Escorted by a procession, the lady in white strode toward the edge of the lake.Everyone had turned toward her when they heard her laughter and froze up right then."L-Lady Silverbell…"Stanwick turned rigid when he saw her too, and he dropped on the floating platform with a thud.He stared blankly at the lady, panic written all over his face."Lady Silverbell!"Upon seeing Stanwick's dramatic reaction, the martial artists and audience members—be it from Zamri from Riverton—were all bowing their heads in salutation."At ease."It was indeed Silverbell in the flesh, and the crowd's collective salutation truly enlightened Frank to the authority she commanded as the chief of the Martial Alliance.Over a thousand people were greeting and bowing at her, a seemingly frail woman. None of them would dare question her strength or the official ties she had.And right now, her visage was cool as she stared at Stanwick, who was on his knees, "Mr. Quaker, don't you think I have the right
Clang!Frank moved even before Silverbell could react, knocking the short blade out of Stanwick's hand with a bullet of pure vigor."How dare you!"As the short blade landed audibly, Silverbell was sweating bullets as she finally realized that Stanwick had tried to take her by surprise and stab her.She would definitely be hurt if Frank was not there, and the surprise in her eyes soon turned to rage."How dare you, Stanwick!""You tried to attack Lady Silverbell?!""There's no hope for you!"The other Martial Alliance executives were definitely stunned by the sight as well.Thank goodness Silverbell was safe, or they would definitely be blamed for the mishap!As for Stanwick, he gave up on all pretense upon seeing that his sneak attack had failed."Hehehe…" He sneered in contempt as he stared Silverbell in the eye up close. "Lady Silverbell? More like an impudent brat! Do you really think you're such a big deal?!"Silverbell glowered and bellowed, "What's that supposed to m
"Did you really think you're such a big deal?!"Even now, Stanwick's pompous insult before he died still rang in Silverbell's ears.Moreover, Silverbell understood that although her position carried authority, she was at best a chess piece, in a game where multiple factions fought for political dominance. Since there were not many matters she could involve herself with, she longer felt tied down.She left with the elders without so much as looking back, although she subtly gave Frank's hand a squeeze when she walked past him.As for the elder who had just warned Silverbell, he was stroking his beard and smiling as he announced, "I hereby announce in the chief's stead that Riverton's qualifying berths are forfeited, in light of the branch manager disguising an Ascendant-ranked elite to insert him in a Birthright-rank qualifier."The two forfeited berths would instead be made available to Zamri participants only."Silverbell paused for a moment when she heard the announcement but
There was still a week left before the finals of the Martial Tournament, which would be held in Morhen.Naturally, Frank was not nervous at all and even fell back to his old return of punctual training and rest.He had also won public favor among Riverton martial artists after proposing that they be afforded one qualification berth.His old friends Robert Quill and Gerald Simmons, who were the Riverton commissioner and the Riverton mayor respectively, even paid him a personal visit.They were both righteously indignant that the Riverton Martial Alliance branch manager had been caught cheating but also grateful that Frank afforded their representatives some dignity.Still, neither of them were aware of a dispute when he tried to ask them indirectly about the Zamri mayor and the Zamri commissioner—it was the first they had heard of it.After seeing his guests off, Frank did not even have time to gather his thoughts when he got a call from Helen Lane."Frank… Hurry! I-I got into an
Both police officers were shaking their heads coldly even before Helen could finish.One of them even asked, "Don't you think you're a little too concerned about your career? Also, you're now suspected of a drunken accident. Or perhaps you're trying to make it a hit-and-run?""I-I'm not."Helen sighed urgently. "But this negotiation is very important—""Wait."Frank strode up past the yellow line, walking up to the puddle of blood. "Officers, may I ask where the victim is?" Both officers were speechless. "An ambulance came and took him away.""Took him where?" Frank pressed.The officer snorted, waving him off impatiently. "Zamri Hospital, of course. Do we really have to spell it out for you?"The other officer then whipped out a pair of handcuffs and slapped them on Helen's wrists. "Alright, beautiful. There's no point calling your husband to defend you—you're coming with us."While he was considerate enough to cover the cuffs with a jacket, Frank strode up, stopping him be
Parading a suspect on the streets naked?No respectable police officer would do that!Vicky on the other hand…Frank shook his head repeatedly to throw those messy thoughts out of his head—now was not the time for that!The priority right now was to find evidence and prove Helen's innocence.At the same time, Frank sensed that a conspiracy was in motion, targeting not just him but Helen too.And right now, Shellan Group was the only lead he had.However, before he could head over, he got a call from Winter Lawrence. "Frank… H-Help me!"Frank was certainly shocked by Winter's cry and promptly asked, "What?! Just calm down, and tell me what happened!"Winter was coughing while sobbing, "I don't know. We just received a patient, but he was gone the next instant!""Gone?!" Frank did a double take.It was actually not that surprising for a patient to go missing these days. Some simply did not like their assigned doctors or just bailed on treatment halfway because they could not a
Once Winter hung up, Frank urged the cabbie to speed up, only for them to run into a traffic jam caused by a traffic accident.Every vehicle on the road stayed stuck in place, with drivers blaring their horns incessantly and noisily.Frank got further anxious as he waited, even as it dawned on him that something was strange.By the time he rushed out of the cab and headed to the location of the supposed traffic accident, all he saw was a car without a driver left in the middle of the road, stalling traffic entirely."Fuck!"Frank cursed as he could see right away that the traffic congestion was a staged incident. Then,without another word, he started running in the direction of Zamri Hospital.-Meanwhile, as Winter hung up in her office at Zamri Hospital and put on a face mask, she sighed.Even as she yearned inwardly for Frank's arrival, someone started knocking on her door."Who is it?" Winter asked, looking up at the door in confusion.When the chemical attack began, sh
Winter continued, "Most of our medical staff are suffering from fevers and vomiting, and let me guess—the journalists who are rushing here are yet another one of your gestures of compassion, no?"Fredo laughed and applauded right then. "Good! You're not as dumb as you look, seeing how you've managed to put the pieces together!"His laughter only left Winter scowling harder, and she slammed her hand on the table while pointing at the door. "You will leave this instant! I will make sure to remember everything you've done to Zamri Hospital on this day, and mark my words, this won't go unanswered!'"Well said!"Fredo stood up, clapping endlessly. "I couldn't have put it better, chief. This matter certainly won't go unanswered."He then beckoned at his burly bodyguard, who opened the briefcase on the desk and took out a stack of bright-white documents.As the bodyguard primply put it on Winter's desk, she scowled and asked, "What's this?""The partnership agreement between Zamri Hosp