The cold tone from Kaito caused the man before him to hesitate. If it had been a few months before, Kaito would probably not have been overly influenced by the mention of his parents' death. In the past, the idea of parents was abstract.

He had managed to survive and thrive without their love or guidance. Since he was alright with how his life had turned out, he did not think it was necessary to care about the unknown people responsible for his existence.

However, his life in Mountain Ridge, the photos, the home videos and the stories from his grandmother showed him what he missed and made him feel cheated. Even in their death, they thought of him and tried to give him a better future by hiding their wealth.

As a result, he developed deep anger towards his uncle who caused those two people, who must have cared for him deeply, to disappear from the world.

"Your mother was no longer a member of the Martial Island. And our cooperation with Takahashi Senzo is merely business. He took over an agreement that we had made with your mother and father almost thirty years ago." The man responded calmly.

Kaito did not care for the explanation. If anything, it made him even angrier at the situation.

"I have no interest in going with you to this Martial Island. Do not interfere with my plans. Takahashi Senzo will pay for his sins. I will encourage you to find another business partner." Kaito said with an intense chill in his voice.

"I am afraid that I cannot allow you to walk away. You know too much." There was a hint of something like sorrow in his voice.

"If I know too much, wouldn't taking me back to your secret island allow me to learn even more?" Kaito responded with irony.

"You took a sample of one of our products. With your connections and your girlfriend's background, I can only assume that you had the item tested. This information is dangerous in the wrong hands. Therefore, I cannot let you go."

The explanation was simple and clear, and it made sense even to Kaito. Furthermore, he felt a little more apprehensive because this man seemed to know everything about him and his actions.

"Who are you?" Kaito asked.

Before the man could respond, Kaito was holding his concealed needles between his fingers. He lifted his hands and threw the sharp weapons at the man, targeting his vital organs. The other party lifted his hand and swept off the needles with his sleeve.

"This level of attack is nothing to me." The person did not seem to care.

"I did not think it would be anything to you since you are clearly a powerful person. But I am not a fighter. I am an assassin." Kaito had a subtle smile on his face.

The man from Martial Island felt numbness in his legs. He noticed small acupuncture needles sticking to his legs in the space between his robe and his sandals.

"You are indeed a good assassin. You distracted me with a dramatic and obvious attack, but your goal was to poison me. And this is quite a powerful poison."

Kaito looked at the man. A touch of the poison would be enough to kill or disable an average person. He had concocted it using a few venoms from snakes from the most dangerous parts of the world. The material targeted both the circulatory and nervous systems.

"Thank you. It is something I brewed. But as expected, this is not enough to take you out." Kaito responded easily before taking out throwing stars.

The shurikens were light and sharp, and he had modified them to maximise the aerodynamic potential. He did not target vital organs. Instead, he focused on the immobilised legs. The poison did not seem to affect the man as much as it should have, but it was enough to keep him immobile.

The person did not look too bothered by the weapons, until one cut through his robe and sunk into his shin. Moreover, the stars had another kind of venom on them. When he tried to move, he found that his legs were completely numb.

It seemed that he had underestimated his little nephew. He thought it would be easy to bring back his sister's grown-up son. But he was wrong.

Usually, he would never take menial jobs like capturing people from the outside world. However, when he learnt about Takahashi Senzo's intention to use the Martial Island to eliminate his nephew, he could not sit still.

He decided to come and see him in person and make a judgement. The young man was quite impressive, even more than it looked on paper. Unfortunately, he still had to take him back to Martial Island. It was the least he could do.

If he did not take him away, it would only be a matter of time before other parties who did not like his interference tried to get rid of him. As long as Kaito got a valid position on Martial Island, he would have protection as a denizen.

Even though he could feel poison creeping up his body, he was gratified. His nephew was not a simple man who would cave under pressure and die after being exposed to life in their dog-eat-dog world.

The man looked to a corner outside the parking lot and nodded.

Kaito noticed the subtle movement and dodged backwards. A dart fell in the position where he was standing. Three more darts followed him, but he managed to avoid them and take shelter in a blind spot behind a large truck.

When he thought he had avoided them all, he felt a pinprick on his neck from the opposite side. He realised he had been careless because there was more than one sniper. He took out the dart and looked at it. Usually, a single shot of tranquillizer would not affect him.

However, he sensed that the concoction in the dart was different as it flowed through his body. Furthermore, the size of the item indicated that the dosage in his body was at least five times the standard for a human.

His mind became fuzzy, and he looked at the man walking towards him with dragging feet. He squinted and tried to maintain his consciousness while leaning against the vehicle behind him.

"Do not worry. Nothing will happen to you." The man said in a faraway voice.

At that moment, Kaito did not care about what happened to him.

He thought about his Akira.

He promised her that he would return to Mountain Ridge later.

What would happen to her if he was not with her?

Would she be alright?

Would she be sad?

Would she find his gift?

'Wait for me, my little red panda. I will return soon.' He swore in his heart.