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…”

On the table! Someone’s left you a note

Man Novel (Invisible or

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

straightforward message, nothing else was on the note. There wasn’t even a

us over, I

replied, “Knowing her, she’d most probably continue madly looking around till she eventually managed to find us.

what a

inviting me over for the meet-up…?’ Gerald thought to himself. Whatever the case was, Gerald had made his mind up that he would be heading over to

alone, Chester. In the meantime,

“Affirmative!”

it connected 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 and

to the river. While he had passed by a few people earlier on his way here, none of them seemed to be

Gerald saw a wooden boat—with tiny lanterns at its sides—rowing

a way that suggested that he was a villager who had retired to live deep in the forest. Regardless, with how steady and quickly the person was rowing the boat, Gerald couldn’t help but feel that the person was a

twitched as he suddenly began hearing the—oddly—rhythmic shackling of iron

stepped out from the darkness, and inclusive of the person on the boat, it was a fair guess that Gerald was going to have to deal with

actually came!” sneered one of the

come over… It would’ve been unreasonable for me to turn

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

began walking toward the leader as he asked, “Come along, you say? Where to? Also, are you here on behalf of the King of Judgement

but break into a smile. Even though he had caught wind of the fact that Gerald had killed both Tiara

all, you’ll find out sooner or later once you come

it!”

again, his already cold gaze had turned even more frigid as his inner strength began

spot. Before anyone could even react, a loud

flew a good ten yards away! As it turned out, Gerald had moved so fast

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

warning. Whatever the case was, it was now evident that his martial art skills weren’t as simple as they had initially

roared one of the men as he immediately threw his iron shackles

Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter

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

wasn’t at his strongest now, his current training still far surpassed his strength before he underwent the baptism of

that all these people were similar to Tiara in the way that their inner strength seemed to 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 he

inner strength? Whatever the case was, Gerald made short work of all the remaining men, save for the one on the

of him, the now wide-eyed man—who hadn’t moved an inch from his boat—barely even registered that his straw hat had

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

don’t leave while I can, I’ll be next

course, there was no way that Gerald was going to just let him escape like that. With a massive

bobbing boat, the man—who was about to attempt to dive into the water—ended up losing his balance and was momentarily tossed into the air! When his feet touched the boat again, however, he found—to his horror—that he was now right in front of

Gerald instantly held him by the neck. Now being strangled, he heard as

you just like that! After all, I’ll be dead the second I share that information! How

could even finish his sentence, a soft ‘crack’

man heard as more tiny cracks followed with Gerald’s slowly intensifying grip. Knowing that his neck was going to snap clear in half soon, the

manipulating his secret technique in his final attempt to make it out alive. The technique in question involved using Dead Annie

the secret technique. They simply hadn’t felt that it was necessary to use it on

Gerald’s attacks were swift as they

that he had assumed 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

the last thought the man had

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

that, Gerald went silent for a while as

today, three powerful groups had already assaulted Gerald, each seemingly intent on killing him. Regarding who was orchestrating all this, Gerald knew—at the very least—that

of his assailants were similar in the way that they had undergone immense and rapid changes in their inner strengths. Even so, Tiara, Belzebob,

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

a glimpse of a few strange petals drifting away

certainly no stranger

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

Looking around, the sound seemed to be

the curtains to clear his doubts… And there,

guess that her mental state was currently under attack by Dead Annies. Even so, that wasn’t what shocked

the fact that the woman in

Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter

“…Yume?”

really is her…! So it’s true that she wasn’t

of them had gotten acquainted with each other on their way to the king of the

missing after he fainted—due to a Dead Annie attack—at the entrance of the king of the ocean’s palace. Upon waking, he remembered how he felt as though she had

people out to carefully search for Yume—regardless of whether she was dead or still alive—in the area surrounding the king

that she was looking for

speculation of her being saved was true

Gerald thought to himself, filled with questions as he

Yume’s expression turned way better in no time at all. Soon enough, Yume’s eyelids began fluttering open ever so slowly, revealing her

immediately jolted awake. Though she was definitely shocked, she quickly snapped out of it and grabbed

her to her feet, Gerald then turned to look at the corpses floating on the river

at the dead bodies, Yume replied in sheer disbelief, “You… You killed

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

hearing Gerald’s question, Yume instantly lowered her head, revealing a slight blush on her charming

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 me to deal with

the truth about many 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

I lied to you before, but after getting to know you better, I’ve long lost any intentions of

should I continue believing in you? After all, you’re the high

please understand that you can’t stay here any longer! I’ll eventually give you a clearer explanation, but for

he was no longer the same person he was two years ago. He knew for

had already been fooled once by her, he couldn’t

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 him with Dead

definitely

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 to you!

that, Gerald watched as she tossed any petals she

out since I wanted to explain all this to you… I never expected Lady Gunter to send these people to stalk me! I… I

Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter

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 do anything suspicious,

before making a giant leap together with her! Once they landed safely on the shore, Yume told Gerald where the

help but constantly have his guard up now that he knew that he was potentially about to confront the

located in the outskirts. Upon

serious? You still don’t believe that I’m not planning to harm you?” said Yume

to anyone who breaks my trust! Now

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 she was aware of everything that he had done up till this point. So she

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 regret, and that prompted me to try all means possible to search for you!” replied

treading into such unsafe territory quickly outweighed that. It was the reason why he had promised to bring her along. By doing so, he could at

the very real possibility of her being dead, Gerald

known that all this would happen, he would’ve simply chosen to give up on finding out about Yume’s secrets

Yume couldn’t help but break into a gratified smile. After all, she now truly knew that Gerald had simply been treating her as a friend this entire

to all those times Gerald had saved her and not because of the d*mned marriage

wanted to secretly kill Gerald, though in the end, she simply couldn’t bring herself to do so. If she had, well, Gerald naturally wouldn’t have arrived at the

course, she hadn’t fallen for him yet at that point in time. She

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 give up on his search

day and night in silence, simply staring out at

ornament—that had been salvaged from the ocean—into the sea. It was then when she realized just

feel an odd emotion welling within her, though it wasn’t a bad one. Rather, it felt sweet. After all, nobody had ever treated

thinking about the moments she had shared with Gerald that she finally realized something. Master Ghost’s marriage stone was truly an object that was both strange

about his safety. The more she thought about it, the more anxious she became, and thus came

love story truly end this tragically? Have I really fallen

for a second time. With that in mind, she took in a deep breath before saying, “…Fine, I’ll give you the truth! I’ll tell you everything I know, but once I’m done, our friendship will be over, you hear? We

Secretly Rich Man Novel

the way, Yume then slowly began sharing what she

Yume had two main objectives. The first was to locate the woman in white in the

frailer than she actually was. By ‘getting injured’ she knew that she would eventually

his pity, however, she was unable to make any moves on him. After all, she hadn’t expected

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

was well aware of Gerald’s weakness to Dead Annies. It was due to that knowledge that she was able to inflict heavy wounds on Gerald in the first place. Even so, she had made sure to seal her own strength back then for fear

weak state. However, Yume kept signaling—by twirling her hair with a finger—and shooting warning glares at Lady Gunter every time she made

it almost seemed like she was saying, ‘If you dare hurt Gerald, I’ll die before you right this

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

wasn’t ever going to allow Gerald to locate the woman in white. After all, the king of the ocean’s palace—that Gerald would later enter—was formed according to the Dead Annies, theory, ‘Two petals bloom, and each petal

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

Lady Gunter to the real king of the ocean’s palace. They even succeeded in transferring the real woman in white’s

doesn’t explain

very well-known, but not only can Dead Annies be used to disrupt one’s mental abilities, it’s also capable of disrupting magnetic fields! With that in mind, Lady Gunter has the ability to make herself near-invisible with the aid of the Dead Annies! Using that ability, even a person standing right in front of her wouldn’t be able to tell she was

the woman in white’s corpse in the first place. Also, why does it seem like

what grandma told me, there’s a massive connection between you and the woman in white… Apparently, there’s a large secret hidden within both of you, and the first person who manages to uncover that secret will be able to gain mastery of the strongest

secret…?” replied Gerald, clearly puzzled

the King of Judgement Portal had been targeting him… Hell, even the Gunters were starting to make their moves