Maisie's words made an air of doom and gloom settle over the Childe family."Don't lose your cool, Norman," Shirley said. "We still have Prudence County's Childe family to fall back on!""Yes, them!" Norman's eyes lit up at her words. He perked up and nodded. "Mr. Lucius told me that he'd be coming to Northfort to reestablish the Childe family's influence. He's just been waiting for the commander-in-chief's inauguration party to be over."Now that that's over and done with, it's likely the commander-in-chief won't bother about what happens in Northfort. He'll probably just watch from the sidelines. As long as we don't offend him, we won't have to fear those creditors with Mr. Lucius on our side.""Yes, that's right," Shirley said. "30 years ago, Mr. Lucius was powerful enough to wreak havoc in Northfort and turn himself into a presence that everyone feared. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and we have to grab it by the balls!""I'll call Mr. Lucius and invite him to North

As soon as the words were out of Norman's mouth, a loud voice rang out from the Childe residence's entrance. "Who says Phisteele Corporation wouldn't dare come here?"Everyone turned to look at the entrance. They saw a man wearing a security guard's uniform. He had two security guards with him. They held a large plaque, but it was covered with a black cloth.The security guard in the lead was Donald, the deputy head of Phisteele Corporation's security team."It's good that you're here. I'd be scornful of Phisteele Corporation if it only consisted of cowards." Lucius nodded at Donald. "Judging from your attire, I doubt you're Mr. Steele.""You've got a good eye, Mr. Lucius." Donald snickered. "Indeed, I'm not Mr. Steele.""If you're not him, are you the company's secret boss?" Lucius snorted."I don't think you're worthy of having our secret boss make a trip here." Donald shook his head. "My name's Donald Wood. I'm the deputy head of Phisteele Corporation's security team."As soo

"Of course not!" Lucius sneered. "They'll have to pay for disrespecting and disregarding me. Damon Neuf, Marius Patterson, Octavius Coleman, Wade Betelgeuse, Walter Windward, and Xavier Sloane—I won't let any of them off the hook!"We'll start with cleaning up the Northfort underworld, shall we?"Norman's expression shifted. He asked, "What do you have in mind, Mr. Lucius?""The Ghastly Ghosts have been locked up in that small, dark room for too long. It's time for them to get some exercise." Lucius turned to Finnegan. "Let them out, Finnegan. Damon Neuf is their first target.""Yes, sir!" Finnegan headed to the backyard.That midnight, Damon had headed to an old haunt of his, Richwind Karaoke. He'd felt an eerie chill in the air after leaving the Childe residence—it was mainly due to the sound of the Ghastly Ghosts chomping on Ozzy's bones.He decided to head to Richwind Karaoke to hang out with the ladies there and warm himself up. Unbeknownst to him, two Neanderthal-like men a

Marcus and Elijah exchanged a look. Elijah explained, "Marius called me earlier and said he had something urgent to tell us. That's why I told him to come over."Marcus nodded. He said, "Calm down, Marius. Get up and give me the details.""Thank you, sir!" Marius got to his feet with Damian's help. He looked gloomy as he said, "Cherry, my granddaughter, has been taken hostage by Lucius Childe. He said he was going to feed her to the Ghastly Ghosts."It's all because I didn't choose to side with the Childe family during that bogus banquet he held. That's why he's coming after me like this!""Please, help us, commander-in-chief!" Damian begged. "The Ghastly Ghosts are neither human nor beasts; they're vile creatures. Cherry's doomed now that she's in their hands!"Marius bowed deeply. "It's all thanks to your magnanimity that I've retired from Northfort's business world without any problem. I was planning on moving to the country to live an idyllic life, but that's been ruined by Lu

Lucius' heart jolted when he saw Sebastiana knew his name. "Were you lying in wait for me?""Yep." Oliver crossed his arms lazily. "And we've been waiting for a long time, Mr. Lucius."Thinking of the Ghastly Ghosts' deaths, Lucius asked warily, "Are you two the ones who sneaked into the Childe residence and killed the Ghastly Ghosts?""Nope." Oliver shook his head."That's good, then." Lucius secretly sighed in relief. Then, he said smugly, "There's only two of you, whereas I have more than a dozen men with me. I don't see how you'll win if we get into a fight."Lucius didn't want to get caught up in a fight lest it delay his escape. He intended to scare these two off."My, oh, my. We're so scared of you and your men, Mr. Lucius." Oliver laughed, then said, "What if we add these guys to the count?"At this moment, Elijah and Jonathan appeared before Lucius' eyes. Oliver said leisurely, "Allow me to introduce you to these two. On my left is Elijah Steele, also known as Mr. Steel