Chapter 110 A Sense Of Security
Jonathan opened the document, and Amber stared at it from the side.
After taking a good look at the document, their expressions changed.
The document was a liability waiver form, which content claimed that Jonathan was voluntarily participating in the Golden Sword Tournament until the tournament was over. The form also mentioned if there were any accidental deaths during the battles in the tournament, no one would be taking responsibility for that.
To sum it up, the document was basically forcing Jonathan to take part in the Golden Sword Tournament.
“It’s from Strikezone Martial Arts.” Amber quickly understood the situation. The veins on her forehead bulged with anger. “How despicable of them to go back on their words. I’m calling Grandpa.”
“Amber!” Jonathan immediately stopped her, but his expression was gloomy too. He then said, “It’s useless. Now that they’ve used Dragon King to do this, it’s clear that they don’t want to go against your grandfather openly, so it’s pointless for you to look to him for help in this since they will never admit to their actions.”
Amber was startled upon hearing that. She grabbed Jonathan’s hand and said, “Let’s go. You can’t sign the document.”
Jonathan sat there, still, as he looked at Dragon King and said, “Dragon King, I’m sure you didn’t get a say in this, did you? You’re just doing this as a favor for someone else. Is it safe to assume that they won’t be giving me the match for Winnie’s bone marrow transplant if I refuse to sign this document?”
Dragon King smiled grimly and said, “You’re right. I’m only here to watch you sign the papers. Someone will get in touch with you on the other aspects.”
Jonathan fell silent.
At that moment, many thoughts ran through his mind.
He knew Strikezone Martial Arts must have done something to Winnie, but he could not figure out what they had done. However, without a doubt, he knew Winnie’s death was inevitable if he refused to compromise on this.
Jonathan had many plans in his mind, but none of his plans could make Strikezone Martial Arts submit to him. He had no way to avenge Leonardo because this fight was already beyond the man.
Meanwhile, he could not interrogate Strikezone Martial Arts about this, nor could he reveal the truth to anyone else. He had no evidence against them, and Strikezone Martial Arts were smart enough to hide their tracks this time.
What do I do now? What do I do?
It was apparent that Strikezone Martial Arts was out to kill him this time, and Jonathan knew he would die if he joined the Golden Sword Tournament.
However, if he refused to sign the liability waiver form right now, he would be risking Winnie’s life.
Jonathan was stuck in a dilemma.
Amber looked at Jonathan with an even more anxious heart. She did not want to see Winnie suffer, but she did not want Jonathan to be in danger too. This time, she wished Jonathan could be a little more selfish with his decision. But then, she knew it better than anyone else that Jonathan was never a selfish person. Otherwise, she would not have cared for him this much.
Sure enough, after a moment of hesitation, Jonathan looked at Dragon King. He looked so exhausted if he had exerted all his strength to finally come up with his decision. “All right. Please give me a pen. I’ll sign the form.”
“Jonathan!” Amber cried out anxiously. She blocked in front of Jonathan and looked at him with pleading eyes. “Please don’t sign it. Can’t you just leave this place with me? Please. I’m begging you.”
Jonathan smiled faintly. His smile was a little bleak and helpless. “I wish I could leave too, but I don’t think I can let an innocent child die because of me. If I were this heartless, you would have died long ago.”
Amber knew what he meant. If Jonathan were such a selfish guy, she would have been killed by Felicia in the haunted house back then.
Dragon King told Thomas to get a pen for Jonathan. Jonathan took over the pen and signed his name with a flourish. After signing the document, he stood up and said, “Dragon King, now that I’ve signed the form, please pass the message along and tell whoever’s behind this that I’ll be joining the Golden Sword Tournament. Also, tell them to treat Winnie as soon as possible. If something terrible happens to Winnie, don’t blame me for what I’ll be doing next.”
Having said that, Jonathan turned around and was about to leave.
However, Dragon King immediately stood up and called out, “Mr. Lawson.”
Jonathan was startled, and he turned around to look at Dragon King.
The latter bowed slightly and said, “I have so much respect for you. Take care!”
Jonathan was stunned for a moment, but he did not say anything about that and left the café.
Amber quickly followed behind Jonathan.
It did not take long for them to leave King’s Club.
Amber drove the car. She did not know what to say as she knew she could not blame Jonathan for signing the form.
The car sped away as the two of them remained silent with complicated thoughts swirling in their minds.
Sometime later, Amber suddenly pulled over the car at a relatively empty road. Due to the sudden impact, both of them jerked forward.
Amber looked at Jonathan with her reddened eyes. Tears welled up in her eyes as she asked, “Why are you always protecting others by putting your own life at risk?”
Jonathan smiled wryly at that. He stared at the street lamp ahead of them, and his gaze was somewhat distant. After a while, he said, “Amber, I do fear death, and I’m not trying to become a great man. I’ve never thought of myself as a great and mighty man either, and frankly, I wish to steer clear from being that.”
Amber asked, “Then why did you sign the form? Strikezone Martial Arts can’t do anything to you if you refuse to sign it.”
Jonathan sighed and said, “I’m only doing this for a sense of security.”
Amber froze and stared at him. She suddenly could understand how Jonathan felt about this.
Jonathan continued saying, “Strikezone Martial Arts had humiliated themselves before me, and they’re determined to get rid of me this time. Their intention is clear, and I know Winnie won’t be the only sacrifice if I don’t compromise. It could be you, Jennifer, or Yasmin next. They will not give up until I play along, and they’re smart enough to hide their tracks so that I won’t get a chance to reason with them. But, of course, they won’t admit that they are behind this either.”
Amber was exasperated. “Are you saying that you can only let them manipulate you and kill you?”
A cold glint flashed across Jonathan’s eyes as he said, “That’s not entirely true. I’m not a pushover, and I won’t let them drive me to the edge again and again without fighting back, so they’re wrong if they think I’m too weak to fight against them.”
Amber’s eyes lit up with hope when she saw how determined Jonathan looked. “Does this mean you’ve come up with a plan? Are you getting the young man back this time?”
The young man she referred to was none other than Kieran.
Jonathan shook his head. “Kiki won’t be of much help because he’s no match for that guy either. He doesn’t have the protection your grandfather begged for, so I won’t let him come here to die.”
“What is your plan then?” Amber got curious.
There was something devious in Jonathan’s eyes. “Since they’ve put in so much effort in preparing the Golden Sword Tournament, it’s obvious that they will manipulate the tournament to kill me during the battles. But then, you should know that they’re always hiding in the dark. So if I were to plant some of my people in the tournament and take control instead, they would no longer be able to manipulate the results.”
Amber was enlightened after hearing this. She grinned widely. “That’s right. Why didn’t I think of this? As long as you keep them away from manipulating the tournament, you’d be able to survive the battles too.” She had to admit Jonathan was indeed smart to come up with such a simple yet effective measure to deal with the situation.
Amber then had a troubled look on her face and asked, “Who should we get help from to take over the control of the tournament? Edgar is behind this, and it’s hard for any outsiders to try to interfere.”
Jonathan sank deep into his thoughts. “We need a highly respected figure in the martial arts field if we wish to take this initiative. However, it’s no easy feat to find someone like this, and I think not even your grandfather can achieve this.”
Amber was unconvinced. “No way. There isn’t anyone that my grandfather can’t convince to join forces with us unless they are sick of living.”
Her words made Jonathan grin wryly. “Martial artists are known for their bad temper, and they will never bow down to anyone, especially the authorities. So if we are to find a highly respected martial artist, we should be more prepared that their temper will only be worse. Now, do you understand why I said not even your grandfather can do this?”
Amber fretted. “Then what should we do? You got me happy over nothing.”
Jonathan felt warm to see Amber showing that much concern for him. He was moved.
“I do have an idea.” Jonathan smiled. “The Golden Sword Tournament this time is different from the past, as everyone is becoming more reliant on advanced technology. I guess they will be using computers to decide on the candidates for each round. We can find some hackers to hack into the tournament’s website and manipulate the candidates ourselves by then. Suppose they weren’t using computers to decide on the candidates, we could then persuade all the candidates to protest against this by claiming that it was shady of the organizer to do this manually.”
Just like that, Jonathan had solved the difficult problem.
Amber could not help but praise, “That’s a great idea. I’ll look for a hacker then.”
Jonathan nodded. “You’ll have to find a great hacker to do this, or it will ruin our plan.”
“Don’t you worry. Although Strikezone Martial Arts is great in cultivating, they’re still rookies in using the internet. I’ll find us a group of professional hackers,” assured the woman.
Jonathan was confident in Amber, and he did not say much about that.
At that point, it was three in the morning, and it was quiet everywhere.
Amber did not feel sleepy, so she suggested to Jonathan, “Let’s get a drink at a pub.”
Jonathan smiled bitterly. “I hadn’t slept for the past two days. Why don’t we drink at your place so that I can go to sleep right after?”
“That works too.”
Amber then spun the steering wheel around to drive them back to her place.
Along their way, Jonathan got a call from Jennifer.
Before he could say anything after answering the phone, Jennifer asked in a cold tone, “Where are you?”
Jonathan was a little flustered. He glanced at Amber seated next to him and said to the phone, “I’m outside.”
Amber noticed the strange look in Jonathan’s expression, and she got curious. “Who is that over the phone?”
Jennifer happened to hear her saying that.
In an instant, Jennifer felt her anger and sorrow exploding within her. She exclaimed, “Jonathan, I was wrong about you. How dare you flirt around when Winnie’s life is still at stake! You’re really a heartless man!” She ended the call right after saying that without giving Jonathan any chance to explain himself.
