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
Frank strode forward, his eyes narrowing threateningly."N-No…"Jaud started sweating all over his brow, having long since given up on the idea of fighting Frank directly.And now that he saw Frank, his first thought was to run—the further away, the better!"Damn it! Didn't Chaz Graves promise to bring in the Lionhearts and kill that son of a bitch?! That's so long ago, but here he is, still alive and kicking!"Even as Jaud cursed inwardly, he was flashing a smile that could well be a scowl. "Oh, hello, Mr. Lawrence! Long time no see…"Frank continued forward, his dark aura bursting. "Long time no see, huh? I guess that's true, since I still haven't settled things with the Salazars.""Oh, no, no, no…" Jaud quickly threw up his hands, quickly hatching a plan. "Come on, Mr. Lawrence! Ever since his son's death, Donald Salazar has been repentant. He's even attending church and told me not to get you upset and all that…""Really?"Frank chuckled coolly. "The last time I ran into h
Jaud recognized Frank's moves. "The Five-Peat Archaeus… of Mystic Sky Sect?!""I'm surprised you know about us." Frank strode up, ready to end Jaud's life.Jaud promptly threw up his hands in panic. "No, please! Don't kill me, Mr. Lawrence… Right, I can trade a secret of the Salazars for my life!"Frank had a hand poised to strike but paused. "A secret of the Salazars?""Yes." Jaud coughed even as he lay on the floor. "The Salazars still want you dead. Just let me live, and I'll tell you their secret.""Speak," Frank growled, his expression cold."Then… Do I have your assurance that I'll live?""I'll kill you right now if you don't tell me!"Frank's vigor charged again, and Jaud's eyes widened against the tremendous pressure.Even as he begged for mercy, he steeled himself while cursing Donald endlessly. "Fuck! I had to run into this monster today of all days… But don't think you can get away while I can't, Donald!"If only Donald did not cut corners and paid Kurt, they certa
Frank glowered as he projected his pure vigor. It manifested into a hammer out of thin air, swinging straight toward Jaud's chest!"Hell no!" Jaud suddenly leapt several meters into the air, dodging Frank's hammer.He clearly had no intention to fight Frank as he fled wildly out of the factory.Given how fast he moved, he was clearly pretending to be maimed before."You're running now? Too late!"Frank's pure vigor was still connected to him even after he projected it—it was an ability unique to the Five-Peat Archaeus.And with a wave of his hand, Frank turned the hammer that shot past Jaud back to him."What?!"Jaud thought he was safe as soon as he dodge the hammer earlier and did not expect it to still be under Frank's control!As the hammer turned back to him, it struck him squarely in the chest this time, sending him flying even as screamed."Gurk!" Jaud's chest was sunken, and he was coughing blood as well as pieces of his own lungs into the air.He landed heavily be
Raising his hand, Bravo beckoned, and all his men who were already sick of waiting sprang to their feet.They were all holding weapons, their eyes flashing in excitement.Bravo then licked his lips and bellowed, "Mr. Lawrence has already dealt with the main issue, and the rest are just Salazar rejects. What do we have to fear?! Let's go, boys! Charge!" He led his men as they all dashed toward the Salazars' hired muscle who had just charged out of the factory. As both groups collided and a violent scuffle ensued, Frank stayed out of it. This was Kurt's fight after all, and he should at least let his men have a chance to earn their keep.Instead, Frank took Jaud's corpse to a quiet place and searched it. The man had an assortment of poisons along with a tome called the Hundred Bane Anthology.After putting away the poisons, Frank read through the tome and was left shocked by the methods and process of harnessing poison from insects and other sources. There were even poisons he
Even as Frank shook his head, he soon had a better idea and told Bravo, "How about this? You probably won't have any use for this land right after reclaiming it from the Salazars. Why not rent out the land and the factory along with the machines to me? I'll pay you ten percent more than what the Salazars paid you before.""What?!" Bravo gaped and shook his head firmly. "No, absolutely not!"Frank frowned in turn. "What about twenty percent?""No, you misunderstand, Mr. Lawrence." Bravo quickly understood that Frank had the wrong idea when he raised his price. We'd never charge you the price we charged the Salazars—it'd be going against our conscience." He then added, "So, how about this? We'll only charge you the rent for using our land. The factory and the machinery didn't come from our money anyway, so you can have it on the house. Don't turn us down now, Mr. Lawrence, or you'd be disrespecting myself and Mr. Stinson."Seeing that Bravo was determined, Frank nodded exasperatedl