"Why aren't you lying down?" Leo asked mockingly as he looked at Alex. "This is your chance to live. I'm not sure that you fully understand the consequences if you don't do what I tell you. I might decide to kill you. If you lie on the ground like a dog, it might save your life."
"That's right. It's better to be a dog and live," said one of his lackeys.
"Only humans stand upright. Dogs lie on the ground. If you want to live, then you have to be a dog," laughed another.
"Quickly get on the floor. Your master is waiting for you to obey."
Alex clenched his fists tightly and hissed, "Leo, I'm warning you, you're playing with fire." He had never been as angry as he was now, but these men had Vivian and Monica. And the lives of Sam and his men were also in his hands. He had to restrain himself.
"Damn it, do you want to die?" shouted Leo.
"Go on, kill him," said one of his men.
"Go on, you pitiful dog," shouted another.
Leo raised his hand and silenced the crowd.
"I guess he has guts. Since he's here, he's our guest, so we won't make things too difficult for him yet," Leo said with a smile. His gaze suddenly turned toward Vivian, who shuddered. Leo said to Alex, "So you came back for Vivian? Sorry, but you're too late. She's already agreed to be my woman. It seems like you want her for yourself, so I guess I'll need to convince you that she's already mine.
He grabbed Vivian's wrist.
"Don't—Don't—" she said fearfully. But she had no chance of stopping Leo as he pulled her to him.
"Mom! Let go of my mom," Monica screamed. She had been captured by two of the Flag Sect's subordinates.
"Leo, I'm warning you. If you dare to touch a single hair on her head, I'll take your life," Alex said angrily.
"Ha. What's wrong with you? I've already beaten your bodyguard, Sam, and now you think you can beat me on your own? Who else are you going to find in New York to protect you?" Leo laughed arrogantly.
"Come on, sweetheart." He grabbed Vivian's arm and moved closer to her.
Alex could no longer suppress his temper and rushed toward Leo, shouting, "Bastard, let her go." He knew full well that if he wasn't careful, the people from the Flag Sect would probably kill him. However, when he saw Vivian being publicly humiliated like this, he couldn't control himself.
"Alex, stop," cried Vivian. She no longer cared what happened to her, but she didn't want Alex to be hurt or killed because of her.
He was stopped by the people from the Flag Sect.
"Don't hit him. I want him to watch me getting it on with his woman. That's much more fun than hitting him," Leo said to the subordinates who had grabbed Alex.
"Okay," they replied, holding Alex down in front of him.
"Are you ready for me?" Leo asked, as his gaze shifted to Vivian. He rubbed her lips gently with his finger. Alex was almost bursting with anger.
Leo sneered at him and thought, once he's suffered a bit more, I'll finish him off.
He went to kiss Vivian and, as he leaned forward, he started to unbutton her shirt; he had already pulled it out of her pants. The Flag Sect members were watching in anticipation.
Suddenly they all heard, "Bam—bam—bam—"
Several gunshots rang out. Everyone was startled as they looked around in horror.
The men holding Alex fell to the ground. Leo looked over and saw that blood was flowing out of small holes in each of their foreheads.
"Boss!" shouted one of his subordinates in terror.
Another asked, "What should we do?"
"They have guns," cried another.
Seeing the dead men lying on the ground, the rest of the Flag Sect members were appalled. They were all looking around hysterically, some with trembling legs, all of them afraid that a bullet would fly out and kill them.
"Boom."
"Boom."
The glass above the restaurant shattered, and eight black shadows jumped down through it.
"You bastards. Don't you dare kill my men," Leo shouted. "Flag Sect, kill these bastards. Fifty thousand dollars for whoever kills them."
The moment they landed on the ground, the intruders took out another four or five of Leo's men. To Leo, they looked like ferocious tigers charging into a field of sheep. His men were simply no match for them. They were screaming miserably and running frantically to the exits, trying to escape. Most were colliding with doors and tables, and some even flew into the walls.
Less than two minutes later, only twenty of the one hundred and fifty gang members were still standing. These individuals weren't particularly good fighters; they had just managed to stay out of the way so far.
"No!" cried Leo. He couldn't believe what he was watching. His Flag Sect had won numerous blood battles against other gangs and had always come out on top. They were by far the strongest gang in New York, but they had been defeated by just eight people. He needed to know who these people were.
He realized that the intruders were there to save Alex, so he decided that he could use him as a shield to ensure his safety. But before he could even get close to him, one of the intruders attacked him.
"Aaah," he screamed miserably. Both his arms had been dislocated.
In a very short period, all of the one hundred and fifty gang members were lying on the ground.
Eight tall young men were now standing in front of Alex, bowing their heads in apology. One said, "We're sorry we got here so late. Alex, please forgive us." They were from the Ambrose family's security team, Squad Three. This was the squad that had destroyed the Azure Dragon Society.
Before coming to the Flag Sect's headquarters, Alex had taken the precaution of summoning the security team. When he called them, he found out that Squad Three was already close by.
Fortunately, they had arrived just in time.
"No problem," Alex said calmly. He didn't care at all about the late arrival of the security team. He was completely focused on Leo, who was groaning in pain on the ground.
Alex moved the security team members out of his way and walked over to him.
When he saw Alex approaching him, Leo stopped screaming. His expression became one of terror. He was sure that he was going to kill him.
"I was wrong. I'm sorry, I was wrong. You can take her with you. You have her. Please let me go—" Leo stuttered, shuffling back slowly.
"I told you to release Vivian. Did you not hear me?" Alex bit his lips and said, "Remember what you said to me? Now, maybe it's you who should be crawling on the floor like a dog."
"Yes, I was wrong. I'm sorry, I was wrong. I should learn to bark like a dog. I'll learn now." Leo's arms could no longer move. Kneeling on the ground, he barked twice. "Was that good enough? If not, I'll try again. Woof, woof, woof—"
"How easy life would be if apologies meant anything," Alex said with a sneer. He picked up a chair and smashed it on Leo's head. Leo now lay limply on the ground. His head was bleeding, and his mouth was gaping open like a dead fish. He whimpered, "Spare me, please, spare my life. I just want to live. I don't want to die. Give me a chance—"
"Give me your gun." Alex stretched out his hand and a member of Squad Three-handed him a pistol. He pointed the muzzle of the gun at Leo.
"I beg of you, don't kill me, I don't want to die," Leo cried in anguish. Alex's response was to fire a bullet into his head. A black hole appeared on the gang leader's forehead. Blood flowed out as his life drained away.
"I warned you before, so you only have yourself to blame. You should have listened to my advice," Alex muttered and handed back the pistol.
Watching him kill their leader so brazenly shocked the rest of the Flag Sect gang members.
"Take Mr. Woodsworth to the hospital now," Alex instructed Sam's men, who helped him out.
"Alex, what should we do with these people?" the Squad Three leader asked.
"Destroy the Flag Sect. But you can let the men stay in New York as long as they don't do anything out of line." Alex thought of Vivian's man. If they were to annihilate the Flag Sect as they had the Azure Dragon Society, it could cause more problems. Alex's instructions to the security team were that they should closely monitor New York's underworld. They should allow the gangs to continue, but they must act within the law.
"I'm so sorry," Alex said as he walked to Vivian's side. He felt terrible about what Leo had done to her.
She had relaxed and was grateful to him for saving her from the gang leader. She lowered her head and smiled shyly, saying, "I never imagined that you have so much power. Even Sam Woodsworth works for you. I thought you were just a university student."
"Vivian, it was me who cleared out the Azure Dragon Society—" Alex wanted to explain to her that it was his fault that her man had left, but that he had been trying to do something good.
"I know. It's okay." She had blamed the man who had destroyed the Azure Dragon Society for driving her boyfriend away. But now she knew that it was Alex, she didn't feel angry anymore. She trusted him and was certain that he had acted with the best intentions.
Finally, Alex asked the security team to take care of everything, and he left Connie's. With Vivian and Monica, he took a cab to the Azalea Guest House. He had planned to stay there that night.
**
The next day, Alex went to the hospital to check on Sam. Fortunately, his injuries weren't serious, and he only had to stay there for a few days to recuperate. Even though Ben and Carl were also in the same hospital, Tanya and Britney were with them, so Alex didn't need to stay.
As for Vivian and her daughter, he paid for them to stay at the Azalea Guest House for the time being. They had no desire to go back to their home.
He bought a live chicken and returned to his villa to give it to Grandma before returning to school.
On his way to the campus, he received a call from Suzan, who said, "Alex, thank you for coming shopping with us last week. Rose and I would love to treat you to a drink at the Angel Bar tonight. Are you free?"