In a dark corner outside Aerowind Enterprise, Phineas spat out a mouthful of blood before smiling menacingly."Even though you killed all of my snake slaves, I've memorized your scent. You can’t stay by her side forever!" he exclaimed weakly.Morning came. Frederick woke up feeling refreshed and went out to buy breakfast. However, he was unaware that during the night, Phineas had regained his strength and sent out his snake slaves once again. This time, the number was several times greater than the night before. These snake slaves also seemed to have become more intelligent, skillfully avoiding people.Phineas didn’t have to linger around Aerowind Enterprise. His snake slaves had already memorized Jennifer's scent. Even if he were miles away, they could still find her. At that moment, the snake slaves were hidden in an abandoned house in the suburbs.Knock, knock, knock!Suddenly, there was a knock on Phineas's door. Phineas was startled. The area had long been deserted, and n
The closer the person using Serpent Shine was to snakes, the greater the power will be. It was said that those who master this skill can even invoke the Serpent God to possess them. However, it was a forbidden skill due to its heavy price. If the skill was used too frequently, the caster might risk permanently transforming into a snake.Phineas had grown up among snakes, and Serpent Shine was just for him. After unleashing his skill, his aura surged, even surpassing Frederick's.Phineas lashed his tail at Frederick with incredible speed. Before Frederick could react, he was struck heavily. He crashed to the ground, blood dripping from his mouth. The blow had broken four of his ribs, and there was an open wound at the spot where he was struck. It was a painful blow."I was worried I wouldn't get a chance to deal with you, but here you are, serving yourself up on a silver platter. Don't worry, I won’t let you die too quickly," Phineas sneered as he approached Frederick.Frederick
As Phineas died, the snake slaves surrounding Shane went berserk. They swarmed over him despite his desperate screams. They then devoured his body completely, leaving only a skeleton in a matter of seconds. Shane never imagined that after being saved from Frederick, he would ultimately die at the hands of Phineas.After setting fire to the abandoned house and burning Phineas's body, Frederick returned to Aerowind Enterprise with breakfast.Meanwhile, in the Imperial Capital, the Whalens had received news of Shane's death."Investigate this thoroughly! I want answers no matter what!" Shane’s mother, Dakota Pearson, roared with bloodshot eyes. Shane was her only son, and his death felt like the end of the world to her."Mrs. Whalen, we've already identified the culprit. It was Phineas..." a middle-aged man standing before Dakota said quietly, his head down.The truth wasn't hard to uncover. At the death scene, there were piles of venomous snake corpses. After some investigation,
Dakota was stunned when she heard this. She felt incredibly conflicted.She had just planned to have Frederick captured within a day and tortured to death. Meanwhile, her husband, Nathan, needed Frederick's help. "Micah, go arrange a flight immediately. The plane must take off to Aston in ten minutes. I need to meet Frederick in person," Nathan ordered.Their butler, Micah, looked troubled and glanced at Dakota.Nathan's face darkened when he saw Micah hesitating and looking to Dakota for approval. "Is there a problem? Or my words don’t work anymore for you?" "No, Mr. Whalen! I'll make the arrangements right away!" Micah quickly responded.After Micah left, Nathan turned to Dakota. "Are you hiding something from me?" he asked.Dakota forced a smile, and shook her head. "No, of course not!""It better not be. Don’t do anything foolish behind my back," Nathan warned before leaving.Two hours later, Nathan's private jet landed in Grayville City. As he stepped out of the airpo
It turned out that Nathan wasn’t aware of Shane’s death yet. This puzzled Frederick. Shane had died at home, and there was a butler present. "Mr. Whalen, you can just make a call to find out if it’s true," Frederick said, shaking his head.Nathan couldn’t sit still any longer. With a mix of pride and unease on his face, he hurried out of the reception room and called Dakota.The call was quickly connected."Dakota, are you sure there’s nothing you need to tell me?" Nathan asked in a cold voice, his face turning pale. Despite his reluctance to believe this dreadful news, he knew Frederick wouldn’t lie about something so serious. It would gain him nothing, and it was too easy to verify.On the other end of the line, Dakota’s heart skipped a beat."N-No, nothing at all. Why?" Dakota stammered.Nathan took a deep breath, and shouted angrily, "You’re still not telling the truth?""Fine! I’ll tell you everything!" Dakota finally broke down. Despite her high status in the Imperia
"Mr. Whalen, thanks for being straightforward," Frederick began. "So, I’ll be blunt too. The matter with the Revitalizing Pill is over. Anakin Pharmaceuticals has made amends according to my wishes, and Shane is dead. As far as I’m concerned, it’s settled. I do have the antidote for those who were poisoned, but they’ll have to come to me directly. I don’t care about their dealings with Anakin Pharmaceuticals. If they want my help, it’s a personal favor." Frederick stared at Nathan as he spoke.A flicker of anger flashed in Nathan’s eyes, but he quickly suppressed it."Mr. Lester, what will it take for you to hand over the antidote?" he asked. If it weren’t for the sheer number of people poisoned, including many influential figures, Nathan would never have swallowed his pride to ask Frederick for help. The powers of the entire elite of Aston State were immeasurable, and Nathan needed them to be indebted to him."I’ve said what I needed to say. I’m not going to repeat myself," Fre
"Alright," Jasmine said, shaking her head to clear her mind. She got up and walked toward Frederick's office."Have a seat," Frederick said tiredly."It’s late. How about we discuss work tomorrow? You should get some rest," Jasmine suggested with concern."You haven’t gone home yet either," Frederick responded with a slight smile."I can’t sleep anyway with the Nocturnal City project still being stalled," Jasmine sighed, looking troubled."Hasn’t the funding been secured?" Frederick asked, referring to the 15 billion that Jennifer had promptly transferred to Aerowind Enterprise."Funding isn’t the issue. The relevant departments still haven’t approved the inspections, so we can’t move forward," Jasmine explained, shaking her head."Don’t worry about that. I’ve resolved it. The necessary approvals will go through by tomorrow," Frederick assured her. He hadn’t spent the entire day doing charity work. Thanks to Shane’s actions, Frederick now had significant influence over Ast
"Did you call Director Saunders just now?” Jasmine asked.Frederick shook his head.Jasmine let out a sigh of relief, thinking it was just a coincidence."I called his superior, the chief at the state government," Frederick added casually.Jasmine’s eyes widened in shock. "H-How did you manage to do that? If you had this kind of influence, why didn’t you do it sooner?" She was both astonished and frustrated. Due to stress in the past few days, she had lost a lot of hair. "It was a matter of timing. They owed me a few favors, so I had some leverage," Frederick explained."Does this have something to do with those visitors from earlier?" Jasmine asked as she started to piece things together."Yes. From now on, as long as our business operates legally and ethically, there’s no need to worry about facing any obstacles in Aston. You can focus on developing Aerowind.”"Alright!" Jasmine responded with a hint of excitement in her voice."Oh, one more thing. I’m planning to acquire
Heston was still scoffing when he received a call from Giovanni.He was taken aback, and he nervously glanced at Frederick. 'No way…'The moment he picked up the phone, he got a torrent of scolding.Meanwhile, a bloody power struggle was underway in the Imperial Capital.After the Conservatives took down Woody, their ambition surged. They now aimed to dismantle the entire Radicals faction. Though the Radicals had already compromised in the Woody affair, they were taken aback by the Conservatives' greed and refused to back down any further.A fierce conflict broke out between the two sides, quickly escalating into open warfare. The entire Imperial Capital was placed under lockdown, with martial law in effect. Gunfire and smoke filled the air as both sides clashed, and the violence soon spread across Drakonia. Armies from all regions were mobilized, and a war was about to erupt. At this critical moment, the First Elder woke up.Years ago, after deposing the Dark Monarch of
Senspiras, located in the southeast of Drakonia, was also a neighboring country of Drakonia. It also has the largest population of overseas Drakonians. Many of the wealthy families in Senspiras migrated from Drakonia within the past century or two. The current richest man in Senspiras was one such example."Is Mr. Stone your father?" Frederick raised an eyebrow and asked."Looks like you've got some sense! Name your price!" Heston smirked, and pulled out a checkbook.Frederick's expression darkened."Your dad's assets are not even enough to wipe my shoes. Who do you think you are, pretending to be a big shot? Get lost!"Frederick quickly realized that Heston was just a spoiled brat who would throw money around bullying people. Since he wasn't much of a real threat, Frederick wasn't bothered by dealing with him. Upon hearing Frederick's words, Heston was stunned. "Are you out of your mind? My dad is the richest man in Senspiras! How dare you belittle him?" “So what? Your enti
Sylvia had so many questions. She wanted to know what Frederick had been doing to provoke such dangerous enemies. She wanted to know if Frederick had really killed a hundred people. She wanted to understand how her son had gained such abilities. And most of all, she wondered if Frederick had been living this kind of disturbing life all these years."Mom, we'll talk about it when we get home," Frederick said, gently lifting Sylvia and leaving the company.On the way, Frederick lightly tapped on Sylvia's head, and she quickly fell unconscious. He had used a special method to erase part of her memory.When they arrived home, Sylvia slowly woke up."Fred! Why are you suddenly home?" Sylvia exclaimed in surprise when she saw Frederick."I'm about to go on a long trip, so I came to visit. Why are you sleeping on the couch instead of in your room?" Frederick smiled.Sylvia sat up from the couch, feeling a bit stiff and sore."I was talking to your sister on the phone. How did I
"Yes, it was me. If no one managed to escape, the entire Steinfields family—except for children under sixteen and elders over seventy—should be dead by now," Frederick said with a smirk.If he didn't deter the Steinfields with a show of force, others might try the same methods against him in the future.Hearing this, Kaizer's face went blank and terror filled his eyes. At that moment, Frederick's phone rang. It was Melanie calling. Frederick answered, and put the call on speaker. "How did it go? Tell me, so Kaizer here can hear," Frederick said."There were a hundred and seventy-three Steinfields. Fifty-two were children and elders. The remaining hundred have all been executed!" Melanie reported. Kaizer spat out a mouthful of blood in shock. "No way! We're the Steinfields! The Steinfields of Imperial Capital! How could this happen?"In a panic, Kaizer fumbled with his phone, trying to call his family. However, every call he made went unanswered."You'll find out for sure onc
"Let her go!"A sharp voice rang out.Kaizer instinctively turned around, and he was stunned by Nella's beauty. He couldn't believe someone like her existed."Nella, why did you come down?" Jasmine called out, her eyes widened in panic. She had specifically told them not to come down.Nella trembled in fear. "Ms. Smith, we were worried about you!"Though she was terrified, she still stepped forward. She couldn't just stand by and watch Jasmine get assaulted."Well, well, Frederick sure is lucky with women. But now, they're all mine. Who would've thought that I'd be blessed with a feast before leaving Drakonia!" Kaizer was practically drooling.He let go of Jasmine, and rushed toward Nella eagerly. Nella backed away step by step, but soon found herself cornered."Haha, come to me!" Kaizer spread his arms wide, lunging toward Nella.Just as he was about to grab her, a thunderous crash shook the room. The outer wall of the building crumbled down.Frederick had burst through it a
Meanwhile, Frederick had just gotten off the plane. As soon as he turned on his phone, he saw a long list of missed calls from Selene.He immediately felt uneasy. Selene would never call him so many times unless something urgent had happened.He was about to call her back when his phone rang again.Frederick answered Selene's call quickly, but before he could ask anything, Selene's tearful voice came through."Fred, Mom's been kidnapped!"Frederick's face darkened instantly, and his killing aura surged."Alright. Don't worry, Mom will be fine."With that, Frederick hung up the phone; he then immediately called Melanie, who was still in the Imperial Capital, lazily lounging in bed."Do you have any intelligence on the Steinfields in the Imperial Capital?" Frederick asked through gritted teeth.He didn't need much thought to figure out who was behind this. There was hardly anyone left in Mirage City bold enough to cross him, except for Kaizer. And now, Sylvia had been kidnapped
When the elevator doors opened, Jasmine stepped out into the lobby.Kaizer's eyes lit up as he eyed her from head to toe. Though he had seen pictures of her before, she was more of an eye candy in person. Kaizer, holding his rifle, approached her. "Ms. Smith, you certainly kept me waiting!""What do you want with me?" Jasmine asked coldly. She knew that showing fear or vulnerability would only embolden these lawless men."Ms. Smith, why don't you take a guess?" Kaizer reached for Jasmine and lifted her chin with the barrel of his gun, forcing her to look at him.Jasmine met his gaze without a hint of fear."Is it money you want? The company has ten million in cash reserves. You can take it, and I guarantee I won't call the police. We can pretend nothing ever happened as long as no one is hurt. As for the funds in the company’s accounts, you wouldn’t be able to take it even if I transfer the money to you with today’s financial systems," Jasmine spoke calmly."Ms. Smith, you're q
Bang!With a loud crash, the door was violently kicked open. Kaizer and his men stormed into Frederick’s place.Sylvia was startled, and she shouted, "What do you guys want?" "We're here to kidnap you!" Kaizer strode toward Sylvia. Then, he snatched away her phone and crushed it."Tie her up and take her away!" Kaizer and his men acted quickly. Selene, on the other end of the video call, was shocked by the strangers. Fortunately, she was still on alert. She quickly tried to call Frederick while shaking with fear. However, Frederick’s phone was off since he was on a flight."How’s everything going on your end?" Kaizer asked his men over the phone."We’ve rigged all four walls of Aerowind Enterprise with high-powered explosives. Once we detonate them, the whole building will turn to ashes," his subordinate reported.A smile finally appeared on Kaizer’s face. "Good, I’m heading over now." Soon, Kaizer arrived at Aerowind Enterprise with a backpack."I want to see Ms. Sm
Upon hearing Frederick’s words, Woody stumbled. "Take him away!" one of the senior officials from the Supervision Department ordered.The respected elder of the Drakonia Royal Court, Woody, was escorted away along with the evidence and witnesses."After today, the Lamberts will cease to exist, and you're finally free." Frederick sighed in relief, and smiled at Easton.Easton looked slightly lost. He wasn’t sure what to do next with his sudden freedom. "What's wrong? Struggling to find a new purpose in life?" Frederick teased.Easton nodded, and replied, "Yeah, my ambitions have been completely worn down these three years. I feel a bit aimless.""Should I find you a job?" Frederick suggested casually."It’s best if I could work for you, Mr. Lester!" Easton’s eyes lit up with excitement."I have a pharmaceutical company under me. If you're interested, you could take the position of Chief of Biomedical Engineering," Frederick said jokingly. To his surprise, Easton was genuinely