"Felix?" a familiar voice called out as Felix was leaving the airport. He turned, surprised. "Jack? What are the odds?" It was indeed Jack, who rushed over in a few strides. He laughed and said, "I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. If we hadn't known each other for years, I might've thought you had a twin brother." Meeting Felix anywhere in Dragonia would have been one thing, but they were in Astoria. It was incredible. "What brings you here?" Felix asked."Business! Ms. Kinsley's company is doing well. She established preliminary cooperation agreements here earlier, so I'm just here to finalize things." Felix looked around and teased, "Jack, you're supposed to be a big-shot executive now. Don't you look kind of modest here, traveling alone?" Jack threw an arm around Felix's shoulders with a laugh. "I'm keeping it low-key, you know? Besides, though I hate Astoria, experiencing their unique cultural scene is easier when you're flying solo." The mention reminded F
After about 30 minutes, Jack returned to the private room. "That was quick," noted Felix. Jack grinned. "Of course! Like I said, it's just a formality. Ms. Kinsley handled everything earlier. Actually, with Nessa busy training, I thought I'd explore some local entertainment. "Do you want to join tonight? The company contacts can arrange everything. It's totally safe—no scams." Scams? Felix found it amusing. What scammer would dare try anything with a martial arts master like himself? "This liquor's basically water. Let's make do with it. By the way, I never asked—what brings you to Astoria?" Felix glanced at him with a smirk. He joked, "I got invited by a beautiful Astorian lady." Jack scoffed. "Yeah, right. Cheers!" Just as they raised their glasses, the door slid open. Four burly men sat down rudely on both sides. Judging from their tattoos, they were likely local gang members. Jack frowned and asked, "Can I help you?" They did not respond, either unable or unwill
"Jack!" Felix's voice finally snapped Jack out of his trance. "Let me introduce you. This is my good friend Jack Graham, and this is Luna Starfire." Felix was exasperated. He had called Jack's name three times while the guy just stared at Luna until she grew uncomfortable. "Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Starfire." After barely shaking hands, Jack's expression suddenly changed. He jumped up. "Excuse me. I need to use the restroom." Honestly, Felix was stunned. He could tell exactly what had happened to Jack, but wasn't this a bit extreme? Though considering Jack's obsession with Astorian media when he was younger, perhaps it made sense. The awkward moment was saved by Luna's amused smile. "Your friend's quite entertaining, Dr. Zeller." Entertaining? Felix seized the chance to change subjects. "Tell me about your friend. The case doesn't seem urgent, right?" Luna nodded. "To be direct, her situation is similar to Jenna's." Ah, fertility issues. Indeed, it was not life-threa
Why was Xena asking Felix to return, even though there was no mission for him? Felix frowned. "Why?" "No reason needed! You're a Dragon Knight under my command. When I order you back, you come back!" Such forceful authority would have been impossible before, but now Felix did hold the Dragon Knight title—no disputing that. "I have a patient here, Xena. Don't put me in this position." After a brief silence, Xena's voice softened slightly. "Whether you have a patient or not, I know you well enough. You're in Astoria for something else. I might not ask, but I know plenty. "Felix, this situation is bigger than you realize. It's not something you can handle on impulse. Understand?" Clearly, Xena had guessed Felix was targeting the Steeles. Her "urgent matters" that let him board the plane must have been Alistair's anonymous tip. "I really do have a patient. Sorry." He hung up. After several minutes without another call, Felix relaxed. He only received a text message. It was
Felix had only been testing the waters. "No worries. It's just a thought. Let's focus on the treatment." As expected, May had the same condition as Jenna. It was latent uterus syndrome. "Thank you so much, Dr. Zeller." May broke into tears of joy, knowing she could conceive once her husband was cleared. Across cultures, continuing the family line was paramount, and infertility was devastating for women. May left on urgent business, and Luna led Felix to the study, where Kyro waited. "I hear you have important matters to discuss, Dr. Zeller. Rest assured, this study is specially constructed for absolute privacy." Knowing Kyro's standing, Felix decided to take his chance. He pulled out his phone to show Yadier's complete confession. After watching, Kyro slammed the table and breathed heavily with rage. "Those beasts! I thought the Steeles' local activities were heinous enough. I didn't think they'd do something worse." Luna's eyes burned with fury. Her anger was obvious eve
Kyro and Luna looked puzzled. To them, nothing had happened except Felix staring at Micah. Could that count as a contest? Then, they noticed something was wrong. Sweat poured off Micah like rain and dripped audibly against the floor. What had happened to him? Finally, Felix withdrew his power. Micah dropped to one knee and gasped for air, his eyes filled with raw fear. After recovering, Micah bowed to Felix. "This is my first taste of a Dragonian martial artist's true power. Please forgive my earlier disrespect, Dr. Zeller." Felix said with a smile, "No offense taken. You're quite skilled yourself." Even before absorbing another Dragonspine, Felix could have crushed Micah without breaking a sweat. Micah would not even have a chance to fight at all. Micah turned to Kyro. "Mr. Starfire, Dr. Zeller's strength surpasses any warrior or shadowstalker I've encountered. Even if we surrounded him, I doubt we'd force him to use more than one hand." Such high praise made Kyro and Lu
Hearing those words, Kyro shook his head. "It's true that Reagan could easily do it. But why would he? The Steeles are one of his loyal dogs, so why cut off his own arm without cause?" Luna pondered before adding, "As you said, Grandpa, there's no reason for him to do that now. But from what I know, Reagan is extremely arrogant and profit-driven. Given proper motivation, discarding the Steeles wouldn't trouble him." She turned to Felix. "What you may not know, Dr. Zeller, is that Reagan is one of our nation's three most powerful figures. The Steeles only rose to their current status after gaining his favor, which happened in such a short time and is very different from old families like ours. "Only Reagan could gather them all as you wish. If he approves, even their total elimination could be dismissed as a mere fire, with no media daring to report otherwise. The impact would be minimal." Felix stroked his chin thoughtfully before asking, "Does Reagan have any particular obsess
Felix smiled wryly. Francis was the mystic from King Aurelius' court over two millennia ago, and his identity remained a mystery. If anything of his had survived until now, it would be among the rarest treasures imaginable. Finding such an item seemed impossible. "Let me ask around first." Felix's original plan had been to investigate and eliminate targets one by one. But Nala's data matched Luna's—there were over a hundred Steele members. They weren't just abroad but scattered across various Astorian cities. How could he hunt them all? After a few deaths, the Steeles would go into hiding for sure. Given their connection to Reagan, even a dog's death would warrant investigation. Once Astorian authorities got involved, complications would multiply. Felix was not confident he was invincible worldwide yet, and Reagan's true strength remained unknown. The situation could turn dangerous. He had rushed here from Dragonia because he was furious to see so many countrymen used as te
No matter how much a Malevolent Phantom knew, the only thing that was ultimately recovered from them was the extent of humanity's mastery over the soul—nothing else.According to Donna, when a Malevolent Phantom was killed, only a tiny fragment of their remaining soul was retrieved. It was not enough to record everything they had learned—only the most critical information was preserved.So, in the end, whatever intelligence a Malevolent Phantom gathered during its time on Earth did not matter.Felix narrowed his eyes and said, "You're pretty smart. No, actually, a lot of you Malevolent Phantoms seem to have figured this out. Is that why so many of you beg for your lives?"A flicker of hope flashed in the Malevolent Phantom's eyes, and he replied in a serious tone, "I know martial artists like you are bound by your oaths. If you swear on the heavens that you won't kill me, I'll give you some valuable information."Felix did not hesitate. Raising his hand, he declared, "I swear on t
Felix was a Grandmaster. From this close, he could tell immediately whether Malevolent Phantom had used a technique to heal his broken arm or if it had simply regenerated on its own. That was why he made that remark.The Malevolent Phantom frowned. He replied, "What are you talking about? I don't understand."Then, as if deciding it was not worth the trouble, he muttered, "Whatever. You're strong. I'll give you that. But this isn't that big of a deal, so I'll let you walk away unharmed."Felix's mouth twitched. This was the second Malevolent Phantom he had encountered—after Karina's incident—that actually knew when to back down.It seemed that just like humans, Malevolent Phantoms changed depending on their environment and way of life. The weaker ones, in particular, were more likely to adapt, which was probably why they only killed when they absolutely needed to feed."I'm just a martial artist," Felix said, smirking. "Are you really that afraid of dying?"The Malevolent Phantom
If Felix had not come, no one would have noticed the distinct scent on the victims' bodies. Without that clue, the culprits could have continued their crimes without restraint.He muttered, "Was this all planned by the A-tier Malevolent Phantom? I have a really bad feeling about this."The more he thought about it, the more unsettling it became. Could something this organized and meticulously executed really be the work of just one Malevolent Phantom? If humans were involved, that would be far more terrifying.When it came to outside threats, no matter how horrifying, the people of Dragonia had always been willing to fight to the bitter end. However, history had a way of repeating itself—if traitors had existed in the past, who was to say they did not exist now?Eventually, Felix said, "Chloe, here's the plan. Tomorrow, you'll go to this dental clinic. You won't see me, but I'll be watching from the shadows. I promise you won't be in any danger."Then, he pulled out a check. He ha
Felix had not expected Gerald to bring up the Ancient Sage and the Eight Guardians on his own.Gerald replied, "Quit worrying about me and my brother. Karina already told me everything, and since you've already clashed with the Eight Guardians, you might as well see it through to the end."With that, the call ended. Felix felt a rush of excitement. At least now, he had something solid to report to Eloise.Of course, he was not arrogant enough to think this would be easy. If Gerald had set this as his goal, it meant the Eight Guardians were not just some random pushovers.Now that he had already crossed paths with Ashton, he did not need to look for trouble—the rest of them would definitely come after him sooner or later. There was no way they would just sit back and do nothing if one of their own was taken out.But so far, Felix had only encountered two of them—Ashton and Bonnie. The other six remained a mystery, and that was the real problem.By the time the sun was setting, his
Ian finally understood why Angie respected Felix so much. After all, he could even take time off whenever he wanted. Angie's gaze was filled with mixed emotions as she stared at Felix, saying, "Felix, to be honest, I don't even know how to talk to you anymore. "Even Wendy, the head of Kinsley Corporation, listens to you without question, yet you're seriously working here as a front desk manager?"She had already been shocked to learn that Felix's cousin was Dreamscape, but what she had just witnessed was on a whole other level—it was like a bolt of lightning striking her. In fact, she was starting to question if that whole "cousin" thing was even real.Her words were spoken casually, but they hit like a sledgehammer. Bob, who was already sweating bullets, felt his legs go weak and collapsed to his knees.He quickly shouted, "I was wrong! I never should've set you up—please, just think of me as nothing and let me go!"He never expected Wendy to be the very person everyone in Kas
Bob did not say much. He kept wondering if Felix and Wendy were just being polite. He was absolutely certain he would not be exposed. The waiter would never admit to intentionally causing trouble, and no investigation could possibly reveal anything. He might as well keep things as messy as possible. Less than ten minutes passed before Angie arrived. She did not even greet Felix, immediately rushing to the Azure VIP Room with Ian. Felix remained in the main hall. It was past the lunch rush, so the restaurant was almost empty and quiet. Suddenly, Bob heard Felix's voice say, "I won't be here for more than a few days, so you really didn't need to use these tactics." "Mr. Zeller, were you speaking to me?" "You know exactly what I mean. Don't do this again." Felix was not naive. He could tell from how Bob had been helpful in the main hall but went silent in the private room. Something was definitely fishy. But Felix was totally focused on the Malevolent Phantoms now, and he
Just as Felix turned, the bathroom door opened, and a woman walked out. Seeing how the hem of her dress was wet, it was clearly from washing off spilled wine. "Mr. Zeller?" With just a glance, Felix was instantly wordless. Of all people, it was actually Wendy. "Oh, Wendy. What a coincidence!" Seeing Felix in his professional attire, Wendy was stunned. "What are you doing?" "I'm working as a front desk manager at this restaurant." Hearing this, Wendy remembered Felix was currently running important tasks nationwide. So, this made perfect sense. "Since we know each other, let's just drop this. The waiter didn't mean to cause trouble. There's no need to make such a big deal." Franz had already walked over at that moment. But he was shocked to see Wendy knew the front desk manager and was even addressing him so respectfully. "Got it, Mr. Zeller. Sorry for the trouble." Felix nodded and left. Bob followed, but a bad feeling crept into his mind. How did Felix know Franz's
Sally heard the intercom call, too, and her admiration for Bob reached new heights. Everyone in the restaurant knew that for VIP rooms like the Azure Room, customer complaints could not be handled by a front desk manager. Only the general manager—like Ian—could deal with it—and if he couldn't, Angie herself would have to step in.This was clearly Bob's setup. If not, Felix would not have had to go over. Bob had taken advantage of Felix being new and clueless about the rules.But his guts were something else. He was actually sacrificing one or two waiters just to go up against the boss' daughter. Was this really just about a front desk manager position anymore? In the Azure VIP Room, there were only two people by the massive table. A waiter knelt on the floor, body shaking uncontrollably. Just this scene told Felix the guests were definitely high-profile. "Who are you?"The young man with a powerful presence immediately frowned when he saw Felix."Hello, sir. I'm the front des
In the morning, Felix visited the dental clinic where the two women had their teeth cleaned. He found nobody suspicious there. He had already reviewed the relevant videos. They only had a routine teeth cleaning with barely any interaction. Any hope of finding a lead this way was completely crushed. After leaving, he received a call from Angie and rushed to an incredibly luxurious restaurant. "Felix, how about working as a front desk manager here?" she asked.What should have been a simple job offer now felt like she was tentatively seeking his permission. "Sure. But Ms. Sinclair, I have one condition."Angie smiled and said, "Go ahead.""I have some personal matters to deal with here. So, when I need to leave to handle something, I hope I can get time off normally." Angie thought that was nothing. She glanced at the middle-aged man beside her. "No problem. This is the restaurant's general manager, Ian Goodwin. Just give him a call when you want to leave." Ian immediately