Chapter 1016
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1016 Struggling with all she could, Xavia managed to momentarily break free. Immediately after, she pulled out a dagger from seemingly nowhere!
“Don’t move a step closer! My men are nearby! The way you said it, I’m assuming that you people have been following me for some time now!” warned Xavia as she waved the dagger around.
“Please trust us, Miss Xavia. Our boss is truly interested in working with you! Besides, you’ll also be getting something else in return!” said the foreigner maliciously as he casually began walking toward her.
As Xavia’s panic peaked, she heard a whisper of sorts saying, “Toss the dagger!”
Though nobody else seemed to have heard it, Xavia felt compelled to obey the order. As a result, she immediately tossed the dagger toward the foreigner!
The foreigner himself had been laughing while shaking his head before she tossed it. By the time the dagger left her hand, he was halfway through saying, “Miss Xavia, stop swinging that thing around! That’s rather rude of you, you kno-”
His sentence was cut short when the dagger—that he was sure he could easily avoid given how far it still was from him as he was talking—suddenly accelerated and punctured through the side of his stomach!
It was such a clean puncture that the dagger continued moving until it collided with a tree!
Grunting loudly as he held back from releasing a scream, the foreigner’s eyes went cold as his side continued bleeding profusely.
As he knelt on the ground, pressing against his freshly inflicted wound, the other foreigners had finally caught on to what they had just witnessed. As a result, they were all now feeling increasingly nervous.
“R-retreat! Retreat immediately!” shouted their leader as his subordinates carried him away in a hurry.
Xavia herself was now panting heavily. Both frightened and confused, her eyes were glued onto the dagger she had just thrown.
“…Who… Who are you? I know someone helped me! Thank you for saving me!” shouted Xavia respectfully. She wasn’t able to recognize the voice from earlier since Gerald had used his voice- changing device.
However, even after scanning through the area, she couldn’t seem to find traces of anyone even helping her.
“…I’m sure someone helped me… But who could it have been…?” muttered Xavia to herself, curious.
She was so sure that someone had saved her since, for one, nobody else seemed to have been able to hear the voice. Secondly, there was no way in hell that she could have managed to toss the dagger that powerfully. Someone else had definitely been pulling the strings in secret.
But who could it have been? If it was someone from the Long family, then they had no reason not to reveal themselves…
As she pondered on, one of her bodyguards suddenly came running over before saying, “Here you are, miss! Master called just now and asked us whether there was any progress on our cooperation with the Lovewells…”
“I see. Let’s head back first!” replied Xavia as she nodded her head somewhat unwillingly.
Soon after, evening came and by then, cars belonging to all the Lovewell family’s family members could be seen parked outside the Lovewell Manor.
As Zander, Theo, and Kaleb waited respectfully within the manor, a girl—who had been staring at the three men from a distance—stopped a servant who was walking past her before asking, “What’s the big occasion? Did my father do anything?”
“I’m not too sure about what’s going on either, miss! All I know is that the master is waiting for some people!”
“Odd… He’s been hiding quite a bit from us recently… How mysterious!”
The girl in question was none other than Haven Lovewell, and just as she was about to ask something else, a troop of her family’s bodyguards made their appearance and began walking out the front door.
Since she was used to seeing scenes like these, she didn’t say anything about it. Upon closer inspection, however, she noticed that one of the people within that group wasn’t wearing the same clothes as the other bodyguards.
Squinting her eyes to get a better look, they immediately widened seconds later as she muttered, “… Huh? G-Gerald?”
Chapter 1017
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1017 Haven was utterly shocked to see him there. She naturally remembered him since he had been quite an interesting guy when they first met on the train.
In her disbelief, she opened the main door in her attempt to confirm whether she had really seen him. However, she could only catch a glimpse of ‘Gerald’s’ back as he stepped into a car before her father closed the door behind him.
“Gerald!” shouted Haven as the cars swiftly drove off, unable to hear her cries.
Scratching the back of her head, she wondered if it really had just been her imagination. After all, why would he be in her house? What more, her father certainly wouldn’t personally open a car door for someone like him!
“Is something wrong, Haven?” asked Xareni as she and Quentin walked over to her.
“You’ll never guess who I saw, sis!”
“Who?”
“I saw Gerald!”
“And who is this, Gerald person?” asked Xareni with a slight frown.
“Have you already forgotten? He’s the guy we met inside the train!”
“That disgusting guy? You’re still talking to him? Why’s he even here?” scorned Quintin.
“You probably saw wrong, Haven… After all, if even Quintin isn’t aware of this, then Gerald couldn’t have possibly entered our home all willy-nilly!” added Xareni as she shook her head.
Despite Xareni constantly advising Haven to be more aware of her identity, the girl simply never listened. Rather than getting along more with other rich heirs like the Warners and Scotts, Haven simply preferred talking to ordinary people.
“It’s fine if neither of you choose not to believe me… However, I know for a fact that father was holding the door for him, or at least someone that looked like him! I just have to know the truth! I’m going after them now to ask father how he got acquainted with Gerald!” declared Haven rather excitedly as she quickly ran off.
“Come back right this instant, Haven! We’re still undergoing a sensitive period!” shouted Xareni as she anxiously stomped her foot in place.
“…Huh? What sensitive period?”
“I asked father why we had to stay indoors all the time just now and he finally gave me the truth. It’s a long story but for now, just know that we can’t let Haven run off alone! We have to get her back before she runs into danger!” replied Xareni as she and Quentin immediately began chasing after Haven.
Meanwhile, darkness was slowly encroaching across the sky as night approached.
A group of people was standing before a single man in front of Benril Lake which was located in the outskirts of the Logan Province.
“You’re a true Lovewell, Zander! To think that you actually gathered a group of people to take me down! I’m the one and only Damian Wake! You’re ridiculous for thinking you even stand a chance!” said the
lone man—standing opposite of Zander’s group—who was currently supporting the weight of his entire body with only a single hand.
Damian looked to be in his mid-thirties and his eyes reflected his immense bloodlust. A clear scar could also be seen on his unshaven face, and he looked generally unwelcoming as a person.
“I’ll make sure you’ll pay dearly for killing the two children of our family within the past month, Damian! You know very well why your family deserved to be banished! Don’t you remember all the dirty deeds all of you have done?” shouted Zander.
“Shut up! I don’t care about what you did and I don’t care who you brought along to fight me either! All I know is that everyone here except for you, Zander, will die by my hands today! Don’t worry, you’ll eventually get to die too once I make you witness the death of all the other Lovewell children!”
“You ignorant prick! Let’s see how you’ll even kill all of us!” roared Theo as he immediately charged at the arrogant man.
While Theo was both strong and fierce, he was nowhere near Damian’s level of skill.
Eventually, Damian got bored of blocking Theo’s attacks and launched a sudden punch at him! Caught off guard, Theo knew he was too late to block or avoid the incoming attack.
Before the hit could land, however, Theo heard someone shout, “Allow me to assist!”
Chapter 1018
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1018 The voice belonged to Kaleb and the old man managed to block Damian’s critical blow just in time.
“Would you look at that! He must’ve endlessly trained himself to launch such a perfected punch!” said Gerald as he continued observing the fight from the side-lines.
Gerald had arrived at that conclusion since Damian’s skills weren’t all that different from all the other people he had previously killed. However, Damian was different from them since his execution of each of those skills was extremely powerful!
If Gerald had to guess, Damian had probably become a champion much earlier than Kaleb. After all, a champion’s inner strength naturally grew stronger the longer they had that title. In a way, it was just like wine. The longer it was left underground, the more exquisite the taste.
While both Kalen and Damian were akin to exquisite wine, Gerald knew that Kaleb wouldn’t be able to take Damian down.
After all, Gerald’s keen eyes had registered that though Kaleb was definitely more experienced in fighting, Damian’s inner strength was much greater than the old man’s.
By the time fifty rounds of non-stop battling had taken place, Kaleb was already stumbling slightly as he held a hand against his injured chest. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to take much more.
Meanwhile, Haven herself had been hiding within the woods near Benril Lake as she continued watching the fight that had been taking place for quite a while now.
She soon got the shock of her life when she felt a hand being placed on her shoulder, followed by a familiar voice saying, “So here you are, Haven! What are you doing here?”
Covering her mouth as she turned around to see who had said that, she immediately replied, “…Sis? Quintin? What are both of you doing here?”
“We came over because we were worried about you! What are you even looking at…?” asked Xareni.
“Shh! Quieter! Look there! While I can’t really see too clearly from here, isn’t that dad and Gerald over there?” whispered Haven excitedly.
“Would you just quit it already with that Gerald person? Can’t you see that a fight’s going on now? Listen, dad told me earlier that our family has an enemy that goes by the name of Damian Wake. Since dad is here, one of the two fighting men must be Damian! Thank god we caught up to you in time! Otherwise, you could’ve ruined all his plans!” replied Xareni, shocked to find out that they were currently standing so close to their family’s enemy.
Upon hearing that, all three of them exchanged glances before continuing to witness the fight. They didn’t dare to leave for fear that they may get caught in the process, consequently ruining their father’s plans.
“Master Theo doesn’t look like he can take much more, Mr. Crawford! You have to help him!” said Zander as he pointed at Damian.
Gerald simply took in a deep breath before resting his arms against his back.
“…M-Mr. Crawford? You can’t possibly be thinking about retreating now, right…? I’m betting my entire family’s life here tonight!” stuttered Zander who was getting increasingly nervous after noticing that Gerald didn’t look like he was going to make a move any time soon.
“C-could there be any other conditions that we could fulfill for you? Whatever they are, I’ll definitely do my best to get them done!” begged Zander.
“…I heard that the Lovewell ancestors used to be caretakers for beasts… Your family owns a manuscript called the Book of Beasts, correct?” asked Gerald.
Zander was momentarily stunned the second he heard that.
After looking briefly at Kaleb’s condition, Zander smiled at Gerald before saying, “Mr. Crawford, though my ancestors may have used that skill, it has unfortunately been lost to time. I mean just look at us, we clearly aren’t utilizing that skill anymore!”
Not hearing what he wanted to, Gerald simply slipped his hands into his pocket, refusing to move an inch.
Watching as Kaleb got thrown to the ground, Zander’s nervousness was now peaking.
Zander had initially thought that Gerald could easily be bought over by money and the Lovewell’s high status. In fact, he had even assumed that Gerald would continue helping his family in the future since Kaleb was their ally.
Now, however, he realized just how wrong he had been.
To think that Gerald had only been motivated to help them since he had something that he wanted from their family! Now that he thought about it, Gerald must’ve only stayed for so long since Kaleb had told him about the Lovewell’s ancestral history sometime before!
Regardless, it was true that the Book of Beasts was in his family’s hands.
By using it, the ancestors of the Lovewell family could understand the language of beasts! In fact, that was how the Lovewells started their family business. While the manuscript was passed down generation after generation, in the late nineties, the Lovewells finally abandoned the skill. After all, being able to understand beasts wasn’t exactly as useful to them as it was for their ancestors. Regardless, the Book of Beasts was still a treasure from their ancestors so the Lovewells had always kept it safe with them.
It currently resided in the Lovewell Manor and though it wasn’t really in use, Zander was well aware of how precious the ancient manuscript was. He also now knew that Gerald had been waiting patiently this entire time to force him to hand the book over.
“…Fine! I’ll give you the book as a token of appreciation if you zsave my family!”
Chapter 1019
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1019 “Deal!” replied Gerald with a smile.
Gerald himself was done with doing favors for others. In order to get what he wanted, he knew that he had to become a selfish person. After all, at this point, there really wasn’t a reason for him to do things that didn’t benefit him anymore.
The moment Gerald finally agreed to help, Kaleb and Theo were flung over to his direction and both of them landed at his feet.
“Hahaha! Did you really bring these idiots over to defend you, Zander? Who else is there? Come on, now!” roared Damian before laughing hysterically.
Upon hearing that, Gerald began walking calmly toward him.
“…Hmm? What’s this then? A little boy? Is there truly nobody else from the Lovewell family? Who the hell even is this?” said Damian as he shook his head while looking at Gerald.
“I’ve heard that you’ve been learning some skills that originated from Northeast Asia! Is that true?” asked Gerald as he looked back at Damian.
Hearing that, Damian was temporarily stunned. After all, he knew that he had concealed his identity extremely well. What more, he had been in hiding for the longest time. Despite that, this boy here almost sounded like he knew what he had been doing this entire time.
“…How do you know about that?” asked Damian as he raised a brow.
“Just a hunch. Speaking of which, could Sven Westmore be one of your disciples?” asked Gerald again.
Eyes now widened in shock, Damian instantly replied, “He is! Do you know him?”
“Well of course I know him. I was his killer,” replied Gerald.
“…What? You?” said Damian, more astonished than anything.
“…Humph! I guess looks can be deceiving! Still, know that Sven is just an outer disciple of the Tekken! Killing him is a piece of cake, so I hope you aren’t thinking that you’re anywhere near worthy in my eyes! However, the fact remains that you’ve killed my disciple! I’ll avenge his death by killing you!” roared Damian as he charged at Gerald.
In a flash, Gerald responded with his own punch, and both their fists met. As the sound of colliding fists was heard, the crunching of bones followed swiftly after as Damian found himself falling backward.
Roaring in pain, Damian held on to his arm as he turned to look at his elbow. Gerald’s punch had been so powerful that Damian’s arm bone was now protruding out of his skin! This was only from the force of a single punch! What kind of strength even was this?!
Kaleb and Theo themselves were now wide-eyed in disbelief as they stared at Damian’s terror-stricken expression.
“…You… You’re so young yet you’re already at the level of a champion! Even your inner strength is overwhelming!” shouted the horrified Damian.
“Cease this nonsense and end your own life to spare yourself the misery!” replied Gerald as he shook his head.
Upon hearing that, Damian’s gaze went dark as he clenched his teeth while enduring the pain. Nodding, he then said, “…Fine! I’ll do it myself!”
With that, the man took a dagger out and aimed its sharpened end at his chest.
All was silent for a moment… Until Damian tossed the dagger aimed straight for Gerald’s face! Grabbing a handful of sand, he then tossed it in Gerald’s direction as well before making a wild dash away from all of them!
Gerald himself simply took a step to the side, avoiding everything that Damian had just thrown at him.
Zander, on the other hand, anxiously began shouting, “After him, Mr. Crawford! He’s getting away!”
In response, Gerald simply flicked his hand slightly toward Damian’s direction, a slight whistling sound following immediately after.
Chapter 1020
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1020 Following that sound, a glimpse of something flying extremely quickly could be seen, and barely a second later, Damian’s screams of agony filled the air!
Not even questioning the self-returning dagger, the moment Zander saw Damian’s body flop lifelessly to the ground, he immediately started excitedly shouting, “H-he’s dead! He’s finally dead!”
Turning to look at Gerald, he then said, “Mr. Crawford, you’ve done a massive favor for the Lovewells! I must repay you properly on behalf of my family!”
“As was promised, all I want is the Book of Beasts!” replied Gerald as he returned a subtle smile to Zander.
Immediately after hearing that, Zander froze in place.
As he began trying to change the topic, Haven herself—who had been hiding with her siblings in the forested area this entire time—covered her mouth as she said, “D-did you see that sis? That really is Gerald! And… And he’s amazing?!”
Xareni herself had been focused on him for a while now.
‘To think that Gerald came over to the Logan Province to help father… What an unpredictable man!’ Xareni thought to herself, now extremely impressed with Gerald.
Midnight came shortly after and it was then when several of the Lovewells met up in the Lovewell manor’s meeting hall.
While the Lovewells had initially been overjoyed to know that Damian—their biggest enemy—was finally dead, all of them became glum again as soon as Zander told them about Gerald’s request.
“No matter how great he is, at his core, he’s still just some reckless peasant! How dare he even demand for the Book of Beasts!” shouted one of the family members as he slammed his fist against the table in anger.
Zander himself had been playing around a keychain for a while now, seemingly deep in thought. Closing his eyes momentarily, the moment he opened them again, his tone was serious as he said, “… Well, this is all my fault to begin with… I won’t deny that I had initially thought that no matter how great he was, he was essentially just a killing machine. I had assumed that he would be pleased as long as we gave him money or women. I even went so far as to think about chances for him to work for us in the future! However, I failed to realize that in the end, what he was truly after was the Book of Beasts! And here I thought he was helping us because of Kaleb’s status! To think that that man actually threatened me for the book during a life or death situation!”
“Master, the Book of Beasts is a treasure that belongs only to the Lovewells! We can’t just give it to him!” shouted another family member.
“I’m well aware of that. However, I had promised to hand him the book and if we don’t give it to him, he could grow upset! Unlike Kaleb, we can’t just dismiss him easily. After all, he’s even more dangerous than Damian! That itself is the biggest concern!”
“Hahaha! Have no worries, brother, for I have an idea! If all goes well, then not only will we be able to keep the Book of Beasts for ourselves, but we’ll also be able to rid ourselves of this Gerald person!” announced a middle-aged man as he squinted his eyes.
“What’s your plan, Zayn?” asked Zander.
“Heh, after hearing about Gerald, I ordered my men to investigate more about him. Granted, I didn’t get many results. I did, however, manage to find out that he’s currently carrying a very large secret!” replied Zayn.
“While we don’t really have any connections with the Moldells in Logan, did you know that those from their family had ordered all the wealthy businessmen down South to kill a youth by the name of Gerald about a year ago? If I’m not mistaken, the Gerald who had taken Damian down also came from the south. He looks exactly like how the Moldells had described their Gerald back then as well! Do you think that he’s the one they’re looking for, brother?” added Zayn with a smile.
After hearing all that, Zander finally placed his keychain down, feeling that he had just learned a great deal.
“If everything you’ve said is true, then I can see where you’re coming from, Zayn! With the Moldells being so powerful and having so many great people in their family, being able to use that to our advantage would be great!” replied Zander as he laughed.
“But Master, for what reason would the Moldells have to help us? After all, we have nothing of interest for them! If things go south, we may even end up getting on their bad side! Then again, it’s no secret that the Moldells have always had plans to take over our family. They’ve only refrained from doing so since we have thousands of years’ worth of history in the Logan Province. They’re also well aware that challenging us here could very well affect the province’s economy. Regardless, with all that in mind, do you really think that they’d even consider lending us a hand?” said another person from the group as they raised their concerns.
“Of course they would! Don’t forget that we have the person they’re hunting for! Even if they’re not doing it for us, they’d still take Gerald away which is exactly what we want! The problem now is that we
need to find someone to hold him back. If we manage to recruit him, then we’ll spare his life. If he chooses not to join us, then his fate will be decided by the Modells!” declared Zander.
As the meeting continued on without any signs of ending soon, the lights in Gerald’s room remained on as well.
He had been studying the map that Kaleb had given him, and from what he had learned, the map was definitely going to be very helpful for when Gerald actually traversed through the woods.
All of a sudden, a knock could be heard from the door.