“My father’s skull?” Dustin stared at the skull in the wooden box. His face darkened. He hated nothing more than others using the people close to him to threaten him, even if it was the remains of a family from many years ago. He could not quite believe it. His father had died more than twenty years ago, and his body was nowhere to be found. How did Brennan Aquila, patriarch of the Aquila family, get his skull? “You don’t believe me?” As if Brennan expected Dustin’s reaction, he took out a few pictures and threw them at Dustin. Dustin caught them and looked at them. The pictures were of a decapitated corpse! The corpse had a similar face to Dustin’s. The face looked angry and shocked, with its eyes wide open. Dustin felt as though someone had just hit him in the gut. Never had he imagined that his first glimpse of his father would be of his mutilated body. In an instant, rage surged within him. “That’s how your father died!” Brennan sneered. “Your father was beh
Did Dustin not care about the skull? As Dustin was about to close in on him, Brennan’s face grew vicious. “You made me do this!” he roared and tightened his grip on the skull to crush it. In that instant, Dustin vanished in a flash. Right after, there was a cold flash of steel. Brennan was holding onto nothing. He felt a cold chill where his arm was supposed to be. He turned to see something flying through the air. That was his arm. The shock of it overwhelmed him. He felt a chill go up to his head. The skull fell from his hand, and Dustin caught it. “That’s impossible…” Brennan’s face was filled with fear and disbelief. No average person could close that distance within such a short time, not even a sovereign grade fighter! How did Dustin do it? It should have taken only a fraction of a second, but Brennan had not even been able to crush the skull in his hand. Brennan stumbled backward with a pale face. The pain of losing his arm was not as great as the f
“Who was behind it all?” Dustin asked. “I don’t know,” said Brennan and shook his head. Dustin scowled and was just about to gesture to Blake to continue his killing when Brennan cried out anxiously, “I really don’t know! I’m not the only one. Most of the people who participated in the operation don’t know either. That person never showed his face. We only know that the order was passed down through the ranks. We don’t even know who exactly gave the order and who led everyone through it. “Many of the people who took part were drawn in by a bounty post on the global black market. We received a notification and gathered in one place before doing what we needed to do.” Dustin narrowed his eyes. The mastermind had acted with caution. Even if he made use of the special privilege given to him as the King of Hades to look into the global black market, the bounty was put up more than twenty years ago, and he might not be able to find any clues. “The bounty was put up anonymously.
Dustin sneered. “Certainly not. If you tell me, I can leave one person alive, but if you don’t, I’m going to annihilate your entire family.” Brennan’s face turned grim, but in the end, he could only sigh. Then, he whispered, “I can tell you that the person who gave the orders that day was someone with a red spider lily tattoo on the back of his hand.” Dustin’s face froze. Some organizations used tattoos to mark their members. That was a very common thing. But he had never heard of any organization that used a red spider lily tattoo on the backs of their hands. Dustin turned to Drake. “My Liege, I’ve never heard of such an organization before,” said Drake and bowed to him. “Look into it,” Dustin said. “Understood.” Drake left. “Anything else?” Dustin looked at Brennan. Brennan had a complicated look on his face. In the end, he said regretfully, “If I could turn back time, I would have made sure the Aquila family never took part in something like this.” Dustin’s f
Bianca was in a five-star luxury hotel six miles away from the Aquila family. In a presidential suite, she soaked in a bathtub. Her phone was right beside her. She was feeling great today and hummed a cheerful tune. She had no idea what had happened to the Aquila family. She did not care. She was certain that things would progress according to her plan. She had always looked down on Dustin and regarded him with disdain. Even if Dustin was no longer the person he was from the past, she still looked down on him. So, she believed that the last resort that she had provided the Aquila family with was enough to keep Dustin in check. “I told Brennan to keep Dustin alive. I’m going to toy with him on behalf of my cousins until he sinks into despair!” Bianca sneered. Soon, her phone rang. Bianca answered it. When she heard the news, her face changed. “What? Dustin left the Aquila family unharmed?!” she cried out in disbelief. Once she confirmed the news, she stood up from the
Dustin walked in front of the sovereign grade fighter and removed his mask. With just one glance, his face darkened. He could not see the fighter’s face at all. The poison had not just taken his life but had also corroded his face rapidly. Dustin had seen this sort of poison before in his medical books. Assassination organizations often used it to kill people and silence them. This person’s corpse would be reduced to a pool of blood within a short period of time and leave nothing behind, which also meant that Dustin would not be able to get any clues. The knowledge was a sobering burden on him. An organization capable of training such powerful assassins was certainly something to be feared. Soon, a Hell Guard showed up and greeted Dustin. “My Liege, Blake and Jennifer were ambushed,” the Hell Guard said. Dustin did not even listen to what had happened to them. He headed straight to where the Torell siblings were. When he arrived, Blake and Jennifer were pale, but th
The West family villa’s living room was jam-packed with people that morning. All the core family members were there, along with some Zimmer family members. The Zimmer family members were excited because Dustin had finally summoned them. The Wyatt family had gained a lot of capital recently, and the Zimmer family had lost because of it. They begged Dustin for help and joined Hell Hall, but Dustin had only asked them to wait. If Dustin did nothing about the whole situation, the Zimmer family was going to fall. “You’ll be using the money we got from the Aquila family as start-up capital,” Dustin said to the people. “From today, the West family and the Zimmer family will work together as strategic partners. I hope that you can gain your own footing in Lannopolis.” “Thank you, Master Fox. We won’t let you down!” The West family agreed to it happily. Ever since the Fox family was destroyed, the West family had faced persecution and had fallen from grace. Finally, they could mak
Before he could confront Bianca, she had sent her people to him. “How dare you address Miss Bianca directly? You clearly don’t know your place! You should be punished!” Lewis barked with a stern face as he pointed at Dustin and yelled. Dustin glanced at him calmly and said, “Yes. A punishment is definitely in order.” “Then, go ahead, or should I give you a hand with that?” Lewis sneered. The words had barely left his mouth when his vision blurred. Smack! A deafening slap echoed through the air. Lewis grimaced, and he was sent flying before he crashed headfirst into a nearby flower bed. When he raised his head, blood trickled from his nose and mouth. He was shocked as much as he was angry. He could not fathom who had hit him. He had not even seen it coming. He represented the Winter family. How could anyone here have the audacity to hit him?! He shouted in rage, “What the f*ck?! Are you mad?” Smack! Another blow struck him and sent him sprawling in the opposite
Clarence and the others felt insulted. “Punk, don’t regret your choice later! Even if you beg us, we won’t come back!” “That’s not likely to happen,” said Dustin and chuckled. Clarence and the others were even more livid. They all packed up their things in a huff and got ready to go. Simone was anxious. She wanted to make them stay, but everyone ignored her.“Dr. Boudin! Dr. Boudin!” As Clarence and the others were packing up, another physician suddenly rushed into the room in a panic. “A new patient was just transferred from Goodwill Hospital. He’s in a coma, but he’s coughing up blood. The files say it’s a brain condition, but tests aren’t showing where the problem is. Please hurry and take a look! “The patient’s family seems important. If we can’t save the patient, they’ll ruin the hospital!” “Oh?” Clarence raised an eyebrow. He was just thinking about how he could make things worse for Dustin when an opportunity presented itself immediately. “Please hurry and
“I’m so damn angry!” Clarence had never been so insulted before in his life. He was so mad that his face turned a shade of purple. He thought that Dustin and Simone would walk on eggshells around him and cater to his every whim to keep the hospital afloat. After all, he was the last resource the hospital had. Yet, he had never imagined that Dustin would not care at all. “You punk! Do you know what will happen if you fire me? Hmph! The hospital will go under immediately! There’s no chance of saving it!” Clarence said with a scoff. Dustin was terrifyingly calm. “On the contrary, I think that the hospital will do better without an old fart like you,” he said indifferently. “So, you should get lost. Don’t make me say it again!” “You… You…” Clarence’s mouth opened wide, but he could not say anything further. He had miscalculated. He definitely did not want to lose out on the significant benefits that being the assistant director of the hospital gave him. He did not u
“Who are you? Do you think you can boss us around? What are you shouting about? Do you have any manners at all?” someone yelled. “I am the new hospital director, Simone Langley!” Simone said angrily. No one seemed to care about that. It was clear that they knew Simone would show up, but it still did not matter. “So, you’re the new hospital director. Well, you’re certainly accomplished for your age. A hospital director so young…” Clarence said mockingly. “You still haven’t answered my question. Why are you playing cards during work hours? This is unacceptable.” Simone was furious. Clarence frowned. “Hey, miss, you’d better speak with some manners,” he said harshly as he glared at Simone. “Don’t think you can boss everyone around just because you’re the hospital director now.” Simone’s face reddened at Clarence’s tone of voice. Clarence smirked. He had gotten instructions early on from the main branch of the Langley family to create trouble for Simone. Besides, th
“Mr. Fox, the Langley family’s hospital is named Goodwill Hospital. They have their own pharmaceutical business and because they brought in a top grade physician a few years ago, they have a better reputation than the most prominent public hospital in Hattan.” Skyler was making a report to Dustin in the villa. “For the past two years, the Langley family has basically taken up the entire market share for the private hospital business in the area. Only a couple of small hospitals are still surviving.” Dustin chuckled softly when he heard that. “Buy the hospital closest to Goodwill Hospital,” he said calmly. “I will use what they look down upon the most to ruin their hospital.” … At the Langley family villa, they got the news about the purchase. “What? They’ve bought Peace Hospital?” Josiah had arranged for someone to keep an eye on what David and his family were doing. Once they found out about the purchase of Peace Hospital, the members of the main branch of the Langle
The person Killian addressed as Mr. Little took a few steps closer to him. He looked condescendingly at Killian. “It’s very simple. It’s because you offended someone you shouldn’t have,” the man said. “W-What does that mean?” Killian was in a daze. Dustin approached him with a smile. “You’re really bold to set me up on my own turf,” Dustin said sarcastically. “Your turf?” Killian looked at him in disbelief. “Everyone at the Antiquities Trading Hall obeys me. And yet, you dare to challenge me?” Dustin asked. Killian was instantly struck dumb. Luna was also taken aback. Her body shook violently. What? How could he call the shots here? Besides, they had never heard that the Antiquities Trading Hall had a secret boss. Killian and Luna were both stricken and nearly lost their reasoning. That was especially true for Killian. He knew that the Antiquities Trading Hall was a very powerful one. Even his father was polite to the people here. The owner was Dustin?! Ho
“How could I have lost? There’s no way I could have lost!” Killian was in complete disbelief. He acted like he was in a daze. He was filled with confusion, and he could not figure it out. He had an inside person giving him clues and knew the correct answer, so how could he have lost? ‘This makes no sense! This isn’t right!’ Killian screamed to himself. His face turned vicious. He could accept that he had lost 20 million dollars, but it was the other bet that was the issue. If he really had to crawl and bark like a dog, he would have no dignity left. He was the son of the Prolereid Group’s chairman. He could not afford to be humiliated like this! “What’s going on? How could we have lost?” Darren and Luna were both in disbelief. Neither of them had expected that this would happen. “Killian, didn’t you say you have connections? What happened?” they asked Killian anxiously. “How am I supposed to know?” Killian yelled grumpily. “This shouldn’t have happened. What went wr
“I pick this one,” Killian said. “I won’t pick the one you did,” said Dustin and chuckled softly. Killian, Darren, and Luna shared a meaningful look. They already knew which item was the authentic one. They were definitely going to win. Dustin would definitely lose! After they both made their choices, the host was about to announce the correct answer. “Hold on,” Killian suddenly said. “I want to up the stakes.” He smiled sinisterly as he stared at Dustin. “Whoever loses has to crawl out of here like a dog.” Everyone glanced at each other. It seemed that Killian had a massive grudge against Dustin. It was no wonder that he had been targeting the latter from the start. The additional bet was a huge insult. It did not matter which of them lost. The loser would lose his dignity and become a laughingstock. “Mr. Fox, this has nothing to do with the rules of the Antiquities Trading Hall. You have the right to choose. It wouldn’t matter if you don’t take this bet,” t
“For this round of the competition, you will be authenticating the most priceless items we have. It is a petrified coral. Its estimated value is 10 million dollars. You will each contribute 5 million dollars. You may bet 10 to 20 million dollars.” As per Killian’s request, the organizers skipped over the round with the Myrena Era pearls and brought out two specimens of petrified coral. The colors of the coral made everyone gasp. “Wow! I’m amazed that the Antiquities Trading Hall would use such a specimen as a competition item instead of auctioning it off. How generous!” “This is worth 10 million dollars. Whoever wins will make a killing!” “This is getting a bit out of hand…” Killian glared daggers at Dustin, and his gaze was vicious. “We’ll bet 20 million dollars. Do you dare to take the bet?” Dustin did not speak for a moment. “This isn’t about whether he dares to take the bet,” Luna said. “Look at how destitute he looks. It’s a miracle that he could fork out a millio
“It’s fine. Trust me, I will win all the money back,” Dustin said reassuringly. Simone’s face froze. Was this not the sort of thing that gamblers said all the time? When had such words ever come true? Simone never expected that Dustin would say such a thing and suddenly felt troubled. “What? Do you still have the guts to keep competing?” Killian and the others asked gleefully. “Let’s continue,” Dustin said. ‘You really overestimate yourself. You don’t even know what’s coming,’ they thought. Dustin was falling right into their trap. They wore disdainful looks and did not think that Dustin was a threat. What did it matter that Dustin had a decent eye for antiques? They were still playing with him like a cat played with its prey. Simone really wanted to stop the competition, but the second round had already begun. This time, two jade sculptures were placed on the table. The jade was magnificent and translucent, and the sculptures were about five inches tall. “T