Gerald Crawford: The Secretly or invisible Rich Man Chapter 1901
“My god! You truly are something else, Gerald!” exclaimed Yann in awe. To think that Gerald had been able to remember to steal Tye’s map earlier despite being in such a stressful situation!
Regardless, how splendid! Now that Tye and the others didn’t have the map, they’d surely be unable to continue their search!
“Whatever the case is, Tye and his men may have come here for the treasure, but we’re different. What we find valuable is different from them. With that in mind, I want both of you to listen carefully to me. Once we get to our destination, you can’t touch or take anything without first asking for my permission! Do I have myself clear?” said Gerald.
“Got it, Mr. Crawford!” replied Rey. “But… if we don’t take anything back, then this trip will be a bit of a waste, don’t you think, Mr. Crawford…2” muttered Yann in a slightly reluctant tone.
“While I won’t repeat myself, I hope you understand that greed only leads to ruin, Yann,” replied Gerald, prompting Yann to fall silent.
Yann, for one, wasn’t about to disobey Gerald’s words. After all, he was well aware of how capable and strong Gerald was.
Even so, greed was different for everyone. While some may not have it at all, others simply had endless greed…
Either way, with that said, the trio then resumed their journey…
It was quite a while later before Tye and his men would finally snap out from their dazes.
Soon realizing that Gerald and his party weren’t around, Tye rubbed his groggy forehead before asking, “Hey, have any of you seen Gerald and his party…”
Watching as his subordinates shook their heads, a realization suddenly came across Tye, prompting the man to feel his pocket… and it was at that moment when he noticed that his map had been stolen!
“That b*stard…!” scowled Tye, causing all of his men to immediately begin exchanging glances, not even sure what had happened to make Tye this angry. Hailey—Tye’s secretary—herself quickly walked up to the angry man before asking in a concerned tone, “What’s wrong, Chairman Lamano…?”
“Everything! To think that those three b*stards would actually dare to steal my map!” roared Tye, his entire face now reddened in fury.
Though she was momentarily stunned, Hailey quickly snapped out of it before replying, “Could… they perhaps have taken the map to ease their search for the exit…? After all, the last I saw them, they were heading deeper into the cave… Maybe they’ve already found the exit!”
Upon hearing that, Tye realized that she made sense. With that, he immediately ordered his men to begin going deeper into the cave…
Shortly after, the group got to the deepest part of the cave and were promptly greeted by the sight of a board of sorts that was covered by a drenched shirt…
Before Tye could even begin wondering what the shirt was doing there for, one of his scouting subordinates came rushing back as he reported, “C-chairman Lamano! We’ve found an exit on the other side!”
“So they really did steal my map and flee! Those mother f*ckers…! Pursue them immediately!” roared
the furious Tye as the group quickly left the cave…
Unfortunately for Tye, Gerald and his party were nowhere remotely close to the cave anymore, just as Gerald had predicted… Regardless, the trio had just come across a stream when Rey suggested, “Say, why don’t we take a short rest here, Mr. Crawford…? After all, with the distance we’ve covered, it’s pretty much impossible for them to catch up to us.”
Gerald Crawford: The Secretly or invisible Rich Man Chapter 1902
Hearing that, Yann then chimed in, “Indeed! We’ve already walked for two hours anyway. Let’s take a short rest!”
Understanding that the duo didn’t have his stamina and endurance, Gerald could only agree with them. After all, exhaustion during a journey was best avoided…
Nodding, Gerald replied, “Sure, why not. Let’s take a short break!”
With that, the trio sat by the stream to enjoy a well-deserved rest…
While Gerald didn’t do anything in particular, Rey and Yann began washing their faces with the stream’s water and even began drinking it.
However, shortly after the duo quenched their thirst, Rey happened to see something stuck at the bottom of the crystal-clear stream… Squinting at the object, his eyes immediately widened when he realized what it was.
Startled to hear Rey screaming out of the blue, Gerald was immediately prompted to ask, “What is it?!” “M-Mr. Crawford…! Look there…! It… It’s a human bone…!” replied the quivering Rey as he immediately backed away from the stream.
Upon hearing that, Yann quickly ran over to have a look… and once he saw that Rey wasn’t fibbing, Yann and Rey immediately began vomiting. After all, they had drunk the same water where the bone had been in!
Gerald himself calmly walked toward the stream before pulling the bone out…
Inspecting it, Gerald couldn’t help but say, “How odd… Arandom human bone in the water…? Could someone have died here…?”
After looking at it for a while longer, Gerald realized something unsettling.
“Hey, come look at this! The way the bone snapped couldn’t have been done by another person… After all, it looks like it was damaged by something feral on the hunt…” muttered Gerald, prompting Rey to quickly begin looking around.
“.A-are you suggesting that there’s a fierce beast lurking around, Mr. Crawford…2” stuttered Rey.
“Most likely!” replied Gerald with a nod as he got up from his squatting position before tossing the bone away. Naturally, this quickly made Rey and Yann nervous.
“T-then let’s hurry and leave this place, Mr. Crawford…!” said Rey, not wanting the fierce beast to suddenly ambush them. Nodding in response, Gerald was just about to begin leaving the area with his party… when all of a sudden, the trio froze.
After all, all three of them had noticed that a fanged monster was glaring straight at them not too far away…!
While neither of them made a sound in the first few seconds, eventually, Rey wasn’t able to hold back from whispering, “M-Mr. Crawford… What now-“
“Hush!” whispered Gerald in return as he placed his palm over Rey’s mouth.
Following that, Gerald gestured for the duo to slowly inch their way to the side, not wanting to alarm the beast. While making their move, all three of them kept an eye on the monster, not wanting it to get a free chance to ambush them…
However, they had only taken a few steps when the monster suddenly let out an ear-piercing roar!
“God d*mnit! It sounds angry too! Run!”
Gerald Crawford: The Secretly or invisible Rich Man Chapter 1903
Hearing Gerald’s order, Rey and Yann immediately began bolting away from the scene. Unfortunately for them, their sudden movement only served to make the monster even more excited!
Realizing that the monster had its eyes on him, Rey began running even faster as he yelled, “P-please stop chasing after me…!”
As expected, all that shouting simply caused the beast to increase its speed as it continued bolting toward Rey!
Realizing that the monster was now inches away from Rey, Gerald quickly summoned the Astrabyss Sword before tossing it toward the beast!
The second the sword successfully cut through the monster’s flesh, it let out a mighty roar of pain!
Following that, it turned to glare at Gerald before charging for him next!
Despite how intimidating it was, Gerald kept his cool and resummoned the blade into his hand.
Once the monster was only a few steps away from him, Gerald—who had positioned himself to strike by now—bolted toward it as well!
Ducking exactly in front of the monster, Gerald managed to get right underneath it… and seeing the perfect chance, Gerald then raised his sword, causing the monster to literally gut itself as its sliced open belly ran through the blade!
monster released one final roar before flopping heavily into a puddle of its own blood… Seeing that Gerald had managed to
Gerald’s side, Rey instantly asked in a concerned
turned to face Rey before replying, “I’m
them. Otherwise, they would’ve surely ended up
carcass before muttering, “…What the hell even is that beast…? While I
a better look, the trio saw that the hideous beast had two long and thin fangs in its mouth. While it did slightly
know, it sort of looks like Taotie… don’t you think? That mythological monster? But that’s just
“And why couldn’t it? After all, if ghosts can exist, why not Taoties?” Hearing Gerald’s statement, Rey couldn’t help but nod. After all, since ghosts existed, pretty much everything else could
that moment, a group of plainly dressed people suddenly
kept firm gazes on Gerald and his party, upon seeing the dead Taotie on the ground, they instantly appeared shocked before looking back at the three men
group of people weren’t the
realized that all the people were wearing traditional garments. In fact, ‘ancient’
man—holding onto a walking stick—soon walked
old man then asked, “…If I
Secretly or
heard the confused elderly man’s question, Gerald then replied, “…Well… we came from the other side of the mountain… Before anything
killed it, it lived deep in the mountains and was known for being extremely
other. As Yann
the other side of the
all three of them nodded in response, Gerald replied,
fact, Rey couldn’t help but raise a slight brow as he asked, “…Is… there a reason why
been able to come over to this side of the mountain… After all, there’s a trap there that hypnotically ensnares anyone who tries to come over! With that said, how
was referring to the jade board in the hypnotic
before replying, “Let’s just say
without even paying attention to it, it wouldn’t be a stretch to call all three of you wise men! Since you’re already here anyway, come along to our village! Allow us to indulge you for managing to get to this
harm in that, Gerald and his party then followed the old man—and the crowd of people—back
exactly like ones that could be found in history books. They also came to learn that the people here led lives where they woke early to work and turned
you think we could’ve time-traveled, Mr. Crawford…2” whispered Rey along the way, finding everything here to be
this place is just a utopia that came to be since it was cut off from the rest
still have signals! That was honestly the main reason
hearing what Gerald had to say,
time they got to the old man’s house, the entire village was already abuzz with news about outsiders’ arrival. After all, none of them had ever
were inside, Gerald immediately asked, “Speaking
chief of this village! In case you were wondering, this place
you, Chief
Crawford: The Secretly or invisible
question, Stanton immediately chuckled before replying, “You’ll find
that, Rey could only
wasn’t long before the villagers brought all kinds of
and his party, Stanton smiled before declaring, “Come, have some food! All of you must be famished and exhausted after traveling such
immediately replied, “Well yeah, I’m
man, Rey‘s appetite was nothing short of voracious. Still, with how quickly he was eating, Gerald felt that it honestly wasn’t a stretch that his hunger could
Gerald then began eating as well, followed by Yann shortly
how quickly Rey was munching down on
while, Gerald cleared his throat before asking, “Speaking of which,
“A… cave? Why would you be looking for a
gathered, that thing can most probably be found in a
here! Unfortunately, that also means that I don’t know which one you’re referring to!” replied Stanton in an apologetic
had a large wall of stone covering its massive entrance… However, I didn’t really pry into it since night was soon to come at the
still remember where that cave is located?” said Gerald, his interest
replied Stanton as he began racking his
exact location is, I do recall that
only described what the cave’s entrance looked like, Gerald was just pleased that he received a clue in the first
chief! We’ll start looking for it first thing in the morning!” replied Gerald in a gratuitous
then said, “You’re most
fell and a bright crescent moon enveloped
Secretly or invisible
fell, the entire village went dead silent. Everyone simply remained in their homes and turned their light sources out, not even bothering to go against the norm. They truly were living like people from ancient
whisper, “…Say… Mr. Crawford…?
based on the chief’s description, it shouldn’t be too
left the cave by this point…” muttered
probably have. After all, even we were able to locate the exit
get out? Gerald and his party were pretty much always going to be a step ahead of them anyway. With that in mind, them catching
if they did manage to catch up to them, it wasn’t as though Gerald couldn’t take on
to hit the hay… Not long after the sun began to rise, knocking
before walking over to the door. Opening it, Gerald then smiled
are just early risers! Regardless, I’m here to tell you that we’re
of course! Please give us a moment, chief! We’ll be packed up and ready in no time!” replied Gerald, now looking much more pumped up. After all, they’d surely have a much easier time finding
someone prepare breakfast for you, so we’ll only be
it already, we really appreciate being in your care!” replied Gerald in a gratuitous tone. After all, not only had Stanton personally come over to wake them, but he had even got others to prepare breakfast for them! It would be rude
that said, Gerald
they headed over to the village chief’s house and had a lavish breakfast… This didn’t take long, and soon enough, the party of three set off for
difficult to hike. Had Stanton not been there to lead the way, Gerald
that didn’t mean that the hike was easy. Rey himself—who wasn’t used to hiking—couldn’t help but complain, “T-this hike is a bit
been much rougher if we didn’t have the chief’s
Crawford: The Secretly or invisible Rich Man
here is the product of us mapping out the mountain for years! This path is considerably easy, you know?
man’s light-heartedness, it didn’t change the fact that all this hiking was a challenge for them. Even so, they were well aware
group finally arrived at an area with relatively flat land. Judging from how high up the mountain they were, they were possibly halfway up the mountain as well. With that in mind, looking down at the deep valley—that was now hundreds of feet below them—would make anyone feel giddy… Just as all
pointing, the three men could immediately see the two stone pillars standing
“So it would seem! Thank you for guiding us up till this point, chief! We’ll
there… Once you’ve located whatever it is you’re looking for, do return to the village!” replied Stanton in
and clear! We appreciate all the hospitality, chief!” declared Gerald and his
and heading
continued on their own journey
the sealed-up cave, Rey couldn’t help but say, “That’s one massive stone wall blocking the entrance… Still… Do you think there’s some kind
and I’m pretty sure it’s around here somewhere,” replied Gerald. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s hurry and find it!” declared Yann in an
the area…
the mechanism resemble The Eight Diagrams…? The one from Feng Shui…? Have you heard about it, Mr.
particularly knowledgeable in the art of Feng Shui, I do know that The Eight Diagrams are also known as the eight doors,
going to get the cave to open was by solving this
doesn’t that mean that we’ve hit a dead-end…?” muttered Yann in a slightly
into the cave all that difficult. After all, the hard part is usually getting out of such areas. With that in mind,
or invisible Rich Man Chapter
Gerald then began giving The Eight Diagrams
After thinking for a while, he eventually exclaimed, “I think I get it now! The Eight Diagrams isn’t the mechanism at all! From what I’ve gathered, it’s a clue that will lead us to the mechanism instead!”
Before the other two could even reply, Gerald was already looking for the mechanism according to the positions of the elements on The Eight Diagrams…
“The left and right sides symbolize water, whereas the front and back symbolize fire…” muttered Gerald as he continued keeping an eye out on the mechanism… and eventually, he found it.
Thankfully, Gerald had minor knowledge about Feng Shui. Otherwise, they would’ve never been able to find it! Still, Gerald knew he was also considerably lucky that the puzzle to opening the entrance was this simple…
Regardless, now that the mechanism was in sight, Gerald quickly twisted it… and moments after he did, the large stone wall began shaking vigorously…!
Shortly after, the wall parted in the middle, and it swung open like two massive doors…
Staring wide-eyed at the dark passageway before them, for a brief moment, all the trio could do was exchange glances with each other…
Yann was the first to break the silence as he excitedly exclaimed, “Y-you did it, Gerald…!”
While this was certainly something to celebrate, the three knew that their journey was far from over. With that, they immediately began making their way into the cave… The second they entered, however, the large doors of the cave instantly began closing again… As Gerald had expected, leaving was definitely going to be much harder than entering…
Still, they knew they had to take the rough with the smooth, so the trio simply gritted their teeth as they continued further into the cave…
With how dark it was getting, Rey took some torchlights out from his backpack before handing them to Gerald and Yann.
Quite honestly, this place was practically a nightmare for anyone who was afraid of being alone in the dark… Thankfully, the trio was together and with three beams of light lighting their way, they were able to proceed forward with more comfort and security…
About three hundred feet later, the trio finally arrived at the end of the passageway… only to find it blocked by yet another stone wall!
Ina way, this was the perfect embodiment of the saying, ‘Out of the frying pan and into the fire…’
“D* mn it, another wall…?” muttered Rey as he turned to look at Gerald.
Gerald himself simply stared at the wall for a while before gently placing his hand on it… and the second he did, the entire wall began to shake!
Soon enough, the stone wall slowly slid to the side… revealing jaw-dropping amounts of treasure! Glittering gold coins were seemingly everywhere, with some even piled up so high they resembled mountains…! As if the sight wasn’t grand enough already, the candles inside even began lighting up on their own!
“H-holy cr*p!” exclaimed both Rey and Yann simultaneously, utterly amazed by all they were seeing.
“T-there’s so many gold coins…! We’re rich! We’re filthy rich!” yelled Yann excitedly as he bolted into
the room!
While Gerald wanted to stop him, his attention was suddenly caught by something else…
Gerald Crawford: The Secretly or invisible Rich Man Chapter 1909
Atop one of the many piles of treasure, lay a treasure chest… and upon seeing it, Gerald immediately knew that what he was looking for was in there.
As he had predicted, it truly was here! Now that it was so close to him, there was no way he was going to be able to hold himself back from obtaining it!
With that, Gerald paid little attention to what Rey and Yann were doing and simply walked toward the treasure chest…
Watching as seemingly endless amounts of gold coins slid down from the mountain of treasures that Gerald was slowly climbing, Yann couldn’t help but get even more excited. Taking his backpack off, he immediately began filling it with piles upon piles of treasures! After all, he had never seen this many gold coins in a single place before, so he simply couldn’t help himself…
While Rey—who had been standing at the side—was equally as excited to see all that gold, he knew better than to do what Yann was doing.
After all, Gerald had told him not to touch things at random, and he wasn’t about to disobey him.
Regardless, Gerald finally made it to the top of the mountain of coins at that moment…
Upon opening the treasure chest, he was greeted by the sight of a crystal clear, emerald-green jade pendant that was shaped like a butterfly…
This was it… he had finally found it!
Gerald was the only one who knew what the pendant was used for, so he wasn’t too worried about Yann wanting to take it. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry, so Gerald quickly hid it in his clothes. Nobody could ever learn that he had obtained the item…
Whatever the case was, now that he had obtained the pendant, he slid down the mountain of gold coins, fully prepared to leave as he called out, “Alright, we’ve found what we were looking for, now let’s head back!”
“What? Are you seriously telling me that you wish to leave just like that?” retorted Yann. Stopping in his tracks, Gerald raised a slight brow as he turned to look at Yann before saying, “If I recall correctly, I specifically remember telling you not to touch any of the treasures here!”
“I know, I know, but… all this treasure, Gerald…! If we get all this out of here, we’ll be able to live the rest of our lives without worry!” replied Yann in an enthusiastic tone.
Sensing the glint of avarice in Yann’s eyes, Gerald could already tell that Yann was dangerously close to completely losing himself to greed.
“V’lLonly say it one more time. We’re leaving now, and we’re not taking anything else back with us!” declared Gerald in a solemn tone.
“I refuse! After all, I saw you take something for yourself! If you can do it, why can’t I?” scowled Yann.
Realizing that Yann had noticed him taking the jade, Gerald was slightly tongue-tied. How was he even going to explain that the pendant had a much greater value than all those treasures…?
Seeing that Gerald was having trouble, Rey then yelled, “Brother Yann, please just listen to Mr. Crawford! I’m sure he has his reasons for disallowing you to take any of them back!”
Unfortunately, Yann was already completely consumed by greed by this point.
“Over my dead body! Since you don’t want them so much, fine! They all belong to me now! Mark my words, I’m definitely getting all of them out today if it’s the last thing I do!” howled Yann as though he had gone insane. “You…!” growled Rey as he turned to look at Gerald, understanding that Yann would no longer take advice from anyone…
Gerald Crawford: The Secretly or invisible Rich Man Chapter 1910
“What should we do now, Mr. Crawford…?” asked Rey.
Staring straight at Yann, Gerald simply narrowed his eyes before shaking his head. He knew for a fact that Yann was already a lost cause… Greed truly was a frightening thing…
Even so, he wanted to try one last time. Glaring at Yann, Gerald’s tone sounded much angrier as he growled, “…One final time. Are you leaving with us, or aren’t you?”
“’m not leaving yet!” roared Yann, instantly causing Gerald’s anger to peak.
That was the last straw. Not wanting anything to do with Yann anymore, Gerald then began walking out of the treasure room…
However, the second Gerald stepped out, all the candles in the room immediately went out. Following that, the room began glowing in an eerie green light!
‘This isn’t good!’ Gerald thought to himself as he quickly got out of the room—along with Rey—before yelling, “Yann! Get over here! Quick!”
Of course, Yann’s fate had been sealed the second he chose to disobey Gerald… Unable to react in time, Yann’s eyes could only widen as he watched all the gold around him transform into green goo that quickly enveloped him! He didn’t even have the time to scream before the goo completely melted him down to the bone…
Gerald and Rey were understandably stunned to witness all this. To think that such a punishment had been set up for those who had been overtaken by greed…
Regardless, Yann was now dead and there was nothing Gerald could do about it.
With that in mind—and the fact that the goo was slowly coming their way—, Gerald quickly grabbed onto Rey’s arm before yelling, “Come on, let’s leave this place!”
Rey wasn’t about to say no to that, and the duo bolted back into the passageway from before…
Shortly after, they heard the familiar scraping of stone on dirt coming from behind them, and it was pretty obvious that the door had closed itself again… Thank god they had left the room quickly…
Taking a momentary rest by sitting in the passageway, Rey couldn’t help but look at Gerald with grief- filled eyes as he said, “…Mr. Crawford… Brother Yann, he…”
While he knew that Rey was frightened since this was probably the first time he had seen someone die in such a terrible way, Gerald simply opted to reply in a calm tone, “He’s dead…”
Naturally, even Gerald was sad about Yann’s death, but had the man not been consumed by avarice, he wouldn’t have had to die so horribly… With that in mind, Yann’s end was honestly deserved…
After calming down a bit more, Rey couldn’t help but ask, “What even was that green goo…” “I’m not sure, but it probably resembles sulphuric acid since it could corrode so well…” replied Gerald who couldn’t help but sigh, still slightly bummed out that Yann had to die.
After all, he saw the man as a good friend. Still, Gerald did find solace in the fact that Rey wasn’t like Yann.
With that in mind, Gerald then patted Rey on the shoulder before praising, “…Regardless, I’m glad you weren’t consumed by greed as well, Rey. I’m proud of you!”
Despite the compliment, Rey was simply too sad to even feel pleased about it. After all, they had just lost a teammate…