"Throw that dead sister of his into the morgue where she belongs!"
Liam Thorne's cruel command echoed off the sterile walls of the Intensive Care Unit. His arrogant voice prompted the twenty security guards to advance, making their combat boots create loud stomping noises on the linoleum floor. The guards activated their stun batons, which emitted blue electricity that created hissing and crackling sounds in the frigid atmosphere.
My eyes moved from my sister's rising chest to the door.
The air pressure in the room immediately plummeted. The elite doctors who had just watched me perform a medical miracle scrambled backward, pressing themselves against the wall. The doctors experienced a phenomenon that made them feel its presence. The complete killing intent that I possessed became unbearable to handle.
I stepped back from Lily's bed while my fists stayed locked at my waist. I planned to defeat these twenty men through unarmed combat before tearing out Liam Thorne's arrogant tongue from his mouth.
A slender person wearing light blue scrubs entered my space to block my path before I could start my cultivation.
It was Seraphina.
She stood tall, her messy dark hair framing her bruised cheek, staring down the twenty armed men and the wealthy playboy without a single ounce of fear.
Seraphina issued her order to the group with an authoritative, icy tone, which made her command about immediate standing down.
Liam paused, his arrogant smirk faltering for a fraction of a second as he looked at the nurse. He threw his head back to produce an explosive sound of mocking laughter.
Liam sneered at the sight of Seraphina Thorne, whose appearance matched his expensive silver suit, which he casually adjusted. "My pathetic, illegitimate cousin. Still playing dress-up as a lowly nurse to pay off your dead mother's medical debts, I see. Move out of the way, Seraphina. I don't have time to deal with the family disgrace."
Seraphina didn't flinch. She produced a black metallic card from her scrubs' pocket, which displayed a silver emblem of a coiled dragon.
The corrupt Hospital Director, who had been standing proudly behind Liam, suddenly gasped. The color vanished from his face, which became fat and sweaty. "T-The Platinum Override Card? How do you have that?!
Seraphina declared her medical and administrative powers over the wing while holding the card. "As the holder of the Founder's Platinum Override, I have absolute medical and administrative authority in this wing. The hospital bylaws state that any unauthorized removal of critical patients will result in attempted murder charges against the violators. Director Vance, order these guards out now, or you will lose your medical license and face twenty years in federal prison.
Liam's expression turned into an ugly display of fury. Sean repeated an insult to me, which he used to highlight my status as a hospital rule breaker. I am the heir to the Thorne Medical Group! Tomorrow, I am marrying Chloe Sterling, and we will own half this city! Director, ignore her and arrest that garbage son-in-law!
The Director found himself in a state of intense sweating because he faced two powerful figures who opposed each other.
I examined the back of Seraphina. Thorne. She belonged to the same family that produced this arrogant clown. However, he possessed a pampered existence with a poisonous nature, whereas she displayed unyielding strength. She doesn't realize that I am the anonymous hospital founder who issued the black card three years ago. She received the card through her exceptional dedication to her patients.
I reached out and gently placed my hand on her shoulder.
Seraphina experienced a slight jump as she turned her emerald eyes to look up at me.
"You've done enough, Nurse Thorne," I said softly. "A true king does not hide behind a woman. Especially a woman who has already bled for my family today.
I walked past her to leave her in shock as I moved forward to confront Liam Thorne. The twenty armed guards advanced toward the billionaire playboy to create a protective barrier while they lifted their stun batons, which emitted crackling sounds.
Liam taunted Kaelen about his planned actions as he leaned on the shoulders of his bodyguards. "Are you going to scrub my shoes? Chloe told me everything about you. Your luxury cars. You are a stray dog with no money, no power, and no future. My company just launched Apex Medical today. My company is worth three billion dollars. I could buy your pathetic life a thousand times over.
I repeated the number three billion. My voice sounded eerily calm as I spoke. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cheap, cracked smartphone.
Liam cackled with laughter. "What's the matter? Calling your mommy? Oh, wait, you're an orphan! Go ahead, call the police. The Chief of Police works for me!
I ignored him. I tapped a single contact on my screen. The call connected instantly.
The deep voice of my Vanguard Financial Commander responded to my call with the words. My King.
I declared my intention to burn down Liam Thorne's flagship company, Apex Medical. I want it burned to the ground. I want you to liquidate their assets while you short their stocks to zero and cut all their international supply connections. You have exactly sixty seconds.
I closed the phone call before putting my phone back into my pocket.
The ICU experienced complete silence, which lasted for three seconds. The dead space became active when Liam Thorne started to laugh uncontrollably. The guards chuckled. The Hospital Director wiped the sweat from his brow and sneered.
Liam expressed disbelief upon hearing the sixty-second time frame. Liam created instant disbelief because he used words that made the Director think he understood everything about Kaelen. You are completely insane, Kaelen. Apex Medical is backed by the top five banks in the country! It would take an act of God to touch my stocks!
I said forty-five seconds while I crossed my arms over my chest.
Liam lost his cool when he ordered the police to take away the person he wanted. "Beat him until he begs for mercy!"
The guards surged forward.
My arms remained in their original position as I activated Dragon Qi to its minimal extent. The invisible force I generated from my body created a concussive wave of power that struck the twenty guards with the strength of a concrete barrier.
BANG!
The twenty men who wore heavy armor were forcefully pushed backwards from their standing position. The impact of their bodies sent them crashing into the walls and ceiling, while they also collided with medical carts. Within one second, twenty mercenaries who had undergone extensive training lay on the ground in pain after reaching complete incapacity. I had not yet started to fight by throwing a punch.
Liam's laughter died instantly. His jaw dropped. He looked at his ruined army, then stared at me as if I were a ghost.
"Thirty seconds," I said while taking a slow step forward.
Liam stumbled backward as he tripped over the boots of his own unconscious guards. "Y-You... what are you? Stay away from me!
"Ten seconds," I whispered as I stared at his terrified, pale face with my golden eyes.
"You're bluffing," Liam screamed as his voice broke from pure fear. "You do not possess that power."
Five... Four... Three... Two...
Ring. Ring. Ring.
Liam's solid gold smartphone played its customized arrogant ringtone into the room's tense atmosphere.
Liam remained motionless. He experienced shaking hands when he reached into his silver suit jacket to take out the phone. He answered the call while on speaker mode due to his panic.
"Mr. Thorne, Mr. Thorne, it's a disaster," his Chief Financial Officer screamed through the phone as he spoke with utter chaos and people crying in the background. "It's gone! It's all gone!
"What do you mean it's gone"? Liam shrieked while his face turned the color of chalk. "Speak clearly!
"A massive unknown conglomerate just launched a hostile takeover of our entire supply chain," The company announced they had lost all their shipping contracts. The new term describes capital that arrived in such overwhelming quantities that it destroyed Apex Medical's stock to zero. The banks are calling in our loans immediately. We are bankrupt, Mr. Thorne. You are three billion dollars in debt. The feds are raiding the lobby right now.
Liam's phone fell from his shaking hands and crashed onto the linoleum floor.
He had lost his three billion dollars. He lost everything. In exactly sixty seconds, I had destroyed all of his accomplishments.
Liam's knees buckled. He fell to the ground while he stared blankly at the wall in a state of total mental collapse. "No, my company, my money, Chloe is going to leave me.
I walked slowly until I was standing directly over him. He slowly looked up at me with his eyes filled with complete terror, which destroyed his soul. He finally realized that the man he had called a stray dog was actually a god among men.
"I told you," I said softly. "You touched the nurse who protected my sister.
I pulled my arm back to perform a vicious backhand strike, which landed directly on his face.
CRACK!
His jaw shattered with a sound that echoed like a gunshot. Liam spun through the air after he hurled blood and broken teeth before he crashed into the Hospital Director, who caused them to fall into the corner of the room.
I did not look at them a second time. I turned back to Seraphina, who stared at me with her astonished, beautiful eyes.
"Nurse Thorne," I said as I walked to Lily's bed and picked my sister from her sleep while carrying all her silver needles. "It is no longer safe here. Come with me.
Seraphina blinked, snapping out of her shock. "Where are we going?
The ICU's reinforced glass windows exploded into the room before I could answer.
The military-grade tear gas canister rolled through the room, producing a loud hissing sound. The room was filled with thick, bright white smoke. Red sniper laser sights located in the smoke moved across the walls.
"My King," The Vanguard Commander shouted through my earpiece. "The Underground Syndicate just breached the hospital perimeter. They have captured Chloe Sterling, your ex-wife.
I closed my body around Seraphina while my golden eyes shone through the smoke.
The real war had just begun.