Chapter 113: Do You Dare to Reach Out Your Hand?
The one who could say such words was naturally the returning Ian.
He led the way back, followed by Cripple and Monkey along with a group of family members, all carrying large bundles of loot pillaged from Lucius's ship. The group was initially in high spirits, but when they arrived at the stronghold, they sensed something was off.
Outside the house, there were many unfamiliar faces, each holding weapons with hostile expressions. Cripple took a look and recognized some of them, so he leaned close to Ian and whispered, "Boss, they seem to be members of other nearby families. Be careful."
Ian nodded and walked toward these people, but surprisingly, no one stepped forward to block him—they just watched him with mocking looks.
Ian walked all the way to the main entrance, and just then, he overheard Dorji's words.
Realizing these people meant trouble, Ian naturally wouldn't have a pleasant tone. He pushed open the door and threw out a sarcastic remark.
Inside the room, Bolder and the others turned to look at the doorway, clearly seeing Ian's appearance.
To be honest, Ian didn't look like a boss at all. He had no scar-covered face, no fierce demeanor, no tattoos, no gold chains, and no cigar—completely different from Bolder and his crew's appearance.
At that moment, he wore leather boots, fitted black trousers, a long dark red coat, and held the sheathed Enma sword in his left hand. He wore a Bear Ear Hat, with his ponytail hanging down from the back of his head. Far from looking intimidating, he actually had a heroic and sharp aura.
When Bolder and the others saw Ian, they couldn't believe that such a young man was the current boss of the Ian Family. All four of them were momentarily stunned.
After snapping back to reality, Dorji recalled Ian's earlier words and slammed the table, standing up and pointing at Ian, "Kid, did you just insult me!?"
Ian pretended to suddenly realize, "Oh, so that was you speaking! If you hadn't stepped forward, I wouldn't have known which idiot was talking!"
"You...!!" Dorji was furious, reaching for the gun at his waist.
But Bolder immediately grabbed his hand, then smiled at Ian, "So you're the new boss of the Ian Family? We've been waiting for you! Since you're here, let's get down to business!"
Ian immediately pegged Bolder as a smiling tiger, but still nodded, "Alright, let's talk business. What brings you all to my place?"
Dorji, hot-tempered as ever, cut in before Bolder, "You quietly took out Sicilian and became the boss—fine, we'll let that slide. But I'm asking you, why didn't you come pay your respects to us!?"
Ian looked at Dorji like he was an idiot, "How was I supposed to know who you are? Why should I pay respects to you!?"
Dorji was so enraged by Ian's few words he was about to explode. He wanted to say something else, but Bolder grabbed him again, this time even shooting him a glare.
Damn it, Dorji was such an idiot! Was this the time to mess around? Get to the point!
After holding Dorji back, Bolder smiled and said, "It doesn't matter if you don't know us. Since we're here now, we're acquainted. Let me introduce myself: I'm Bolder, this is Dorji, and these are Bain and Baggins. When Sicilian was still around, he regularly paid protection money to all four of our families. So we're here to ask Boss Ian what you plan to do."
During Bolder's introduction, Cripple came up behind Ian, bent over, and whispered, "Boss Ian, these four families are the biggest powers near our stronghold. They do a bit of everything, but Bolder's main business is selling weapons—he's an arms dealer. Dorji is the biggest slave trader around here. Bain's family are bounty hunters, specializing in contract killings. As for Baggins, I heard he used to be a somewhat famous pirate, and now his family mainly does robbery."
Since witnessing Ian's strength, Cripple had become completely loyal. Facing these family bosses, he wasn't the least bit worried and directly exposed their backgrounds to Ian.
Ian remained expressionless, but inwardly he was a bit surprised. Well, these four families covered just about every evil deed imaginable!
"Got it. You all go down first and put away the stuff we brought," Ian said to Cripple.
Cripple saluted Ian and withdrew, followed by the other Ian Family members.
Bolder noticed this and was a bit puzzled. He could see from Cripple's salute the respect these people had for Ian. But wasn't this young guy just made boss? How could he have won over Sicilian's original men so quickly?
No, impossible. If he had really won them over, why would some have fled?
Bolder pushed the thought aside, took a sip of wine, and asked Ian, "So, Boss Ian? Have you made up your mind?"
Ian didn't answer immediately. Instead, he pulled up a chair and sat down in front of the four of them.
This action made Bolder and the others exchange slight smiles. The four of them were sitting on the sofa, forming a semicircle facing Ian alone. The contrast in presence was stark—like four big wolves facing a little lamb.
They were used to being bosses and loved these little power games. But they didn't know Ian didn't care about them at all. In Ian's observation, these four were just ordinary people. How could they be so arrogant with no real strength? He wondered what they were thinking.
After sitting down, Ian felt a bit thirsty and snapped his fingers.
Since Ian had entered, Lorraine and the others had gotten word. Their anxious and panicked mood immediately relaxed a lot. Elena was tending to the injured Hogkin, while Lorraine had quietly come out to wait for Ian's orders. Hearing the snap, she understood and brought him a glass of wine.
"Master Ian, please," Lorraine said, setting down the wine with a sweet smile.
Ian replied, "Thank you!" and looked up at Lorraine.
But when he saw the red slap mark still fresh on her face, his expression darkened.
"Who hit you?" Ian asked coldly.
Lorraine wanted to tell him, but she didn't know if it would cause trouble for Ian, so she kept her head down and stayed silent.
But Dorji shamelessly admitted it, puffing on his cigar, "Sorry about that, Boss Ian. Your maid didn't know her place, so I had to teach her a lesson! Oh, and that subordinate of yours, Hogkin—he was even worse, so I put two bullets in his leg. Don't mind it, Boss Ian!"
Though he said "sorry," Dorji showed no sign of apology. In fact, after speaking, he couldn't help but laugh loudly. Bain joined in, laughing along with Dorji. Bolder didn't say anything, but a hint of a smile flickered in his eyes, as if waiting to see Ian's reaction.
Unlike the other three, Baggins didn't laugh. Even though he had also touched Lorraine and Elena earlier, his expression now was uncertain, and he kept glancing at Ian's hat.
"You go down first," Ian said to Lorraine, then quietly added, "Don't come out."
Lorraine understood and quickly ran to the back.
Once Lorraine was out of sight, Ian took a sip of wine and said flatly, "Had your laugh yet? Idiot."
Dorji's smile froze. He couldn't believe Ian was still insulting him under these circumstances. He slammed the table and roared, "Kid! Do you want to die!?"
Bolder finally chimed in to support Dorji, saying coldly, "Young man, think carefully before you act. Do you want to start a war with all four of our families?"
But Ian ignored him entirely, staring at Dorji, "Which hand did you use to hit my people? Do you dare to show it to me?"
Ian's gaze made Dorji uncomfortable, but it also provoked the hot-tempered man. He raised his right hand, showed it to Ian, then slammed it hard on the table, "This hand! What, you want to take it?"
Before the words even faded, Dorji and the other bosses felt a blur before their eyes. They thought it was an illusion, but when they focused, they saw Ian's right hand was already on the hilt of his left-hand sword, which had been drawn a small bit.
With a clatter, the subordinates Bolder and the others had brought all drew their guns, aiming at Ian, thinking he was about to make a move.
Bolder and the other three tensed up, staring intently at Ian.
But under everyone's gaze, Ian pressed the blade back into the sheath with a clang.
Dorji breathed a sigh of relief, thinking Ian had been intimidated by all the guns and stopped. He couldn't help but taunt, "Kid, what's with the act? Weren't you going to take my hand? Why don't you dare to reach out?"
Ian took another sip of wine, "Oh, no need. I've already cut it."
"Cut... cut it?" Dorji tried to lift his right hand to check, but when he moved, he realized something was wrong. His right hand and arm had suddenly separated!
It was cleanly severed at the wrist. The cut was so smooth that only after the hand fell did Dorji feel a sharp pain.
"Ah!! My hand!!"
Dorji screamed in agony, blood gushing from the severed wrist. Bolder and the others jumped up from the sofa in shock, instinctively moving away from Dorji.
What... what just happened!? They hadn't even seen him draw his sword!
Bolder and the others were stunned. When they looked back at Ian, they noticed he seemed to exude a terrifying aura. What had felt like four big wolves facing a little lamb now felt like a lion facing four little lambs...