MMB Chapter 1456 Who is the prey?
Chapter 1456 Who is the prey?
Chen Jun quickly stepped forward, bent down, and used his strong hands to help the middle-aged man, who was kneeling on the ground and sobbing uncontrollably, to his feet.
The man's trembling body, the rough calluses on his hands, and the deep-seated despair and humiliation filled Chen Jun with an indescribable heaviness and sorrow. This was not merely a personal family tragedy, but also reflected a deep-seated social ill—why do compatriots overseas repeatedly fall into traps woven by their own people? Why are channels for seeking help so scarce, forcing an ordinary father to gamble everything and risk his life across borders? How much untold darkness and helplessness is contained within this? One can imagine that without external intervention, the fate of this father and his son would almost certainly have been tragic.
"Brother, get up first, don't be like this." Chen Jun's voice was steady and powerful, carrying a reassuring strength, "Things haven't reached a dead end yet, we're here for you."
He steadied the man, looked directly into his cloudy, tearful eyes, and said clearly, “Now, call them. Tell them the money is ready as they requested, and ask for details about the specific location and method of payment. Remember, your tone should sound urgent and fearful, but also show that you are genuinely trying to raise the money.”
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man shook his head violently, his face filled with even greater fear: "No...no, sir! I...I don't have enough money! They said that if I'm short even a penny, they'll cut off one of my son's fingers, and if I'm short even more, they'll cut off his hands and feet...I can't do it! They'll kill Xiaotian!"
He looked at Chen Jun, then at An Ran, his eyes filled with struggle. Although he believed the young couple in front of him were soldiers and kind-hearted people, the other side was a vicious kidnapper, and they outnumbered him. In a foreign country, where they were unfamiliar with the place, could Chen Jun and An Ran, who were only two people, really handle them? What if they angered the kidnappers? Wouldn't his son's life be in immediate danger?
An Ran saw his hesitation, stepped forward, and grasped the man's other trembling hand. Her voice was gentle yet firm: "Brother, you have to trust us. You are now isolated and helpless. Is there a better way than to do as they say? Even if you take not enough money, they will not let your son go, and they might even detain you as well. If you do as we say, at least there is still a glimmer of hope. My husband... he is not an ordinary soldier."
An Ran's last words were full of meaning. She knew Chen Jun's capabilities and was even more aware of the heavy responsibility on his shoulders. Now that he had decided to get involved, he would never give up halfway.
Perhaps it was the unwavering trust in An Ran's eyes that moved him, or perhaps he was truly at his wit's end, but the middle-aged man finally gritted his teeth, nodded heavily, and a resolute glint flashed in his eyes: "Fine! I'll listen to you! I... I'll make the call right now."
……
More than an hour later, following the location finally determined after repeated changes by the kidnappers over the phone, the middle-aged man appeared alone in an abandoned factory area on the outskirts of the city, carrying a rather heavy-looking black suitcase. Far from the city center, surrounded by dense tropical rainforest, the abandoned factory buildings were rusty and overgrown with weeds; the only sounds were the chirping of insects and the wind, creating an atmosphere of desolation and eeriness.
He had just carried his suitcase and walked unsteadily into the empty courtyard of a dilapidated factory when four men emerged from the shadows and surrounded him. The leader was a burly man with a face full of scars, dark skin, and a ferocious tiger tattooed on his arm. He had a cigarette dangling from his mouth and was sizing up the middle-aged man with a fierce look in his eyes.
"Where's the money? Did you bring it all?" The burly man with the dark face exhaled a smoke ring, his voice rough and hoarse.
"I...I brought it, it's all in the suitcase." The middle-aged man tried to control the trembling in his voice as he pushed the suitcase forward. His heart was pounding, and his palms were covered in cold sweat. He knew exactly what the "money" in the suitcase was, which almost made him collapse.
"Open it!" the burly, dark-faced man commanded impatiently. "Let me check the goods! If the number is wrong, I'll chop off your son's hands and feet and feed them to the dogs right here and now! And you old bastard, you won't get out of here alive either! I hate it when people try to pull tricks on me!"
Several henchmen grinned menacingly as they approached, their steel pipes and machetes gleaming coldly.
The middle-aged man took a deep breath, Chen Jun's instructions echoing in his mind. He forced himself to calm down, not opening the box immediately, but raising his head. His voice was still a little weak, but he tried to convey a hint of determination: "I...I need to see my son first! I can only give you the money after I see that Xiaotian is safe and sound! That's the rule!"
The burly, dark-faced man paused for a moment, then grinned, revealing yellow teeth, and sneered: "Heh? Old man, you know a thing or two about the rules of the underworld? Not bad, I'm a man of principle too." He deliberately emphasized the word "principles," his tone full of sarcasm.
He turned his head toward a dilapidated office inside the factory and whistled sharply.
A moment later, two thin, fierce-looking men, both armed, shoved a young man out. The young man was Xiao Tian, the middle-aged man's son. He was dressed in dirty, tattered clothes, his face was bruised and swollen, his mouth was cracked, his eyes were filled with terror and despair, and he walked with a limp, clearly having suffered a great deal of torture.
"Dad—!" As soon as Xiaotian saw her father, tears welled up in her eyes, and she cried out hoarsely, "Dad! I didn't gamble! I really didn't owe them any money! I was tricked here by Wang Qiang (that friend)! They arrested me and forced me to confess, and when I didn't, they beat me..."
"Shut up! You dare to say that again!" one of the henchmen holding him cursed angrily, then kicked Xiao Tian hard in the back of the knee. Xiao Tian screamed and fell to his knees.
Another henchman stepped forward, grabbed his hair, forced him to raise his tear-streaked and blood-stained face, and then punched him in the stomach. Xiao Tian curled up in pain, gagging painfully.
"Xiaotian!!" The middle-aged man's eyes were bloodshot. Seeing his son's miserable state, his heart ached. He could no longer care about being afraid and suddenly wanted to rush over.
"Stop! You old bastard!" the burly, dark-faced man shouted, and two henchmen immediately stepped forward to block him.
The middle-aged man struggled, his gaze fixed on his son. Just then, he suddenly noticed that several fingers on Xiao Tian's hands, which were bound behind his back, were twisted at unnatural angles—clearly, they had been forcibly broken!
"You...you broke your promise!" The middle-aged man trembled with rage, pointing at the burly, dark-faced man and roaring hoarsely, "You promised not to hurt my son! Why did you break his fingers! Why?!"
"Credit?" The burly, dark-faced man laughed as if he'd heard the funniest joke in the world. "Credit with me? I only care about money! Fingers? That's interest! Enough of your fucking nonsense, where's the money? Give it to me!"
He gave a signal, and two henchmen immediately stepped forward, preparing to forcibly take the suitcase from the middle-aged man's hands.
"Release my son first! Otherwise, you won't get any money!" The middle-aged man, seemingly emboldened by some unknown source, clung tightly to his suitcase and backed away.
"Go to hell!" one of the henchmen said impatiently, stepping forward and kicking the middle-aged man hard in the stomach.
The middle-aged man cried out in pain, staggered back a few steps, and his suitcase flew out of his hand, crashing to the ground. The lock popped open and the lid flew off.
Another henchman immediately stepped forward, picked up the box, looked inside, and his expression changed instantly. He looked up at the burly, dark-faced man and shouted, "Boss! Something's wrong! The number is far off! It's not enough at all!"
Inside the box, there wasn't a million dollars in cash at all; only a thin layer of real bills was on top, and the bottom was stuffed with neatly cut old newspapers!
The burly, dark-faced man's sinister grin froze instantly, then twisted into a grotesque grimace, his eyes gleaming with malice: "Damn it! You old bastard! You dare to play me for a fool! Trying to get something for nothing, huh?!"
He slammed his cigarette butt to the ground, crushed it under his foot, and his voice was forced out through clenched teeth: "Cut off that brat's hands and feet first! Then drag this old bastard over here, I'm going to make him watch his son turn into a human stick! You son of a bitch!"
He was clearly enraged. He'd done this kind of thing countless times, but he'd never encountered anyone who dared to fool him like this. He sneered, pulled out another cigarette, lit it, and waited patiently for a bloody "show."
Just as the two henchmen grinned maliciously, drew their machetes, and approached Xiaotian, who lay slumped on the ground, his face filled with despair, the middle-aged man let out a desperate wail—
"Let's see who among you dares to lay a hand on me."
A voice as cold as a Siberian icy current suddenly rang out at the rusted iron gate of the abandoned factory.
Before the words had even finished, a figure darted in like a cheetah, instantly covering more than ten meters to reach the middle-aged man's side. With a single hand, he steadied the swaying man. The person was none other than Chen Jun.
He stood still, his gaze, like a cold searchlight, slowly sweeping over the burly, dark-faced man and his men in the courtyard. His eyes held no warmth, only a deep-seated disgust and chilling rage.
"Look at your faces," Chen Jun's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a penetrating power, clearly reaching everyone's ears. "You have hands and feet, yet instead of trying to earn honest money through your own abilities, you insist on doing these heinous, exploitative things. What's even more ridiculous is that you only dare to harm your own compatriots, but when you see foreigners, you cower like dogs. With such a lack of ambition, do you even deserve to be called human? You've utterly disgraced the Chinese people!"
"Who the hell do you think you are?!" The burly, dark-faced man was enraged by Chen Jun's imposing manner and words. In this territory where he ruled, no one had ever dared to speak to him like that, especially since the other party looked like a young man all alone. "You dare to act wildly on my turf? You're tired of living, aren't you?!"
Chen Jun remained unmoved, his tone even more sarcastic: "If it weren't for the fact that you deliberately harm your own compatriots, I wouldn't bother getting my hands dirty. Unfortunately, that's all you're capable of, only daring to bully your own kind. Now that I've run into you, I'm going to meddle in this."
"Damn it!" The burly, dark-faced man was completely enraged, his fleshy face trembling as he roared. "Fine! Very well! Kid, you've got guts! Now, crawl over here right now and kowtow a hundred times! Then call your family and have them send another million over! If you can't do that..."
With a swift movement, he drew a gleaming butterfly knife from his back waist, his fingers deftly twirling it in a dazzling display of skill, the blade tracing chilling arcs in the dim light. He stared menacingly at Chen Jun, like a venomous snake eyeing its prey: "...I'll slice your flesh off piece by piece! I'll show you what happens when you anger 'Black Tiger'!"
Seeing the other party brandish a knife, and clearly a seasoned expert, the middle-aged man who had just caught his breath turned pale. Ignoring his pain, he hurriedly whispered to Chen Jun, "Commander! Commander! There are more of them, and they have knives! You should leave! Don't worry about us! We can't let you get caught up in this!"
Chen Jun gently patted his shoulder, signaling him to relax. Then, he strode towards the burly, dark-faced man known as "Black Tiger," his steps steady and his expression indifferent.
"It's good to stretch my muscles and bones; I've definitely gotten a bit rusty lately." As Chen Jun walked, he casually moved his neck and wrists, and his bones and joints emitted a series of crisp, dense "crackling" sounds, like firecrackers during the New Year. These sounds were particularly clear in the quiet, abandoned factory, exuding a sense of power that was unsettling.
He stopped about three meters away from "Black Tiger," calmly looking at him and the armed henchmen behind him, and spoke in a low voice:
"Stop wasting time. All of you, come at me together."
Black Tiger's pupils contracted slightly. The other man's composure and the subtle aura he exuded made him feel inexplicably uneasy. But he was used to being arrogant and domineering; how could he be intimidated by a young man, especially one so arrogant!
"Charge! Kill him!" Black Tiger roared, but instinctively took a small step back, shielding his men in front. Safety first; let his underlings test the waters first.
The four henchmen, who could no longer contain themselves, immediately brandished steel pipes and machetes and charged at Chen Jun menacingly!
However, the next second, the ferocity on "Black Tiger's" face froze completely, and his mouth involuntarily opened wide enough to fit a duck egg!
Chen Jun's figure flashed like a ghost, so fast that it left an afterimage on the retina. He didn't use any fancy moves, just the simplest and most direct punches, kicks, and grappling techniques.
"boom!"
A dull thud rang out as Chen Jun delivered a straight punch to the chest of one of the henchmen charging at the front. The tall, burly man was sent flying backward more than two meters, his feet leaving the ground, before crashing heavily onto the rusty wreckage of the machine. He didn't even utter a sound before passing out.
"Crack!"
A sickening cracking sound followed. The second henchman swung his knife, but Chen Jun neither dodged nor evaded. His left hand shot out with lightning speed, precisely grabbing the henchman's wrist holding the knife and twisting it in the opposite direction! Amidst the crisp sound of bones breaking, the henchman let out a pig-like scream, the machete clattered to the ground, and his entire arm dangled at an eerie angle.
The piercing screams and the clear sound of bones cracking not only sent chills down "Black Tiger's" spine, but also made the middle-aged man next to him, who was clutching his stomach, gasp and shudder as if he were experiencing the same pain.
It's broken! The arm is definitely broken!
This is not over yet.
The third henchman swung a steel pipe at Chen Jun's head from the side. Chen Jun slightly turned his body, and the pipe grazed his ear. In the instant the opponent's force subsided and his body leaned forward, Chen Jun's right hand shot out like an eagle's claw, not to attack a vital spot, but with lightning speed, grabbing the opponent's ear!
"Tsk-!"
A chilling sound of flesh tearing apart!
The henchman let out a bloodcurdling scream, staggering backward as he clutched his bleeding earlobes.
Almost simultaneously, the fourth henchman's machete was already slashing at Chen Jun's face. Instead of retreating, Chen Jun advanced, clenched his left fist, and with even greater speed, delivered a clean and decisive uppercut from below, landing squarely on the opponent's chin.
"Pfft!" Blood and froth mixed with teeth spurted from the henchman's mouth. His eyes rolled back, and he instantly lost consciousness, his body going limp as he was about to collapse.
But Chen Jun didn't let him fall. In the instant before his body went limp, Chen Jun reached out and grabbed his other intact arm, used his waist and abdomen to twist and turn, and threw the unconscious henchman like a sandbag towards his companion who was screaming in pain with the missing arm!
"Oh!"
The two bodies collided violently, rolled into a heap, and the groans stopped abruptly—they were both unconscious.
From the moment Chen Jun made his move until all four henchmen collapsed and couldn't get up, the entire process took only five or six seconds.
In the abandoned factory yard, apart from the howling wind blowing through the broken windows and the occasional painful groans coming from the ground, there were no other sounds.
The cigarette that "Black Tiger" was holding had fallen to the ground sometime earlier, still emitting wisps of smoke. The muscles in his face were stiff, and his eyes were filled with disbelief, horror, and a hint of barely concealed fear.
Chen Jun slowly withdrew his stance, patted off non-existent dust from his hands, and turned his gaze back to "Black Tiger," looking at it as if it were a fish waiting to be slaughtered on a chopping board.