Gina was sitting on the floor, lying through her teeth without end. "Oh, the injustice! Not only did my daughter refuse to help me after I raised her, but she even forced me to give up my land!""That's right! She's now the board chairwoman of a major company, but she completely abandoned family now that she's made it! She even collaborated with people outside the family to beat up her own mother!"Peter joined in brazenly as well, pointing at the bandages on Gina's head.It was Zomber Group's bodyguards who actually hurt Gina, and Peter himself was the one who told them to do it. He clearly was doing anything he could just to get that land back, even if it meant pinning the blame on Frank and Helen!"Come and see! This is what Ms. Lane the girlboss and her boyfriend did!" Cindy was shouting as well. "How despicable! Liars, both of them! Buying land from Gene Pearce?! Lies, all of it!"Obviously, Cindy still bore a grudge over Helen firing here.It was lunch hour, and many Lane
Even as Gina thought to herself that anything could wait until after she took back her land, someone shouted, "Shush, be quiet! Ms. Lane is back!""Heh. Pretentious as always.""She calls herself a daughter? I would have quit already if this job didn't pay well.""Talk about moral degradation.""I'd disown her if she were my daughter!"On the other hand, Helen's stilettos clicked as she strode in, with her secretary Lily rushing to her with a pained look. "I tried to stop them, Ms. Lane, but…"Helen understood—Lily and the security guards could not use force since Gina, Cindy, and Peter were her family, and they could only allow the trio free rein."Don't worry. Just leave this to me." Helen clapped Lily on the shoulder, nodding at the security guards before making her way through the crowd.Even as she did, she could hear the words her own employees were saying, and her blood pressure shot up.Gina and Cindy's money over the years all came from her, and yet Gina willingly led
Cindy and Peter's outburst left the Lanecorp employees pointing and gesturing at Helen."That's so true. Urgh, I never knew she's really like that.""You don't really know a person, I guess!""Whatever. I'm resigning later—it's embarrassing to work for someone like her.""Yeah. I'd be too ashamed to face anyone once news spreads.""I'm writing my letter right now.""Me too."Helen could certainly hear their vocal scorn and disapproval. She suddenly yelled, "Gina Zonda!"Gina actually flinched, while the Lanecorp employees were stunned as Helen cried, "What have I done to you?! Why do you have to do this to me?!"She then pointed between Peter and Cindy, shouting, "Who planned this? I've been working so hard for years, and you've been living like kings thanks to that! Why do you have to keep putting me and Frank through so much crap?!"Though Helen was biting her lip and her expression appeared almost impassive, tears were gushing down her cheeks. "I've finally gotten where I
Bob snorted. "I really thought you were a strong, independent woman and admired you. I didn't think you were that despicable!""Exactly. Beating up your own mother with someone outside your own family?! You're worse than an animal!""No you're worse than Kallum Gaetz!""Hah! I refuse to let myself be lumped together with the likes of you. People would think that we're the same if they find out that I work for an ingrate like you!""I quit!""Me too!""What future is there working for someone so heinous?!"Other more excitable employees strode up and took off their employee IDs like Bob did, distancing themselves from Lanecorp right then.To make things worse, Lily, Helen's secretary, ran up to Helen. "Ms. Lane, the board is calling for an emergency meeting…"The purpose of said meeting was simply obvious—the board was ready to vote her out."No, listen to me. That's not it…" Helen argued feebly, but she was alone.What strength did she have to stand against the angry mob? Sh
Peter was the most anxious person present. After all, if he could not get that plot of land back, he would be dead even if Helen was toppled and was left homeless."Frank is…" Helen was cut off even before she could come up with an excuse, as a thundering bellow resounded from the distance. "That's enough!"The towering man strode up to stand beside Helen, putting an arm around her shoulder while glaring at everyone else.Naturally, it was none other than Frank himself."You fools!" he snapped icily. "You can't even tell when you've been manipulated! Do you even know what really happened? Scorning and condemning your superior just because you were given a one-sided testimony—the way I see it, you're all trash! Lanecorp won't stop you if you want to leave! Go on, the door's right there!"While his stern words silence everyone in the lobby, there were naturally those who were defiant."Hah!" Bob snorted. "Our head of the health and security department is just as coercive and un
"And right now, I disown Helen. I won't ever ask either of you for anything from now on! You're both pigs who deserve to be conned! Now, fuck off!"The recording ended there, and the room was silent as Frank slowly returned his phone into his pocket.At the same time, every Lanecorp employee was scowling awkwardly or in guilt.The voice recording made it evident enough that Gina had been lying to them.She claimed that Frank and Helen were working together to steal that land from her. However, the recording proved that she had sold it to Frank, while treating him like a sucker and subjecting him to every form of ridicule.Frank, however, remained calm and reasonable, only for Gina to snap at him, calling him and her own daughter pigs.And the evidence was solid—the recording remained proof no matter how much anyone would argue against it.With a thud, Bob was on his knees right then, his lips shuddering as he turned toward Helen. "Ms. Lane, we…""It's alright, I understand—you
"Why are you pretending, Cindy? You're the one who thought of this whole thing! If you weren't so greedy and intent on getting payback on Helen all at once, you'd never be here! And now you're trying to run?! Well, it's too late!"As soon Peter saw that Cindy was ready to flee, he caught her immediately and bellowed furiously, "Look at this one, everyone! She's the mastermind—we were all gaslighted into doing this!"Seeing that everyone's frag was directed toward her right then, Cindy was flustered and turned to slap Peter right then."You prick!" she snapped. "You ran away as soon as you conned Aunt Gina, and you would never have come back if that land lot's value didn't skyrocket and Kit Jameson didn't force you! Well, understand this—we lose nothing even if we gave up on that land, but you'd be dead if you don't get it back soon!""You slapped me?!" Peter bellowed back and wrestled Cindy as everyone watched, chivalry hardly a concern to him just then.In turn, Cindy clawed at h
Still, Frank could only hope that Gina would turn over a new leaf.He would not expect Gina to become a saintess, but she could at least stop causing trouble for Helen and leaving her hurt.Nodding, he sighed exasperatedly. "I will.""Hmph."On the other hand, Cindy said nothing, merely snorting with a look of disappointment before turning to leave with Gina.Peter tried to do the same, but Frank caught him by the back of his collar. "Did I tell you to leave?"His icy, murderous tone left Peter's expression alternating from surprise to terror, until he finally tried to force a smile. "Bro—"Frank slapped him across the face even before he could finish, leaving him seeing stars even as he was sent flying and rolling across the floor.His cheek swelled with deep bruising right then, and he sat up when he came to his senses."No, wait… Frank, please don't—"Still, fear showed in his eyes again as Frank advanced on him and tried to flee, but only for Frank to catch him again."Y
As it turned out, the white-clad geezer did not return for revenge.People change as they age, along with their mindset, and develop a longing for their hometown.In fact, the white-clad geezer had returned to make peace with his family, and died in their company.Naturally, he was furious to hear that someone was using his name to bluff their way out and abduct his niece, the hag.And so he came with the rest of them, looking for Frank.After all, if Frank was not sent by the white-clad geezer, the only other person would be…-Back at the present, the white-clad geezer growled icily, "Where is my niece?"Frank smirked. "She paid the price for her crimes. What, do you want revenge?""A life for a life," the white-clad geezer growled. "That's the one rule that has never changed since olden times!"His entourage roared in approval. "Don't get so full of yourself, brat! He is different from the rest of us, and he can kill you anytime!""Really?" Frank simply snorted nonchalant
As the geezer spoke, he opened the rosewood box and put an ashtray in it. "I actually don't have any abilities—everything I make is produced from this box. With its help, I can imbue any object with an enchantment beyond human comprehension. See for yourself!"He closed the box and held it by its sides as the box glowed in a rainbow gradient.Frank felt a sense of familiarity as he watched, as the energy signature resembled the spiritron vein, but one different from the meteor.So what the heck was going on?While Frank was left surprised, the geezer stopped and opened the box, handing Frank the ashtray.As Frank held the ashtray, he saw that it really was altered—it could carry more now!The geezer then passed him a yellowed old book. "This is how you can use it!"Frank frowned. "Why are you giving it to me? I can't take it, or people would just say that I stole it from you when they find out."The geezer smiled in wry amusement. "It's yours either way, kid! And after you've d
To be honest, the hag really had not considered that question and was just playing along to her own whims, never once considering why she was such a philanderer.Frank then pressed his advantage. "Your so-called love is but a manifestation of your lust. It seems noble, but it has no warmth or color, and the world has no way of determining if it exists."If I want it, I can do what you do too. Heck, I'm sure that's the same for everyone else—they're just kind people who know that they shouldn't hog the limited resources of mental asylums.""Insolence!"The hag lunged at Frank as she realized that he was mocking her, but Frank was already prepared and pinned her to the floor with his telekinesis."Alright, you can quit hollering now. The more you do, the more you're just proving that you've lost!"Crouching in front of the hag, Frank growled coolly. "Did you think I'd only rely on brute strength to force your compliance? You're kidding—I don't even need to do that with someone like
It was just as the geezer had said—the hag had been pampered for so long that she could not tell right from wrong.In fact, in her mind, everything she did was never wrong and was even reasonable!That was what frustrated the geezer the most, and he simply stopped arguing and started whipping her with his belt.Pain really clears the mind, and the hag was no exception. In fact, she thought for a split second that she might have made a mistake.However, it only lasted for that split second—a little whipping was never really going to correct a lifetime of distorted beliefs!"I don't get it!" she cried. "Why do you treat my love with such disdain?! You don't have to love me, but you have to respect me!" The geezer laughed coolly and continued to whip her as he snapped, "That's true! But now, what I say goes—that's all there is to it!"That was when Frank suddenly reached out and caught the belt.It stunned the geezer, who quickly checked Frank's hand, and sighed after seeing that
It had been so long since he had seen his enemy, that the geezer almost fell out of his lounger.If he were to be honest, he really did not hold out much hope since it had been years, and no one lasted more than twenty strikes against the hag.However, while he was convinced that his revenge was futile in this life, Frank suddenly appeared.While he looked like he had nothing but his looks going for him, he brought the hag like she was some harmless hatchling."H-How did you do it?" the geezer exclaimed, presuming that Frank must have pulled some cunning trick.However, the geezer was once again reminded of the hag's conceit as she snorted. "How, you asked? With just a wave of his hand, and I lost!"Turning to Frank, she snapped, "There, he had his justice. Can you tell my uncle to show his face now?"Frank rolled his eyes. "I don't know your uncle. I only brought you here because of him!""No… That's impossible!" The truth was starting to dawn on the hag, but she still refus
"H-How did you do that?!"While the cabal was left flabbergasted, the hag was much calmer for some reason.After all, her father had told her about an uncle of hers, who had left the family because they kept abusing their earthbending ability.It was rumored that the uncle eventually cultivated a superior ability, fusing things that would otherwise not be just like what Frank just did.As such, she told her cabal as much, but Frank shook his head. "I learned your technique by directly observing you when you used it. And by doing so, I found a fatal flaw, which I adjusted for."He certainly did not have anything to do with the hag's uncle—he was just that quick a learner and that gifted to wield earthbending in an instant.Naturally, the hag was not about to believe that.No matter how gifted a person could be, there was no way anyone could learn earthbending instantly and even perfect it. In the end, someone must have taught him!As such, she was starting to get impatient with
Before the cabal could react, molehills appeared beneath their feet and sent them flying.Most passed out when they hit the ground, while the rest were barely holding on."W-Who the hell are you?!" The cabal had grown conceited since they did not have many rivals in a remote corner such as this one, and they therefore presumed that no one could challenge them.And now, they could not win with numbers against Frank, let alone one against one.Could anyone bear the shame?"What a bunch of mooks. I told you kids to stay on your training, but none of you listened. And now you're acting surprised?"A hunched hag appeared on a nearby alley, looking very much affable.Surprised, the cabal exclaimed, "What are you doing here, ma'am?""Do you think I'd miss the tremors?" the hag snapped coolly before wheeling on Frank. "Impressive physique! I certainly didn't expect you to hurt those boys."The cabal quickly warned her, "This isn't the time, ma'am. He knows earthbending, and he could
Frank's tone was calm, as if he was merely stating a fact. "What's there to deny? Even if I spilled my guts, do you stand a chance against me? See, no one does!"The man was furious—he had met plenty of conceited individuals, but Frank definitely took the crown!And seeing that Frank was not even in his thirties and was definitely small fry, he did not hesitate to slam his palm on the ground, which promptly started to move! "Interesting!"Frank stood his ground instead of leaping away, staring cooly at the molehills that streaked toward him. Even as the molehills were reaching Frank's feet, the man was left wondering why Frank did not dodge when the unexpected happened.The molehills struck the brat, but he remained unscathed!Earthbending was their cabal's signature technique, capable of causing seismic tremors—even if it was no match for real earthquakes, most people would still have trouble dealing with it.They were either torn into pieces by the shockwave, though the mor
Frank waited for a taxi and headed to his destination. Soon, the taxi stopped outside a dilapidated apartment.As Frank alighted and stared at the cracks on every block or the shaky foundations, even he could tell that it was in such a bad state it must be demolished. Shaking his head, he sighed in exasperation and entered the fifth unit on the sixth floor of Block D.He knocked on the door, and a smiling geezer opened it as he studied him. "What can I do for you, sir?"Able to tell right away that he was special, Frank asked, "Let's just call it a visit. I heard you could craft mystic items?"The geezer laughed right then. "I knew it. The nail that sticks out really gets hammered! I just want to keep my head down and live out my days, but you found me anyway.""Please don't misunderstand, sir," Frank quickly said. "I'm no robber, and I'm not going to steal from you. As long as you assist me, I can do anything for you.""Let's talk inside." The geezer stepped aside to let Fr