Chapter 109: Night Raid on the Silverman Mansion
"You dare kill me?"
Even pinned under someone's foot, even feeling death's cold breath on his neck, Samuel couldn't shake that bone-deep arrogance that came with being born into a top-tier financial dynasty.
He snarled through blood-soaked teeth, his face twisted with rage, "Leo! Don't push your luck! The Silverman family controls half of Washington. We've got people everywhere — the Pentagon, Capitol Hill, everywhere!"
"If you kill me today, every corner of America's military and political world will come after you! You can run to the ends of the earth, but you'll never..."
Samuel's screaming stopped dead.
A flash of black cut through the air.
A matte-black tactical knife, buried halfway to the hilt, quivered less than half an inch from Samuel's eyeball.
The blade had sunk in deep. The handle was still trembling with a bone-chilling vibration.
One more millimeter, and it would punch straight through his eye socket and into his brain.
The ice-cold blade radiated a biting chill against Samuel's skin, and in an instant, every last shred of his ridiculous arrogance shattered.
"My patience has limits."
Leo didn't even bother to crouch down. He looked down at Samuel from above, "Say the wrong thing, and the next one goes through your throat."
"I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!!"
Samuel broke down completely, screaming and sobbing like a cornered animal, "The Silverman family... we're the Rothschild family's clean hands in Washington!"
"Aaron is our plant inside the Pentagon! He's already used the Silverman family's military and political connections to plant a timed explosive inside the transport plane's engine!"
"The moment you board that plane and it flies over the Atlantic... the bomb goes off!"
"You and your men will drop into the deep ocean! Nothing left of you!"
Samuel was talking faster and faster, terrified that one pause would earn him a blade through the eye.
"What else?" Leo's voice stayed flat.
"That's... that's everything... I swear that's all I know..."
Leo narrowed his eyes slightly. "So. What exactly is the plan?"
"It's Aaron! Aaron did all of this!"
Samuel was crying and blubbering, throwing everyone under the bus as fast as he could. "He used the Silverman family's highest-level military clearance and resources to secretly bribe the maintenance crew in the logistics division!"
"They're... they're already tampering with the C-17 military transport you're supposed to fly out on! They didn't just rewrite the autopilot's core logic code — they also planted micro high-explosive charges near the fuel tanks and engines. Charges that can't be detected by any scanner!"
"Once the plane reaches cruising altitude over the Atlantic, the explosives detonate! The plane tears apart, and you and your Shadow Squad... you all go into the Atlantic and feed the sharks! They'll make it look like a mechanical failure. A tragic accident."
Hearing this, both Ivy and Serafina drew sharp breaths.
Staging a mid-air disaster over the Atlantic.
These people were absolutely out of their minds. No matter how lethal Leo was on the ground, if a plane broke apart at that altitude, nobody walked away. Not even him.
"Clever plan."
Leo's expression didn't shift at all. He just exhaled a slow breath of smoke.
"I've told you everything I know! Mr. Ashford, please, let me go! I swear I'll leave America tonight and you'll never see my face again..." Samuel stared up at Leo's calm face, convinced he'd found a lifeline, and started kowtowing frantically.
The answer came in the form of a deafening gunshot.
Somehow, Leo had already drawn his Desert Eagle. The black muzzle trailed a thin curl of smoke.
A hole had appeared in the center of Samuel's forehead. His eyes stayed wide open, frozen in disbelief, as he crumpled into the spreading pool of blood.
"Too much talking."
Leo slid the pistol back into his holster without a second glance.
"Sir, these people have gone way too far."
Ivy glanced at the body on the floor and stepped forward. "They're willing to blow up a military transport. What do we do now?"
"What do we do?"
Leo turned around and pulled up the collar of his black coat. Something dark and violent churned behind his eyes.
"Since they're so fond of wiping things out at the root... let's give them exactly that."
"Move out. The Silverman Mansion."
---
Washington D.C. The night was thick and black.
A Rolls-Royce cut through the darkness at speed.
Inside the car.
Leo sat with a cigar between his lips, eyes closed. "Olivia. What's the situation with Aaron?"
Olivia turned around, her face unreadable. "I already sent Shadow Squad to pick him up. Word came in five minutes ago — Aaron tried to run. He was shot on the spot."
"His office turned up a large volume of encrypted documents tied to the Rothschild family, along with the Silverman family's private financial records."
"Vance has already ordered an emergency sweep of the Pentagon. Every transport plane is being re-inspected."
Leo gave a small nod. "Good."
"There's one more thing..."
Olivia paused. "Boss, the Silverman family is holding a family gathering tonight. Nearly every core member is there."
"Perfect."
Leo opened his eyes. A flicker of something lethal crossed his face. "Saves me the trouble of hunting them down one by one."
Olivia continued, "Don't worry, Boss. I've already ordered the full Shadow Squad elite unit to mobilize."
"Good."
Leo slowly opened his eyes, a cold, merciless smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.
If the Silverman family wanted to be the Rothschild family's dogs, then tonight, Washington had no more use for them.
Meanwhile.
At the Silverman family's century-old estate on the outskirts of Washington, the lights blazed, and glasses clinked.
Tonight was the seventieth birthday of the Silverman family patriarch, Solomon Silverman.
It was also a quiet celebration.
Dozens of core family members had gathered together, drinking and laughing, full of themselves.
At the head of the grand hall, the current head of the Silverman family, seventy-year-old Solomon Silverman, sat in the seat of honor, red wine in hand, smiling broadly.
"Ladies and gentlemen — a toast!"
"To a hundred years of the Silverman family's legacy in Washington!"
"Cheers!"
"To the Silverman family's glory!"
The family members raised their glasses, faces lit up with greed and excitement.
As far as they were concerned, that young man named Leo — no matter how dangerous he was — was nothing but a brute. A fighter. Under the crushing weight of capital and state power, he was just a joke waiting for the punchline.
Just as they lifted their expensive champagne to their lips —
A thunderous explosion ripped through the estate's front gate.
The entire banquet hall shook. The enormous crystal chandelier overhead — worth well over a million dollars — swung violently and crashed down onto the long dining table, sending shards of glass spraying across the floor.
"What's happening?" Solomon's face went white. The wine glass slipped from his hand.
"We're under attack! Someone's breached the estate!"
The bodyguards outside screamed in panic — and then went silent.
Through the billowing smoke and dust.
A tall, lean figure walked into the blazing light of the banquet hall, black coat snapping behind him.
Leo had a cigar in his mouth. He swept his gaze across the room.
"Heard you were celebrating my plane going down."