Boss pointed at Raymond Brooks and said, “His jacket, his T-shirt, his pants, and his shoes—even though I don’t know the brands, just by looking at the material and workmanship, I can tell they’re all cheap stuff. Everything he’s wearing together definitely doesn’t add up to more than a hundred dollars.”

After finishing with Raymond Brooks’s outfit, Boss took out Raymond Brooks’s battered phone from a small bag, waved it at the others, and said with disdain, “A phone brand I don’t even recognize, but no matter what brand it is, a young man using a phone with a shattered screen is definitely not rich.”

Throwing the phone onto the table, Boss waved his hand impatiently and said, “You all need to learn how to tell who’s rich, so you won’t end up kidnapping some foreign pauper who’ll only bring trouble and barely any profit.”

Raymond Brooks almost wanted to applaud this sharp-eyed Boss, because every word this gang leader said hit the nail on the head—he really was a pauper, the kind of hostage who would bring more trouble than profit.

Now Raymond Brooks felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe these kidnappers would let him go because he was too poor.

But that Boss said calmly, “Since he’s not worth a ransom, letting him go would be troublesome too. Just kill him.”

Just kill him?

Raymond Brooks, who hadn’t dared to move, suddenly sprang into action. He hadn’t dared to show any sign of abnormality before, but now Raymond Brooks just wanted these kidnappers to know he could speak Spanish, hoping they’d let him say a few words so he could buy his life with money. So he started struggling, making muffled sounds from his mouth.

Seeing Raymond Brooks like this, Boss asked in surprise, “You can understand Spanish?”

Raymond Brooks nodded repeatedly, proving he really could understand Spanish. He thought this would make him someone they could communicate with—at least they’d ask how much they could squeeze out of him before deciding whether to kill him.

But these kidnappers were truly heartless and impatient, not interested in hearing a word from Raymond Brooks.

Boss waved his hand casually and said lightly, “If he speaks Spanish, then he definitely has to die. Finish him.”

The kidnapper next to Raymond Brooks immediately drew a pistol from his waist and pointed it at his head again.

“What are you doing? You want to get blood everywhere? Strangle him. No, better take him outside and deal with him, so he doesn’t wet his pants.”

Hearing Boss’s words, Raymond Brooks fell into utter despair.

In his despair, Raymond Brooks was no longer afraid, nor did he regret anything. Now, he was furious.

But pointless struggle was meaningless. At this moment, although Raymond Brooks was extremely angry, he was also extremely calm. His mind raced, and he lowered his head in frustration and despair, obediently letting two kidnappers grab his arms and pull him to his feet.

Raymond Brooks didn’t struggle or resist, which made things much easier for the kidnappers. So instead of dragging him out, they just held his arms and walked him out the door.

Being able to walk steadily on his own instead of being dragged meant his feet were firmly on the ground, and only with a solid footing could he do something.

With his head lowered, Raymond Brooks could see the kidnappers’ feet, allowing him to judge their positions and distances.

“Let’s do it here.”

One of the kidnappers spoke, and then both stopped and let go of him.

There was no more time to waste. The moment the kidnappers stopped, Raymond Brooks suddenly crouched down, pivoted on his left foot, swept his right leg low to the ground, and launched a sweeping kick.

He didn’t expect to escape, but even if he was going to die, Raymond Brooks wanted to hit the kidnappers hard first. Even if he couldn’t kill them, he wanted to make them hurt. Even if he missed, he wanted to give them a good scare.

All those years of martial arts training hadn’t been for nothing. The martial arts Raymond Brooks had practiced since childhood finally came in handy today.

This kick didn’t miss. The kidnapper beside Raymond Brooks had already raised his gun, but caught off guard, he was swept hard on the ankle by Raymond Brooks’s leg and immediately crashed to the ground to one side.

Then, Raymond Brooks sprang up and delivered a crisp spinning kick in midair, landing it hard on the neck of the other kidnapper beside him.

A sweeping kick followed by a spinning kick—this was a routine Raymond Brooks had practiced to perfection.

Who says martial arts routines are useless?

Even if martial arts routines can’t be used in the ring or in real combat and have become mere performances, at least Raymond Brooks, who had practiced routines since childhood, was agile and quick to react. Even with his hands tied behind his back, he could still knock down two kidnappers with a sweeping kick and a spinning kick.

But with his hands tied behind his back, Raymond Brooks also lost his balance and fell to the ground as well.

Looking again, it was clear that martial arts routines really were a bit lacking in real combat. The two kidnappers were indeed knocked down, but the one kicked in the ankle was just knocked over, and the one kicked in the neck hadn’t lost the ability to act. Besides, lying on the ground didn’t stop them from shooting.

Raymond Brooks immediately tried to adjust his posture and get up. At that moment, the kidnapper knocked down by the sweeping kick raised his gun at him.

No time to get up, Raymond Brooks kicked out hard, but the kidnapper was out of range of his feet, so his full-force kick hit nothing.

There was no time for any other thoughts. The moment he missed, Raymond Brooks knew he was going to die.