Helen certainly did not understand why Frank would go all out, even sending for bodyguards."It is." Frank nodded solemnly, and he was concerned over none other than the Talnamese's presence here.The only person who had a connection with them was most likely Frank himself. After all, the Talnamese still held a grudge for the time when the Lord of the Southern Woods led an insurgency into Talnam and almost abducted their king.As the only son of the Lord of the Southern Woods, Frank was worried that the Talnamese were after him.And those folks were known for their savagery—if they really had Gina, Frank would not risk letting Helen get caught by them too.And most of all, he would not allow himself to be used as a bargaining chip against his own father. He would rather die than allow himself to get involved with that man again, especially if it was because of his own competence.With that, Frank brought Ned along in his Maserati and drove straight to the outer reaches of South M
Picking up the phone with shaking fingers, Gina dialed a number, and her call was soon answered."Hello? Frank? It's me, Gina… I've been kidnapped, and they're demanding three billion dollars… Yes, three billion. Please, can't you and Helen do something? Take a loan from Ms. Turnbull or something? I'm begging you… they're going to kill me."Gina felt utterly drained after the call.Never could she have imagined the day would come when she had to beg Frank to save her. The sheer humiliation left her hanging her head, especially after Frank replied nonchalantly over the phone, "Calm down. It's just three billion."He was certainly in no rush.If anything, Gina believed that her death was exactly what he wanted—he could do anything he wanted with her daughter at that point, and no one would dare to take Helen's side.A venomous look appeared on her face at the thought, and she promptly sat up, flashing a fawning smile at the Talnamese. "Gentlemen, it's better to look into my son-i
"By the way, you have to be careful," Gina warned the Talnamese. "He's a martial artist or something."It only left the Talnamese laughing."Don't worry, we're all martial artists too!""Hell, Talc is Ascendant rank!""Oh, we're really not worried about some Draconian martial artist. Not many people can best Talc in a fight, save for the Lord of the Southern Woods!"For some reason, Gina felt a gnawing sense of foreboding as she watched the Talnamese joke among themselves confidently. "You're so smart, Aunt Gina!" Cindy praised."Shut up! It's all your fault!" Gina snapped, and Cindy awkwardly turned away.Gina was not about to play nice, and Cindy knew that after selling the ruby for just 500 million and spending everything in just a week.In fact, the Talnamese planned to squeeze Cindy for five billion when they learned about the ruby falling to the black market, and they needed that much to buy it back. And since she did not have the money, she had to stage her own kidnapp
"That should be what we're asking!" A burly figure leapt down from the room, landing with a thud.Several figures appeared at the entrance at the same time, cutting off their escape."You know these women?" Talc then pointed at Gina and Cindy, who were both panicking. "Hmm?" Frank frowned—he was only aware that Gina was kidnapped, and surprised that Cindy was there too.Still, Cindy reminded him of the crown ruby that Fenton delivered, and he knew right then that his hunch was right.Cindy had sold it off while lying to Gina that it was not worth much and traveled abroad to spend that money.Now, it seemed that the Talnamese had traced the clues from the black market back to her and caught her.He was inwardly relieved, as the Talnamese were not aware who he was.He was fine if they were only after the crown ruby, but he would be worried if they were after him for revenge, since he was the Lord of the Southern Woods' son.His father had been bullying the Talnamese aplenty
Ned then smirked. "I guess I can understand why Ms. Lane is your ex-wife and not still married to you.""Heh…" Frank chuckled contemptibly. "That's enough. I have no time for your squabbles!" Talc barked as he strode up, glaring coldly at Frank, his red eyes ferocious as a wolf's. "Either bring us the ruby, or you will all die. Now, choose!""Is there a third option?" Frank asked calmly after a brief silence."A third option?" Talc was taken aback, not quite understanding what Frank meant."I'm choosing the third option," Frank continued, his tone and presence turning from calm to cold, and the room actually turned chilly. "You Talnamese have barged into Draconia's borders and abducted our citizens. The sentence for you is death!"Frank bellowed, his pure vigor bursting into a violent storm that left even Ned stumbling beside him."Mr. Janko!" Frank turned towards him, saying quietly, "Please protect the hostages. The Talnamese will be staying here… forever! Death Eater!" W
Frank had yet to reach Ascendant rank.Still, he could briefly reach that level with the Death Eater, or even use all the death aura he absorbed to fight an Ascendant rank briefly as an equal.And Talc was just midway Ascendant rank. As Frank went out, he was immediately on the backfoot."Die!" The shockwave from Frank's punch shattered Talc's projected talons right then, and he kept going, breaking Talc's entire arm."Cap!" "Cap! We're coming!"Seeing that Frank crippled their peerless captain with a single strike, the other Talnamese were at once panicked and incensed.While they were scampering earlier, they suddenly turned back, forming a combat ward of thirty people, bolstering their vigor to peak Ascendant rank.Frank's expressions turned solemn—the Talnamese were even more bothersome than imagined."Fenton told me about this…" he said, remembering what he was told as a child. With a single military unity, the Cistern Ward could bolster their strength up by several ra
The chief of the Martial Alliance?! One could tell right away that the woman was not to be trifled with.Fight or flight—everything now hinged on Talc's decision.He spoke just then, saying, "Lady Silverbell. We have no intention to fight—we're here to recover our national treasure, which we know for a fact had been sold into Draconia's black market. All we want is to retrieve it… With your permission, of course."Talc was clearly ready to encounter Draconia's authorities—how else would he have a script ready on the go?"Your national treasure?" Silverbell paused—she only came because she heard about the Talnamese presence, and this issue was not what she expected."Yes. And those are the ones who sold it," Talc said, pointing at Frank."Huh?" Silverbell recognized Frank's silhouette, which reminded her a lot of the man in her dreams…She could not help blushing but soon scowled and waved off Talc. "I don't care what you think you're doing here. You're all leaving Draconian bo
Cindy was shouting too. "That's right! Are you trying to get us killed?!""Shut up!" Frank bellowed.It was Cindy and Gina's fault that the Talnamese had caught on to his whereabouts in the first place. And now that they knew who he was, they would be sending every assassin and poisoner they had.When that happens, it would not just be Frank, but everyone around him would be in danger too.He could see that much from the look in Talc's eyes. As long as the black market of Draconia stood, they would always trace the clues back to him.And the mere thought sent Frank's blood pumping!"Whatever happens, you are all staying here," he growled sinisterly and murderously.Naturally, Gina snapped at him even before the Talnamese could. "You fucking idiot! They've already surrendered—why do you have to push them?! Are you not satisfied until you get me killed, so that you can have Helen without anyone stopping you?!""Yeah! You won't even get a sniff of Helen if anything happens to Aunt