Dan's eyes narrowed as he looked outside the window. "I have three objectives. Firstly, I wanted to see the legendary Harvey York myself. How can I remain calm if I don't see him myself and see what kind of monster he is? How can my followers remain assured? Especially when an outsider like him has been causing all kinds of commotions in Grand City for so long and coming for my rightful place."Neve bit her lip. "That fool Harvey is really quite disgusting."But when Neve said that, her expression looked a little guilty. Dan acted as if he didn't see it and simply said, "Secondly, I wanted to give Clarion some pressure. He failed to complete something so simple and didn't contact me after such a huge loss, and he let Harvey stir up a storm in Grand City. I need him to know that all of this is within my control."Neve observed him thoughtfully. "Thirdly, I need the entire Grand City to know that everything is still within my control. Just because Harvey is here, doesn't mean so
Harvey didn't have much to say when it came to enjoying a drink with someone. From a certain angle, it represented the host's sincerity.He glanced at Alexei. Without wasting any time, he immediately got into Clarion's car.Half an hour later, Harvey was back in Grand City and arrived at Parkerville's territory.They arrived at a huge estate at the border of Grand City, filled with primal forests. They could see plenty of wildlife within.When Harvey and Clarion entered this place, they saw an aged man with white hair in black garb, holding a bow and firing at prey far away. No prey could escape his rain of arrows. Harvey counted all manners of beasts among his targets—panthers, wolves, and tigers.He was impressed with Otto's archery skills. Otto didn't miss. Harvey could tell that he didn't even channel the energy within him or use any martial arts technique. He simply used his physical abilities.All Harvey could say was that it was so rare to see an aged man with such strengt
Clap! Clap! Clap!A loud clapping sound filled the air. They saw Otto walking over, clapping. He looked at Harvey with an admiring gaze."As expected of one who managed to strike back against multiple enemies. Not only can you fight, but your mastery over your emotions isn't something the new generation in Grand City, who has enjoyed life so excessively, can compare to. Clarion has been poking the bear again and again. You're already showing us some respect by letting him live." The more Otto spoke to Harvey, the more impressed he was. Originally, he wanted to show off to Harvey. Yet, Harvey showed no shock and remained calm. Harvey's control over his emotions was something that even Otto didn't have in his youth. When he thought of that, his impression of Harvey improved even more.Harvey wasn't feeling too proud about it. Instead, he smiled and said, "Thank you for your praise. May I know your name…?"Otto said gently, "Didn't Clarion tell you? My name is Otto Parker."Harv
Otto didn't waste his time. He signaled a maid to get a wet towel to clean his hands. After that, he sat down directly and personally brewed a cup of warm Phoenix Tails tea.Harvey picked it up and gave it a sip. He praised it, saying, "The taste and the temperature are superb. This is very good, indeed. I have a few antique cups from the mid-12th century made by the imperial potters at the time. I believe those cups are best suited for tasting the tea. I'll have my men make some arrangements after I'm back and send it to you."When Otto heard about it, his eyes widened with interest. "Antique cups from the 12th century? Good, good! I definitely won't say no to something like that. Forget about having one-third of your talents; if my son has one-third of your skills in navigating social situations, I'll be content!"When Otto said that, the more he looked at Clarion, the more upset he felt. It was as if he wanted to kick his son to the curb.Harvey smiled quietly and didn't react t
Clarion shuddered and looked at Otto in disbelief after he heard what Harvey had to say. He never expected that his old man, who wanted to retire, had been making plans for him all along.Otto gave Harvey a deep look before waving his hand and said, "Alright. Have someone prepare the wine! I'm going to accept Harvey as my younger brother now. Let me put it this way. I didn't have a daughter. If I do, I'd want you to become my son-in-law no matter what! You can bring prosperity to my family!"Otto's expression was one of disappointment.Harvey's mouth twitched as he said, "That's too much, Mr. Otto. It's pointless, too…""Alright, let's talk about something useful then," Otto said with a laugh. "No matter what your intentions are from now on, whether you want to take all three halls or you want to become the mayor, you'll have my full support!"-The drinks took an entire night. When it was almost dawn, Harvey moved to leave.Luckily, they were only drinking bottles of 30-year-ol
"What other situations are developing right now? No matter how many changes there are, the only person who can become mayor is Dan. Vaida is mentally unstable, and Alexei is useless. The two of them will never have the chance to become mayor," Clarion said determinedly.So what if Harvey was unmatchable in terms of martial arts? So what if he was the Representative of Country H Martial Arts Alliance?In Grand City, was there another outside the Seven Families capable of becoming the mayor? Not to mention, at least half of the seven families will support Dan in becoming the mayor. In a situation like this, can Harvey do anything impactful in Grand City? He would fall eventually.Clarion believed that he could befriend Harvey, true. He knew he owed Harvey one, but there was no need to bet his entire family on him."Oh, you. You still can't think this through," Otto said with a sigh. "Why don't you think about how he managed to get his identity as Representative of Country H Martial A
Clarion sneered when he heard that. "Harvey's dead meat if he goes against the Chief Instructor! No matter how powerful he is, can he face off and win against the Chief Instructor? He was the living legend of the Ministry of Defense!"Otto shook his head. "It'd be fine if it was just the Top Ten families and the Five Hidden Families. They like to scatter their investments. But there's something different about the Four Pillars. When they invest, they're usually very accurate. They never fail when they have to pick a die. Since they're choosing to side with Harvey, it means there are factors we don't know. I don't know the reason, but it doesn't stop us from investing in Harvey to a certain degree, understand?"Otto had already stepped away from the front line, but his long history of being in a power struggle made him extremely sensitive to certain changes in the wind. From some clues, he could already find out a lot of things.For example, Harvey was an extremely rare commodity.
While Otto and Clarion were both reflecting on the matter regarding the casino, the butler for the estate ran in. He was holding his phone and yelled, "Mr. Clarion! We have a problem!"Otto and Clarion instantly looked at him with a slight frown. The butler gave the phone to Otto. When the two of them read the news app on the screen, they blinked in surprise. "Clarion Parker and Sky Plane Had a Fallout! Sky Plane Suspected of Committing Genocide!"The words were red and the title shocking.Clarion's expression turned dark at this moment. He gritted his teeth and growled, "Which idiot… Which idiot wrote this? I'm going to kill him!"This pinned the death of everyone at the casino on him. It didn't matter how talented he was and how powerful his family background was, he couldn't afford to bear this blame! This could completely sever the second branch of the Parker family!Otto's expression turned dark as well. He knew how bad this would be once the news spread. Even if there was
"Harvey, I don't think you should go to your training hall late unless absolutely necessary. I believe Sverker and Ghostface will definitely come attack you. Even if you must go, let me know in advance. I'll have someone from Belladonna Cult accompany you," Vaida said seriously.It was obvious that she didn't spend her days idly after she came back. She had already eliminated certain elements within the Belladonna cult and regained some control over the cult.Harvey simply smiled after hearing that. "Don't worry. I can handle it myself.""That's right, Senior Vaida! He's one of the top elites in the world!" Alexei said almost in a mumble as he stuffed a sticky date pudding into his mouth. "You didn't see just how good he was back in the casino. The Nine Wicked Blades from the Origin Sword Style was quite dangerous, yes? But in the end? They lost to him, and he only used one finger! You can't compare his powers with ordinary people."Alexei quickly gobbled up all the food on the tab
Hearing the sincerity in Dan's voice, Clarion was at a sudden loss for words. He had said so much and did nothing wrong, but why must he be the one to take the fall?Did they know nothing about the meaning of forever?No… They knew—they knew exactly what was happening here.Clarion had a feeling that if he took these accusations upon himself, there was only one path waiting for him—an extremely painful death.Coming to this realization, Clarion took a deep breath and said slowly, " I'll say it one more time. You can order me to die, and you can even make me disappear forever, but you cannot destroy my reputation forever. Between losing my reputation and death… I would rather die!"As soon as he finished, he kicked the coffee table in front of Dan and left the office without looking back.-"Tsk! I didn't expect Dan to have made such a lapse of judgment. Regardless of what happened, Clarion was still loyal to him. Even though he became somewhat hesitant after I saved him, he stil
Hearing that, Neve was well aware of Clarion's frustration. If things were to continue like this, Clarion would become Dan's puppet even if he remained unscathed.Dan likely intended to stabilize his social circle and prevent Clarion from aligning with Harvey. For some reason, Neve felt that forcing Clarion in such a manner might not be beneficial."Alright, Clarion. We're all adults here," Poisonless said with a smile, trying to ease the tension. "All of us here know full well of your calculations. While you've been with Dan all these years, you have never fully dedicated yourself to him. You acted like a fencesitter so that when the time comes, you can place your bets on someone else."And now, instead of holding you responsible over what happened in the past, Dan is giving you a chance to redeem yourself. By sacrificing your reputation, you'll be able to regain his full trust. No matter how you look at it, it's a good deal."Also, do you honestly believe it's mere coincidence
Dan looked nonchalant. Feigning sincerity, he said calmly to Clarion, "I have two reasons for doing this. "Firstly, I want to prevent this matter from affecting others. Since you've already been dragged into the mud, it's better for you to take the fall alone and protect everyone else. Secondly, it's clear that Harvey York is the one who has offended Sky Plane and you're simply taking the fall for him. I did this so I could anger Harvey."I've already thought of a solution to resolve this issue for you. All you need to do now is to release a statement clarifying that the person Sky Plane is really going for is Harvey. Criticize him, and the public opinion should shift in your favor."You should trust us. Public opinion is still ours to control," Dan said confidently. He shrugged, as if he had everything under control. "There's no way Harvey will survive this unscathed. I've already received news that Origin Sword Style's Sverker and Origin Ninjutsu's Ghostface had left Sky Plan
But Clarion didn't care about Neve's signal despite how much he liked her.He simply looked straight at Dan and said slowly, "It's my fault to come here without an invitation, but I have a reason to do so! Something's making me unable to hold myself back! I hope you can give me an explanation…"Clarion pulled out his phone and tapped open a news article, putting it in front of Dan. When Neve saw how Clarion dared to question Dan directly, her expression darkened. She instinctively glanced at the content, and her eyes twitched. While Dan did say that he would pin the blame on Clarion, she didn't expect that Dan would make Clarion take the fall for everything.Neve was smart enough to see the truth—someone was doing this to get back at Dan, and Clarion was only taking the fall. However, she didn't say it out loud so as not to complicate matters. Dan didn't reply and simply asked curiously, "Why do you think that this is my doing and not that Harvey you've aligned with right now?
While Otto and Clarion were both reflecting on the matter regarding the casino, the butler for the estate ran in. He was holding his phone and yelled, "Mr. Clarion! We have a problem!"Otto and Clarion instantly looked at him with a slight frown. The butler gave the phone to Otto. When the two of them read the news app on the screen, they blinked in surprise. "Clarion Parker and Sky Plane Had a Fallout! Sky Plane Suspected of Committing Genocide!"The words were red and the title shocking.Clarion's expression turned dark at this moment. He gritted his teeth and growled, "Which idiot… Which idiot wrote this? I'm going to kill him!"This pinned the death of everyone at the casino on him. It didn't matter how talented he was and how powerful his family background was, he couldn't afford to bear this blame! This could completely sever the second branch of the Parker family!Otto's expression turned dark as well. He knew how bad this would be once the news spread. Even if there was
Clarion sneered when he heard that. "Harvey's dead meat if he goes against the Chief Instructor! No matter how powerful he is, can he face off and win against the Chief Instructor? He was the living legend of the Ministry of Defense!"Otto shook his head. "It'd be fine if it was just the Top Ten families and the Five Hidden Families. They like to scatter their investments. But there's something different about the Four Pillars. When they invest, they're usually very accurate. They never fail when they have to pick a die. Since they're choosing to side with Harvey, it means there are factors we don't know. I don't know the reason, but it doesn't stop us from investing in Harvey to a certain degree, understand?"Otto had already stepped away from the front line, but his long history of being in a power struggle made him extremely sensitive to certain changes in the wind. From some clues, he could already find out a lot of things.For example, Harvey was an extremely rare commodity.
"What other situations are developing right now? No matter how many changes there are, the only person who can become mayor is Dan. Vaida is mentally unstable, and Alexei is useless. The two of them will never have the chance to become mayor," Clarion said determinedly.So what if Harvey was unmatchable in terms of martial arts? So what if he was the Representative of Country H Martial Arts Alliance?In Grand City, was there another outside the Seven Families capable of becoming the mayor? Not to mention, at least half of the seven families will support Dan in becoming the mayor. In a situation like this, can Harvey do anything impactful in Grand City? He would fall eventually.Clarion believed that he could befriend Harvey, true. He knew he owed Harvey one, but there was no need to bet his entire family on him."Oh, you. You still can't think this through," Otto said with a sigh. "Why don't you think about how he managed to get his identity as Representative of Country H Martial A
Clarion shuddered and looked at Otto in disbelief after he heard what Harvey had to say. He never expected that his old man, who wanted to retire, had been making plans for him all along.Otto gave Harvey a deep look before waving his hand and said, "Alright. Have someone prepare the wine! I'm going to accept Harvey as my younger brother now. Let me put it this way. I didn't have a daughter. If I do, I'd want you to become my son-in-law no matter what! You can bring prosperity to my family!"Otto's expression was one of disappointment.Harvey's mouth twitched as he said, "That's too much, Mr. Otto. It's pointless, too…""Alright, let's talk about something useful then," Otto said with a laugh. "No matter what your intentions are from now on, whether you want to take all three halls or you want to become the mayor, you'll have my full support!"-The drinks took an entire night. When it was almost dawn, Harvey moved to leave.Luckily, they were only drinking bottles of 30-year-ol