Lord of Cinder in American Comics

## Chapter 31: The Accountant's Firm That Was Bombed

From Ash's perspective, the exhaust plume of the rocket-propelled grenade ignited the curtains, which flew straight toward him. Meanwhile, Wolf remained in his position, explaining the exchange process to him.

Then came a massive shockwave accompanied by an explosion, which, along with a heat wave, destroyed Wolf's entire house.

The shockwave carried a large amount of smoke and dust that covered the area around the building, followed by black smoke from the fire.

Ash held up the Holy Bell in his right hand, a milky white protective film enveloping his and Wolf's bodies, and the two were unharmed despite being in the center of the explosion.

[Magic Protection: A miracle created for clergy who wield weapons. By covering their entire bodies with a white protective membrane, they increase their magic damage reduction rate. Historically, clergy and mages have often been at odds. Therefore, the simple clergy must possess means to counter magic.]

Wolf instinctively raised his hands to shield his chest, trying to block the shockwave from the explosion.

But when he discovered that his body was covered by a protective film and had not been harmed at all, Wolf carefully pinched the white protective film with his fingers and tried to lift it up.

"Don't bother trying, there's another one in the reception room."

Poor Rither was sitting on the sofa in the living room, idly flipping through a magazine, when a sudden shockwave came from behind and knocked him to the ground.

When Ash found Rither, Rither was pinned under the sofa and unable to move. However, the sofa did block some of the damage, preventing Rither from being completely mangled and dying.

"Riser, wake up, Risser." Ash gripped Risser's arm with all her might, trying to shake Risser awake.

Seeing Ash's violent actions, Wolf hurriedly stopped him, saying, "Stop shaking him! He's just passed out from the shockwave. If you keep shaking him, you'll break his neck."

Wolf took Rither from Ash and laid him flat on the ground. He found an unopened bottle of water in the ruins, unscrewed the cap, and poured the entire bottle of water onto Rither's face.

"Cough, cough, damn it, I was knocked unconscious by something. I feel like my neck is going to break, and my arms hurt like hell."

Risser woke up quickly after having his face washed, and couldn't help but cry out because his whole body ached.

"It was probably caused by that explosion just now, yes, that's it, nothing else happened."

Ash attributed the damage Rither suffered to the explosion, making no mention of her own violent actions.

Once Rither had regained consciousness, the three of them huddled together to discuss the details of the accident.

Initially, Reese obtained the machine's memetic calculations and learned that Ash would be a key figure. Then, he received a phone call from Sheffield, and the three of them were attacked at Wolfe's office.

"In other words, you caused this accident, and you have to compensate my firm for its losses. I will compile a detailed list and give it to you."

Wolf adjusted his glasses, pulled out a notebook from somewhere, tore off an IOU for the losses, and had Ash sign it.

"This can't be blamed on me at all. It's Sheffield's fault; Sheffield sent me. I won't sign!"

Wolf and Ash were debating who should own the IOU, while Rither made a phone call to Finch for information.

"Alright, gentlemen, I've found traces of the attackers. Would you like to come with me to see them, or continue arguing here?"

Wolf tucked the note into his notebook and carefully placed it close to his body, then asked, "Where did they go?"

"They went straight up 15th Street and drove east."

Wolf silently calculated the movement trajectory in his mind and said, "Usually, when gangsters complete a mission, they will find a safe place to report to the boss. In order to avoid being followed, they will not go directly to see the boss."

“They’ll rest in another gang’s hideout until it’s safe,” Rither added from the side.

"Can you locate those people in real time?" Wolf asked Risser.

“Yes, Finch has been keeping an eye on them.”

"Let's pack up and go see those who've been bothering us."

Although Ash and Wolf were hit directly in the face by a rocket, thanks to Ash's miraculous intervention, neither of them was even covered in dust.

Meanwhile, in the reception room, the building's walls shielded Rither from the shrapnel and most of the shockwave; the most damaging thing to him was probably Ash's violent awakening.

Reese touched the pistol on his lower back and added, "To raid a gang's hideout, we need some weapons. I only have a Gloke on me."

"Come with me."

Wolf turned and led the two out of the office through the back door. The three walked across two streets and finally arrived at the door of a rented warehouse.

Wolf pulled open the warehouse's roller shutter door, revealing the munitions inside.

The rented warehouse was only a dozen square meters in size, but all kinds of firearms were neatly fixed on the walls, and a long stainless steel table in the middle was filled with all kinds of ammunition.

Wolf is ostensibly an accountant, but in reality, he is a responsible accountant who often provides covert financial investigation services to gangs and various organizations.

Among these services that cannot be mentioned, there will always be some people who won't let Wolf do the math properly, so Wolf needs a little help to shut them up. Anyone who disturbs Wolf's math work will receive a gift from Wolf in different guises.

Wolfe has obsessive-compulsive tendencies and arranges everything in an orderly manner.

Without saying anything more, the three of them pulled up the roller shutter and began to put on their combat uniforms.

Ankle dagger, combat knife, two HKP30s with silencers, a Benelli M4 semi-automatic shotgun with a red dot sight, and a short MK48 light machine gun. Plus a huge amount of corresponding ammunition. This was the equipment Ash had prepared.

As Rither watched Ash frantically loading ammunition onto himself, he advised Ash, "We're just going to take down a gang, not hunt down BLDs."

"Yes, you're right. We need to deal with gangs quickly and decisively, without attracting the police."

As she spoke, Ash took out another pack of grenades and secured it to the carrying latch on the side.

Once the three were fully equipped, Wolf drove out a black Chevrolet from the warehouse next door, loaded all the hard-to-carry weapons into the back seat, and the three jumped in and prepared to leave.

With Finch's guidance, Risser took the driver's seat, while Wolfe hid his weapon under the feet of the passenger.

The three men exuded a murderous aura that filled the entire vehicle. Reese slammed on the accelerator, and the car sped onto the highway, moving forward at breakneck speed.

Following Finch's directions, Reese arrived at the location in forty minutes. A nightclub converted from a large warehouse.

It's daytime now, and the nightclub is practically empty. There are hardly any people outside, and inside, only security guards and gang members resting after a night of revelry are present.

"Hey, look at that guy."

Reese pointed out the car window to a shirtless, tattooed man slowly walking towards a nightclub.

Just as this guy passed in front of the car, Reese honked the horn.

Two beeping sounds woke up the guy who was squinting.

Chapter 32: Infiltration Turns into an Assault

After a night of revelry, before his tired nerves could recover, a car suddenly honked its horn, the sudden noise almost stopping the already exhausted guy's heart.

"Fuck, you bastard."

The thug, awakened by the noise, angrily pounded on the hood of the car to vent his frustration. He then walked to the driver's side door, grabbed the door handle, and muttered profanities.

The driver's side window slowly rolled down, and Risser, holding the Gloke, pointed the gun at the back seat at the thugs who were still cursing.

"Go up."

The thug trembled as a gun was pointed at him, glancing at the back seat that Reese was pointing to. But before he could see clearly, the back door opened, and a large hand gripped his neck, forcing him into the back seat.

Ash was the only person in the back seat of the vehicle, along with the guns that were inconvenient for the three of them to carry. The thug's body was pressed into the seat, while his face was poked into the pile of guns.

After the thugs gave up struggling, Rither took over the work from Ash.

Wolf pulled a roll of duct tape from the passenger seat and handed it to Rither. Rither used the tape to tie the thug's hands and feet together.

Reese pressed the gun against the thug's chin and thrust it upwards forcefully, causing the thug's head to involuntarily tilt backwards and fall into the pile of guns.

"I'll ask you a question, you answer it. If you don't answer, you'll be punished. Understand?"

The thug had a bunch of gun barrels sticking out from behind his head, and with a gun pressed against his chin, he could only mumble that he understood.

Who just returned to this nightclub?

The thug rolled his eyes, pretending to answer, but just as he took a deep breath and was about to shout it out, Rither covered his mouth.

The sound that was about to come out of his throat turned into a muffled groan. Rither put away the Gloke in his right hand, pulled a dagger from his waist, and stabbed it into the thug's thigh.

With Rither covering his mouth, the muffled cries became high-pitched and intense, then faded as he went downhill, and slowly disappeared.

"Stop! I'll talk, I'll talk."

Knife's advice was effective; the thug quickly heeded Knife's suggestion and gave the answer to Rither's question.

"Tommy just brought his men back. Apparently, they came here to relax after completing the boss's mission."

Where is Tommy now?

The thug hesitated, still considering whether to speak, when he saw Rither reach into the gap in the front seat and pull out the car's cigarette lighter, then press the lighter against his earlobe.

"Ugh~ Ugh~~" The thug, his mouth covered, struggled, but with his hands and feet bound, his struggles were futile. Until the heat from the cigarette lighter gradually dissipated.

Reese slightly loosened his hand from the thug's mouth, and the thug couldn't wait to say, "Tommy's in the lounge on the third floor. He took some girls out to have some fun."

Reese plugged the cigarette lighter back in, waited for it to heat up again, then held it up to the thug's eyes and asked coldly, "One last question, whose mission did Tommy accept?"

The cigarette lighter was slowly brought closer to the thug's eyes. In Reese's hand, the thug struggled frantically and said, "I don't know, God, I told you everything, I really don't know."

The heat from the cigarette lighter had burned off the thug's eyelashes, but the question remained unanswered. Rither finally released his grip, and the escaped thug gasped for breath, savoring the taste of life.

Rither pulled the dagger from the thug's leg and cut the duct tape binding him. Pointing the dagger at the thug, he said, "Run in the opposite direction, or you'll face the consequences."

After saying that, he released his grip on the thug and then moved aside to open the car door.

The thug hesitated for a moment, then suddenly jumped up and rushed out of the car, clutching the wound on his leg with one hand, and ran as fast as he could.

He hadn't run far when a bullet struck his other knee, followed by the muffled gunshot.

Rither silently put away his gun and said to the stunned Ash, "I'll let him go."

'Knee Man lives up to his name,' Ash thought to himself as he began to adjust his equipment.

The three moved to a small alley behind the nightclub, where only a security guard was smoking.

Having confirmed the location, the three lined up in a battle formation, with Rither at the head, Wolf in the middle providing support, and Ash bringing up the rear with the MK48.

Don't smoke with your back to an open space. Risser, holding a pistol, quietly crept up behind the security guard. With a "piu," the bullet pierced the back of the guard's head and flew out from his forehead.

Ignoring the fallen thugs, the three quickly adjusted their formation and spread out around the back door.

"Jason, are you sneaking out for a smoke again? Give me one too."

Suddenly, a voice came from inside the door, and then the back door was pushed open from the inside, and a security guard, also dressed in a suit, came out.

Risser and Wolf quickly drew their guns and fired. Several bullets accurately hit the security guard, then passed through his body and struck the door behind him with a crisp knocking sound.

Unexpected events always happen suddenly; an infiltration operation turned into a frontal assault.

The three adjusted their formation, with Ash, who was holding the MK48, becoming the head of the assault team. Reese stood at the door and opened it, and the three filed in.

Behind the door was a corridor. Although some people heard the strange noise, and a few thugs were about to come over to check, they found three fully armed men walking in through the back door.