"Holy sh—"
The entire atmosphere froze. No one had expected Ethan to fight back.
Leo and Williams saw him move, and imdiately joined in. Victor was a second slower, but he didn't hesitate either.
In a flash, the three of them struck like lightning.
With just a few motions, the officers' pistols shattered into pieces, clattering to the floor like useless scraps.
Less than a minute later, six groaning n lay sprawled out. Ethan turned toward the man who had spoken earlier.
"You… what are you doing?!" The man scrambled backward in terror.
Ethan grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the ground.
Leo and Williams finished off the last two officers, just in ti to see what Ethan was doing.
It only took two seconds, the man's eyes bulged, bloodshot and ready to pop from their sockets.
Victor, realizing what was happening, rushed forward and grabbed Ethan's arm.
Leo and Williams followed suit, prying Ethan's fingers apart.
"Bro, let go! You're gonna kill him!"
Ethan snapped back to reality. His breath steadied, and he slowly released his grip. The man collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
As he lay there, a wave of mories crashed into Ethan's mind.
—
His past life, right before his rebirth.
A rundown apartnt, his legs shattered, pain burning through his body. And the one holding him by the hair?
This man.
The sa pathetic scumbag now lying at his feet. For a split second, Ethan considered stomping his skull in, but his rational mind held him back.
Instead, he took a deep breath, forcing his rage into a cold, controlled burn.
—
Leo kicked a pile of disassembled gun parts together, scowling.
"These dumbasses. Walking in here, guns drawn, like they own the place." He shook his head. "Back in the day, people like that wouldn't last a second."
Victor sighed in frustration. "Ethan, man, you need to control yourself."
Ethan's voice was cold. "Forget it. I'll take the bla for this."
Williams, who had been quite, suddenly spoke up.
"You serious right now? You think we'd let you do that?"
"He's right," Leo added. "What's the worst they can do? Seven years inside? Big deal."
Victor exhaled. "Fine. We handle this together. I'll reach out to so old contacts, and try to smooth things over."
He had nearly snapped when the cops pointed a gun at him, so for Ethan, who was still young, to actually fight back? That took balls.
What Victor didn't know, was that Ethan wasn't just fighting cops. He was fighting a ghost from his past.
Ethan forced a smile, but didn't say a word. He had other things to think about. Sothing wasn't adding up.
He had never made enemies here, so why was this Leon guy targeting him?
—
"Open the gate," Ethan ordered. "We're not staying locked in here."
The security shutter slowly rolled up. As Ethan looked outside, he spotted a familiar figure lurking among the crowd.
The mont their eyes t, the man flinched, turning to run.
"Get him." Ethan pointed.
Leo shot forward like a bullet, grabbing the guy by his bright red hair and dragging him back.
"Help! They're trying to kill !" the guy scread, but the bystanders stayed put. Nobody was dumb enough to step in, especially after seeing thirty n lying broken on the floor. So continued filming, though.
Ethan turned to Quinn. "Close the gate."
No response. Or rather, she seed too shocked to respond.
"Quinn." Ethan's voice hardened.
She jolted upright behind the counter, trembling as she rushed to obey.
Standing at the door, Leo held the red haired guy by the scalp, watching as Quinn stepped outside and pressed the button. The security gate slamd shut.
Ethan's disappointnt was obvious. Not because Quinn had been scared. But because she had let the business get played like this in the first place.
It's been seven days since it started. If not for this ss, Ethan wouldn't have even realized what had been happening under his nose. Letting a single VIP rent out the entire gym was never a good idea. Even without today's incident, it would have driven away regular custors.
Ethan took a step forward, stopping in front of the red haired guy who Leo held firmly.
"You seem to know sothing," Ethan said calmly.
The red haired guy sneered. "You idiots have no idea what you've done. You just beat up Leon? You think you're walking away from this?"
Ethan's eyes flickered with recognition.
He knew this guy.
Back when he first ca to the gym, this guy had been flirting with Jade. If he rembered correctly, his na was Len.
Ethan had barely paid attention to him that day, he had assud he was just another of her thug friends. If not for his obnoxious red hair and shady behavior today, Ethan wouldn't have even rembered him.
Leo cracked his knuckles. "Oh? So there's more to this?"
Williams smirked. "You're running your mouth awfully fast for a guy in your position."
"Boss, let handle him. I know just how to make him ta—"
BANG!
Williams never finished his sentence. Because Ethan had already moved.
He grabbed Len by the back of the head and slamd his face into the marble countertop.
A sickening thud echoed through the gym.
"AHHH!" Len scread in agony.
When Ethan yanked him back up, his nose was bent at an unnatural angle, blood pouring down his face.
Williams shut his mouth. He had not expected Ethan to be this ruthless. This didn't look like questioning session, it was more like plain torture.
"I—" Len gasped.
BANG!
Another slam. By the ti Ethan lifted him again, his nose was crushed flat, and blood dribbled from his mouth.
"I—" Len tried again.
Ethan grabbed his jaw, forcing his mouth wide open, then pushed his teeth against the marble edge.
And then, he shoved.
CRACK.
A gut-wrenching grinding noise filled the air, followed by the sharp sound of teeth shattering.
Leo and Williams exchanged looks. Ethan's sheer brutality sent a chill down their spines.
Victor, who had been calm until now, stepped forward and grabbed Ethan's wrist.
"Bro. He's trying to talk."
Ethan let go of Len's hair, turning to face his team. His expression was eerily calm.
"I know." He smiled slightly. "I just wanted to see which was tougher, his teeth, or the countertop."
Then, he dropped Len.
On the bar counter, a small pile of shattered teeth lay in a bloodied ss.At least four front teeth were gone.
Len slumped against the counter, his entire body shaking as he clutched his face.
Leo, Williams, and Victor all felt a chill crawl up their spines.
Who was Ethan, really? On the surface, he was just a college student. But this? This was not sothing a normal person would do.
Victor had killed n before, but even he wasn't this thodical. It was like Ethan had flipped a switch, turning into sothing inhuman the mont he recognized Len.
And worst of all, he was completely unfazed by it.
—
"Talk," Ethan ordered.
Len visibly flinched at his voice.
"Are you still waiting? You want to continue?" Ethan's voice grew colder.
Instantly, Len spoke with a trembling voice.
"I-I'll talk! I'll talk!"
He coughed, blood mixing with saliva, and finally started speaking.
"I was here when you bought this place," he stamred.
"Originally Leon told to wait. He said the previous owner would give up soon and sell to him for cheap."
"When I saw you sign the papers, I ran to tell Leon, but he wasn't around. By the ti he got back, the deal was already done."
"So… Leon told the boys to take over the gym. He wanted to study your custors, figure out who ca in regularly. Then he started bribing them, telling them to demand refunds."
"If enough people quit, you'd lose business and be forced to sell cheap."
"I swear! That's all I did! I was just following orders! I didn't actually do anything!"
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