Five people stood inside a desolate dark warehouse. They were talking about something when they heard a crisp voice exclaim, "Demons!"
They turned around only to find that Agni had woken up. Four asked, "Five, did you not give her a proper dose of ketamine? Why is she up so early?"
Five turned to look at the old man and said, "She only woke up half hour earlier, it does not make much of a difference. In that mansion, I felt as if I was being stared at by monsters."
Four said, "This reminds me, today when I was in the office of Thunder Technologies, Two and I shook hands with the target. That man is not easy to deal with, his gaze seemed to have peeked into my soul."
Three chuckled and said, "Do you even have a soul left, old four?"
They were talking about the issue without any stress on their faces. One raised his hand and the banter stopped. He said, "Make a video, and have it delivered at his home. Threaten him that if he did not come to surrender by the evening tomorrow, we will dispose of the kid and leak the video to the media houses, blaming him for abandoning her because she was not his real family.
Either way, Thunder Technologies will not stay afloat."
The plan was simple, they were going to use Agni as a bait, if Hao Ren took the bait then he would die for being a loving human and along with him the company will die as well. If he did not come, then the people will boycott him for being a shallow person.
Even if the company had ways to revive itself, the damage will be significant, and when Hao Ren gets to his weakest, they will get a chance to kill him.
...
Han Lingshi was gazing at Hao Ren on the screen. She asked, "Where is he headed?"
Xiao Mei replied, "The eastern district, they have taken shelter inside an abandoned villa."
Han Lingshi pressed the button on the screen and asked, "Ren, are you sure that is the correct place?"
Hao Ren replied, "Even with all the tech these people can evade the world, so, even if Xiao Mei could locate them, I not sure if I will find them there. However, they must have left something behind, everyone does. That is what I am looking for."
He was not a fool to think that catching the enemy would be this easy when the group of people before him were all trained soldiers and assassins. The only reason he did not act rashly was because he did not wish to startle the snake.
After a few minutes, Hao Ren parked his car a few blocks away from the place inside an alley, and got down from the car. He jumped up high and used the terrace to dart straight to his destination. It was a common neighborhood. The security was laggard, and this house was abandoned because the owner had passed away recently.
This place was used by the government to provide homes for the old officials who retire and seek peace while being close to the city. Since the government was a bit late, the Alpha Blade decided to come over and use it.
Hao Ren reached the location and used his Yin & Yang eyes to check for traps and anything else. He did not find any of those, and moved inside the villa with soft steps and cautious nerves. He even held a suppressed gun in his hand to shoot.
Infiltration was simple and smooth. He came to see the situation and found the place empty, however, his nerves did not calm down. He began to comb every inch of the place. The place appeared be empty, after an hour, when Hao Ren did not find anything useful, he was disappointed and a bit annoyed.
At this moment Han Lingshi's voice sounded through his ear piece, "Ren, just now, David bough over a disc, it has a video recording, they did not tell where they are holding Agni, but they did say that you should go and meet one of them at the north east suspension bridge in one hour, that is all the time we have before they release the footage to the media."
It was clear that the mask belonged to Five and not Two himself. Hao Ren looked at the man and thought if he should interrogate him, but then he shook his head, it would be a waste of time, because this man won't say anything quickly and he did not wish to waste time.
Even if the mercenary group had given him time in the video, they had asked him to meet over at this place, so they did intend to kill him. Had he not come over, they would not follow the time agreement and the video would have been delivered to the media outlets.
Hao Ren took out the location talisman, and held it together with the mask, as he channeled his spiritual energy through the two objects. The paper caught fire, and the yellow radiance caused Hao Ren to close his eyes.
After a few minutes, when he opened his eyes, the ball of yellow radiance condensed into a small firefly, which shot off into distance. Hao Ren was surprised, and he quickly picked up two and flung him over his shoulder as he dashed behind the firefly at a high speed.
He was sure that Two will not wake up any soon, the impact of his kick was held back, but it was still enough to knock out a bull. Hao Ren dashed at the fastest speed possible. The dragon fly was moving in a straight line, it did not take turn.
After thirty minutes, Hao Ren arrived in the center of the city. He only knew how difficult it was for him to avoid the gazes that longed to see something strange. The young man was standing on top of a building and the dragonfly had just vanished into a puff of flames.
He could sense that the location of the enemy had been reached, but what shocked him was the fact that they were hiding inside a bank. Yes, this place was a bank called the International Commercial Bank.
Hao Ren sighed and asked, "Xiao Mei, ICB is owned by the Rose Family?"
Xiao Mei replied, "Yes."
Han Lingshi asked, "Ren, what do you wish to do now?"
Hao Ren replied calmly, "Just going to have a showdown with these people and bring Agni back home for some cheesecake, can you order some hamburgers and fries for her? I doubt she had anything to eat since noon."
As he said that, he flung Two off his shoulder. The man woke up from the sudden impact, and when he looked up in a daze, all his saw was a foot that stomped on him, sending his consciousness into the embrace of eternal darkness.
Hao Ren initially had the idea of taming these people, but now, his mind had changed. Any enemy who dared to stand in his way shall die.
He then walked over to the door on the terrace that led to the floors below. He said, "Xiao Mei, I want all the doors and surveillance dismantled."
Xiao Mei replied in positive, and Hao Ren opened the door by yanking the door hard. Xiao Mei had shut down the entire security system and none of the alarms were going to work anymore.
...
Han Lingshi was watching the entire thing on the screen through satellite monitoring. Xiao Mei asked, "Madam, why are you watching this with such a focus?"
Han Lingshi replied, "Future reference."
Xiao Mei did not understand this, but this footage was all great lessons for her. She knew that her future would not be easy and would need to act in certain situations so this will help her navigate a bit.
Hao Ren would not be by her side always. Even if he was to stay beside her, she wanted to carve a path of her own and not become his dead weight. She wanted to be called an expert because of her skills and not because her husband was an expert.