Herschel knew exactly what his job was. He was not disillusioned by any means. What’s more, he was more than stoked to say yes.With Herschel and Gusman taking the lead, a troop of a hundred suited-up soldiers left with their own respective method.Javier took his eyes off Herschel, Gusman, and the others and observed Angelina from the door, his eyes cast far into the horizon, where the troop vanished. He wondered if she could smell something fishy.Quickly, he asked, “Anything else on today’s agenda?”Angelina had been wondering if she should tell Gusman to hold onto any reservations and not obey every single one of Herschel’s orders, but Javier’s question broke her out of her reverie. “No, there’s nothing else,” she replied intuitively. “Nothing planned for today or tomorrow. What’s the matter?”Javier’s lips formed an implicative smirk. He leaned forward, pushing Angelina against the wall before breathing out. “Well, I personally have an agenda, and I would like to have you par
With her troops at the ready, Mei led a march toward the Hachison estate.Gusman made his confusion known on the way. “Aren’t these people the ones who should be training you on the battlefield?” he asked, sounding bewildered.Herschel was aware of Gusman’s inability to understand Yuzuean, so he took this chance to make things up on the fly. “We, er, set our base here to avoid being discovered. I mean, have you ever suspected us of setting up our base here before?”Gusman reeled in realization. Well, that made a lot of sense…except for the nagging fact that these people did not seem to care about Herschel at all. Something was fishy about it, and he could not shake the feeling off.He tried to call Angelina for confirmation, but no one answered him.His mind drifted to the relationship between Herschel and Javier, and then Javier and Angelina. His mind relaxed a little—he was his mistress’s beau and the second grandson of the Kersey Family! There was little reason for him to be wa
The Hachison estate incident quickly gained the attention of the local law enforcement. A skirmish involving guns and bazookas was about as serious as a small-scale war. When one pinned that conflict on a region as sensitive as the Hachisons’ residency, it was no wonder the local police immediately moved out.Local forces stopped dead at the entrance to the estate almost as soon as they arrived. Shock prevented them from moving any closer.The enemy troops, as they quickly realized, were armed to the teeth with weapons even more advanced than the equipment the Yuzuean army possessed. They also quickly realized that many of those now standing opposite them within the estate were important elders and higher-ups of the Hachison Family.The leader of the group? The daughter of the Hachison Family’s main branch and former family leader, Mei.It came as a world-shattering shock even to the over fifty-year-old captain of the force, who was just about to retire in a few days. He intuitivel
Angelina was apoplectic. She had been dragged through sugar-coated torment for almost two days to what felt like the brink of death…only to find out what he had done. Now, her brain was nearly fried. Gusman’s troop had been led to unwittingly aid a coup d’état within the Hachison Family!Angelina already knew that Renly had gone to see the Hachison Family leader a few days ago. It was the Whites’ recognition and acknowledgment of their ally in action. And yet, before long, the Soroys had done something that was basically a b*tch slap and a middle finger combined.There was no way she could deflect by claiming it was an accident or use literally any excuse she could dredge up. Even if she explained herself so hard her face turned blue, the Whites would find it irrelevant. There was no way to explain by this point—that was how far the narrative had shifted.The fact of the matter—a fact known by everyone who mattered—was that the Soroys had caused an upheaval within the Hachison Famil
Prominent families seemed to all enjoy setting up their home base on an island, but not all families could afford that. Strictly speaking, only truly eminent families in possession of great power could afford it. The Kerseys were such an example.The Hachisons were considered small and weaker among their ranks. They might have enough money for weapons and defense, but they did not possess enough status or the right to build a base on an island.The Whites themselves, meanwhile, were eligible based on that standard. Renly White was taking in the latest development at his family’s island base as word of his latest lapdog’s demise reached him. Yoel Hachison had been decapitated.The man’s end was insignificant to Renly. He had never thought highly of Yoel, so the only loss he would concede was the loss of his own face. However, it was said that Yoel was far from the only one who had suffered that fate. His father, Xion, along with other direct members of Xion’s family had all perished
After eviscerating Renly, Piers dropped down onto a leather chair, muttering to himself, “These Kerseys…There was that kid’s pa, and now this kid turned out to be a chip off the old block. Can’t believe he dragged the Soroys into this to rub this in my face! As if disrespecting me wasn’t enough, he had to use this as an excuse to bind them into an alliance! God. Schemer Jr. is what he is!”He picked up his phone. Without needing to scroll through his contact list, he punched a series of numbers onto the screen. A few moments later, Zephiel’s voice came through the phone. “From one senior citizen to another: Do you mind not waking me if you can’t sleep?”“Bah, you weren’t sleeping at all, fox. You must be feeling all swell and smug after all of this! Hell, I bet I interrupted your victory dance!” Piers snarled.There was no sound coming from the other side for a long beat. It was long enough that it piqued Piers’ curiosity. What could that guy be up to? Why the silence?His question
Mei’s insistence to refer to Javier as Master stumped him into saying nothing more. He understood Mei’s good intentions, and since he himself was not the type to be fixated on forms and formalities, he let it slide.Mei’s ascension to her new position went swimmingly. With the Kerseys backing her and the defeat of Xion and his faction, even those who were bitter and resentful of the change dared not object. It was as Javier had told them—they were welcome to begrudge the change and be embittered, but they better not show it unless they wanted to die.He was obviously threatening them. He was also gleefully humiliating them, forcing these people to stomach their fury as though they were little more than a group of milquetoasts. Despite being brazenly humiliated by Javier, they could only answer affirmatively and obey him.It was intimidation at its finest. The fact that the Whites had not retaliated against the Kerseys, who had moved against them, was not lost on the dissenters. If a
It had been one year. One full year had passed.One year ago, Javier had still been a poor, pathetic man who used to deliver takeout, but one year later, on his birthday alone, countless car company bosses had come to congratulate him.Javier felt bad. “Folks, this is too much for me. I’ve done nothing, but all of you busy bosses have taken time out to celebrate the birthday of a junior like me. I’m more than flattered!”Javier genuinely felt bad, but those who were there had come with a sincere heart.“Mr. Kersey, you deserve it. You’ve united the local car manufacturers and selflessly shared the hydrogen propulsion system with all of us. This is a great contribution, and for this alone, we ought to come and celebrate you!”“Exactly. Mr. Kersey, the FIA could have cared less about us previously. They treated us as if we were nobodies, but we’re different now. With the brand Chinean and the hydrogen propulsion system, they have to look up to us instead. We’ve never experienced suc