"You're no better than a pair of insects. How dare you look down at me?" Alex said, and then he walked away. Heidi quickly trotted after him, which surprised Celia. She had assumed that Heidi would be afraid of Alex's violent behavior. But what she didn't understand was that Alex and Heidi were both fighters. Heidi understood Alex's temper well.
Gavin was lying unconscious on the ground, and Ash was staring after Alex, holding his broken right arm and trying to make a call on his cellphone with his other hand.
"This is Ash," he said when someone answered. "I'm going to hold a family meeting. There's someone we have to punish."
Alex and Heidi were walking down the road when Heidi took Alex's arm and refused to let go.
Celia and Ethan, who were following them, smiled at Alex and continued to apologize.
They knew that they had really messed up. When Alex went into the factory to save Heidi, they should have stopped the launch of the shell. They hadn't because they hadn't had enough faith in Alex, and their hesitation had almost led to a tragedy.
If Alex's martial arts skills hadn't been so advanced, he and Heidi would both be dead.
Their hearts were both pounding. They had seen the cruelty that Alex was capable of and realized now that he was absolutely not someone you should provoke.
As they were both deep in thought, Celia's phone rang.
As she answered it, the expression on her face changed abruptly. Alex turned back and looked at her with a hint of anxiety in his eyes. He could clearly sense that something was wrong.
Celia quickly caught up with him and said, "Mr. Ambrose, someone on the phone wants to speak to you."
She grimaced at Alex as she gestured to the phone, indicating that the person on the other end was not a friend.
"Put them on speaker," Alex requested. He seemed to guess what the call was about.
Celia pressed a button, and a threatening voice boomed out, "Alex Ambrose, listen to me carefully. Those who dare to cross the Thornton family in Baltimore will always be punished. If you hurt the head of our family, you are challenging the whole Thornton family. You will regret what you've done every day until you meet an early death."
Celia was aghast. The Thornton family! This wasn't a threat from a petty gangster. The infamous Thornton family were well known for their ruthlessness throughout Baltimore.
"You represent the Thornton family?" Alex asked coldly. If the caller was threatening to kill him, there was no way he would bother being polite.
"I'm Ash's brother, Ferdinand. Boy, you're dead. You better get your coffin ready," the voice said ferociously.
"No matter where you flee, no matter how powerful your family is, now that you've offended my family, our people will pursue you to the ends of the earth to get our revenge." The voice sounded hard and ruthless.
From his words, it was clear that the Thornton family had issued an order to their people to track Alex down and kill him.
Celia trembled.
Alex, on the other hand, laughed. He said, "I dare you to come and find me."
"Boy, don't be stupid. You wouldn't be laughing if you understood who you're dealing with. My family has the power and connections to immediately obtain every bit of your personal information. We'll attack and destroy every aspect of your life, including complete economic destruction. Although I suspect that you're an arrogant and ignorant young thug who has no real assets."
The intensions of Alex's enemies were clear. They weren't just going to send fighters after him. They were going to attack every part of his life.
But Alex just laughed again. He warned, "If you continue to threaten me, I will go straight back to your brother and kill him. I hope you believe me?"
There was silence on the other end of the line. It seemed that Ferdinand really was afraid that Alex would go back and kill Ash.
"You're crazy, kid! I'm looking forward to destroying you," he said before ending the call.
Alex already had a plan in mind. He hoped that his enemies would start carrying out their threat without delay.
The Thornton family would be causing their own destruction. They had no one to blame but themselves.
Celia sighed. She also knew of Ferdinand Thornton and of his reputation for brutality.
Ferdinand had a higher status in the Thornton family than Ash. Although Ash was officially in charge of the family, it was actually Ferdinand who made all the important decisions. It was he who held all the power.
While Ash enjoyed flaunting his strength and fighting abilities, Ferdinand was more interested in perfecting his martial arts skills. He preferred peace, tranquility, and his own company to practice his techniques with the result that he was far less well known in Baltimore than Ash.
But Celia, as a colonel at the Baltimore Military Academy, had access to more detailed information than most. She knew that Ferdinand was generally considered to be superior to Ash in the martial arts world. If he was getting involved, it demonstrated that the Thornton family considered the situation very important.
With the whole Thornton family, including Ferdinand, out to get him, she couldn't see any way out for Alex. No matter how advanced his fighting skills, there was no way he could defeat the whole family.
"Mr. Ambrose, you were too impulsive. I think you're in real trouble now," she said quietly.
She explained, "The Thornton family is a very powerful one. Although Ash Thornton's reputation is somewhat exaggerated, the strength of the Thornton family cannot be underestimated. Even Jessop Clifton is afraid of the Thornton family. Ferdinand keeps a low profile and only gets involved in the most serious matters. He is way more powerful than Ash."
Celia had developed a thumping headache caused by tension. She had a good impression of Alex and feared for him. She saw him as neither humble nor arrogant but heroic, and his dedication to martial arts was obvious. She hated to think of such an outstanding young man being in such a dangerous situation, but she could see no way out of it for Alex.
Although Heidi had been rescued, it seemed that the trouble had only just begun. In addition to the problem of Ash, she still had to resolve things with Gavin Abbott.
The problem was that Alex had beaten Gavin up. Although what Gavin had said to Alex was unforgivable, and he had committed successive mistakes in his work, he was still an important member of their agency. There was no way that their organization could let Alex go unpunished.
However, she had also witnessed Alex's power, and she could not predict a winner if it came to a conflict between him and the agency.
"Mr. Ambrose, I admire your conduct very much. I would like to offer you a job as chief training instructor at our academy. I hope that you will accept my invitation and join us?" Celia felt that she had found a way to resolve two problems at once.
The current chief instructor had just been transferred, and Celia believed that Alex would be the perfect substitute. Their academy certainly needed a strong chief instructor and Alex not only had a formidable reputation and superb martial arts skills, but he was also very courageous.
The Thornton family would also think twice about attacking the agency's chief training instructor.
She was also certain that the leaders of the academy would approve of Alex.
Alex looked at Celia gratefully but replied, "I'm sorry, but I'm not interested."
Celia wasn't surprised. She had expected Alex to turn the job down, but she had made up her mind to continue trying to persuade him. She was sure that in the end she could get him to accept.