Even as Bravo panted heavily, Hal told him over the phone, "Someone beat me up at school.""Beat you up?" Bravo actually stopped moving his hips, frowning. "Didn't I tell you to behave and not to cause trouble?""No! This brat is so full of himself that he shows no respect to anyone, not even you. He even said…" Hal paused, lowering his voice in fear of provoking his bad-tempered brother. "He even said that he'd beat you up even if you came.""What?!" Bravo was furious—someone dared to disrespect even him? Still, his anger notwithstanding, he had been ruling the streets of East City with Kurt long enough to be better than just some brute. Pausing for a moment, he withheld his rage and asked, "Did he give a name?""F-Frank Lawrence…""Frank Lawrence?!" Bravo did a double take at the name. "Did he mention anything else?""He's supposed to be the head of Grande Pharma pharmaceutical research or something…"There were plenty of Frank Lawrences in Riverton. However, only one fa
Every student was gaping in astonishment as Hal, coerced by his own brother, apologized to Frank.Turning toward the impassive Frank, they were all suddenly left wondering who on earth their lecturer really was.The ladies especially had a twinkle in their eyes.Meanwhile, Jean was relieved to see that Bravo held so much respect for Frank, just as she became further curious about Winter's brother.Winter was herself proud for some reason, even puffing up her modest chest."Winter, weren't you saying he's your brother? Come on, introduce him to us.""That's right… and upon a closer look, isn't he drop dead gorgeous?""Go on, Winter. Ask him for us, okay?"The other girls' curiosity and interest left Winter flustered, and she snapped, "Stop it. My brother isn't the type who messes around.""Hoho… Judging from that reaction, don't tell me that there's no blood relation?""Heh. She's just guarding her prey."The teasing left Winter flushed. "S-Stop it! That's not true!""Not th
Bravo nodded. "Oh, of course. I'll wait for you,"He was in no hurry, crouching as he waited in the hallway, even lighting himself a cigarette.Frank did not chase him off and returned to the podium in the lecture hall.He had certainly earned the respect of every student, and not just the girls—even the boys were at once grateful and worshipful.Still, the silent lecture hall was soon interrupted by a shrill, sarcastic voice. "Hmph. Just look at him, getting all smug because he has some powerful friends. Who knows if he really knows medicine?"Frank turned to find that it was the girl with dyed blonde hair from earlier who had rushed to Hal's side after Frank floored him.It seemed that she was upset with Frank because of Hal."So, you are skeptical about my medical knowledge?" Frank remained unaffected, standing on the podium with his hands clasped behind his back as he smiled. "I can already see the swelling bags under your eyes and the yellow specks at the corner of your eye
On the other hand, Winter was unusually protective despite her usual delicate mannerisms, shielding Frank as she snapped, "F-Frank is a very busy man."Her classmates were certainly dissatisfied."That's sly, Winter!" "Yeah, aren't you just keeping him to yourself?""It's alright, Winter." Frank patted her head and smiled—he never received formal education himself and was therefore not averse to the students' eagerness to learn. "If you're all interested, I'll try to make time for a lecture every month.""Once a month…?"The students were all disappointed, though something was better than nothing.Winter blushed even as she braced herself against the other girls' pointed looks. "That's plenty! Frank is very busy!" Frank made a solemn face just then. "Alright, class dismissed."As the students all thanked him earnestly for his lesson, he was once again reminded of his junior apprentices who always fooled around.The thought left him clenching his fist.As he strode out th
However, why would the Salazars of Sunny City have a problem with Kurt, whose operations were based in Riverton?Seeing the confused look on Frank's face, Bravo sighed. "You might not know this, but the Salazars had an agreement with us. We would secure a piece of land and pull strings across Riverton, while the Salazars would build a pharmaceutical factory, which they claimed would help them win a monopoly over Riverton's pharmacy business."Frank frowned. "If I recall, Kurt was poisoned even before the Salazars' Beauty Pill hit the market."Bravo nodded solemnly. "Yes. They did not like our asking price, and things went sour. Mr. Stinson must have been poisoned right then… But they returned after a while, very agreeable this time. They even had no problems with Mr. Stinson raising the price by twenty percent, though you saw the outcome for yourself—their Beauty Pill lost to the Turnbulls' Rejuvenation Pill, and that was when they refused to pay us the outstanding cost."Watching
Then, as Bravo and everyone else looked on in shock, Frank's tone changed sharply as he declared, "Not your last breath—I'll save you even if you've stopped breathing.""Shit!""Amazing!" "That's pompous!"Everyone including Bravo was shocked that Frank would humble himself, only for him to declare his overwhelming confidence.It in turn encouraged the goons, and suddenly none of them were afraid of the Salazars' poison.They were even shouting battlecries, ready to teach the Salazars a lesson!"No more dirty tricks! We have nothing to fear!""Let's go! Down with the Salazars!""Come on!"They all got into their MPVs rowdily, then drove along the road, forming a grand convoy and drawing plenty of attention.-In reality, Bravo's concerns proved to be true.Although the Salazars' factory was long since defunct, Jaud White was there, smugly calling Donald Salazar in Sunny City."I'm sure Kurt Stinson found out who poisoned him a while ago," he said confidently. "Just leave
"The Salazars have set a trap!" Bravo bellowed furiously. "We would've fallen for it if we didn't have Mr. Lawrence with us!"Then, turning toward Frank, he asked, "Are those threads…?"Frank was chuckling coolly upon a closer look. "They make up the outermost layer, and it's been laced with the sap of the Araneus Floret. Once you touch it, you'll lose consciousness before you know it, but it won't kill you.""It's child's play," he added. "Just keep your blades in front of you and flail around. Make sure not to get the sap on your skin. You'll be safe that way.""You heard him, boys!" Bravo turned toward his men and barked, "Don't let the threads reach your skin!"With that, he led the way, swinging his machete endlessly before him to cut off the threads.-"Hmmm…?"In the factory, Jaud White had just gotten off the phone with Donald Salazar, and he frowned.He could sense the perimeter threads being touched and sneered—Kurt Stinson's men had really come to reclaim this patch
"Fall back!" Bravo bellowed, knowing that now was not the time to act tough after Frank had spoken.Their land lot was right there and not running anyway, and so he fled, with his men helping him as they ran outside the factory.It was only then that they saw the thin blue smoke in the air, almost invisible to the naked eye."Mr. Lawrence saw that before we all did." One of the goons sighed, feeling lucky to have survived that. "He's simply amazing!""Ya think? The man had some moves too—he took down Mr. Lambert with just a couple of moves, and it was so clean!""Alright, shut it!" Bravo snapped.He was blushing while also a little spooked that Frank had subdued him.As Kurt's best fighter, he had been carving a reputation for his exploits over the years. Naturally, it was a little unacceptable for him to be subdued so easily.Still, he felt fortunate that he never made an enemy of Frank, or he would now be suffering for it."Nobody breathes a word about this, ever," he quickl