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…”

that’s not what I’m talking about! Look there! On the table! Someone’s left you a note

Rich Man Novel (Invisible or

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

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

manage to invite us over, I don’t think it would be a stretch to think that she was the one who left that note here,”

till she eventually managed to find us. Leaving a note behind is too delicate for a person

what a

be the one 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 have a look

the meantime, you should

“Affirmative!”

located near the Southern suburbs of Qerton City, and 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 slightly

river. While

a sudden, Gerald saw a wooden boat—with tiny lanterns

straw hat atop the boat. The person himself was dressed in a way that suggested that he was a villager who had retired to live deep in the forest. Regardless, with

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

figures 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 seven

came!” sneered one of

the 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

Gerald’s expression was, what 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

slowly 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 Portal? Or are you

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

it!”

his eyes for a second… And when he opened them again, his already cold gaze had turned even more frigid as his inner strength began rapidly pulsing

Gerald had already disappeared from his spot. Before anyone could even react, a loud

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

place—clearly suffering from terrible internal injuries—the rest of

without warning. Whatever the case was, it was now evident that his martial art skills weren’t as simple as

of the men as he immediately threw his iron shackles straight

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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

cries 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 his strength before he underwent the

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

many exceptional people who had suddenly undergone such rapid changes in their inner strength? Whatever the case was, Gerald made short work of all the remaining

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

witnessing Gerald’s true

strong…! If I don’t leave while I

was going to just let him escape like that. With a massive leap,

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

held him by the neck. Now being strangled, he heard as Gerald asked in a frigid tone,

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

the man could even finish his sentence, a

eyes, the 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 man wondered if Gerald truly didn’t wish to

flashing before his eyes, he thought about how he had planned—just seconds ago—on manipulating his secret technique in his

were proficient in the secret technique. They simply hadn’t felt that it was

swift as they

refused to tell the truth… At the

was the last thought the man had before

the river. Watching as it floated near the head of the bridge, Gerald then said, “If you refuse to tell me, so

Gerald went silent for a while

till today, three powerful groups had already assaulted Gerald, each seemingly intent on killing him. Regarding who was orchestrating

undergone immense and rapid changes in their inner strengths. Even so, Tiara, Belzebob, and the seven he had killed tonight all

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

a glimpse of a few strange petals

certainly

Annies…? They brought Dead Annies with them?! Could they be from the Gunter family then?

hearing coughing sounds out of the blue! Looking around, the sound seemed to be coming from the cabin on the wooden boat… Judging from how high-pitched the coughs were,

the curtains to clear his doubts… And there,

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

stupefied, was the fact that the woman in

Man Novel (Invisible or

“…Yume?”

is her…! So it’s true that she wasn’t

on their way to the king of the ocean’s palace. Gerald himself had already saved her on

missing after he fainted—due to a Dead Annie attack—at the entrance of the king

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

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

speculation of her being saved was

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

in no time at all. Soon enough, Yume’s eyelids began fluttering open ever

out of it and grabbed onto Gerald’s arm before shouting, “There are people out to get you,

look at the corpses floating on the river before asking,

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

I’m wrong, but all of them are from the

head, revealing a slight blush

of them are- well, were, exceptional people from my family… Still, I truly hadn’t expected them to stalk me! After realizing who they

Regardless, it seems to me that you didn’t tell me 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

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

you admit to it. Well, now that you have, why should I continue believing in you? After all, you’re the high and mighty young lady of the Gunter family!” said Gerald with a

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

that her eyes seemed sincere enough to be trusted, he was no longer the same person he was two years ago. He knew for a fact that the more beautiful a woman was, the more deceptive she could be, and Yume was extremely

knew that he had already been fooled once by her, he couldn’t help but have his guard

him most. No, the truth was, while Gerald was sure that she wouldn’t

it would definitely be extremely difficult for him to retreat, thus his

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 to you! So please, please just believe me and let

watched as she tossed any petals she

to you… I never expected Lady Gunter to send these people to stalk me! I… I truly never meant to harm you, Gerald…!” explained Yume, her eyes now starting to

Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest)

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

Yume told Gerald where the hiding spot was, and Gerald made sure to hold on tightly to her as the duo swiftly made their way

the King of Judgement Portal, Gerald couldn’t help but constantly have his guard up now that he knew that he was potentially about to confront the

in the outskirts. Upon entering, Gerald immediately

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

have you know that I give no second chances to anyone who breaks my trust! Now as promised, tell me the truth about the

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

her explanation, Gerald now knew that she was aware of everything that he had done up till this point. So

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 regret, and that prompted me to try

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

that, to think that she would actually go missing right under his nose! With the very real possibility of her being dead, Gerald had brimmed with both grief

give up

Yume couldn’t help but break into a gratified smile. After all, she now

have slight feelings for Gerald, it was due to all those times Gerald had saved her and not because of the d*mned marriage stone

end, she simply couldn’t bring herself to do so. If she had, well, Gerald naturally wouldn’t have arrived at the king of

yet at that point in time. She simply found herself unable

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 for

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

he threw a small ornament—that had been salvaged from the ocean—into the sea. It was then when she realized just how great his guilt for losing her truly was. He really did treat her

within her, though it wasn’t a bad

was only when she was thinking about the moments she had shared with Gerald that she finally realized something. Master

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

really fallen in love with a

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 truth! I’ll tell you everything I know, but once I’m done, our friendship will be

Novel (Invisible or Poorest)

Yume then slowly began sharing what she knew about

the very beginning. Under the orders of her family, Yume had two main objectives. The first was to locate the woman in white in the king of the ocean’s palace. As for the other, it was

the reason why she had pretended to be frailer than she actually was. By ‘getting injured’

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

the ocean’s palace together. Of course, the old woman that they

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 that she would

a weak state. However, Yume kept signaling—by twirling her hair with a finger—and shooting warning

way, it almost seemed like she was saying, ‘If you dare hurt Gerald, I’ll

not to make a move, Lady Gunter

all, the king of the ocean’s palace—that Gerald would later enter—was formed according to the Dead Annies, theory, ‘Two

technique at the entrance of the king of the ocean’s palace

real king of the ocean’s palace. They even succeeded in transferring the real woman in

all that, Gerald then replied, “…I see. That doesn’t explain why my subordinates weren’t

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

why does it seem like me being captured plays a huge role in this scheme of yours? I can barely see the

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

Gerald, clearly puzzled

Judgement Portal had been targeting him… Hell, even the Gunters