Chapter 122: Hostage Situation  

Bison who jumped the bridge landed on a ship. And after he dropped down, he groaned. Feeling for cracks on his bones.

"Ugh, thankfully I'm okay." Bison shook his head to get the dizziness off.

"Hmm? Are you okay?" Sora who was coincidentally on the ship as well asked him.

"Ahh, yes. I just need to find penguin logistics." Bison stood up shakily and Sora smiled.

"Really? I'm from Monster Siren Records. Emperor's music publishing company." Sora introduced herself and Bison blinked.

"Why do I keep on seeing members of PL, except the ones that I need?" Bison cursed his bad luck.

And while they were introducing each other, Ash dropped down to the ship as well. But his heavy weight shattered the deck.

"You're really crazy!" Ch'en thought that they would get injured. As he carried them on his shoulders and jumped off the bridge as well.

"You're fine right? Stop complaining all the time, geez." Ash rolled his eyes and Talulah chuckled.

"And you, why are you riding on his shoulders?" Ch'en squinted her eyes.

"It's much more secure here." Talulah huffed at her. "Ohh, he's still alive." Beatrix pointed at Bison who was blinking dumbly with Sora.

"Kyaah! Ash-sama!" Sora squealed in excitement as she saw her idol.

He's a great musician after all. "Oh, hey Sora. How is my favorite idol doing?" Ash petted her head.

"Um, shouldn't we be regrouping with penguin logistics?" Bison was getting tired of their nonchalance.

"Hmm? Why are you so scared anyways kid? Do you really think you can die when I'm here? Even if they blow your brains out, I can just knit you together like brand new." Ash didn't like his negativity.

"Sorry for being uptight, my life is in danger right now after all." Bison huffed.

"Well, let me show you why you aren't in danger at all." Ash raised his hand and a little fireball formed on his palm.

"Ash, let's talk about this." Ch'en got nervous immediately and he released it in the air.

A twinkling, violet star shone in the night sky and when it couldn't be seen anymore. It erupted into flames.

An explosion that would definitely cover Lungmen in its entirety was seen in the sky. Making it as bright as noon.

Ash then covered Lungmen in a barrier and the surroundings no man's land was suddenly assaulted by a heat wave that came from the explosion as a pulse.

Everything that could burn outside the city erupted in flames. And the shockwave came crashing down.

"That's why, so lighten up a bit, kid. You'll get killed if you're nervous all the time." Ash sighed and Bison gulped while nodding furiously.

"Sir yes sir!" Bison saluted and Ash nodded at him. "Now, what were we talking about? Ahh, how are you doing Sora?" Ash smiled at her.

And she instantly recovered, smiling at him. Shocking Beatrix and Lin that were still processing what happened.

Ch'en and Talulah already knew what he was capable of, so they weren't shocked to the core.

"I'm good! Did you know, I'm having a world tour?" Sora got excited and Ash patted her head.

"Well done, you're now miss worldwide. You'll be the most popular idol in the world." Ash gave her a thumbs up.

"Ash! Where the hell are you and the kid?" Emperor called him.

"Ahh, we met up with Mostima and Sora. Are we still meeting in that nearby park?" Emperor confirmed and he ended the call.

"Okay, let's go. It's nice meeting you here Sora." Ash waved goodbye and Bison thought that it was finally time to apprehend the mafiosi.

They travelled to the park in which they were supposed to rendezvous and they found the gang there.

"Oi! You little prick, why are you attacking penguin logistics? And you have some balls, sending a little bomb to kill us. Now, who do you work for?" Emperor pointed a gun at a mafioso and he denied everything.

"What are you talking about!? We didn't send a bomb to penguin logistics! We aren't crazy, the emperor of Leithanien protects that place." The mafioso claimed.

"You still didn't answer my question, who do you work for?" Emperor turned off the safety.

"I don't know! I don't know! We were hired anonymously! We just had to kidnap Bison, MDL's heir!" The mafioso was sweating bullets.

"He's not lying, hmmm." Ash commented and Lappland groaned in disappointment.

"Aww, I wanted Emperor to shoot his legs and arms to make him talk more or something." Lappland pouted at Ash.

"Don't worry, I'll give you the masterminds when we catch them." Ash then sniffed them and he got a whiff of some Siracusan mafiosi.

Which was weird, because they aren't really that powerful in Lungmen. So how did they had the balls to attack MDL and PL.

"I've got you." Ash craned his neck to a direction and they were suddenly fired upon by other mafiosos.

"Quick!" Emperor fired back and they ran towards the bikes, forgetting Bison because he was new. And Ash could just take care of them easily.

Bison didn't want to be beside Ash though. And it didn't help that Lappland was with him.

So he found a bicycle and he rode it like his life depended on it.

"They're not here, I guess you can take care of them girls." Ash shrugged and Talulah started walking.

"Annoying." The ground started to melt and the bullets that were fired at her didn't even make it near her. Falling on the ground as molten metal.

"Talulah, you shouldn't." Ch'en called out to her as her sister was too used to killing people. And she didn't want that.

Ch'en nodded at Lin and she encased them in glass. Beatrix then called the LGD to take the gangsters to prison.

"I guess that works, remember Talulah. Small fries like this doesn't need extreme prejudice." Ash reminded her and Talulah nodded.

She looked at her hands that were burning with flames and she shook her head. "I guess that I've been fighting for my life for so long... That I forgot to spare lives."

Ch'en looked at her with a sad expression and Ash sighed. "It's fine, just watch your temper. Trust me, I know."

"Yes!" Talulah bowed at him and they followed Bison in a relaxed pace.

Meanwhile, in a pretty shady place that looks like a typical hideout.

"Capone, we'll have to take care of PL. They've been a thorn in the family's side for a long time now. We should kill them alongside MDL's heir." An anthropomorphic Lupo discussed plans with his partner.

"Are you mad Gambino? This is madness, the familia will be wiped out if we cause more trouble. The emperor of Leithanien will hear of this." Capone didn't like his next plan.

"Kidnapping is too hard, we'll have to kill them right now. Siracusa will expand easier here if we do this quietly. Leithanien will reach out to the familias in Siracusa after we take care of them." Gambino was insistent.

"We shouldn't push our luck Gambino, kidnappings are much much more different than killing." Capone said with finality.

"Tch, he can't understand our situation. PL and MDL are hogging all the profit. Hello, tell the rat king that plans have changed." Gambino called a Mook to inform Kojui.

Bison was sweating heavily, biking with all his might towards the direction of Penguin Logistics. And he even saw them after they stopped.

"Oi!" Bison waved, but he was suddenly tackled by someone and a bag was put on his head immediately.

Bison got pinned down and he was pulled somewhere.

He was loaded into a van and Bison got chloroformed so he wouldn't wiggle around too much.

After travelling for a bit, he woke up and he stirred. Someone then took off the bag on his head. "Hey you, you're finally awake." Capone smirked at him.

"Who are you and what are you going to do with me? Know that you'll be regretting this very much." Bison squinted his eyes.

Ash already knows that Siracusa has attacked his contractors. And Ash isn't exactly known to be a merciful emperor.

"Not if we have a little deal, how about it? I'm Capone." He unloaded Bison from the van and sat him down on a chair.

"I'll help you escape from my partner Gambino. He's too far gone, he wants to kill the main members of Penguin Logistics and you to make the two companies go under." Capone started to explain with a sigh.

"What's that have to do with me?" Bison raised a brow and Capone snorted.

"Help me deal with penguin logistics. It will take out a major competitor no?" Capone tried to entice him.

Bison went quiet for a few seconds. "No, are you stupid? Penguin Logistics and mountainDash are collaborating together under emperor Asmodeus' banner."

"Won't you consider it?" Capone thought that Bison wouldn't accept.

"You don't know what the emperor is capable of." Bison even pitied them. Everyone else that was in Lungmen thought that his attack in the sky was just fireworks.

And they didn't feel the effects of it due to Ash shielding them. But he was there when it was launched into the sky.

'The emperor can deliver divine judgement to Siracusa without breaking a sweat. Are these guys insane?' Bison couldn't help but doubt their sanity.

"Such a shame, I guess you'll be a liability." Capone pointed a gun at his head and Bison went wide eyed.

But before he could pull the trigger, he suddenly froze and someone hit him on the head with a staff.

"Hello~ Mostima is here for support." Mostima waved at Bison and she was just waiting to see if they would have more to talk about.

Capone sobered up from Mostima's arts and he ran away immediately.

"Shouldn't you have finished him off?" Bison raised a brow at her.

"Ooh, scary. Well, don't talk about things that you can't even do, kid." Mostima snorted at him.

Bison frowned as he definitely has no experience in taking a life. 

"I see, so this is a little game that Siracusa has approved of?" Ash appeared with the others and they got nervous, seeing his slitted eyes get thinner.

"What are you going to do?" Lin got worried and he laughed.

"There's only one thing that I should do. Complete annihilation, so these wolf fuckers think that they're hot shit huh? Messing with my contractors for some profit?" Ash was annoyed as hell.

He dialed his phone and called for Paradiso. "Margaret, assemble the red axis. After I'm done here in Lungmen, we'll be boxing in Siracusa." 

"So they messed up huh? I'll call uncle Mlynar and the others. Should we use the prototype that Eunectes is working on with Nian?"

"No, we don't know if the church of the deep can inform the seaborne. We can't let them make countermeasures against them that quickly. We'll be paying them a visit, an enthusiastic one." Ash ended the call.

"Does this really warrant such an extreme action?" Beatrix furrowed her brows.

They were going to annex a country for being stupid.

"Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. I guess I can make Texas into the new leader of that place? High priest also told me that the Feraerus there are playing some kind of game? That they give their powers to others and call them their fang?" Ash chortled in amusement.

"Then we'll play a game, by my rules." Ash looked at Siracusa's direction.

Meanwhile, the rat king got the news that one of his triads got injured, someone called Uncle Tung who was running a seafood stall.

He is a good friend of Lin Kojui and is a pretty famous individual in Lungmen for making the best finballs in town.

"I see, the mayhem that these Siracusan mafiosi has already caused this much damage... Rescind the deal with them. I cannot tolerate their presence here any longer." Kojui squinted his eyes.

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Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.