The moment the general gave the signal, Chadwick dashed forward without hesitation with Richard quickly taking a stance to meet the raging bull.Chadwick swung a fist once he was close to Richard doing the same.The inevitable collision ended in a shockwave that caught everyone off guard.Chadwick went wide-eyed for a moment as he stared at Richard who remained in place.“This… how is this possible?”“Does this mean Richard Smith is as strong as Chadwick physically?”“Does that make any sense?... Chadwick could lift a truck if he wanted yet…”As the spectators whispered amongst themselves, quite shocked by the first exchange, Chadwick suddenly grinned.“You are quite intelligent.”“Intelligence helps.” Richard calmly replied.“Good, very good, brains versus brawns, let's see what comes out on top?”With that, Chadwick unleashed a flurry of blows to catch Richard off guard but none managed to connect as Richard remained in place, not daring to move from his spot as he parried each one
“I won't lie, the reason I summoned you to my manor was on the insistence of my daughter-in-law.” General Nebuchadnezzar began. “she wished to see the face of the man that brought down her father despite knowing about his connections with the military and in honesty, I was curious as well.” Richard remained silent, waiting for Nebuchadnezzar to get to the point with the general obliging.“Now, with everything I've seen, I believe that you are nothing like what I expected.”“And what did you expect?”“A man that bullied the weak and feared the strong. Hearing your title to be the Reaper, I thought you only got that for preying on the weak. How wrong was I?”“So what now?”“Now you get to return, either to the Golden Band or back to Zion, whichever you wish, as long as it's out of my sight.”“I see…” “However, under one condition.”“And what could that be?” Richard inquired with a raised brow.“If you choose to return to the Golden Band, that means you won't be leaving Riverdale ever
Chadwick awoke the next day to find out about the agreement between Richard and his father Nebuchadnezzar.On hearing what was a death sentence for Mr. Smith, he left his quarters and rushed over to confront his father.“Father you cannot do this!” He exclaimed once he had arrived in his father's chambers.The general gave him a perfunctory glance before inquiring. “Do what?”“This agreement you have made with Richard is ridiculously unfair. You know for a fact he is not a Champion ranked Combatant like yourself so why make him experience such danger to prove a point?”“Prove a point?” Nebuchadnezzar muttered before glancing at the young man yet again. “Do you think your words would help to change what is to come?”“That…”“Richard Smith has dared to be arrogant in my presence. Unless he proves himself powerful enough, I will make him regret acting so unruly.”“But father he has already proved his strength. He defeated me and…”“And do you think you are a worthy means to measure stren
No one could have ever expected such an ending.All those in the Baylon family and by extension, all of Riverdale had always known General Nebuchadnezzar to be undefeatable.Who he said he would beat, he would surely do so.It had reached a point where if the general said something along those lines, the affected party would immediately surrender for fear of getting sent to an early grave as it was well known that the general never held back in a fight.So imagine their surprise when Richard emerged from the general's final blow, relatively unscathed.Seeing him like that, it was obvious who had won the bet between the two men, and that made it even more difficult to accept.General Nebuchadnezzar, standing in the courtyard with Richard a few meters away, couldn't help but let out a guffaw as he slapped his thighs, clearly amused by the result.“You truly are a man worthy of respect!” He declared. “I would have never thought such a day would come. You are impressive, Richard Smith.”
The next day, Richard's desire to sleep on by an unexpected call.Still drowsy, he reached for the phone on the side wardrobe and picked it up to answer.“Hello.”[Richard, you have to come back to Intercity as soon as possible]It was Mr. Vincent Dawson's voice and he didn't sound okay at all.Roused from his stupor, Richard inquired. “What's the matter?”[What else?... It's the Malcolm family. They have begun to show their true colors]“What are you talking about?”[They have unleashed their cultivators on the city, using the pretext of trying to get the city under control after what happened]“I don't understand, what happened?” Richard was left confused as he could hardly understand what was happening.[Your friend, the one you made governor has been arrested on various accounts. Though it's clear he has been framed, no one is daring enough to speak up for him]“You can't be serious, Commissioner Watson just let this happen?”[He couldn't do anything. The ancestor of the Malcolm f
Once he'd made sufficient preparations, Richard took the next available flight to Intercity.Of course, before that, he'd informed Mica, Lucia, and Anna of his return to Zion.Naturally, on hearing about the situation back there, Anna felt obligated to follow him and return but Richard managed to convince her to stay.As it was, the Lopez family was still in dire need of direction right now and Richard didn't trust Anna's father or grandfather to hold the fort in her absence which was why he decided it was best for her to stay.Ensuring that the Golden Band and the Ramirez family would support Anna's plans was enough for him so he could leave without worrying about her safety.It also helped that General Nebuchadnezzar had announced his alliance with the Golden Band, the Lopez family, and the Ramirez family.At least it was assured that no one would dare go after them in any form lest they incur the wrath of the military.So the flight back to Intercity was rather lonely with Richard
Duncan was the name of the security head that Richard had manhandled at the airport and was also a spy working for the Malcolm family.He'd been the one to inform the Malcolm family member of Richard's arrival and now had just gotten a directive from his contact.'Kill him’Though he couldn't help but smile as he hated Richard for what he'd done to him at the airport, even he knew that Richard Smith was above his league.Going as far as to kill him?... He didn't think it was possible.Then another directive came in and he finally let out a relieved sigh.He was well aware of who the Hounds were.They were terrifying members of the Malcolm family who dedicated their lives to cultivating endlessly.Each one was strong enough to take on 20 men alone.Knowing that such people would be the ones to handle the killing, Duncan was finally able to relax.What hero of Intercity?... He was just a fool that didn't know his place.All because the real powers had stayed quiet, he'd been acting like
Richard had always wondered about the mystery behind the origin of the black phone.It had magically entered his life and made him the powerhouse he is today, yet it never once explained where it came from or why it chose him to gift the Trillion Dollar System.He'd always thought to get to solving the mysteries at some point but due to one reason or the other, he'd always ended up pushing it aside for some reason.It got to a point where he began to wonder if all the distractions were intentionally done so he wouldn't investigate the black phone's origin.However, now, an opponent was letting him know he was familiar with it and Richard could hardly contain his curiosity to learn more about it.Rufus smirked as he replied. “You don't expect me to just tell you, right?”Richard's expression turned cold as he remarked. “It would be best to tell me now. I'd like to avoid utilizing other means to get the answer from you.”“Heh and here you were saying that you had nothing planned. You spe