later, his grandfather’s body gave in, and before he died, he asked me to take good care of Kiki. Ever since then, Kiki has been treating me like his own elder brother.”
He then added, “Other than that, there’s an alpha silver wolf that keeps Kiki company. Kiki doesn’t like to interact with human beings ever since he was younger. He’s used to the life of killing and survival in the forest. That’s why Kiki is completely different from normal people. Other than his grandfather, the alpha silver wolf, and me, Kiki will never smile at anyone else, nor will he respond to anyone else. To be honest, though, I’m not quite sure how skilled Kiki actually is. All this little fellow knows is to kill and escape. If he were to fight against me in an arena, I’d have more confidence to win. However, if he were to assassinate me, I’m certain that I won’t get a chance to survive.”
Polly drew in a sharp breath. Then, she said, “I have this feeling too. If he wants to kill me, I won’t even have the chance to run away. Then why did you want him to come back this time? To kill Leonardo?”
Jonathan shook his head as he replied, “Ms. McDaniels, they say women with big breasts are lacking in the brain department, but you seem pretty flat.”
Polly cursed at Jonathan, “Are you itching for a beating?”
Jonathan simply chuckled. “Why would I want to kill Leonardo? Firstly, he’s in his own base camp, so it’s difficult to get him killed. Secondly, even if I kill him, it won’t clear me of my name either.”
“Then…” Polly still couldn’t get it.
“It’s a secret. You’ll know in a few days’ time.” Jonathan didn’t want to reveal his intentions yet.
Since he wasn’t willing to tell her, she couldn’t force the answer out of him either.
The day passed in peace.
At three in the morning, the surface of the southern waters of Wyvern River was dark and calm. The moon was hanging in the sky, casting its bright glow upon the waters.
There were many legends that surrounded the Wyvern River. Those legends added a sense of mysteriousness to it.
Meanwhile, the lights were all turned on in a cargo ship on the river.
This cargo ship belonged to Young Corporation, and it was especially used to transport diesel fuel and petrol.
However, in the lower levels of the cargo ship, there were activities of smuggling going on.
Those levels were filled with sedan cars obtained from the black market.
The sedan-smuggling was an extremely profitable line of business. Once the vehicles were refurbished and given new car plates, they could be sold off for a shockingly high profit.
Nonetheless, this line of business was merely a small part of Young Corporation’s enterprise. The company monopolized the rights of transportation in the southern parts of Wyvern River, so all the cargos that went through there would have to rely on them. In addition to that, those cargo owners would have to pay for a protection racket that was relatively high.
If they didn’t pay the demanded amount, their cargo wouldn’t be guaranteed to arrive safely because there was still quite a lot of piracy on the waters of Wyvern River. Furthermore, Young Corporation would take action against anyone who was unwilling to comply.
Once the deal was done, though, the pirates wouldn’t dare to cross Young Corporation.
That way, those cargo ships would be able to pass through safely, as long as they had made the payment.
At that moment, a speedboat appeared on the dark waters and zoomed toward the cargo ship.
The speedboat instantly attracted the attention of the sailors on the cargo ship.
Soon enough, the speedboat arrived before the cargo ship with a hull of ten meters.
Instead of stopping, the speedboat ran straight into the cargo ship’s hull, producing a loud crash and a bright explosion.
The crash caused the water around it to splash high into the air, and it even caused the whole cargo to shake violently.
Immediately, the people in charge of the cargo ship were alerted.
Luckily for them, the cargo ship was built very sturdily, so the explosion didn’t cause any significant damage to the cargo ship.
The person in charge of this cargo ship was a man called Ken Florence.
He was also a disciple of Strikezone Martial Arts Center, whose cultivation had reached the level of Neutralizing Force, so he was definitely a force to be reckoned with.
This particular cargo ship was rather crucial to Young Corporation, so Ken was assigned to protect this ship.
Also, there were six other disciples of Strikezone Martial Arts Center who went along with Ken.
This cargo ship was considered beyond huge among the other vessels that traversed the waters of Wyvern River. Indeed, it wasn’t as big as the Titanic, but that was simply because the waters of Wyvern River simply couldn’t be compared with the waters of the ocean.
Ken was forty years old now, so he was a very experienced man. At that moment, though, he didn’t know what went wrong. However, he was very intrigued since there were rarely people who were brave enough to go against Young Corporation.
Ken’s eyes were shining brightly with excitement, but he still appeared extremely calm and unbothered as he played with the two walnuts in his palm.
The other six disciples of Strikezone Martial Arts were already in a formation, waiting for the attack to come.
Ken stated loudly, “I wonder who’s our guest today? Why don’t you show yourself?” While he was speaking, he pricked up his ears to listen carefully as he paid attention to any movements around him.
However, all was quiet. He couldn’t detect any trace of abnormality at all.
It was also at that exact moment that he suddenly felt a sense of danger.
He abruptly felt his hair standing on end, which shocked him greatly and made him turn around.
All he saw was two of the disciples lying in pools of their own blood, and the one who killed them was none other than Kieran.
The latter was holding a dagger that was gleaming coldly in his hand. He was dressed in an all-black Force Costume, which made him look like a phantom in the dark of the night.
Ken couldn’t stop himself from feeling fearful, for the young man had actually snuck behind him without realizing it. It was beyond comprehension for him.
At that same instant, Kieran zoomed toward Ken.
His speed was as fast as lightning, silent and deadly.
All Ken could catch was the cold gleam of Kieran’s dagger while the young man moved.
Ken hastily took a step back, but Kieran’s advance was even faster.
Kieran’s movements were just like that of mystical snakes. He was highly adept at hiding his presence, heartbeat, and breathing as he blended into his surroundings. That was why Ken only realized his presence when Kieran approached him after killing two people.
After all, Kieran was a force that was feared even by Jonathan himself!
Kieren was adept at hiding his presence, but he was even more skilled in assassination and escape, and both skills required extreme speed.
Ever since he was still a child, he would win in running contests against the alpha silver wolf. Hence, at that instant, when Ken retreated, Kieran immediately pursued him. His speed was ten times faster than Ken’s, simply because Ken was retreating, so he naturally couldn’t compare with the speed at which Kieran was advancing. Furthermore, Kieran’s speed was impossibly fast.
Before Ken could even react, he could already feel the coldness of the blade against his skin before it pierced him through the chest.
Within that short instant, Ken was injured in a vital spot. He stared at Kieran with a look of disbelief in his eyes. However, Kieran didn’t hesitate at all. He immediately cut Ken’s head off with the dagger, effectively ending his life.
As for the other disciples, they were still standing there, unable to react at all.
Now that Kieran was done eliminating their leader, all he had to do next was to massacre the rest of them.
None of them would be allowed to survive.
Actually, it wasn’t that Ken or the disciples of Strikezone Martial Arts were weak, but it was simply because Ken wasn’t calm enough. If he had been able to stand his ground and block the attack without panicking the moment Kieran advanced upon him, Kieran wouldn’t have been able to murder him.
That way, the other disciples would have been able to counterattack against Kieran as well.
Unfortunately for them, the moment Kieran made his move, Ken was intimidated.
The moment he was intimidated, it meant that his death had come.
At five in the morning, Leonardo was still deep in his sleep. A flurry of rushed footsteps woke him up, and then he heard Wallace Moralez, his butler’s voice.
Wallace was a man in his sixties, and he had watched over Leonardo as he grew up. Hence, Leonardo was very respectful toward Wallace.
“Young Master, something terrible has happened!” Wallace’s voice was filled with trepidation.
Leonardo normally had bad moods when he woke up, so if there were someone who had disturbed him at that moment, he would surely explode in anger. Apparently, Wallace was the only person who could make him suppress his temper. Leonardo then sat up and stated, “Mr. Moralez, please come in.”
Immediately, Wallace opened the door and entered the room.
Leonardo stared at Wallace, who was dressed in an all-black long robe, making him look like someone from ancient times. However, this set of clothes suited him perfectly.
Wallace’s hair was already completely white, but his eyes were still bright and intelligent.
Leonardo asked solemnly, “What happened?”
In response, Wallace took a deep breath before reporting, “It’s Curieux. Something bad has happened to it on Wyvern River. Curieux was destroyed, and all the cargo had sunk to the bottom of the river. Also, no one on the ship survived, including Ken Florence and the six disciples, thirty-two sailors, and staff members. All of them died. Most of their bodies had been salvaged.”
“What!” Leonardo looked thunderstruck. His face was pale as he asked, “What on earth happened?”
Wallace answered, “Young Master, we still don’t know the details of what happened yet.”
A cruel and frosty look appeared in Leonardo’s eyes. He could barely contain the fury that was burning within him. “Who’s the one who has the balls to cross me? Investigate this immediately! Use all the resources we have!”
Leonardo was used to living his smooth-sailing life, so this incident was a blatant provocation to his pride. Furthermore, the loss of Curieux would bring him an unimaginable economic loss. Also, his reputation and pride would be affected. If Young Corporation failed to cover this incident and allowed it to spread, then the rest of the cargos would be targeted by the pirates.
Hence, Leonardo was extremely concerned about the destruction of Curieux.
That day passed by in the blink of an eye.
The people Leonardo had sent to investigate the incident failed to uncover anything. The police station, on the other hand, had sent a few people to meet Leonardo to get more information on the situation. Of course, Leonardo didn’t dare to tell the truth because he had used Curieux to smuggle cargo.
That made Leonardo extremely frustrated, but much worse news arrived and irritated him further—someone burned down Leonardo’s private pier at the southern parts of Wyvern River.
All the cargo in there that was worth tens of millions had gone up in smoke. In addition to that, a few more disciples of Strikezone Martial Arts were murdered. All the twenty-eight staff members of the pier were killed.
It was an outright massacre.
The killer’s tactics were extremely brutal that even Leonardo got the chills when he knew about it.
At that moment, Leonardo was completely sure that someone was after him. However, he couldn’t think of a possible candidate at all, for he didn’t think that he had a deep enough grudge against anyone to warrant such retribution.
When Wallace came to visit Leonardo again, he reminded the latter by saying, “Young Master, you’ve forgotten someone.”
“Who?” Leonardo hastily asked.
Wallace replied, “Jonathan Lawson!”
Abruptly, Leonardo came to a realization. He finally remembered that he had that person as his opponent. His pride had gotten the better of him. In his subconscious mind, he considered Jonathan to be inferior to him.
“You’re telling me that these two incidents are connected with Jonathan?” A complicated look appeared in Leonardo’s eyes.
Wallace replied, “Other than him, I really can’t think of anyone else with a grudge against us who would do this.” To that, Leonardo responded, “But this is impossible. Jonathan is still being detained. Also, our opponent was extremely cruel, and his tactics were terrifying. I don’t believe that he is capable of this.”
In response, Wallace answered, “Jonathan’s origins are a mystery. It’s highly possible he has someone to help him.” After a pause, he added, “But then, I can’t be perfectly sure if Jonathan has anything to do with this as well.”
Leonardo groaned and said, “Our topmost priority now is to find out who’s behind this.”
“The culprit is extremely skilled,” Wallace stated. “It won’t be easy to find out his identity within a short period of time. We have too many branches, so it’s difficult to guard against him as well. Furthermore, quite a number of disciples are dead now, Young Master. If this were to continue, their master would put the blame on us. We won’t be able to handle that if it really happens.”
Leonardo frowned heavily. “Then what do you suggest we do?”
He was extremely angry at the culprit, but at the same time, he was suffering a headache over it. His anger couldn’t change anything, for the culprit was simply too cunning. It wouldn’t be easy to find him.
At the same time, Leonardo was the leader of Young Corporation. He needed to get a grasp on the whole situation and make decisions accordingly. If bloody incidents like these were to happen again, it would be highly possible for the empire he had built so painstakingly to come crumbling down.
That was the outcome that he was absolutely unable to accept.
Wallace then told him in a serious tone, “I still think that this matter has something to do with Jonathan. Young Master, you should go and meet him.”
Leonardo fell silent for a moment. Then, he replied, “All right. I got it. Mr. Moralez, you may leave. I need some time to think.”
When Wallace heard Leonardo’s response, he knew he shouldn’t say anything further. Hence, with a grunt, he then exited.
Meanwhile, Leonardo was thinking to himself if this incident really had something to do with Jonathan. If so, he had truly made a huge mistake. That mistake was none other than his act of underestimating Jonathan.
He didn’t underestimate Jonathan in terms of his capabilities but his daring and cruelty.
Ah, Jonathan Lawson! I’ve never expected that he would dare to commit such an atrocious massacre! He’s truly one with balls, eh? I guess I’d been rather foolish for crossing someone like him.
Leonardo was still uncertain that this incident was connected with Jonathan. At that moment, though, a piece of newest information came through to him.
Young Corporation had a professional intelligence team that was named Dark Shadow, and the leader of the team was codenamed Hawk.
Hawk normally wouldn’t appear in front of public eyes, so he was an extremely mysterious person.
Leonardo received a call from Hawk.
“Young Master, according to the newest intelligence, Jonathan met up with a mysterious young man in the detention center two days ago. We have the surveillance records from the police stations. I’ll send them over to your phone. Please take a look.”
Leonardo felt his heart skip a beat as he nodded and responded, “All right!”
Soon, the footage was sent to him. When he saw Kieran in the video, he could instantly detect the young man’s cruelty and murderous intent.
Subconsciously, he was already certain that these two bloody cases were the handiwork of Kieran.
