A gentle wind drifted by. The murderous look on Matthew's face was downright terrifying, and Vernon felt his back being drenched in cold sweat.
At this point, he was convinced that Matthew was telling the truth. How the snipers were killed didn't matter anymore.
Vernon thought about how to get out of this. "Let's talk this over calmly. No need to get all worked up. If you think the compensation was too little, I'm willing to add more.
"How about 300 thousand dollars? Wait. I'll give him one million dollars. A
person's life is only worth 700 thousand dollars, but I'll pay one million dollars to settle it."
Matthew looked around, searching for a handy weapon. Sporting a fire axe cabinet, he broke the glass and grabbed the axe side.
He'd never hated anyone as much as he did right now. Just punching Vernon to death felt way too merciful.
Vernon thought Matthew had agreed, but he was shocked when Matthew came back with an axe.
Terrified, Vernon wanted to flee, but his legs felt like jelly. Watching Matthew coming over with a fire axe, he frantically raised his offer. "I'll make it up for you. How about 1.5 million dollars? Two million dollars? Three million dollars? Come on. Ten million dollars is more than enough."
The fire axe came down with a whoosh and struck Vernon's knee. With a snap, the sound of his kneecap shattering filled the air.
Vernon cried out in pain, clutching his knee as he writhed on the ground. His screams echoed like a wounded animal.
Seeing Matthew raise the fire axe once more, Vernon stopped his wailing and pleaded for mercy. "I'll pay him 20 million dollars. That's worth 30 lives.
"Don't hurt me. Just tell me how much you want. Say something."
Matthew seemed unfazed by the money, so he just kept asking. He was ready to give however much it took to stay alive.
The fire axe was swung down once more. With a crack, Vernon's remaining kneecap shattered. He let out a piercing scream that felt sharp enough to make everyone's eardrums burst.
Holding the bloodied fire axe, Matthew slowly asked, "Does that hurt?"
Vernon's face twisted in agony. "It hurts like hell. Have mercy. I can't take it anymore."
Matthew coldly remarked, "You're loaded, right? Buy yourself an analgesia pump. Get the doctor to set it up for you."
Vernon suddenly remembered and looked around for the doctor, only to find him already scared stiff on the ground.
He shouted, "I'm paying you 100 thousand dollars! Give me the pain relief now. Hurry up. I'm seriously at my limit."
The pain was so intense that Vernon couldn't think straight. He didn't even question why Matthew suggested so. All he cared about was stopping the relentless pain that kept pushing him to the brink of passing out.
Shaking, the doctor got to his feet and found a analgesia pump. He paused as something came to mind, looking over at Matthew and asking, "C-can I hook him up with the analgesia pump?"
Right after asking, he glanced at Matthew's fire axe. Watching the fresh blood dripping from it, he immediately felt a pang of regret.
Matthew coldly responded, "Sure thing."
The doctor hesitated before hurrying over to Vernon. He inserted the needle and adjusted the analgesia pump's flow rate.
The grimace on Vernon's face started to ease as the pain dropped to a
manageable level. He then let out a long sigh of relief.
With a grim expression, Matthew asked, "Is it really that simple? After spending money on the analgesia pump, the pain's gone, right?"
Vernon nodded. "I feel much better."
Halfway through speaking, he suddenly realized he'd slipped up. "Please. Spare me. How much do you want? I'll pay you."
A vicious glint flickered in Matthew's eyes as he raised the fire axe once more, the blood flinging off with the force of his swing.
Blood splattered on Vernon's face, with some even getting into his eyes. He instinctively shut his eyes in fear with the sound of bones snapping right next to him.