Chapter 110: A Trap For Xavier

Chapter 110: Chapter 110: A Trap For Xavier

Pain.

That was the first thing Marcus felt when consciousness returned.

His entire body throbbed, and every movement sent sharp waves of agony through him. It felt as though his bones had been crushed and put back together incorrectly.

When he finally managed to open his eyes, he found himself inside an abandoned factory.

The bald monk stood in front of him, wearing a mocking smile. Nearby, another man remained silent, a slender Tang sword resting in his hand.

"Honestly, you’re more useless than I expected," the monk remarked.

"I’ve been working on you for less than half an hour, and you’ve already passed out three times." He crouched slightly to look Marcus in the face.

"So, have you made up your mind? Are you going to call your friend or not?"

Marcus’s body trembled uncontrollably. It was not because he wanted to give in.

His body had simply reached its limits after enduring half an hour of brutal torture after which he lost consciousness. It felt like his pain had disappeared for a second.

But now he has regained consciousness and absolutely nothing has changed.

Yet his captors still demanded that he contact Xavier and arrange a meeting.

Marcus was no fool. He could tell that these men were dangerous, and there was no way he would willingly help them lure Xavier into a trap.

He clenched his teeth and remained silent.

The monk’s smile faded slightly.

"Still trying to act tough?" he said. "Do you really think your loyalty is worth all this suffering?"

He leaned closer, lowering his voice as he delivered his next threat.

"There’s something you might want to know. I discovered this morning that your wife, Clara, is pregnant. Wouldn’t it be a shame if she ended up joining you here?"

Marcus’s heart sank. His wife was pregnant. She was carrying their child, and neither of them had even had time to get used to the wonderful news.

The thought of these men hurting her was unbearable.

"All right! I’ll do it!" he cried out desperately. "Just don’t hurt my wife!"

The monk immediately broke into a satisfied grin.

"Now you’re being sensible," he said.

"Pick up the phone and do exactly as I tell you. Don’t say anything that might make Xavier suspicious."

With trembling hands, Marcus retrieved his phone and dialed Xavier’s number.

The moment the call connected, he heard the familiar voice of the friend he had known since childhood.

"Hello?"

Marcus drew in a shaky breath. Then, gathering every bit of strength he had left, he shouted into the phone.

"Xavier, it’s a trap! Call the police!"

* * *

It was around six in the evening, and Xavier was preparing dinner at the villa.

After successfully advancing the Heaven Piercing Sixfold Finger to its third level, he had decided to celebrate by cooking a proper meal.

Rather than eating at the academy cafeteria or ordering takeout, he had purchased fresh ingredients and planned to prepare something special for Mira.

His wife had not returned yet.

Three days earlier, she had accepted Victoria Quill’s offer to become her personal disciple, and since then, she had been receiving guidance from the general at the Extraordinary Division.

Xavier expected Mira to return that evening, so he wanted to have dinner ready for her.

As he chopped the vegetables, his phone suddenly rang.

He glanced at the screen and answered without much thought.

"Xavier, it’s a trap! Call the police!"

Xavier immediately stopped what he was doing.

The knife remained suspended above the cutting board for a moment before he slowly set it down.

He recognized Marcus’s voice. More importantly, he could hear the panic in it.

What had happened?

Over the past few days, Xavier had deliberately kept some distance between himself and Marcus.

His friend was an ordinary person, and Xavier was increasingly involved in dangerous conflicts.

He had hoped that maintaining some distance would prevent his own troubles from spilling over into Marcus’s life.

He wasn’t sure why but the original Xavier’s fondness for Marcus had rubbed on him and he wasn’t willing to let Marcus get hurt. He won’t allow it.

Apparently, that precaution had not been enough.

"Marcus, what happened? Where are you?" he demanded.

There was no answer. Instead, two dull impacts came through the phone, followed by a brief silence.

Someone had struck Marcus.

Xavier’s expression turned icy.

"Listen carefully," he said.

"I don’t care who you are or who sent you. Release my friend immediately. If you harm even a hair on his head, I’ll make sure your entire family pays for it!"

He deliberately raised his voice, knowing that someone on the other end was listening.

As expected, a hoarse, unfamiliar voice answered him.

"So you’re Xavier Kane," it said.

"You’ve certainly got a temper." The speaker gave a short, mocking laugh before continuing.

"If you want your friend back, come to the Starfall Abandoned Factory near East Lake. Come alone. Don’t contact the police, or the next time you see your friend will be when you’re identifying his corpse." His voice grew colder.

"And don’t take too long. He might not survive much longer."

The call ended.

Xavier stared at his phone, his expression darkening as he considered the situation.

After several seconds, he put the device away, took off his cooking apron, and changed into a black coat.

He had no intention of telling anyone about the kidnapping.

The Starfall Abandoned Factory was familiar to him. It stood about five kilometers from his former home in East Lake Community, and he and Marcus had often visited the area during their younger years.

He also had no intention of following Marcus’s desperate suggestion to call the police.

He was now a 7th-Level Spirit Platform Realm martial artist. If he could not handle the people who had abducted his childhood friend, involving the ordinary police would not necessarily solve the problem.

As for Victoria Quill, asking a peak Star Sea Realm martial artist to intervene in a kidnapping involving an ordinary person would be excessive. He had no reason to drag her into this without first understanding the situation.

Besides, Xavier had confidence in his own abilities.

When he was only at the 3rd-Level of the Spirit Platform Realm, he had already managed to kill Selene, a martial artist at the peak of the same realm.

Now he had advanced to the 7th-Level, and the Heaven Piercing Sixfold Finger had become significantly more powerful.

He was confident that he could even contend with someone who had just entered the Star Sea Realm.

Anyone who had chosen to kidnap Marcus in order to threaten him had made a serious mistake.

"The Sinclair family, the Lindsay family, the Bloodshadow Cult, the Heavenly Eye Cult," Xavier murmured, his eyes growing cold as he recalled the enemies he had encountered.

"Whoever you are, if you’ve decided to use my friend against me, then you’d better be prepared to pay the price."

He stepped out of the villa and headed straight for the abandoned factory.

* * *

Inside the factory, Marcus was barely conscious.

The Bloodthirsty Monk stood over him, looking down with an expression of cruel amusement.

One of the monk’s punches had broken Marcus’s spine, leaving him unable to move properly.

"You’ve got some nerve, kid," the monk said.

"I told you exactly what to say, yet you still managed to warn him." He shook his head, almost as though he were disappointed.

"You’d better hope your friend comes alone. If he brings anyone else, I’ll make sure you, your wife, and that unborn child of yours all meet the same end."

Marcus’s face had gone pale, and tears had gathered in the corners of his eyes.

The physical pain was almost unbearable, but it was no longer what frightened him most. The thought of Clara being dragged into this nightmare was far worse.

He had no idea whether he had made the right choice. By warning Xavier, he might have saved his friend from walking blindly into a trap.

At the same time, he had probably made his own situation more dangerous.

Yet he could not bring himself to regret it. Xavier was like a brother to him.

He could not stand by and watch him get ambushed simply because he wanted to save himself.

Still, Marcus understood that these men were not the sort to make empty threats.

They had kidnapped him in broad daylight, tortured him without hesitation, and revealed their faces without showing the slightest concern.

They had likely never intended to let him walk away alive.

I hope Xavier calls for help anyway, he thought desperately. The police. No, the Extraordinary Division. Someone needs to protect Clara.

His thoughts returned to his wife and their unborn child. Just that morning, he had been imagining how he would tell Xavier the news.

Now, he did not even know whether he would live long enough to see his child born.

The Bloodthirsty Monk glanced at the time and sneered.

"Fifteen minutes have already passed," he said.

"You’ve got fifteen minutes left, at most. Have you thought about what your last words will be?"

Marcus shut his eyes, unable to respond.

Then he heard the monk speaking to the man with the Tang sword.

"Someone’s coming."

The swordsman, who had remained silent throughout the torture, finally spoke.

"Xavier Kane. He’s alone."

The Bloodthirsty Monk’s expression shifted into one of satisfaction.

"So he really came for his friend," he said. "That’s great to hear."

He glanced at Marcus, then looked toward the entrance of the abandoned factory.

"Leave the boy alive for now," he said.

"He’s still useful to us. Once Xavier arrives, we’ll have another way to make him cooperate."

The two men exchanged a knowing look. Their original plan had been to use Marcus to lure Xavier into the open.

But with Xavier now approaching, they could move on to the next stage.

They had no intention of letting either man leave easily.