It was not the time to lay all his cards on the table."Do you have any concerns, Mister Levin?" Aerin looked at him curiously."Not really, though you can be a bit warmer," Ashton said, half-jokingly.Seemingly unaware of the hidden meaning behind Ashton's words, Aerin steered the conversation back to pharmaceuticals. According to Aerin, Acton Pharmaceuticals' biggest competitor in the Central South and South Edren regions was the Holden Biological Company.Holden Biological Company? The name caught Ashton off guard. Was that the firm controlled by Kendra's mother, Rubie? Was it ethical to help Aerin against the Lockwood family's pharmaceutical company? Furthermore, could he even trust Aerin? If it were not for mutually beneficial interests, they would never collaborate."Oh, by the way, Mister Levin, I have another favor to ask you," Aerin said."Asking for my assistance comes at a price, and it's usually steep," Ashton said."Mister Levin, you must be joking! It's only a smal
"Yanne? Ashton?" Alora's mood instantly sour. Seeing her ex-husband strolling around with another woman had dampened her spirits. Furthermore, given the tumultuous events that had unfolded since their divorce just a few weeks ago, Alora was not just upset; she felt utterly betrayed and uncomfortable."What's up, Alora? Who are you looking at? Someone you know?" Florence and Hugo caught up from behind.With just a glance, Florence immediately spotted Ashton, and her smile vanished instantly. "Levin?""Why do we see him wherever we go? Does he have a nose for sniffing us out?""Missus Latham, Alora, who are you talking about?" Hugo stepped forward, smiling curiously."Who else?" Florence gestured toward Ashton's retreating figure. "Alora's ex-husband. The good-for-nothing leech who's been freeloading off the Latham family for years."Hugo's expression instantly turned icy, and a sneer crept across his lips. "Ex-husband?""Mom! He saved Grandpa. You don't have to speak so harshly,"
Inside the box was not a reishi mushroom. It was black and yellow and even oozed a bit of a viscous green fluid. It was utterly disgusting.Is that what they call a snowy reishi mushroom?Alora did not know much about medicinal ingredients, but her intuition told her she had been duped."Mister Yoder, I think you've cheated me," Alora seethed, throwing the box back onto the counter. "Is this what you call a reishi mushroom for 450 thousand dollars?"Mister Yoder was taken aback. "What are you talking about, Miss Latham? This is an 80-year-old snowy reishi mushroom. It's of premium quality. How did I cheat you?"Hugo laughed. "Are you sure about that? I've served in the military for nine years and have been on several special operations. I've been to all the dangerous places within our borders and was fortunate to see a top-grade snowy reishi mushroom in the Mount Cayambe region. A snowy reishi mushroom should be crystal clear, with a transparent core and reddish base, exuding a fr
"It seems I was right after all," Ashton said, smiling as he gently blew away the decaying skin. It was truly a treasure. The aroma was intoxicating."What is that?" Florence stammered, her hand trembling as she held the bank card with 700 thousand dollars.Alora's gaze was fully captured as well."Did you know that this was special all along? Did you intentionally trick my mother out of 700 thousand dollars?""Trick?" Ashton looked at her in surprise, shaking his head. "How did a legal transaction become a trickery? Even if I had not bought it, your mother was planning to return it, right? Shouldn't you be grateful I paid her an extra 300 thousand dollars?"Alora's expression stiffened.Indeed, her mother had been planning to give it back. And knowing her nature, even if she could not return it, she would have just tossed it in the trash."Furthermore, I only guessed that it was special. I can only say now that I was right," Ashton said."So, what is this, Ash?" Yanne asked cu
A desire to laugh unexpectedly gripped Ashton.They were no longer related to each other, yet she wanted to purchase the item, paying just a minimal fraction of the price? What did she take him for?Ashton shook his head. "I was the one who treated your grandfather. I know his condition well. He does need nutritional supplements after being discharged, but he does not need this."He can recover just as well with common supplements like angelica or ginseng."This is a life-saving medicine. There's no reason I should give it to you."Move aside."Holding Yanne's hand, Ashton nodded to the store owner and left the store amidst the crowd's stares."You'll pay for this," Hugo growled, picking himself up from the ground and wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes tracking Ashton and Yanne as they left."Don't go! The reishi mushroom is mine. Give it back!" Florence was furious, but Alora grabbed her by the clothes before she could give chase."Enough!" Alora snapped.
"What do you think you are? You tell us to disband, and we should just do it? Do you have any idea what we've contributed to this company? We're the company's backbone; what gives you the right to say that?"Several researchers were unhappy and furious, their eyes fixed intently on Ashton.The group would have rushed up and torn the other party apart if Aerin had not interfered."What's this?" Aerin had someone bring over the white jade bottle."Open it and see for yourself." Ashton leaned back in his chair, sipping his tea.When they opened the bottle, an exotic fragrance filled the air, unfolding in everyone's nostrils—a mix of lily and a milk-like scent akin to a toddler's smell.Tipping the bottle, out came several thumb-sized pills."I call these Active Reviving Pills. Their purpose is simple—eliminate the pigments and toxic substances in the skin, rejuvenating its elasticity and glow, making it supple."The air in the conference room turned quiet. Moments later, everyone
"Miss Blau, you're an intelligent woman. You can't possibly believe that I'm giving you these Active Reviving Pills for free," Ashton said."You want to use Anthony as leverage to have me work for the Acton Chamber of Commerce for free. Do you think such a deal exists?""I do not understand what you are talking about," Aerin said, retracting her hand. Her eyes looked icy, and the atmosphere in the conference hall suddenly became tense."Very well, let me clarify," Ashton said."I can give you the formula and the simplified production method, but I have two conditions."First, remove Anthony from the Acton Chamber of Commerce."Second, I want two medicinal ingredients that are at least 300 years old or one that is over 500 years old."The entire conference hall fell into a hushed silence.It was madness—trying to haggle with Miss Blau while making such audacious demands. Anthony served as the Acton Chamber of Commerce spokesperson in Edren Country and was critical to the organiz
Switched off?Ashton dialed several times. He also tried calling her best friend, Gwen, but her phone was switched off.What was going on?"Mister Levin, how did it go? We must leave immediately. Otherwise, something terrible might happen," Xavier Lockwood said.Rather than responding hastily, Ashton called Aunt Theresa and Anthony to inquire and provide instructions about Yanne's performance. Anthony promptly assured him that he would attend Yanne's performance in his stead. Relieved, Ashton was temporarily at ease.A 700-year-old ancient medicine was almost a king of medicine.A 500-year-old ingredient was qualified as ancient medicine, an 800-year-old one was a king of medicine, and a 1000-year-old one was a magical remedy—a lifeform in itself.Such a treasure, if missed, could never be bought again, not even with all the money in the world.With the Starflower, he could brew a panacea capable of fundamentally transforming Yanne and Aunt Theresa's constitutions, ensuring the
Once the news spread, the world was in an uproar.The ban on nuclear weapons had been lifted?That meant the nuclear weapon's password had been entered, and the weapon could be launched from the ground with a single command.Furthermore, it differed from the time in the Syferian ice plains. Taking into account the international community's influence, Sunoria used a low-tonnage nuclear bomb with minimal lethality, but Aarrowsmith was different. Once they decided to use nuclear weapons, they would disregard all public opinion until they had utterly destroyed their opponents. In that case, the bombed area would be a wasteland where nothing could live for at least a century.Nobody wanted nuclear weapons to detonate on their own territory.Therefore, wherever Ashton was, the country in charge of that territory would be in a panic.Sceponyol and the allied countries quickly convened a military meeting and contacted Aarrowsmith, demanding a halt to the nuclear bombings.However, when
A single person had destroyed an entire fleet."Your actions will start a war!" Leblanc roared furiously."You're an insignificant clown; your words don't matter. Furthermore, so what if I start a war?"Ashton regarded Nimo with interest. Nimo and the others were dressed in combat suits and ready for a final desperate fight."Hand over the core technology of the combat suit and the formula for the Water of Youth, and I will let you live today," Ashton said.He admitted to being greedy for Aarrowsmith's technological advancements—not for their combat effectiveness, but for the scientific application behind those means.If members of Obsidian Gates were equipped with that type of combat suit and the Water of Youth, combined with the martial arts practitioner's own methods, their combat effectiveness would skyrocket. Everyone would become a super warrior fearless of death.However, his words made Nimo laugh wildly."Do you think it's up to you? A filthy Linnish man wants the sixth
Nimo laughed. "We're safe! Everyone, the retreat mission has been completed successfully." Nimo finally felt relaxed.Three other figures then appeared on the ship.Their combat suit was removed, revealing the figures of a woman and two men.The Annihilator Team had only four survivors.The captain of the ship approached the deck."I am Leblanc, the ship's commander, and I have been ordered to come pick you up. Why are there only four of you? What about the others?" Leblanc inquired in a suspicious tone."All of them are dead. That Linnish warrior killed them.""What?"Leblanc was shocked.He knew what power the Annihilator Team wielded, and he was sent to perform that task precisely because of that. He responded as soon as possible and cooperated unconditionally because he knew that any task assigned to the Annihilator Team had to be something he could not ignore.He also understood the Annihilator Team's composition—the frontline combat team, the communications team, the in
The battle continued.Ashton only used a sliver of true thunder's power before annihilating several members hiding in the dark in one fell swoop. Those members were waiting to report the news.The Annihilator Team was not made up entirely of combatants.The sixth-gen combat suit was still in development and had not yet been officially added to the assembly plan, so only frontline combatants wore it.For example, communications, intelligence collection, transmission, and backend members wore standard fifth-gen combat suits.In the face of that devastating thunder, there was no powerful self-healing and recovery ability, nor the ability of the Water of Youth to reshape the body. The other members were destroyed almost in the blink of an eye."Damn, what kind of weapon is that?"The captain roared frantically during the attack."Captain, this is the latest information—he found an artifact that gathers thunder and lightning at the Church of Darkness' headquarters in Edlington. That
"What? Is our warship here?""It has arrived offshore. Our country is our strongest supporter. No one can take action against Aarrowsmith's soldiers!" The man's confidence had skyrocketed.He had been a member of the Annihilator Team for over a decade and had been promoted to captain along the way. He had never encountered such a situation on a mission. A warship from Aarrowsmith's strongest navy had appeared to escort him in defeating their enemy. That undoubtedly helped him gain confidence."Fight as you retreat; buy me time."The captain took the Brain's terminal and refilled a black magnetic rod.At that moment, an indescribable scream ripped through the sky. As soon as it ended, a 50-meter building containing several people collapsed.Ashton was wearing the Obsidian Jade Scales and resisted dozens of gunshots. He grabbed a sniper from the Annihilator Team, swooped down, and smashed the opponent into the ground, grinding them into powder and ripping the combat suit apart. The
"Since the first battle in the Syferian ice plains, no one has ever caused me such a severe injury."Ashton threw a punch with enough force to cause massive explosions, swiping it at 30 times the speed of sound.The man in black armor raised his large shield almost subconsciously.When Ashton's fist made contact with the shield, a silent ripple of space appeared, and ultrasonic waves that normal creatures could not hear spread frantically in all directions like a silent bell signaling the end of the world."Hmm?"Ashton realized that when the two forces came into contact, the shield vibrated at trillions of times per second while the special metal inside formed a ring-shaped magnetic field. That magnetic field disrupted the surrounding energy flow to resolve the power emitted by his punch.It functioned similarly to the previous black magnetic rod, except one was used for attacks and the other for defense."Go!" The man's arms were numb. He held a shield and dragged the woman at
It got close to Ashton in a matter of seconds, and the black magnetic rod exploded at a speed that was almost certainly 20 times the speed of sound. No other weapon in the world could do what it did.Therefore, even Ashton was careless. His carelessness stemmed from his belief that, even if his mana could not stop the destructive power of that magnetic rod, he could at least slow it down for a moment. That moment was sufficient for him to react and take appropriate countermeasures.He did not expect the magnetic rod to ignore his mana and injure him instead.Modern weapons that could ignore mana defenses were certainly interesting."Unexpectedly, we were forced to use Plan B, utilizing the valuable Breaker Black Pillar. That damn Linnish warrior! That cost a billion dollars!" The thin man holding the transmitter removed the black sunglasses from his face and cursed viciously."Don't complain; that's Ashton. He's known as the strongest man in Lindorm. Even if we lose tens of billio
"What have you been up to, Ashton? There's no way it was just about breaking Mister Darek's curse, right? When Mister Johnson saw you, he was terrified and booked us on the first flight out," Kendra said, her voice tinged with disbelief.Ashton simply smiled, unfazed. "Oh, nothing much. I just took a quick stroll around the country and picked up a few favors along the way.""When's the flight Harry booked for us?""Tomorrow morning, six sharp," Kendra said, still incredulous."He can't wait to see the back of us," Ashton said with a laugh, but he got it—it was part of the job.Sceponyol could only begin to pick up the pieces and shuffle the deck after Ashton left. With him around, everything stopped, with unexpected events lurking around every corner."Well then, let's make the most of tonight and head out bright and early tomorrow, back home.""I'm with you. It's not every day we get to go abroad. I'm too wired to sleep anyway. Might as well check out what kind of fun this coun
"That's Mister Ashton Levin!"Harry's confirmation hit Luce like a ton of bricks.He might not have met Ashton before, but he knew the name carried a lot of power. The entire upper echelon of Sceponyol and their allied countries had been on edge, dealing with that Lindorm warrior's actions. Rumor had it he had come from the east, smashing through dozens of mercenary strongholds, clearing out the Bit Sea Strait, surviving a thermobaric onslaught, and marching straight into Brighton, putting the whole city on high alert.Blood Monarch Alexander had entered the fray, but even he could not withstand the onslaught and was cut down by Ashton. That bold move sent shockwaves through Sceponyol's superbeings community, leaving them humiliated and thirsting for revenge. In a show of force, the Five Great Guardians mobilized with one goal—to take down the perpetrator and restore their tarnished reputation on the world stage. After a grueling battle that lasted over an hour, the guardians lay de