"One more..." Dash murmured before falling unconscious due to the head injury, but his eyes remained fixed on that figure in the darkness slowly approaching him, and helpless, he fell into unconsciousness. A sense of urgency persisted in his overwhelming feelings of aggression, but no matter what he felt, fatigue and sleep overcame him.
"This is a damn mess. Now you're fighting gang members in the streets at night?" The man in the darkness looked at one of the gang members on the ground, pulling out a pistol and murmuring, "But you certainly owe me a lot for helping me settle my debt. So, none of these guys who hurt you will leave here alive."
If Dash were awake, he would know that the man in the darkness was Santiago, who had returned to the country after settling some debts and, knowing that the only place that would take him in was Sakura Bushido, visited the place upon his return.
The only reason he briefly left Sakura Bushido wasn't because he wanted a hamburger but because he had seen some suspicious men lurking outside the martial arts school. When those men were about to leave, he decided to follow them.
He wanted to know why those men were watching the martial arts school, so he followed them from a distance. When they were about to act, he saw a car approaching the dark building. The surprise was greater when he realized that it was Dash who had come to this place.
He perfectly understood what was happening. When he went for his weapon and entered the building, there was not a single man standing, which surprised him. By the time he approached, he saw the severe wounds on Dash's body, and a vivid image of the last time he saw this young man appeared in Santiago's mind. He first made sure that none of the men lying in the darkness could move.
"This is a lot of blood," Santiago muttered as he administered first aid to the unconscious Dash.
He may be a martial artist, but times have changed, and now a bullet is more effective than a kick. One should not play the role of a street fighter when the opponent has a knife.
While Santiago treated Dash's open wounds, he heard faint footsteps approaching behind him. As if sensing something, he turned around while aiming his pistol.
"Who are you?"
"How is the kid?" A voice did not answer Santiago but instead asked a question.
Santiago frowned and said, "The kid is fine. If you're one of those gang members, you'd better be ready to die here like a damn scum."
"I'm not with them; I'm Mr. Kim, the kid's bodyguard." Mr. Kim, who had received a call from Mr. Chozen, rushed to this place, fearing something might happen to Dash.
Seeing Mr. Kim's figure, Santiago lowered his weapon, turned around, and said, "Dash will need a hospital as soon as possible. He managed to stop the bleeding from his wounds, but they need to be examined more seriously."
"Mr. Kim, everyone is in very bad shape." Chozen, who approached with two long swords, looked at Santiago and waited for his reaction before attacking him.
Mr. Kim extended his hand and said, "He's the one who gave first aid to Dash. He's not an enemy."
"Who are these people?" Santiago was very confused, so he asked Mr. Kim directly, assuming he should be informed.
But to his surprise, Mr. Kim knew nothing about it and replied, "They might be extortionists; they set a trap for Dash, and in his urgency, he fell for it."
"You better leave this place. We've called the police, so it will be complicated to make the police understand who you are." Mr. Kim, realizing his mistake by not mentioning this earlier, advised Santiago.
Santiago nodded, stood up, and quickly left the building before the police sirens sounded. He took his car and left the area because he didn't have a good relationship with the authorities.
As soon as the police arrived, they arrested the unconscious gang members and took Dash to the nearest hospital for medical attention.
...
A few hours later, a man and a woman in suits stood in front of the Lee residence door because they had some things to confirm.
Knock, knock!
A few minutes later, the door was opened by Mr. Zac, who was impressed by the people standing at his door. Curious, he asked, "What can I do for you?"
"I'm Detective Wayne, and she's my partner Maggie. We're here to ask your daughter a question about this." Wayne showed a plastic bag with Devon's broken and bloodied cellphone.
Zac frowned and nodded, letting the detectives in. After they sat down, he called his daughter, who quickly came downstairs. "Dad, who are these people?"
"They are detectives, dear."
Devon was surprised, looked at her cellphone in the plastic bag, and, recognizing it, felt a bad premonition.
"Miss Lee, approximately a few hours ago, your cellphone was used to send messages to Dash Hale, who, by his parents' words, is your boyfriend. I regret informing you this way, but he was attacked using a fairly common extortion method. We wanted to know from you: did you know who stole your cellphone or where it was?" Wayne looked at Devon's expression and knew she wasn't involved, so he lost interest in seeking answers from her. He moved on to the next clue, which was to find out where Devon lost her cellphone.
"Is Dash injured?" Zac was the first to ask upon learning that Dash was hurt.
Maggie smiled slightly and said, "The last we heard, he's stable. He hasn't woken up yet due to the serious head injuries, but it's not critical."
"My cellphone was stolen at school. I'm sure I had it in the gym, but after training, it disappeared." Devon tried to recall all the details.
Wayne nodded and asked, "Do you know if there are cameras in the gym?"
"Yes, there are. After what happened at another school regarding a fight, they installed cameras throughout the school." Devon provided the detectives with a useful lead.
"Then that's it. You'll get your cellphone after the investigation is closed." Detective Wayne said this before standing up.
Devon, who looked at her father, saw him nodding and saying, "I'll get the car keys."