Ch. 1361..1365: The Secretly Rich Man Chapter 1361-1365
Chapter 1361
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1361 “But of course I’ll come along! After all, this is the first time you’ve even suggested for me to stay by your side!” replied Queena with a seductive smile.
Hearing that, Gerald simply nodded at her with a faint smile.
Naturally, he wasn’t about to tell her that he was going to save the woman in white at midnight. However, he was also well aware that if he wasn’t willing to make at least a slight compromise, then he’d surely end up suffering much greater losses should Queena ruin his efforts while he was summoning the woman in white’s soul…
It was about an hour later when Gerald asked, “Seth, do you truly remember where the snake cave is…?”
The trio who were currently following Seth—after all four of them entered the mountain—consisted of Rosie—who had been curious about the snake cave—Queena—who had agreed to come along since Gerald invited her to—and Gerald himself.
“Of course I do! However, since this place is rather secluded, I still need to gather my bearings a bit better!” replied Seth as he scratched the back of his head before stepping atop a nearby boulder.
A few seconds later, he then exclaimed, “I found it! It’s over there!”
Following that, he then agilely hopped off before taking a few steps forward and pushing some dense bushes aside… With that, a round cave entrance—that was almost as tall as a person—revealed itself to everyone.
A much younger Seth had first bumped into it while he was having fun with his friends. He remembered how his friends had dared him to enter the cave, and of course, he had taken the bet. Seth recalled that upon entering the cave, he had found an extremely large piece of discarded snakeskin. He had also come across a fruit in the cave, and eating it allowed him to gain the superpowers he had today.
Regardless, the snakeskin was the obvious reason why Seth had named this place the snake cave.
Moving back to the present day, all four of them found the need to lower their backs slightly as they proceeded further into the cave. After walking for some time, however, the cave soon opened up. As it turned out, that was a gigantic stone chamber in the cave that was honestly quite spacious.
Located right in the middle of the cave, was that large discarded snakeskin that Seth had told them about. From what Gerald could tell, the snake that had shed such a massive pile of skin could easily be as strong as the monster that Gerald had fought in the underground area back when he was still in the desert.
Whatever the case was, Seth—who now appeared to be so familiar with the place that it almost seemed like he had just returned home—then declared, “Well, this is the place!”
Following that, he then smiled before switching on the searchlight—that he had brought along—and taking a turn in the dark cave.
With the aid of the searchlight, Gerald was finally able to see his surroundings clearly. As was expected, strange paintings adorned every corner of the cave. Upon scanning through the area, he even noticed the presence of an enchanting-looking plant growing from inside one of the cave’s crevices. However, no fruits could be found growing on the plant.
“That’s the plant that I obtained the fruit from back then… However, it seems that it hasn’t borne any fruit again ever since I picked the only one growing back when I was still a child!” deduced Seth.
“How truly odd… This ancient plant is called a Lukra, and it has miraculous properties… Since the plant only bears a single fruit once in its entire lifetime, you truly are lucky to have been the one to eat it. Regardless, I’m pretty sure that their fruits’ aren’t that effective on earth due to its lack of holy spirits,” explained Queena with a smile, making it quite obvious that she knew quite a bit about the plant.
“I agree with the fruit being miraculous… After all, Seth did obtain superpowers upon eating it,” replied Gerald though his focus had been on the paintings on the cave walls this entire time.
From what he could see, the paintings on the walls were extremely old. Ancient, even. After briefly scanning through them, Gerald soon found himself raising a slight brow.
The things he saw on the walls were… weird, to say the least. For one, one of the paintings depicted a winged humanoid figure. As if that wasn’t already odd enough, the person even had three eyes!
Chapter 1362
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1362 Aside from that, there were also several depictions of massive birds and beasts, and nobody could tell whether they were drawn that way deliberately.
Continuing to scan through, Gerald soon saw a rather familiar image of a massive bat-like creature. Looking at it for a while, Gerald found himself thinking, ‘…I met something similar to that back in the mine where I saved Yume and obtained the water repellent stone, right…? A large bat with the head of a human… While I had first assumed that it was some bat demon that had undergone immense training, since it’s on this mural, it wouldn’t be out of the question for it to actually be some kind of ancient creature that survived till today… But… How could that even be possible…? There are simply too many peculiar things at play…’
Turning to look at Queena—who had been utterly fascinated by all the things in the cave for a while now—Gerald asked, “…Say, what kind of world is being depicted on the walls…? Could it actually be earth?”
Hearing Gerald’s question, she then replied, “Indeed. More specifically, it seems to be the legendary earth that existed millions of years ago! I learned about its existence from the data I got back when I was still in Jaellatra. Regardless, the paintings seem to depict a prehistoric civilization that once roamed the earth. If I had to name the exact civilization, I have a feeling that the murals are showing us what happened during the short-lived, but extremely glorious Shunzuog Civilization!”
After hearing what Queena had to say, Rosie’s jaw instantly dropped. Nobody could blame her. After all, what Queena had just said was naturally preposterous to a normal person. Gerald himself would’ve had the same reaction as Rosie had he not already experienced so much by this point.
Regardless, Gerald already knew that Earth had already seen plenty of civilizations come and go by this point. From what he had found out, there was once a civilization of peculiar and unique humans that predated the appearance of even the dinosaurs! While dragons existed during that age as well, that civilization was rather short-lived.
“…Could it be that this mural had been here ever since the age of the Shunzuog Civilization…?” muttered Gerald curiously.
“No ordinary mural could have remained intact for that long, that’s for sure. With that in mind, why not try using your Thunder essential qi. I wonder if anything will change…” suggested Queena, her eyes still locked on the paintings.
Knowing that Queena probably knew the most about all this, Gerald simply obeyed. Activating his Thunder essential qi, he slowly skimmed it across the painted walls…
Instantly gasping in surprise, Queena found herself exclaiming, “It… It’s changed! It really has changed! Look, Gerald! There are many more people and a lot more information on the mural now!”
Gerald had seen the changes too, and he assumed that his actions had forced the entire mural to completely reveal itself.
“Since you had to use essential qi to reveal the rest of the mural, it’s safe to say that the artisans who drew this weren’t ordinary people. After all, from the looks of it, they had used the power of thought to hide the rest of the mural from those incapable of manipulating their essential qi, a feat that couldn’t possibly have been achieved by those without great strength. As for how I figured this would work in the first place, certain sects in Jaellatra used this method to store other forms of information as well, prompting me to ask you to try it!”
“Whatever the case is, from what I’ve been able to tell, the large snake was no ordinary creature. After all, I have a feeling that it relied on essential qi to nourish parts of it,” explained Queena.
“…I see. As it turned out, the rumors about the peculiar civilization really were true…” replied Gerald with a nod.
Moving closer to the wall to have a better look at all the new information that had just been revealed, it wasn’t long before Gerald added, “…After looking at it for a bit, everyone—including the beasts—in the mural appears to be performing some sort of… sacrificial activity? From what I can tell, both humans and beasts didn’t seem to live in harmony before. However, it’s seen here that all of them later rushed over—regardless of where they came from—and began worshiping some large stone statue…”
“…I think I get it now. From what I could gather, the murals are apparently depicting the lives of those living within some small area during that era of civilization. For both the beasts and humans to unite, I have a feeling that only someone legendary could’ve possibly gotten them to do so in such a devout manner…” replied Queena solemnly.
“Do you have any idea who it could’ve been?” asked Gerald, glad that he had decided to bring her along. After all, she knew quite a lot of things.
“Well, I’ve read about that legendary person before in an ancient book I found back when I was still in Jaellatra… Since Jaellatra is a place that highly resembles the prehistoric Shunzuog Civilization, it’s no surprise to me that the legend lives on there. However, while Jaellatra is similar to that civilization, it is by far a lot weaker compared to it. Hell, it wouldn’t be a stretch to claim that anyone from the Shunzuog Civilization could dominate Jaellatra with ease! With that said, they’d barely need to lift a finger to take over earth!”
“Regardless, I went off-topic for a bit… Moving back to the legend, the legendary person was apparently the first person from the Shunzuog Civilization who was able to enter the realm of the
Immortal Body. Due to that, he was pretty much invincible! With that in mind, it was no wonder why everyone—regardless of status or age—back then worshiped him to the highest degree!”
“…The realm of the Immortal Body?”
Chapter 1363
Nodding. Queena then replied, "Indeed. See, the Immortal Body is a realm that used to only exist in legends. It was said that if a person ever entered that realm, then they'd be able to exist alongside heaven and earth. In other words, nothing would be able to truly destroy them. Though it was said that there was one person who was able to attain that legendary realm during that civilization, it's pretty much just a legend!"
*... Assuming the legend is true, that should suggest that that exceptional person should still be alive, correct? But that couldn't be, right? He should've still died along with his civilization!" said Gerald rather curiously.
"Well, I, at least, believe that he died. My guess is that he never truly entered the realm of the Immortal Body. Even so, he was still an immensely exceptional person who had strength that clearly defied the natural order. Why else did so many people respect and admire him..." explained Queena.
"I see... Speaking of Jaellatra, how much do you know about the Sun League? That organization should belong to Jaellatra, right?" inquired Gerald, finally deciding to ask what he wanted to know about the most.
*... The Sun League? While they do seem to have a special base in Jaellatra, they're not related to that place at all, nor are they affiliated with any other forces. An extremely mysterious and strong organization, I only know that the power they hold is sufficient to dominate nearly anything they wish to. Quite frankly, it wouldn't be out of the question to assume that their group stemmed from one of the civilizations that disappeared millions of years ago!"
*...I see. However, I wonder if you know anything about this... While I was previously deciphering some murals, I found some paintings depicting corpses on a sacred tree... The sacred tree itself apparently fell from the sky, and its descent was accompanied by many other corpses, including the deity's!" said Gerald.
"Oh? You know a surprising lot! That's right. We died during a disaster that took place between heaven and earth in Jaellatra. I can see where you're coming from. While it's true that we too had doubts whether that disaster back then was triggered by the Sun League, none of us dared to investigate it. After all, even the past you didn't dare to look into it, even when you were at your peak strength! Regardless, you should note that you died while trying to escape from Jaellatra to Earth. I know this since I had been secretly stalking you the entire time!" replied Queena with a subtle smile.
*...Understandable. Regardless, how's the condition in Jaellatra now, then? And do we not even know what the Sun League truly is...? Is it really that impossible to get to the bottom of it...?" asked Gerald, his disappointment evident in his tone.
"All that's to be known is that it's an organization that cannot be offended under any circumstances. With that in mind, you'd best give up if you're planning on investigating them. Again, you wouldn't be able to take on them, even at your peak strength!" reminded Queena.
Though she had no idea why he was even inquiring about the Sun League, she was still going to at least warn him against doing it Understanding that she meant well, Gerald didn't take offense to her statement. However, as he thought about the previous clues he had come across that still remained unanswered-he recalled something that prompted him to ask, "...I have one final question for the time being. Back when you were first buried in the king of the ocean's palace, do you still remember the old man who was leading the people responsible for escorting your corpse? If I recall correctly, you were able to break free while they were stopping by an island, resulting in you killing those that were standing guard over you at the time! From what I could tell, it was that old man who brought you down again at the time."
"I truly hadn't expected you to have learned so much! Of course I remember Master Warwick! After all, he's the reason I got sealed for ten thousand years!" replied Queena, a hint of gloominess in her eyes.
*...Master Warwick? From what I can tell, it seems that he's lived an extremely long life... Either that, or his descendants were the ones who had been responsible for the later incidents. Regardless of which it is, he certainly possesses rather remarkable abilities. After all, from what I know, he was able to accurately predict the future! More specifically, he predicted what would happen in current times around eight hundred years ago!" said Gerald.
Nodding. Queena then replied, "You're correct there. Master Warwick truly is the most powerful person that I've come across up till this point. Speaking of him, he seems to be related to the Sun League... Well, I say related, but quite honestly, I have a feeling that he's an actual member of that group! After all, he has way too many miraculous powers! Also, it's impossible for him to have any descendants. With that in mind, I'm guessing he's still alive today! The problem is, I have no idea where he is!"
"...I'm assuming that both you and the King of Judgment Portal have yet to act too ostentatiously due to the fact that you can't tell whether he's truly dead or still alive. Is my guess correct?" asked Gerald.
"You could say that!"
Though Queena had truly shed quite a bit of light on Gerald, the Sun League still seemed as mysterious as ever... No matter how much he tried, he simply couldn't expose their secrets! Even so, there was one thing that was clear to him now...
'There's some sort of secret in me and many people are yearning for it... With that in mind, be it the King of Judgment Portal, the Gunters, or Queena, all of them have their reasons for approaching me... Regardless, while Queena knows quite a bit about the affairs in Jaellatra, as a whole, she doesn't know as much as Finnley... While I'd love to ask him more about all this, I haven't seen him ever since we parted ways... Where could he have gone off too...? I still haven't found out who the person who told me to look for the eternal coffin in the desert is either... Gerald thought to himself.
While many more mysteries remained, Gerald felt that his mind was much clearer now. It was because of this clarity that he was able to remind himself that only people who wanted things from him would seek him out in the first place.
Regardless, the group remained in the cave for about an hour before they finally came out again. By then, Rosie had even snapped several photographs in her curiosity.
Now standing at the cave's entrance, Queena looked at Gerald before saying. "So... Do you wish to go back with me?"
Since Gerald had been the one who suggested for them to form an alliance, it meant that in a way, he had agreed to them being together.
Chapter 1364
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1364 Watching as she gazed with gentler eyes than before, Gerald replied, “I still have some things I wish to learn about. I’ll meet up with you once I’m done settling those issues!”
“Very well! I’ll be waiting then!” said Queena with a smile.
Following that, her body momentarily swayed… And the next thing anyone knew, she had disappeared!
Taking a step forward in surprise, Rosie then turned back to look at Gerald before saying, “Is… Is she human or a ghost…?”
“Half of both, I’d say!” replied Gerald as he turned to look at the direction Queena had dashed off to while heaving a long sigh.
With that, he then brought Rosie back to the shantytown to meet up with Leo and the others. Noticing that the other man was not present, Gerald then asked Monica where he was.
After being told that the man had yet to return, Gerald found himself feeling slightly dissatisfied as he thought, ‘Where on earth has he gone to? What’s taking him so long…?’
It was a little while later when Queena finally returned to the manor that she was currently living in. The manor itself was tightly guarded by those from the Squad of Divine Grimness.
Upon entering the manor, Queena was immediately greeted by her subordinates as they shouted, “Welcome back, master!”
Seeing that she was in good spirits as Queena continued walking on, several of her puzzled subordinates found themselves thinking, ‘Did something good happen? Why’s the master so happy?’
Before they could ponder any further, they heard Queena casually ask, “Has anyone attempted to cause any trouble here during my two-day absence?”
“Not at all, master!”
“I see. Anything to report about Miss Fenderson?”
“She’s been staying in her room this entire time, Master! With that in mind, I’ve been ordering servants to take good care of her!” replied one of the subordinates.
“Excellent. Now go bring Miss Fenderson here. I have some things to tell her!” ordered Queena as she walked further into the manor.
Throughout her journey back, Queena had been keen on telling Jasmine that Gerald had finally agreed to be with her. After all, Jasmine had once told her that Gerald would only ever love his current lover. With that in mind, Queena wanted to properly ask Jasmine whether her statement still stood.
Perhaps it was due to Queena being so lonely for over thousands of years, but she found herself seeing Jasmine as a good friend whom she could confide in. While she had to admit that such intimate friendship was a rather new and strange experience for her, at least she finally had a person she could have a heart-to-heart talk with.
As she continued thinking about it, one of her servants suddenly began running—from the end of the hall—toward her as he shouted, “M-master! Something terrible has happened!”
“What’s wrong?” asked Queena with a slight frown.
“M-miss Fenderson…! S-she’s…” muttered the servant who was so scared that he didn’t even dare to finish his sentence.
“What’s wrong with her?” barked the subordinate from before.
“W-well! She was still in her room when I went over to bring her her breakfast earlier… Now, however, she’s… She’s gone missing…! And Hattie—her personal maid—has fallen into a coma as well!” reported the servant as she immediately knelt before Queena, utterly terrified.
Chapter 1365
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1365 “…What? She’s gone missing…?!” growled Queena in rage.
“P-please spare me, master…! She truly was still in her room earlier! While I did hear her talking to someone earlier, I didn’t pay much attention to it since I simply assumed that she was talking to Hattie! By the time I went in to check on her again, she was nowhere to be seen and Hattie was already in a coma!”
As the servant had said before, Hattie was the personal maid that Queena had assigned for Jasmine, and true to the servant’s words, the second Queena entered the room for herself, she found that Jasmine really was absent and that Hattie was still lying in a coma!
Following that, Queena closed her eyes slightly to concentrate on her surroundings.
A little while later, she opened them again before coldly saying, “…From what I can tell, she was rescued by others earlier. I believe they haven’t escaped too far, so launch an immediate search party for them around the area!”
Shuddering with fear, everyone immediately obeyed, running off to fulfill Jasmine’s orders.
Meanwhile, a slightly fearful Jasmine found herself by a large river as she continued trying to struggle free from the random middle-aged man who had kidnapped her.
The strange-looking person had appeared in her room about half an hour ago, and without saying a word, he had easily knocked Hattie out before bringing her all the way here at incredibly high speeds! In fact, he had been so fast that throughout their journey to the riverside, Jasmine had felt like she was flying!
Aside from Gerald and Queena, Jasmine hadn’t seen anyone this capable, and that was honestly what scared Jasmine the most. The fact that he had brought her to some large river that was surrounded by tall trees only served to increase her terror.
“Please, just let me free… Who even are you…?” asked the frightened Jasmine.
“Is there even a need to ask? I’m clearly the one saving you!” replied the middle-aged man with a faint smile.
“…Do you know Gerald? Was he the one who told you to come save me?” asked Jasmine, not knowing who else could be acquainted with such an exceptional person other than Gerald.
“…In a way. Regardless, even if he hadn’t told me to save you, I’d still have done so!” said the slightly hunchbacked man—who had also been carrying an odd, large bag on his back this entire time—as he flashed a slightly bitter smile.
Though his scar-filled face—that also littered with burn marks—would strike fear in just about anyone, the second Jasmine heard what he said, she was instantly filled with joy.
“So you really do know Gerald! Where is he now? Why didn’t he come over to save me himself?” asked Jasmine, hints of anxiousness in her voice.
“He’s been with me for a while, and he’s currently busy dealing with something important. Regardless, since you know Gerald well, I’m sure you’re well aware that he has a soft spot for you. With that in mind, as long as you’re still locked up by that woman, he won’t be able to eat or sleep well!” explained the middle-aged man.
Upon hearing that, Jasmine found herself overflowing with joy. So she was still significant to him! Well, maybe not significant, but at the very least, he was still worried for her!
It was at that moment that Jasmine realized that she didn’t yearn for much. After all, all it took for her to be satisfied was for Gerald to show concern about her, just like he currently was.
“…Hold on, you told me that even if Gerald hadn’t told you to save me, you’d still have done so. Why is that, sir?” asked Jasmine, feeling slightly bewildered.
For some odd reason, Jasmine now felt that the middle-aged man wasn’t as frightening as he had been before. While it probably had something to do with their brief conversation earlier, she felt that it was also because she was finally able to have a proper look at his eyes.
His gaze—whenever he looked at her—seemed particularly gentle, and anyone who saw it would be prompted to behave more friendly toward him.
“You truly do resemble your aunt, Jasmine! Like two peas in a pod! Actually, scratch that. You resemble Queta even more!” replied the man with a slight chuckle.
“…You… You know my name…? Actually, hold on, you even know who my aunt and cousin are? Who… Who exactly are you…?” asked the puzzled Jasmine.
“But of course I know who all of you are! Hell, it wouldn’t be a stretch for me to say that I know more about the Fendersons than you do!” said the man with a bitter smile before revealing a photograph that had been hidden under his sleeve… It was a photograph of Queta.
Being an extremely smart woman, the shocked Jasmine found herself carefully observing the middle- aged man’s eyes. Eventually, it hit her.
No wonder he felt so familiar… Not only did his eyes resemble Gerald’s, but the shape of their faces were similar as well!