Leo smiled, “Don’t worry, he won’t be stealing anything again, but he can still take care of himself. Hopefully, he’ll turn over a new leaf.”
Sophia sighed in relief, “That’s good. People like him deserve it.”
“Let’s go,” Leo said, pulling Sophia along. They entered The Grand Emporium under the watchful eyes of the crowd.
Over an hour later, they emerged from the store.
“Sophia, it’s getting late. Let’s find a place for dinner,” Leo suggested after checking the time.
“Okay,” Sophia nodded.
Not long after, Leo sensed something was off. He felt like someone was following them. He whispered to Sophia, “Someone’s tailing us.”
Sophia was startled and discreetly turned her head.
Sure enough, a few young men were trailing them suspiciously.
“There are several of them. What should we do?”
Leo sneered, “Don’t worry. You go ahead and wait for me. Don’t come back.”
“Alright, be careful,” Sophia nodded, took the shopping bags from Leo, and quickly walked ahead.
Leo stopped and slowly turned around, eyeing the men who were pretending to look around. His eyes flashed with a cold light.
“Stop pretending. What do you want, sneaking around behind us?”
Realizing they had been discovered, the men exchanged glances and then boldly surrounded him.
The leader was a burly man with a square face and a nasty scar at the corner of his eye, giving him a menacing look.
The man gave Leo a mocking salute, “I’m Cutter Malone, captain of The Shadow Hand’s special operations team. What’s your name?”
The Shadow Hand?
Even thieves have such refined names these days?
And a special operations team? How professional.
Leo knew these were the accomplices of the man he had dealt with earlier.
Leo snorted disdainfully, “My name isn’t something you lowlifes are worthy of knowing. Get lost before I get angry!”
Cutter’s face stiffened, “You’re quite arrogant! Since you don’t follow the rules of the underworld, don’t blame me for being rude.”
“Tell me, were you the one who interfered with The Shadow Hand’s business and crippled my team member’s hands?”
Leo’s eyes flashed coldly as he crossed his arms, looking indifferent, “So what if I was?”
Cutter’s face twisted in anger, “Not much. Just seeking justice for my wronged brother.”
Leo laughed loudly, “Justice? Such a nice word. But who will seek justice for the innocent people you’ve harmed?”
Cutter was furious and embarrassed. He had always been a bully and couldn’t stand being insulted like this. He roared, “Brothers, get him! Break his hands and feet!”
Five or six men charged at Leo with spring knives in hand, ready to attack him in broad daylight.
The nearby pedestrians noticed the commotion and screamed, scattering in all directions. More people gathered from a distance to watch.
These thugs were no match for Leo. Within three seconds, accompanied by a series of screams, all the attackers lay on the ground.
There was no fight scene; it was over before it began.
The onlookers were bewildered, not knowing what had just happened.
Cutter was even more shocked; his eyes nearly popped out: Too fast!
This can’t be real!
Is he a demon?
Leo’s cold gaze swept over Cutter, who trembled in fear and broke out in a cold sweat.
Cutter tried to act tough despite his fear, “You… you just wait. This isn’t over!”
With that, Cutter started to retreat step by step, ready to flee.
Leo sneered, “What? Running away? Aren’t you the captain of some special operations team? Running now would be so disgraceful.”
In the underworld, reputation is everything.
Being taunted like this by Leo, if Cutter ran away now, he’d lose all face.
Enraged and humiliated, Cutter gritted his teeth and his eyes flashed with malice, “Since you want to die, I’ll spill some blood.”
Cutter pulled out a small machete from his waist and skillfully twirled it around.
At first glance, it looked impressive and intimidating.
Leo chuckled and beckoned him with a finger, “Come on. Let me teach you why you shouldn’t play with knives in broad daylight.”
Furious, Cutter charged at Leo with a roar, “Die!”
He swung his machete down with great force.
Just as the blade was about to hit Leo, Leo sidestepped swiftly and closed in on Cutter.
Terrified, Cutter tried to pull back his knife but felt a sharp pain in his abdomen as Leo’s knee struck him hard.
“Ah…!”
Cutter bent over in agony, tears and snot streaming down his face.
Without pausing, Leo grabbed Cutter’s right wrist and twisted it upwards sharply.
“Crack!”
A dull sound of bones breaking echoed.
Cutter let out another scream as Leo dislocated his right arm completely.
The machete fell to the ground uselessly.
“You…” Cutter tried to curse through his pain but was cut off by a vicious slap from Leo.
Blood and teeth flew as Cutter’s face swelled up painfully.
Despite his toughness, Cutter tried to curse again but was met with another series of slaps from Leo.
By the time Leo stopped, Cutter was barely conscious and unrecognizable. His face was swollen and bleeding from every orifice.
Worse still, his entire jaw had been shattered. Eating would be a problem from now on.
Leo let go of Cutter, who collapsed to the ground, barely breathing.
With the matter resolved, Leo turned and walked away to find Sophia.
Two days later, Brennen called to inform him that Prince George of the Royal House of Albion would be arriving in Langstel with his sister Princess Isabelle in a week for treatment.
Though confident in treating Princess Isabelle, Leo asked, “Mr. Holland, do you know the specifics of Princess Isabelle’s condition?”