Chapter 701-750
Chapter 701-750
Chapter 701 “What would you kill him for? You’ll marry Cecilia Taylor in the future and we’ll be in-laws with the Taylor family. We’re deemed as one family by then hence there’s no need to slit his throat.”
The head of the Gold family orated straightaway.
“Father, jackie is snobbish and always going about with his nose in the air! Okay. Let’s just forget the fact that he insulted you and Grandpa but for the deed he did to the Gold family today, killing so many of our men, don’t you desire to avenge the dead? Besides, if the words go out of these walls, what’ll be the outcome? It’s shame and humiliation toward the Gold family! We challenged the other party to duels, not once but nine times. And guess what? We lost all nine rounds! None of our men had won even one round! Isn’t that embarrassing?”
Kelly’s expression stayed frosty. The more he looked back on the occurrence, the deeper the irritation welled up in his chest.
“We can’t shove all the blame onto jackie for this. On the contrary, I think the fault is on you! Who asked you to make such a bet with him? Moreover, it’s not a small and casual one. And you kept emphasizing, what, ‘it’s not unheard of to die in fights’? Now that his bodyguard has killed ours, you were saying?” Têxt © NôvelDrama.Org.
Master Ezra was not particularly delighted with his son’s behavior—parading his superiority and desire to prevail over others. He thought that this son of his was too impulsive and reckless.
“Hmmm, if we really want to kill off this guy, it’s actually not that painful.”
Old Master Gold tittered and continued, “However, I don’t think there’s a need to kill him right now. Did he not keep on advertising that the birthday party that he’s going to throw for Selena Taylor, will shake the whole Eastfield? That this party will be the grandest and most indelible. Today, he’d shamed us all, so why don’t we return the favor on that day?”
“You’re right, Grandpa. If we end him right now, it would be too simple and painless for him. To shame him and humiliate him in front of thousands is a better idea!”
Old Master Gold’s utterance knocked some sense into Kelly, he nodded to agree. “It just so happened that Cecelia had the desire to compare with Selena, and suggested having our wedding on the same day as the birthday party. This is an excellent opportunity to avenge ourselves! Just imagine, when the day arrives, all relatives of the Taylor family will come to our wedding instead of Selena’s birthday banquet. Many guests of exalted rank will be present at our wedding and no one will go to theirs. Just the thought of it makes my mood soar!”
Old Master Gold bobbed to show unison. “When the time comes, we’ll need to gather as much information as possible about their party. If they’re preparing a dinner worth one hundred thousand dollars, then we’ll throw one that’s two hundred thousand. If they make it to five hundred thousand, we’ll raise it to eight hundred thousand. In short, we have to make jackie realize what true wealth is!”
A gentle smile appeared on Master Ezra’s face as well. “On that day, our event will be more magnificent and eye-catching than theirs will. By then, let’s see how he can stand by his promise—a party that will shake the foundation of Eastfield!”
“Yeah! They even made a countdown just for the birthday party! And we did not even use such exaggerated moves! We’ll wait until two or three days before the wedding and drop the bomb. It’ll be a total humiliation to them when their advertisements are louder than ours but the event is not as happening as ours! Such a shame!”
A contented smug appeared at the corners of Kelly’s mouth. The image of jackie’s vein popped out in his neck and Selena’s white blanched face was like a ray of warm sunshine flooding Kelly’s soul—he would be flabbergasted with joy.
“Kelly, get several men to challenge jackie’s female bodyguards someday.”
Nevertheless, Old Master Gold had abruptly invaded Kelly’s mind and broken his chain of imagination on jackie’s and Selena’s reactions. He did not expect such a question from Old Master Gold.
“Grandpa, what do you mean? What am I going to do with those female bodyguards?” Kelly’s brows drew together.
“These female bodyguards are no vases, all of them are very skilled fighters. The thing that makes me worried the most is that I feel that they haven’t revealed their full strength! Such combat prowess is no ordinary. So, try your best to find out, first, how much jackie pays them, then counteroffer with a higher pay and get them to work for the Gold family!”
Old Master Gold expressed his thoughts, slowly.
Young Master Gold stretched out his hand and gestured a thumbs up right after hearing Old Master Gold’s thoughts. “Smart! Grandpa, your plan is smart! Those ten female bodyguards are indeed powerful and strong. If we could get them to work for us, it’d be marvelous!”
” jackie will spew blood to death by then! Let anger consume him, shall we?”
The head of the Gold family laughed aloud at the proposition as well.
Chapter 702 The next morning, Kelly went out with a few bodyguards to execute their ultimate plan.
He waited until jackie and Selena were both out only then he spent some money to dig out information about the female bodyguards from some servant of the Taylor family.
When he finally got hold of the salary information of the ten beautiful bodyguards, his jaw dropped to the ground and his eyes widened. He was utterly shocked.
The combat strength and prowess of those bodyguards were beyond extraordinary. With such skill, fifty thousand dollars pay a month would not be an exaggeration.
The most overriding fact was that each of these gorgeous bodyguards possessed long and deceptively delicate legs. If the hirer was some young master of prominent families, they would be willing to pay everything, even if it breaks their bank!
“What the heck! And they’d actually agreed to this amount of pay?”
Young Master Gold was almost choking at his rage. He could not fathom what was on these female bodyguards’ minds, were they missing some brain cells? How could they have agreed to such a low pay, were they not self-derogating?
“Hmmm, Young Master, I think it’s good news. The lower their pay, the easier for us to persuade them to join us. Also, we’ll spend less money too, given that the starting pay is so low!”
A bodyguard of the Gold family addressed with a huge grin on his face, wanting to please his young master.
“You got a point!”
Young Master Gold nodded at his words. He and his bodyguards were standing far away from the villa, paying attention to the situation inside the villa’s gate and waiting for the golden opportunity.
After like a century, finally, there were two shadows. Orchid and another lovely bodyguard showed up at the main gate of the villa. They seemed like they were preparing to go shopping.
“Finally, the opportunity is here!”
Kelly smiled slightly at the sight before him, and soon he ordered a few of the bodyguards to tail the two beauties together with him.
Not long after Orchid and the other cute bodyguard left the villa, they sensed somebody was behind them. Both halted and wheeled back immediately.
“Oh, it’s Young Master Gold. are you upset about what happened yesterday, that none of you managed to defeat us? And you brought all these men with you to create trouble this early? Trying to use the number to press against us, to kill us?”
Orchid sneered with a frosty cold tone when she realized the sickos that were tailing them were Young Master Gold and his bodyguards.
“Chill! It’s a misunderstanding!”
Kelly let out an awkward chortle and approached nearer to the two, and explained, “Oh, my two beautiful ladies, you’ve really misunderstood me. How could I let someone tail you and harm you? Look, both of you are skilled fighters with high vigilance. Hence, even if I wanted to do sneak attacks, it’s impossible to succeed! It’s dumb for me to do that!”
“Hmph! Good to know that you’ve used your brain!”
With Orchid’s arms crossed in front of her chest, she jeered with a stoic tone.
“My ladies, we’re actually looking for you to discuss some business with you.”
Kelly explained with a pretentious smile plastered on his face.
“Some business? What do you want?”
Orchid and the other female bodyguard exchanged glances, both looking perplexed at the statement.
“Yup! I noticed this iron fact yesterday, that all nine of you, wait, no, there’s another beauty. All ten of you are strong combatants and your fighting prowess are incomparable! It’s really rare to have ten lovely masters of fighting… How wonderful!”
Kelly said it with a broad mischievous grin on his face, as though he was a greedy moneylender.
An obvious irritation washed over Orchid’s face, she barked impatiently. “Stop talking bullsh*t! If you have something to say, just spit it out! Don’t tell me you came here all the way just to praise us!”
“What a clever girl! And yes, I came here for an important business. I got to know that your combined salary is only twenty thousand dollars per month, which is way too little for a skilled fighter like you!”
Young Master Gold put on a faint smile, and extended his left palm, showing a figure five, “Fifty thousand dollars! How about the Gold family pays you fifty thousand per month? Quit your job and work for us!”
“Young Master Gold, let’s forget what you’ve said just now. Fifty thousand? We’re not interested at all!”
Orchid rejected his proposal straightaway without showing any hint of hesitation.
“Yep! You want us to quit our job? Dream on!” The other beautiful bodyguard refused Kelly’s proposition as well, without thinking twice.
Chapter 703 The corners of Kelly’s mouth twitched as though he was having a stroke. He started to wonder if he had misheard them. He had increased the pay from twenty thousand to fifty thousand, it was more than double! Why on earth did the ladies reject this fantastic raise without even thinking about it?
“Alright, alright. I’ll pay one hundred thousand. One hundred thousand is pretty good now, right?”
Kelly tightened his teeth and stretched out another hand, spreading all fingers of both hands to gesture the figure ‘ten’. “This price is five times your current salary. There’s no reason for you to refuse!”
“Hell no!”
The two beauties looked at each other and yelled in unison. Once the last syllable of the word dropped, the two turned and walked away, not bothering to continue this boring conversation anymore.
“What the f*ck?”
Kelly and his bodyguards exchanged perplexing glances, each of them remained as still as a statue, as though the episode had not registered into their central brain. Did these women just reject one hundred thousand pay per month? Were they stupid or what?
“What the heck, I don’t believe it!”
Kelly was not convinced, so he ran forward, caught up with the two, and then offered again. “Two hundred thousand dollars per month! How about that?”
Nonetheless, the two did not even bother to answer this time. They continued walking, nonchalantly.
“Three hundred thousand!
“Four hundred thousand!
“Five hundred thousand!”
Kelly kept increasing the amount as he followed the two by their side. The number was quickly raised to five hundred thousand per month. Each of the ten female bodyguards would be offered five hundred thousand a month, and it would be sixty million per year. The cost to hire these ten bodyguards was already hellishly high!
Nevertheless, Kelly was not convinced of the refusal, and he did not believe that these female bodyguards would reject such a high pay.
Finally, Orchid and another bodyguard stopped.
Kelly showed a victorious smile when the two had finally stopped for him. He thought that there was hope, and he said expectantly, “How’s it? Five hundred thousand a month and all ten of you will be offered the same amount. This number is considered high in the bodyguard’s market, isn’t it?”
“Young Master Gold, you won’t give up, will you? Even if you’ve offered us one million dollars, none of us will accept it, let alone five hundred thousand.”
Orchid flashed him a mirthless smile, spilling out a statement that would break Kelly’s hope and stop him from dreaming.
“What the f*ck?”
Kelly’s jaw dropped to the ground, and his eyes widened. “Why on earth did you reject such a great offer? Are you nuts or idiots? That you actually refuse such a high salary! Are you a hardcore fan of jackie? Otherwise, why are you satisfied with only two thousand per month?”
“It’s because Master jackie is Master jackie. We follow him simply because he’s Master jackie, it’s Master jackie’s personal charm that makes us follow undoubtedly. It has nothing to do with money. So now, can you f*ck off?”
Orchid smiled faintly, and she left with the other bodyguard in the next second.
Kelly and his bodyguards, on the other hand, stood still on the same spot, completely stunned.
After a moment that felt like a century, Kelly only moved a little—he turned his head toward his bodyguards—and asked in a disbelieving tone, “Master jackie’s personal charm? Did I hear it wrong?”
“No, you didn’t. Do you think that it’s because jackie is good-looking? Or it’s the inner kindness that makes up his personal charm?”
One of the bodyguards managed to spew some thoughts after squeezing all his brain juice. He looked at Kelly with confusion written on his face.
“I know! It must be that jackie has some sort of underground romantic relationships with these women a long time ago!”
Another bodyguard blurted out of a sudden as though some truth had entered his tiny brain. He guessed boldly, “Just try to think about it, women, in nature, are fans of love and romance. Usually, they would be blinded and dazzled by love and thus make such irrational decisions. They’re emotional mammals that can’t think logically. Otherwise, how could they pick two thousand over five hundred thousand? It’s a stupid choice! This proves the secret romance between jackie and these women! They would rather take two thousand than to leave jackie!”
“Jesus fcking Christ! It totally makes sense! Damn, jackie, this brat is something. All those ten beauties are his collection! Sht! This brat is just too good at flirting and seducing, isn’t he?”
Kelly nodded, his facial expression was full of admiration and envy. How he desired he was jackie right now.
Chapter 704 In the end, Kelly had no other option but to return to Gold’s residence, with his gloomy face.
The head of the Gold family frowned when Kelly appeared in his sight. He then asked, “What’s the matter? You look upset!”
“I went to jackie’s villa to persuade those bodyguards to leave jackie and come work with us. But everything is in vain!”
Kelly explained, smiling bitterly.
“Are you sure? How much do they earn per month now?”
Ezra—the head of the Gold family—was slightly startled. The thought of an unsuccessful persuasion had never crossed his mind. Was it because jackie paid them incredibly high?
“Only two thousand per month!”
A wry smile on Kelly’s face as he responded.
“Two thousand? Are you freaking kidding me? They only earn two thousand a month, and you couldn’t even get them to leave jackie? It should be a piece of cake!”
Ezra’s facial expression morphed into one of unpleasant surprise, his eyes were as large as saucers.
“Father, they claimed proudly that they followed jackie because of his personal charm, and even if I’ve offered them half a million or even five million a month, they won’t budge in slightest!”
Kelly added further, his smile bitter. “Ha! Personal charm, can you believe that?”
Ezra’s mouth was immediately shut for a few seconds at Kelly’s claim. “Personal charm? What bullsh*t reason is that? I think they probably have some romantic affair with jackie. Otherwise, how can they reject money? Which type of woman on earth doesn’t like money and branded bags? What a joke!”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought too. But the real reason is not important anymore, it’s impossible to persuade these women to work for us!”
Kelly heaved a deep sigh of defeat. It was obvious that he tried to suppress the disappointment within him.
After all, if he were accompanied by such a group of pleasing and lovely bodyguards, every existing man on the earth would look at him differently—admiration and approbation.
…
At noon, jackie, Fiona, and the others headed to a high-class restaurant in an opulent hotel, with a team of bodyguards together with them.
“Master jackie, are you serious about treating us to lunch? You’re so generous!”
Orchid could not conceal her smiles, obviously elated.
“Of course! You helped me to give the Gold family an unforgettable lesson! And did you notice how snobbish and brazen he was before the duel? And how his expressions turned into one of those ugliest and gloomiest ones, ones that I’ve not been seeing in quite some time! I’m delighted!”
jackie replied and a warm chuckle let out from his mouth.
“Ugh! I’m so frustrated! I’m at big loss! Last night was a priceless opportunity for me to showcase my combat skill, and yet I was not there!” Elaine, on the other hand, whined like a dog, then she shot Ben— who was sitting beside—a cold stare. “It’s all your fault! If I weren’t needed to protect you, I could’ve had a good fight last night! Ughh!”
Ben flashed her a bitter smile in return. “Well, I didn’t ask you to protect me. You worry about me and you’re the one who insisted on following me!”
“Hmph! If it weren’t for Master jackie, that he worried about your well being and asked me to protect you, I didn’t even want to be near to you! And I still have to endure your vicious and venomous mouth every day when my job is only to protect you! Elaine sneered angrily.
“Alright, alright. Don’t be mad. C’mon, I’ll pour you a drink. Thank you for being the most responsible bodyguard and for protecting me every day! Is that good now?”
Ben signed in defeat. He opened a red wine and poured a glass for Elaine.
“Hmph! At least you know how to say thank you!” Elaine snorted coldly, a closed-lip smile formed at the corners of her mouth, a frosty one.
Chapter 705 “Ahem! jackie, since it’s a rare opportunity to gather everyone for lunch, today the bill is on me!” All of sudden, Fiona blurted, followed by a giggly laugh.
jackie and Selena instantly looked at each other, their eyes full of disbelief. The thought of Fiona being generous and treating everyone to lunch with her own money had never crossed their minds.
“Mother, are you sure? I’ll pay for it, alright? Don’t worry about it!”
A pretentious modesty appeared on jackie’s face, he smiled and offered to pay.
“I’m just so happy today. Besides, I’m loaded now, no longer the old Fiona—poor and impecunious. It’s only lunch, I’ll pay for it!”
Fiona chortled in return, her mood obviously high and good.
“Tsk tsk, it’s not easy for a person to change, Ma. You used to be such a stingy person. You wouldn’t pay even if someone gave you money. I never imagined that you would suddenly have the conscience to do so now!” Ben said, grinning.
“What are you talking about? What do you mean I was stingy? We were poor before. I was being frugal, got it? Someone like me is more suited to manage money!”
Fiona rolled her eyes at Ben. “Eat all you want, everyone,” she told the entire family. “Just order more wine if you think it’s not enough. The bill can come up to ten thousand, a hundred thousand—it doesn’t matter!”
“Hear that? Did you hear that? My mom just said that. Let’s eat. Don’t be shy!”
Ben said with a huge grin.
…
At that moment, a middle-aged man was seen in front of the Green Sky Hall’s entrance. He brought quite a few people and went straight in.
The head of Green Sky Hall, Hector, immediately frowned when he saw the middle-aged man leading the group. He then went forward to welcome them with a smile. “Oh my. What’s going on? The head of the Eagle Clan is gracing my hall today. I did have a feeling that an esteemed guest was coming to visit today, but never did I imagine that it would be you, Master Neuman!”
Lee Neuman, the head of the Eagle Clan gave a wan smile. “Master Zaborowski, I have a matter to discuss with you today,” he said. “Let’s talk inside. It’s not convenient out here with so many people around!”
“Oh. Alright then!”
Hector nodded his head, smiling. He only brought a few of his most trusted fighters and they headed back in, along with the leader of the Eagle Clan. “Master Neuman, you’re being too courteous. Just call me Mr. Zaborowski. That’s what my men call me. It feels strange if you call me ‘master’.”
“It doesn’t matter if I call you Master Zaborowski or Mr. Zaborowski. It doesn’t change the fact that you call the shots here!”
Lee burst into laughter. The group quickly filtered into a receiving hall and settled themselves on the seats.
“Alright, Master Neuman. There are no outsiders here. You can say whatever you want to say now. The last time we saw each other must have been two years ago. You wouldn’t come to see me if nothing was going on!”
Hector was still smiling. He looked warm and friendly on the surface.
Lee’s countenance shifted, turning heavier. He looked straight at Hector. “Not too long ago, 300 men from the Eagle Clan died,” he said. “They were killed in the forest outside the city. One of them was part of my cadre—Baldy! Have you heard of this incident, Master Zaborowski?”
Hector picked up his teacup and slowly took a sip from it. Then he nodded his head. “Of course, I’ve heard of it. I even heard that it was a lone murderer. Tsk tsk. A man with such strength is frightening indeed. He must at least be a marshal!”
Lee shook his head. “I think even a marshal doesn’t possess that kind of strength. Among the 300 men, quite a number were masters within the Eagle Clan. You know as well as I do that the Eagle Clan is among the best of all the Halls. Now among the Four Fighters, only three are left. If my guess is correct, it’s highly improbable that the murderer is a marshal. Rather, it’s highly likely that he’s a King of War!”
“A King of War?”
Hector drew his brows together when he heard the phrase ‘King of War’. “It’d be a huge problem if you provoke a King of War.”
Chapter 706 “Judging from the strength needed to kill that many men, it’s almost certain that he’s a King of War. And we’ve been deciphering his modus operandi over and over, and all our men died by a clean break to the neck. It’s definitely done by a single person. Doesn’t seem like anyone else helped!”
Lee’s expression darkened. “Because of this, we suffered heavy losses and our position dropped a lot. Two of our territories had been snatched away by other Halls!”
When Hector heard this, his features twisted into an unreadable expression. “Master Neuman, don’t tell me you want to get my help to take your territories back? They probably aren’t worth much if they’re just small areas, right? Besides, this is a matter of the Eagle Clan. What does it have to do with Green Sky Hall?”
Lee laughed aloud. “We won’t trouble you for this. I’ve managed to recruit quite a few fighters lately. One of them is even stronger than Baldy when he first started out. That’s why we’ve already managed to take our small territories back!”
“Then you just came over to complain to me?”
Hector frowned. He did not think that Lee would come over for something as menial as that.
“We’ve been trying to find the murderer of Baldy and the others for some time now. Finally, we’ve got our man. It’s a 99% guarantee that it’s that person!”
Anger sparked in Lee’s eyes as he spoke. That man had killed 300 of their men, including a top fighter. This thought sent his mind into panic every time.
“Tell me then. Eastfield only has a handful of Kings of War. It should be easy enough to weed him out if you investigate properly.”
Hector spoke slowly after he thought about it, “But let’s say that he’s a high-ranking King of War and that he earned his position through his fists. It would be difficult for you to get revenge then!”
“You’ve seen him before!” Lee revealed, smiling bitterly.
“I’ve seen him before?”
Hector frowned. “No way. I’ve not spoken to any marshals or Kings of War lately,” he said, surprised. “And they think of themselves as the protectors of Daxia. They’re righteous warriors. We would have nothing common to talk about in a conversation!”
“Mmhmm. He came to see you just two days ago. If my guess isn’t wrong, he even fought with your men!” Lee answered, giving a wan smile.
“ jackie White!” Hector and the fighters around him immediately cried out.
“That’s right. It’s the adopted son-in-law of the Taylor family!”
Lee spoke in a confident tone, “I conducted a little investigation and found out that my subordinate had offended a good buddy of his, named Tiger. Tiger is a delivery boy, someone unassuming. But he actually killed 300 of my men to avenge his friend!”
Here, Lee paused for a while before continuing leisurely, “And according to what I know, your men had also offended Tiger and his wife a while ago. And so that punk came looking for you! I believe that he fought with your people!”
The corners of Hector’s mouth twitched slightly. It took a while before he replied in a frank tone, “That punk didn’t come to us just because of that. There was something else as well!”
Chapter 707 “Oh, really? Why don’t you tell me about it?”
Lee was slightly taken aback. He never thought that jackie would meet the Green Sky Hall for anything else other than the whole outcry over what they had done to Tiger.
At this moment, the master of the Green Sky Hall took a step forward. “This is what happened. Our men are also involved in another business,” he explained. “We don’t just make business within the country, but we trade with a foreign organization as well. We secretly take pictures of women and sell them…”
After Lee heard the entire story, he spoke up in a huff, “ jackie really went overboard. This has nothing to do with him. It’s natural for him to ask for compensation from you because of what happened to Tiger, but you guys didn’t even take pictures of his wife. Why did he have to get so worked up about it!”
“Right? This incident really pissed me off too!”
Hector’s expression hardened, then his gaze sidled toward Lee. This entire affair was between him and jackie. He was curious why Lee was reacting in such a manner, blowing up even more than he did.
“Then what happened? Did you guys fight him after he came?”
Lee asked after he thought about it.
“Of course, we fought. Initially, we had planned to kill him if he wasn’t any good. But if he was strong, we would brush the conflict off as a misunderstanding…”
Hector narrated the entire incident to Lee. After he finished his story, he released a long sigh. “Unfortunately, we lost! All our people were no match for him.”
After he said that, Hector looked as though he suddenly recalled something, and could not help but say to Lee, “Right, Master Neuman, isn’t jackie, a commander? I heard that he proclaimed to have two hundred million dollars to his name during Old Man Taylor’s seventieth birthday party. He’s probably a commander. But he claimed that he lost his medal. Why are you saying that he’s a King of War?”
“It’s obvious that this punk is lying. He’s definitely not some run-of-the-mill assistant commander!” Lee chuckled. “I’m very sure that the person who killed Baldy and the rest of our 300 men was jackie. And with that amount of destructive power, he’s definitely a King of War. There’s no way that so many people would surround him together and still be killed otherwise.”
“His strength really can’t be underestimated. Judging from how our best fighters fared against him, he doesn’t seem like a commander. Even a marshal wouldn’t have beaten us so easily!”
After Hector began to deduce the information, a shadow passed over his features. If this was truly the case, he would truly be difficult to deal with.
“Master Zaborowski, that punk told you to cut off the entire photo trade. Do you really want to give it up just like that? You guys make a lot of money from it every month. More importantly, this is a business that will only expand into a gold mine, and you’ll just abandon it? Can you really do that?”
Lee noticed that Hector was in a dour mood, and he intensified his manipulation. “Why don’t our Halls join hands and kill this nuisance?”
At this moment, Hector burst into laughter instead. “Master Neuman, you’ve spoken so much today, but this is your main motive of coming here, isn’t it? You don’t stand a chance against him, so you’re coming to us in hopes that we’ll lend you our strength!”
Lee nodded his head. “That’s right. I was thinking of that when I came here. That punk offended both of our Halls. How can we just let him live?”
Hector went silent, pondering. After a while, he finally replied, “For now, we’re not sure if we want to take jackie on. You said it yourself. It’s a big possibility that he has the strength of a King of War. It won’t be easy to kill him. And in the end, we might suffer heavy losses and still end up on the losing side!”
Chapter 708 “Can you really stand it, Hector? This is a colossal loss for you! Have you really thought about it? At any rate, I’ve got some grudges against the kid!”
Lee chuckled, although he was a little unhappy. He had thought that the master of the Green Sky Hall would agree to cooperate with him. After all, jackie had bullied him practically to death.
He never expected that Hector would choose to compromise himself at this moment.
“Master Neuman, what happened to the Green Sky Hall is a little different from what happened to yours. The Eagle Clan lost 300 men. They were your precious comrades, so I understand if you want to kill jackie!”
Hector released a breath. He picked up his cup from the table and sipped from it. “However, no one from our side has died,” he said slowly, “only two of our men were critically injured. One had his leg broken, and the other had his d*ck rendered useless. So we didn’t lose any men, and we’ve only lost a bit of money. There’s no need for us to provoke a man who has the strength of a King of War. Look, let’s say we fight—we’ll still suffer heavy losses even if we win!”
The corners of Lee’s lips began to twitch. Green Sky Hall was very powerful, and they had the backing of Kingston Hall. That was why he wanted to cooperate with them and gather their strongest fighters to assassinate jackie together.
Now though, if Green Sky Hall refused his proposal, he would have zero chance against jackie, with only the men from the Eagle Clan to rely on.
He never expected that Hector would cast him a long look and suddenly break into a smile. “Oh, right. I heard that jackie had offended Young Master Wilson during Old Man Taylor’s seventieth birthday party not too long ago,” he said. “The Wilsons are very powerful too. That guy really has got some guts!”
Lee was not an idiot. When he heard this, he immediately understood the hidden message behind Hector’s words. His eyes brightened as he leaped to his feet. “Master Zaborowski, think about my proposal for a while longer. Once you have truly come to your senses, just give me a call. We’ll stand together, for the enemy of an enemy is a friend. I believe that there’ll be a day where we’ll be allies!”
“Let’s wait and see. For now, though, I really don’t want to provoke someone who’s as strong as a King of War!”
Hector chuckled and climbed onto his feet as well, preparing to see his guest off.
Soon enough, Lee and the others left Green Sky Hall.
After the men from the Eagle Clan left, the old woman of Green Sky Hall finally blurted toward Hector, “Master, jackie is truly a loathsome man. He’s making us lose at least one million dollars in a single month. If we can’t continue our business, I think we should cooperate with the Eagle Clan and get rid of jackie!”
Yet Hector had a frosty smile plastered onto his face. “Lee will definitely never forgive jackie for killing 300 of the Eagle Clan’s men,” he said. “I reminded him of something else just now though. I believe that
he’ll go see the Wilsons and make an alliance with them. They’ll help us get rid of jackie instead. Isn’t that better? We won’t have to do anything. All we have to do is to sit back and enjoy the show. Isn’t this perfect?”
The old woman’s eyes brightened when she heard this. She flashed him a thumbs up. “It’s perfect. It’s absolutely perfect! We’ll reap the rewards for no cost if they’re really able to get rid of jackie.”
“Mmhmm. Let’s just wait and see. We need to continue our photograph business. We can’t just give up a gold mine because jackie threatened us.”
Hector thought about it for a while and added, “But tell our men to be more careful. Don’t let jackie catch them doing our business anymore. It would be troublesome for us if he did. We’ll just be as careful as we can. As for jackie, we’ll let Lee and the others take care of him. We’ll just quietly rake in the dough.”
The few people surrounding him bobbed their heads.
…
At this moment, Lee and his henchmen quickly arrived on the streets.
“Master, are we going to the Wilson family’s estate?”
One of the elders had already guessed Lee’s motives. He could not help but step forward and ask.
After Lee thought about it, he nodded. “We should pay the Wilsons a visit. But the fighters from the Wilsons are no match for those from Green Sky Hall. Furthermore, Green Sky Hall has Kingston Hall backing them up. There’s no way that Kingston Hall will stand by and watch if anything happens to Green Sky Hall. That’s why the Wilson family isn’t as reliable!”
Chapter 709 “Why are we still meeting them then, if they’re not that reliable and can’t guarantee us victory?”
The elder furrowed his brows and asked again.
Lee gave a bitter smile. “Wouldn’t it be better if we made an ally with the Wilson family while we’re forming an alliance with Green Sky Hall? Firstly, let’s go meet the Wilson family and propose an alliance. But don’t rush it. We’ll plan our next move once we have Green Sky Hall in the alliance!”
“But won’t it be difficult to get Green Sky Hall onboard? Hector already expressed that he didn’t want to face jackie with us just now!”
A middle-aged woman chimed in, frowning, “Unless you have some other plan in mind, Master?”
“Of course, I have a plan!”
Lee burst into guffaws. “It’s impossible that Hector doesn’t hate jackie. He just wants to watch from the side-lines because he fears that we are no match for jackie. He even reminded us of the Wilson family on purpose, hoping that we will cooperate with them and get rid of jackie. As for them, they won’t have to lift a finger, and their enemy would be gone. Hmph. Did he really think I wouldn’t see through his schemes?”
The middle-aged woman clenched her hands into fists when she heard that. “Hmph. What an old fox. He meant to use us as fodder!”
The elder asked, “Then how should we drag Green Sky Hall into this, Master? It’ll be very difficult for us if they refuse to join us!”
“Didn’t they say that they wouldn’t sell photos to the foreign organization anymore? I don’t believe a word of it!”
Lee chuckled and said, “We’ll get a few of our bravest men to pretend to be from Green Sky Hall and go around secretly taking pictures. Then we’ll get jackie to find out and pin the blame onto Green Sky Hall.”
“Amazing. Your plan is absolutely amazing, Master. It’d be difficult for them to refuse to join our alliance then!”
A few of the fighters surrounding him nodded their heads. They could not help but admire their master’s intelligence.
“Let’s go and see the Wilson family!”
Lee waved his hand. He and his men drove straight toward the Wilson family’s estate.
…
“F*ck. That stupid jackie. My face still hasn’t recovered!”
A few days had passed since the party incident. Michael rubbed his face. It still felt a little swollen.
However, the injuries were barely noticeable from a glance. He would probably recover fully in one or two days.
“Dad, you must avenge me!”
Michael looked at his father, almost bursting into tears.
“Of course!”
David looked at his son, expression solemn. “Don’t worry. I’ve spent quite a lot of money lately to hire a few fighters to be our bodyguards,” he said, “I even recruited some from other cities. They’re all pretty strong. jackie won’t live for very long.”
Chapter 710 “That–that’s great!”
Michael heaved an internal sigh of relief when he heard that.
“Master, the Eagle Clan is here to pay you a visit!”
Right at this moment, a bodyguard ran in and reported, “The master of the Eagle Clan is here, along with his fighters!”
David and Michael exchanged a glance. They were confused.
“F*ck. What does the Eagle Clan want from us? Organizations that operate in the day like us have never had anything to do with Halls like theirs!”
David frowned. The Eagle Clan could not be easily provoked. They were far stronger than a second- class aristocratic family like his. Their sudden appearance at his doorstep made him anxious.
“Dad, don’t tell me that one of our men offended the Eagle Clan so they’re here to see us now? It’ll be troublesome if that happens. It won’t be easy to deal with them!”
Michael was worried as well.
David looked at the bodyguard. “Tell me, were they extremely angry when they arrived?” he asked.
The bodyguard shook his head. “No. They were all very calm. They said that they’re here to propose a deal to you!”
“Alright. Bring them in!” David loosened a breath when he heard that. Then he waved his hand.
“Looks like they’re not here for trouble!” David told his son after the bodyguard left.
After a while, Lee and the others came in.
Lee raised his hands in a fist-to-palm salute toward David after he sat down. “Master Wilson, long time no see. I heard that the Wilson family has been doing well lately. So admirable!”
David managed a wan smile and returned the salute. “Oh, we’re not that great. We’re just getting by. We have no way to match up to a first-class aristocratic family!”
“From the looks of it, your family is drawing closer and closer to the title of a first-class aristocratic family!”
Lee flashed a polite smile and looked at Michael. “Young–Young Master Wilson, your face hasn’t recovered completely yet? Tsk. What a shame. I heard that Ivan from the Taylor family was the one who beat you up?”
When he heard this, Michael replied immediately in a huff. “It was Ivan’s doing, but the person I’m most frustrated at is that son-in-law of the Taylor family. My face wouldn’t be in this state if he didn’t think of that method to punish me. I’m mad at Ivan, but I’m most angry at jackie…”
Here, Michael ground his jaw and clenched his fists. “If I ever get the chance, I’ll make sure that jackie is flayed and tortured to death!”
“All right. That’s the spirit!”
Lee instantly stood up as he saw Michael’s temper flaring. He clapped his hands as he spoke, “You’re a true man, Young Master Wilson. You have the aura of someone who isn’t afraid of anything. Men should be like that. To bless when they have received blessings, and to take revenge when they have been wronged!”
Delight sprang in Michael’s heart at the other man’s praise. “But of course, don’t judge me just because I’m fat. I’m a grown man as well!” he said, chuckling.
Yet David, who was watching all this from the side, could not bear to watch on any longer. “Master Neuman, just get straight to the point,” he said simply, tone blunt. “The Wilson family hardly associates with your Eagle Clan on a normal basis. What business are you here for today?”
Chapter 711 When Lee noticed that David was raising the issue, he said, “To be honest, you know as well as I do that the Eagle Clan has suffered heavy losses before this. We lost 300 men, and we’ve been searching for the culprit behind their murders. We must avenge their deaths by killing him!”
“Oh? So did you find him?”
David’s heart nearly skipped a beat. He said, “Master Neuman, why are you here then? Don’t tell me that you suspect one of us? Your 300 men were all elites from the headquarters. One of them was even one of the Four Fighters from the Eagle Clan. We certainly don’t have the means to have a man slaughter so many people!”
“It’s all a misunderstanding! You misunderstood me, Master Wilson,” Lee replied hurriedly. “I don’t want to cause any trouble by coming to you. I wanted to cooperate with you!”
Here, Lee paused for a while and cast a glance toward Michael, who stood to the side. “According to our investigations, jackie was the one who killed our 300 men,” he continued. “That son-in-law of the Taylor family, jackie!”
“What!”
Michael immediately exclaimed when he heard that. His expression revealed utter disbelief. “No way. Is he that strong?”
“You don’t know who he really is?”
Lee was surprised. “I know that you’re on pretty good terms with Selena. Shouldn’t you have some knowledge about the circumstances surrounding jackie White?”
“Not really. I’ve seen him fight before, but he was only facing off against a few dozen bodyguards. I know that he’s pretty strong, but no way that he killed all 300 of your men all by himself!”
Michael still felt that it was impossible. He looked straight at Lee. “Maybe you’ve got the wrong guy? The man who killed your people from the Eagle Clan, at least had the strength of a marshal or a King of War. And jackie is probably just a head commander!”
“No way. We’ve verified our sources. It’s definitely him!”
Lee was extremely adamant. “ jackie is a funny little character. I suspected that he was a King of War who was hiding his true strength and keeping a low profile. But once he’s provoked, the consequences are unimaginable.”
At this moment, David nodded his head after he thought about the subject. “ jackie is very strong. I was also curious why so many people respect him even though he was just an assistant commander. And many war veterans had turned up for Old Man Taylor’s birthday party!”
“Dad, if jackie truly turns out to be a King of War, it doesn’t matter if he’s only a one-star King of War— he’ll be extremely difficult to beat! What do we do? Don’t tell me that I have no hope of taking revenge?”
Michael twisted his features into a grimace, clearly unhappy with the news.
“Don’t worry. The Wilsons cannot beat him alone. But we have our brothers from the Eagle Clan with us. Isn’t that right?”
David chuckled. “Master Neuman said it himself just now, that he came over to negotiate an agreement between us. You won’t let him go just like that, won’t you, knowing that he murdered your men?”
“Bingo!”
Lee gave a wan smile. “Just get some of your best men ready and wait for our orders. We’ll get in contact then and set out to kill jackie. We’ll arrange everything else!”
“But I don’t feel assured even if we combine the forces from our two families. In fact, I feel like we’ll suffer many casualties! If we lose too many of our men, our position and power will drop significantly!”
David felt unsure of the plan after he thought about it for a while.
“Don’t worry about it, Master Wilson. jackie is a certified assh*le. He even offended the Green Sky Hall. Soon enough, we’ll have the Green Sky Hall by our side as well!”
Lee flashed a mysterious smile and said, “But you’ll have to wait patiently for our arrangements!”
“No problem. It’s a done deal then!”
David extended his hand. The two men shook hands, faces beaming triumphantly.
Chapter 712 At that moment, jackie and the others had just finished their lunch at the hotel. They were about to go back after a scrumptious meal.
“It wasn’t that expensive now, was it? We only spent over seven hundred thousand dollars. I thought the bill would go over a million!”
Fiona was rich now. When she spoke, there was an undeniable tinge of arrogance laced in her words.
“Ma, you really… Did you forget our struggling days in poverty?”
Selena gave a bitter smile. She did not know whether to laugh or cry.
“Ah, why would I compare myself to the olden days? Now I have a son-in-law who can bring in the dough, and my daughter makes plenty of money as well. Of course, I should indulge myself. Money is meant to be spent!”
Fiona grinned and looked at Joan beside her. “Let’s go, Joan dear. I saw some nice clothes in a boutique yesterday. I think it’d suit you. Why don’t we go shopping?”
“Is it expensive?”
Joan frowned. She remembered how jackie had brought her to buy plenty of clothing and all sorts of unnecessary things the last time. Even now, she was still not used to it.
Besides, jackie gave her quite a lot of money. Now that it was in her grasp, she could not bear to spend it every time she flashed back to her days as a cleaner.
“It’s not that expensive. Just a little more than ten thousand dollars. More importantly, it will look good on you. I’m a little short, so I probably won’t look good in it. Why would I recommend the clothes to you otherwise?”
Fiona chuckled as she spoke. jackie had given her ninety million dollars yesterday. She was in good spirits now, and she was even feeling amicable toward her son-in-law.
“Alright then!”
Joan smiled and agreed to the proposal to go shopping.
Of course, two of the beautiful bodyguards tailed after them to ensure their safety.
“Let’s go, Ben. We’ll take a look at your cybercafe and see how it is doing now!”
Andrew drank quite a bit during lunchtime, and now his cheeks were flushed. He patted his son’s shoulder and they left. Naturally, a few bodyguards followed them as well.
“Let’s go, dear. We’ll take Kylie to the aquarium. I did promise her, after all!”
jackie looked at the beautiful Selena beside him, smiling as he spoke.
“Alright! Kylie had been wanting to go for a long time now. But I didn’t have the time nor the money, so I told her that we would go together once Daddy is back.
“That’s why Kylie always hoped that you would return soon so that you could bring her there!”
Selena’s eyes began to reddened as she reminisced about what had happened these past few years.
At that time, she had been extremely afraid that jackie would never return. She had been fearful that he would die on the battlefield.
Kylie would not have a father then, and she would officially be an orphan.
Fortunately, the gods were smiling upon them, and jackie returned. He did not disappoint her either, turning out to be a strong and reliable man.
“Don’t worry. I’m back now. All we need to do is live our lives peacefully. We’ll definitely be happy together!”
jackie was touched. He swept Kylie into his arms and walked forward.
Orchid and three other female bodyguards trailed after them, keeping an eye out for danger.
In a car not too far away from them, Flynn was watching the entire exchange furiously.
“It’s time to make a move, Cousin. jackie has been poisoned for a few days now. He’s definitely not in his best form to fight!”
Chapter 713 Flynn spoke with such hatred, and he gritted his teeth in fury and bitterness.
“Don’t wear yourself out over this. The people I’ve dispatched are ready to give jackie a good beating without killing him. We still need to wait for him to make a fool of himself and die painfully during Selena’s birthday party.” With a cynical grin on his face, Ken then took out his phone to make a call.
Not a second later, more than a dozen people walked out from an alley, seemingly dubious and shady- looking.
Flynn frowned as he looked at the people slowly emerging from the alley. “Are these people reliable, Ken?”
“Don’t worry. I was afraid of exposing myself so I employed gangsters, but there are several strong ones among them, and they’re definitely reliable!” Ken said confidently. “Of course, they’re no match to a not- poisoned jackie, but as luck would have it, he’s weakening due to the poison as we speak. It’s been days now, and he definitely seems to be unaware. Rest assured: these people could give him a good one- two.”
Still, Flynn was considerably worried—and rather surprised—when he saw four stunning ladies with jackie. “Look at him. He has four women with him, and the words ‘Taylor family’s bodyguard’ are written on their clothes… I wonder what these four women are like.”
“We never heard of jackie employing bodyguards. F*ck!” Ken cursed the wind. “Now that Xena isn’t with them, we won’t get updates about them in real-time.”
Once he gave the women a once-over, Ken then surmised, “It should be fine. Look at those four women. Do they look like bodyguards? All of them have long legs, fair skin and pretty faces. Well, there’s no reason to fret. They’re no match for a gang this many in number, and that’s for sure!”
Flynn nodded, agreeing to Ken. “ jackie is really good at employing bodyguards, I’ll give him that. All of them are so pretty. I don’t think he’s employing bodyguards… I think he’s getting his hands on women!”
“My thoughts exactly,” snapped Ken. “This womanizer! Selena loves him so much, but he might’ve had secret affairs with these women since long ago. That irks me so much! And here I am, holding Selena so dear to me and treats her so well. I don’t even mind that she’s married and has a child. How dare she ignore me! This is so frustrating!”
…
Orchid’s keen eyes noted the group of people walking toward them from afar, and she saw the unmistakable look of malice in their eyes. “Master, see those people there? They seem to be coming our way!”
“There are only a dozen people, so I’ll leave them to you guys.” With his child, Kylie in his arms, he gently spoke, “Kylie, turn your head away, don’t look forward now. You might be frightened of what’ll happen next. It might get brutal.”
The last thing jackie expected was for Kylie’s defiant, “No!” She then pouted. “I want to see how the pretty sisters fight the bad guys. I want to beat bad guys up when I’m older, too! I’ll beat anyone who bullies Mommy and Daddy!”
“This girl…” At a loss of words for a good while, he felt a warm sensation going through the fibers of his being. “Alright. Since you’re brave enough, you can look.”
Turning to his bodyguards, jackie then ordered, “If they make a move, you fight back, but don’t kill anybody so you don’t scare Kylie. Just give them a beating they’ll never forget!”
“Yes, Master!” Orchid and the group nodded.
The gangsters acted nonchalant—somewhat unsuspicious—as they came closer, but they instantaneously reacted once they came close enough to jackie and his company.
“Beat them!” yelled one of the people with dyed-blonde hair, and everyone else rushed toward jackie not a moment later.
All four beautiful female bodyguards encompassed jackie and his family defensively. They attacked at the same time.
In just a blink of an eye, the gangsters dropped like flies as they moaned and writhed in pain.
Chapter 714 “How’s that possible? There are a dozen of them! Hasn’t it only been a few seconds? Every single one has fallen!” Ken’s jaws nearly dropped to the ground when he saw the turn of events, at how the gangsters were defeated so fast.
“Didn’t you say that the people you employed were reliable, Ken? Look: We failed to even test that guy’s true power. He hadn’t even done anything, and all our people had already fallen!” The expression Flynn was wearing was equatable to unadulterated fury as his chest heaved.
“This is an accident, Flynn. This is definitely an accident! I never thought these girls would be so skilled!” Ken smiled sheepishly. He could only watch as jackie swiftly walked away and left in their car.
“These female bodyguards aren’t weak!” said Flynn after he composed himself from his thoughts. “Since you’re afraid that jackie would recognize the bodyguards you normally have with you, my only remaining choice is to call and get the masters from the Young family.”
Ken nodded after he thought about it. “Agreed. Make the call, and make sure you get several good ones. However, it’s best if you don’t tell your parents about what happened to your leg for the time being. I’m afraid that they’ll be so angry that they’ll go after jackie the moment they knew what had actually happened. If that happens, we won’t be able to see jackie dying painfully during Selena’s birthday party!”
Flynn nodded and agreed to it. “Right. We can’t let this guy die so easily!”
…
“ jackie, do you know who those people are? Why are they after us?” Although those people were no rivals of their bodyguards, Selena was still worried.
Their family was exposed for all eyes to see while the enemy hid behind shadows. It was difficult to hide from these people if they were constantly ambushed!
Behind the wheels, jackie frowned. “I really don’t know about this. There’s a possibility that it’s Ivan. I did beat him up, after all. Michael must hate me too, so there’s that. Of course, it seems that it might be Ken and Young Master Hugo. Apart from that, I also offended the so-called Green Sky Hall and ended their businesses that earned money. It could be them…”
Then, jackie’s eyes brightened as he exclaimed, “Oh, yes! Young Master Gold from the Gold family also lost something last night. If he’s narrow-minded, it might be him!”
Selena was speechless; it only occurred to her how many people jackie had offended without her knowing it. Guessing the perpetrator’s identity would be a difficult task indeed.
Mulling over her thoughts for a moment, a thought then stood out among the rest as she exclaimed, “Oh my god! Could it be that the Xenos family from the Sky City had come for us? Didn’t you say that the Xenos family is very powerful? I heard that they’re almost like the Drake family. We’re in so much trouble if it’s them”
Selena was even worried as she continued, frowning as she did, “This is really bad. How are you able to offend so many people? Dear me… What should we do? If it’s people from the Xenos family, then—”
Noting that his wife’s nerves were frazzled, jackie quickly assured her, “Honey, don’t worry. I can assure you that it’s not people from the Xenos family. They’re a strong family, so they would’ve come with a group of strong bodyguards. I’ve killed the master’s son, so isn’t it right that the patriarch comes forward?”
jackie then added, “Those people are just gangsters, and the Xenos people wouldn’t come with these people if they wanted revenge. Those gangsters seem to be from our Eastfield!”
Hearing her husband’s explanation, Selena relaxed as she petted her chest and muttered, “Oh, thank goodness… It’s best if it’s not the Xenos family. We’re lucky that all ten bodyguards that you’ve employed are quite good. I’d say that people with subpar skills won’t break a sweat for our bodyguards.”
“Yes! The pretty sisters are so strong! It’d be so good if I can be as good as them when I grow up!” chirped Kylie as she giddily clapped with her delicate hands.
“Don’t worry! A child with clever and intelligent parents will grow up to be just like them. Kylie, you’ll be an extremely strong person when you grow up. If not, you’re not worthy of being my daughter!”
Chapter 715 jackie chuckled aloud right after that.
“What are you talking about?” Selena, who was beside him, lightly pinched at his thigh and rolled her eyes at him. “I don’t want my daughter to be a brawny girl when she grows up!”
“With how Kylie’s looking, she won’t be such a burly girl!” said jackie with a grin on his face. “However, we still need to teach her the skills she has to learn so she could protect herself. What’ll happen if she crosses paths with bad people and she can’t defend herself? Look at my daughter: She’ll be a stunner once she grows up!”
Selena nodded in agreement. “That’s right. After all, she’s my daughter!”
….
Not longer after, jackie brought his wife and daughter to the aquarium. They enjoyed a happy afternoon together and went home at around night time.
The following few days seemed normal.
However, 20 days to Selena’s birthday, something did happen. As he was driving home, he was stopped on the road.
Several people in black suits came down from the car in front of him, and they menacingly rubbed their knuckles as they came closer.
jackie got down from his car afterward.
“We’ll get him this time, Flynn. The people here this time are the stronger bodyguards from your family. It’s been ten days since jackie drank the poison, so this guy’s body must be extremely weak right now. I do wonder if he notices the condition of his body!” In a car not far away, Ken looked over where jackie was, and a small smile appeared on his face. “I must admit I feel giddy when I think of how we’ll hurt this guy later!”
Flynn seemed just as excited as he had been waiting for this day for a long time now. “That’s for sure. Two of the people I asked to come today are team leaders for our bodyguards. I think their fighting prowess can almost rival that of a major…”
Meanwhile…
“Who sent you guys?” jackie stood by the roadside and searched for a slightly spacious place. A group of seven to eight men had already surrounded him.
“You’re not qualified to know that, young man! We won’t tell you either!” One of the men smiled coldly as he twisted his head side to side, cracking his neck.
“Really? Well, let me tell you all something: You’re all out of luck because my daughter isn’t here today.” came jackie’s reply, nonchalant like the smile on his face.
“What does your daughter’s presence have to do with us? The order we received is to beat you up until you can’t move!” said the man opposite jackie before cackling aloud.
“If my daughter’s not here, the only option left for you is to die!” jackie smiled coldly. He stepped forward and made the first attack.
Chapter 716 “You’re rather boastful, young man!” One of the bodyguards cackled sinisterly. He balled his fist and swung it, aiming for jackie when he saw him rushing toward them.
The fists from both men collided against each other, and the powerful force set off waves of gusts. Such a force sent the man flying.
The man vomited blood and was in disbelief; he never thought that the man before him could conjure such power. jackie’s energy exceeded his that it was the strength of a falling mountain.
The man fell to the ground as blood oozed out of his mouth. His face immediately turned extremely pale.
jackie took no breaks as he gave a sharp punch to another man’s neck. The unmistakable sound of something snapping could be heard, and the man fell lifelessly onto the floor.
A few more punches later, several masters died on the spot.
“I—Impossible!” The face of the man on the ground turned pale after seeing how the tides had turned. Every companion of his was a master, yet they were massacred so easily.
“Argh!” Another man—one with skills on par with a major—was also killed by jackie easily in just two seconds.
“You’re the last one. Do you believe me now?” jackie smirked sardonically at the man on the floor as he walked toward him.
jackie took out a cigarette and lit it up when he reached that person. He smoked for a short while before asking, “Speak up. Who sent you people?”
“I… I don’t know!” The man gritted his teeth and was afraid. By instinct, the man turned to look at the BMW car parked not too far away on the opposite road.
Somewhat stunned, jackie followed this person’s line of sight and looked over.
“F*ck! What’s that fool looking over here for?!” Ken was immediately afraid when he saw the bodyguard looking over. He immediately started the car, stepped on the gas and left.
At this moment, both he and Flynn were downright petrified.
Those were the best fighters among all the bodyguards in the Young family. Among them, two were more-than-ordinary fighters. It never occurred to both Ken and Flynn that jackie could slay them so easily.
jackie laughed at the speed of the perpetrators leaving. “They left so fast! What cowards!”
With jackie’s attention different, a flash of fierceness appeared in the eyes of the man lying on the ground. Pulling a dagger out, the man rushed toward jackie and aimed the dagger at jackie’s abdomen.
Of course, jackie was much faster. With a flip of his hand, jackie caught his hand and stabbed the knife into the startled man’s chest.
Chapter 717 When jackie loosened his hand, the man fell straight to the floor, his eyes still wide open in fright.
“Quite the bunch of suicidal people.” Smirking callously, jackie went back to his car and swiftly left the scene.
This time, he obviously had to show these people some consequences as it was difficult for him to live life in peace if they constantly interfered with his life.
…
Ken drove far away, still worried when he noted jackie was not trailing after them. He could only get a breather once they reached the Clark family mansion.
“Was I imagining things, Flynn? There are people with the fighting powers of majors among the masters from the Young family, yet jackie… jackie killed them so easily?!” Gulping nervously, Ken wiped the cold sweat on his forehead.
Flynn frowned and was quiet for some time before he spoke, “What’s going on? Why do I feel like that guy isn’t poisoned? Could Ivan and Xena have fooled us?”
Ken clenched his fists when he heard what Flynn had said. “F*ck. Now that you’ve mentioned it, I’m starting to wonder if we were played by that woman, Xena. If jackie was poisoned, he wouldn’t have been so powerful. More importantly, jackie has killed masters that were on par with majors of an army. Didn’t he say he’s a head commander in the army? Was he performing extraordinarily? That’s impossible!”
“This man is no commander, that’s for sure. He kept hiding his true strength, but I think he’s a marshal!” As he thought about it, Flynn then asserted, “It’s almost impossible for him to be a King of War. After all, there are very few people who are Kings of War, and they’re very well-known. I think he’s a marshal. There are quite a number of marshals, and it’s quite normal for him to not be well-known!”
“If jackie really is a marshal, why does this guy want to hide his identity?” wondered Ken.
“How would I know?!” Flynn was just as blank and clueless as to why jackie would hide his true strength or identity.
A thought then occurred to him as his eyes lit up. “I get it! Some people might have the fighting strength of a marshal, and while he could’ve been a marshal, he might’ve made a mistake and was thus demoted!”
Ken nodded. “That makes sense. He might be lying when he said he lost his token and that he’s just a normal soldier. He might’ve had a title but was demoted to a normal soldier after he made a mistake. He must’ve felt embarrassed if he mentioned this, or he might even get scolded by his wife or mother-in-law, thus he decided to better keep it a secret.”
“Hmm… That must be it!” The more Flynn thought about it, the more possibilities were presented. He thought about it some more before he turned to Ken and said, “What should we do now then?”
Ken thought about it and said, “I’ll go meet Ivan and Xena first. We’re asking Young Master Hugo to join us too. We’ll tell them about what happened today and see what they say. After all, we might be able to come up with a good plan when everyone’s together.”
Ken asked someone to carry Flynn back into the house before driving to the hospital with his subordinates. He also asked Young Master Hugo to come over as well.
“Why are the two of you here? I’ve recovered, and I’m getting ready to be discharged!” said a grinning Ivan as Ken and Neil approached him. “Did Xena tell you that I’m getting discharged? Are you guys picking me up so we can go celebrate over a meal?”
“I’m not sure. Young Master Clark called me and asked me here, saying that there’s something important to discuss.” Neil looked at Ken in doubt.
Ivan’s grin fell at that moment as he had a bad feeling. “What is it? Did something happen?”
Ken looked at Xena meaningfully before he spoke to Ivan, “Let’s go and find a place where we can all sit down. I’ll explain to you guys while we’re eating.”
Xena frowned as she was uncomfortable at how Ken looked at her. It made her feel like she was a spy.
Chapter 718 Not long after, Ken brought the group to a hotel, had a private room and ordered some dishes.
Once they had finished ordering, Ken looked at Xena and asked, “Miss Xena, are you sure jackie drank the poison we gave you?”
Xena was startled at the question and looked somewhat uncertain before she replied, “Yes, I saw him drink it with my own eyes. I even passed him the mineral water myself. I saw him drink half a bottle in one go and threw the remaining into the dumpster.”
“You didn’t remember wrongly, no?” Ken asked again, still in doubt of what had actually gone down.
“Of course not. I remember everything clearly! He definitely drank it,” came Xena’s defense. “Why? Young Master Clark, what’s going on? Are you suspecting that I’m lying?”
A thought occurred to Xena, and her expression immediately turned cold. “I risked my life and worked undercover for you guys. Do you know how nervous I was? I was so afraid that jackie would catch onto what I was doing, and I could only take a breather when I saw him drinking water from that mineral bottle. How dare you suspect I’m lying!”
Ivan turned to Ken and said, “Young Master Clark, what happened exactly? Why would you ask Xena this? She doesn’t need to lie to us, even if she didn’t succeed.”
It was only then when Ken said, “It’s been more than a dozen days since jackie took the poison, right? The poison would’ve taken effect after ten days, and we’re all waiting for him to die painfully during Selena’s birthday. However, I’ve sent two different groups of people out to get him. I wanted to test how his body was faring, and I wanted to exact vengeance.”
Ivan and Young Master Taylor looked at each other, somewhat excited when they heard this.
“How was it? It isn’t possible that his body has no symptoms, right?” fretted Xena.
Ken took a deep breath and stated, “I think he’s not poisoned. The first time I sent people after him, nothing much happened since he had his bodyguards with him. The second time, my cousin, Flynn
asked several masters from the Young family over, and…”
Ken halted for a good while before he anxiously remarked, “I think jackie’s got fighting capabilities rivaling that of a marshal.”
“A marshal?” The faces of Ivan and the others darkened. If that was the case, it would be very difficult to get rid of jackie.
“No wonder! It’s no wonder the pretty assassin we hired previously was unable to kill this guy. He had been hiding his true strength!” Neil instantly blurted as he soon remembered something.
“That’s impossible. I don’t think that’s possible!” Ivan shook his head. “Why would he hide his true strength if he’s a marshal? Why didn’t he tell the Taylor family? If that’s the case, the old master would definitely be pleased with that. More importantly, Fiona and the others would’ve accepted him happily the moment he came back from his time in the army!”
Chapter 719 Xena—who sat by the side—was deep in thought with a frown.
It was not long until her eyes soon brightened up and she exclaimed, “I get it! This guy must’ve been afraid of Fiona, Ben, and the others spending his money! That must be it! I heard that majors come back with a billion dollars as a reward from the government when they retire. If this guy’s a marshal, he might have a few billion with him, right?”
Ivan also immediately nodded. “That’s right, that’s right. This one’s plausible. This guy might’ve wanted to hide the fact that he has a lot of money.”
Ken, on the other hand, wore a tight smile on his face. “You guys are definitely imagining things. If jackie has several billion, I’ll write my name wrongly.”
“If that’s the case and you don’t think so, what do you think the reason is, Young Master Clark? Apart from being a marshal himself, I can’t think of any other reason for his unwillingness for Fiona, Ben, and
the others to spend his money!” Xena confidently folded her arms across her chest; she believed she was right.
Ken smiled indifferently and commented, “I went through the idea with my cousin before, and we both feel that jackie couldn’t present the token despite claiming he’s a head commander. He’s no head commander, that’s for sure. He’s definitely not some team leader; he has to be just some regular, run-off- the-mill soldier.”
Xena cackled, followed by her rebuttal, “How’s that possible? Didn’t you say it yourself that jackie’s fighting ability is somewhat like a marshal’s? How can he be a normal soldier? Aren’t you contradicting your own words? You’re getting off-track here!”
“Yes, his fighting power was almost like a marshal’s. Even if he’s not a marshal, he must be considered one of the strongest among the majors!”
Ken smiled indifferently and commented, “What does it mean if he’s so powerful but is just a normal soldier? It means that he must’ve done something wrong during his time in the army, and he couldn’t keep his title.”
Ivan finally understood what Ken’s train of thoughts was soon after. “I get it now! He’d surely be scolded by Fiona and the others if he says that he has a title of either a marshal, or a major, or a head commander but couldn’t keep it. Moreover, it’d be rather shameful if others heard about this, right?”
Finally, Xena and Neil also caught on. It seemed that jackie was ashamed to tell this to the others, so he kept his actual strength and the true situation a secret.
Neil soon remembered something and said, “Hey, if jackie used to be some head commander or major, would the country still reward him now that he’s a veteran?”
“The country will,” came Ken’s reply. “I heard someone talking about this before. After all, people who were once majors still made huge contributions to the country. The country wouldn’t abandon people like jackie who was in the army for five years, and they’d surely give these people a reward or two.”
Ken paused before he added, “However, for people like jackie who’s made mistakes and were demoted to a normal soldier, the rewards might go from one billion to two or three hundred million. If the rewards were originally two to three billion, it might’ve been reduced to five hundred million. The money would’ve been decreased by quite a lot.”
As they talked among themselves, Xena then recalled something. “If jackie really was a marshal like the estimation of Young Master Clark, doesn’t that mean he has around five to six hundred million now?” It was as though she was hit with a Eureka moment; as though she had seen through everything. “No wonder… It’s no wonder that guy could claim he’s going to host a huge city-stirring birthday party for Selena. This guy had to have a few hundred million with him right now; four to five hundred million at least!”
Chapter 720 “That makes so much sense! No wonder this guy dared to boast about hosting Selena’s birthday grandly. He’s confident because he has the means to do so!” came Ivan’s reply as he, too, saw the clearer picture. “F*ck… jackie had been so low-profile that we thought he only had several million with him. It genuinely didn’t occur to me he’d have four to five hundred million. If he really had that much, it should be enough to spend around one to two hundred million on the party!”
“Damn it! I was waiting to see him clowning himself. Well, isn’t that just great! We probably won’t get to see him failing miserably like we had thought. At this rate, he can host a grand birthday party after all!” fumed Neil. He poured himself some wine and downed it in one go.
“Come, the dishes have been served. Let’s chat while we drink.” Just like that, Ivan’s mood turned sour as well.
“I’m even angrier at the fact that we’ve spent several million to advertise the party for them, in hopes that everyone would turn up to see him embarrass himself silly.” Like Ivan, Ken also poured himself a big glass of wine and drank it in one go. “Suddenly, everything falls into place for him,” he hissed, “while we’ve wasted so much money. F*ck! What did we get out of spending such a big amount of money? He can easily go ahead and carry out such a lavish birthday party. Didn’t we help him out and cut his costs? We’ve cut off several million for him!”
“Tch! I even borrowed some money from my friends and said that I’ll pay him back. I borrowed that money just to help fund the ads for this jerk!” Neil sighed and was helpless. His father had strict control over him and was afraid that he would cause trouble, thus Neil’s pocket money was reduced monthly.
“It’s not entirely useless. We still played him!” Ivan laughed and drank a mouthful of wine slowly before he added, “Regardless, he has no idea that he’s been poisoned. So what if the party stirs up the city? Isn’t everyone there to see his funeral? To see how he dies?”
“Young Master Taylor, we’re unhappy that we’ve spent money to advertise for him, but we’re more concerned that he’s not poisoned! That’ll be a huge trouble!” Ken was downright worried as he eyed Xena warily. “That’s why I rushed to ask Miss Xena if she really saw jackie drink the poison!”
Angered by the implication, Xena’s hand instinctively raised as she snapped, “Young Master Clark, how many times do I need to say this before you believe me? I, Xena jackieson, swear to the skies. If I didn’t see jackie drink the poison with my own eyes, I’ll get struck by lightning!”
Ken had no other choice than to believe that Xena did not lie to them when he heard what she said.
“Alright, we believe you.” Ken was quiet for some time before he spoke, “I was just very anxious, worried that jackie had bribed you and that you pretended to be with Young Master Taylor so that you can get intel about us. Seems like that’s not the case and all is fine.”
“How… How dare you doubt me like that?!” Xena’s chest heaved in anger when she heard this. She looked at Ken angrily and exploded, “I’m truly in love with Ivan. Don’t make assumptions all the time! I’ll get very angry if you say that again!”
Chapter 721 “Xena’s got a point, Young Master Clark. You’re overthinking it.” Ivan’s facial expression darkened, just like Xena’s.
Ken offered a small, wary smile before he explained, “I’m only doing things for everyone’s sake. After all, it’s not easy to deal with jackie. We used to think that he was good in martial arts because he was enlisted in military service for five years. How could we have known that he hid his power, the prowess like that of a marshal’s?”
At that moment, Xena recalled something. “I remember something,” she began. “I remember Quil Xenos asked a marshal to fight with jackie, though jackie eventually killed him. I heard that this marshal was Magnus Sutherland’s apprentice who got his title because of Magnus’s influences in the army. jackie said it then that this guy didn’t have the power of a marshal, and that he was lucky to have won over this marshal.”
Xena then surmised, “With this new information, that might not be the case. Even if the marshal was slightly weaker, his capability in fighting shouldn’t be that far off from any other marshal. jackie is definitely a marshal if he’s able to kill that person. Goodness… That guy tricked me into believing his words!”
“This guy hid his true strength well!” Neil exclaimed.
“Let’s recall everything we can confirm. Firstly, jackie has about four to five hundred million dollars with him, and that’s enough for him to host a city-stirring birthday party in Eastfield. We’ve wasted money to do free advertisements for him.
“Secondly, jackie’s strength can be equated to a marshal’s, though he must’ve lost his title due to some unknown reason, so he hid his true identity and strength.
“Thirdly, we can rest assured he’s consumed the poison. Somehow, the poison doesn’t seem to have an obvious effect on him, and he’s still astonishingly strong!” concluded Ken as he eyed everyone in the room. “Alright, tell me now: What should we do next?”
“You guys told us that the poison would take some time to take effect, so it might be normal for us to not see the effect now, right?” started Ivan as he offered his analysis. “The later days will be the most crucial period, and jackie would be physically tortured by then. His body will rot and he’ll die in pain. It might be normal for his fighting ability to still be at its best if you test his condition right now.”
Ken assessed what Ivan had said and nodded in agreement. “It seems that we should stop employing people to test him. Otherwise, we’ll have a repeat of what happened today. We not only lost several people in the fight, but he nearly found me out. It was really not worth it. Let’s just wait patiently for jackie to die during Selena’s birthday.”
Neil also nodded in agreement. “Agreed. He’s poisoned and is a dying man. We don’t need to beat him up to vent our frustrations. After all, if he’s still strong, we’d only suffer a huge loss. Let’s also not forget his guy is really good at planning out things, and you’ve said it yourself that his bodyguards are quite strong. Let’s just patiently wait for another twenty days.”
Xena sipped her red wine, and her lips curled up into a smirk. “I used to think that this guy is a useless son-in-law, but I never thought he’d be so smart and play us like fiddles. Lucky for us, he had drunk the poison. Otherwise, we’d never take him down even with all of us combined.”
“Oh, right. I almost forgot something!” Ivan soon remembered something and his eyes lit up. Guffawing, he boasted, “Even if jackie has the money to give Selena a city-stirring birthday party, he’ll bring nothing but shame to himself!”
Chapter 722 “Bring nothing but shame to himself? What are you talking about? He can host an extravagant birthday party if he has the money, right? Why will it be shameful for him?” Both Ken and Neil were stunned at Ivan’s sudden burst of confidence.
Ivan laughed heartily before he replied, “It’s because one of my cousins is getting married. Do you guys know Cecilia? She’s getting married to the Gold family’s young master. Nevermind the other details, but Cecilia is holding her wedding dinner on the same day as Selena’s birthday party. One is a wedding, the other is a mere birthday party. Which one do you think Old Master Taylor and members of the Taylor family will attend?” Ivan cackled again, and his eyes gleamed with pure satisfaction. “I really like Cecilia. She’s obviously doing this to Selena on purpose!”
“Pro move!” chortled Ken as he clapped gleefully. “Now that we’ve helped jackie with the ads, the entire city is aware of the birthday party. He’ll be in so much shame if so many seats are prepared for the party but no one is attending!”
“Oh yes, this cousin of yours is really amazing! She didn’t choose any other day but insisted to choose the same day as Selena’s party! That’s really amazing!” beamed Neil, a huge grin on his face as he did. “Even if jackie changes the date now, he can’t escape the people’s mockery. After all, it’s not good to change dates for something as important as a birthday party. It doesn’t help him that the party has been advertised all over the place!”
Ivan laughed again, elated at how the tables had turned. “I rang up Cecilia after I heard what happened, just to get the entire story. She told me that jackie was really stubborn and refused to change the dates. He insisted on having the party on the same day as Cecilia’s wedding. This guy is asking for it! Serves him right.”
“Serves him right, indeed. He’ll suffer if he insists on saving his face. If he eventually decides to shift their party to two days early, people from the Taylor family might be there. If that’s the case, he wouldn’t be in such an embarrassing situation. The Taylors will definitely attend Cecilia’s wedding instead of Selena’s
birthday party at this rate. It’s hard for them to not feel embarrassed!” Xena giggled, obviously pleased as well.
“Not moving the party to earlier dates is a good thing. If he doesn’t do that, how can we see the moment when he succumbs to the poison at the party? Am I not right?” Neil laughed and raised his wine glass. “It’s decided then. We’ll sit back and wait to see how jackie will die twenty days from now.”
“Alright! Cheers!” Ken and the others stood up and had an early celebration.
…
The next morning, jackie went to work at the Drake family’s residence as usual.
Meanwhile… A man appeared in the Eagle Clan’s operating base and came toward Lee with a smile on his face. “Chief, great news! I’ve retrieved good information!”
Pleased with this, Lee replied, “Really? Did you find information that the people from Green Sky Hall are still secretly taking photos of others?”
The man nodded. “Not only did they secretly take photos, but they even sold those photos to some websites and made deals with a mysterious power overseas without anyone knowing. Apart from that, we have news that they’ll trade at City God Temple, located on the outskirts of Seven Dragons’ Mountain. That temple is already in ruins, and they often trade there.”
Downright elated with this, Lee went to the masters and hosted a discussion among themselves.
In the afternoon, at the Drake family’s residence…
“Hey, jackie,” greeted Tanya. “It’s been a long time since we played billiards. Come play with us. Do you know how?” Tanya smiled and glanced at jackie. This guy grew increasingly handsome the more she looked at him. She had no idea why, but she noticed she grew giddy whenever he came to work.
Chapter 723 “Billiards? I’ve never played that, but if Miss Tanya wants to go out and play, I’ll follow you. After all, I’m your bodyguard.” jackie smiled, at ease when he noted the time—two in the afternoon—and Sharon was nowhere in sight.
It appeared Sharon finally understood and conceded from trying to win him over. Although what he said during the previous meal they had was slightly overboard, the aftereffect was worth it. At the very least, this girl stopped pestering him.
As he was about to leave in a car with Tanya and Yvonne, something unexpected happened. A sports car followed by several Audis entered the grounds and was parked not far away from where they were.
“Hey, Tanya! Are you guys heading out? It seems like I’ve made it just in time. You would’ve been long gone if I came a little later!” There was a small yet sweet smile on Sharon’s face. She looked like a fashionista with her sunglasses on, and her black hair was styled into big wavy curls.
jackie was dumbfounded when Sharon made her appearance. It seemed that his way of blatantly rejecting her and cozying up with Selena did not work.
Before all this, Sharon was not even familiar with both Tanya and Yvonne and seldom kept in touch, but Sharon had been coming over a little too often. If it was not for him, what was it for?
Even the Drake family bodyguards were discussing this in private; all of them wished that they were jackie. They wondered if jackie was a dumb guy as he turned down the persuasion of such a pretty woman.
“Yes, you’re right on time. It seems like you’ve gone for a hair-do this morning, no? This hairstyle looks good!” Tanya smiled and said to Sharon, “We’re going to play billiards. How about that? Do you want to come with us?”
“Billiards? That sounds good!” Sharon giggled. “Although I’m not very good at it, I play it all the time. Let’s go!”
Sharon did not even exit her car and chirped, “Lead the way!”
Her eyes then shifted to jackie, then to the empty passenger seat beside her. “ jackie, you don’t have to drive; there’s not enough space for everyone. Come, I’ll be your driver just this once.”
Tanya and Yvonne glanced at each other after they heard this, and they had to stifle their giggles.
“Alright. Since Miss Sharon doesn’t dislike me, I’ll take up your offer graciously.” jackie smiled bitterly. Since she made the invitation, it seemed too abrupt to reject her. Apart from that, would it not seem too cowardly if he did not even sit next to her?
Sharon was inwardly happy when she saw jackie agreeing to her suggestion. Once jackie got in, Sharon tailed after Tanya and Yvonne’s car that left first.
“ jackie, does… Does my hairstyle look good?” Sharon could not help it. She had to ask him as she glanced at him from the corner of her eyes.
At a loss of words, jackie merely answered, “It looks good.”
“That’s great. Nothing is more important than you feeling that it looks good!” At that moment, Sharon felt butterflies in her stomach.
Chapter 724 Not long after, several cars were parked outside of a lavish-looking mall.
“Wait downstairs. We’ll be upstairs for some entertainment, so you guys can find a place and enjoy some milk tea if you want.” Sharon gave her bodyguards several hundred dollars and added, “ jackie is here, so it should be fine for us to go upstairs and play billiards for a while.”
“Alright! Thank you, Miss Sharon!” The bodyguards received the money respectfully and left happily.
As they walked, jackie inspected the area and said, “This place looks quite high-end. Playing billiards here must be quite expensive.”
“I’ve been here several times, and the billiards hall upstairs is quite nice. They have all sorts of drinks and dessert for free, though the fee here is based on per entry. It’s a thousand dollars per person, no matter how many hours you play here.” Tanya smiled and added, “There’s four of us here, so it’s four thousand dollars.”
jackie nodded. “If that’s the case, then we’ll have to play a little longer. It’d be a waste of that much money if we don’t.”
jackie’s comment made Yvonne roll her eyes at jackie. “We’re not asking you to pay. You’re here to company us, so we’re going to pay. Apart from that, it’s only several thousand dollars. How’s that expensive? Didn’t you just receive twenty million dollars worth of salary?”
“But this is how it’s calculated!” jackie offered a smile, but the sight of a person not far away soured his grin. “Isn’t that Young Master Drake?”
Tanya looked and was slightly surprised. Her expression darkened. “Big brother!”
She had gotten wind that her brother recently meddled with people from the Turner family and was progressively gambling with billiards. Not only did he lose money, but he even went looking for prostitutes with these people.
If this continued, he would be damaged like those people.
Meanwhile…
“F*ck, I’ve lost again!” snapped Timothy.
“Be patient and take it slow, Young Master Drake. Your skills have gotten better! Didn’t I lose the last game to you?” The man with a cue stick that stood opposite Timothy laughed and added, “Apart from that, ten million per round is still affordable to you, right Young Master Drake?”
Timothy pulled his collar and said, “Ten million is nothing; I can afford that. That’s a small amount of money to me!”
He walked over, took a bottle of beverage and started drinking. After he had large gulps, he growled, “Of course, it’s only natural that I’m unhappy since I’ve lost a game that I almost won. We’ve played ten games today, and I’ve only won two. I’m furious!”
The man chuckled and reminded Timothy, “It’s been ten games. We make the payment once every ten games. As I’ve won six games more, that’d be sixty million, Young Master Drake!”
The corners of Timothy’s mouth slightly twitched before he took out his cellphone. “Don’t you worry, I’ll transfer the money to you now!”
Chapter 725 “Are we still playing?” The man opposite Timothy asked him if their game was still up for another round after he received the money.
Seemingly delirious, Timothy vehemently replied, “Of course! Let’s do another ten more games. I’m not satisfied until I win more games than you!”
At that moment, someone else noted Tanya and her company entering the billiards hall. “Hey, we’ve got a few angels coming this way!” One of the men standing beside the billiards table could not hide his grin.
Timothy instantly turned to see Tanya and the rest, and he murmured, “Tanya? Why is she here? She walks around with this bodyguard all day long, too. Tsh! The old master and the rest think that this guy is, at the very least, a King of War. Less to be known, he’s admitted that he’s only a head commander with no token. I really don’t understand why they pay him such a high salary as a bodyguard!”
The man playing billiard beside Timothy was a young master from a third-class aristocratic family. His name was Leo Turner and was great friends with Michael Wilson. He could not help but smile when he heard this and went right next to Timothy. “Young Master Drake, there’s a simple solution. He’s just a bodyguard, and we only need to think of a way to play him. Ask him for a game with me, and see how I can punish him!”
Timothy chuckled and replied, “It’d be great if you could do that!”
“Hey, isn’t this Miss Tanya? Oh, and Miss Sharon is also here? That’s quite rare!” Leo immediately moved forward to greet Tanya and the group when he saw them coming in.
Tanya did not respond to him kindly as she eyed him icily. “So you’re the one who’s been bringing my brother to fool around?” she sneered.
“What are you talking about, Miss Tanya? What do you mean by fooling around?” Leo looked at the three beautiful women in front of him with a smile on his face, and he discreetly swallowed his saliva. These three ladies were the object of obsession for many rich young masters at the moment. People would surely envy him if he managed to marry one of them.
This went especially for Miss Tanya and Miss Sharon; they had high ranks after all. If he managed to marry them, he would be marrying above his status.
Although Yvonne was only Tanya’s cousin, her figure was even sexier. This alone was enough to cause men go crazy over her.
“You guys aren’t working, and that’s fooling around in my book!” Unbothered to even entertain the man, she turned to Timothy and asserted, “You should avoid going to shady places with these people. It’s fine to play some billiards games, but don’t gamble with others if you can’t contest. I heard that you’ve lost quite some money recently.”
Timothy smiled coldly when he heard this. “Oh my, Tanya. You’re meddling things that aren’t of your concern. I know Father pampers you and that you’re well received by the people of the Drake family. Now that your power grows, you want to control your big brother’s affairs?”
It was plain to see Timothy resented Tanya for being favored by James, their father. He had changed after being with the young master of the third-class aristocratic family—Leo Turner—for a long time.
“Timothy, what are you talking about? You’re my brother. How can I not butt in now that you’re fooling around with these people and have been gambling more and more on billiards? I’m only reminding you of better things. Don’t you know that trifling destroys the will?” Tanya was seething. She felt that the brother before her had changed into another person in just a month’s time.
Unable to hold back her frustration, she snapped, “Don’t think that I don’t know anything. You constantly visit those so-called entertainment places, and they’re unorthodox ones with these kinds of people. My friends saw this with their own eyes and told me this. They’ve seen you there more than once! I’ll tell Father if you continue down this road!”
“Are you threatening me?” Timothy chuckled mockingly. “Which rich person now doesn’t like to play? Also, how dare you say that it’s an unorthodox place? I went for massages at regular places. Don’t throw accusations blindly without providing concrete proof!”
Chapter 726 At that moment, Timothy looked slovenly, as though he had not groomed himself in ages. He looked like a good-for-nothing at first glance—nothing close to how he used to look like.
Disappointment weighed Tanya down, seeing her brother like this. Her brother had been mingling with the young men before him, all from third-class aristocratic families or wealthy families. Now, after one or two months, it felt as though he was a completely different person.
Sharon noticed that the siblings were getting worked up. She immediately stepped forward and plastered a smile onto her face as she spoke, “Don’t bother about him, Tanya. Men have their own ways of
relieving stress. Let’s play billiards instead. Aren’t you pretty good at it? Let’s play one round!”
“All right then!”
Tanya tamped down on the anger building inside her, trying to console herself. Maybe she was overthinking this—maybe her brother was not the man she thought he was. Maybe he was just indulging himself in some fun. Maybe he was not like the others.
“What a lovely sister you have!”
“Right? Must be nice having a little sister looking after the big brother. Maybe she’ll be the one to ‘look after’ the Drake family in the future!”
The person accompanying Leo also began to curve his lips into a cruel smile.
“Hey, you. You play billiards?”
At this moment, Leo placed the cue stick to the side and asked jackie.
jackie looked around him before finally pointing at himself. “Are you asking me, sir?” he asked.
“That’s right. You’re that good-for-nothing son-in-law from the Taylor family, right? You really had gold falling onto your lap, being able to marry a beauty like Selena Taylor. That sort of luck would make anyone jealous!”
Leo took out a cigarette and lit it, sticking it into his mouth. “Sure, I’m jealous,” he said, expression scornful, “but I have to say that it’s like trying to stick a bunch of fresh flowers onto a pile of cow sh*t.”
“Really? Nothing I can do about it though. I had pretty good luck, I suppose. I’ve always had pretty good luck!”
jackie was not offended by his words. Instead, he smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
However, Sharon was rendered unhappy in a flash when she heard this.
How could she not get mad, when someone straight up slandered her idol?
Her expression immediately darkened. “Leo, right? What are you talking about? You have no idea how magnificent of a man jackie is,” she said. “You’re not even worthy of polishing his shoes if you were to pit yourself against him. Do you know that? And a bunch of fresh flowers stuck onto a pile of cow sh*t? He and his wife are a match made in heaven. I even think Selena is the one who can’t match up to him!”
“Seems like this son-in-law is being held in very high esteem by Miss George!”
Leo grinned when he heard this, apparently not angry. “I’ve always heard that the young miss of the George family has had her eyes set on this good-for-nothing. I thought that it wasn’t true. Who knew that it was!”
Another man ducked his head and rubbed his nose. “Ah. I really never thought that a young heiress to a first-class aristocratic family would actually fall in love with a married man,” he mumbled. “Doesn’t she feel ashamed? It won’t do good for the George family’s reputation if word of this got out!”
Chapter 727 “What does this have to do with you? Whoever I like has nothing to do with you! Besides, can any of you match up to his brilliance?”
Sharon was extremely furious. However, the moment she remembered that jackie was right beside her, she forced herself to maintain the image of a well-behaved lady. She suppressed the rage within her and debated with the other man.
jackie could only give a wan smile before these clowns. “So you’re called Leo? Why did you ask me if I could play billiards, Young Master Leo?” he asked. “I don’t know how to play. After all, I was just a delivery boy before I was enlisted into the military!”
“I thought so. After all, to us, military people are just reckless fools. Naturally, you wouldn’t know of such a game of gentleman nature, since all you know is how to fight and kill!”
Leo chuckled, his expression disdainful. “I even thought of asking you to play a few rounds against me if you knew how to,” he said. “But it seems that I’m destined for disappointment. I’ll just play with Young Master Drake!”
“It’s true that I don’t know how to play. But I’ve watched a few rounds earlier. It doesn’t seem too hard. You just have to aim for the white ball and make sure you pocket another ball with it, right?”
jackie said after he thought for a while.
Quite a few of the men could not help but giggle when they heard this.
“You’re putting it way too easily, mister. This is a game of skill. Why would it be that easy? It requires technique to get the strength and angle right. Besides, did you really think that the game would be over after you pocket the balls belonging to you? And there are rules to billiards. This game we’re playing is called ‘snooker’. You’ve never heard of it, have you? playing against you? Forget about it!”
A man just straight up burst into laughter.
“Don’t speak such nonsense, jackie. A game like this isn’t that easy. People who don’t play it often can’t master it as well as those who have. Besides, I’ve played this for two years, but my skill is a far cry from that of my brother’s, Leo’s, and the others!”
Tanya tugged on jackie’s sleeve as she chided him. It was obvious that he knew nothing, from the way he spoke of it as though it was an easy game. If word got out about this, he would definitely be taken as the joke of the century by people who frequently played billiards.
“But we can’t just allow ourselves to be underestimated like that!”
jackie gave a bitter smile. Then he said to Tanya, “Why don’t you explain all the rules to me first? Teach me the techniques to play this game. Then I’ll have a little contest with this scoundrel.”
When they heard this, Tanya, Yvonne, and Sharon were all stunned speechless, to the point that they wanted to spew blood. This punk did not know the rules, and he still wanted to play against Leo? It was practically a throwaway match!
“Woah, woah, woah. Did you guys hear that? You heard that, right? This p*nk doesn’t even know the rules of the game. He doesn’t know which balls to pocket first, and which balls that follow after. And yet he wants a match against me?”
Leo immediately felt that it was funny when he heard those words. His friends also began to laugh.
Another young master from a wealthy family told jackie, “Let me tell you this, punk. Our Young Master Leo here can pocket 70 to 80 points in one sitting when he’s in good form. He’s even been dubbed as the ‘Prince of Billiards’. Very few here can match up against him. You’ve never played before, and you want to play against him? Are you kidding me?”
When he heard this, jackie turned toward Timothy. “If you put it that way, are you saying that Young Master Drake is an idiot as well? After all, Leo is the Prince of Billiards, but Young Master Drake still dared to play against him. Isn’t it obvious that he’s playing a losing game?”
“You…”
Young Master Drake was extremely angry. That stupid punk—was daring enough to call him an idiot!
His expression instantly hardened. “The f*ck are you talking about, jackie?” he said. “You’re the bodyguard of the Drake family. It also means that I’m your master. And you dare to say something like that to me? Aren’t you afraid of getting fired?”
Chapter 728 He had thought that jackie would be scared to death when he said something like that. After all, he was a bodyguard who was paid 20 million dollars a month. It was probably the only job in the entire Eastfield that paid that much. Who knew how many people would clamor after it?
He would not have spared this punk’s reputation if his father and the others did not suspect that there was something more to jackie—that this brat was hiding his true identity.
After all, this punk raked in such a huge salary, yet he seemed not to care about his family, coming whenever he liked and leaving whenever he pleased. More importantly, his father and his sister were pleased with him.
Furthermore, during Old Man Taylor’s seventieth birthday party, this punk claimed that he had lost his badge. Would a King of War use such a tactic to hide his identity?
Everyone thought that he was a marshal. Even then, it might not be true.
“I’m not scared of words like that. Did you really think I wanted to be a bodyguard for your family? If your family didn’t help mine, and if you hadn’t helped my wife to find a job, I would have had zero interest in being a bodyguard for your family!”
jackie chuckled. “Besides, it was Miss Tanya who gave me the job,” he said nonchalantly. “You have no say in it!’
“You…”
Timothy was practically on fire. This punk actually dared to say something like that right in front of his friends. jackie did not care about embarrassing him at all.
Leo tugged on Timothy, noticing that he was steaming from the ears. “Hey, why are you getting so worked up over a bodyguard when you’re the young master of the Drake family?” he reminded the other man. “Who are you, and who is he? How can he ever compare to you!”
Timothy dusted the sleeves of his shirt and straightened himself. “Well…”
“Oh, right. Hey punk, you said that billiards is easy, right? Then why don’t you play against me? Ten million dollars per round. What do you say? Since you’re so gung-ho about it, do you dare to have a match against me? We always play ten million dollars per round. I have no interest in a wager smaller than that!”
Leo’s features were twisted into a goading expression as he spoke to jackie, “I think you should just forget about it, a layman like you trying to play a gentleman’s game such as this.”
“Why not? But I’m not interested in a wager of ten million dollars per round. If we play, let’s play big. One hundred million per round. And let’s play ten rounds. Do you dare to do it?”
No one expected jackie to retort after he heard that, chuckling.
Leo had just wanted to stir jackie into a fury. He never thought that he would actually accept the bet— and not only that, he even proposed to raise the wager to one hundred million dollars per round.
“Are you nuts, jackie?”
Shock jolted up Tanya’s spine. “You can’t just agree to that even if you’re betting on your pride!” she protested. “You’ve never played billiards before. How are you going to beat him?”
“Yeah. One hundred million dollars per round is too much. If you’re not convinced of that, then just take it down to ten million dollars per round. You’ll still get a chance to play against him!”
Yvonne also chimed in to advise him, “Besides, it’s obvious that he wants to get a rise out of you. Can’t you see that?”
“That’s right. Don’t agree with that, jackie. Don’t bet with him!”
Sharon said as well.
Yet jackie did not care about their protests at all. “What do you say?” he said to Leo. “Are you daring enough to play with one billion on the table?”
Leo replied, smiling, “Are you serious, p*nk? Sure thing. But I truly suspect that you don’t have that much cash on you right now.”
“Don’t worry about me. Just worry about yourself. If I can’t pay up at the end, I’ll just chop my hand off and offer it to you. How about that?”
jackie said, smiling coldly.
Although he did not play this game before, he had been observing it from a distance a while ago. He felt that it was not too difficult. The only thing was that he did not know the rules of the game.
“Sure thing. But you still don’t know the rules. How about this? Young Master Drake and I will put on a free show for you. You just stand at the side and watch us play. We’ll explain the game as we go along. How about that?”
Chapter 729 Leo smiled as he spoke to jackie.
“Okay. You better be sure of this. I won’t let you off if you can’t fork out that much money by the end of all this!”
jackie agreed, nodding his head.
Leo smirked instead. “I’ve won quite a lot lately. I have at least 5 hundred million in my credit balance now. I don’t believe that you’ll beat me more than five times in ten games!”
“Anyway, if you want to win more than five games in ten rounds, you have to win at least eight and lose two. If you win seven and lose three, then you’ll only get four hundred million dollars!”
Another man grinned. “Furthermore, it’s practically impossible for someone like you to win, seeing as how you’ve never played this in your entire life.”
Sharon thought about it, then she clenched her teeth and stood up. “ jackie, you can’t just chop off your arm if you can’t afford to pay. If you can’t pay up, I’ll help you pay!”
jackie was slightly touched when he heard that. He would be losing a billion dollars if he lost ten games in a row. It was an enormous sum of money.
He never thought that Sharon would put herself forward and offer to pay for him.
“Have you thought about it?”
jackie looked straight at her and asked.
“Of course. Don’t worry. Fortunately, the George family is a first-class aristocratic family. We can afford to lose a billion dollars!”
Sharon replied confidently.
“But it’s a billion dollars. Aren’t you afraid that your parents would scold you?”
jackie felt speechless.
“Of course not. Besides, Papa and Mama like you a lot. They really want you as their son-in-law!”
As Sharon spoke, her cheeks grew redder. She could not help but duck her head out of embarrassment.
“But of course, a lovelorn woman is not a logical one!”
Timothy gave a frosty smile. “But now that Young Mistress George is standing up and offering to take the bill for this punk, Young Master Turner won’t have to worry about not getting his money any longer. His
hand is of no use anyway, am I right?”
“Of course. A billion dollars is worth so much more than a hand from this p*nk!”
Leo guffawed, then he started the game. “Look closely, p*nk. It’s called a break-off shot.”
The two explained everything to jackie as they played, and jackie watched them very intently—how to control the opponent’s play, how to position the ball, among other things.
Leo and Timothy quickly finished their game. Timothy emerged victorious, and he had won by quite a big margin.
“F*ck. It’s a shame that we’re not placing bets on this round and just putting on a show for him!”
After he won, Timothy felt unsatisfied.
“Young Master Drake, can’t you tell that you’ve been played?”
Yet jackie chuckled coldly. “You won this round when there were no bets on the table. But in reality, it was Young Master Turner who had gone easy on you. It’s a pity that you’re so stupid that you couldn’t tell!”
Chapter 730 “What are you talking about, punk? How could I just go easy on someone when it’s about billiards?”
Leo was immediately agitated when he heard jackie’s words, shooting a glare toward him.
“The f*ck you talking about? Won’t I be able to tell if he was going easy on me?”
Timothy also spoke in a huff, “I’m a pretty good player!”
Yet jackie replied with a mirthless smile, “It’s precisely because he went easy on you that you can’t tell. His angle was off ever so slightly on purpose when he struck the ball, and pretended he almost pocketed
a ball. He only needed to go easy once or twice during a game to allow you to win. Besides, you said it yourself—you’re a pretty good player!”
Here, jackie paused for a while before continuing in a leisurely tone, “Furthermore, I think you’ve thought about why he would go easy on you, Young Master Drake. Would you still play with him if he never went easy on you, and if you kept losing ten rounds out of ten games? Of course, he would need to let you win a few rounds to let you savor the happiness of winning a bet! But it’s obvious that overall, you lose more than you win. Let’s say that you lose more than one hundred million dollars today, he’ll probably let you win 20 million dollars the next day.”
Timothy’s expression darkened when he heard that. It was because he realized that whatever jackie said was true. Furthermore, jackie had never seen them play billiards before.
However, even after he had carefully thought about it, he still could not see how Leo had gone easy on him.
“What sh*t are you talking about! It’s just my bad luck that I lost more, that’s all. Sometimes I’m really just slightly off my game!”
Naturally, Timothy did not want to admit that he was a worse player compared than Leo. It was because he felt that he was already pretty skilled at the game, and was almost on par with Leo. If Leo truly went easy on him quite frequently, did that not mean that his friend was far, far stronger than him?
He would rather believe in Leo and the others than to lose face in this matter. Besides, jackie had no evidence to support his claims. He was just being ostentatious. It was possible that jackie was just trying to draw a rift between them, and so he said something like that.
“That’s right. It’s natural to win some and lose some when playing billiards, punk. We’re good friends with Young Master Timothy. How can we just do something like that to him?”
Leo also spoke up immediately.
After he said that, he was afraid that jackie would see right through his ruse, so he quickly changed the topic, “Cut the crap, punk. Are we still playing? We’ll play one hundred million dollars per round for ten rounds. And you can’t just give up halfway. For example, you can’t say that you want to withdraw after you lose one round. Withdrawing means that you automatically give up on the remaining nine rounds, and you’ll still have to pay me one billion dollars. Got it?”
“It–it’s so obvious that you’re bullying jackie because he’s new at this!”
Sharon was so angry that she stamped her foot against the ground. Leo was really a b*stard. They were putting a bet of ten billion dollars—ten whole billion dollars. It was not just a regular sum of money for a third-class aristocratic family.
“I’m bullying him? The f*ck are you talking about? I had proposed to play ten million dollars per round before. It’s this son-in-law from the Taylor’s who claimed that ten million was too little, raising it to one hundred million. Honestly, I’ve never placed such a big bet before either. It’ll definitely be exciting!”
Leo laughed and told Sharon.
jackie walked over straightaway and chose a cue stick. Then he walked toward Leo. “You’ve never placed such a big bet before? Then I hope that you won’t be so frightened by the numbers that you can’t be in your best form later—so scared that your hands begin to shake!”
The men in the area began to laugh. It was the first time that this punk was playing. He had just watched them play one round of billiards and had just gotten to know the rules. This was even his first time holding a billiard cue, and he actually dared to say something like that to the Prince of Billiards.
“Should you break, or will I have the honors?”
Leo smiled and asked jackie.
“You go ahead first. We’ll take turns breaking!”
jackie answered after he thought about it.
Chapter 731 “Very well then!”
The corners of Leo’s mouth curled upward. In the next second, the cue ball was struck with a great force that sent the red balls scattering around the billiard table.
However, unfortunately, none of the balls went into either of the pockets.
“Young Master Leo, seems like lady luck is not on your side!”
jackie could not help but laugh at the play. “Now, my turn! The position of the white cue ball is strategic, and several red balls are near to the pockets!”
“Yup. The white cue ball is in good position, but for a newbie like you, I don’t even have to plot a defense. I scattered the balls just so I can beat you in a flash later on!”
Leo laughed.
Timothy flashed a wan smile at the situation as well. He sneered, “It seems simple. But when he can’t pocket any ball, he will know what makes a good billiard player!”
Once the last syllable of the word dropped, jackie mimicked Leo’s earlier posture and lay on his stomach on the edge of the billiard table. His posture seemed professional and in the next moment he struck out the cue ball with the cue stick, hitting a red ball.
“It’s pocketed!”
Sharon’s eyes widened as though she saw a ghost, and in the next second, she jumped like a kangaroo, celebrating for the pocketed ball. “Oh my goodness! It went in! jackie actually scored points in his first
play! So freaking amazing!”
“Wow! The ball is pocketed and the strike was pretty accurate too!”
Tanya was puzzled at the scene before her. His posture was pretty professional, too. If he had not asked so many questions during the play between Timothy and Leo, Tanya would not have thought that jackie was a novice in billiards. His gestures were definitely close to the ones of experts.
“What’s the use of only pocketing one ball? There’re so many balls yet to be pocketed, and now it’s time to hit the colored balls.
Arms crossed before Yvonne’s chest, she whined. She felt worried for jackie, after all, it was her first time witnessing a billiard game with a one hundred million bet per round.
The crowd from the other nearby tables stopped whatever they were doing and switched their focus toward jackie’s table.
After all, a bet of one hundred million per round was something else.
“I initially planned to make the white ball stop at this position so that I can aim for seven points. But I couldn’t manage the strength well when I struck it out, and the white ball stopped at another position. Hmmm. It’s better for me to aim for six points then, especially for someone who has just started to learn how to play billiards. Seven points is too risky!”
jackie murmured to himself as he studied the positions of the balls on the table.
“This punk can really act like a pro, huh? Planning for the positions of the balls and aiming seven points? I think he just struck the cue ball randomly and bullsh*t!”
One guy from Leo’s group sneered aloud.
At this time, jackie lay on his stomach again, getting ready for the next strike. After adjusting his cue stick, he flung his arm and struck the white cue ball. In a jiffy, a ball was pocketed and another six points went to jackie.
“What the f*ck? Another one? Although this is an easy one because it was in a straight line, as a newbie of billiard, how can he score so easily?
The smile on Leo’s face that was arrogant and brazen previously, had slowly morphed into a dry and bitter one. Worries and concerns gnawed inside him slightly. Was this punk pretending to be a newbie at this game? His preparation posture and the way he struck out the cue stick, all seemed too professionals.
Chapter 732 “He pocketed another ball? Oh my!”
Tanya was jumping excitedly that her feet barely touched the ground. If the first score was due to luck then what about this time? jackie not only pocketed a six-pointer, but the cue ball stopped at a very strategic position where there were several easy red balls that could be pocketed with ease.
“It looks like jackie really knows how to plan the position of the cue ball!”
Sharon could barely conceal her excitement that her heavy breathing made her chest rose and fall repeatedly.
The boss of the place approached the group. He helped jackie to take out the ball that helped score the six-pointer from the pocket, set it nicely, and then smiled at jackie, “Young man, if this is your first time playing billiards, then you have learned it well. You’ll surely improve immensely after one or two days playing it!”
jackie flashed an indifferent smile in return. “Don’t worry, I’ve studied their play just now and I basically know how to hit and where to position the balls. As long as the aim is accurate and the strength is
controlled well, it’ll be like shooting a gun. I was at master level in shooting when I was serving in the military!”
The crowd was at loss for words. How could this guy compare playing billiard to shooting guns?
“Stop spewing nonsense! Keep playing then. I don’t believe you’ll win the game!”
Leo tried his best to convince himself that this punk was like a blind cat who stumbled upon a dead rat— sheer luck. There were so many balls on the table yet to be pocketed anyway and each of them was in an excellent position however a minor mistake might just cost jackie his marks. As long as jackie made a mistake later, he would be able to come back in this game.
Furthermore, jackie, this punk was really bright. He actually saw through his ruse—he went easy on Timothy and lost the game on purpose.
After all, they did not place any bet on that game but was merely using it to explain the rules to jackie.
Moreover, he had won a lot of money from Timothy today. He just had to bring Timothy to some night club tonight and spent a couple hundred thousand on him to make him happy again. He not only won the money but at the same time also established a good relationship with Timothy. One stone killed two birds, why not?
The few hundred million in his credit balance were all from Young Master Drake these past few months or so. He would let Timothy win a few rounds occasionally, just to give him a sweet taste of winning.
Thud!
Just when he was swimming in his thoughts, jackie pocketed another red ball, at the same time positioned the white cue ball into a very strategic spot. He could strike for a seven-pointer.
Concerns reared up within Leo as he noticed that jackie was aiming for the seven-pointer. He kept his panic in check and convinced himself that jackie was just a newbie, he would not score this round!
Nevertheless, the scene before him had made him tongue-tied. Another seven points went to jackie’s scoreboard. The strike was fast yet precise.
“Young Master Leo, do you think this punk is playing dumb about billiards? How could all these postures and striking techniques belong to a newbie?”
A guy who had been playing with Leo and the others all the while, came forward and voiced out his concerns to Leo.
“I don’t think he’s pretending. If he played it before, there’s no need to ask about the rules, right? Isn’t that act unnecessary?”
Leo’s forehead snapped together, not believing jackie was pretentious.
However, what made him speechless even more was that jackie had pocketed several balls in a row. The red balls on the table became fewer and fewer, and jackie’s marks on the scoreboard were increasing each time.
Finally, a seven-pointer did not enter the pocket.
jackie frowned at it, his face sunk, looking a little upset like a four-year-old boy.
“Damn, what a pity!”
Tanya breathed out a deep sigh at jackie’s last strike.
Sharon, on the other hand, switched her attention to the scoreboard and jumped excitedly. “Look, Tanya! Look at the points! jackie scored eighty points. He had actually scored a freaking eighty points in one go!
This means that he has already won this round, and Leo has lost even if he finished off all the balls on the table!”
Chapter 733 “You’re right!”
Only then did the realization hit Tanya. Even if Leo pocketed all the remaining balls on the table, the highest score would only be sixty-seven, as the total point was only one hundred and forty-seven. And now jackie had scored more than half, did this not smell like victory?
“I…I won this round?”
jackie’s face went blank and confused, then he opened his mouth, “But…but aren’t there a few more balls on the table?”
“You… I’m speechless. The highest score that one can get is only 147 because the total point is only 147. You already scored 80 out of it. So, even if Leo finished off all the balls on the table, it’s impossible for him to score more than you!” Yvonne explained patiently.
“Sounds about right!”
Joy dawned on jackie then he looked at Leo. “Now, Young Master Leo, it’s your turn!”
At this point in time, Leo almost wetted his pants, sheens of cold sweat appeared on his forehead. This punk scored 80 points in one go. Even if he hit all the balls into the pockets, he had already lost!
“My turn your *ss! You win this round!”
Leo’s fury sprang to life that he practically yelled at the owner of the place, “Boss, reset the game! We’re going for the next round!”
The owner immediately went up and set up the balls. He shot jackie a thumbs up as he finished setting up the game. “Young man, amazing play! You’re a genius among geniuses! Before the games, I studied you and realized that you are indeed a newbie. The posture is not particularly correct, and you took several seconds to adjust the cue stick for a better angle. Besides, there are hints of hesitation in your eyes sometimes, but at the later part of the game, you became better and better.”
The owner’s high praise toward jackie was like a sharp needle, piercing through Leo and the others’ eardrums. They could feel a flicker of irritation thrumming through their veins.
Timothy prayed that jackie would lose the game too, and it would be even more delightful for him to see jackie lose one billion. Even if Sharon offered to pay, jackie would still owe her a great favor—one that could not be repaid easily.
Never did he expect that jackie would win the first round.
Leo shot jackie an icy-cold glare and barked, “I shouldn’t have scattered the balls in the last game. I guess I’ve underestimated you and that’s why you scored. This time, I won’t go easy on you.”
jackie let out an adorable chuckle, flung the cue stick, and struck the white cue ball. The white cue ball touched the red ball lightly and it spread out a little from its original position. The white cue ball on the other hand, bounced back and halted behind a two-pointer ball.
“Snooker!”
The crowd exclaimed aloud, rubbed their eyes, trying to see clearly the current position of the white cue ball. The white ball happened to be blocked by the two-pointer yellow ball, which made it impossible for Leo to hit the red ball directly.
“Sheer luck! Must be sheer luck!”
“This doesn’t look like it’s merely sheer luck. The position of the white cue ball is just perfect!”
“Jesus Christ, jackie is good!”
Sharon was bursting with joy that she did her little happy dance. The sight of Sharon’s bouncing chest when she did her little dance had made the crowds’ Adam-apples move up and down. The sight before them was just so phenomenal!
Everyone was excited and elated for the show except for Leo. His face twisted and several veins popped out in his neck. He thought that since jackie was a beginner, he would not know how to serve the first strike and scatter the balls on the table, then he would be able to pocket the remaining balls easily and take down this round.
The scene before him was truly out of his expectation. Now there was no chance for him to hit the red ball directly from where the white cue ball was at. He had to study and analyze the angle so that the white cue ball would hit the edge of the billiard table and bounce toward the direction of the red ball.
Thud!
Leo was truly a good player; his billiard skill was not bad at all. He managed to find an accurate angle for the white cue ball to hit the red ball.
However, he had also spread out the red ball further than before, leaving jackie an excellent stance to score!
Chapter 734 When his brain registered that the balls were widely scattered, his heart sank. He let out a heavy sigh and felt an ominous premonition appear in his heart.
“Thank you so much, Young Master Leo!”
An indifferent smile was hanging on jackie’s face as he walked over.
Leo wheeled, looked at his friend who was standing behind him, and commanded, “Bring me a bottle of mineral water! It’s so f*cking warm here. Dammit!”
The young man’s forehead puckered, he could easily sense that panic was surging through Leo.
When it was a one hundred million bet per game and one tiny mistake would cost a hundred million dollars, who would not be in a sweat?
After all, the Turner family was merely a third-class family and they did not own many properties and assets. If Leo continued to lose today, his five hundred million dollars credit balance would not be able to pay up the loss.
The young man quickly grabbed a bottle of water and tossed it to Leo. Leo twisted it open and gulped it down.
In the meantime, jackie had pocketed several balls one after another and had scored more than 15 points.
“Oh my God! Good moves and great positions! jackie has hope to win this round again!”
Sharon did her happy leap and exclaimed. From the current situation, she saw hopes of jackie winning another round.
“Ughh, so annoying! Can you keep your voice down? This is a public area!”
He shot Sharon a dreadful stare. Leo’s sensory system was so sensitive right now that Sharon’s voice sounded like a screeching tone emitting from a violin played by a terrible violinist.
“what’s the matter, Young Master Leo? Don’t tell me your pants are wet right now? I think you can’t afford to lose such an amount, right?
Not only Sharon did not raise her voice after hearing Leo’s complaint, but she enjoyed the view before her—Leo was agitated. She then continued, “What’s wrong? Oh ya, where did that brazen attitude of yours 30 minutes ago go? Why did it disappear so soon?”
“Shut the f*ck up! Ughh!”
Another ball was pocketed, and Leo’s expression grew darker and darker.
Not long after, the scoreboards showed ‘ jackie–79 points’.
“Hmmm…I think I won again? Only these few colored balls are left. Young Master Leo, do you want me to go easy on you? Otherwise, it’d be shameful for an expert like you to get zero points!”
jackie did not continue the game instead he smiled at Leo and voiced out his concerns.
The colors drained out of Leo’s face and the corners of his lips twitched as though he had a stroke. His hand frantically searched for the water bottle. He grabbed the bottle and took a big sip, only to find that the bottle was empty—he drank it all moments ago.
“The second game is yours too!”
Leo wiped off the cold sweat on his forehead and barked xenophobically toward jackie, “I quit! You’re a liar! You pretended to be a newbie when you’re actually a master! F*ck! I’m so damn unlucky today. Give me your account, I’ll transfer two hundred million dollars to you! I’m not playing with you anymore!”
Leo had noticed that this brat, jackie was playing better and better. He improved way too fast, and his techniques and his skills in this round seemed to be better than the first round. The time taken to aim was shorter than before as well. Now, his strike was more precise and his control of power was finer.
Leo, now, was truly frightened!
Chapter 735 jackie let out a loud chuckle in return upon hearing Leo’s words. He smiled, “Sure, Young Master Leo, if you want to pull out now, that’s okay too. But you have to transfer me a billion rather than two hundred million, right?”
jackie paused for a while and then continued, “Before the game, you’d clearly mentioned that we have to play ten rounds and can’t just give up halfway. And if you want to withdraw right now, it means that you automatically give up on the remaining eight rounds. In that case, you have lost ten games!”
Leo’s mouth twitched slightly at jackie’s reminder. He had indeed said all these rules before the game, but he had never thought that jackie would be so strong. The thought of him losing billiard to a newbie like jackie had never crossed his mind!
He had already lost two hundred million. Even if his brain chose to continue playing, his heart would collapse before anything.
“Stop spewing nonsense. I quit! Just give me your account number and I’ll transfer you two hundred million dollars. Who asked you to lie about your skill and told us that you’ve never played it before. You’ve clearly played billiard before and are skilled at it!”
Leo tightened his jaw and gritted his teeth. He denied whatever rules they set like a spoiled kid.
jackie swung his arm with the billiard cue stick in his hand and pointed it at Leo. His head tilted slightly upward, with a cold tone, he said, “I didn’t lie. I learned those techniques by myself when I was watching both of you play a moment ago. If you don’t believe me, I can’t help it too. But you have only two options now, one is to admit defeat and transfer me 1 billion dollars, and the second option is to finish the remaining eight rounds. In case you’re fortunate, you might win one round, who knows right?”
The corners of Leo’s mouth vibrated again. This punk was totally insane. What did the punk say again? In case he was lucky, he might win one round?
According to jackie’s performance in the first two rounds, it was not hard to see that jackie was getting better and better in striking and aiming, which made Leo insecure about the outcome. He had a strong premonition of not winning any of the remaining rounds.
“Hey, don’t press too much, will ya? You’re merely a bodyguard in the Drake family! If it weren’t for Timothy or the Drake family, we’d have been greeting you with our fists!”
There was one guy in the crowd who appeared to be a good friend of Leo. He immediately stepped forward and sneered at jackie angrily.
“He’s right! I played two rounds with you and promised to give you two hundred million. What else do you want? If it weren’t for Young Master Timothy, we wouldn’t give you a penny not to mention two hundred million! And by then what can you do to us, huh?”
Another took two-steps forward, his tone was arrogant.
Leo felt slightly calmer and a little bit more confident in his heart when he saw two of his friend speaking up for him. He snarled at jackie, “Brat, I’ll give you two hundred million, tell me your account number if you want it. Otherwise, we’re leaving to a bar to hang with Young Master Timothy since it’s almost party time.
At this time, jackie slid the cue stick in his hand and blocked them from continuing their pathway. “I’ll not repeat it again. You will either continue to play with me or admit defeat and give me one billion. It’s as simple as that. But, if you dare to step out the compartment directly, you’re digging your own grave!”
“What the fck! You’re only a stinky piece of sht who had just returned from the military. What right do you have to act snobbishly?”
The first man that stood up for Leo had taken another step toward jackie and barked, “Get the f*ck out of my way!”
“Stinky piece of sh*t?”
This friend of Leo possessed the attitude that jackie hated the most—looking down upon the soldiers. They had sacrificed so much for Daxia, for the people of Daxia. Many of them had even given their lives to Daxia and would never be able to return home.
Now, this thug before him had actually insulted him and his comrades, and even despising them?
jackie did not hesitate and flicked the cue stick and sent it in a head-on collision toward the opponent’s arm.
jackie did not seem to use too much strength, but the man felt as though his bones were about to be powdered; his face grimaced and cried in great pain.
“ jackie!”
At this moment, Timothy shot up from his seat and reprimanded solemnly, “They’re all friends of Leo, and Leo is my dear friend, which means they’re my friends as well. Now, listen to me, what has happened today in this center, let’s forget it, not for Leo but for me. Leo will transfer you 2 hundred million dollars and you’ll let us go. Do you hear me clear?”
“Young Master Drake, I’d suggest that you do not involve yourself in today’s matter. Before the game, they knew that I had not played billiard before and I am a newbie, hence, they kept on pressing, wanting to bully me and win my money!”
jackie snarled coldly in return. “Besides, I wanted to avenge you. They’ve fooled you and taken so much money from you. So this time, I’m sorry that I’d not follow your order!”
“ jackie White, you’re merely a bodyguard of the Drake family! I’m the Young Master of the Drake family! I’m your master!”
Fury grew inside Timothy like a tumor. He was so angry that he raised his voice and yelled, “Starting on from today, you, jackie White, no longer work for the Drake family! You’re fired!”
Chapter 736 “Brother, what bulls*t are you spewing? I’m the one who hired jackie; you have no right to dismiss his employment! Besides, how could you fire him without getting father’s consent?” Tanya hissed angrily.
She became a ball of pure anger the next second she heard Timothy’s words.
“Hmph! He’s merely a bodyguard and I’m the Young Master. Do I need to ask for consent when I’m only firing a bodyguard? And don’t you know his real identity? A head commander! He’s only a head commander for God’s sake! Do we have to kneel before him and kiss his *ss?” Timothy replied in an icy- cold tone.
Tanya felt about to burst from the rage that she almost fainted. She never thought that this dear brother of hers would say such a statement.
She stomped her foot and yelled, “No matter what you said, you can’t decide this!”
“Don’t forget that I’m your brother and I’m the elder son in the Drake family!”
Timothy chortled sinisterly and then added, “Who asked this dog to bark at the wrong person? I’m his master. And a dog that barks at his master, what’s the point of keeping it? For him to bite me?”
jackie, on the other hand, sneered frostily at the exchange. He spoke, “Right, since Young Master Drake has said it pretty clearly, there’s nothing left to say. I will not stay in this position for more humiliation. Perhaps there’s a lot of people shaming me behind my back, saying things like ‘ jackie White is such a leech—leeching off the Drake family’.”
jackie halted for a second and then continued, “Hmmm. I’m not emotionally nor physically attached to the bodyguard position. And Miss Tanya has already paid me last month’s salary, as for the salary for these
few days, let’s forget about it. Consider these few days of service as my gratitude to Miss Tanya. But today Young Master Leo has to pay me the 1 billion dollars, there’s no turnaround. If he doesn’t pay, he can’t leave!”
Once Leo heard what Timothy had announced regarding jackie’s dismissal, his eyes lit up as though he saw light at the end of the tunnel. He then asked Timothy, “Young Master Drake, you’ve just fired him, right? He’s no longer your bodyguard, isn’t he? Since he’s not one anymore, even if I have my people to beat him up, it won’t affect our friendship, right?”
Timothy nodded in reply, but he reminded, “Of course. He’s not our bodyguard anymore, it’s up to you now. But one thing I must say, this punk is pretty good, I don’t think your bodyguards are his match!”
“You dare?”
Sharon immediately stepped up and barked angrily. “Even if he’s no longer the bodyguard of the Drake family, there’s still the George family! Don’t forget the George family is not a force to be reckoned with! If you dare to touch a single strand of his, you’re going against me, Sharon George!”
“Oh, Miss George, are you now trying to play the superhero now? Why though? He not only has a wife, but I also heard that he is not interested in you at all! Is it worth it to sacrifice so much for a married man?
Leo sneered at Sharon’s protective demeanor toward jackie. His face became dark and dull. After all, Sharon was the only daughter of the George family—a first-class aristocratic family in Eastfield. He was from a third-class family, hence naturally he did not want to offend her, and her treatment had successfully frightened him.
“Why do you care? Even if I don’t like him, he’s still my friend, and I should help my friend!”
Sharon nibbled on her bottom lip tightly as she gawped. She looked toward jackie for a second.
“Miss Sharon, Thank you for your kind intention!”
jackie was slightly moved by Sharon’s action, but he looked at Sharon with a solemn and firm face. “However, I don’t like to owe favors to others, not to mention, this is my personal affair with Young Master Leo, and I don’t like others to interfere. I’ll handle this matter by myself. Thanks.”
“But…”
Sharon felt a stab of disappointment inside her heart. Not only jackie called her ‘Miss Sharon’—a formal name, but also mentioned that it was his own personal affair and that Sharon as an outsider should not interfere. This statement had clearly stated his intention with her—they were impossible to be together. He really did not give her any chance at all…
“Miss Sharon, listen to every single word clearly! Wake up! He doesn’t want your help! He is giving you the cold shoulder, can’t you sense that? He doesn’t appreciate you at all, why do you still want to help him?”
Leo clapped his hand excitedly when he heard what jackie had uttered. Now that the last roadblock was finally cleared, Leo was flabbergasted with joy.
More than a dozen bodyguards who were waiting outside the center rushed into the place after hearing the exchange.
“Young Master Leo, how can we serve you?”
One of them immediately stepped forward, bowed before Leo with his hands clapped together, and said.
Chapter 737 “There’s one ignorant bastard here who clearly did not bring his brain today. I want to go home but he stopped me from doing so. You know what you should do next, right?”
Leo jeered cold-heartedly and turned to Timothy. “Young Master Drake, don’t worry about them. These bodyguards are not ordinary. They created a unique fighting technique called the Invincible Spinning
Void Fist that nobody on this earth knows. Besides, all of them are seniors and juniors from the same place. They’re powerful!”
Timothy’s heart leaped for joy and his hopes soared when he heard Leo’s words. Leo was right! Although the Turner family was only a third-class family, it did not mean that there was no top-notch skilled fighter in their family.
Some skilled combatants might have emotionally tied with someone they met from a third-class family, and for this reason, perhaps, they were willing to work for them.
Looking at Leo’s self-confidence soaring high, Timothy finally thought that there were still hopes for the other party to teach jackie an unforgettable lesson. It would be best if they made him bedridden for weeks!
“Hey! How dare you offend our young master? Are you sending yourself to hell?”
A swamp of bodyguards immediately surrounded jackie.
Unfortunately, those bodyguards fell to the ground as soon as they surrounded jackie. None of them were able to get back on their feet right now. Pain sheeted through them with a terrible intensity that caused all of them to wail in agony. Their faces morphed into one of the dead blanched faces.
“What the…”
Timothy, on the other hand, had his heart hammered in his chest that his face went white. These bodyguards from the Turner family did not seem to be reliable at all now. What Invincible Spinning Void Fist? It was nothing but a cotton candy fist to jackie—soft and useless. More than a dozen men used the same technique and yet none of them could touch the corner of jackie’s clothes before plopping onto the ground.
“If I don’t see 1 billion transferred into my account, you’ll have your last breath here!”
A stoic yet terrifying smile plastered on jackie’s face. He looked at Leo and added, “Oh. By the way, if some valuable furniture or things are damaged here, you should pay for it too. After all, you started the fight, and also because you refused to pay, right?”
A sheen of cold sweat presented on Leo’s forehead, his face turned paler and paler as jackie spoke. After he gave some thoughts to the matter, he finally opened his mouth, “Aren’t there 8 more games? Let’s go on then. Hmph! I wasn’t at my best a moment ago. And perhaps I’ll win the remaining 8 games and you’ll be the one who owes me money!”
“Alright then. In that case, I’ll continue the game with you. I’d only played two rounds, after all. And I really quite like this game, it’s fun!”
jackie chuckled upon hearing Leo’s proposal. Every single word and tone from his mouth induced rage inside Leo. Leo was practically boiling with anger that he almost spew blood. What? Had this punk really never played billiards before? What a joke!
“C’mon, it’s my turn to start the game!”
Leo wiped the cold sweat on his face and neck, and then strode toward the billiard table, carefully.
Of course, everyone noticed that his hands were trembling slightly.
He was already not jackie’s match in the first place, and now that he was nervous, he naturally could not perform well. Therefore, in the next eight games, he never won once.
In only one game, he saw a glimmer of hope, but in the end, he failed to take down that round.
“All right! Ten games are over, do you have anything to say now? Transfer one billion dollars! This is my account number!”
jackie took a pen and wrote his account number on a piece of paper swiftly and handed it to Leo.
“But…but I only have five hundred million in my credit balance. Mr. White, my dear Mr. White, I’ll give you all five hundred million dollars, and we’ll call that a deal, is that okay?”
Leo knew crystal clear in his heart that jackie was not a simple man. Such a strong person was not letting them leave, thus, he could only plead to jackie pathetically.
Chapter 738 “ jackie, have you heard of the saying that goes, ‘Luckiest is he who knows just when to rise and go home’?
“Five hundred million dollars is a lot on its own, and Young Master Turner doesn’t have any money on him anymore. Consider yourself lucky today, being able to wheedle five hundred million from him,” came Timothy’s response, though laced with arrogance as he gave jackie a crooked smile.
jackie was already unsatisfied. With how condescending Timothy had just spoken to him, he offered a tight-lipped smile in return. “No. I know if the situation was different, that I was the one who lost, he wouldn’t have let me get away with a fraction less of one billion. I’d like to point out that your negotiation skills are horrendous, too.
“Young Master Turner was the one who made the bet with me anyway. How can you say that I’m just ‘wheedling’ money out of him? You can’t blame me if he has terrible coordination!”
“Don’t overstep your boundaries, punk. This is the Turner family’s young master!”
The bodyguards, though still in pain, rose to their feet after they had been beaten. They were internally terrified of jackie’s mere presence.
jackie glared at one of the bodyguards, who was so scared that he staggered backward. “Like I care he’s the young master of whatever family,” he scoffed. “Don’t think he can walk out of this place if he doesn’t pay me in full… Even if it’s just a dollar short!”
With clenched fists, Leo turned to Timothy, realizing that jackie was not letting him off the hook. “Young Master Drake, help me pay this five hundred million, why don’t you?”
Timothy found himself stuck without a proper response before he eventually replied, “Young Master Turner, you’re asking for five hundred million, not fifty million. Even if you asked me to lend you five hundred million dollars, I would have to think carefully about it. Do you think I can lend five billion hundred million to you just like that?”
Helpless, Leo turned his anxious gaze toward jackie. “I don’t have that much money,” he blurted. “I only have five hundred million!”
jackie chuckled, amused at the situation. “I’ll make it simple for you: Give me five hundred million dollars and that stupid pig-head of yours. How about that?”
His words terrified Leo, whose face was completely drained of color.
Left with no other choice, Leo turned to one of the bodyguards with him and rambled, “Logan, go back and help me tell everyone of what’s going on. My father will have to come up with a way to get five hundred million, or else, I’d die!”
After he said that, Leo turned to jackie once again and said, “I’ll have my bodyguard return to get my father and the money! It shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
jackie nodded his head. “Of course not!”
As though undisturbed, he turned to his female companions. “Let’s play billiards. It’s pretty fun after all,” offered jackie. “We’ll play while we wait for his father, okay?”
His words did not seem to sit well with Tanya. “Are you really thinking about quitting, jackie?” she asked, her gaze fixated on him. “Don’t quit. Please don’t hold a grudge against my brother. He’s just saying stuff because he’s angry!”
jackie merely gave her a bitter smile. “Miss Tanya, I appreciate your sincerity, but I’m pretty sure that you know what kind of a person I am. I’ll never repeat what I’ve said, and I do take everything seriously. I’m not one to fool around, and you know that. Besides, I’m not quitting; your brother fired me.”
“Fine…” Tanya grumbled.
Tanya knew that it was pointless to argue with him any further; he was firm in his belief. “Then promise me that we’ll still be good friends,” she gently pleaded. “That won’t be a problem, right?”
“Naturally not. We’ll still be good friends even if I’m not a bodyguard of the Drake family!”
jackie nodded. The four of them—including Tanya, Sharon, and Yvonne—played on two tables and started their own rounds of billiards.
…
Meanwhile, the Turner family’s master was drinking tea with a marshal he knew and was on good terms with.
This marshal was from Sky City, and he was a distant relative of the Turner family. It so happened that he was their guest today.
The peaceful atmosphere was shattered when Logan, a bodyguard, barged into the room, huffing and panting.
Chapter 739 “Master, something bad has happened!” heaved Logan in between pants.
Master Turner’s facial expression darkened as he glared at Logan. “What is it? You’re really rude. Don’t you know that you should go to the housekeeper? Don’t you see that I have an important guest here?”
“Uncle, what are you talking about? Who’s the important guest? We’re a family; this is too generous of you,” spoke a young man opposite Master Turner as he sipped his tea, a small smile on his face as he did.
Master Turner glanced at the bodyguard—Logan—and level-headedly prodded, “Speak up. What is it? Why do you need to come to me?”
Logan replied. “It’s not good, Master. Young… Young Master lost quite a lot of money playing billiards with some people!”
“Lost money? How’s that possible?” Master Turner was stunned. “Isn’t he rather skilled at billiards and would win most of his games? Didn’t he tell me two days ago that he won several hundred million? Why are you so surprised that he lost today?”
Of course, Master Turner knew that his son frequented the billiard table and gambled there. He also knew that his son normally betted ten million per game with Young Master Drake.
Even if his son lost, he should not have lost much because of his skills.
“Master, the young master wagered a huge bet this time! He betted ten games with someone, and it was a hundred million per game. He lost a total of one billion!” blurted Logan, his anxiety hung over him. “Young Master only has five hundred million with him and is half a billion short. He can’t leave, and that person said that if the young master can’t come up with the remaining five hundred million, he’ll kill him. Young Master had no other choice, so he asked me to come back and get the money!”
“What?!” Master Turner instantly shot up from his seat, bewildered and in disbelief with what Logan had just told him. “He betted one hundred million a game with someone and lost all ten games? Are you joking?! He lost ten games with his skills? Also, what’s in his mind to have betted one hundred million a game with people?”
One hundred million was quite a huge amount for the Turner family. They were a third-class aristocratic family and did not have much working capital, although they had many properties.
Apart from that, he knew his son very well. His son would not bet on billiard games with others if he was not sure it would turn out in his favor. At the very least, he would not bet one hundred million on a game.
Logan then offered his explanation as he spoke, “Master, I suspect that the other person made a fool out of our young master. That person said that he didn’t know how to play, and that it was his first time playing billiards. Young Master must’ve wanted to win his money, so he agitated that person to play with him. The person was pretentious and said that he wants to bet one hundred million for a game. Young Master was confident, so he agreed to it, but it wasn’t expected that the man would be exceptionally good at billiards. He said that he had already mastered it after looking at the young master and Young Master Drake playing one game. In the end, he won ten games continuously!”
“Damn. How dare he tricked my son?!” Fabian Turner was extremely angry as he balled his fists tightly. “Right. Who’s this person? Is he rich and powerful? Someone willing to bet one hundred million a game must be a powerful man!”
“Master, that person is just a bodyguard from the Drake family, and his name is jackie! Young Master Drake even spoke on the young master’s behalf, but that guy didn’t even listen to him. Young Master Drake was so angry that he sacked this bodyguard on the spot!” came Logan’s reply, obviously angry as he spoke. “We wanted to escort our young master and leave that place, but we were not that guy’s opponent. He’s really good at fighting!”
Chapter 740 “How dare he trick my son?!” Furious, Fabian’s fists tightened. “No one dared to even intervene. He was the Drake family’s bodyguard, after all. How dare this guy still act so arrogantly after he’s been sacked by the Drake family!”
Logan frowned and said, “This guy is out of his mind. He even disregarded Young Master Drake’s plea for the young master’s behalf. Young Master Drake asked jackie to give him face and just take five hundred million from our young master, but this idiot refused!”
“So there’s such a person like this who doesn’t understand the world, huh?” The young man who sat with Fabian stood up. “Who’s this person? For a bodyguard, the man has quite a temper. Moreover, isn’t he afraid that the Drake family will deal with him now that he’s offended Young Master Drake?”
With a bitter smile on his face, Fabian responded, “Oh you have no idea, my nephew. This guy is jackie White, the son-in-law who married into the Taylor family. He’s also a retired soldier like you, but it seems that he failed to obtain any title within these five years. He told everybody that he had a token but had lost it on the way back home, so there’s no proof. There are rumors that he’s just a head commander!”
Logan then piped in, “Who knows if he really is a head commander. Everybody thinks that he wasn’t lying when he claimed to be that, as he’s quite skillful. Nonetheless, this guy really has very good medical skills as he had saved the Goddess of War Lana before. The Goddess of War had already repaid him, though. The reason he’s so crazy might be because he still thinks that the Goddess of War owes him her life, and nobody dares offend him because of that!”
Fabian touched the tip of his nose. “This is so troublesome. We can’t kill this guy since he’s done quite the favor for the Goddess of War. What if she comes for us if anything happens to him?”
The young man smiled coldly. “But we can’t really pay him one billion, right? Wouldn’t that make us cowardly in his eyes?” The man then fell into his thoughts before he offered, “I have an idea, Uncle. I’ll follow you there, and we’ll just pay him five hundred million. If he insists on getting paid a billion dollars, I’ll show him who’s boss and burst his bubble. He needs to understand that there are masters better than him!”
Fabian’s eyes lit up when he heard his suggestion; this was what he wanted. He wanted this relative of his to take action, but he was afraid his nephew—now an honorable marshal—would turn him down.
It was music to Fabian’s ears when his nephew mentioned it himself that he would tag along, without him begging.
“Great! It’s definitely wonderful to have you on our side.” Fabian nodded, pleased at this. “I don’t think the other bodyguards need to come with us as they’ll be useless there.” They soon left in their car—with Logan as the driver—and headed for the mall.
…
“Why aren’t they here yet?” Leo grew increasingly depressed when he observed jackie improving continuously as he played with his female companions.
It was one whole billion. What could he do about it?
He wondered if his father would be angry when he heard about his bet gone wrong.
He felt that jackie had been lying to him since the beginning. jackie might have been a master at billiards but purposely acted as if he knew nothing. How could he have improved so quickly if that was not the case?
Leo was lost in his anxiety and fretting when Fabian walked into the billiard hall with the marshal and their bodyguard, Logan.
“Father, why… Why did you only bring two people here?” Leo’s facial expression darkened when he saw his father coming over with only two people. It seemed that his father had compromised and paid jackie the money. He had hoped his father would put up a fight and bring more bodyguards to beat jackie up.
Chapter 741 Fabian scanned the room, and once he saw his son, he snapped, “Who’s jackie? How dare you keep my son from leaving?”
jackie was unruffled when he saw the new company walking toward them as he potted another ball. He gently placed the cue stick on the table and said, “You’re the head of the Turner family, yes? Your son lost one billion in our game of billiards, and he only has half a billion with him. He’s lost the game and, well, losers need to pay. I won’t let him leave unless he comes up with the remaining money he owes me.”
“Young man, don’t you think you’re going overboard for betting one hundred million a game?” Fabian had a condescending smirk on his face as he added, “Apart from that, you were the one who lied to my son that you didn’t know how to play billiards, and he wagered quite an impressive amount because of that. Are you sure you deserve one whole billion?”
jackie merely shrugged. “Master Turner, I hope you can assess the situation before saying something. I didn’t lie to your son or trick him into playing with me; I really have just learnt how to play. Apart from that, your son was the one who wanted to win money from me, so he instigated the competition between us.” jackie paused before he added, “If he didn’t intend to win money from me, how could he possibly lose the game?”
At this moment, the young man beside Fabian stepped forward and said, “Uncle, ignore this sharp- tongued guy. We should stop speaking with him. Let’s give him half a billion if he wants it so badly. We’ll still leave with Young Master Turner if he doesn’t want it.”
Fabian nodded. “Hmm. You’ve got a point, Cadmus Sanders,” he spoke. “We can’t treat this person with such regards.”
A surge of relief washed over Leo when he heard the young man’s name. “Brother Cadmus? You’re Brother Cadmus? Dear me! I didn’t recognize you as it’s been years since we last met. I heard that you joined the army and received an honorary title. You’re a marshal, right? When did you arrive?”
Cadmus smiled. “It’s been a long time, Brother. I’ve just been at your house less than an hour ago and had no idea we’d meet under such circumstances.” He paused for a while before he assured, “Don’t you
worry. Your Brother Cadmus is here, and it’s considered giving him face that we give him half a billion. After all, we’re not bullying him because we are stronger. He’s delusional if he still wants a billion!”
“A marshal!” chirped jackie with a smile after he heard this. “No wonder you’re so confident. You’re a marshal!”
Timothy smiled at Cadmus and said, “I’ve no idea that Young Master Sanders is actually a marshal. I envy you for having this title at such a young age!” He glanced at jackie in disdain. “You’re much better than a specific someone in this room. He’s so arrogant as a head commander, and he offered me no shred of respect!”
Cadmus was happy when he heard this. With a grin, he spoke to Timothy, “This must be Young Master Drake, the Drake family’s eldest young master. You look very striking. Let’s have some drinks once I settle the matter here.”
“Alright! I’ll pay for our drinks. After all, this Eastfield, and I should show my hospitality as your host!” Timothy chuckled, obviously pleased. His father and sister spent so much money to cling onto jackie, though he was a mere head commander.
Timothy believed he was the better one as he was establishing a connection with someone of better status; a marshal, much more reliable than jackie.
Chapter 742 Fabian liked what he heard from Timothy, and a pleased grin was plastered on his face as he said, “Young Master Drake, you’re being too gracious. I should be the one to show you hospitality as thanks. I heard that you’ve fired this bodyguard for my son? How should I repay your kindness?”
Fed up with how these men were acting, jackie snapped, “Who’s hosting who later has nothing to do with me. You should transfer the promised one billion to me before I lose my patience.”
Cadmus was taken aback momentarily at jackie’s boldness, but it soon disappeared as he smirked. “Young man, you’re quite the talker. How dare you speak to us like that after you know that I’m a marshal?”
jackie laughed haughtily. “Why should I be courteous to a marshal who can’t tell right from wrong? And you’re just a marshal. You’re not worthy of me treating you courteously.”
“Dear me, you’re extremely hard-headed!” Cadmus balled his fists tightly and smirked. “If that’s the case, let’s see if your head is harder than my fists!”
He immediately stepped forward and rushed toward jackie, his first aimed right at him.
jackie’s smirk dropped from his face when he saw the man charging right at him. Scoffing, jackie clenched his fists tightly and aimed one right for Cadmus.
Cadmus was startled when jackie was not even attempting to dodge. ‘He’s not evading my attack?!’ Of course, his surprise did not last long before his smirk returned. Cadmus was not backing down either as he continued to charge at jackie.
Their fists collided against one another, and the sheer power that came from both fists emitted a powerful force that was audible for all to hear.
“What?” Cadmus could feel the horrifying force behind jackie’s punch as their fists met. With eyes and mouth wide open in surprise, the force sent him staggering backward a few steps before he could regain his footing.
Everybody was surprised when they saw jackie standing there, still rooted, unmoved. On the other hand, Cadmus moved several steps backward after their impact.
“Impossible!” Cadmus shook his head in disbelief. A mere head commander would not have such power.
Not giving up, he charged once more toward jackie, almost using all his power this time.
However, jackie also increased his power and once again caused Cadmus to move several steps backward. This time, Cadmus could not even stand as he fell straight to the floor.
“How… How is this possible? Isn’t he a head commander?!” Leo was stunned, with eyes and mouth widened like saucers.
“Amazing…!” Sharon looked at jackie’s figure with starry-eyes.
Chapter 743 Tanya, who stood at the sidelines, could only sigh. She, her father, and Spectre had seen how scary jackie was, and could be. After all, jackie had slain 300 people from the Eagle Clan on his own.
It still sent shivers down her spine when she recalled what happened that one fateful night: She saw a master that only appeared in the novels. That was also the day she saw somebody killing their enemies without any hesitation.
She was familiar with Spectre’s strength, and it was a huge difference when compared to jackie’s.
Her father had already reminded her brother to not offend jackie, that they should always be in his good books, but her brother had thoughtlessly fired jackie just a while ago. This was a huge loss for the Drake family. She really hoped that jackie would not hold a grudge because of this.
“You… You’re no head commander, not with that fighting power of yours! Who are you? What’s your title?” Marshal Cadmus was the most surprised among all. He was very confident with his own strength, but jackie’s power was stronger than his even when he used all his power to attack jackie.
Cadmus did not want to use his ultimate skill. He had a feeling that this person in front of him was not someone he could win against.
jackie shrugged his shoulders. “Who am I? I’m just a son-in-law married into the Taylor family. I’m just a stinky soldier like what Young Master Leo said, no? He only needed to pay me half a billion and apologize to me sincerely… But since he’s called me a stinky soldier, well, that soured my mood!” Pausing momentarily, he then added with emphasis on every word, “Due to that, I won’t accept any amount less than one billion!”
Cadmus’s facial expression darkened when he heard jackie’s explanation. He turned around and looked at Leo coldly. “Brother, what did you say? A stinky soldier? We soldiers who sacrifice our lives for Daxia are such lowly people in your eyes?”
“Brother, I… I didn’t mean you! You’re a marshal! I meant jackie!” Leo immediately lowered his head and explained embarrassingly.
Instead of going after jackie, Cadmus turned to smack Leo with all his might. “This slap is for all the soldiers who died on the battlefield. If you dare say such words of looking down at us veterans, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”
“Brother, I…I’m sorry!” Leo felt wronged. He raised his head and wanted to argue with Cadmus, but he immediately cowered when he saw Cadmus’s terrifying expression.
“Cadmus, why…” Fabian looked at Cadmus and was speechless. It did not matter that his son lost the games. His boy called jackie was a stinky soldier. It made sense to him now why this man refused to give Young Master Drake face and insisted on getting one billion from his son!
“Uncle, I can’t help you on this. It’s best if you guys settle it on your own.” Cadmus walked over to the other side, took out his cigarette, and started smoking by himself.
He had gone through lots of life and death situations to achieve the title he had today, but not without the sight of many of his brothers dying in the hands of their enemies. It was because of this that he could not tolerate it if anyone called veterans ‘stinky and useless’ soldiers.
In his opinion, the comfortable lives these people were enjoying had been exchanged by the blood of these soldiers. They could not be looked down on. The soldiers that have fallen in battle would be aggrieved had they heard such words from the living.
Fabian was speechless. He could only smile at jackie and admit defeat. “Young jackie, what happened today is definitely my son’s mistake, and I apologize to you. However, one billion is too much, and we’re just a third-class aristocratic family. It’ll be a huge pressure for us to come up with one billion. Can we agree at the amount of eight hundred million?”
jackie smiled coldly after he heard this. “I don’t want to repeat myself. One billion, not a penny less. If not, I will kill both you and your son. I believe that this Marshal Cadmus wouldn’t be able to stop me!”
Everybody was once again surprised. Anyone inferior to the other would not claim such bold things, after all.
The man in front of them was just a normal son-in-law who married into the wife’s family, right? Was he not just a head commander?
Chapter 744 Cadmus was standing right in front of jackie, yet jackie could boldly claim that he—a marshal—would not be able to stop him. If that was the case, he was really domineering.
He would not have dared say something like this if he did not at least have the strength of a marshal or a King of War!
“This…” Not wanting to pay jackie one billion, Fabian turned his gaze toward Cadmus. After all, what jackie had so boldly claimed was rather condescending for Cadmus.
He had hoped Cadmus would get angry from jackie’s choice of words; Fabian believed Cadmus could win against jackie if he used everything he got.
However, Cadmus merely ignored him and turned his line of sight away.
Tongue-tied, Fabian turned to his poor excuse of a son and snapped, “I’ll pay the five hundred million for you, but you have to pay the rest by yourself!”
“Alright, father…” Leo had a bitter expression on his face and felt it was unfair for him to be in this situation. However, he could not do anything about the situation. After all, even a marshal failed to topple jackie. What else could he do?
He immediately transferred the money to jackie’s bank account. He then told Fabian jackie’s account number and asked him to transfer the remaining amount.
Fabian was utterly devastated when a huge amount of money left his bank account. The 500 million from Leo’s side were won from other games, so he did not feel much. However, this 500 million was from his own family. To a third-class aristocratic family, this money meant that they had to reduce their expenses for the time being.
Finally, Fabian looked at jackie and asked. “Alright, jackie. Can we leave no?”
“Sure.” jackie nodded. “Since you’ve paid the money, I have no need for you guys anymore.”
Fabian waved his hand at jackie with a gloomy expression. “We’ll meet again.”
He then turned around to address Timothy, Leo and their group of friends. “Young Master Drake, young masters, come with me. Allow me to host you, as you’re all friends of my son.”
“Alright.” Despite his answer, Timothy had a darkened expression on his face. He eyed jackie for a good while before walking out with Fabian and the others.
…
He was still in a trance when they exited the mall. Was jackie not a head commander? How was it possible that even Marshal Cadmus could not best him?
Was it possible that his father’s assumption was right? Was he a King of War who did not want to expose his true identity?
He began to regret his actions as he walked outside. If jackie truly was a King of War, firing jackie would surely anger his father.
Chapter 745 Unable to hold back his questions, Leo eventually asked, “Marshal Cadmus, is jackie really that strong, or did you choose to surrender? You must have some really powerful boxing moves that you haven’t used, right?
“I don’t believe you’d be defeated if you used your full force back there. The guy doesn’t have anything but some measly strength, right?”
“This person’s strength is unpredictable. I’m not certain that I can win if I really fight with him.” Cadmus glanced at the second floor, where the billiard hall was. He started smoking his cigarette again and added, “I get him, though. I understand his behavior and why he did it after cousin Leo spoke in such a degrading manner about soldiers and veterans!”
“You! How dare you agree to a hundred million on each game? Why didn’t you think about why he easily agrees to such a risky yet high-yielding gamble? Did you even think about the consequences if you lose the games?!” Fabian gritted his teeth and looked at his son in disappointment.
Leo spoke in a defeated manner, “I did think about it. I thought that he was frightening me on purpose and thought that I wouldn’t agree to his suggestion. Apart from that, I had no idea that I’d lose ten games consecutively. With my skills, it would’ve been difficult for him to even win five games from me. I thought the money I had was more than enough, but who would’ve thought…”
“Nevermind. This guy is highly skilled and is someone we can’t afford to offend. Let’s just consider it a bad day for us.”
Fabian sighed and looked at Young Master Drake. “Young Master Drake, this bodyguard of yours is really strong,” he spoke, and his surprise was laced with his words. “I never thought he’d be that frightening! However, I also didn’t know that you’d be such a loyal person to your friends. You fired such a strong bodyguard for my son!”
The corners of Timothy’s mouth twitched. Why would he fire jackie if he knew how strong he was?
Timothy could only force himself to smile at this situation. “What should I say… I’m an extremely loyal person to my friends, and I have a good relationship with Young Master Leo. How can I choose my bodyguard over him? jackie is very strong, but he still disrespected me and talked back at me. I have my fair share of distaste toward that man for quite some time now.”
In order to prove that what he said was correct, he even added, “Not only does he seldom come to work, but he’s often late to work, too! Apart from that, he’s constantly with my sister and Yvonne, though he’s much closer to my sister. Hmph! I think he’s not working for work, if you know what I mean. He’s there for my sister, I bet!”
“Really? You need to be careful of people like this. Firing him is a good choice!”
Leo immediately agreed to what they said. “ jackie is a son-in-law who married into the Taylor family. How shameful is it for a man to marry into their wife’s family? To me, he’s just a weakling, and he’s a married man too. How dare he go after Miss Tanya? Which part of him looks worthy of your sister?”
“That’s right, that’s right!” said one of Leo’s friends. “This guy is craving for something he can’t get. Why doesn’t he look at himself in the mirror? He’s not worthy of being with your sister!”
“Well, I don’t know what to do about that. After all, my sister is a woman, and women like flirtatious men. jackie might’ve buttered her up, even. That would explain why she’s so adamant in standing with jackie,” came Timothy’s reply.
“Yes, this guy must be very flirtatious. Otherwise, why would Miss Sharon side with him too? I think that she had been blinded by him so she would fall for someone like that! He’s just a dumb teenager, a reckless man!” Leo nodded. He had been extremely unhappy about this since the beginning.
He thought of himself a rather handsome man. It would make his day if Miss Sharon fell for him, or if Young Master Drake set him and his sister—Tanya—up.
He never thought both beautiful, gorgeous women would fall for a soldier who married into his wife’s family. That in itself was a big blow to Leo.
Chapter 746 After Timothy and the rest left the hall, jackie turned to the girls and said, “We should get going now. Though I’m fired, we’re all still friends. Let me send you guys home.”
“ jackie, my brother spoke out of anger just now. You really want to quit just like that?” Reluctant Tanya continued to persuade jackie, even though he made himself clear moments ago.
Yvonne, her cousin, was just as reluctant. “ jackie, you need to think about it clearly. It’s very hard to find a job with a monthly salary of twenty million!” Although this guy annoyed her from time to time, it would have disheartened her to watch him leave.
“I won’t regret anything once my mind’s made up!” jackie laughed. “On top of that, didn’t I just win one billion from the few rounds of billiards? I need to work for several years before I can earn one billion, right?”
There was nothing Tanya and the rest could say once jackie made his decision.
Though, Sharon’s eyes seemingly glimmered. “ jackie, now that you don’t have a job… Why don’t you work as a bodyguard for my family? I can give you a monthly salary of fifty million. You don’t need to do anything apart from companying me and talking to me every day. How does that sound?”
Tanya and Yvonne internally facepalmed; Sharon’s intentions were too obvious. She did not want jackie to work there. She wanted to be with him so that they would have time to build a relationship.
“You?” jackie was stunned and poked her forehead with his finger. “I wouldn’t work for you even if it’s a monthly salary of a hundred million. It’d be downright dangerous if I do. That’s like sending a lamb into a tiger’s den!”
“What do you mean, ‘sending a lamb into a tiger’s den’? You’re saying this as though I’m a pervert!” Sharon pursed her dainty mouth, flabbergasted at jackie’s choice of words.
“Let’s head back, I need to come home early.” jackie smiled and continued saying, “I earned one billion today. It should be enough to hold a birthday party for my wife, right?”
Tanya and the others were speechless. This man bagged a billion just like that
The people from the Turner family must be extremely angry right now.
…
After he had sent the ladies home, jackie made his way home.
Tanya, upon entering her residence, immediately went looking for James after jackie left.
James was having a chat with Spectre and the other masters of the Drake family when Tanya approached him. “Oh. Didn’t you just leave with the rest for some leisure time? You’re back quite early!” asked Drake with a grin on his face.
“Father… I’m so angry! Timothy is really getting on my nerves!”
Chapter 747 Tanya sat down with a frown on her face.
“Did that fool gamble in billiards again?” The smile on James’s face immediately disappeared and was replaced with a scowl. His son became increasingly unreliable as of late. Timothy had been messing around with Young Master Leo and was neglecting his work.
“I don’t care how many billiards games he wants to bet on. We went out with jackie to enjoy billiards today, but Young Master Leo stirred trouble with us. Not only did Timothy refuse to stand on jackie’s side, but he even fired jackie despite my persuasion and warning! Now that jackie’s gone, it’s almost certain he won’t be coming back!” Tanya seethed in rage as she spoke, though her readily lovable face made her look cute even as she was angry.
“Fired?” James’ face darkened when he heard this. “What happened? Why did this idiot fire jackie? Tell me everything.”
Tanya nodded and told her father, James everything that had happened.
James pounded the table angrily. “That rascal! I told him so many times that jackie’s more than just a regular soldier, that he’s at least a King of War. Told him it’d be best for us to be in his good graces…! Now I’m mad at him for firing jackie!”
“Agreed, Father. Master Turner brought a marshal with him to challenge jackie, but they eventually conceded defeat when they discovered the marshal was no match for jackie. In the end, they had to pay jackie a billion dollars!”
“If even a marshal is no match for jackie, he’s definitely a King of War. I wonder how many stars he has!” Spectre sighed with a frown on his face. “ jackie is someone who holds himself with dignity and doesn’t go against his own words. Now that Young Master Timothy fired him, it’s impossible to ask him to return!”
“What was our young master thinking when he sided with Leo Turner? That’s not a good person!” said another middle-aged man with a frown. “Still, I’m sure jackie is a generous person and won’t hold grudges against such a small issue. It’s a big loss for us that we’ve fired such a great fighter!”
“ jackie is one-of-a-kind. Nobody knew what he’s really made of as he kept his identity and power hidden. We all thought that he was just a head commander!” Another elder started smiling bitterly. “Surely Timothy wouldn’t have fired him if the fight took place first. Safe to say, our young master must’ve thought jackie was all bark but no bite before he could witness his power.”
James’ expression darkened. “Talking about this right now doesn’t benefit us! There are lots of people out there that like to stay low-key!” He recalled something and asked, “Do you know why the Taylor family was requested years ago to send a young man to join the army?”
The elderly man frowned. “I’m not very clear about what happened back then, but what I do know is that the Taylor family was requested to send a young man older than eighteen to join the military.
“At that time, everybody knew that only Ivan Taylor met this requirement!” The elder smiled bitterly. “Nobody knew Old Master Taylor could be such a calculative man. He found jackie and married him to Selena. With that done, this son-in-law joined the ranks in Ivan’s stead as he met the requirements as well.”
James nodded. “That’s right. Everybody knew how dangerous the situation was. It was a life-and-death matter, and young masters like Ivan Taylor weren’t suited to be in that situation. Ivan wouldn’t have survived any battles if he was the one enlisted.
“Old Master Taylor is so smart to have come up with that idea, but he never thought Ms. Selena would sleep with jackie on the night of their wedding, and that jackie would return alive five years later!”
An elder then recalled something and asked, “Why was the Taylor family appointed a position in the beginning? It’s uncommon for this to happen! Was it possible that they offended someone powerful?”
Chapter 748 James nodded at the elder and explained, “Years ago, Ivan crossed paths with a girl that came with several other youngsters, and they were all on a trip. Ivan, seeing the girl’s beauty, wanted to take advantage of her so he touched her. As a result, the group of young men gave Ivan a beating before they left.” James paused here before continuing, “Before they left, however, they asked for Ivan’s name and background check. They warned that Ivan should be prepared for his death, as they were people Ivan could not risk to offend!”
Spectre could not hide his surprise when he heard this and blurted, “Who are they? They’re that powerful that they can appoint a certain person during army recruitment?”
Tanya also looked at her father and was obviously interested in this matter. They only heard news that the Taylor family offended somebody and the recruiters appointed this requirement to them.
Luckily, the group of people did not specifically mention names. Otherwise, Old Master Taylor would not have the chance to work his way around it.
James continued saying, “I’m not very sure about the exact situation, but I do know that they’re from Gin City. There are ten major families there, all downright frightening. They hold most of the properties and power in Daxia and have been in existence for a long time now. Their power is infinite!”
“No wonder!” Spectre spoke in sudden realization. “It might be easy to settle the issue if Ivan offended people from other places, since it’d be resolved easily with money. Tough luck that Ivan offended people from Gin City.”
The elder said, “This punishment was considered acceptable. They only appointed a position to the Taylor family and didn’t send a team to wipe out the entire family. That was quite merciful on their side!”
Tanya thought about it and replied, “Luckily, we’re quite far away from Gin City. That group of people must have appointed a position to the Taylor family but didn’t bother to follow up about the matter. If they
knew that the Taylor family found a son-in-law who married into their family to replace Ivan, they might have continued causing trouble for the Taylor family!”
James smiled bitterly. “No matter what, these people requested someone from the younger members of the Taylor family who’s older than eighteen years old. jackie, though a mere son-in-law, can be considered as a member of the Taylor family as he fulfills the requirement. jackie surely fitted the bill.”
Spectre replied with a smile, “The title of a son-in-law married into the wife’s family is unique. He can be a Taylor family member if they forcefully say that. If they don’t, he can only be considered a half a Taylor family member!”
“Whatever it is, this matter happened five years ago. Those youngsters might’ve forgotten this since long ago.”
“They might even think that Ivan had died on the battlefield. It’s been five years, so I don’t think they will continue pursuing this matter,” James continued. “Luckily, we’re quite far away from Gin City, and not many of its people would come and visit this place. Under normal circumstances, let’s just earn our money and live our lives peacefully!”
Tanya was deep in thoughts before she asked James, “Did the Taylor family offend one of the ten major families from Gin City? That’d be a real disaster!”
James smiled bitterly. “I don’t know about the details, though I do know that they offended somebody from Gin City. Nobody knows if it’s one of the ten major families,” he spoke, followed with a sigh. “I’ll give your brother a serious punishment tonight. Since he’s not focused on his work, I’ll hand the South City Group matters to you!”
Chapter 749 “Me?” Tanya frowned when James expressed that he wanted her to manage a big project. “How’s that
possible? Father, I won’t be able to enjoy myself anymore if I take this up. I’m still young! It’s best to leave this to Timothy!”
“Leave it to him?” scoffed James. “Our family would crumble within days if he continues to lose money on billiards games. I seldom take much notice on these things, but I checked our company’s accounts several days ago and noted that several of our companies have been losing money for these months.
“Some of the projects are put on hold because your brother didn’t sign the documents on time, and we’ve been paying penalties because we can’t finish the projects within the time limit! We’ve been losing money!”
Tanya was furious when she heard this. “How’s that possible? If that’s the case, Timothy has gone overboard!” She finally realized that her brother was really out of hand and that he was not just messing around.
Tanya, with a frown, then said, “But Father, South City Group is one of our family’s biggest groups. Timothy would surely be upset if you pass it to me!”
“Hmph!” came the disgruntled noise from James. “Why do I need to care about his happiness? We can’t let him ruin the entire Drake family’s business, can we? I’ve made my observation. Although you like to shop, you’ve managed the small businesses I handed to you well, and you’ve managed to earn quite some money within this year. You’ve my daughter, and I can’t side with Timothy just because he’s my son!”
Spectre also nodded. “This is how the world works; the capable ones are to be crowned. If Miss Tanya is really talented, you should be appreciated. After all, the Drake family is rich, but we’d be surpassed by other powerful families in just a few years if we’re badly managed. That’ll be disastrous!”
“Yes!” Everyone else nodded in agreement.
“It’s… It’s alright if that’s the case!” Tanya was speechless. Although she did not want to compete with her own brother, she was really worried about Timothy’s current situation.
Apart from that, what her father said made sense. South City Group had always been earning money and seldom had any losses. They could not pretend like nothing happened when such a big group that had already been on the right track were experiencing losses.
…
At this moment, jackie had already reached home.
“Hey, why are you back home so soon? You’re back so early!” Fiona spoke happily when she saw that jackie had returned. “It’s best if you don’t leave work early every day. After all, you’re working for them, and it’s best if you go to work and leave work on time! I fear Miss Tanya would be displeased if you do this often.”
jackie smiled bitterly when he heard this. “Miss Tanya wouldn’t be unhappy, but Young Master Drake is. He fired me today, so that’s why I came back earlier.”
Chapter 750 “Oh, you’ve been fired by Young Master Drake!” Fiona said with a smile before she suddenly snapped at the realization, “What?! You’ve been fired? You said you’re fired? Is something wrong? They fired you for real?”
“What’s going on? Why are you yelling about?” Andrew asked as he walked out from the house to go on a walk.
jackie… He… He said that he’s fired. Listen to him! He’s been fired from a job that has a monthly income of twenty million!” Fiona stomped her leg in anger and was extremely frustrated.
“What?!” Andrew was also surprised when he heard this. “ jackie, are you joking? Are you lying to us? How can you be fired so suddenly?” He was stunned at this moment. “This doesn’t sound right. How can you be fired? Don’t you have a good relationship with the Drakes? Didn’t Miss Tanya speak kindly on your behalf? Why did Young Master Drake fire you? Is the situation really impossible to salvage?”
Fiona was just as bewildered and questioned what actually went down. “I don’t think so. Didn’t you say that you helped Miss Tanya fight off gangsters?”
“Miss Tanya and James wouldn’t fire me. Miss Tanya spoke on my behalf, too!” jackie laughed before continuing, “However, what Young Master Drake said caused me to not want to work for them!”
“What actually happened?” Andrew grew anxious at the fact that jackie had lost a job with such a high income. What should they do? After all, jackie had less than 100 million with him.
Their family had employed helpers and a dozen bodyguards. Selena’s one million monthly salary was definitely not enough.
Of course, Fiona had quite the amount of money with her, but did jackie not promise her daughter a city- stirring birthday party? The advertisements were already done, too. What should they do if they did not have enough money? Were they going to use her money?
“This is what went down. I went to play billiards with Tanya and the others, and I ended up offending Leo Turner. He had a good relationship with Young Master Drake. He wagered a hefty bet against me in a few rounds of billiards, which he lost ten rounds. He was supposed to pay me, but he didn’t have enough with him. Young Master Drake helped speak on Leo’s behalf but I disagreed with them. Young Master Drake said that I didn’t spare or give him face, so he scolded me and said that he wanted to fire me!
“Since he’s already said that he’s going to fire me, why do I need to stay there? I’m not so shameless.” jackie smiled indifferently after he spoke. He took out a cigarette, lit it up and inhaled.
“You! Are you trying to kill us?!” Fiona was extremely angry. “It’s only natural that Young Master Drake would get angry when he helped speak on behalf of his friend and you refuse to give him face! His friend merely owed you a little bit of money, so why did you insist on asking for it? Just don’t take that person’s money if he doesn’t have enough. Why are you so stupid that you didn’t spare Young Master Drake his dignity?”
“That’s right. I didn’t think you’d be this much of a fool. It’s just a bet; how much can you lose from that? Even if that person lost ten consecutive games, it’s not a lot of money. You have a monthly salary of twenty million, too!” Andrew slapped his thigh in anger.
Two of jackie’s female bodyguards frowned when they overheard this conversation.
Unable to hold her peace, one of them walked toward Fiona and Andrew. “Uncle, Auntie, I can’t stand it when the other party says these kinds of things about our master. Since they’ve fired him, how can he continue to work as their bodyguards shamelessly?”
The other bodyguard also stepped forward and said, “That’s right! It’s their luck that our master had worked as their bodyguard. How dare they fire him?! They’re too much!”
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