Mona called out, "Wait for me, Winter…"As her voice faded into the distance, Helen and Vicky's were staring coolly at Frank."She's a martial elite I met in Southdam. I took her in as Winter's bodyguard," Frank replied."Who's a bodyguard…? Wait, is everyone gone already?" Kiki asked as she left her room.There were dark circles under her eyes, and her hair was a mess—she clearly did not sleep much last night.Helen was left gaping as Kiki showed up before turning toward Frank in disbelief.He braced himself as he explained, "She's Kiki Moss. She's staying here to hide from the Soranos.""Hello, I'm Kiki!" Kiki flashed a professional smile at Helen.Helen remained silent before asking quietly, "How many other women are staying here, Frank?""She's the last one," Frank quickly assured her.However, that was when Frida Blue also left her room, nodding at Vicky in greeting. "Hi Ms. Turnbull. I've made a full recovery, so I can return to work now."She then did a double take wh
Vicky raised a brow, her meaning all too clear.Frank said quietly in turn, "Anyway, I helped Bravo Lambert reclaim a plot of land that his gang rented to the Salazars. The Salazars built a factory over it, and their precision machinery for producing pharmaceutical products is still in there.""Really?" Vicky's eyes lit up."Exactly. After we took back the land, I rented the factory from Bravo, so I'm going to—""Aha! I expect nothing less from my head of pharmaceutical research." Vicky cut him short."So? How much is Bravo asking for? I'm taking everything," she said, adding with a wink. "You'd get a twenty percent revenue cut too.""No," Frank shook his head. "I intend to sell the factory to Helen and Lane Holdings.""What?!" Vicky sprang to her feet before sighing in disappointment. "I see—I get it now. I still have work to do, so I'll be going."Frank caught her wrist before she could leave, frowning, "I'm not finished.""What's there to say now?" Vicky chuckled, repressin
Helen nodded. "I agreed. I'd rather not put Frank on the spot."With that, the two girlbosses of Riverton shared the factory Frank repurposed from the Salazars.Further details were up to those two—it would not be Frank's business either way.-At noon, Randall Young was sitting in his jewelry store at Riverton's Square Street, holding up a magnifying glass as he studied a bright ruby. After a long while, he breathed a long sigh and put away the magnifying glass.Then, looking up at the girl standing opposite him, he cleared his throat. "Well, the luster and form rank it among the best of the best—it's a ruby fit for Talnam royalty. So, would you mind telling me where you got it from?"Naturally, Cindy was the one standing opposite Randall.She brought him the ruby that Fenton delivered, though she shook her head in hesitation. "It's a gift. I can't say.""You can't say…" Randall breathed a long sigh and shook his head. "Ma'am, I'm actually afraid to buy this from you because
Cindy finished, "You can trust Randall Young even if you don't believe me, right, Aunt Gina?""Frank Lawrence!" Gina shrieked right then. "You lied to me! I thought you'd finally come around, but you're just tricking me with some glass orb! No, I can't let him take Helen away like this. I'll take this up with him. He could kill me in front of Helen if he wants!"After her rant, Gina hung up, while Cindy smiled greedily and passed Randall the ruby. "500 million it is!"-In the evening, Frank finally had Helen and Vicky agree about the factory.Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, however, his phone started ringing."Hello?" Frank asked, and heard wheezing from the other end."Hello?!" he pressed, his voice louder this time. Mona finally answered just then. "Frank! Winter and I are being chased on campus! No—!"The call was cut off with Mona's scream."Mona?! Mona?!" Frank shouted, but his only answer was static beeping."What's wrong, Frank?" Vicky, who had just made
Frank drove at top speed to Riverton University, arriving in under fifteen minutes when it would normally take half an hour.He narrowed his eyes as he immediately spotted the ambulances at the gates, feeling a foreboding sensation right then.He rushed toward it and found paramedics tending to several students, each bleeding all over their faces.Thankfully, he did not recognize any of them.Then, as he started toward the campus building, a girl suddenly appeared and got in his way. "Hey, stop! The cops have already set up a police line—no one's allowed in!"They were both surprised when they saw each other's faces, since the girl was none other than Winter's best friend, Jean Zims. "Frank?!" She appeared stunned."What happened here, Jean?!" Frank asked, repressing his panic as much as he could."I don't know—a bunch of black-clad men suddenly charged into the campus," Jean cried urgently, tugging on Frank's sleeves. "They hurt the security and kept shouting for Winter, but
A young man wearing a white suit and clearly appeared rich was laughing in front of the building. "Hahaha! Come out, beautiful, or you'll be burned alive!"He was still holding the torch that ignited the gasoline poured around the building. His eyes flashed with wild excitement as he watched the cinders danced, even as his crotch started swelling!-Meanwhile, Mona was pulling Winter as they ran along up on the fifth floor, hiding in an empty classroom and coughing violently because of the smoke surrounding them."Just leave me, Mona! Run!" Winter pushed Mona off, trying to get her to flee alone.There was no doubt that Mona would have gotten past those black-clad men's encirclement if she were alone. Winter certainly knew that Mona was kept inside this building because of her.On the other hand, Mona was cursing under her breath. "Shit. I was just wondering why they weren't coming after us… They're setting fire to the whole building! That brat's really crazy!"Then, pursing her
The stairs inside the building had already collapsed, and no one could go up from there.Frank simply scaled the handrail that remained with the agility of a monkey and leapt up to the fifth floor in just half a minute."Mona! Winter!" he shouted as he released a burst of pure vigor to disperse the thick smoke."Frank! Over here!" A meek shout from Mona could be heard from the lecture hall down the hallway.Frank rushed toward it, running along the wall to leap over a wall of flames, bounding through the fire and promptly pulling both Mona and Winter into his arms.While Winter had passed out, Mona looked up anxiously at him. "We couldn't get out. The stairs were on fire!""Just hold on tight!" Frank exclaimed.His vigor charging in his meridian nexus, he released a violent burst of pure vigor from his palm, parting the sea of flames before him and the blackened walls behind it.Bang!Outside the campus gates, Jean looked up, stunned by the violent explosion.She then saw the
Maron's accusation only left Frank puzzled. "Bocek and Quinn were killed?""What, you didn't know?" Maron paused before laughing. "Don't you think it's too late to feign ignorance?"Frank frowned. "I didn't kill them.""Oh, so you're saying that they accidentally slipped while walking, and guh—died." Maron gagged as he made a gesture across his neck, smiling in amusement."I don't know what your sect is plotting. Either way, I'm innocent and there's a witness right here," Frank said, turning toward Mona.Mona nodded—she was there when Frank fought Bocek. "He didn't kill Bocek Ocean or his daughter Quinn. He let them go, and I saw that with my own eyes.""I see. So I've misunderstood." Maron nodded solemnly before grinning at Frank. "Or did you actually think I'd believe your crap for a second there?"Waving them off, he snorted. "It doesn't matter now—you're an enemy of Sage Lake Sect, and their deaths make no difference. So? Have you thought of how you want to die?""No," Fran