Chapter 45: Scared Stiffless

The moment Wolfe charged forward, Sherise instinctively closed her eyes, expecting the worst.  When she heard the sharp sound of bones breaking, her entire body trembled, and her face turned pale. She thought Wolfe had crushed her bones. However, she quickly realized she felt no pain. What… what just happened? Sherise slowly opened her eyes, and the scene before her left her stunned. Wolfe's hand, which was just an inch away from her body, was caught in a firm grip by another hand. Not only that, but Wolfe's wrist was forcibly twisted and broken, bent at an unnatural angle. A blood-curdling scream pierced the air. "Ahh! My hand!" Wolfe's face contorted in pain, his eyes filled with agony.  He had trained his fists since he was young, developing a pair of hands as tough as iron and steel—capable of breaking metal rods with a single punch. But now, his wrist had snapped like a twig in someone's grip. How was this possible? "Mr. Hawk!"  Sherise looked at the person in front of her, her eyes wide with shock. The man who had just saved her was none other than Arius, who had rushed over on Ruxley's orders. Arius, still gripping Wolfe's wrist, apologized to Sherise, "Ms. Potter, my apologies for arriving late. I hope you weren't too frightened." With those words, Arius turned his gaze toward Wolfe, his eyes cold and filled with murderous intent. As the president of the Blood Moon Club, Arius was well aware of Tiger Gang's existence.  When he first came to Shiphay City, he swept through the entire underground world like a storm, subduing many factions. Tiger Gang was one of those factions. Tigra had the audacity to cause trouble for Sherise today—he must have a death wish! "Mr… Mr. Hawk?"  Seeing Arius, Tigra fell from his chair in shock, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets. He never would have imagined that Arius would be here. Could it be that Sherise had some connection to Arius? A bad premonition surged in Tigra's heart. While Tigra was filled with dread, Wolfe was already losing control.  Tigra knew who Arius was, but Wolfe did not. Seeing that Arius had broken his wrist, Wolfe's eyes turned bloodshot with fury, his face twisted in rage. "You bastard, how dare you break my wrist! Today, I'll tear you to pieces! You'll die without a grave!" Wolfe roared, raising his other fist and aiming to crush Arius' skull. Arius saw Wolfe's attempt to attack him and curved his lips into a bloodthirsty smirk. Suddenly, a wave of killing intent erupted from his body as he swung his leg toward Wolfe. "Not good!"  Sensing the icy murderous intent from Arius, Wolfe was scared out of his wits. He tried to retreat, but it was too late. Bam! Arius' right foot struck Wolfe's chest like a hammer. Crack! Wolfe's chest caved in, and his body flew backward like a broken kite, crashing heavily onto a desk and instantly losing consciousness. The room fell silent. Everyone stared at Arius, their faces full of shock and awe. Especially the members of Tiger Gang—they gaped in disbelief. Wolfe was Tiger Gang's second-best fighter, second only to Tigra himself. Yet, he hadn't even lasted a single move against Arius. Ignoring the shocked crowd, Arius' cold gaze shifted to Tigra. When Tigra met Arius' icy glare, his body trembled violently. He rushed over to Arius, his face ashen as he stammered, "Mr. Hawk, w-why are you here?" Tigra, towering at over two meters tall and a full head above Arius, now shrank his body as much as possible like a child caught doing something wrong. All his earlier arrogance had vanished. Arius looked at Tigra with a cold expression and said icily, "Tigra, you have quite the nerve to come here and make trouble!" Tigra stammered in panic, "Mr. Hawk, I'm sorry… I-I didn't know Ms. Potter was your acquaintance. Otherwise, even if I had a hundred lives to spare, I wouldn't have dared to come here!" At that moment, Tigra cursed Aliki internally.  He was only here at her command. A few days ago, Aliki had given him three million to stir up trouble for Sherise and disrupt Noctis Group's operations. Since he thought Noctis Group had no real backing, Tigra took the job without hesitation. Who would've thought that Sherise had someone as influential as Arius behind her? Now, Tigra regretted it to his core. Just as Arius was about to speak, the front door of Noctis Group was suddenly pushed open. The next moment, a sharp-dressed young man with an imposing air strode inside—it was Ruxley, who had arrived immediately after being informed. "Ruxley!"  When Sherise saw Ruxley's figure, her face lit up with surprise, and the tension in her expression finally relaxed. Tigra turned to look at Ruxley, his eyes filled with confusion. He had never seen Ruxley before, so he had no idea who this person was. But in the next moment, what he witnessed left Tigra utterly dumbfounded. Arius quickly walked up to Ruxley and greeted him respectfully, "My Lord, you're here!" What? Tigra stood there in stunned silence, his mouth agape, eyes wide with disbelief. Who was this guy? What kind of person could make Arius—leader of the Blood Moon Club and undisputed king of Shiphay City's underground world—bow to him like that? Ruxley nodded at Arius before hurrying over to Sherise, asking with concern, "Sherise, are you okay?" Sherise shook her head, saying, "I'm fine. But Damon got hurt by these thugs—they're truly outrageous!" Her face was still filled with anger, as she had never encountered someone as unreasonable as Tigra before. Ruxley glanced at the injured Damon and the mess around them, his face darkening. Noctis Group was a company that Sherise had built with endless dedication, embodying all her dreams. For Tigra and his people to wreak havoc there was unforgivable. Ruxley's eyes flashed with a chilling light as he turned his gaze to Tigra. Seeing the coldness in Ruxley's eyes, Tigra's body trembled violently as if he were being stared down by an ancient beast. A wave of indescribable terror welled up inside him, causing his legs to go limp, and he fell to the floor. The notorious leader of Tiger Gang, an infamous figure in Shiphay City's underworld, was paralyzed with fear by just a single look from Ruxley.