The Unshackled King (by David Wu) novel Chapter 32

Leo lay on the ground, his face contorted in excruciating pain. Yet, he still roared defiantly.

Stefan stepped forward, placing his foot on Leo's left knee. With a bright smile, he kindly warned, "It might hurt a bit. Bear with it..."

With a crack, Stefan pressed down hard, shattering Leo's kneecap.

"Ahhh! Fuck you! Dawson is the branch leader of the Celestial Wyrm Society. You're dead if you mess with us!"

Leo let out a blood-curdling scream. The intense pain made his whole body spasm.

"You're talking tough, but your bones are brittle," Stefan said with a smile.

Then he lifted his foot and stepped on Leo's right knee.

Instantly, Leo's face turned pale. Panic filled his eyes. If this knee was also broken, he'd be ruined.

"Please, sir, have mercy! I know I was wrong. Spare me this time! I really know my mistake!" Leo wailed and begged.

Stefan shifted his gaze to the other thugs on the ground. They quickly lowered their heads and pleaded in unison, "Please, sir, forgive us. We've realized our mistakes!"

Only then did Stefan withdraw his foot. "I thought you'd keep your tough talk till the end," he said indifferently.

Leo quickly asked two thugs to help him up. Head down, he said, "Sir, then... we won't disturb you anymore..."

Saying that, Leo and his men turned to leave.

"Did you forget something?" Stefan's cold voice rang out behind them.

Leo jumped, jolting in surprise. He dragged his feet, turning around, a forced smile stretching across his face—uglier than a frown. "S-Sir, you got something else you need?" he stammered.

Stefan glanced at the smashed items in the shop. "You broke their stuff. Don't you need to pay?"

"Right, right. You're absolutely right, sir. We should compensate," Leo quickly replied.

"No, no. It's okay." Ava came to her senses and stepped forward, her voice full of fear. "Young man, let it go. There's no need for compensation."

How dare I ask these people for compensation?

If they pay today, they'll come back for ten times the amount tomorrow.

"Ma'am, he's right. We should pay for what we've broken." Leo panicked and took out his phone with one hand. "It's just a few tables and chairs. How about five thousand dollars?"

"Five thousand? Are you out of your mind?" Stefan's face darkened.

He stepped forward and picked up a broken chair leg. "Look closely. This is hand-crafted teak, imported. Do you think it's junk?"

Stefan squinted his eyes and smiled, "All in all, it adds up to 100 thousand dollars."

"What? 100 thousand dollars? You're just robbing us!" a thug blurted out.

"Watch your mouth. You've broken so many valuable things. I'm just asking for compensation at the right price!" Stefan squinted and said coldly, "What, not convinced? If you don't want to pay, leave your hands and feet here."

Leo and his men knew Stefan was blackmailing them.

But what could they do? They couldn't beat him. They'd met a tough opponent.

Leo looked embarrassed and pleaded, "Sir, w-we don't have that much money..."

"If you don't have money, borrow it! Online loans are so convenient. There are seven of you. Each of you borrows a couple of thousand dollars, and it'll be enough," Stefan said indifferently.

Gritting their teeth, Leo and his men had to scrape the money together. When it wasn't enough, they had to take out online loans.

After scraping together exactly ten thousand dollars, they transferred the money to Ava's account.

A sharp flash of hatred flickered in Leo's eyes then—quick, but unmissable. He trudged off with his crew, shoulders slumping in bitter defeat, every step heavy with resentment.

Stefan kept his gaze fixed on their retreating backs, his own eyes hard as ice. He'd caught that glint of malice in Leo's stare before they turned.