Chapter 1
A dim, damp corner in the basement.
Two seven-year-old children, covered in wounds, were hugging each other tightly.
Tears mixed with blood from the corners of their mouths kept dripping down their chins.
At their feet lay a crushed cellphone.
"Remember! Tonight is Mr. Turner and Emily Tass's wedding night. You guys need to drain the blood of these two little bastards, then stuff them into sacks and throw them into the Chillstream River together!"
Upon hearing about the blood draining, the seven-year-old boy suddenly spread his thin arms to shield the girl.
"No, don't drain my sister's blood, drain mine. I'm the older brother."
The seven-year-old girl cried, "No, drain my blood, I don't want my brother to die!"
A hard slap struck the seven-year-old boy's face.
The boy lost his balance and fell to the ground.
The seven-year-old girl cried out as she rushed over, grabbed the leg of a middle-aged wealthy woman, opened her mouth, and bit down hard.
With a scream, the woman raised her foot and delivered a hard kick to the seven-year-old girl hard.
The little girl fell to the ground, her head hitting the wall as blood flowed from the wound.
"Little bastards! Neither of you will survive today!" The woman showed no concern, her face filled with hatred.
"Grandma, please, no—we want to live! Dad will be here soon. He'll come and take us away!"
A shadow of gloom and contempt flashed in the woman's eyes as she said, "Dad? Your dad died long ago! And even if he were alive, he's a wanted criminal—would he dare show his face? You two little bastards are just like your slut of a mother. Today is your mom's big day. If you don't die, how can Mr. Turner marry her?"
With that, the woman glared at the two burly men and said, "What are you looking at? If they don't behave, keep beating them until they die!"
Thousands of miles away, in another place.
A place known as Blood Prison.
Seated on a skull throne, William Brown's eyes were sharp as he gripped his phone tightly.
Ten minutes ago, a phone call lasting less than thirty seconds had dragged his thoughts back eight years.
As the eldest grandson of the Brown family, he was framed and forced into dire trouble in Novaria.
At a life-or-death moment, he was saved by a kind-hearted woman.
He had planned to escape and repay her for saving his life, but before she could get him to safety, they were both captured.
The criminals then took him and the woman to a remote area, and amid the crowd's mocking laughter, he was forced into an intimate act with her due to poison in his system.
This incident became a painful thorn lodged deep in William's heart.
After the sexual encounter, the crowd turned on the woman.
At that critical moment, he grabbed the woman, and they both fell into Chillstream River.
The bone-chilling river water slowly brought William back to his senses.
He held the woman's hands tightly and told her his phone number.
Then, exhausted, he drifted away from the woman.
Afterward, he was rescued by the previous King of Assassins of Blood Prison. Having practiced martial arts since childhood, he inherited the Qi that the King of Assassins had cultivated over a hundred years after entering Blood Prison. The King of Assassins passed away a year after saving him.
Having inherited the King of Assassins' Qi, he became the 99th-generation King of Assassins of Blood Prison.
From then on, he guarded America's vast territory, maintained order in all directions, and controlled the underground world.
That was, until today.
A phone call—a child's cry for help—sent ripples through his once calm heart.
"Report!" A deep, powerful shout came from outside the hall.
"Speak!" William said curtly, wasting no words.
"Sir, following your orders, I've traced the phone's source and found information about its owner, as well as the person currently holding it."
William nodded slightly, looking at the man.
The man stood up and continued, "The person holding this phone is named Emily Taylor, the eldest daughter of the Taylor family, a third-tier family in Novaria, and one of Novaria's four beauties. She's now twenty-seven years old. Seven years ago, she gave birth to a son and a daughter. For reasons unknown, the Taylor family began being targeted by the Garcia family of Novaria that same year. Over the past seven years, the Taylor family's assets shrunk by five hundred million dollars, leaving them three hundred million in debt. Today, Emily is getting married. The man she is marrying is Jace Turner, the head of the Turner family in Novaria. Jace is now fifty-two years old, and his three previous wives all died tragically. Seven years ago, he gained backing from an unknown figure and, with the Garcia family's support, gradually took over the Taylor family's assets. He is now ranked among Novaria's third-tier families."
William slowly rose to his feet. Seven years!
Two children—both seven years old!
This was far too coincidental!
"Focus on Emily!" William said as he walked down from the skull throne.
The man's brows furrowed tightly as he said, "After Emily gave birth to a son and daughter, their business began to decline, and she was treated as a curse by her own family. For seven years, she struggled to survive, gave up her education, and lived alongside the Taylor family's servants. This marriage to Jace was forced upon her by her parents, who threatened her with the lives of her two children. Also, after hacking into their surveillance system, I discovered that these two children are very likely..."
Before the man could finish, William stomped down hard, and the floor tiles beneath him cracked with a sharp sound.
With a loud bang, the man immediately dropped to his knees and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down!"
On both sides of the hall, the other nine mercenary commanders also knelt down.
William clenched his teeth, his eyes filled with towering hatred, and said, "Speak! What about the two children?"
The first commander, Jackal, said carefully, "The two children are very unlikely to survive until dawn."
William's eyes turned a deep, bloodshot red.
After all these years, he had believed the woman who saved him was dead, and after becoming the King of Assassins of Blood Prison, he had sent people to Novaria many times.
They searched through Novaria's death records.
But he never expected that Emily was still alive!
No wonder he couldn't find any information about her.
But why hadn't she contacted him all these years?
Why did she bear this grievance alone?
Emily, I can never repay what I owe you!
"Jackal will stay at Blood Prison to handle daily affairs. The other nine commanders will come with me to Novaria!"
Nine mercenary commanders leaving the prison? The ten commanders present were utterly shocked.
Before this, William had led small teams of commanders out of prison to destroy a Middle Eastern terrorist base, crush an enemy nation's million-strong army, and even sweep through a small country of ten million people.
And now, he was actually taking nine commanders out of prison. Could he really be planning to level Novaria?
Though everyone was shocked, they could only obey the King of Assassins’ orders.
After a brief silence, the ten commanders knelt and declared in voices like thunder, "We obey your command!"
At the same time, in Novaria, at a five-star hotel banquet hall, staff were rushing around.
Backstage in the hall, in the dressing room, Emily's tears flowed like a fountain as she said, "Father, please let me see the children one last time. You promised me that as long as I married him, you would let the children live!"
Daniel Taylor's expression was cold as he turned a deaf ear to Emily's plea.
Layla Scott sneered, "Emily, at a time like this, you're still thinking about those two little bastards? If it weren't for them, would the Taylor family have fallen to this state?"
A mother's heart is deeply connected to her children's.
Emily had a strong feeling that her children were in danger right now.
"Layla, you're a mother too. Please, please talk to Father and ask him to bring Mira and Remy here. I just want to see them one last time," Emily said as she fell to her knees.
