******At this moment, the front of the bungalow ahead of Glenn was drowning in utter chaos.Voices overlapped, emotions collided, and the usually quiet neighborhood appeared to have been ripped apart by both panic and fear.“Why did they take my son?! I want my son back! They should send my son back home and take me instead!”A woman’s sobbing scream tore through everything else, sounding shrill, frantic, and devastated.She was on the ground, striking at the dirt and tiles with desperate hands, her hair disheveled, and her clothes rumpled as if she had fallen more than once.Her cries were both raw and unrestrained, the kind that came from a place far deeper than simple fear.People surrounded her at this moment, doing everything they could to hold her back, murmuring words of comfort and urging her to calm down.But she wouldn’t listen.She only sobbed even more bitterly and violently as if the world had already ended for her… as if the one thing anchoring her to life had

******Normally, Ben’s father was quiet and restrained, the type who usually swallowed their anger until it rotted inside him… someone who loves running from trouble as far away as he could.Yet right now… the same man appeared as though a demon had possessed him.He continued surging forward aggressively, instinctively lifting the thick stick he was holding, his body moving even before his mind could catch up.And watching this, Glenn, for a brief second, calculated the angle of the baton, the distance, the speed, and the direction it was heading.And the conclusion… it came easily.Ben was trying to strike him with the stick… a realization that instantly threw Glenn off guard.Although with Glenn’s strength, he wouldn’t be hurt no matter how hard Ben struck him, but still… Ben was trying to kill him.And just as this thought hit him, Ben reached him, whacking the stick down without the slightest hesitation.But… before the situation could spiral, several men rushed in and g

******Ben’s eyes flashed with icy ferocity, thick veins bulging at his temples as his fury reignited.“You dare act ignorant with me?” the man roared, his voice hoarse and shaking with rage. The killing intent rolling off him surged violently, thick enough to make the people closest to him flinch.It looked as though he might truly lose control this time.And just like that, the fragile silence in the air shattered like a piece of glass, the street erupting again.“This bastard! How dare he act oblivious!”“Does he really think we’re fools?”“He’s pretending he doesn’t know anything? At a time like this?”“If he had nothing to do with it, why would he show up now?!”“Hmph! He thinks we are so stupid to believe it’s a coincidence!”“What a joke!”“Shameless!”The bystanders’ insults came fast and vicious, each one sharper than the last.Spite dripped from every word, stabbing toward Glenn like a barrage of blades meant to flay him alive.Their faces were twisted with hat

******Glenn had no idea who might be after him… he hadn’t had any enemies since returning to Jay City… or so he had assumed.And this assumption cracked quietly in his mind, not with panic, but with a mild, almost academic curiosity.If someone had gone as far as abducting an innocent child just to draw him out, then whoever was behind it was either tired of living or he had destroyed their entire family and livelihood.Still focused on Ben, Glenn continued.“I will go there and rescue little Ethan,” he said, his voice still calm, steady, and serious, completely stripped of emotion to the point that it sounded almost detached… like a man discussing a delayed appointment rather than walking into a trap designed with a child’s life as leverage.The reaction was immediate.Every mouth fell open, several jaws literally slackened, and all eyes widened, all of them acting as though Glenn had just declared he would stroll into a burning building for a casual chat.But Glenn didn’t g

******The abductors hadn’t explained Glenn’s offense, why they wanted him, or anything.Instead, all the spokesperson had said was that… to release Ethan, Glenn had to be delivered to them before the next day without any delays or tricks.Otherwise, Ethan would be killed.The caller had been calm… mockingly calm as though he were discussing a routine transaction instead of a child’s life.They had also been explicitly warned not to involve the cops… the abductors claiming they would know if they did, and once they did, Ethan would die.And as Glenn listened to all this, his expression didn’t change. But internally, he exhaled slowly.In fact, even before his arrival, Ben had already been prepared to go to Jonathan’s house to learn more about him… to confirm whether he had been released from prison.Ben hadn’t recounted much about that to him, but...Glenn knew.He had been certain that if he hadn’t arrived when he did, Jonathan and his family… people who had nothing to do w