When Lucas awoke, he found himself surrounded by darkness. He was tied, gagged, and locked up in a room.
A million thoughts crossed his mind: Who were these people? What were their intentions? Was someone playing a prank on him?
The word "yacht" flashed across his mind. He remembered hearing they were heading for a yacht before passing out. So he must be somewhere in the middle of the sea right now. As Lucas tried to break free, he heard footsteps approaching.
"Check on the kid. He could be awake by now."
Lucas pretended to be unconscious. He'd better not attract too much attention until he figured out what was happening. Someone opened the door. Light crept in and illuminated a part of the room. An ominous figure blocked out the light as he walked towards Lucas.
"Don't worry, kid's still in dreamland," the man spoke into his phone.
The doors slammed shut. Lucas opened his eyes. The room felt like the bottom of a dark, cold abyss shut out from the world. Lucas heard some noises outside the room and struggled to push himself towards the door. Unfortunately, all he could hear were the sound of waves and muffled voices.
For a very long time, no one else came into the room. He had some time to think about what was going on. This wasn't a prank - he didn't have enough friends that would do this to him. His only buddy, Janson, wouldn't plan this sort of thing. He didn't have any enemies except for his haters in Dreams of Jianghu but they had no idea who he was. It could only mean one thing - this was a kidnap and someone had been following him to wait for the right moment when he was alone.
But who was the kidnapper? Why him…and not his brothers? Was he the easier target? Maybe if he picked Hubert or Mike, he could ask for a higher ransom. He wondered how much he was "worth" to his family…
The more he thought about it, the more he was scared. What if his family decided not to pay the ransom to save the mediocre son? The door burst open. A few masked men entered. Lucas noticed there was sunlight, it was morning.
"Kid's awake now. You didn't kill him," one of them joked. He was wearing the mask of a clown. "Look kid, you'd better not try any pranks. Do you hear me? Nod if you do."
Lucas obeyed. He was right, he had been kidnapped and his clown-faced kidnapper seemed like the leader.
"Take some photos of him and send them to his family." At his command, the other masked men took action. They left him some food and water and removed the gag from his mouth so he could eat. But his hands and legs were still tied.
"No royal treatment for you here. Feed yourself."
They finished what they needed to do and left the room. Lucas stared at the food. He didn't feel like eating but he needed to stay alive. He wasn't planning on dying from starvation. It wasn't the tastiest of meals but he forced himself to finish it. His kidnappers did not return to gag him. Perhaps they figured even if he shouted, nobody would hear him since they were out in the sea. Lucas had no idea if they had called his family to ask for a ransom. Well, no news was better than bad news but he had better think of an escape plan.
His mobile phone was taken from him so there was no way to contact the outside world and he was stranded in the middle of god-knows-where. Even if he could break free of the ropes, he would be outnumbered by the men.
What can you do Lucas? Think! If this was a Dungeon and you were Ash Knight, what would you do?
First, know your enemy. He recalled there were about six men who dragged him into the car. Four of them looked rather strong, the other two were of average built. Second, he needed weapons, anything that could use to fight his kidnappers. There was no Royal Sword here for him, he only had his fists. He wouldn't last three seconds with the muscular men but wait…he had weapons! Or rather, "weapons" - he had a belt. Though it probably wouldn't last long in a fight, at least he wouldn't be empty-handed. Third, he needed a way to leave this room.
Lucas reckoned they would only check on him during meal times so he started to devise a plan. Maybe, he'd fight his way out and take control of the yacht but then he wasn't Ash Knight. He was plain old Lucas. He thought of jumping into the sea and swimming back to the shore but damn, he didn't even know how far our they were.
He recalled his family had a yacht and there was a dinghy. It was the smaller boat they used to go ashore. There should be one on this yacht as well. If he could find a way to get out of the room and get on the dinghy, he might be able to escape. This would be a tough battle since he didn't even know the layout of the yacht. All he could do now was lie low and rework his plan. They must not find out his intentions of escaping.
That evening, he heard noises. Someone was making a fuss.
"Argh! How long do we have to stay on this boring ship? We're in the middle for fucking nowhere!" one of the kidnappers yelled. He sounded drunk.
"Oi! Shut up! What the fuck do you think you're doing?" his accomplice was pissed off.
"That prick had better pay up soon. Fucking kidnapping his own bro-" someone had stopped him before he could finish his words.
"Sober up or I'll help you by throwing you into the sea. And stop spouting nonsense, the kid can hear us."
"Better if he does! This whole thing is lame, that kid must be in shock wondering who gave the orders to kidnap him. I want to…ahhh!"
There was a loud thud, then silence. A brief moment later, someone else was approaching.
"What the heck was the noise about?" the third accomplice questioned.
"Nothing, he got drunk as usual. I knocked him out, he was too noisy."
"Quit fooling around. We could get the money by tomorrow. You better check on the kid."
On hearing that, Lucas slid back towards the corner of the room and pretended to be asleep. He heard the door open, then closed.
"No worries, he's asleep. Oi, help me carry this drunkard downstairs, will ya?"
There was the shuffling of footsteps. Making sure they had left, Lucas sat up. He was wide awake, going through everything he had just heard. Did the guy want to say "brother"? Did one of his brothers kidnap him? It made no sense at all - why would they do that?
And what did he mean by "this whole thing is lame"? Someone "gave the orders to kidnap him", so these kidnappers were working for somebody?
He shuddered at these scary thoughts but he couldn't figure out a reason for Hubert or Mike to kidnap him. Now, he had a change of plans. If he tried to escape and was successful, he may never know who the mastermind was. He had a stronger appetite for the truth, and if stayed on the yacht, he may be able to find out more about his kidnappers.
Lucas remembered hearing one of them say they "could get the money by tomorrow". He just needed to wait and hope the kidnappers won't try to kill him before that.