Hearing Ethan Ye say this, Leonard Wang couldn't help but tense up inside and said, "Brother Ye, you're too modest!"
Ethan Ye added, "Let me give you a word of advice, Mr. Wang. In Riverstone, you can offend anyone you want, but whatever you do, don't offend the Nangong Family!"
"Thanks for the reminder, Brother Ye." Leonard Wang nodded, showing he'd taken it to heart.
"Take off their hoods!"
Ethan Ye glanced coldly at Ian Song and Zoe Zhao, then spoke in a chilly tone.
So, Ian Song and Zoe Zhao had their hoods removed.
"Kid, bet you didn't expect this, huh? Regretting you messed with me now, aren't you!"
Leonard Wang stood up from his chair, strode forward a couple steps, and spoke smugly to Ian and Zoe.
Ian nodded, "Yeah, I kind of regret it. So, why don't you just let us go?"
"Keep dreaming!"
Leonard Wang sneered, but then a new idea popped into his head. He suddenly changed tack: "Letting you go isn't impossible, but I've got one condition!"
As he spoke, Leonard's eyes roamed shamelessly over Zoe Zhao, full of greed and lechery.
"What condition?" Ian asked.
"I want you to hand your girlfriend over to me. As long as you let me have her, I'll let you go. How about it?" Leonard continued, his face taking on a playful look.
Hearing this, Ian turned to Zoe and said, "You heard him, right, Zoe? He wants me to give you to him. Do you agree?"
Zoe Zhao glared, cursing, "Agree my ass! Besides, I'm not even yours—do you have the right to give me away?"
Ian nodded in agreement, then said to Leonard, "You heard her. She's not mine, so I can't give her to you. Maybe you should try a different condition."
"Hmph!" Leonard Wang sneered. "I was going to give you a chance to walk away, but I guess you're just not that lucky. Guys, break this kid's legs for me!"
The surrounding thugs instinctively looked at Ethan Ye.
He nodded to signal them to go ahead. Though he ran with the underworld, he also had plenty of legitimate investments—for example, he'd just put up twenty million yuan for a New Dawn Entertainment movie project.
Leonard Wang was the third-largest shareholder of New Dawn Entertainment and the producer of this new film, which was why he treated Ethan Ye with such respect.
"Hey, they're about to break your legs and you're still playing along!" Zoe Zhao said to Ian.
"Alright, I'm done pretending!" Ian laughed, then swept his gaze over the whole warehouse. "Or maybe you want to handle it?"
"Hey, you brat, do you even know what it means to be a gentleman? Why do you always leave everything for me to deal with!" Zoe complained.
"I'm a master. Getting physical with this bunch would just lower my status!" Ian joked.
Seeing the pair chatting so casually, the underlings were stunned. Ethan Ye started to feel uneasy, while Leonard Wang grew furious and urged, "Hurry up and do it! Break the kid's legs—fifty thousand per leg! Whoever breaks them gets the money!"
Hearing there was money to be made, several thugs brightened up and rushed at Ian, swinging steel pipes at his legs.
"The tree wants to be still, but the wind won't let it. I didn't want to bother with you losers, but since you insist on coming at me, I guess I'll have to teach you a lesson!"
As he spoke, the ropes binding Ian's hands and feet snapped apart.
In a flash, he grabbed two of the steel pipes aimed at his legs and whipped them back out.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
A series of crashes rang out, and four thugs screamed as they were sent flying.
Seeing this, Ethan Ye's eyes narrowed, and his sense of unease grew stronger.
But at this point, there was no turning back. He glanced at the dozens of thugs in the warehouse and ordered, "All of you, get in there!"
"Kill him!"
"Finish that punk!"
Following their boss's orders, dozens of thugs charged at Ian and Zoe, yelling and cursing.
"How about we split them half and half?" Ian said to Zoe.
"Sounds good!"
As soon as they finished speaking, the two of them sprang forward, diving into the crowd of thugs.
Next...
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Blows, grunts, and screams blended together. In just a dozen breaths, more than forty elite thugs were all knocked to the ground. Seeing this, Ethan Ye couldn't stay seated any longer—he jumped up, staring warily at Ian and Zoe.
A moment later, he asked Ian and Zoe, "May I ask your names?"
"I'm Ian Song!"
"I'm Zoe Zhao!"
When Ian Song introduced himself, Ethan Ye didn't react—his status wasn't high enough to know Ian's name. But when Zoe Zhao spoke, his face changed dramatically and he urgently asked:
"Are you the Zoe Zhao from the Zhao Family Boxing Gym?"
"That's right!" Zoe Zhao replied with a cold smile.
Instantly, Ethan Ye's face turned bitter. As the Nangong Family's representative in the underworld, he'd been told exactly who not to mess with in Riverstone.
Of course, with the Nangong Family backing him, there were very few people he couldn't cross—but the Zhao siblings from the Boxing Gym were on that short list.
He didn't know exactly what kind of background the siblings had, but the fact that the Nangong Family singled them out meant their status was anything but ordinary.
Now he'd gone and let someone kidnap Zoe Zhao, all to do Leonard Wang a favor—even though he wasn't directly involved.
Thinking of this, he was filled with regret. Just to help Leonard, he'd offended the very people the Nangong Family said never to provoke. Luckily, neither Ian nor Zoe had been hurt, so he clasped his fists and apologized to Zoe: "Miss Zhao, I'm truly sorry. I didn't know it was you, and I hope you can let this go for the Nangong Family's sake. Of course, I'll make sure you're properly compensated!"
Zoe Zhao didn't reply, instinctively looking to Ian.
Ian looked at Ethan Ye and asked, "Are you with the Nangong Family?"
Ethan Ye frowned slightly. In his view, Ian was just trying to act tough by borrowing Zoe's influence. But not wanting to escalate things, he suppressed his impatience and replied, "I'm not part of the Nangong Family—I just work under them, that's all!"
"Alright, got it!"
Ian nodded, then took out his phone and made a call, his tone cold: "I'm at a warehouse in an abandoned factory ten kilometers southeast of the city. You have twenty minutes to get here!"
"Just putting on a show!"
Seeing Ian's performance, Ethan Ye secretly scoffed.
Meanwhile, Leonard Wang was getting nervous. He might be arrogant, but he wasn't stupid—anyone who could make Ethan Ye apologize was no small fry.