The Secretly Rich Man

Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1291

“You…! Let’s do this then! I’ll go easy on you on your first ten blows!” declared Fernando as he looked at Gerald before shaking his head, a wry smile on his face.

Following that, Fernando rested his arms behind his back and even closed his eyes before turning to face away with Gerald.

The way he was behaving almost suggested that he was in some sort of strange environment. That everything else in the entire world was meaningless to him.

“…Does Fernando not plan to make an attack…? His wordless taunt is so merciless! Fernando being Fernando, I suppose!”

“He’s doing that for a reason! Did you know that the Dawsons have mastered a secret martial art skill called the Art of Counter Injury?”

“The Art of what now? What does it do?”

“From what I’ve heard, practitioners of that martial art will allow you to hit them any way you want. However, the more vigorous the attacker’s blows are, the heavier their hands will start to feel!”

“Good lord! To think that such a mystical skill even exists in the world!”

As everyone in the crowd was busy discussing the current situation in between squeals of shock and awe, Fernando had now enveloped himself within a mystifying-looking veil… If he was already mysterious before, he was even more so now.

Seeing that, everyone could only hold their breaths as they kept their eyes peeled.

Gerald himself had no idea what the Art of Counter Injury was. However, he did know that there was a high chance that he would be unable to leave today unless he resolved this incident.

With that in mind, Gerald closed his eyes as his body quickly began emanating his immense inner strength… The second he opened them again, Gerald immediately began dashing toward Fernando!

“He’s made his move! Fernando’s definitely going to counter that!”

Everyone had their eyes glued to the scene as they watched as Gerald successfully landed a swift kick on Fernando!

Following a loud ‘thud’, the sickening sound of bones cracking became evident a split second later as the crowd watched as a body was flung backward… and began colliding with rows upon rows of tables and chairs!

However, the now messily-arranged chairs and tables were the least of everyone’s concerns. Since several members of the Martial Arts Association had been sitting right in front of Fernando’s path of destruction, many of them ended up flying all over the place as well, either in their attempt to dodge the attack or due to being directly hit by the incoming body!

Eventually, the body finally stopped when it hit against the large hall’s glass revolving door, sending it shattering into a million pieces with a loud ‘crash’…!

And of course, the body itself was Fernando’s.

Everyone was momentarily too stupefied for words, and this was especially so for Matilda.

When she was finally able to break from her utter shock, the stunned woman simply muttered, “…H-how… How is this even possible…?”

Despite being completely shocked, those from within the crowd were already starting to discuss the situation again.

“…Maybe Fernando has some other tactic he hadn’t revealed…?”

“…You may be right! After all, he can’t have been defeated that easily! I’m sure he has another tactic up his sleeve…! …Right?”

As everyone continued thinking about how unbelievable the current events were, Fernando himself had been vomiting blood, his shock and fear clearly reflected in his eyes as his body trembled vigorously.

In a way, the sheer force of that kick alone almost seemed to have—somehow—inflicted damage on his entire body. Due to that absurdity, Fernando’s mind was now completely blank as he continued lying on the ground.

Gerald, however, simply stood atop the platform before looking at Fernando and shouting, “Hey now, that was only one blow! You still owe me nine more hits!”

“You should have enough energy stored by now, Fernando! Get up!”

“Is Fernando finally going to reveal his unique skill? It’s definitely over for the other guy now!”

Listening as everyone continued cheering him on, Fernando slowly began crawling back up. Though he eventually managed to—after great difficulty—he immediately began vomiting blood again, forcing his entire body to kneel.

It was then when everyone realized that he truly had lost all his strength, prompting all of them to think the same thing.

‘…What? Could… Could Fernando actually have been defeated…? To think that he even said that he’d go easy on his opponent for the first ten blows… All he managed to take was a single hit!’

As Fernando blacked out from all his internal injuries, Matilda ran over to him while shouting, “Fernando!”

“You’re so powerful, Mr. Crawford!” cried out Aiden immensely joyfully.

‘Worship’ couldn’t even begin describing how awe-stricken Aiden currently was.

“Whatever the case is, I’m assuming that nobody’s going to stop me from leaving now, don’t you think?” replied Gerald as he glared at the bodyguards while gently patting Aiden’s shoulder.

Seeing his frigid glare, the guards immediately felt cold sweat running down their foreheads as they stepped aside to let him pass.

“Humph. Let’s go!” declared Gerald as he and his party strode off, the rest of the Simes not even daring to raise their opinions anymore.

“Go easy on Mr. Crawford for the first ten blows you said… Hah!” sneered Chester as he spat contemptuously when he walked past the unconscious man.

Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1292

Upon stepping out of the large hall, a few women instantly began surrounding Gerald rather excitedly. Finding him to be increasingly stable and attractive, several of them were keen on inquiring him about some things to get to know him better.

“So you were this powerful, Gerald!”

“Indeed! Speaking of which, Gerald, are you really the legendary Mr. Crawford from Mayberry…? Aiden never said a word about this to us!”

“So what if I am? Is that important?” asked Gerald casually.

Hearing that, the women immediately pursed their lips in disappointment. It was obvious that Gerald wasn’t interested in them in the slightest.

Regardless, Fernando himself was now half-crippled due to that single kick. In other words, as soon as he woke up, he found that he couldn’t use the force around his arms anymore.

Since the Dawsons and the Simes had been sharing a good relationship for generations, the incident definitely caused quite a major uproar among the Simes. After all, not only was Fernando a rising star in the Martial Arts Association, but he was also the one who had received special training from the Gunters, one of the major secret families.

He had been planning to participate in the trial training the following day too, but it was obviously impossible in his current state.

To think that Fernando had ended up being beaten up this badly just because of some misunderstanding the Sime family’s young lady—Matilda—had with Gerald! The Simes had simply paid too much attention to that misunderstanding for their own good.

Whatever the case was, both Shandon Sime—the master of the Sime family—and a middle-aged man from the Gunter family—who was there as a guest—were greeted to the sight of Fernando’s terrible state as the other Simes were carrying him in. This, of course, prompted Shandon to inquire his daughter about what had happened. The middle-aged man himself was well acquainted with the Dawsons, so he knew that Fernando was a person who had undergone cut and dried training.

Either way, after being questioned by her father, Matilda didn’t even dare to miss out on a single detail. She even made sure to show him Gerald’s photograph as she fully detailed everything that had led to this point.

Once she was done, the middle-aged Gunter took a look at the photograph before immediately narrowing his eyes as he said, “You… To think that you’ve actually offended him!”

“…Oh? You know who he is, Third master? Is he really the rich heir from Mayberry then?” asked Shandon, stunned.

The third master went by the name of Shaun Gunter, and his role was to mediate communication between the Gunters and the outside world. Due to that, it was no surprise that he was quite close to the Simes.

“I’ve seen photographs of him before, and this is undoubtedly Mr. Crawford from Mayberry. You have no idea how vicious and potent his mysterious martial arts are. I’ll have you know that this person single-handedly ended the lives of all the Moldells from the North, the Longs, and even the Schuylers from the Salford Province!” explained Shaun.

Hearing that, Shandon’s eyes widened so much that they looked like they were going to pop out of his head at any second. Matilda herself was already covering her mouth in fright.

Following that, both father and daughter asked in unison, “Is… Is that really true…?”

“Is there even a reason for me to lie? Regardless, since he’s already here, I assure you that he’s come to meet the Gunters. In fact, Lady Gunter—the master of the Gunter family—had predicted that he would come sooner or later quite some time ago. With that in mind, she had ordered me to receive him upon his arrival. Lady Gunter truly has amazing insight!” replied Shaun with a sigh.

“If that’s the case then… does that mean he’s a prestigious guest of the Gunters?” said Shandon, his fear evident in his voice.

“I’d say so. Regardless, just to remind you how powerful he truly is, I heard that people from both the Squad of Divine Grimness and Judgement Portal have sent exceptional people after him before. However, even their strongest followers were unable to kill him! With that in mind, I have to emphasize your lack of insight for offending such a person!” replied Shaun while shaking his head.

“H-how was I supposed to know that he was that powerful… Hell, if I had known, I wouldn’t have even dared to offend him in the first place!” said Matilda fearfully.

“…Still, why would those from the Squad of Divine Grimness and the Judgement portal want to capture him in the first place? Not only that, but the Gunters are also…” asked Shandon as the end of his sentence trailed off.

“Let’s just say that he has something special with him. As long as one is able to obtain that special something, a major secret will definitely be revealed to them!” replied Shaun.

“A major secret…?” said Shandon as his eyes momentarily lit up.

After some thought, he then looked up again before whispering, “…Could it be that the Gunters also wish to-”

Shandon’s sentence ended midway the second he saw Shaun giving him a warning gaze. Even so, due to that, Shandon knew that his deduction was most likely correct. With that in mind, he quickly breathed a sigh of relief in his mind.

…

It was a little while later when Gerald finally returned to his hotel. Of course, the private room in the hotel had been ruined by those whom Matilda had sent over.

After seeing the chaotic state of the room, Chester immediately wanted to head off and kill those from the Sime family! Gerald, however, stopped him before he could even leave the room.

“If I may, this isn’t your usual style, Mr. Crawford! With the Simes targeting us so many times, surely we can’t just let them off that easily!” said Chester.

Gerald simply shook his head before replying, “Let’s just say that I’ve been feeling ill at ease throughout this period of time… With that in mind, I truly don’t wish to waste my time and energy on the Simes, at least for the moment!”

Before Chester could reply, the corner of his eye caught a glimpse of something lying on the table in the room. Squinting his eyes slightly, the puzzled Chester then said, “…Mr. Crawford, it appears that someone may have entered the room…”

Looking at the mess before him that Matilda had caused, Gerald then frowned as he replied, “…Yes, I figured as much…”

the table!

Rich Man Novel (Invisible

at the table. Seeing that what Chester had said was true, he then walked over to pick the note up. On it, was a row of words that stated, ‘Let us meet at the Sky Bridge in Qerton City

that straightforward message, nothing else was on the note. There wasn’t even a signature to indicate who had sent

did eventually manage to invite us over, I don’t think it would be a stretch to think that she was

most probably continue madly looking around till she eventually managed to

what a

the meet-up…?’ Gerald thought to himself. Whatever

Chester. In the meantime, you should stay

“Affirmative!”

two chunks of land separated by a large river. By the time Gerald got there, it was half an hour before midnight and everything was dark

still didn’t know who it was who it was who had called him out, Gerald had been extremely vigilant throughout his journey to the river. While he had passed by a few people earlier

sudden, Gerald saw a wooden boat—with tiny lanterns

that suggested that he was a villager who had retired to

at the person, his ears twitched as he suddenly began hearing the—oddly—rhythmic

darkness, and inclusive of the person on the boat, it was a fair guess

sneered

note in his hand before glaring at the man and replying, “Well you did leave me a note telling me to come over… It would’ve been unreasonable for me to turn down such an obvious trap. Still, did you really have to

seemed to be the group’s leader simply shook his iron shackles slightly before replying with a smile, “There’s no need for you to ask so much. Regardless, we’re giving you a choice now. Are you going to be coming along with us willingly? Or would you prefer us capturing

along, you say? Where to? Also, are you here on behalf of the King of Judgement Portal?

break into a smile. Even though he had caught wind of the fact that Gerald had killed both Tiara and Belzebob, it appeared that he wasn’t really anything out of the

out sooner or later once you come along with us!” replied the leader

it!”

them again, his already cold gaze had turned even more frigid as his inner strength began rapidly pulsing throughout his

next thing everyone knew, Gerald had already disappeared from his spot. Before anyone could even react, a loud ‘thud’ could

as they watched as one of their allies flew a good ten yards away! As it turned out,

victim of the kick spurted blood all over the place—clearly suffering

was now

the men as he immediately threw his iron shackles straight for Gerald’s

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however, simply caught the shackles and tugged the person toward him! Due to the sudden tug, the person fell onto the bridge, struggling the entire time as Gerald pulled him closer and closer! Once he was near enough, Gerald simply positioned his foot before kicking him right in the face! Flying backward, not only did the kick cause the person’s head to explode like a watermelon, but the headless body’s collision also ended up destroying at least ten of the

upon cries of pain could be heard as Gerald swiftly dealt with the men. Though Gerald wasn’t at his strongest now, his current training still far surpassed

have undergone some rapid and immense changes. Gerald used the term similar since there definitely were slight differences between these men and the duo—Tiara and Belzebob—whom he had killed, though

who had suddenly undergone such rapid changes in their inner strength? Whatever the case was, Gerald made

now wide-eyed man—who hadn’t moved an inch from his boat—barely even registered that his straw hat had just been blown away

fact that he gave off the first impression that he was someone extremely skilled—based on the way he dressed—after witnessing Gerald’s true strength, he was now in deep shock. Even so, he knew better than to stick around, so he

far too strong…! If I don’t leave while I

Gerald was going to just let him escape like that. With a massive leap, Gerald landed right onto the

was about to attempt to dive into the water—ended up losing his balance and was

move, Gerald instantly held him by the neck. Now being strangled, he heard as Gerald asked in a frigid tone, “I only have one simple question. Who was

I’d ever tell you just like that! After all, I’ll be

finish his sentence, a soft ‘crack’

eyes, the man heard as more tiny cracks followed with Gerald’s slowly intensifying grip. Knowing that

he had planned—just seconds ago—on manipulating his secret technique in his final

seven of them were proficient in the secret technique. They simply hadn’t felt that it was necessary to use it on someone like

swift as

that Gerald wouldn’t kill him as long as he refused to tell the truth… At the very most, he had thought that Gerald would only resort

last thought the man had before he went completely

river. Watching as it floated near the head of the bridge, Gerald then said, “If you

Gerald went silent for a while as he fell

was orchestrating all this, Gerald knew—at the very least—that

inner strengths. Even so, Tiara, Belzebob, and the seven he had killed tonight

the seven, they were clearly from a new group separate from the Divine Grimness and the Judgement Portal. In other words, he now had another group of powerful people going after him. The fact that his location and identity had now been exposed only served to

continued pondering on his next move, the corner of his eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of a few

was certainly no stranger to

Annies with them?! Could they be from the Gunter family then? Were they the ones who wanted to

in fright upon hearing coughing sounds out of the blue! Looking around, the sound seemed to be coming from the cabin

Gerald carefully lifted the curtains to clear his doubts… And there, lying on

brows in her knocked-out state, Gerald could guess that her mental state was currently under

made Gerald momentarily stupefied, was the fact that the woman in

Rich Man Novel (Invisible or

“…Yume?”

is her…! So it’s

on their way to the king of the ocean’s palace. Gerald himself

she went missing after he fainted—due to a Dead Annie attack—at the entrance of the king of the ocean’s palace. Upon waking,

went so far as to send people out to carefully search for Yume—regardless of whether she was dead or still alive—in the area surrounding the king of the ocean’s

Gerald first started wondering if Yume had actually been saved by someone else. After all, he knew that she was looking for the woman in white as

of her being saved was true at

thought to himself, filled with questions as he helped her regain consciousness using a secret

all. Soon enough, Yume’s eyelids began fluttering open

she saw Gerald, however, she immediately jolted awake. Though she was definitely shocked, she quickly snapped out of it and grabbed onto Gerald’s arm before

look at the corpses floating on the river before

replied in sheer disbelief,

Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but all of them

head, revealing a slight blush on her charming

them are- well, were, exceptional people from my family… Still, I truly hadn’t expected them to stalk me! After realizing who they were—before I got completely knocked out by their Dead Annie attack—I immediately knew that they had followed

things back then… For one, I couldn’t detect the strange inner strength—that I’m currently sensing from you—back then… Were you simply pretending to be weak at the time?” asked Gerald, now that he had a much clearer understanding of

admit that I lied to you before, but after getting to know you better, I’ve long lost any intentions of hurting you!” replied

you? After all, you’re

understand that you can’t stay here any longer! I’ll eventually give

ago. He knew for a fact that the more beautiful a woman was, the more deceptive she could be, and

once

true that he now sensed immense inner strength from Yume, that wasn’t what worried him most. No, the truth was, while Gerald was sure that she wouldn’t be able to beat him with her current strength alone, he knew he would be no match against her if she chose to attack

if she was actually fooling him again, it would definitely be extremely difficult for him to retreat, thus his hesitation to

Gerald’s thoughts, Yume then said, “Look, I know you’re afraid of the Dead Annies. Here, I’m tossing all of mine now! Since you’re capable enough to kill those seven exceptional Gunters, you should know that without the flowers, I’m practically harmless

Gerald watched as she tossed any petals she had on

on me now! With that said, know that I only asked you out since I wanted to explain all this to you… I never expected Lady Gunter to send these people to stalk me! I… I truly never meant to harm you,

Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter

a momentary pause, Gerald took in a deep breath before saying, “…Fine. Since you don’t have any Dead Annies on you anymore, I can at least be sure that if you intend to

they landed safely on the shore, Yume told Gerald where the hiding spot was, and

against both Queena and the King of Judgement Portal, Gerald couldn’t help but constantly have his guard up now that he knew that he was

to a cave that was located in the outskirts. Upon entering, Gerald immediately sealed a few major

that I’m not planning to harm you?” said Yume as she took in a deep breath to attempt to

chances to anyone who breaks my trust! Now as promised, tell me the truth about the

me to ask you something. Not only have you saved me on multiple occasions, but you’ve also constantly looked out for me to the point where after realizing that I had gone missing, you actually sent your men out to tirelessly locate me for well over a month! Hell, you even told the locals to report to you if any of them saw me! With that in mind, I wish to know. Did you do all that just to gain answers from me, or was it because of something else?” asked Yume as she stared at him with

of everything that he had done up till this point. So she had been keeping an eye on

truth is, I had initially promised to bring you to the king of the ocean’s palace since I was worried that it would be too dangerous for you to head there alone. I won’t lie that I was also hoping to gain more clues from you. Regardless, after you went missing, I was filled with

her treading into such unsafe territory quickly outweighed that. It was the reason why he had promised

right under his nose! With the very real possibility of her being dead, Gerald had brimmed with both grief and

he had known that all this would happen, he would’ve simply chosen to give up

into a gratified smile. After all, she now truly knew that Gerald had simply been treating her as a friend

it was due to all those times Gerald had saved her and not because of

a time when she had wanted to secretly kill Gerald, though in the end, she simply couldn’t bring herself to do so. If

that point in time. She simply found herself unable to

after she went ‘missing,’ Yume began secretly keeping an eye on Gerald. It was then when she realized how much he cared for her. After all, Gerald had left no part of the ocean—surrounding the king of the ocean’s palace—unchecked. He simply refused to

for an entire day and night in silence, simply staring out at

the sea. It was then when

Yume—at the time—couldn’t help but feel an odd emotion welling within her, though it wasn’t a bad one. Rather, it felt sweet. After all, nobody

she finally realized something. Master Ghost’s marriage stone was truly an object that

began missing him every day after that, constantly worrying about his safety. The more she thought

I really fallen in

she wouldn’t lie to Gerald for a second time. With that in mind, she took in a deep breath before saying, “…Fine, I’ll give you the

Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest)

out of the way, Yume then slowly began sharing what she knew about the

The first was to locate the woman in white in the king of the ocean’s palace. As for the other, it was to capture Gerald

she actually was. By ‘getting injured’ she knew that she would eventually be able

however, she was unable to make any moves on him. After all, she hadn’t expected to be that moved by Gerald’s actions. She simply couldn’t bring

both of them embarked for the king of the ocean’s palace together. Of course, the old woman that they had

to inflict heavy wounds on Gerald in the first place. Even so, she had made sure to

was already in such a weak state. However, Yume kept signaling—by twirling her hair with a finger—and shooting warning glares at Lady

she was saying, ‘If you dare hurt Gerald, I’ll die before you

gestures warning her grandmother not to make a move, Lady Gunter eventually got so infuriated that she pretended to

of the ocean’s palace—that Gerald would later enter—was formed according to the

words, Lady Gunter had used that secret technique at the entrance of the king of the ocean’s

taken along with Lady Gunter to the real king of the ocean’s palace. They even succeeded

that, Gerald then replied, “…I see. That doesn’t explain

the ability to make herself near-invisible

place. Also, why does it seem like me being captured plays a huge role in

within both of you, and the first person who manages to uncover that secret will

clearly puzzled by

Judgement Portal had been targeting him… Hell, even the Gunters were starting to make their moves now. So this