The Invisible Rich Man by: Two Ears is Bodhi

Chapter 1406-1426

Chapter 1406


Watching as Wes took in another deep breath, Peter then asked, “…A terrible cry? Also, how many corpses are we talking about here?”

“There… Weren’t that many, to be quite honest… Around eight of them, if I recall… I was too terrified by the terrible cries coming from the backyard back then to pay proper attention…!” replied Wes who was clearly still traumatized by that experience.

“…So… Following that, you fell into the well and simply stayed there till now…? Is that what happened?” asked Gerald as both he and Peter exchanged glances with each other.

Gerald believed in Wes’s words since he had earlier used his divine vision to detect any lies. As it turned out, everything that Wes had said was true.

“Indeed, Mr. Crawford! Also, not long after I fell into the well, I started hearing people running toward me! Fearing the worst, I instantly dived deeper into the well! I’m assuming that that’s the only reason I’m still alive!” explained Wes.

“…Who could be orchestrating all this…?” muttered Gerald before taking in a deep breath. His blood and qi were boiling by this point, and anyone would be able to sense the murderous intent emitting from him.

“Regardless, I eventually stuck my head out of the water and took a peek to see whether the coast was clear… However, I was immediately greeted by the sound of heavy things being dragged away… Assuming that the corpses were being disposed of, I was so terrified that I didn’t even dare reveal myself up till the point I heard your familiar voice, Mr. Crawford! Still… Why would something this terrible happen, Mr. Crawford…? With your family being so powerful, I can’t even imagine anyone daring enough to touch you!” cried out Wes, his voice filled with grief.

“…You mentioned something earlier about people learning that something had happened to the Crawfords before you arrived at this manor… Who exactly told you about that rumor?” asked Peter coldly.

“I-I found out about it from a few regional managers in Weston! From what I know, they were the first to know about the incident!”

“…I see. Speaking of, you said you had something to report to the Crawfords… What is it?”

“Y-yes! Well, I found out that a few managers from larger areas were transferring out properties of the Crawford family in secret. While I wanted to immediately report that incident, I couldn’t find anyone relevant! I truly hadn’t expected for something like this to have happened to your family when I first got here, Mr. Crawford…!” wailed Wes, still kneeling on the ground in tears.

“Managers you say… Seems like they know a thing or two about this incident!” replied Peter.

Nodding in response, Gerald then said, “I’ll be capturing and interrogating them about this immediately!”

“…No, let’s not do that first. It’s best not to alert the enemy before you further investigate the details regarding this incident. After all, the fact that the regional managers actually dared to transfer out the properties in secret is already highly suspicious. From what I know, the Crawford family’s regional managers always passed their trades down to the next generation, and each generation—up till this point—has been loyal to the Crawfords. With how loyal they are, betraying the Crawfords when they’re in danger seems highly unlikely. With that in mind, let’s not act impulsively yet till more of the incident comes to light,” replied Peter after thinking for a while.

Upon hearing that, Gerald nodded though he also began eyeing the man rather curiously before eventually asking, “…You seem to know quite a bit about my family, don’t you, sir?”

This wasn’t the first time Gerald had a hunch about that, and he was curious as to why Peter knew so much about him.

“…Did you get to know me from long ago, sir? Or did we meet when I was much younger?” asked Gerald.

Shaking his head with a smile, Peter then replied, “Well… The first half of your guess is true. See, I first got to know you when you were studying at university… Naturally, I kept a close eye on your daily experiences back then.”

Peter didn’t feel the need to hide all this anymore, and his statement was—as to be expected—greatly surprising to Gerald.

“…What? Have you been secretly observing me this entire time, sir?” asked Gerald in bewilderment.

“Well, observing isn’t really the correct term here…” replied Peter, seemingly thinking about something before his expression gradually turned solemn.

“But you know so much about me, sir… With that in mind, how else could you have gotten to know me so well if you hadn’t been observing me?” inquired Gerald, not understanding Peter at all.

“Putting it frankly, I’ve been observing another person who’s been observing you this entire time!”



Chapter 1407


“…What? There was another person observing me this entire time…?!” replied Gerald fearfully.

As it turned out, his university life hadn’t been as peaceful as he remembered it to be. Quite the contrary, in fact! To think that he had been closely monitored by others his entire time! Not only that, but he had just found out that people like Peter had apparently also been keeping a close eye on his observers!

Truth be told, Gerald had found Peter to be quite odd from the moment he woke up after being saved by him. After all, Peter knew him well, and it was definitely no coincidence that Peter had been present to save him that night.

Hell, after getting along better with Peter, Gerald had found that the man even seemed to have a good grasp on his temperament and characteristics.

While Gerald had occasionally wanted to ask Peter about that, every time he led the conversation in that direction, Peter made it very clear that he didn’t want to talk about it.

Following that, things got busy and Gerald didn’t have a chance to ponder about it again up till this point. Due to Peter’s slip of his tongue, it reminded Gerald to try his luck asking him why he knew so much about Gerald again. He truly hadn’t expected to finally get such a shocking answer today.

“Regardless, I found out that that person had already been keeping an eye on you—for who knows how long—by the time you left Serene County to start your freshman year. While he laid low for a while, he started appearing more frequently after your identity was exposed.”

“Unsure what he was truly after and worried that he would do bad things to you, I—in turn—began observing him. You know, for convenience, I even disguised myself like this and occasionally snuck into the back kitchen of your university’s cafeteria under the guise of a worker there! Haha!” explained Peter as he revealed a wry smile.

“You even snuck into my university’s cafeteria? But I’ve never come across you!” replied Gerald, failing to recall ever meeting Peter before this.

Quite honestly, Gerald was in disbelief that such a remarkable man had been watching over him from his university’s cafeteria this entire time!

“Of course you wouldn’t have met me! There wasn’t any reason for you to pay attention to such a random person! Besides, I mostly remained in the back kitchen, and even if I went out, I made sure to do so sneakily!” said Peter.

“…I see. Speaking of which, you said you found out that he was stalking me when I first started university… Does that mean you had your reasons to be there as well? Also, who exactly are you, sir…?” asked Gerald, feeling that now was his best bet of getting the truth from Peter.

“Where to even begin… Truth be told, I hadn’t planned on reuniting with you till I managed to identify your stalker… Regardless, I have a feeling that he’s the one responsible for all the current incidents! I also suspect that he’s already noticed that I’ve been stalking him in return! You know, despite keeping a close eye on him for so many years, I never even told Jasmine about my observations on him for fear that that information would somehow get leaked to the stalker. By this point, however, I feel that hiding all this is no longer necessary,” replied Peter as he turned to look at the curious Gerald.

Following that, Peter placed his hand near his ears… Before slowly peeling off what seemed to be a mask made of human skin!

Despite the fact that Peter was still a middle-aged man, his appearance could only be described as being extremely handsome.

Even so, his good looks wasn’t the reason why Gerald’s eyes were now so wide open. No, Gerald was now trembling because he recognized that face anywhere.

“…S-second uncle…?” stuttered the bewildered Gerald. The man’s appearance bore a striking resemblance to his uncle in the photograph that he had!

As Gerald continued staring in disbelief at his uncle, Peter replied, “Now you finally know who I am, Gerald…”

“…So it really is you, Second uncle…! But… But didn’t you…?” muttered Gerald, his breath getting increasingly heavy.

“I’ll take my time explaining all this on a later date, Gerald. For now, let’s focus on finding out where my brother and sister-in-law are. We still have to look into the incident regarding the pledge of the holy water as well. To think that I still haven’t found his motivations yet, even after he’s kidnapped our entire family…! While I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried for them, I have a gut feeling that everyone from our family will remain safe for now, or at the very least, they won’t be in danger of being killed just yet. While his aim is still unknown, I’m certain that it isn’t to just kill people off!” replied Peter as he calmly analyzed what they knew.

Hearing that, Gerald looked at his uncle rather excitedly before nodding firmly and asking, “…You’re right! Speaking of which, have you ever fought against my stalker throughout his many years observing me, uncle? And do you have any clues about him…?”


Chapter 1408


Upon hearing Gerald’s question, Peter momentarily averted his gaze. Clearing his throat, he then sheepishly replied, “…Regarding that… I haven’t had any reason to go into combat with him… As for clues about him, I don’t even know his true identity yet… Well, that was the case before we bumped into Wes, of course. From what Wes told us, it’s now safe to assume that the managers from the large areas will be the key to us getting our next clue! Also, I have a feeling that since he’s now starting to make his appearance, he’ll definitely be reappearing again!”

“Whatever the case is, I’ll definitely be capturing that stalker if he truly is the one responsible for all these incidents!”

It was at that moment when Wes—who had been shivering this entire time—flopped feebly to the ground before falling unconscious.

Seeing that, Gerald immediately lifted the fainted man up before saying, “With how long he’s been immersed in that freezing water, I’m sure his internal organs are now damaged! I’ll be saving him first, Second uncle!”

As Gerald walked off—with Wes in his arms—toward a room in the manor, Peter turned to face Zyla, a worried expression on his face.

Seeing that, Zyla knew that he realized that she had already caught on. With that in mind, she minced no words as she asked, “Judging from all that you’ve said… Could you be from Jaellatra too? Was it the Sun League who brought you there?”

“It appears that I can’t hide anything from you, Miss Lockland! Then again, it’d be hard to hide anything from your deity eyes!” replied Peter as he bowed slightly at Zyla.

“Well, your training is quite similar to Leo’s, so I had my suspicions that that was the case. Regardless, why didn’t you tell Gerald the entire truth just now?” asked Zyla, curious.

“If you’re talking about the stalker, it’s not that I didn’t want to… I just don’t want to place the blame on the stalker till I’ve absolutely confirmed that he’s the one responsible for all this. The other reason is because Gerald’s undergone enough hardships and mental suffering for the time being… I fear that if I tell him who I suspect the stalker to be, he won’t be able to accept it and end up in complete denial!” replied Peter as he shook his head in worry.

“The truth seems hard for you to accept as well.”

“Regardless, I hope that everything will continue proceeding for the best from now on!”

“Indeed. Still, despite all the hardships he’s had to go through, all of them are simply part of his destiny. From the moment he was born, he was already destined to be extraordinary. With that in mind, he’s never going to be able to live life as an ordinary person!” said Zyla.

“That’s true… Well, what do you think Gerald should do in the future?” asked Peter.

“Though his training is already at a terrifying level, his Dehlere Foundation is still ruined. In other words, it’s evident that he won’t be able to achieve a state that’ll enable him to deal against those people yet! With that in mind, I’m quite worried about what’ll happen next!”

Peter was honestly most worried about this.

From what Peter could tell, there was a high chance that his brother, Queta, and the others weren’t going to be in life-threatening danger any time soon… After all, Peter had a gut feeling that the person doing all this simply kidnapped them so that they could be used to threaten Gerald. Should that scenario come to be, Gerald would certainly have to face a lot of trouble.

This was due to the fact that at his current strength, there was simply no way for Gerald to even come close to defeating those truly powerful people.

At that moment, Gerald returned from the room and asked, “Zyla? Second uncle? What are you discussing?”

“We’re talking about your ruined Dehlere Foundation…” replied Zyla as she turned to look at Gerald.

“I know it’s ruined… But I really don’t have the time nor energy to let it recover! After all, the priority right now is to investigate where my family members are! The second I’m done with that, I’ll need to instantly begin investigating the pledge of the holy water next to look for my grandpa!” said the distressed Gerald.

“While I understand your urge to immediately begin investigating, even if you eventually manage to find the truth behind these incidents, I assure you that you’ll be facing great danger throughout that process. What happens if you lack the strength to defend yourself against that? With that in mind, you’ll be able to investigate without any worry of that issue should you heal your Dehlere Foundation first!” advised Zyla.

Nodding in agreement, Peter then said, “What she said is true, Gerald. Your priority should definitely be to heal your Dehlere Foundation. Do note that Miss Lockland and I both have our hopes on you…”



Chapter 1409

“…I understand, Zyla, Second uncle… Still, while you told me that the Mackusion could be used to heal my Dehlere Foundation, how exactly do I initiate the healing process…? Now that you’ve said all that,
I’m adamant on fully healing my Dehlere Foundation before anything else!”

“Speaking of the Dehlere Foundation, after doing a bit of research, I found that even a slightly unstable Dehlere Foundation can be very difficult to heal… If what I read was true, then it also leaves a very major flaw to one’s training journey!” said Gerald, clearly feeling that the chances of him fully recovering his Dehlere Foundation was slim, even with the help of something as magical as the Mackusion! The recovery process was simply too difficult from what he had managed to investigate!

“While you’ll undeniably have to face many hardships in order to heal your Dehlere Foundation, know that a full recovery isn’t entirely impossible! The Mackusion is key in your recovery, and for you to initiate the healing process, you’ll have to utilize the Mackusion’s ability to pull the strings of time and space!” replied Zyla with a nod.

“…Pull the strings of time and space…?” asked both Peter and Gerald in unison.

“Indeed! From what Liemis told me back then, the true power of the Mackusion lies in its ability to pull the strings of time and space… By utilizing that ability, you’ll be able to return to a time before your Dehlere Foundation was ruined! Once that’s achieved, you should theoretically be able to undergo the awakening of heaven earlier before the culprit manages to ruin your Dehlere Foundation!” explained Zyla.

“Not going to lie, that sounds rather unimaginable… If it truly is capable of that, then the Mackusion is a one-of-a-kind oddity…!” replied Peter as he nodded in bewilderment.

“It truly is… In any case, doesn’t that also mean that while time traveling, I’ll be able to mend any of my past regrets…?” asked Gerald curiously.

Shaking her head in response, Zyla then replied, “I’m afraid you’re wrong there. While it’s true that the Mackusion is capable of pulling the strings of space and time, the second you time travel the first time, the Mackusion will only have a fixed amount of time before all its powers deplete! Once that happens, the Mackusion itself will cease to exist, and you’ll be forcefully pulled back to the present!”

Watching as Gerald nodded, Zyla then added, “Still, to think that the current conditions of the situation would be this vague… With the King of Judgment Portal definitely not giving up on recapturing you that easily and the masked old man restlessly acting behind the scenes, we truly don’t have time to spare, Gerald… The situation where the pledge of the holy water is being held—which is also where the entrance to Jaellatra is—isn’t any less complicated either… With that in mind, before you have the strength to rule, I advise you against heading there without careful consideration. One wrong step and all your previous efforts could easily come undone! By that point, it’ll truly be too late to fix anything!”

Hearing that, Gerald found himself gradually calming down.

He had honestly been worried about his grandfather this entire time since he wasn’t even sure if he was still alive at the pledge of the holy water. Had Zyla and Peter not been present to advise him against it, he would’ve definitely rushed off to look for his grandfather by this point.

Zyla was right, and understanding that calmed Gerald down greatly. It was true that he still didn’t have the power to rule, and if he simply tried to brute force his way to the pledge of the holy water, it would surely result in a scene similar to how Hogan had almost slaughtered him a while back. If he truly did end up dying there, then there’d certainly spell doom for his family, grandfather, and Mila…!

“…While I agree with what you’ve said, I’d like to delay the time travel for another week, Zyla. Until I investigate the incident regarding the regional managers, I fear I won’t be able to rest easy at all, subsequently affecting my concentration when I go back in time!” replied Gerald.

Regardless of how strong a person’s nature was, nobody would be able to remain calm if they knew that their family members could possibly be in danger or even dead! The fact that he already had a clue to explore now definitely made Gerald keener on dealing with this issue first.


Chapter 1410

“You’re free to do so, of course, but remember, the process of using the power in the dragon blood jade pendant to refine the Mackusion requires—at minimum—a whole day and night to complete. With that in mind, please return as quickly as possible once you’re done. Your Second uncle will stay to help me guard the process!” said Zyla after thinking for a while.

“Not a problem, Miss Lockland. However, I do wonder… Even if Gerald will be able to return to the past, which period of time should he return to? And how long can he remain there?” asked Peter.

“That’s a good question. After all, Gerald needs to return to a perfect point in time—before his Dehlere Foundation was ruined—to undergo the baptism of heaven in order to achieve the most optimal effects. Truth be told, Gerald underwent his baptism of heaven rather late into the game… Due to that, he wasn’t able to activate his Dehlere Foundation—during the baptism— since it had already been ruined ages ago!”

“Regardless, after previously analyzing Gerald’s condition, I’d say he has to go back at least two and a half years ago to get to a time when his Dehlere Foundation was still intact. As for the time-traveling process itself, it depends on Gerald’s tacit understanding of the dragon blood jade pendant. Once there’s a clear understanding, the Mackusion will send Gerald back to the time period he wants to go to. Now, regarding how long Gerald can remain there… Regardless of how things go, you’ll be staying there for a whole week. In other words, you’ll only have seven days to undergo the baptism of heaven before you’ll be forced back to the present!” explained Zyla.

As Peter nodded in response, Gerald found himself wondering, ‘Two and a half years ago, huh… I was still a pauper back then… Regardless, the Zircobsite is located within Mountain Top… I wonder if I’d end up disrupting the order if I revealed my identity upfront…’

Worried about that, he then asked Zyla about it.

“Hmm… That’s another thing to look out for. Once you’ve returned to the past, you can’t alter anything that you already know will happen… For example, let’s say something happened to your friend back then and you end up intervening—whether directly or indirectly—to prevent some incident from happening… If it gets to a point where you end up altering the ending of that scenario, you’ll most probably get forcefully sent back here.”

“Now, regarding you revealing your identity a bit earlier to obtain the Zircobsite… I feel that the Mackusion won’t force you back since it’ll only be a matter of time before the past you decides to reveal his identity anyway. In other words, the results will end up the same, even if you choose to reveal your identity a little earlier. The Mackusion will essentially just consider that to be the process of you completing your transformation from a poor student to a rich heir,” explained Zyla.

“That’s reassuring to hear… After all, I bought Mountain Top Villa under the identity of Mr. Crawford. In other words, even if I buy it a little earlier after going back in time, it shouldn’t really matter as long as I use the same alias when buying it, correct?”

“That should be the case, yes. Speaking of which, there are two other things you need to know about time travel… Since returning to the past isn’t something natural, there’s a high chance that your presence there will cause spatial and temporal anomalies… In other words, there’s a very likely chance that incidents in the past won’t end up happening in the order you remember them. With that said, there’s a high possibility that you’ll end up getting caught by surprise if you only expect things to happen in the way they previously did! Due to that, I implore you to be extra careful when tackling any situations you come across!”

“I’ll keep that in mind!” replied Gerald with a nod.

“Good. Now for the second thing, know that there’ll be another you—the you from the past—walking around once you successfully time travel… You’ll need to find a way to make the old you disappear, at least temporarily. Following that, you can take his place and things will go much smoother for you. Do note that both of you can’t see each other face-to-face. If he does end up seeing you, then the Mackusion will instantly shatter and all our plans will truly be for naught!” said Zyla.

“I understand, Zyla!”

“Excellent! Now, if there isn’t anything else, hurry along and we’ll begin our separate missions! Remember, you have to return here before midnight tomorrow!”

Nodding in response, Gerald then instantly began dashing toward Mayberry, not wanting to delay things any more than he needed to.

After his cousin had taken over the economic area of Weston, the headquarters were relocated to
Mayberry. With that in mind, he needed to return to that place again if he wanted to look for them…


Chapter 1411

It was evening by the time Gerald arrived at the headquarters building in Mayberry City.

At the time, there were two deputy general managers in the economic area, Zack being one of them and the other being a person by the name of Winson Zaito, commonly known as Chairman Zaito.

Gerald knew for a fact that both men had always been loyal to the Crawford family, and this was especially the case for Zack.

Even so, since Peter had mentioned that there was a possibility that the duo could be involved in certain matters as well, Gerald knew he had to personally investigate them sooner or later.

“Apologies, sir, but both Chairman Zaito and Chairman Lyle aren’t present tonight! You’ll have to wait till morning if you still wish to meet them! However, please note that even if you do wish to meet them then, they aren’t people you can just ask to meet up with just because you want to!” said the receptionist at the front desk as she looked at Gerald.

Though she appeared polite, she wasn’t able to fully conceal her contempt toward him. Who did Gerald even think he was? Was he really thinking that he could just meet up with both of them all willy-nilly?

“Just give them a call and tell them that Gerald Crawford is here!” replied Gerald casually, not wanting to waste any time with her nonsense.

“…What? Did you just claim to be Mr. Gerald Crawford?!” exclaimed all the receptionists seated at the front desk as they instantly stood upright and stared at Gerald in astonishment.

“Look, let’s just skip all this and just make the phone call already…” replied Gerald coldly.

“…Very well, Mr. Crawford! We’ll call both of them immediately… In your dreams!” scoffed the receptionist from before, her gaze brimming with ridicule now as she glared at Gerald.

Watching as he frowned back at her, the receptionist then snapped, “What? Did you take us all as fools?
Just have a good look at how you’re dressed! How dare you even pretend to be the real Mr. Crawford!
Have you any idea how many ‘Mr. Crawfords’ there are in Mayberry at this very moment? To think you’d dare behave so atrociously here! Do you even know where you are now? Whatever the case is… Security! Kick this troublemaker out of this place already!”

As she tossed the pen she was holding onto the ground, a few guards—who had been posted nearby— quickly marched over, ready to take action.

Seeing all this, Gerald could only sigh… So be it! Since Zack and Winson weren’t currently around anyway, he may as well just come back tomorrow morning!

It wasn’t as though Gerald wasn’t angry at the moment, quite the contrary, in fact.

While anyone who dared offend him would certainly not have a good ending, these people were his own employees. What more, there was no real point in punishing them for their rudeness.

Though Gerald could’ve very easily proved that he was the real deal—allowing him to act all pretentiously before them after that—he simply felt that there was no reason for him to do so.

What more, Gerald was currently feeling both extremely anxious and distraught, so he really couldn’t be bothered about proving anything to them…

“…Fine, then! I’ll be returning in the morning to meet them, then!” replied Gerald as he shook his head, a wry smile on his face.

Watching as he slid a hand into his pocket before leaving, the guards found themselves glances before laughing contemptuously.

“Who even was that kid? To think that he’d speak so imposingly even though he was dressed so poorly!
Haha!”

“He must’ve escaped from some mental hospital… He certainly looked like a fool! Make sure you guys keep an eye out for him if he dares come again tomorrow! We mustn’t allow Chairman Lyle and Chairman Zaito to run into him, otherwise we’ll all be sacked for sure, especially since the company’s general meeting is going to be held tomorrow! With that said, everything has to go perfectly!” reminded the receptionist from before as she looked at the guards.

“Worry not, if he really dares to show up tomorrow, we’ll just teach him a lesson he’ll never forget!” reassured the guards.

Meanwhile, Gerald was already starting to head to Wayfair Mountain Entertainment when he walked past a group of young men and women…

Watching as he walked past them, one of the gorgeously dressed girls—from within that group—caught a glimpse of him and instantly ended up freezing in place.

“…Hold it. That kid there…! Stop right there! You’re that guy, aren’t you?” called out that girl as she scratched the back of her head, seemingly trying to remember Gerald’s name.



Chapter 1412



Turning to look at who had called out to him, he saw that it was a rather pretty young girl whom he didn’t recognize…

“… ‘That guy?’” asked Gerald in a casual tone.

“Yeah! You’re a graduate of Mayberry University, right? Do you know Harper?” asked the girl.

“Indeed! He was my roommate, but before that… Have we even met before?” replied Gerald.

Nodding with a smile, the girl then laughed before saying, “So I wasn’t mistaken! It really is you! No wonder you looked so familiar!”

“Who is he, Westlyn…?” asked the other girls from the group—who were each carrying their own handbag—as they curiously began scanning Gerald from head to toe, arms crossed.

‘While he does look pretty handsome, judging from his clothes alone, he’s probably not even anywhere close to being wealthy!’ Thought the girls to themselves.

“Oh, him? He’s just the roommate of one of my hometown friends! I remember him rather distinctly since he used to be willing to do just about anything to obtain a little money! He’d oftentimes be found cleaning the trash up in our school and even running errands for others! That’s just how poor he was!” replied Westlyn as she introduced him to the rest of the girls.

“It’s not all that out of the ordinary, really. Every school has such a person, and if you’re sharp enough, you’ll realize that a person like this definitely exists in every other stage of your life, from elementary school till university! As they say, outstanding people will always be great, and those who live difficult lives will always remain miserable!” said a good-looking boy donning branded sports attire—who had been standing next to Westlyn this entire time—out of the blue.

“Hahaha! You truly are a natural at speaking, you know that, Micah? Just about anything that comes out of your mouth sounds philosophical! It’s hilarious, really! No wonder Westlyn was interested in you!” said one of the members of the group, prompting the rest of the young boys and girls to laugh aloud. “Regardless… What are you doing now? Also, I heard that Harper’s doing pretty well these days. He owns his own public-listed company now, right? Do both of you still keep in touch? From what I can see, it almost seems like Harper hasn’t been looking out for you!” asked Westlyn rather curiously.

To be entirely honest, Westlyn had been asking around for Harper’s contact information for quite a while now. It was the only reason why she had called out to Gerald in the first place.

Since both of them had been from the same hometown, it was no surprise that she was Harper’s high school classmate. Since Harper had been rather famous back in high school, Westlyn had liked him for the longest time back then.

However, upon entering university, she became a textbook example of an ugly duckling turning into a white swan. Due to that, her taste and what she looked for in a man grew extremely different compared to how it used to be back in her high school days.

Those who used to seem outstanding and cool back in high school felt like boring nobodies upon entering university. In fact, many of them even ended up changing even more upon entering society, and not in a good way, at least to Westlyn. To her, they simply ended up becoming exceedingly ordinary people.

As for Westlyn, her own temperament and attitude toward Harper grew increasingly different with every passing stage as well. Essentially, she went from liking Harper, to ignoring Harper, and eventually, despising him. In fact, she didn’t even bother talking to him throughout their later years in university.

Thinking that Harper would only end up becoming an office worker once he stepped into society, she even ended up deleting his contact information!

Little did she know that he would instead end up becoming the chairman of a public listed company!

From the day she found out about that, she had always regretted deleting his phone number, and she had constantly been trying to reobtain it ever since.

Now that Gerald was before her, she couldn’t help but wonder if her bumping into Harper’s exroommate today was god’s ridiculous answer to her pleas.

‘It truly must be God’s gift to me! While it’s true that I’ve undergone divorce once and though I’ve already found a new boyfriend, sparks could still fly if I were to contact Harper now! Heh! All girls, especially beautiful ones like myself, always need to be on the lookout for spare tires to fall back on, after all!’ Westlyn thought to herself.

Gerald himself could immediately tell what Westlyn was trying to go for, so he simply replied, “We haven’t contacted each other for a long time now. While I do have his WhatsApp Information on my phone, I think I’ve already lost it.”

“…You… What? You don’t even have a cell phone on you? Do you live in some forest or something? Who do you even think you’re trying to bluff?” asked Westlyn, her eyes now fully widened.

“I speak the truth. Even if I had my old phone on me now, he’d have probably changed his number by this time, no?” replied Gerald.

From what Gerald remembered, he had told Zack to make some arrangements for Harper, and based on what Westlyn had said, Zack seemed to have given him a company. Knowing Zack, Gerald assumed that Harper would’ve been given a company with a market value of a few billion dollars. While not exactly too valuable—at least for Gerald—it was the thought that counted!

Whatever the case was, Gerald’s words instantly changed the way Westlyn looked at him. After all, he had made it clear that he was of no use to her now!

“…I see! I should’ve realized that Harper wouldn’t even bother with someone as foolish as you! I mean just look at the state you’re in! Trash! A complete waste of my time and effort!” cursed Westlyn.


Chapter 1413
Glaring back at her, he then headed off to Wayfair Mountain Entertainment. He really couldn’t be bothered with such a woman.

Naturally, he wasn’t going there to sleep or attend to accommodation matters. He was simply headed there since he knew the people there knew who he was. Following that, he could tell them to call Zack on his behalf. At the very least, he wanted Zack to know that he was here.

Thankfully, things went smoothly this time, and Zack—upon finding out that Gerald was the one on the other end of the line—instantly exclaimed in a voice brimming with respect, humility, and excitement, “You’re fine, Mr. Crawford?! That’s great news!”

“I am indeed. I’d like to hear your explanation regarding some matters, so I’ll be waiting for your return,” replied Gerald rather casually.

“Affirmative, Mr. Crawford! I’ll be returning right this instant to personally report the matter to you!” said Zack without the slightest hesitation.

From what Zack had said, it seemed that Peter’s deduction had been correct. That this matter wasn’t accidental. Gerald could tell that Zack seemed to know something about all this…

Gerald couldn’t really tell why, but he knew for a fact that Zack seemed to be in a hurry earlier. After all, his tone was rather flustered during the call. Whatever the case was, Gerald didn’t need to question him too much at the moment. He could simply wait for Zack to return tomorrow to hear his explanation…

It wasn’t long before the next day came, and having nothing to do while waiting for Zack, Gerald decided to take a stroll around the villa within Wayfair Mountain Entertainment.

While walking around, he started recalling the first time he had come to the villa. Back then, he had just found out that his true identity was Mr. Crawford not too long ago, and he had to admit that he had made quite a fool of himself at the time. Even so, as he continued reminiscing about the old days, he couldn’t help but feel that those days were still pretty good.

Regardless, it wasn’t long before Gerald began hearing quite a commotion while he was walking on.

“Are you blind or something?! Don’t you know how expensive this dress is?!”

“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t do it on purpose! Please, I’m sorry…!”

“The hell is even wrong with Wayfair Mountain Entertainment? Do they hire just about anyone in this place? Even if you’re just a mere waitress, they could’ve at least hired someone who was capable of sight! How absolutely frustrating…! Regardless, what are you going to do about this?” growled the infuriated woman as she grabbed onto the waitress’s collar with one hand while poking her forehead with the other.

Looking at the spilled champagne on the ground, Gerald—who hadn’t been able to get a proper look of the angered woman—guessed that the waitress must have bumped into the woman and spilled some champagne over her dress.

Even so, he didn’t take the situation too seriously. After all, such conflicts were all too common in a place made for entertainment. Besides, Gerald trusted that the staff would be able to handle the situation well.

Upon walking past them, however, Gerald turned to look at the infuriated woman’s face… And was instantly startled.

As was expected, the aggressive woman was none other than Westlyn, and the group of people backing her up was, of course, her friends from the day before. How truly coincidental!

However, he was even more startled by the fact that he recognized the waitress Westlyn was grabbing onto! It was his classmate, Layla Hack!

His eyelids now twitching slightly, he remembered how both of them had done volunteer work together since the duo were considerably poor students at the time. He also recalled that while her family’s condition wasn’t all that great, her personality was as tough as nails and she always got good grades. She used to have a pretty good relationship with him too…

To think that he would bump into here under such circumstances!

Continuing to stare at Layla for a while, he then began walking toward the group. From how immensely angry Gerald was, he deduced that this was probably Westlyn’s first time wearing such beautiful clothes. With that in mind, it was no wonder why she felt like she had just been deeply humiliated.

Even so, she was starting to get a little too far. After all, while she had initially simply been grabbing onto Layla’s collar, the rage-filled woman was now shaking her as well!

Gerald managed to pull Layla away from the maddened woman just in time for her to avoid getting a tight slap from her.

The second Westlyn saw that Gerald was present, she instantly shouted, “You again?!”

Turning to look at Westlyn, Gerald realized that though most of her friends were the same people from yesterday, there was a new bespectacled boy in the group.

With a hand in his pocket, the new face simply looked at the scene before him as he sneered.

“It’s almost done! Have fun and don’t cause any trouble!”



Chapter 1414



Naturally, Gerald didn’t feel the need to give this group of people any face at all. After all, he wasn’t even well acquainted with any of them.

Layla herself was now feeling exceedingly surprised. Finding it harder and harder to breathe by the second, she eventually managed to shout, “…G-Gerald…?!”

While she hadn’t personally met up with him for the longest time, she had heard that he was now a very powerful person. With him having such a high social position, how could she ever dare to claim that she once had ties with him? It was due to that, that the poor girl was shocked speechless the first few seconds she noticed that Gerald was present.

While Layla didn’t even dare to say another word now, Westlyn, on the other hand, was now equally surprised as she was mad.

“Good god! How absolutely frustrating! Is Wayfair Mountain Entertainment truly still the best mountain villa in Weston? After all, not only did they hire a blind waitress, but I guess any tom, dick, or harry can just enter this place as they please now! I’ve not gone blind, have I?!”

This was supposed to be a place that symbolized a person’s power! The fact that even someone like Gerald could enter made Westlyn feel utterly insulted!

“Yeah, how the hell did he get in anyway?” asked the other girls in the group who were all thinking the same thing.

“Jerome, could you notify the leader of this place so that he can drive this bumpkin out of here?” asked Westlyn.

“No problem! A single word with the boss will be sufficient to drive this eyesore out of here, Westlyn!” scoffed the bespectacled guy from before as he fished his cell phone out with a nod.

While Jerome was still on the call, Gerald simply laughed before smiling bitterly as he said, “You’re actually trying to kick me out of this place? Did I hear that wrong?”

“You…! Just you wait, you piece of trash!” roared the vicious Westlyn.

By then, Jerome had already ended the call, and he was now staring helplessly at both Gerald and Westlyn.

“G-Gerald! I only ended up dropping my tray because they bumped into me earlier!” stuttered the terrified Layla as she instantly tried to explain the situation to him, hoping not to lose her job.

“Oh, it’s quite alright. You wouldn’t have been in any trouble in the first place, even if you had smashed the trays into their faces!” replied Gerald with a smile.

“…You… How dare you?! Have you gone insane?! Did you actually just think of hitting me?!” roared the seething mad Westlyn.

It was seconds later when a middle-aged man—in his forties—could be seen running toward the group.
By the time he was standing before them, his entire body was all sweaty and he was panting quite a bit.
Even so, he quickly caught his breath before respectfully shouting, “M-Mr. Crawford!”

Since Gerald hadn’t met this person before, he simply assumed that he was new to the villa. Though he didn’t really know what position the middle-aged man held, Gerald simply slid his hands into his pocket before saying, “We don’t welcome people like them in here. Kick them out, please!”

Upon hearing that, Westlyn and the others were instantly stunned. Was he actually giving orders to the chief executive officer here? This couldn’t be, right? By god!

Glancing for a brief moment at Gerald, the middle-aged man simply ignored his statement before turning to look at Jerome and respectfully shaking his hand while saying, “Didn’t you say that you’d only be coming over at noon, Mr. Crawford?”

“My friends were all just a little antsy, that’s all. Besides, how could we possibly finish walking around Wayfair Mountain Entertainment if we start at noon? It’s simply too massive!” replied Jerome with a subtle smile.

At that moment, all the girls suddenly burst out laughing.

“To think I was actually scared half to death just now!” shouted Westlyn in between laughs as she patted her chest.

“…Scared to death?” asked the middle-aged man, unsure as to what was going on.

“Yeah! I mean, didn’t you hear him responding when you shouted Mr. Crawford’s name earlier? To think that that idiot actually thought you were talking to him! What more, he even ordered you to drive all of us out! Oh god, I think I’m going to die laughing!” shouted Westlyn as she clutched onto her belly.

“I know right? Just look at him, being all pretentious! To think that we almost fell for it too!” scoffed one of the other girls as those from Westlyn’s group continued laughing.

“…Indeed! And here I was wondering who this kid was! Interrupting me while I’m greeting Mr. Crawford… The nerve!” shouted Mr. Zealey coldly.


Chapter 1415



“My friend here doesn’t wish to see this person, Mr. Zealey. Could I trouble you to kick him out of this place? The longer he stays here, the lower the standard and quality this villa has!” said Jerome, his subtle smile still on his face.

“Not a problem, Mr. Crawford! After all, you’re high school classmates with Chairman Lyle’s son! With that in mind, your words are the law here! Now excuse me as I kick this young lad out of this place!” replied Mr. Zealey, a triumphant smile on his face.


Turning to look at Gerald, he then sneered, “Now them… Are you going to leave on your own accord or do I have to get my men to kick you out?”

Watching as Westlyn and the others smugly crossed their arms while watching, Gerald simply retorted,
“Me? Get lost? Mr. Zealey, was it? You’ve just arrived in Mayberry City not too long ago, correct?”

“…What’s your point?” asked Mr. Zealey as he narrowed his eyes.

“Let me ask you. Do you know who the owner of Wayfair Mountain Entertainment is?” asked Gerald.

“Who wouldn’t know? It’s Chairman Zack Lyle, of course!” replied Mr. Zealey with a laugh.
“What cr*p are you trying to pull here? Who wouldn’t know that Chairman Lyle is the owner of the place?” retorted Westlyn, feeling speechless.

“Indeed! Now stop trying to stall time! It’s evident that you’re nothing more than garbage just by looking at the way you’re dressed! How did you even manage to sneak in here?”

Ignoring their statements, Gerald simply continued asking in an indifferent tone, “Correct. Now then, while Chairman Lyle owns Wayfair Mountain Entertainment, pray tell, do you know who owns Chairman Lyle?”

Westlyn went silent upon hearing that. As far as she knew, Chairman Lyle was the most influential person in the entire Weston business district. How could anyone possibly be above him?

Mr. Zealey, however, instantly had a change in expression. Now slightly panicked, he respectfully replied, “Chairman Lyle’s owner is none other than Mr. Crawford, of course!”

“…Mr. Crawford? Could you perhaps be talking about the Mr. Crawford from Mayberry City, Mr. Zealey? The one who caused an uproar and was the talk of the town back in our school?” said Westlyn, surprised.

Pretty much everyone from Mayberry University had heard about him being an authentic rich heir, and that included her. However, that was the extent of their knowledge about the elusive Mr. Crawford.

Essentially, only a handful of people knew who Mr. Crawford truly was. With that in mind, it was completely understandable why Westlyn was so surprised when she heard that Mr. Crawford was actually the master of the prestigious and influential Chairman Lyle!

“I’ve also heard about him before, Westlyn! From what I know, he’s supposed to be extremely handsome, to the point where women always end up obsessing over him the second they see him!” added Westlyn’s friends as they took turns covering their mouths in surprise.
“Well I’ll be d*mned! To think that Mr. Crawford was actually Chairman Lyle’s master this entire time!” exclaimed Westlyn.

“Indeed! He truly is a mysterious person… You know, even someone at my level can’t get in touch with him that easily!” replied Mr. Zealey, a strong longing emotion reflected in his eyes.

The second his sentence ended, luxury cars suddenly began parking right before the villa’s entrance. Since Westlyn and the others weren’t standing too far away from the entrance, they were able to witness everything clearly.

“M-my god…! That’s Chairman Lyle’s car…! Chairman Lyle and the others are back!” shouted Mr. Zealey, his forehead now drenched in sweat.

“It really is his car! I’ve only had the opportunity to meet Uncle Lyle once when I was still studying with him! I wonder if he still remembers me… Even if he doesn’t, I’m still going to go greet him!” said Jerome as he quickly straightened his suit before striding toward the entrance.

Seeing that, Westlyn and the others quickly followed behind him. After all, this was a rare situation where they’d be able to meet an extremely powerful and influential person up close! While even
Westlyn’s boyfriend had never had the chance to meet a person as powerful as Mr. Lyle in person, Jerome was different in the sense that he had a lot more experience compared to her boyfriend and the rest of the members in that group.

Since Jerome was someone who knew how the world operated, who knew if he would be able to obtain any good luck if he presented himself before Chairman Lyle?

This was simply the kind of respect that ordinary people had for the wealthy and powerful.

Watching as the group of people rushed to greet Chairman Lyle—completely forgetting about Gerald in the process—Layla nervously asked, “…N-nothing bad is going to happen to us, right, Gerald…?”
“Don’t worry, everything will be fine! What’s the worst that could happen?” replied Gerald with a wry smile.



Chapter 1416
After saying that, Gerald began walking toward the entrance as well.

By the time he got there, the other Mr. Crawford—who had been taking in deep breaths in preparation of greeting Mr. Lyle—quickly ran over to face Zack before excitedly saying, “Good day, Uncle Lyle! I’m Mateo’s classmate, Jerome, and I wonder if you still remember me?”

“M-Mr. Crawford…!” shouted Zack, his voice brimming with admiration as he looked upfront.

“Y-you’re being too courteous, Uncle Lyle!” stuttered the nervous Jerome, unsure of what to even say.

Westlyn found herself biting her lower lip as well. For Chairman Lyle to refer to Jerome as Mr. Crawford… Wasn’t Mr. Lyle giving him a bit too much respect?

Whatever the case was, Jerome now looked extremely cool to the other girls.

As for Mr. Zealey, even he was rather surprised by Chairman Lyle’s behavior. Regardless, he now knew that he truly couldn’t afford to offend Mr. Crawford. After all, even Chairman Lyle was referring to him as Mr. Crawford!

As if all that wasn’t already shocking enough, dozens of prestigious-looking people—who had followed
Zack in—instantly made full bows as they shouted aloud in unison, “Mr. Crawford!”

By that point, Jerome was already pale with excitement. Feeling both satisfied and happy, Jerome replied, “U-Uncle Lyle, all of you… This isn’t the time to be making jokes…! No matter what it is, I’m still a junior before all of you!”

“That’s right! While it’s true that Jerome is an excellent young man, remember that all of you have extremely high status and identities, Chairman Lyle! Treating him this way will only make him grow arrogant!” added Westlyn who had finally managed to summon the courage to interrupt the conversation.

However, even before any of them could fully recover from their shock, what happened next was enough to make several of the girls feel like passing out.

With an emotional expression on his face, Zack slowly knelt before them! Following that, the other wealthy and powerful figures in Weston did the same!

“T-this…!” stuttered the speechless Jerome as he took a step backward, his eyes widened in shock.

As seemingly endless streams of cold sweat beaded off his forehead, he suddenly realized that something was off… Wait. Was… Was Uncle Lyle and the other prestigious figures not looking at him this entire time…? Were they actually not calling out to him? But… They clearly called out for Mr. Crawford! Who else could they have been referring to? It didn’t make any sense!

Westlyn herself was as dumbfounded as he was, unsure of what was even happening anymore.

“Well, you’re all back early!” said a faint voice from behind Westlyn and the others at that moment.

“Even if I’m on the other end of the world, I, Zack Lyle, will definitely rush back as soon as possible should I receive an order from you, Mr. Crawford!” replied Zack who already had tears in his eyes.

From the looks of it, it seemed that he was aware that something had happened to the Crawfords.
Regardless, Zack’s statement made everyone turn around to look at who Mr. Crawford actually was…

The second she saw the person behind her, Westlyn’s eyes widened in shock as she muttered, “…GGerald…?”

Not even bothering to look at Westlyn, Gerald then casually said, “Get up now and follow me into the study room. There’s something I’d like to ask you about!”

“Right away, Mr. Crawford!” replied Zack as he instantly got to his feet.

“…M-Mr. Crawford… He’s Mr. Crawford…?!” stuttered Mr. Zealey as he gulped, nearly wetting himself.

As for Westlyn, she was now finding it difficult to even breathe. By god! To think that Gerald had actually been the legendary Mr. Crawford this entire time…! No wonder Harper was able to own a public listed company! His benefactor was the legendary Mr. Crawford himself!

As Westlyn felt like something bad was going to happen soon, Gerald himself simply continued walking to the study room, his hands still in his pockets.

Wherever he went, businessmen—regardless of power and influence—immediately took a few steps back before bowing respectfully.

By that point, all the utterly shocked girls from Westlyn’s group could only think of how cool Gerald now was…


Chapter 1417

Nobody could have imagined that someone who used to be a pauper would turn out to be the actual Mr. Crawford, the man with the greatest reputation on the planet! Hell, even Chairman Zack knelt before him!

Watching as Gerald left the area, all of them had horrified expressions on their faces, knowing that there was zero chance that they would ever be able to get into Gerald’s good books anymore.

Fast forward to inside the study room, Zack was the first to break the silence.

His eyes now teary and reddened, Zack said, “To think that you were fine, Mr. Crawford… What great news…! We previously thought that you had… Well…”

“You thought something had happened to me too, right? Zack, what exactly happened throughout this period? Are you guys transferring the company’s assets?”

“That’s right, Mr. Crawford! You should have a look at this first!” replied Zack with a heavy nod before opening his briefcase and carefully retrieving something wrapped in yellow cloth…

Before Zack was even able to open it, Gerald took it for himself, his eyelids now twitching slightly.

It was a token of the holy water! The same one that was issued to those worthy of obtaining it by a mysterious organization who could possibly be the Sun League…!

From what Gerald could tell, this was the token that his grandfather had received…

After what the Mackusion had shown him, Gerald hadn’t been sure whether his grandfather was still even among the living anymore. Now that his token of the holy water was here, Gerald could instantly feel his heart clench in anxiety.
“…What exactly happened here, Zack…?” asked Gerald.

“I’ll now be explaining everything in detail, Mr. Crawford! You see, it all happened a few days ago…”

As it turned out, Chairman Bea Yaleman—the chairman of the Weston Economic Area—suddenly received an order from the Crawford family to head over to Northbay. Due to that, her job was temporarily handed over to Zack and Winson.

Though business proceeded as usual for a while, after a few days, Zack suddenly received a phone call. The call was from the young mistress, Lyra, and from her tone alone, Zack could already sense that she was slightly anxious and worried. Regardless, after giving him some instructions, she instantly hung up without even bothering to explain anything.

According to her, something big was going to happen to the Crawford family. Following that, she then urgently told Zack to use her name to transfer all of the Crawford’s assets to his name. She also told Zack to begin working on all of the other economic areas around the globe as well!

‘Remember, you must act fast!’ emphasized the young mistress before finally hanging up.

While Zack was undoubtedly confused, he didn’t dare to delay the transferring process since Lyra had sounded really anxious when she gave him the order. All he knew was that something serious must have happened. Whatever the case was, he immediately got to work. At the very least, working would help him get his mind off things.

It was also around then when Wes first found out that both of them were secretly planning on transferring the assets.

Regardless, it wasn’t long after when Zack received a text message from the young mistress.

‘Zack, the Crawford family is done for, and I’m going to be in danger at any second now. While I don’t know if Gerald’s still doing fine, I’ll be sending something over to you and you’ll have to keep it safe. Please make sure to secretly find Gerald after that, and once you do, hand the item over to him! All the clues are inside!’

Not knowing how to even respond to that, Zack simply went to bed when he realized that no other messages were coming his way. When he awoke again later that night, however, he found that the token had mysteriously appeared by the head of his bed!

With how quickly and silently the token had been delivered, Zack began feeling extremely nervous. He hadn’t the slightest idea where Gerald even was at that moment!

It was when Zack was pondering how to even proceed with things when he suddenly received a phone call from Gerald. Naturally, Zack was both surprised and overjoyed, leading him to immediately begin rushing over to hand the item to Gerald.

“…What? You said that Lyra told you that she could be facing danger at any second? What else did she say?” asked Gerald with a frown.

“That’s all she said! That she would face danger at any moment…” replied Zack.



Chapter 1418

According to Wes, he had witnessed the murderer assaulting and capturing those from the Crawford Manor.

However, when looking at the time the text message had been sent over, Gerald realized that Lyra had sent it in the afternoon. In other words, the time when his family should’ve by right been completely dealt with.

With that in mind, Lyra could’ve only sent that message by avoiding the initial capture! Maybe she could’ve momentarily escaped. Or perhaps she was outside and hadn’t returned when the catastrophe happened.

Whatever the case was, Lyra must have only given Zack those instructions due to having a premonition that she would soon be in danger.

‘What exactly happened…? And what’s that person’s motive…?’ Gerald thought to himself as he held on tightly onto the token of the holy water.

Peter had told him that the one responsible for all this was a person who had been stalking him this entire time… What was that person even after…?

Looking at Gerald’s puzzled expression, Zack asked in a worried tone, “Even the Crawford family’s main phone is no longer reachable, Mr. Crawford… What on earth is happening…?”

“…For now, just do as Lyra instructed and transfer all the assets as soon as possible. Make sure to follow her orders to a T. I’ll be dealing with the rest!” ordered Gerald.

Following that, Gerald instantly began focusing on the token of the holy water instead. Lyra had said that all the clues he needed were inside this thing… What could she possibly have meant by that?

The token had belonged to his grandfather… Was she trying to tell him that his grandfather was in trouble? Was that the reason for the downfall of his family?

Regardless, it seemed that the prophecy of the picture of the sun truly did come true… A force had appeared, and it had destroyed the Crawfords… With that in mind, he could very well be next, couldn’t he?

Whatever the case was, even after looking at the token from all angles, he couldn’t seem to find any peculiarities with it at all!

Unable to crack the mystery, Gerald eventually remembered that he still had to deal with the Mackusion tonight. With that in mind, he decided that it would be best if he reunited with his second uncle first. Once they met, he’d ask Peter for his opinion on all this.

His mind made up, he then began giving a few more instructions to Zack.

As it turned out, Layla, his former classmate, hadn’t made smooth development in society after her graduation. She probably chose to work here as a waitress after realizing that Wayfair Mountain Entertainment’s salary was above average, at least for a waitress. With that in mind, Gerald made sure to tell Zack to take special care of her before finally leaving the villa.

It wasn’t long after before Gerald reunited with Zyla and Peter.

After hearing Gerald’s explanation on the final clue Lyra had left them, Peter thought for a while before saying, “…The token of the holy water… If Lyra emphasized so much that it was of great importance, I’m sure she knows some things that we don’t… While there’s a chance that she’s still in hiding now, we really aren’t able to tell if she’s still in any danger! In the end, everything should only come to light once we find Lyra! Whatever the case is, you’ll have to hurry and focus on restoring your Dehlere Foundation! The earlier you recover it, the sooner we’ll be able to act!”

“I understand, Second Uncle!”

“Excellent. Since you’re already back, you should go ahead and help Miss Lockland refine the Mackusion! While you undergo the process of restoring your Dehlere Foundation, I’ll be searching for clues within the token of the holy water,” instructed Peter.

“Will do, Second uncle!”

“Actually, hold on a second!” called out Peter, sounding slightly uncertain as he held the token of the holy water in hand.

“Yes?”

Unsure how he should even proceed with posing his question, Peter simply asked, “Should your grandpa still be alive… What do you plan on doing?”

“…I mean… I’d be overjoyed, of course! As for what I’d do, I’d try to locate him as soon as possible!
Should I succeed in finding him, you, grandpa, and I will be able to save the Crawford family together! With any luck, we’ll finally reunite the family!” replied Gerald with a wry smile on his face.

“…I don’t think you’re getting my point, Gerald… I mean, if everyone who participated in the pledge of the holy water is dead, haven’t you considered why your grandfather—if he’s still among the living— didn’t die…?” asked Peter after a brief moment.

“…What exactly do you mean by that, Second uncle…?” asked Gerald, puzzled.



Chapter 1419

While Gerald could already tell that Peter was trying to hint something to him, he just couldn’t get what it was.

Of course he’d be overjoyed if his grandfather was still alive! Was there even a need to ask such a thing?

The fact that his grandfather’s token of the holy water suddenly made its appearance here only made him feel even more certain that something had happened to him. In relation to that, he hoped even more now that his grandfather was still among the living.


All this made Gerald wonder whether his stalker had relations with the pledge of the holy water this entire time.

From what the Mackusion had shown them, could it be that the mysterious person had attended the pledge of the holy water first before killing off everyone else there? Following that, he must have headed to the underground palace in the desert before killing off the giant anaconda and taking Liemis’s body away. With that done, the stalker then dealt with the rest of Gerald’s family not too long before he, Zyla, and Peter had arrived…

Since he couldn’t spot his grandfather’s body, Gerald had a gut feeling that he wasn’t dead, but rather captured like the rest of his family.

Needless to say, Gerald also knew for a fact that the stalker’s end goal had something to do with him.

From breaking spiritual artifacts apart to killing the massive anaconda, the mysterious master coming after him seemed extremely capable. With that in mind, Gerald had been thinking about the possibilities of dealing with him throughout his way back from Mayberry.

“…It’s nothing. Anyway, you shouldn’t be thinking about all this at the moment. It’s better to have peace of mind while you restore your Dehlere Foundation. Once you’ve recovered it, we’ll be depending entirely on you, so focus on the task at hand first!” replied Peter as he patted Gerald on the shoulder, simultaneously refraining from going any further with what he had wanted to say.

Hearing that, Gerald chose not to think too much into it. After all, after so many things had happened, Gerald was now extremely anxious to restore his Dehlere Foundation as soon as possible. Once he succeeded, he’d use it to better inherit the powers from the first stage of his awakening. With that done, there’d be no need for him to remain so passive and uncertain anymore.

With that in mind, Gerald headed off to help Zyla.

According to Zyla, the Mackusion was a spiritual artifact that had been condensed from a stream of energy from heaven and earth. After a long time, it eventually turned into a stone with great transformative energy.

Emitting great energy and having distinct formation patterns all over the body, the Mackusion had the ability to predict the future.

However, if Gerald wished to travel through time and space, the Mackusion would have to be broken open. In doing so, all of its energy would be fully released. With the help of the dragon blood jade pendant’s immense ability to control, Gerald would surely be able to achieve time and space travel without a hitch.

Even so, Gerald could only do all of this once before the Mackusion would be rendered useless.

Regardless, with Gerald’s help, Zyla was naturally able to speed up the refining process of the Mackusion. By the time the Mackusion was completely refined, midnight wasn’t too far off.

“Alright, Gerald, I’ll be standing guard over you later so that you can enter the Mackusion’s teleportation circle with peace of mind. Before that, however, I cannot stress enough that you have to remember all the requirements that I’ve told you before this. Each and every one of them! Do I have myself clear?” said Zyla.

“Loud and clear! Speaking of which, will I still be able to access all my training and skills once I’m in the past?” asked Gerald.

“You should be able to. Just be careful not to change the end results of things you already know will happen. For example, while it should technically be fine if you teach someone—who’s been hostile to you in the past—a lesson, just be careful not to end up killing them!” replied Zyla.

“Got it!” said Gerald with a firm nod.

“Remember, you’ll be remaining in the past for seven days, no more, no less. With that in mind, you’ll have to undergo the baptism of heaven right after that time frame! Also, do not allow anyone to casually approach you. After all, you have no idea who, or when your Dehlere Foundation was destroyed. Because of that, you’ll need to be extra wary with whoever you come across with!” reminded Zyla.

After nodding, Gerald then walked into the teleportation circle, prompting Zyla to begin activating the power of the dragon blood jade pendant.

Shortly after, the circle began glowing a faint blue… before completely enveloping Gerald’s entire body!

His body now engulfed in light, Gerald found himself spinning endlessly as he felt an immense force gushing onto him!

“Remember to hold your breath! And just endure it for a bit longer! Concentrate!” shouted Zyla.


Chapter 1420
Doing as he was told, Gerald then began focusing on allowing the Mackusion to guide his body. Essentially, in order for the process to work, Gerald’s body had to first be completely broken down and once that was achieved, the Mackusion would begin putting him back together again. With that in mind, it was only natural for Gerald to have to endure a considerable amount of pain.

With a sudden explosive sound, night seemed to change to day as a sudden bolt of blue light shot upward, seemingly tearing the sky apart! Following that, a thunderous sound could be heard as lightning began striking all around the circle that Gerald was standing inside!

Though the immense force continued destroying more and more furniture in the room, Zyla retained a relatively calm expression. Peter, on the other hand, had grown so nervous that his back was already drenched in cold sweat by this point.

“Is everything truly going to be alright, Angelica? I really don’t know how much longer I can continue watching all this!” asked Peter, worried half to death. After all, all that was currently happening was rather eerie, to say that least.

“Had it been any other master who entered the circle, I’d surely be worried. However, this is Gerald we’re talking about. He’s no ordinary person! With that in mind, you can rest assured that nothing will go wrong!” replied Zyla.

The second her sentence ended, a violent electromagnetic explosion shook the entire room…!

And the next thing both of them knew, the blue light had already faded, and Gerald was nowhere to be seen.

All through this entire time, Gerald found himself feeling like he was within the belly of the embodiment of chaos. While he was slightly aware of what was happening throughout the process, he felt like he had no control over his consciousness at all.

It was as though he was simply floating about in endless darkness, with invisible tentacles occasionally wrapping tightly onto him before dragging him deeper and deeper into the abyss…

Eventually, Gerald sensed a bright light shining upon him, and it was at that moment when he realized that he had finally regained control over his consciousness…

Slowly opening his eyes, he immediately shut them again upon being immediately greeted by glaring sunlight.

After shielding his eyes with a hand for a short while, Gerald finally got up to look around, his eyes now fully adapted to the light.

From what he could tell, he was within a small, desolate forest that wasn’t too far off from Mayberry University…

With his extraordinary sight and hearing, Gerald instantly sensed the presence of a crowd of college students walking beside a road not too far from where he was.

From all that he had gathered, he found himself thinking for a bit.

…Wasn’t this the small grove where he used to park his Lamborghini? With how barren it currently was… This must have meant that it was a success! He truly was back in the past!

Thinking about it, this was very likely a point in time when he hadn’t even regained his identity as a young master yet… As he continued pondering about it, he made sure to check the condition of his current strength as well.

As was expected, his training had stagnated at the point before he underwent the baptism of heaven. With that in mind, his training wasn’t all that high now. However, it still wouldn’t be too much of an issue for him to defend himself for what he was trying to achieve in this mission.

As he looked down, he caught a glimpse of seven blue spots of light on his arm. It was clear that this was the Mackusion’s reminder for him that he only had seven days before he would be forced back to the present.

Once those seven days were up, he’d be able to undergo the baptism of heaven up till the point when the final blue spot of light disappeared…

With that in mind, Gerald made a mental note to pay attention to his remaining time.

Now that he had all his thoughts sorted out, Gerald’s mind automatically reminded him of the person whom he had constantly been dreaming of…

‘Mila…!’

Mila was still present at this point in time, and he truly hadn’t expected that he would only be able to meet her again under such circumstances.

‘Now wouldn’t it be great if I were able to remain in the past for good…’ Gerald thought to himself.

Just as he was about to pick up the pace and enter the campus, he suddenly remembered, ‘…Hold on, there’s still something I’ve yet to do!’


Chapter 1421
Since Gerald had successfully made it back to the past, it essentially meant that there were two of him in the current time and space, and Zyla had emphasized time and again and both of them should never meet face to face.

With that in mind, Gerald knew that he had to first locate his past self and temporarily hide him in a quiet place. Once that was done, he would act as his substitute for the coming week. Whatever the case was, he now needed to put on a simple disguise first…

Meanwhile, a loud ‘thud’ could be heard within the university campus as a male student was kicked down by another much taller and burlier student.

Locking arms with the tall student, was a beautifully dressed girl who simply watched as her lover pointed at Gerald before cursing, “You’re a real embarrassment, Gerald, you know that? How dare you almost bump into my girlfriend while picking up trash? I guess you’re as embarrassing as you are blind!”

After watching him kick Gerald again, his girlfriend then said, “Though he’s like this, did you know that he actually has a rather pretty girlfriend, hubby? I do wonder what goes through that head of hers!
Choosing him to be her boyfriend is a real embarrassment to us women as well, you know?”

“Hahaha! Pathetic! Come on, I really don’t feel like talking about him anymore. I just can’t help but feel angry whenever I see his wimpy face! Now let’s go and have some fun, darling! There’s no need to give him any more attention than he deserves!” scoffed the burly boy as he hugged the girl before leaving together.

Being a rather busy time of the day—within the campus, no less—many students who were walking in and out of the place had witnessed the scene, and several of them were now staring and pointing at Gerald.

Naturally, this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened to him.

Whatever the case was, all the old Gerald could do was bite onto his lower lip as he clutched onto his aching belly that had been kicked rather hard. Due to all the sardonic gazes from the people around him, he couldn’t help but blush out of shame as he quickly got off the ground.

Picking up his snakeskin bag—that he had been using to pick up discarded bottles—he then quickly ran away in embarrassment.

Eventually, he arrived at a deserted corner outside the campus where he squatted down and finally allowed his tears to fall. It wasn’t like he wanted to do all this, but he was poor… He really didn’t have any other choice.

While Gerald himself had never found it shameful to be doing what he currently was from the very beginning, why was everyone bullying him for doing so?

Just as Gerald was pondering about it, he suddenly received a text message on his old phone. It was from his girlfriend, Xavia.

‘Gerald, I’ve been thinking about this for some time, but… Why don’t we take some time off from each other? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean anything by that, I just wish to be alone for a while so that I can think about my future! With that said, please don’t contact me for the time being!’

“…Why…?” wept Gerald in grief, knowing full well that this was Xavia asking him to break up with her.

Gerald was so saddened that he didn’t even notice that a person wearing a cap and mask was spying on him not too far away.

That person, of course, was none other than the future Gerald.

‘So it turns out that I’ve returned at the exact moment me and Xavia broke up!’ Gerald thought.

He had been observing his past self for a while since he wanted to see when exactly in time he had returned to. Now that that was determined, Gerald slowly began walking toward his past self… Upon seeing him, the past Gerald instantly picked his snakeskin bag up with a frightened expression on his face as he said, “…You… W-what do you think you’re doing…?”

Frowning, the future Gerald then replied, “…Why the hell do I feel like beating you up so badly just from looking at how you behave…?!”

Since Gerald had already used the voice transformation technique on himself, his past self most definitely saw him as nothing more than a stranger.

Regardless, the future Gerald was left absolutely speechless. Though this was his old self, he really felt like slapping the past him right across his face.

After all, despite being a top-notch rich heir, he was behaving like such a wimp!

This fact alone enraged Gerald to no end.



Chapter 1422
What a truly amazing feeling…

“…E-even if you beat me up, please let me go once you’re done…!” pleaded the past Gerald.

Since his beloved Xavia had now broken up with him, it truly seemed like he had nothing more to lose… And even if others were going to scold or beat him up, it’s not like he was going to have the ability to fight back or defend himself anyway!

“By god!” muttered the future Gerald, unable to believe his past self.

With one fluid movement, Gerald then poked his past self’s acupuncture point to shut him up. Sure enough, his past self instantly went unconscious after that!

“You’re going to undergo a complete change of fate soon, buddy… I hope you won’t continue being a useless wimp like I had been right after my transformation! You’re a man, aren’t you? Start acting like one!” muttered Gerald to himself as he lifted his past self up, a wry smile on his face.

The plan was for him to hide his past self well, and once he did, he’d erase the past Gerald’s memories of the incident so that he could simply resume his life a week later. Once that was done, the future Gerald would at least have one problem he didn’t have to worry about anymore.

It was about half an hour later when the future Gerald successfully reappeared, only this time he had traded clothes with his past self and he no longer held onto the snakeskin bag.

Walking along the streets of his former campus, Gerald couldn’t help but feel nostalgic.

Now wouldn’t it be great if he could just remain here… As long as he could do so, he didn’t even want to be a rich heir anymore…

It wasn’t long before Gerald arrived at the milk tea shop. He had fond memories of this place. After all, it was how he had first gotten acquainted with Mila back then. He could still remember how cute and adorable she looked at the time…

A visible change in expression on his face, Gerald couldn’t help but think about how long both of them had been separated… Now that he was revisiting such a memorable place, it was hard for him not to be sad as he remembered the good old days with her…

Walking over to the counter, he then saw that the boss was the same old boss he used to know.

“…Boss! A cup of milk tea, please!”

“Coming right up!” said the boss as he instantly began preparing Gerald’s drink.

Once he was done, he then added, “That’ll be eight dollars, please!”

Taking a banknote out of his pocket, Gerald then handed it to the boss before replying, “Thanks! Keep the change!”

Just as he was about to leave with his drink, Gerald heard the boss shout, “…Hold it! What do you mean, keep the change? A cup of milk tea costs eight dollars! You only gave me a banknote worth a single dollar!”

Immediately turning back to look at the boss—who was currently looking at Gerald like he was some kind of fool—Gerald took a peek at the banknote before realizing that the boss hadn’t been kidding.

He had forgotten how poor he used to be!

The current Gerald was so used to spending money in the billions that he wasn’t accustomed to regular banknotes anymore! With that in mind, he truly didn’t know what to do in his current situation!

Since he didn’t have anything else inside his wallet, he quickly came to realize that he only had a dollar as his savings! All he had was a dollar?!

As if that wasn’t already embarrassing enough, several other students—who were also present to buy milk tea—were already covering their mouths as they laughed at Gerald.

Though none of them said a thing, their expressions alone suggested that they were saying, ‘This pathetic pauper is actually drinking milk tea too?!’

“…Now hold on, are you honestly telling me that you don’t even have eight dollars on you?” said the boss, completely speechless.

“…I… I don’t think I have that much…!” replied the embarrassed Gerald as he checked to see if any money had slipped into his pockets. To his dismay, he quickly realized that that dollar truly was all that he had on him!

“…What? So were you deliberately trying to make fun of me, then?! While a cup of milk tea isn’t much, I won’t just tolerate being told to keep the change after being given only a single dollar! What exactly did you even mean by that, huh? Being so pretentious when you clearly don’t have the money! I’m warning you, don’t you even dare think about leaving if you don’t hand me the proper amount of money today! If I don’t get it by the end of the day, I’m bringing up this matter to the university!” declared the boss.

Now completely at a loss for what to do as he continued getting ridiculed, he suddenly heard a sweet voice—from behind him—calling out, “Don’t make things difficult for him, boss! I’ll pay for the milk tea on his behalf!”

The feminine voice was as clear and pleasant as an oriole, and a certain gentleness and elegance simply exuded from it.

Upon hearing it, Gerald found himself trembling uncontrollably as his cup of milk tea instantly fell to the ground…


Chapter 1423


Upon turning around, Gerald instantly saw a few tall, graceful, and well-dressed girls standing before him.

However, it was the girl standing right in front of the group who caused Gerald’s eyes to instantly well up with tears.

It was Mila!

As he immediately began breathing rapidly, Gerald recalled how he had been extremely worried and depressed just an hour ago. While it was true that he really wanted to meet up with Mila, he wasn’t even sure what kinds of emotions to present when he finally stood before her.

Since he hadn’t really figured how to deal with his emotions yet, now that Mila was suddenly before him, he instantly found his mind going completely blank.

Though he was now staring blankly at her, his mind was still able to register how beautiful, adorable, lovely, and kind-hearted she was!

While he was filled with adoration for her, Mila herself couldn’t help but feel slightly frightened when she saw how Gerald was staring at her. While fear was her initial reaction, she couldn’t help but notice that there was some sort of inexplicable emotion reflected in his eyes.

The girls surrounding her clearly felt the same, and they instantly pulled her back as one of the girls whispered, “Do you think that person is crazy, Mila?”

“I was just thinking the same thing! Just look at how he’s staring at her! Could Mila’s beauty have driven him insane?” whispered another girl as all of them took turns staring at him in disgust.

Shortly after, another girl said, “…I think we should leave for now, Mila!”

After seeing how creepily Gerald was staring at her, all the girls had already lost interest in getting milk tea. They simply wanted to drag her away from Gerald as soon as possible!

Hearing that, Mila quickly paid for Gerald’s drinks before turning to glance at Gerald who was still staring at her in a daze. Unable to stop herself from biting her red, lower lips, Mila’s friends were just about to drag her away when Gerald suddenly shouted, “W-wait, Mila! Don’t go!”

Gerald didn’t even know what he was thinking, but the second he saw Mila about to leave, he instantly grabbed onto her wrist.

He was truly terrified that Mila was going to leave him again. Once that happened, who knows how long it’d take for him to meet her again? Hell, this could very well be the last time they ever met!

Whatever the case was, Mila was instantly taken aback by his action and screamed before shouting, “Wwhat are you doing?!”

Quite honestly, even though her roommates had all been disgusted by his earlier gaze, a voice in her heart had assured her that he didn’t have any malicious intentions at all. If anything, Mila was able to detect strong feelings of affection in his eyes!

Though her heart even began beating rapidly the second he held onto her wrist, she quickly snapped out of it and instinctively retracted her arm back in slight horror.

Why on earth was she feeling this way when she barely even knew who the person before her was…?

“…You… You sc*mbag! How dare you molest her?! You must be tired of living, aren’t you?!” shouted Mila’s friends as they instantly rushed forward to attack Gerald.

“I know right?! To think he’d take advantage of her when Mila even helped him pay for his drink! Don’t let him off that easily, sisters!” shouted another girl as the group quickly encircled him.

Seeing that, Mila instantly shouted, “T-That’s quite enough! Let’s just go already…!”

Mila had a feeling that this boy didn’t have any malicious intent at all. With that said, instead of feeling creeped out, she instead felt pitiful for him. Due to that, the soft-hearted girl quickly pulled her roommates away from Gerald while persuading them not to call the police.

Another reason she wanted to head off as soon as possible was because more and more people were already gathering and pointing at them while whispering about what was going on!

As Mila and her friends began walking away, Gerald soon regained his senses as well when he saw Mila’s slowly disappearing back.

…He… He was in the past now! Mila didn’t even know who he was yet at this point! Due to his impulsiveness, he had frightened her off!

He couldn’t help but sigh at his rashness. Still, Gerald now had a plan in mind…


Chapter 1424
In the past, from the moment he had first met Mila and even after they had gotten together, their love had always been plain and simple. Despite having immense wealth later on, he never felt the need to do anything excessive or extravagant for her. After all, the past Gerald had felt that the only truly important thing was for both of them to deeply love each other.

It wasn’t until much later when Gerald finally understood that even if two people were deeply in love, romance was still very much necessary. By the time he realized that and wanted to start trying to be romantic, however, it was already far too late.

With that in mind, now that he had been given a chance to return to the past, Gerald truly wanted to make up for all these regrets of his. He wanted to give Mila the most extravagant romance in the world. He’d make her the happiest woman on the planet!

While this was what he fantasized about, he decided not to return to campus just yet. He also knew that it would be best for him not to continue pursuing Mila—at least not yet—especially after what had just taken place. He was truly afraid that he would just scare her even further.

Besides, he still had other more important things to attend to, and that was to head to Mountain Top
Villa.

By this point, the villa should’ve already been built, though it probably hadn’t been auctioned off yet.

With that in mind, all Gerald had to do now was contact Zack and purchase the villa. Following that, he would then instruct Zack to begin investing in manpower to dig out the Zircobsite.

Gerald had figured that a small amount of manpower simply wouldn’t do if he wanted to excavate Mountain Top within seven days, so he was ready to go big.

After all, Zyla had said that as long as he didn’t change the end result of anything, things occurring a bit earlier shouldn’t be an issue.

With all that in mind, Gerald then fished his cell phone out before dialing a familiar number…

The second it connected, Gerald instantly said, “Sister!”

“Gerald? Why are you calling me now? I’m still working inside my factory, you know? Can’t you hear all the voices around me?!” replied Jessica.

Though Gerald hadn’t found those noises suspicious at all in the past, now that he was hearing them again, he knew that she was undoubtedly in some kind of meeting.

Shaking his head with a bitter smile on his face, Gerald simply said, “I need money!”

“Of course you do, our whole family does! Our parents are working hard abroad, right? With so many debts to settle, we truly don’t have much to spare! Still, how much do you need? I’ll try and see if I can get a way to get the amount you need!” replied Jessica in a way that suggested that she was in a rather tough spot.

“I need at least a few million dollars to buy Mayberry Commercial Street so that the entire street will be completely at my disposal. Is that too much?” asked Gerald with a laugh.

“…You… What did you say?” asked Jessica, her eyes now fully widened.

“I said I need a few million dollars!” repeated Gerald.

“Gerald, did someone say something to you?!” asked Jessica, her tone now frigid.

“Not at all. I just happened to guess that some things were off… You know, while your brother’s an honest person, he’s no fool!” replied Gerald.

“…Hahaha! I can’t say I expected this at all! Good boy! How smart of you! You know, I was just planning to have a showdown with you so that I could tell you the truth in the next few days! To think you’d have a hunch about the truth before I even told you anything! If you think our family’s actually very wealthy, you’re absolutely correct! Hell, our family’s so rich and influential that we own over half the world’s wealth and resources! With that said, you’re an extremely influential and top, rich heir!” explained Jessica.

“How impressive!” replied Gerald, trying his best to sound shocked.
“Also, I’m completely fine giving you money if you need it. Truth be told, both Mayberry Commercial Street and Wayfair Mountain Entertainment were developed under both our names. You know, I’ve been planning on instructing Zack Lyle to pick you up when we eventually head over to make changes to the contract in the coming few days. Now that you already know everything, however, you can just head over to talk directly to Zack. I’ll be arranging for him to pick you up. Remember, Mayberry Commercial Street belongs to our family!” added Jessica.

While Jessica truly seemed like she still had a lot to say, since Gerald was in a hurry, he didn’t really reply much.

After some prevarications, Gerald hung up. However, instead of waiting for Zack, he instantly headed over to Wayfair Mountain Entertainment instead!



Chapter 1425
“Hold on, now! Where do you think you’re going? Do you think this is someplace you can just enter indiscriminately?!” shouted a security guard as several other guards—who all had serious and solemn expressions on their faces—shook their electric batons threateningly before Gerald.

Naturally, Gerald had instantly been stopped upon trying to enter the villa, and all the guards looked like they were ready to beat down Gerald without the slightest hesitation if he continued trying to barge in.

“…Hmm? Hubby, look there! That repulsive person is trying to enter such a prestigious place as Wayfair Mountain Entertainment! He should really take a good look at himself first before attempting such a thing!” ridiculed a woman who had her arms locked with her husband’s, both of them sharing equally satirical expressions on their faces as they looked at him.

While he heard that, Gerald really couldn’t be bothered with them. Either way, it was probably about time for Zack to set out to come meet him now.
Not in any particular hurry, Gerald simply took a step back before waiting quietly.

Retracting her contemptuous gaze from Gerald, she then looked at her husband before complaining, “Regardless, is your cousin truly reliable? You should know that it isn’t easy to be able to walk around the entire periphery of Wayfair Mountain Entertainment! I only managed to get us in here due to my dad’s many connections and relationships, you know? With that said, to think that he’s actually taking advantage of this to pick up girls, even though he hasn’t even been here that long!”

“Well, since you told me that father-in-law is able to use his connections to let us have fun in Wayfair Mountain Entertainment anyway, I thought it’d be fine to let him come over since he brought up the matter to me yesterday. I wouldn’t look good if I turned down his request, right…?” coaxed the woman’s husband.

Knowing that they were simply trying to show off their relationship and connections, Gerald simply continued waiting at the side for Zack to come over, completely uninterested in continuing to listen in to their conversation.

It wasn’t long after before the man pointed at an approaching car while shouting, “He’s here!”

At that moment, a white BMW could be seen approaching the entrance. As if it wasn’t eye-catching enough, the driver was constantly honking the car’s horn, almost as though he was afraid that people wouldn’t notice the car.

Eventually, the luxury car came to a screeching halt.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting, cousin and sister-in-law!” said a young man—who was wearing a pair of sunglasses—as he stepped out of the car.

From the looks of it, he was a student, and after taking a step forward, he removed his sunglasses and slid it into his front pocket rather coolly.
Following that, two other boys and a girl stepped out of the car as well.

While one of the boys had his hair dyed blonde, the girl herself was both slim and tall, her beautiful face slightly reddened due to her shyness.

Regardless, when the four of them began walking toward the entrance, the sister-in-law scoffed in a cold voice, “A bit late, aren’t we? Oh, and who’s this?”

“Sister-in-law, meet my new girlfriend, Xavia! Xavia, these are my cousin and sister-in-law whom I was telling you about! Heh, my sister-in-law is extremely wealthy, you know? After getting together earlier today, my sister-in-law had invited us over to have fun at Wayfair Mountain Entertainment, you know?” introduced the young man who seemed to be the head of the group.

While Gerald hadn’t been paying attention at first, after hearing that familiar voice and name, he couldn’t help but feel slightly startled. Turning to look at the group of people, Gerald found himself slightly shocked. It truly was his girlfriend- No, his ex-girlfriend, Xavia! What a coincidence for him to actually be able to run into her here!

As for the three boys, they were none other than Yuri, Danny, and Blondie…

Whatever the case was, Gerald instantly knew that something wasn’t right. After all, he recalled that Xavia hadn’t been to Wayfair Mountain Entertainment before at this point. From what he could remember, the first time she was supposed to enter this place was when Yuri’s friend brought them in, and Gerald distinctly recalled completely embarrassing Xavia at that moment.

With that in mind, why was she at Wayfair Mountain Entertainment now? Could what Zyla had said be true? That his arrival here had broken some unspoken rules?

Even if that was the case, Gerald didn’t think too much about it. While he had already lost all feelings he had for Xavia a long time ago, he couldn’t help but feel slightly weirded out by the fact that Xavia had instantly gotten together with someone else right after they broke up. Even more startling was the fact that he was able to bump into her here of all places.

As Gerald remained momentarily stunned, Yuri and the others—who had just noticed Gerald’s presence—turned to look at him, surprised looks on their faces, and this was especially the case for Xavia whose cheeks had turned as red as tomatoes at that moment. She truly wished that she could just bury herself deep underground at that moment!

“…G-Gerald…? You… Please don’t misunderstand… We were just… Initially studying together! And once we were done, we just decided to come out and have some fun!” explained Xavia nervously.

While it was true that they had already broken up, Xavia couldn’t help but feel slightly embarrassed to meet him again in such a situation.

“…I see! Good for you! Go ahead and have your fun then!” replied Gerald with a wry smile.

“Hah! I already told you that that kid looked a bit too much like Gerald back inside the car, Yuri! To think that it really was him! I truly hadn’t expected things to get so interesting and exciting!”

“I guess this pauper must be having a rough time facing the truth now! Regardless, just so you know, Xavia’s going to be our sister-in-law from now on! With that said, I’ll beat you to death if you dare pester Xavia any further in future!” scoffed Blondie with no filter to his words.

Xavia herself simply straightened her hair as she peeked at Gerald, hoping to see his expression.

While she knew that ending things this way was quite cruel to Gerald, vain girls like Xavia would always be tempted to see how jealous the faces of boys fighting over her were.


Chapter 1426

Gerald, however, simply retained his bitter smile. Thinking back, he felt that he truly had been a little too childish and naïve back then.

Clearly dissatisfied by the indifferent look on his face, Xavia found herself asking, “…What do you mean by that, Gerald?”

“I meant exactly what I said!” replied Gerald.

“…You…! You pathetic fool! I’ll have you know that I’ve already been liking Yuri for some time! You’re just a pauper, you hear?! Only a fool would be interested in you!” scowled Xavia.

“You can’t really blame me for liking him either! If anything, you should be blaming yourself for being such a disappointment and failing to meet my expectations! You know, aside from being able to buy branded handbags and cosmetics, getting together with Yuri has even granted me access to Wayfair Mountain Entertainment! What have you been able to give me? You absolute nothing of a person!” added Xavia who was scowling eagerly now, most probably because of her extreme embarrassment.

“…Who is this guy, Yuri? Is he your classmate?” asked the woman who had been standing silently at the side this entire time.

“Hah! This guy? He’s just a pathetic pauper from our university who used to be Xavia’s ex-boyfriend!” exclaimed Yuri excitedly.

“Hah! And here I was wondering what this guy was up to! He tried to break into Wayfair Mountain Entertainment earlier, you know? As a result, he got kicked out by the security guards!” scoffed the woman in an even more mocking tone than before.

“What?! You actually thought about entering Wayfair Mountain Entertainment?! Do you even know what sort of place this is? Do you think you can just enter all willy-nilly?” exclaimed Xavia, surprised beyond words.

No matter how she looked at it, Xavia could only feel that Gerald was nothing but an idiot now. How had she ever taken interest in him in the first place?

“Alright, that’s quite enough! Let’s not continue wasting our time spouting nonsense with him! It’s getting pretty late, so let’s head in and have some fun, Yuri and Xavia!” said the woman.

“Indeed! Let’s head in now, Xavia!” added Yuri as he placed his arm over her shoulder, almost as though he was trying to brag.

However, before they could enter, they were instantly stopped by the security guards as one of them said, “Apologies, but we’ve just received a notification stating that Wayfair Mountain Entertainment is closed for the day. In other words, nobody is allowed to enter!”

“What? But we’ve bought admission tickets!” replied the puzzled woman.

“Any admission tickets are invalid from this moment onward. If you have any objections, then go file a complaint!” retorted the guard coldly.

Hearing that, the woman instantly began feeling anxious. If the guards were saying that, then it must be true! Even if she was dissatisfied, she wasn’t about to dare to try anything funny!

After a brief moment, the woman then—rather unwillingly—asked, “…May I ask why…?”

“It’s because Mr. Crawford, the boss of Mayberry Commercial Group, is coming over today! We’re closed for business so that we can prepare to receive Mr. Crawford!” replied the guard.

“What?! Mr. Crawford? The boss of Mayberry Commercial group?!” exclaimed the woman.

While she honestly didn’t know who Mr. Crawford was, she was well aware of what the Mayberry
Commercial Group was. After all, the entirety of Mayberry Commercial Street—which included Wayfair Mountain Entertainment—was owned by the Mayberry Commercial Group. With that in mind, how wealthy and powerful could the boss of the group be…?

Even Yuri and Xavia knew about the strength and power that the Mayberry Commercial Group possessed, so both of them felt themselves gulping.

“Now get out of the way! Since all the senior executives of our group are showing themselves now, I believe that Mr. Crawford is already on his way here!” instructed the security guard.

Upon seeing so many high-level senior executives rushing out of the villa, he and the other guards couldn’t help but feel extremely nervous, which was why they were now urging the group to leave.

Naturally, Xavia and the others immediately hurried to the side when they heard this.

Gerald, however, remained standing at the entrance without moving an inch.

Seeing that, the guard angrily yelled, “You brat! Didn’t you hear what I said? Get out of the way already!”

“F*cking hell! Is he insane?!” muttered both Yuri and Danny contemptuously.

“That fool…! I truly am speechless!” added Xavia in a cold tone as she crossed her arms.

When the guard saw that Gerald was still choosing to disregard his command, he instantly lifted his baton and tried to hit Gerald while shouting, “You’re courting death, aren’t you?!”

In response, Gerald simply pointed a finger at the guard… Sending the baton flying out of the guard’s hand! The guard himself found himself falling on his back and rolling backward for a while! By the time he got back up, he had a horrified expression on his face as he looked at Gerald.

Staring back at the guard, Gerald then casually said, “I’m your beloved Mr. Crawford!”