chapter 27 Abnormal Violet Griffith

Someone cut off the basement's circuit breaker from outside. "Ah!" Violet screamed in fright. Apollo, who was beside her, remained calm, holding his daughter's hand, trying to comfort her. Julius managed a forced smile, "Chairman Apollo, Miss Violet, don't panic, we still have two brothers guarding the door..." "Who is it!" "Ah!" Before Julius could finish speaking, two exclamations followed by the sound of bodies hitting the floor came from the door. The three people in the surveillance room all turned their eyes towards the door. Half a minute passed. Then a minute. There was no sound, and no one opened the door. Now, it was so quiet that they could even hear their own breathing. The atmosphere was deadly silent, as if an invisible hand in the darkness was strangling their throats, suffocating them. Julius could no longer maintain his composure, he swallowed hard, sweating profusely, and stared nervously at the door. Compared to Julius' terror, Apollo and Violet were not as discomposed. Even so, Violet's palms were sweating. Although she knew that it was Jackson outside, she couldn't help but feel panic and despair due to the atmosphere. "This bastard, he's really awful!" "After this is over, I must scold him thoroughly!" Violet thought to herself in frustration. Bang!!! Suddenly, the door was kicked open from the outside! Julius gritted his teeth, squatted down in a fighting stance, fiercely staring at the door, ready for a desperate fight. Even if it meant death, he wanted to buy time for Chairman Apollo and Miss Violet. Boom!! Just as Julius was ready to fight for his life, the basement lights suddenly turned back on, but the brightness was too dazzling, obviously, someone had adjusted the voltage. Their eyes, accustomed to the darkness, were suddenly blinded by the light, especially by such high-voltage glaring lights. All three in the basement instinctively covered their eyes. "This is bad!" The moment Julius covered his eyes, he realized something was wrong. Just as he was about to act, the cold sensation on his neck made him shiver, stopping his breath instantly. "My life is over!" Julius despaired. "OK, the last one. Job done." Just as Julius prepared for death, he suddenly realized that the dagger on his neck was released. A lazy voice, sounding very familiar, rang in his ears. "Young Master?" Julius turned around, dumbfounded. The person who attacked the villa was Jackson. He was playing with the dagger in his hand, looking incredibly relaxed. If not for the basement door being kicked to the ground, Julius would have thought the whole thing was just a dream. "There are ten daytime bodyguards, all living in an apartment one kilometre away. If I wanted to wipe them out, it would just mean a bit more running," Jackson said nonchalantly. "Young Master, what... what exactly is going on?" Julius was still a bit confused. Apollo's face was extremely grim, given the situation, Julius still couldn't figure it out. Julius' actions were all seen by Apollo, and as Jackson said, with Julius' capabilities, he couldn't ensure his and his daughter's safety. Jackson wanted a complete overhaul, and Apollo couldn't even speak for Julius. It was Violet's kindness that revealed the purpose of this operation. Hearing this, Julius was sweating profusely and ashamed, "I'm sorry Chairman Apollo, Miss Violet, I didn't fulfil my responsibilities as a bodyguard." "Let's go out first," Jackson walked out first. In the villa's yard, the bodyguards who were attacked by Jackson gathered. "He's so incredible! How can there be such a powerful person in this world?" "To be honest, I only saw a shadow flash by, and then I was knocked down." "You saw a shadow, but I was inexplicably hit with a palm." "Looking at Young Master's small frame, who would have thought he was so fiercely powerful? We really misjudged him!" The bodyguards whispered among themselves. Each one of them had a face full of shame. Clearly, being single-handedly defeated by Jackson made these somewhat arrogant bodyguards feel utterly disgraced. Seeing Jackson and the others come out, the bodyguards instinctively straightened up. These men, coming from the military, had a soldier's discipline and a fervent admiration for the strong man who defeated them. "Go notify the day shift brothers. I want to see them within ten minutes," Jackson pointed at his wristwatch and instructed. Julius hurriedly made the call. The day shift staff lived in an apartment about a kilometre away, and ten minutes was just enough time for them to arrive. However, it took almost half an hour for them to arrive one by one, all bleary-eyed, dishevelled, obviously woken from sleep. "What happened, Captain?" someone muttered discontentedly while rubbing their sleepy eyes. They thought there was some emergency, like a fire, so they all showed up. But upon arriving, they saw everyone standing in the yard, and it didn't seem like anything serious was happening. "Stand up straight!" Julius scolded in a low voice, wishing he could slap them awake. Couldn't they see the tension in the air? The Griffith Family's security team, including Julius as the team leader, consisted of 31 people. They were all ex-military and had worked together for five years with deep camaraderie and understanding. Jackson understood this bond well. He knew the value of camaraderie among comrades, but also knew that it could not be relied on for sustenance. If not handled properly, it could become a burden and lead to complacency and fatigue in work. It was Apollo who coughed and then revealed the incident of finding 45 surveillance devices inside the villa. Everyone, including Julius, was shocked. They had never imagined that despite their vigilance, the enemy had already infiltrated the villa without their knowledge. "Jackson, pick whoever you think is suitable and keep them," Apollo knew that a change was inevitable and thus didn't speak for the guards. However, Jackson shook his head, "Unfortunately, out of these 31 people, none are qualified." "I've said it before, the strength of these guards is only relative to ordinary people. Against a real expert, they wouldn't stand a chance. Tonight's events have proven my point. To improve the villa's security, there's only one fast and effective method, hire a new team!" Jackson said without mincing words. There was an uproar among the guards. Jackson's words were clear. They knew their own capabilities were lacking, but being fired all at once was hard for them to accept. Many guards expressed their discontent and hoped for another chance. "Another chance? Heh, don't you find that laughable?" Jackson couldn't help but laugh, "Think about it. If tonight was a real battle, all of you would be cold corpses now!" "Does a real enemy give you a second chance?" Jackson scanned the crowd with a cold question. Everyone fell silent. Indeed. Jackson wasn't wrong. Tonight was a mock attack, and he had been lenient. But what if the attackers tonight had been real assassins? Thinking of this, the guards felt very dejected, their heads drooping and their confidence greatly shaken. "Next, you face two choices. First, pack up and leave tomorrow. Second, stay," Jackson suddenly said. The guards' eyes lit up. They had worked at the Griffith villa for five years and had grown attached to it. With good salaries and comrades by their side, they all hoped to stay. Apollo and Violet were puzzled, wasn't it just said that no chances would be given? Why the sudden change of heart? Seeing the confusion in everyone's eyes, Jackson continued, "Of course, staying comes with conditions." "You all know that you need to improve your skills. If you stay, you must undergo my devilish training," Jackson's lips curled into a cruel smile. With the guards being all ex-military, they were familiar with so-called devilish training. Even Julius, as a former special forces soldier and training camp instructor, knew the intensity of such training. But for some reason, seeing the smile on Jackson's face, they couldn't help but feel terrified. ... The next day. The guards got up at 4.30 a.m., not voluntarily, but because Jackson had come to urge them. The morning shift guards were okay, having at least slept. But the night shift guards had a hard time. After being riled up by Jackson last night, they hadn't dared to relax their vigilance. Just when they were about to finish their shift, they were dragged out by Jackson for training. The training task was simple, start from the Griffith villa, jog to the top of a small mountain 10 kilometres away, then return to the villa through frog jumps to complete the training. Running up the mountain wasn't difficult, but frog jumping back was. A group of grown men spent three exhausting hours to return to the Griffith villa, each one lying on the ground, with sore backs, legs cramping. "The training intensity needs to be increased." "We need to buy training equipment. Just running and frog jumping aren't intense enough." Watching this, Jackson thought to himself. Entering the villa, Jackson saw the butler - Atticus. Atticus was an elder nearing sixty, responsible for logistics and reception in the villa. He had reportedly worked in the villa for most of his life and held a high position. "Heh, Young Master, good morning," Atticus greeted cheerfully. "Atticus, I need to talk to you." Jackson listed the training equipment he needed. Atticus, experienced and knowledgeable, knew how difficult some of the equipment was to use. He looked towards the group of guards outside the villa with a hint of schadenfreude, "Looks like they're in for some suffering." Seeing Atticus's expression, Jackson knew he was a sly old fox and chuckled, "Without some suffering, how can they become stronger?" In the hall. At the dining table, Apollo was drinking milk while browsing the newspaper. Ezequiel was standing beside him. "Where's Violet?" Jackson asked. "She went to the office. She usually goes with me, but she left early today, which is unusual," Apollo was somewhat puzzled. Hearing this, Jackson's face broke into a mischievous smile.