At that moment, Echo finally let out a breath of relief, glancing at Hawk and Cobra. Not bad-they actually understood the words she had written on Ryan’s back. These guys were definitely well-trained. If she had kept going, who knows how much more she would have had to pretend to be close to Ryan.
She stood up and took a closer look at the middle-aged man’s sleeve. Sure enough, the switch was hidden in the button on his sleeve. Luckily, she caught it in time; otherwise, they might not have made it out alive.
“What is that?” Ryan asked, his voice cold as he frowned at Echo, who had just removed the button from the sleeve.
Echo rolled her eyes at Ryan and said slowly, “You mean to tell me the Dark family doesn’t have any high-tech gadgets? I really don’t get how you’ve managed to rise so high. Is the Dark family’s reputation just for show? Dominating Europe and America? Looks like the gangsters over there must all be a bunch of idiots.”
Ryan’s face darkened immediately. “Echo,” he growled.
Seeing Ryan’s expression turn stormy, Echo pursed her lips and said, “I’m just being honest. I’ve only been with you a few days, and I’ve almost died three times. You tell me, what kind of boss lets that happen?” She quickened her pace, heading for the exit as she spoke.
Before Ryan could say anything, he reached out and grabbed Echo’s arm. Echo twisted around, grabbing his hand back.
“Come on, let’s go. There’s something worse than a bomb in here. If you want to stay and risk it, don’t drag me down with you.” She started pulling Ryan along, and Ryan raised an eyebrow, glancing at Hawk and Cobra before following her out.
“What exactly is in there? We searched every inch of that place. There’s no bomb or anything that could harm us,” Hawk said, frowning as he followed them outside.
After quickly walking out of the flower field and estimating a safe distance, Echo tossed the button to Ryan and said, “Crush it.”
Then she found a good spot behind Ryan to shield herself.
Ryan frowned slightly and crushed the button between his fingers with a faint crack.
Just then, a sharp sound suddenly erupted from the glass house in the flower field. In an instant, all the glass shattered into tiny pieces, followed by a piercing, shrill noise. The sound was sharp as a needle, though not very loud, causing Ryan and the others to wince.
Ryan was still frowning when his right ear was suddenly covered. He turned around and saw Echo holding one hand over her own ear while covering his with the other.
Silently, she mouthed, “Cover them, or your ears will get damaged.”
It was a sonic wave-seemingly harmless, but it could destroy someone without them even realizing it.
Ryan raised an eyebrow at this, noticing that Echo couldn’t cover both of their ears with just one hand. His eyes darkened slightly, and after a brief hesitation, he slowly reached out to cover Echo’s other ear.
Echo was speechless. Was this guy really so concerned about his pride that admitting he didn’t know much about high-tech stuff would hurt his image?
She let out a silent huff, pulled Ryan’s other hand over to cover her own ears, and then used her hands to cover both of his. If the boss of the underworld ended up going deaf, that would be a pretty big joke.
Hawk, Cobra, and the other men following them quickly covered their own ears as they saw what was happening.
As the piercing sound gradually faded, Echo finally let go of Ryan’s ears and peeked out. The glass house was gone, leaving nothing but a pile of dust where it once stood.
She raised an eyebrow and said, “Impressive, too bad I couldn’t make something like that.” This kind of high-tech stuff was beyond her capabilities.
Hawk and Cobra quickly surveyed the scene, noticing that the people left inside the house had died, bleeding from their orifices due to the sonic waves. They exchanged glances, and Cobra said quietly, “Looks like this woman’s our lucky charm.”
Hawk shook his head, glancing over at Ryan and Echo, who seemed to be talking. He responded calmly, “She’s the Boss’s lucky charm.”
Ryan heard Hawk’s report and gave Echo a once-over. Suddenly, he reached out and touched her earring, asking, “What’s this thing?”
The entire place had been thoroughly searched, inside and out, and his men were everywhere. He was confident that the Dark family wasn’t clueless. If something had been missed and Echo found it, she must have some high-tech device. The only thing on her that stood out was the earring.
Echo quickly covered her earring and took a step back, saying, “This is mine.”
Ryan gave her a long, hard look but didn’t say anything.
Surprisingly, he didn’t try to snatch it either. Instead, he simply glanced at Hawk and said, “Take care of this place. Don’t let anyone slip away.”
As Ryan coldly ordered Hawk around, Echo sighed and said, “So many enemies.”
Ryan glanced at her, noticing her somewhat tragic expression, as if she were a hero heading off to a battle she wouldn’t return from. He frowned and asked, “Are you really interested in this business? How would you handle it?”
Echo realized Ryan was asking about what she had said earlier and waved her hand dismissively. “Do what you want. I’m not interested in getting involved, but I wouldn’t mind a cut of the profits. By the way, what exactly is this business? Whose income stream did you cut off?”
Cutting off someone’s livelihood wasn’t exactly ethical-no wonder people kept trying to kill him.
Ryan glanced at the sea of flowers and coldly replied, “Drugs.”
“Drugs?” Echo’s eyes widened as she looked at the vibrant flowers around them.
So, this was Southeast Asia’s specialty-poppies.
For the first time, she found herself almost impressed by Ryan. She crossed her arms and said, “That’s a lucrative business.”
Seeing the rare look of approval in Echo’s eyes, Ryan wrapped his arm around her waist and started walking away, his expression still blank. “I’m an arms dealer, not a drug dealer,” he said.
He’d come here to make sure no drug deals took place on his turf. Sure, drugs were a big business, but not bigger than arms, and he wasn’t interested.
Standing at the entrance to the flower field, Echo watched as thick, black smoke billowed into the sky. The acrid smell of burning filled the air, and the flames lit up half the sky. The once colorful and breathtaking sea of flowers was now turning into a sea of fire. The vibrant blooms glowed even brighter in the firelight, their dazzling colors reflecting off the flames. Hundreds of acres of poppies were turning to ashes in the blaze.
Echo rubbed her chin and said, “You’ve got guts. With this move, you’ve probably cut off a lot of people’s income. No wonder no one around here likes you. I mean, for a big-time crime boss, getting attacked everywhere you go is kind of embarrassing. Turns out it’s because of this. You’re making enemies with the entire Southeast Asian underworld.” She smiled at Ryan as she spoke.
Ryan’s eyes reflected the fiery red glow, and a smirk of arrogance curled at the corner of his mouth as he coldly replied, “No one can stop me from doing what I want.”
Echo raised an eyebrow. This guy was arrogant, but she had to admit she agreed with his approach. Drugs were bad news.
She chuckled and said, “Yep, it’s your turf, your rules.” Before she could finish her sentence, more smoke started rising in another direction. Echo was surprised and asked, “What’s going on? Is arson trending today?”
Ryan let out a cold snort and said, “Today, I’m clearing all the drugs off my land.”
Echo touched her forehead as she listened to Ryan’s flat, unwavering tone.
That was a bold move. Even though she wasn’t in the underworld, she knew that drugs were a huge business in Southeast Asia. Yet Ryan was burning all of it in a single day.
And after taking over two-thirds of Southeast Asia’s territory from the Street family after their disqualification in the King of the Road race, he was dealing a massive blow to the global drug trade.
It was audacious, reckless-but damn, it was impressive.
Echo couldn’t help but chuckle, “Classy. No wonder they call you the king of the underworld.”
Ryan shot her a cold glance before turning and heading toward the car parked at the entrance.
Echo, in a rare good mood, laughed and followed him. But as soon as she took a step, her smile faded. Ryan’s bold move had pissed off every drug dealer in Southeast Asia, which meant their future would be filled with bullets and gunfire. Echo’s face instantly fell at the thought.
Just as she was cursing under her breath, the saying “speak of the devil” came true.
Before Echo and Ryan could reach the car, the sound of gunfire rang out. In an instant, bullets were flying.