Chapter 111: Entrustment

"Please, just let me go..." A plea sounded through the air.

As the hired thugs burst through the iron doors, they were met with a scene of carnage—bodies strewn across the floor and Addison kneeling helplessly. They all froze in shock.

"Addison... you!" Not only were the arriving thugs stunned, but the bald man who was tightly choking Jony was also caught off guard. His hand, clenching a machete, began to tremble.

"Let him go, release him now!" Addison's mental defenses completely crumbled at that moment.

He had thought that kidnapping Jony would be enough to coerce the man before him, but it proved utterly ineffective. Especially when he recalled the scenes from the secret realm the day before, sheer terror swiftly invaded his heart.

Given Irving's strength and methods, any harm to Jony would undoubtedly lead to a gruesome end.

And indeed, it did.

Irving was not without vulnerabilities, but having survived an apocalypse, his heart had been hardened like steel. He was determined to make those who had betrayed and hurt him pay a painful price.

He had numerous ways to make Addison experience a fate worse than death.

"Are you deaf?" Addison, still on his knees, turned and glared at the bald man, shouting harshly, "If you don't want to die, drop the knife now!"

The expression on the bald man's face was incredibly complex.

The Fox family operated several entertainment venues in Starling City and maintained a group of thugs under their command. The bald man, named Alan, was considered the leader among these thugs.

In Addison's eyes, however, he was merely a dog kept by his side.

Now that even the dog's master was kneeling and begging, what right did he have to resist any further?

A sharp clink resonated as Alan's machete dropped to the ground, and he too knelt down.

"Dad!" Sophia rushed over frantically.

Jony was nearly choking to death, his neck marked by a deep strangulation line. Sophia hurriedly untied the ropes binding him, tears streaming down her face.

"Have them all leave." Irving said indifferently, glancing at the thugs who had gathered around.

The thugs stood there, dumbfounded, still unable to grasp the situation fully. When they looked at Irving, their hearts churned like a turbulent sea.

Places like bars, where drunken disturbances and even sabotage from rival factions were common, never saw anyone leave their territory unscathed.

Instead, no one had ever managed to leave their territory unscathed...

Yet, the young man before them had not only forced their boss Alan to kneel on the ground, but even Addison, the powerful figure behind the bar, was now continuously pleading for mercy.

"Get out!" Before Addison could speak, Alan glared fiercely at the thugs and barked, "Get out now!"

As the leader of these bar thugs, Alan did not want to be humiliated in front of his subordinates. Although he was still unaware of what had transpired in the secret realm, he had a vague sense that this young man was no ordinary individual.

Moments later, all the thugs that had rushed over had left.

Such a major incident had occurred, and yet the young people who had been drinking and reveling downstairs were all driven out. The entire bar was cleared.

On the second floor, the atmosphere was deathly silent.

"I've released him, please, I beg you, give me a way to live." Addison pleaded from the ground, his voice trembling with fear in his eyes.

"Do they have a base here in Starling City? Where exactly?" Irving asked.

"They?" Addison was momentarily startled, then quickly realized whom Irving was referring to, and hurriedly responded, "You mean the Night Blades? I... I'm not sure. They were the ones who approached me initially, promising to eliminate the Green family as long as I obeyed their commands."

"Is that all?" Irving's gaze was piercing, like a sharp blade, turning back to Addison.

Addison's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly added, "I truly don't know where their base is, but..." He swallowed hard, his life hanging by a thread, no longer caring about the consequences, and continued, "I know that several families within Starling City have already aligned with them. And in three days, they seem to be planning a large-scale uprising, and they've demanded our participation."

"An uprising?" Irving frowned.

This information was essentially similar to what he had heard from James. Starling City, rich in mineral resources and crops, had long been targeted by the Night Blades.

As for the uprising, it seemed aimed at the city's official administrators. The Night Blades intended to use this event to take full control of the city.

"That's all I know. If those people find out I've leaked this information, they will surely kill me." Addison began to plead again.

His dreams had turned to dust. In his quest for the treasures of the secret realm, he had not informed the Night Blades about his kidnapping of Jony, meaning now no one could save him. S~eaʀᴄh the novёlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"You can go." Irving said coldly.

"Really?" Hearing this, Addison was initially stunned, then, as if granted a royal pardon, he shakily got up from the ground and hurried toward the iron door.

The recent events felt like a nightmare. He could not wait to leave this dreadful place.

"Send him off." Irving said, glancing at Wendy with a meaningful look, then walked over to where Sophia was.

Jony was being supported, his face bruised and purple. Having endured a fierce battle in the secret realm the night before and then being brought here by Addison and his men, his aged body couldn't handle such torment.

"Irving, my father's injuries are severe. We need to get him to a hospital quickly," Sophia said anxiously.

"I'm alright..." Jony, his aged face weary, managed a tired smile as he looked at Irving, "Irving, Sophia told me about you the other day. I haven't had the chance to thank you for what you did last time."

Without Irving, the Green family would still be enslaved by the Brotherhood of Night Blades, forever unable to lift their heads.

And this time, if not for Irving, Sophia alone would not have been a match for Addison, and she might have been in danger herself.

"It was merely a small effort on my part." Irving responded.

"A small effort..." Jony heard these words, visibly moved, shaking his head as he lamented, "If our Green family had a young man like you, we might not have fallen to such depths."

Before the advent of the Other World Game, in Starling City, the Green family controlled a vast amount of industries, including mines and agricultural production bases.

However, as the apocalypse loomed, the entire world became turbulent, and the resources controlled by the Green family soon became a source of trouble. They were targeted by numerous forces, almost to the point of destruction...

The industries and economic chains a family holds indeed symbolize strength, but this is only true in times of peace.

In an apocalypse, if there is no strong force to protect these industries, they are bound to invite disaster. The experience of the Green family is a classic example. While Jony did form a guild, the players he recruited were too weak.

This weakness was all too evident in the secret realm when they faced a squad sent by the Night Blades and were nearly completely annihilated.

"Irving, there's something I need to ask of you." Jony's aged eyes flickered with hope, then he glanced at Sophia beside him and continued, "She is my only daughter, and I wish to leave her in your care. Only in this way can the legacy of the Green family's industries be preserved…"

"Dad!" Sophia interjected quickly, her cheeks flushing with a hint of red as she explained, "Irving, don't listen to my dad. He must be out of his mind from exhaustion."

With a trace of reproach in her eyes, Sophia added, "Dad, let's get you home to rest first. We can talk about this later."

A bitter smile appeared on Jony's aged face.

"I'll escort you home in a while, but there are still some matters to attend to here." Irving said with a slight smile, then turned his attention to Alan, who was still kneeling on the ground.

At this moment, Alan's face bore no trace of his initial arrogance. He looked utterly defeated, his head bowed in silence.

Not far away.

Addison, who hadn't managed to get far, had collapsed into a pool of blood. His eyes were wide open like bells, and a gruesome wound had mysteriously appeared on his back.

Having resolved everything, Wendy cleaned her dagger and returned to Irving's side.

The phrase 'send him off' could be interpreted in two ways: one was to see the guest out, and the other was to send someone to their doom. It was clear that Irving meant the latter. For a traitor like Addison, there was no need to keep him around.

At this moment, Alan clenched his teeth, trying to suppress the fear in his heart, yet his body couldn't help but tremble.

He hadn't expected such ruthlessness from the young man before him.

"Tomorrow, bring your men and help me with a task. If it's successful, I might consider sparing you…" Irving said coolly, glancing at Alan with a lowered voice.

After giving these instructions, Irving didn't even bother to look at Alan again, seemingly indifferent to whether he agreed or not. He turned and left the bar with Sophia and the others.