"Please my Lord, give me one more chance. It was just my stupid and troublesome son who made a mistake and ruined the entire business. It will not happen again I promise," the man begged while kneeling on the ground.

The man standing before him wore a white mask with dark circles on the eyes.

He was quiet as he simply looked down at the one begging, his silence far more terrifying than any shout.

"Who is that person? Is he the one behind the boss?" Klade whispered to Ron.

Ron was trembling from time to time and his face was pale as sheet of paper.

"I... I think so," Ron replied in a shaky voice, not daring to look directly at the masked figure.

The other two men who followed their boss also looked at him, waiting for an answer.

From his reaction alone, it was clear that he had some idea who the people in front of them were.

Ron could only nod as he gave a silent warning, "Be quiet for a moment, the person in front of us has a much higher status. If we offend him we will die," he said, his face turning pale from fear.

He had not seen the man take any action yet, but based on his own judgment, he knew that this man was connected to the boss.

Their boss was not powerful enough to build his business to the top and dominate this place without backing from someone far more dangerous.

The reason for that was because of the help of this man. The organization he belonged to was extremely powerful and remained a mystery to the world.

This was the result of years of his secret investigation. However, Ron did not continue digging deeper.

Because if he had pushed further, he feared that the organization would find out and have him killed.

Even his boss Alonzo, could only listen and follow orders when it came to that group. That alone was enough to make Ron afraid of learning more.

Now that the mysterious man was standing right in front of him, the air felt heavy and suffocating.

He did not know where the pressure was coming from, but it made it hard for him to breathe.

If he had to describe it, it felt like there was no air left to breathe.

The whole place seemed empty of oxygen and every breath felt heavy.

They had gathered her to think of a plan, trying to figure out how to get out of the terrible situation they were in.

But it seemed that the appearance of this man just now deepened the problem even further.

Because even their arrogant and dominant boss kneels like a child standing before his parents, they immediately understood.

The man in front of them was no ordinary person, and they can feel that he was not here to help at all.

"Your son is already dead and you have also failed me and the entire organization. Did you forget the deal we made?" he said in a deep voice.

His tone was calm and neutral and there was no clear coldness in it. But even without anger, the killing intent behind his words could still be felt.

"Forgive me my Lord. Please, please give me another chance..." Alonzo begged as he knelt on the floor, his body trembling while tears ran down his face.

His face was pressed against the ground which is utterly humiliating, seeing their boss in such a pitiful state and hearing him beg about a promise made all of them are curious.

And at the same time, some of them felt a deep sense of dread, knowing that this was not going to end well.

"Excuses, excuses, excuses..." the masked man said as he slowly shook his head.

"Do you know why our organization, ’Black Orchid,’ has remained a mystery and stayed powerful all these years?" he asked in the same calm and steady voice.

Alonzo heard the question, but he did not dare to lift his head from the ground, his body trembled as fear crawled through him.

"That is because failure is a sign of weakness, even I cannot be saved from that," the masked man said calmly.

He did not move at all when something shot forward at a speed too fast for the naked eye to see.

And in the next second, Alonzo collapsed to the floor.

At first, they thought he had only passed out from fear but then they saw it.

Right at the center of his back, something sharp had pierced through his body.

A black tulip bloomed from the wound on his back and when it was called black, it truly meant black.

Not the usual dark purple that only looks black under certain light. This one was pure black, deep and eerie, like it absorbed all the light around it.

It was a rare kind of Black Tulip and as it bloomed on Alonzo’s body it slowly lost its color.

His skin turned pale and dry, his flesh shrank, and in just a few seconds he looked like a frail old man who had died from severe blood loss.

The masked man calmly reached down and pulled out the Black Tulip from Alonzo’s back. Not a single drop of blood spilled.

Then he slowly lifted his mask just enough to reveal his mouth.

There were scars on both sides of his lips, stretching slightly upward like a maniac.

"Hmm, this one is smells sweet..." he uttered.

His men and subordinates watched as their boss died right in front of them.

Panic spread across their faces, because if their boss was killed so easily then what chance did they have?

"Too bad I cannot finish eating everyone here," the masked man said calmly as he lowered his mask and covered his face again.

His soft and low voice echoed through the cave. Suddenly, Klade the bomber man, pulled out his rifle and fired without hesitation.

"Take aim and fire!" he shouted.

The other core members of Alonzo quickly followed his command, raising their weapons and shooting at the masked man.

While Ron on the other hand hid in a very far corner since he wasn’t a fighter at all.

Then, bullets rained toward him from every direction as every one of Alonzo’s men carried a firearm, and they fired without holding back.

But the masked man did not move away, his body just trembled slightly and in the next second, countless thin needles shot out from his clothes like a storm.

With just a simple movement more than eighty men fell almost at the same time.

It happened so fast that the human eye could not fully follow it.

Even if someone tried to slow the moment in their mind, it would still be hard to see. Because needles were too thin and too small.

As each needle pierced its target, a Black Tulip bloomed from their bodies.

One of the core members, the burly big man was also struck. His large frame staggered before he collapsed to the ground, a dark flower slowly blooming from his chest.

The same thing happened to him, that is his large muscles slowly shrank and his strong body withered into that of a frail old man.

Because of his huge frame, everyone could clearly recognize him even as he changed.

Only two core members managed to survive at the last second. Klade and Max, the group’s sharp shooter, reacted just in time and dodged the deadly needles.

"Shit... Jack was taken down in just one move," Max growled as he tried to understand how powerful this person really was.

When the masked man was surrounded by the rain of bullets earlier, Max had seen it clearly.

Countless thin needles floated around the man’s body, spinning in the air, that weird needles deflected the bullets one by one, like an invisible force field protecting him.

This is an absolute witchcraft that isn’t supposed to exist and yet it was, feeling that his life was at stake left with no choice he took out a different gun.

It look like sleek black pistol with a slightly longer than normal, it has sharp angular edges a thick reinforced slide, and faint silver warning markings near the chamber.

The grip has its own hex-pattern for control, and the muzzle has a small vented ring that makes it look more aggressive and high-tech.

As he shot a few rounds from the man, the pistol is loud and resounding.

The masked man didn’t even move, he just stood there like he didn’t care. The floating needles rushed in front of him and formed a shield, blocking the shots without effort.

He was about to curse at the man, ready to mock how they were still struggling to survive even though it all felt useless.

But then something unexpected happened. When the bullet rounds hit the floating needles, they did not simply drop to the ground.

They shattered into violent pieces, and the bullets broke into tiny fragments, they are sharp like small shards of metal scattering in all directions.

His eyes widened beneath that mask and finally one of those fragments flew straight toward the masked man and struck his chest.

A loud thud echoed through the cave which is completely shocking, because fragment was very small, almost harmless in appearance.

It should not have been strong enough to cause any damage at all, and yet it can make that loud sound.

Seeing that Max smiled from ear to ear, understanding that his attack had worked.

But his smile slowly faded when he noticed something strange, even though it’s a hit the masked man did not even flinch.

The masked man looked down at his chest, slightly surprised that he had actually been hit.

Then he lifted his gaze and stared at Max, who was still aiming his gun at him.

"That is an amazing gun you have there," he said calmly.

"But too bad it only works on regular people."

Without moving his clothes trembled once more.

In an instant, a single needle shot forward, this time it’s speed is several times faster.

It pierced through Max’s chest with terrifying precision, passing straight through his heart and remaining lodged inside.

"Impossible!" Max shouted in shock as blood slowly flowed out from the corner of his mouth.

He staggered backward with his grip on the gun loosening.

In just a few seconds, his body began to dry and shrink. His skin tightened and his flesh withered, and he soon looked like a lifeless mummy standing in place.

His expression showed that he could not accept what had just happened.

His gun was not ordinary, he had bought it for an extremely high price.

It was a rare weapon known for its powerful penetration. Even a grandmaster would have to be careful when facing its bullets.

Yet the masked man stood there without fear, without pain, and without even taking a single step back.

"Scammmm..." he uttered in his last breathe.