Chapter 3

I slowly stood up from the ground outside the manor gate, wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth, and spat the last mouthful of bloody saliva into the grass next to me.

The shocking bruises and cuts on my body were throbbing with pain, but there was no trace of suffering in my eyes.

I leaned against the shadows in a blind spot of the surveillance cameras outside the manor gate, took out my phone, and swiftly tapped into a hidden encrypted system. A row of blood-red gibberish instantly appeared on the screen.

Without pausing for a moment, I quickly typed in a string of extremely complex twelve-digit hidden code.

That was the highest command code I left for my core old subordinates when I swept through the underworld.

In the two years since I retired, they have each carved out their own territory and become truly all-powerful multinational giants.

But as soon as this code name symbolizing "tyrant" lights up again, they will carry out any order I give without hesitation, no matter where they are.

"Clear out the illegal mining areas along the Balkan border, target abandoned mine D-4." My voice was cold and hard, without a single wasted word.

The voice of the old subordinate on the other end of the receiver trembled violently with extreme fervor and excitement: "We will obey the King's orders, even at the cost of our lives! Boss, you're finally back! I'll sound the alarm for the entire army to assemble immediately!"

"But boss, the target is a cross-border heavy firepower blockade zone. We need to deploy a heavy firepower network and forcefully break through the air superiority route to reach the designated coordinates at the fastest!"

I glanced up at the watch on my wrist.

The kidnappers left Mia with less than eleven hours left in the life-or-death countdown.

I simply cannot wait for this long time for the main force to assemble.

"Listen. In twelve hours, completely seal off the perimeter of the target." My eyes were icy cold, as if I had returned to the throne where I held the power of life and death. "I'll go in first. Once the main force arrives, don't let a single fly escape."

I hung up the phone immediately, clutched it back in my palm, and turned away like a ghost, silently disappearing into the deeper shadows of the manor's backyard.

Just then, a burst of extremely violent shouting and cursing came from under the eaves of the back porch of the manor.

"Bullshit! Bringing people out of the Balkans unharmed, don't you think it costs money to smooth things over along the way?"

I squinted and looked over. The men who had just brought back the rich second-generation heir Brad were having a heated argument with the wealthy man's butler.

These outlaws, driven by insatiable greed, are demanding double the final payment from the wealthiest family under the pretext of additional losses.

"That plane on the tarmac in the backyard can be refueled in just twenty minutes! If double the money doesn't arrive in your account immediately, we're canceling this flight back to our Eastern European base. You'll have to deal with those troublesome customs officers yourself!"

Hiding in the shadows, my gaze changed in that instant.

With only a few hours left in the countdown, and given that regular flights can't fly directly to that black market restricted area, this is the only way I can cross half the globe to save people.

I did not hesitate for a moment.

Taking advantage of the fact that both sides were focused on each other, I quietly crossed the lawn and made my way to the helipad.

I found the plane before it took off.

The roar of the aircraft engines began to be deafening, and the pungent smell of aviation fuel filled the air.

At the last moment before the plane started its engines and prepared to taxi, I suddenly unleashed an extremely terrifying core strength, leaping high from the side blind spot, my fingers gripping the landing gear like steel claws!

I endured the excruciating pain of my muscles tearing, and with a sudden contraction of my waist and abdomen, I forcefully slid along the hydraulic rods of the landing gear, like a cunning venomous snake, directly into the unconditioned bottom landing gear compartment.

The engine roared, and the wheels lifted into the air.

I quickly unbuckled my belt and secured my torso to the hydraulic hoses to prevent myself from falling from the sky during violent jolts or hypothermia-induced unconsciousness.

A ten- hour high-altitude transoceanic flight is an extreme test that puts you right in the face of death.

As the aircraft descended to an altitude of 10,000 meters, extreme oxygen deprivation and deadly low temperatures of tens of degrees below zero instantly engulfed the entire enclosed cabin.

An average, strong adult would not last even fifteen minutes here before dying instantly due to frozen blood.

I forcibly sealed off most of my pores, my heart rate plummeted to its limit, and by using an extremely cruel method of tortoise breathing, I squeezed out the strength of my own muscles to survive this deadly flight that could have frozen my bones to pieces.

The plane finally made a heavy landing on the black market tarmac on the Balkan border.

The hatch opened, and the mercenaries, having received their money, laughed as they descended the gangway and whistled as they left.

I unbuckled my belt and quickly shook off the frost clinging to my hair and brow bone.

After a brief two-second pause, the abnormal blood supply system quickly restored sensation to the limbs.

I landed quietly from the landing gear bay.

I glanced at the time; I had less than twenty minutes to save Mia's finger.

This black market industrial park is heavily guarded. If a shot is fired accidentally, it will immediately attract heavy firepower from the entire park. Even if I kill everyone, Mia will be executed immediately.

I dodged the searchlights, and my keen tactical instincts instantly fixed my gaze on the edge of the tarmac.

There was a cart parked there, transporting medical waste to the core building of the park.

I ripped off my coat, still stained with congealed blood, and tossed it into the darkness. I endured the stench, folded my body to its limit, and hid myself under a cart piled with discarded gauze.

The strong smell of decay and blood, along with the odor of formaldehyde, provided the perfect cover.

Using stealthy methods, I successfully bypassed the security guards at the park gate and made my way to the second basement level.

I spotted the ventilation grille on the wall and ripped it down with my bare hands. I then crawled swiftly through the dark, cramped ventilation ducts like a giant python. In just ten minutes, I had crossed three bulletproof doors and finally arrived at the most heavily guarded underground corridor.

Through the louvers of the ventilation vent, I looked coldly down at the room at the far end, the one with the word "Execution Room" written on the door.

Inside the room.

A burly butcher with a body covered in fat was roughly scraping a bone saw on a whetstone.

Mia, who was tightly bound to a specially made steel chair, cried out in despair.

The butcher walked up to her, grabbed Mia's wrist, and prepared to cut off her fingers to record a deterrent video.

At the critical moment!

I kicked open the heavy blinds with my legs!

Before the butcher could even turn around and see what was happening, my arms were already locked around his thick neck from behind like iron clamps!

Without a word, he suddenly crossed his hands and exerted force.

A sickeningly sharp crack rang out in the sealed room. Before the butcher could even let out a scream, his neck was snapped!

Mia, who was crying in despair, raised her head blankly. The moment she saw my face through her tear-filled and blood-stained eyes, she was so shocked that she stopped breathing.

I strode forward, drew the tactical knife from my thigh, and swiftly cut the heavy ropes binding her, pulling the weakened woman up from the iron chair.

"Don't make a sound, let's go," I said in a low voice.

However, in the extremely minute instant that Mia's body left that specially made iron chair—

An extremely sharp, ear-piercing electronic buzzing sound suddenly burst from the gap in the base of the iron chair!

It's a gravity sensor! These cunning mad dogs installed an extremely sensitive sensor under the chair of their important hostage. Once the weight is lost, the alarm will go straight to the control room!

The next second, the pale white incandescent lights in the entire underground corridor went out instantly, and the glaring blood-red alarm lights began to flash wildly.

With a deafening roar of machinery, the heavy, 15-centimeter-thick blast door outside the corridor slammed down like a guillotine, trapping the two of us in this tiny space.