Dustin frowned when he heard that. “What? You’re not selling it? Are you worried I won’t be able to afford it?” Timothy’s face darkened. “Sir, the man before you is a criminal guilty of the most heinous crimes. Meanwhile, this gentleman is an accomplished young man from a respected family with great position and power. I think you surely know who you should sell it to, right?” Elisa said meaningfully. Howard shot her an icy glance. “The Sorensen family has never much cared for background or power, only the measure of a man.” Howard did not give in. Elisa was so mad that she was heaving. “If you want an old ingredient of the Sorensen family, then you must be able to pass the Sorensen family’s challenge to get it,” Howard said slowly. “What kind of challenge?” Both Dustin and Timothy asked at the same time. “Come with me.” Howard walked into the Sorensen family villa’s grounds, and Dustin quickly followed him. “Stand guard at all points outside. Don’t let Fox e
How was it that this pathway could only be walked by sovereign grade fighters? Timothy and Elisa were distraught. Timothy had always been considered a prodigy and praised for his achievements. He was stricken by the fact that he did not meet the minimum requirement for this test. “If Timothy can’t try, how can Dustin? What’s going on? Don’t tell me he’s a sovereign grade fighter!” Elisa said angrily. The moment Elisa said that, Timothy froze. Elisa herself went stiff after she realized what she had said. They looked at Dustin in disbelief. Could it be that Dustin was a sovereign grade fighter? Elisa did not have a good idea of the grades in the martial world. All she knew was that a sovereign grade fighter was very powerful. Even though she had seen Dustin fight many times, she never thought that he might be that powerful. Since most people who fought Dustin were taken down in just one strike, Elisa could never really tell how strong Dustin was. It was only at
At that moment, Timothy was completely exhausted. He did not have an ounce of energy left in his body. “What a terrifying knife!” he muttered. He was still reeling from fear. He finally understood the horror and danger of that pathway. “It’s your turn, kid,” Howard said. Dustin walked onto the path confidently. Elisa and Timothy stared at his feet. They wanted to see Dustin scream and get hurt. They wanted him to suffer the same fate, if not worse, than Timothy. Yet, Dustin moved steadily onward and did not look at all distressed. After he took his first step, he continued on with the second and third steps. Timothy gritted his teeth. His nails dug into his palms. The difference between them was obvious to see. He had been so conceited. When he had taken a single step onto the pathway, he had been repelled and seriously injured. Meanwhile, Dustin had easily taken three steps down. They were not on the same level. Howard observed Dustin’s steps in
The day after his visit to the Sorensen family villa, Dustin fed Irene the antidote. After monitoring her condition, Dustin frowned. He had to find the final ingredient quickly. If he failed, Irene would soon slip into a vegetative state fully. “I want to go out for a walk. I’ve been lying down for days. I feel like I’m rotting,” Irene said with a bitter smile. “Sure. I’ll go with you,” Dustin said. Irene was thrilled. She got up and got dressed. When women claimed they wanted to go for a walk, they usually meant shopping. Irene was no different. Irene dragged Dustin straight to Lannopolis’s largest mall. At that moment, the leader of Hell Hall, the King of Hades himself, had become a mere tool for carrying shopping bags. The West family had fallen a long time ago, so they were not exactly wealthy. Irene had been brought up well, so she was not extravagant. Although she bought a lot of stuff, they were not expensive. Dustin noticed all of this. When they lef
Dustin’s adoptive father had been a formidable man. It would not be surprising even if one of the Seven Clans of Central Harbor pledged themselves in service of the Wyatt family, let alone a prominent family in Lannopolis. “Fox, if something happens to Phoebe, I’ll make sure you die painfully!” Jaxon said threateningly. “You don’t have what it takes to threaten me,” Dustin said flatly. Jaxon’s gaze turned vicious. He was about to rush forward and grab Dustin’s collar. Elisa paled and pulled Jaxon back. Dustin was a sovereign grade fighter, and Jaxon could not beat him. “What’s this? Are you here to shop for clothes, too?” Elisa looked into the boutique. It seemed like she had found to attack him in at least one aspect. Her expression turned mocking. “Dustin, you should know that this boutique isn’t a place for just anyone to shop at. Every item of clothing inside is exorbitantly priced. It’s not something most people can afford. “Maybe you’re at the wrong place? You
“Let me help you look.” Seeing that Irene was taking a long time to choose something, Dustin went to help her. Irene watched as Dustin looked around. On the surface, she seemed unaffected, but anxiety twisted her insides into a knot. She was terrified that Dustin would choose something very expensive, and they would not be able to afford it. Elisa and Jaxon watched from the side. They were just waiting for Dustin and Irene to embarrass themselves. Luckily, Dustin was considerate and did not linger on the clothing that was overly expensive. Dustin took a long time to find something he liked. He did not feel like buying something along this price range. “What are you two doing? You won’t be able to find anything cheap even if you look through the entire boutique. There’s no need to force it if you can’t afford to shop here. What’s the point of going into debt just for your pride?” Elisa said with a smirk. “Enough. There’s no need to keep faking it on my account. It’s
Jaxon Chandler turned around, glanced at Irene, and shook his head. This beautiful woman was with Dustin, who was destined for ruin. If she was with him, she would not need to endure such humiliation. “Dustin, why don’t we just return the dress?” Irene whispered. “Why should we? It’s just around seven hundred thousand dollars.” Dustin smiled. “This is only a fraction of the cost of the Verdigris Emerald.” He wanted to tell Irene that seven hundred thousand dollars was nothing. He had been willing to give her that rare Verdigris Emerald. Why would he feel distressed for seven hundred thousand dollars? But Irene still felt uneasy. The Verdigris Emerald was just a jewel. It did not have the same impact as losing cold hard cash. Seven hundred thousand for a dress seemed overly extravagant to her and lacked real meaning. “Why? Do you not like this dress?” asked Dustin and smiled at her as he looked in the direction where Elisa and Jaxon had disappeared. “Didn’t they say th
Dustin looked calm as he led Irene upstairs while being watched by the service assistant. He was composed, but Irene was not. At this time, Irene’s emotions were in turmoil. She was overwhelmed with shock and excitement. The membership of this clothing store was a symbol of status. Many people wanted to be members here, but they did not have the right qualifications.Irene knew that the descendants of the families in Lannopolis wanted to become a VIP here because it would be something to brag about. It was so hard to get recognized, but how did Dustin achieve that? Why would he own the symbol of status? The Panther Gang was powerful, but its underground status was not recognized by Yara Couture, which cared about its reputation. Even the leader of the Panther Gang could not get a VIP membership here. “How… How are you a VIP here?” Irene asked softly.“I have got lots of memberships,” Dustin said. “I have countless memberships in high-end internet cafes and restaurants.”
“You should know where all the nerve centers are in the body, right?” Dustin asked. “I… I do…” “Good,” said Dustin and told her to step forward. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Is he really going to let an intern physician treat Germaine? This is Germaine Vance of the Vance family!” Everyone was taken aback. They could not believe their eyes. “This is preposterous!” The other physicians felt skeptical. If Dustin wanted to pick someone to help, he should have picked a more experienced physician! Rowan’s expression was chilly, and he clenched his fists tightly. He was at the limit of his patience when it came to Dustin. Dustin ignored all these comments directed at what he was doing. He talked to the nervous intern physician for a bit and told her to clean Germaine’s mouth and nose. Then, he had her massage Germaine’s head at a few key nerve centers. The amount of pressure applied and the time needed in each area was different. After all that was done, Dustin h
Dustin moved to stand before Germaine and regarded him with his head lowered for a while. Then, he walked to the desk nearby and sat on a chair. “So? What’s the condition?” Rowan asked. “You won’t understand even if I told you. It’s a very rare condition. There’s something wrong with the old man’s cranial nerves,” Dustin said flatly. Dustin could tell that Germaine was skilled at fighting. Such people tended to put a lot of stress on their nerves all the time. In that way, they were very different from ordinary people. In rare cases, a light hit would result in a pinched nerve and might even cause paralysis. Germaine’s nerves were pinched so badly that his cranial nerves had been affected. Thus, he was paralyzed in several places, and it was affecting his whole body. As such, he had lost consciousness and fallen into a coma. Moreover, he was spitting out blood constantly. If he stayed in that condition for another fifteen minutes, Germaine’s life would be in dan
“What did you say?!” Rowan’s eyes widened as he was enraged. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Please spare me.” Clarence quickly fell to his knees and bowed. The might of the Vance family and Rowan’s fierce reputation terrified him. ‘We’re done for…’ Simone thought. That was what the entire staff of the hospital thought. “You’re a quack!” Rowan yelled. “What kind of trash hospital is this that you can’t even deal with such a small problem? I’ll destroy this hospital!” Rowan’s tantrum made everyone go quiet. “What’s all this noise? Shut up!” said a sudden voice. Everyone froze as they looked toward the source of the voice. It was Dustin! He had actually dared to shout at Rowan! The hospital staff were surprised. Dustin really had a death wish. “Dustin, have you gone mad?” Simone was flabbergasted. She quickly tried to pull Dustin aside. Rowan was not someone they could afford to offend! “What did you say, punk?” Rowan’s eyes narrowed as anger exuded from him in
At the outpatient section of the neurology department, there was a group of suited men in sunglasses surrounding an unconscious old man. By the old man’s bedside, his family members looked anxious and worried. Rowan Vance was pacing the ward. His eyebrows were knitted tightly. That day, the Vance family was on a day out. When they passed through Hattan, Germaine Vance had suddenly collapsed and started coughing up blood. It scared the entire group. Panicked, they rushed him to the nearest hospital. But the neurologist at the hospital had already done some checks but was unable to find out what the problem was. He then said that he would get an expert to examine the patient. “If you can’t save him, we’ll use all the power of the Vance family to destroy this hospital!” Rowan said viciously. The nurses in the neurology department were so terrified that they all went pale. After a while, as the members of the Vance family stood around impatiently, Dustin and the others ar
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