2 Chapter 2: Fight Fiercely

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The Ferreni Group in the capital is a subsidiary of a multinational corporation, mainly engaging in catering and accommodation businesses. Its Ferreni Grand Hotel is a standard five-star hotel located in the East Second Ring of the capital, very close to the famous Royal Palace. From the rooftop, one can even see the Zijin City.

Yusuf Zuck officially became a proud and honored security guard of the Ferreni Group a month ago, with a monthly salary of three thousand yuan, including accommodation and one meal a day. The salary isn't much, but the perk of having accommodation makes up for it.

Today was payday, but upon leaving the finance department, Yusuf Zuck had a gloomy expression, quickly heading towards the gym provided for the security department.

His first month's salary had been deducted by three hundred yuan. When he inquired about the reason, the finance department claimed he had taken three days off, deducting a hundred yuan for each absence, resulting in a three hundred yuan deduction!

To others, three hundred yuan might not be a lot, but for him, that was half a month's food expenses.

After getting explanations from the finance department, Yusuf Zuck knew who had been sabotaging him – it was their security department head, Samuel Ross.

In Ferreni, each department had an attendance record book, and the department heads were responsible for logging their staff's attendance records. The security department's record book noted that Yusuf Zuck had taken three days off, so naturally, the finance department deducted his salary accordingly.

"Bang!" When Yusuf Zuck reached the entrance of the gym, he kicked the door open and swept his gaze across the room, fixing it on one person as he said sternly, "Samuel Ross, are you screwing me over?"

"Whoa!" Five muscular men in the gym turned around simultaneously. All of them were tall and part of Ferreni's security team. Two were sparring, one was punching a sandbag, and the other two were lifting barbells.

Punching the sandbag was none other than the security department head, Samuel Ross, a 32-year-old ex-special forces soldier who had been struggling in the capital for nearly a decade after retiring from the military, eventually becoming the head of security at a subsidiary of the Ferreni Group.

This man likely had hormonal issues during puberty, which left his face pocked with acne scars; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say his face was riddled with pockmarks, giving him an extremely fierce appearance.

Of course, sometimes having a fierce-looking appearance could be an advantage for a security guard to command authority.

Samuel Ross's upper body was covered in tattoos, with a big-bellied Maitreya Buddha on the front and a red koi on his back.

"Yusuf Zuck, have you freaking lost it?" The first to speak was one of the sparring ones, named Cohan Reid. Yusuf Zuck was not sure of his full name, having only heard others call him Brother Five or Cohan Reid. He was the deputy head of the security department and a loyal subordinate of Samuel Ross, having been comrades in the military and later joined Ferreni together with Ross.

"Yusuf, what's the matter? Have I offended you?" Samuel Ross was well-composed, always smiling when talking to Yusuf Zuck, and had a good reputation throughout Ferreni. Despite his ferocious looks, he was an old fox at heart.

"Yusuf Zuck, give a reason, or don't blame us for being unkind," Cohan Reid said with a cold snort.

At that moment, Yusuf Zuck took a deep breath and, while walking forward, continued, "Samuel Ross, I only asked for one day off last month, didn't I? On what basis did you write in the attendance record that I took three days off?"

"Oh, is that what this is about?" Samuel Ross feigned realization, smiling, "Wasn't your first day off on the 6th? You said you were going to see your sister or something, which I approved. That's one right there, isn't it?"

"And the other two times? Why don't I remember taking any more leave?" Yusuf Zuck had already walked up to Samuel Ross, while Cohan Reid and the others had encircled him.

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"Let me think..." Samuel Ross continued with a smile, "It was about the 16th, ten days later, around 3 p.m. one day, you asked me for leave, didn't you? And also on the 18th around 3 p.m., you took leave from me too, didn't you?"

"Does that even count? At that time I just went to the bank across the street, and I was back in less than ten minutes!" Yusuf Zuck glared as he spoke.

"A minute on the job is sixty seconds of professionalism, that's the motto of our Ferreni Grand Hotel, and the company has a rule: leaving without an excuse during one's shift counts as absence, so never mind ten minutes, even one minute, those two times count as absenteeism!"

Hearing Samuel Ross's words, Yusuf Zuck was choked up for a moment, and also said in a rush, "Others go out to chase girls or surf the web during their shift and it doesn't count, so how come it counts for me?"

"I'm not sure about that, I didn't see it!" Samuel Ross shrugged his shoulders, speaking in a tone that seemed intent to infuriate without consequence.

"Dumbass, you're deliberately looking for trouble, right?" At this point, the bystander Floyd Hart said with a face full of sarcasm, "What makes you think you can compare with others? Get lost quickly, or don't blame us for not being nice."

"Yeah, you better leave now," Samuel Ross said with a smile, glancing at his watch, "You're on duty today, and showing up here in the gym, that counts as absenteeism too!"

"Fuck your absenteeism!" Yusuf Zuck suddenly exploded, this was outright bullying; others chasing tail during their shift counted as work, but taking ten minutes off didn't? He knew it was because he hadn't bribed Samuel Ross, and he remembered that among the others who had started working with him, one had bought Samuel Ross a few hundred dollars worth of cigarettes, and another had dropped three hundred dollars in gift money for Samuel Ross's birthday last month, while he was the only one who hadn't given a gift, which was why Samuel Ross targeted him.

He lifted his foot and kicked towards Samuel Ross's stomach. Yusuf Zuck was never one to suffer happily, especially when someone tricked him like this; not beating Samuel Ross up might make him so frustrated he'd spit blood.

However, as his foot lashed out, it seemed Samuel Ross was prepared and swiftly dodged, with great speed.

After all, he was a Special Forces veteran with genuine martial arts skills.

"You're fucking asking for it." Cohan Reid was watching Yusuf Zuck closely, so when he saw Yusuf Zuck dared to strike, he immediately swung his fist in attack, with the other two flanking to the left and right.

Yusuf Zuck had been on guard, so when he saw Cohan Reid's fist and the other two attacking from both sides simultaneously, he didn't panic. He had studied sports for a whole five years, practiced martial arts and freefighting, and even won awards, which was the main reason he had been hired as security for Ferreni Grand Hotel.

So when Cohan Reid's fist came at him, he quickly dodged and as his body simultaneously swiveled, he slammed hard into Cohan Reid's body, delivering a merciless punch to Cohan Reid's solar plexus!

With a "thump," Cohan Reid, hit directly in the solar plexus, folded up and was sent flying, shot back two or three meters.

At that moment, the attacks of the other two arrived, one with a leg, the other with a fist. These security guards, who regularly exercised in the gym and often went out to fight with Samuel Ross, had real skills, and each of them could handle three or four ordinary people without a problem.

"Whoosh—" Yusuf Zuck dodged a punch but couldn't avoid a kick to the leg, which almost made him stumble and fall. However, it was precisely his body's tilt that gave him an opportunity, and during the gap while the puncher hadn't retracted his fist, Yusuf Zuck landed a hook to the puncher's jaw, and the man was thrown to the ground.

And just then, Samuel Ross, who hadn't made a move yet, suddenly called out sharply, "Floyd Hart, back off. Marco, take him down!"

Marco, full name Benedict Cooke, one of those lifting barbells earlier, was about 170 cm tall—nothing remarkable in the security department. However, he never strayed far from Samuel Ross, almost like Samuel Ross's bodyguard; but his look didn't fit the part of a bodyguard. Sometimes Yusuf Zuck wondered if Benedict Cooke was perhaps too close to Samuel Ross, in a different sense.

"I heard you practiced martial arts and freefighting, and even won some awards?" Benedict Cooke didn't move to attack right away; he didn't even budge, but Yusuf Zuck felt a dangerous aura, as if a predator had him in its sights.

He didn't wait for Yusuf Zuck to answer before he sneered dismissively, "In my eyes, it's all just flashy moves without substance."

With a 'whoosh,' as his voice fell, he closed in on Yusuf Zuck like an arrow released from its bow and then threw a punch.

The punch came with such force and speed that Yusuf Zuck was utterly unprepared. It was so powerful, far beyond his imagination, that when he almost instinctively raised his arms to block, searing pain shot through his limbs. He staggered backwards five steps with a 'thud thud thud.'

"Not a bad reaction!" Benedict Cooke sneered coldly, pressing forward. In that moment, he truly seemed like a leopard hunting its prey.

Yusuf Zuck shook his arms vigorously; his hands were trembling uncontrollably, growing numb.

"Huff—" Benedict Cooke moved again, his punch as fast and fierce as before. Yusuf Zuck could feel the hot blast of air from the punch before it even reached his face.

Too fast. He had been fighting since he was young, but never had he encountered an opponent like Benedict Cooke, against whom he was utterly defenseless.

At the same time, he knew he couldn't dodge Benedict Cooke's second punch. His arms couldn't react fast enough, and as he raised them, the punch boomed against his face.

"Bang—Bang—" Two sounds rang out simultaneously, one from Benedict Cooke's fist hitting his face and the other from Yusuf Zuck's foot connecting squarely with Benedict Cooke's chest as he flew backwards.

That was just the way Yusuf Zuck was—never willing to suffer a loss without retaliation. If Benedict Cooke could land a punch, he'd make sure to kick back.

The moment of contact was brief, with Yusuf Zuck half-kneeling on the ground, his body crouched and a trail of blood at the corner of his mouth, while Benedict Cooke staggered back several steps, clutching his stomach, his face full of astonishment.

Yusuf Zuck felt a burning pain on his face, but the sharp sting only served to awaken a primal ferocity deep within him. He wiped viciously at the blood dripping down and glared fiercely at his opponent, quickly bracing himself to spring up.

With a 'whoosh,' just as he jumped up, Benedict Cooke charged at him once again.

"Section Chief, Section Chief, are you there?" Just then, in the midst of Benedict Cooke's forward charge, the walkie-talkie in the gym buzzed to life.

"What's up?" Samuel Ross picked up the walkie-talkie.

"Is Yusuf Zuck there at the gym? The secretary is asking you to bring Yusuf Zuck to the twenty-eighth floor with the electrical repair tools. Cohan Reid's wife is in the hospital, and Ms. Wilcox's office power supply burned out again. She's throwing a fit and wants it fixed urgently. The HR department said that Yusuf Zuck wrote he could do electrical work on his application, so it's an emergency, get over there quickly."

"Damn, got it—Benedict Cooke, Yusuf Zuck, break it up!" Samuel Ross immediately put down the walkie-talkie and bellowed.

Benedict Cooke's leg was already in motion, his foot aimed at Yusuf Zuck's head, but it froze just a few inches from Yusuf Zuck's face as Samuel Ross's command came through, causing a slight pause.

And in that brief moment his foot hesitated, Yusuf Zuck's outstretched hand didn't retract.

Benedict Cooke might listen to Samuel Ross, but Yusuf Zuck sure didn't.

Suddenly gripping Benedict Cooke's leg firmly, Yusuf Zuck let out a loud shout, drawing upon all his strength to press down hard and twist the leg, all while reversing his body and pinning down the leg with one knee. He then ferociously drove his elbow into the back of Benedict Cooke's neck, forcing him flat on the ground.

"Bang—" His movements were swift and efficient, and almost as Benedict Cooke hit the floor, Yusuf Zuck was already on top of him, throttling Benedict Cooke's neck tightly with his arm.

"Damn, have you lost your mind..." Floyd Hart and two others rushed in, one from each side, throwing themselves on top of Yusuf Zuck.

"Stop, everybody stop!" Samuel Ross shouted at the top of his voice.

Benedict Cooke, taking advantage of Yusuf Zuck being tackled, managed to flip himself back to his feet. His face was pale, and he was fuming as he lunged toward Yusuf Zuck.

If it hadn't been for Samuel Ross's intervention, there's no way Yusuf Zuck would have been able to take him down. It was only because he had hesitated that Yusuf Zuck had found an opportunity to fight back.

"Marco, stop." Samuel Ross's voice flashed fiercely as he raised it again.

By then, Yusuf Zuck had already freed himself from Floyd Hart and the others, and he too was sneering. Truth be told, he did owe Samuel Ross for his shout earlier; otherwise, he would never have caught Benedict Cooke's leg. He knew that he was no match for Benedict Cooke.

But fighting was all about ruthlessness, and he could only say that Benedict Cooke wasn't ruthless enough.

"Get a wet towel." Samuel Ross gave Floyd Hart a meaningful look before walking over to Yusuf Zuck. He smiled as he approached, "Yusuf Zuck, you heard the message just now, right? We're all men here. If you're a man, be straightforward. Work is work, and personal grievances shouldn't interfere with it. If you want to fight, we can accompany you anytime."

"Trash, ten more seconds and I could have you searching for your teeth on the ground," Benedict Cooke hissed through clenched teeth. If Samuel Ross hadn't stopped them, how could that Zhang surname have gotten the upper hand? Now he glared with a fierce desire to teach him another lesson at the next opportunity.

Hearing Benedict Cooke's taunt, Yusuf Zuck glowered back at him and said, enunciating every word, "Before I lose any teeth, believe me, I'll bite off a couple pounds of your fat."

His words were filled with intense aggression, and coupled with the wolf-like look in his eyes, even Floyd Hart and the others couldn't help but shiver inside. This man named Zhang was tough as nails.

Benedict Cooke was unafraid of Yusuf Zuck's glare and continued to mock him, "Trash will always be trash. Train for another ten years, and you might be qualified to lick my toes."

"Alright, Yusuf Zuck, the Royal Palace's upstairs office, are you coming or not?" Samuel Ross frowned.

"Of course, I'm coming. Why wouldn't I?" Yusuf Zuck couldn't just pack up and leave. First, there was money to be made here, and he was in urgent need of cash. Secondly, even if he were to leave, he'd want to truly best both Benedict Cooke and Samuel Ross first.

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