If anything, the lady knew that Frank could handle anything with flair.Heading downstairs, Frank promptly returned to the taxi, and the cabbie promptly started the car.Drunken Moon remained nonchalant, even smiling at Frank. "What went on upstairs? I did pick up a nice fragrance… Don't tell me you did it with a banshee?"Frank smiled in wry amusement. "Rein in your imagination already. There's a snake wielder who used his pet to haunt that building. I also met a lady who claimed that she would change the world but lost faith as soon as she witnessed my power."He actually felt exasperated at that—Drunken Moon had seen his powers too but never felt defeated by that. Why was that lady so fragile?With that in mind, Frank asked Drunken Moon, "Do you understand where she's coming from?"Drunken Moon nodded confidently. "Actually, I know that all too well! To be honest, I basically gave up after witnessing the extent of your power, but I'm not a stickler and didn't lose faith despit
Frank then said, "Back to business. Call up some of our boys—we might see trouble soon, and it's always better to be safe than sorry."Jada was unsure if she should laugh or cry. "We've never feared such people before. Also, with your strength, we could summon anyone anytime. It's basically what the northeasterners called invocation, so why fear?"Frank shook his head. "Just be careful. There's no telling what a person really thinks."Since Frank had made the call, Jada could only carry it out, and she left to make calls.At the same time, Frank heard a ruckus outside and went over to the window to find several beefcakes blocking the door.However, they were not entering, only sitting outside, waving banners and bawling.The fact that it was some burly beefcakes crying broke even Frank's stoicism, and he started laughing.When Jada finished her call and saw that, she laughed even louder than Frank. "What is their problem? Coming over to mourn in broad daylight?"Frank had no id
Everyone in the cottage laughed. "So that's why you're tolerating their nonsense?!"After that, Frank returned inside the cottage and called Toto, the owner of the cottage, and explained everything.Toto was furious after hearing the whole story. "That geezer is just despicable, harassing the guests of a homestay! He could stick to messing with me, but I guess he really wants a piece of me!"Frank quickly said, "Don't worry—we're fine. And the beefcakes told me to call you and assure you that you'd be fine too."Toto sighed. "Anyway, the geezer named Corvan is dead set on buying the cottage. He'd just switch to another bunch if he can't manage it in a few days."Frank nodded—that much made sense, as the geezer would not let up since he would resort to this."Well, I happen to be free, so I'll help you with this," Frank offered."It's my problem!" Toto sighed. "I would never trouble you.""Guess you don't know me that well." Frank chuckled. "I really like to meddle."And with t
Reading Frank's hint, the beefcake was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly before asking, "How shall we cooperate?"Frank directed them to stand in a line and snapped his fingers.Their clothes ripped apart right then, with cuts and bruises showing all over their bodies but without any pain!The beefcake frowned. "What's this? Are you trying to recruit us as helpers for your magic show?"Frank waved him off. "This is just misdirection. Now head on back and tell your boss you've all gotten beaten up—you'd be fired without problems."Everyone nodded and did as Frank told.Soon, a Mercedes E300 cruised toward Frank, screeching to a halt beside him.A short middle-aged man alighted, flanked by two scrawny men.The middle-aged man then snapped at Frank, "Are you the one who beat up my boys?" However, he showed no sympathy for his men—if anything, his eyes flared with contempt.Frank nodded and asked in turn, "Are you the Mr. Crosby who's trying to buy the homestay cottage?""What's
On top of that, while the middle-aged man could not even switch lanes, the car somehow would avoid any potential collisions on its own!Blanching, the middle-aged man turned behind to look at Frank.That should not be it—he was napping, so how could he be doing anything?Even if he was pretending to sleep, there was no way he had such superpowers!In the heat of the moment, the middle-aged man presumed it was some sort of self-navigation function of the car that the salesman did not tell him about. Gritting his teeth, he pulled the emergency brake… which amusingly did nothing.The middle-aged man lost all composure right then and was about to reach for his phone to call for help when an eerie voice spoke beside his ears, saying, "Don't bother. Drive."Stunned, the middle-aged man turned to look behind… but Frank was still napping!Was he protected by some sort of divine being?Considering that Frank possessed strength that belied his physique and how his goons lost their guns
Suddenly, a lightning bolt flashed right before the middle-aged man's eyes, burning the words 'Death to the Wicked' on the ground!Shocked, the middle-aged man looked up to the skies as it rumbled and realized just then he was going to die!"But he said he's sparing me… Why not you? You can't do this…"Another lightning bolt flashed, followed by the resounding boom thunder, while the middle-aged man was already reduced to ashes!The pedestrians promptly took their phones out to take a photo when they saw, with some eagle-eyed ones seeing the writing on the ground."Holy shit! How vile was that man to have incurred divine retribution?!"While they were skeptical about the supernatural, the fact that a lightning bolt struck down a man and left a warning in writing was solid proof otherwise.Frank was far inside the apartment complex but smiled faintly when he heard them.It was an experiment to see if he could break these people, but it was clear that they were afraid, even if he
As it turned out, it was not just the beefcakes who could do the good cop, bad cop routine—Mr. Corvan had told his son to step up when the time was right."What? We just want things to stay the way they are," the leading beefcake retorted. "Why else would we be here?"Corvan Jr. snorted in annoyance. "You'd all be dead if not for my dad. So why are you so stubborn? People would laugh at you, y'know?"The beefcakes laughed at his words."Come on, man. Are you really putting the moves on us?""We barely earn more than the two grand we are being offered now. Every single one of us has gotten injured for the company, and there's no question that we contributed.""But now, your papi is trying to kick us to the curb just because we messed up one job, and you have the cheek to threaten us!"Unable to trick them, Corvan Jr. gave up all pretenses and punched the steel door beside him, shattering it!Everyone flinched—Corvan Jr. appeared unassuming, so it was shocking that he had such st
After all, none of them would abide with the Corvans' good cop, bad cop routine!It was simply easier to be blunt with the geezer and show him that they were not to be pushed around!Still, Corvan Jr. demanded, "How could you do this?! People would talk, and you'd be scorned!"The beefcakes laughed despite their rage. "That cheek of yours! You and your papa were just demanding that we kneel, and now you're calling foul because the tables have turned?! You and your papa are both heinous bitches!"Corvan Jr. clenched his fists and growled right then, "I dare you to say that again!"However, the beefcakes knew Frank was stronger and were therefore not afraid, even laughing. "If you say so, so listen closely: You and your papa are both heinous bitches!"Losing himself to rage, Corvan Jr. started charging at the beefcakes, only to trip over something invisible and fall flat the next instant.He was naturally shocked—he was a martial artist. Hell, even if he was not, he should not hav
With Frank's super-senses, anything he could not detect would most probably not come up in Yancy's scanners.With that in mind, she decided not to bother—they were all going to die eventually anyway, so what was there to fear?Moreover, it was the truth that Frank was so strong he would not lose to anyone.-The next morning, as Yancy woke up, she rubbed her eyes and called out Frank's name.There was no response.Terrified, she promptly got outside, but saw Frank simply standing there, staring coolly up in the skies.Yancy followed his gaze, and saw that for some reason, her lab was in free fall!"W-What's going on?!" Yancy exclaimed in shock.Her lab was supposed to be hidden in the clouds! Who could have knocked it down?And Frank was right there with her. How powerful would they be if they dared to do it while he watched?Noticing the look on her face, Frank chuckled. "What, are you doubting me now? Don't worry—I'm letting it fall on purpose!"Yancy was proposed. "But i
Knowing that his death was assured, Cicero gave up on begging and instead dissed Frank. "Do you really have what it takes?""You're doubting me, it seems."Frank chuckled. "To be honest, I would be content with you watching from hell, but I'm afraid death is permanent. So thanks to what you've said, I've decided to let you live a couple more days, just to show you what I can do to your friends!"Cicero was at once surprised and delighted—that was simply wonderful!Whether or not he survived it, just seeing Frank die would be enough!After all, his wit was so repulsive the way he made Cicero look like a fool!Ignoring Cicero, Frank stepped out with Yancy, who asked, "So how do we find Mrs. Garand?"From the looks of things, they wouldn't be staying in touch—they'd be dead if their creditors found out.""For sure," Frank replied, nodding. "But word would spread either way, and I doubt Mrs. Garand's hunters won't come calling."Yancy frowned. "What do you mean…?"Frank whipped o
Yancy nodded in understanding.In the end, Cicero's conscience was eating him up—as soon as he decided Frank was hostile, he took action.If he did not, he just had to insist he lost the money at an illegal casino no matter how Frank tried to probe.Frank could not do anything against that, and certainly not torture him.Moreover, Cicero was no tough guy.As Frank locked him in his own room, he realized that Frank really had a way to save Yancy.Giving up on pointless resistance, he shouted, "I'll talk! I'll tell you everything! Just let me go!"Frank went over to his room, asking, "You could've just done that earlier. So tell me, why the elaborate scheme? What's it for?"Cicero suddenly seemed to find his spine again. "It's a very important secret. I can't really tell you…"Frank glowered in annoyance. "Then you can die with it.""Wait, wait, wait!" Cicero promptly cried. "I'll talk, okay?"T-The truth is that my wife was never dead, but she's being targeted by people much
In other words, the so-called debt was just an excuse—Cicero had another reason to kill.Frank continued talking to him, just to distract him while he examined every corner of the house with his superhuman senses.After a couple of exchanges, Cicero invited them to stay, even serving them tea.Once he left the room, Yancy scowled. "I scanned our surroundings with my glasses—nothing."Seeing that she blamed herself, Frank smiled and bumped her on the head. "It's not just you—I sensed nothing too. This isn't as clear-cut as murder slash insurance fraud… there are plenty of fishy things that we need to dig out."Yancy frowned. "Now that's a bother, and I'm no detective!"Frank chuckled. "Me neither, but we can do what we do best to close this case anyway.""What's that?" Yancy asked.Frank smiled but said nothing.When Cicero returned with the tea, Frank twirled the cup but did not drink it.Instead, he asked, "Mr. Garand, how did you lose your money?"Cicero sighed. "Bad luck,
Smiling, Frank said, "Alright, then you boys carry on. We'll be going now—and don't worry, we definitely have no dealings with Cicero."Seeing Frank's promise, the pudgy man nodded, indicating that he believed Frank.They were not thugs anyway, and there was no reason to stop them from going anywhere they wanted without evidence.Once they had gone far enough, Yancy asked, "Since you've put it that way, why are we still going into Cicero's house?"His creditors have it hard, and we're deceiving them too. Things might really get bad if they catch us."She was no villain and obviously did not want those men to feel hurt or to betray their trust.Frank chuckled. "Why do you think I'd say that?"He led Yancy near a house, and before she said another word, put a hand on her shoulder and disappeared together.It was a firsthand experience of soul projection for Yancy, and she quickly felt obsessed with the feeling that she was one with everything around her.If she could, she would
The owner continued outside as he assured Yancy, "Don't worry, lady. I have a little experience myself, and I know that good people like you are rare."Yancy smiled but said nothing and turned to Frank after the owner left. "He's really lucky to have run into us. Anyone else would've screwed him over and then some."Frank nodded. "That's why I stand with justice. Who knows what baddies are out there, ruining people's lives where we can't see."Yancy smiled wryly, nodding but saying nothing.Frank then extended his super senses and found that the blood on the knife matched that of the deceased that they had found earlier.But for some reason, there were no fingerprints.While Frank was puzzled, Jouri texted details on the fingerprint they found, which matched a dead man's!Yancy frowned. "No way… could the deceased's spirit have been lying to us? Or is Jouri being the scamp that she always has been and trying to mess with us?"Frank smiled, "You worry too much. Her personality h
Horrified, the owner instinctively leaned toward Frank. "Please don't tell me this is real, man. I mean, is my restaurant really being haunted in broad daylight?!"Despite Frank's youth, the owner found a sense of security just staying at his side.Yancy, who had been drawn there for some time, spoke before Frank could. "What do you mean haunted? Check this out!"She took out a box for wireless earphones, but instead of having earphones inside, it was a bunch of virtually invisible bugs.They took to the air obediently, following her gesture to pick up an ashtray from the table, and flew off!The owner nodded in understanding. "So you're saying someone was using advanced technology to fly that knife in here? But why would they do that? Did they really have to go that far to frame a small business owner like me?"Yancy shrugged. "They really didn't have to go that far, but it's a clear motive if they want to avoid being a suspect at all. Anyway, you have nothing to worry about—con
Yancy was absolutely perplexed. "How did you do that?"Frank chuckled. "Do you believe in the paranormal?"Yancy shook her head confidently.The paranormal and science were two completely contradictory subjects.Strictly speaking, anything that could be seen with the naked eye or directly affected the physical plane was not paranormal. Still, while science was fundamentally a counter-thesis to mysticism, anything that worked within a system of logic fell within its jurisdiction.Frank shrugged. "It's good if you don't believe it. I don't myself—but I am using a paranormal technique to conjure that fingerprint, which was supposed to be erased."Yancy was utterly confused. "What does that mean?"Frank explained, "I'm not sure if you've seen bodies of energy resembling spirits, but they linger within a body, retaining the deceased's last thoughts to a certain extent!"Yancy nodded in understanding.There was some form of energy that lingered within the deceased.But with Frank's
Frank was unsure if she should laugh or cry. "Not mentioning something doesn't mean that I didn't notice it. And I could've saved you even without leaving the white-clad priest."If anyone else said that, Yancy would be convinced that they were lying.But since it was Frank, the strongest lifeform she had ever encountered yet, saying that was almost humble of him!Still, her protective glasses flashed as she checked the yellow talisman, scanning it. "There's nothing special about it! Both the scanner in my glasses and my eyes say so.""Now, back to my question." Frank chuckled. "Is science failing, or is the person?"Yancy's face fell—curse this man and all his teasing!Soon, they landed.There just happened to be a cleaner sweeping the curb, and his knees buckled and fell when he saw Frank and Yancy descending from the skies.Frank quickly put Yancy on her feet while rushing up to him, chuckling. "It's alright. We're not evil—don't worry."It took a while of assurance for the