Salute To The General
Chapter 1990

Chapter 1990

The airplane landed at the Metro Brimmopolis Airport in the evening.

"Everyone, please remember to take your on-hand luggage and to not walk off once you get off the plane. We don't want anyone getting lost," the school administrator and organizer of the summer camp, Zac, called out loudly as the plane was landing.

Everyone safely got off the airplane and left the airport, piling onto several tour buses that Zac had rented.

As the tour bus headed for their destination, Brimmtopia, Penny couldn't help but notice that the bus they were on was dirty, old, and stuffy.

The driver of the bus was wearing a black tank top and jeans and had a large tattoo of a tiger on his arm. He smoked while driving, the rancid scent causing many of the kids and adults to cough.

"Hubby, this bus is a wreck. And the driver doesn't seem like a trustworthy person either," Penny mumbled.

Nathan didn't mind that the bus was a little outdated, but he took issue with the fact that the driver was smoking in a space full of children.

He was about to confront the driver, but before he could do so, someone else was already standing up and scolding the driver loudly.

To Nathan and Penny's surprise, that person was Jaeden Winstead.

He marched forward, pointing at the driver as he accused, "What's wrong with you? Who said you could drive while smoking? Don't you know that the smoke is making it hard for my wife and son to breathe?"

The driver gave Jaeden a cold sidelong glance. "Don't point your finger at me. I'll chop your hand off."

Taken aback by the threat, Jaeden stumbled backward.

The students and adults had been gearing up to cheer for Jaeden, but their voices quickly died down and turned into quiet murmuring.

A little embarrassed but not to be discouraged, Jaeden pushed on. "Smoking in vehicles is impolite, so could you at least put your cigarette out?" Upon hearing that, the driver smirked and stopped the bus by the roadside.

Then, under everyone's shocked gazes, he aggressively shoved his cigarette into Jaeden's torso.

Sizzle!

The smell of smoke and burnt fabric permeated the air, followed by Jaeden's pained cry of "Ow! It burns!"

He took a few steps back, glancing down to see that the cigarette had burned a hole right through his designer brand shirt and caused a blister on his chest.

"Are you trying to pick a fight, asshole? You know, I have thirty years of martial arts experience under my belt! You're dead meat!"

Everyone gasped as Jaeden rolled up his sleeves and barrelled towards the driver.

Bam!

The driver landed a punch right on Jaeden's face, sending him flying onto the ground with a bloody nose.

"Hubby!"

"Dad!"

Mrs. Winstead and her son cried out, rushing forward to help Jaeden up.

The driver huffed in disdain. "That's it? Should've known better than to provoke Tyranno of Brimmopolis if you want to stay alive."

Ty ran no's bus coming to a halt had caused everyone else's buses to stop in the middle of the road as well. Zac and a few other teachers left their vehicles to see what all the commotion was about.

Taken aback and furious at the sight of the injured Jaeden, Zac blew up at Tyranno. "Why did you hit him? And why did you stop the bus?"

Tyranno chuckled heartlessly.

"Nothing. I just think that the

payment of two thousand for driving

so many of you in several large

buses all the way to Bine

is

a sham, that's all. I want something more."

"Are you trying to raise the price halfway through the trip?" Zac's eyes widened. "We already negotiated payment through the inte! You're clearly trying to take advantage of us just because we're foreigners!"

"Who cares if we already negotiated it? I changed my mind," Tyranno shrugged. "Besides, I am in fact taking advantage of you suckers. What are you gonna do about it?"

Tyranno reached up to pat Zac's face unkindly, gesturing to the outside of the bus. "You see my friends out there?"

To everyone's horror, they saw many tattooed, fierce-looking men with long knives surrounding the buses.

Ty ran no's mouth twisted up into a sinister smile. "One hundred thousand. As long as you pay up, my friends and I will send you to Brimmotopia without incident.

"If you don't want to pay or refuse to stay on the bus, I'll take that as you trying to pull one over me. And you don't want to know what the consequences of tricking me are. Because I promise you, no one on the buses will be getting out unscathed."

Everyone's faces were frozen in terror.

This is daylight robbery!

Tyranno took one look at their horrified expressions and snickered. "One hundred thousand isn't too much nor too little! You bunch are all dressed well, so you definitely can afford it. Now, pay up!"

It was true that anyone who could afford to join this summer camp was considerably wealthy.

Some of the more cowardly parents had already accepted their fate, counting the amount of cash they had when, suddenly, Nathan coolly walked out from the crowd. "I'll give you a hundred thousand."

The kids and parents all stared at Nathan in shock. Is this really the time to be flexing your wealth?

"Mr. Cross, you..." Zac trailed off, at a loss for words.

Tyranno's eyes lit up. Someone was really so scared that he was instantly willing to fork out one hundred thousand!

He looked down on Nathan smugly, laughing. “Good choice, kid. Hand over the transportation fee and I promise I won't cause trouble for the lot of you anymore."

"I'm sorry, but this money isn't for the transportation fees. It's to pay for your orthopedic medical bills," Nathan replied.

You could have heard a pin drop in the silence that followed.