"Cory, are you all right?"
Cory rubbed his head and straightened his back. Seeing the blood on his hand, he grew angry. He had grown up leading a pampered life. When he had bullied others, he had never been beaten.
"Get this guy! Beat him until his mother can't recognize him anymore! Get that woman for me. I want to see how you're going to protect her now!" He pointed at Ben in anger, and the lackeys accepted his order.
"How dare you hit Cory!" one of them shouted.
"If you're looking to die, why didn't you say so earlier?" said another.
"I'll beat you to death!" said yet another.
A few people yelled as they rushed toward Ben. Steve and Rich each picked up a chair.
Although Ben was terrified, he was even more afraid that his sister, Tanya, would be bullied. Ben stood in front of her to protect her. He decided that even if he was going to be beaten to death, he would not let them hurt his sister.
"Slap!" A few of his lackeys charged forward and slapped Ben across the face. He was bloodied but stood his ground. He protected Tanya with a determined look on his face.
"Let go of her!" Steve shouted.
The lackeys near Tanya dodged away, and Steve let out a loud cry as he smashed a chair over Ben's head. The chair broke into pieces.
Ben was dazed, and then he felt severe pain as if a stake had been driven through his skull. But he still stood his ground to protect Tanya.
"Ben!" Tanya was frightened as she watched the chair break apart over her brother. She covered her ears, closed her eyes, and shielded her body with her arms.
When she opened her eyes, Ben was still standing in front of her, but blood was flowing out from a gash on his head. Tanya was scared and angry but deeply touched that her brother protected her. She held Ben and cried helplessly, "Brother, are you okay? Are you okay?"
"So, you're brother and sister. Beat them both up!" Cory said angrily. "There's another one over there. Get her too!"
After Cory finished yelling, a few people rushed toward Britney. Carl protected his sister with as much courage as Ben had shown protecting Tanya, and placed her behind him to keep her safe.
Carl decided that he wasn't going to let this guy make him look bad. If he was going to be beaten to death that day, they would die together with no regrets.
Ben and Carl bitterly endured the lackeys' reckless fighting style, but, as they were outnumbered, they probably could only last another five minutes.
Tanya and Britney weren't injured, but they were crying loudly. Tanya wanted to help her brother, but he prevented her from moving.
Britney, shielded by Carl, grabbed his shirt in fear.
The people inside the restaurant could not bear to watch them fight, but felt it was out of their control or, worse, that they would get pulled into it. They didn't dare to get involved, so many of the guests quickly rushed out the door.
Seeing that Ben and Carl were being beaten, Cory started to feel better. Those two losers had offended him, so this beating was the punishment that he wanted to see.
"Hey! What are you doing! Stop!" Alex cried out.
Alex rushed out of the bathroom. He was shocked and angry when he saw what was happening to Ben and Carl. He had left the table to call Sam Woodsworth to ask him to move Vivian Carter and her daughter to a safe place. He had only vaguely heard the sounds of a dispute outside, but he had not expected it to involve Ben's group.
He saw six people surrounding Ben and Carl. Without a word, he rushed to help them.
"Aaa grh!"
"Damn!"
With a couple of sharp kicks, Alex knocked away two of the guys. He picked up two wine bottles from the table and smashed them over the heads of two other men with all his strength.
"Smash…smash!" One of the bottles shattered. The other bottle remained intact, but its bottom was stained red and dripped with blood
The two people who were hit by the bottles fell to the ground.
One man held his head and swayed from side to side. The other man fell and stayed motionless with the wound on his forehead bleeding profusely.
"Cory, I'm dead." Steve shook his head at Cory before his eyes closed.
When the other thugs saw how ruthless Alex was, killing a man in one strike, they were all shocked. They took a step away from him and watched carefully.
"How are you doing?" Alex looked at Ben and Carl. They both had blood on their heads, and their arms and legs were full of cuts and scrapes. Alex's heart ached as he looked at them.
Tanya and Britney's hearts moved when they saw Alex save them. Looking at his serious expression, without a trace of fear, they felt that this man had a lot of courage.
"Fortunately—" Ben said. He was unable to open his eyes as he sat helplessly on the ground with Carl.
"Are you all right?" Tanya's attention shifted to her brother. She hugged Ben and cried. Britney also squatted beside Carl to take care of him.
"I'm okay. So long as you're okay," said Ben as he smiled.
Alex thought of calling for an ambulance, but he paused.
"What's going on? Cory, what's wrong?" Just when the fight had calmed down, another person walked into the restaurant. It was Henry Moore.
Slayer followed closely behind him. He was still wearing his strange clothes and a white mask. When he saw Alex in the room, his gaze stopped on him for a few seconds.
"You're hurt! Who hit you?" Henry walked up to Cory and asked with concern. Seeing Cory look in Alex's direction and toward the rest of his group, Henry looked at Alex and revealed a cold smile.
"It's you again damn it. I think you're really trying to get killed!" he exclaimed.
"Henry, this brat is ruthless. Don't act blindly without thinking first. I've already told a few of my guys to come over and kill this arrogant guy," Cory said as he looked at Alex warily. He had only stopped by the Yellow Garden by chance.
"Cory, how could these people dare to offend you? As your friend, how can I stand it? I'll deal with these three bastards for you right now and give them something to remember!" Henry looked like he could not wait to get revenge for Cory, which would help build their relationship.
He turned to Cory and said, "Besides, you might not know this, but this guy has hit me before. This time, whether it's for you or for me, I'm not standing by to watch him act so arrogantly in front of you."
"All right, you should know that his skills aren't bad. Not only that, but he can also be pretty ruthless. He's already killed one of my guys, so I'm afraid that you might not be able to beat him up." Cory was rather fond of Henry and felt quite close to him.
"Cory, you worry too much. So what if I can't personally beat him? For people like us, we don't have to dirty our own hands to deal with this kind of trash," Henry said with disdain. He then looked over at Slayer. "Just let him deal with him."
Over the last few days, Slayer had almost recovered from his injuries. Henry had wondered how he could have been so badly injured by Alex at the Angel bar the last time. Slayer had said that he'd had an absentminded moment that had given Alex an opening. Alex was not his match at all. Henry also felt that it was by chance that Alex had beaten Slayer.
"Him?" Cory looked at Slayer in confusion.
This little guy is so short and thin, how could he beat up that brat? Cory thought.
"Henry, you saw it. One guy has already died. He's much stronger than you and this strange little guy. Don't let him get killed. We'd better wait for Cory's helpers," Darren said, voicing his opinion.
Both Darren and Henry worked to flatter Cory's rich ego. Naturally, Darren didn't want Henry to do well in front of Cory and gain his favour, especially since Darren and Henry didn't like each other to begin with.
"Oh, Darren, don't worry so much," Henry said as he looked at him with disdain.
"You—" Darren angrily rushed toward Henry.
"Aaargh!" When he got to Henry, before he could say anything, Slayer swiftly flung Darren over his shoulder and slammed him down onto the floor. Darren cried out in pain, while Slayer calmly took his place beside Henry.
"Not bad… at least I know how to beat up bad guys for you," Slayer said. Henry gently stroked his head as if he were petting a dog.
"Good! See? My man's really strong. Go after those three and don't hold back. Kill them… I'll take responsibility," Henry said while he pointed viciously at Alex.
"All right, I'll do as you say!"
Henry felt that if he could kill Alex and his friends this time, not only would he avenge himself, but he would also earn Cory's goodwill.
Henry put his hand on Slayer's shoulder and pointed at Alex, "Slayer, go kill that brat for me. When you're done, I'll give you another five hundred dollars each month, so you can buy more clothes and look handsome. Now, hurry up and do it!"
Henry handed Slayer a knife and pushed him away. Slayer stared at Alex nervously, but he did not make a move.
Alex just stood in front of Ben and his friends, silently looking at the little masked man.
"Slayer, what's wrong with you? Hurry up and kill him! Cut off his head! Now!" Henry shouted.
Slayer remained motionless with the knife in his hand. Although no one could see his face, his eyes were wildly jumping from side to side.
"What's going on? Why isn't he listening to you?" Cory asked Henry with a frown.
Henry smiled awkwardly, walked behind the little masked man, and slapped him on the back of the head. He shouted, "Trash… don't you understand what I'm saying to you? Go and kill him now!"