Elliott flicked his right hand, and with a crisp crack, a corner of the table was sliced off by the slender, sharp knife. The cut was smooth and clean, just like cutting through tofu.
This move demonstrated his formidable strength and exquisite knife skills.
Luca showed a hint of admiration. No wonder he had spent a fortune to hire him.
“Impressive.”
Darnell picked up the sliced-off piece of wood, glanced around, and leisurely said, “It may look like one slash, but it actually involved seven changes, and the speed was incredibly fast. You’re indeed a master with a knife.”
Elliott’s arrogance faltered slightly. He looked at Darnell with some surprise, seemingly not expecting him to see through his technique.
Then his expression turned sour as Darnell bluntly added, “But there are still too few changes, and the speed is still a bit slow.”
Whoosh!
Before Elliott could scoff in disdain, Darnell’s right hand moved, and the knife in Elliott’s hand instantly appeared in Darnell’s hand.
In the next second, a flash of the knife passed by, and the piece of wood that Elliott had cut was split into two again, but this time, it was Darnell who cut it.
Then, the slender knife returned to Elliott’s hand.
Elliott looked at the knife in his hand, utterly shocked.
He knew his own skills well and understood his sensitivity to knives. No one had ever been able to snatch this sharp knife from his hand.
Yet, Darnell not only snatched it but also effortlessly returned it.
During this time, he didn’t react. No… To be precise, it was so fast that he didn’t even have time to react.
This bastard was incredibly fast.
“This gift is for you.”
After returning the knife to Elliott, Darnell placed the two sliced pieces of wood in his hand.
Elliott looked at Darnell’s intact hand and then at the two pieces of wood in his palm. His body swayed slightly before he bowed deeply to Darnell.
After bowing, he said nothing more. He took out a check from his pocket and placed it in front of Luca before turning to leave.
He held onto the two pieces of wood tightly in his hand.
Nick shouted loudly, “Elliott! What are you doing? Hurry up and defeat them! Save us!”
Elliott said nothing and silently left the hall. Darnell’s one slash involved nine changes. How could he possibly stand against such a formidable opponent?
Elliott disappeared as swiftly as he had arrived but left behind many troubled hearts within the Apex.
The hall returned to silence. Darnell walked slowly toward Luca. “Luca, you’ve lost this battle.”
Luca looked ashen. “Yeah, I lost.”
“Admitting defeat makes you a man.”
Darnell spoke calmly, “According to our bet, since you’ve lost, you should become my lackey. But after thinking about it, you’re not qualified.”
“So this bet is void. Take your men and get out of Woodsea. Don’t cause trouble here again.”
Darnell sneered coldly, “Otherwise, I’ll wipe out the Apex and sink you and Nick into the Whiteville River!”
“Three thousand disciples may sound terrifying, but if I want to, I can turn them into three thousand corpses.”
Luca was stunned by these words. Was he going to let them off just like that? Seeing Darnell’s arrogant expression made him sigh inwardly.
He completely dismissed the Apex, not out of arrogance, but because his immense strength afforded him the confidence to do so.
Realizing this made Luca feel complex emotions, relief at not having to be a lackey but also self-mockery at the Apex’s incompetence.
Three thousand elite members and most of Northmoor’s territory were not valued by Darnell. This gave him a sense of defeat. After thinking it over for a while, Luca nodded.
“Although I’m not a good and untrustworthy person, I can still give you my word.”
“From today onwards, the Apex will never target Woodsea again.”
Luca was straightforward enough. After saying that, he shouted for everyone to leave.
He was the first to leave the hall. Callum and others followed suit with their wounds covered, dejected and frustrated but no longer angry.
Because Darnell’s strength had shown them that the Apex was no match for him.
“We won! We won!”
As soon as Luca and his men left the hall, Leroy and others cheered loudly, completely disregarding their injuries. Their joy and excitement seemed to reverberate through the very air around them.
Then many villagers ran over to surround Darnell, jumping around him as if he were a hero.
Darnell squeezed out of the crowd and approached Leroy, striking while the iron was hot. “Leroy! I did well today. How about my rent…”
“Free, all free! Water, electricity, and internet, all free too!”
Leroy shouted happily despite his pain, “I’ll even give you a bigger room, a four-bedroom apartment. No! You can have all seven floors!”
Seven floors with eight rooms each, over four hundred square meters in total.
Darnell slapped his thigh. “That’s great!”
Then he saw Noemi approaching. He wanted to turn away but stopped himself after thinking for a moment.
“Ms. Sotheby! I helped Woodsea drive away the Apex. They won’t dare come back again! Don’t you think my brothers and I can get some rewards?”
Noemi rolled her eyes at him. “You greedy bastard, always after small gains! Don’t you ever grow up?”
Darnell sighed, “Life is hard. Every bit helps.”
“Hard my ass!”
Noemi scolded angrily, “Don’t try to fool me.”
Then she pulled Leroy and several villagers aside for a brief discussion before returning.
She shouted, “Everyone, quiet down! I’ve got something to say!”
As soon as Noemi spoke up, the hall fell silent instantly.
“First, we’ll all go get our injuries checked at the hospital later. The village committee will cover expenses, and everyone gets fifty thousand dollars as warrior bonuses.”
“Everyone here deserves a bonus. And Garrett’s group gets one hundred thousand each since they helped us more than anyone else today.”
“Any objections?”
Hundreds of villagers responded in unison, “No objections!”
Garrett’s group was initially stunned but then thrilled. They hadn’t expected any bonus for helping out purely for Darnell’s sake.
Darnell jumped up several times, hinting at Noemi not forgetting him since he contributed greatly too!
Noemi almost kicked him before clearing her throat.
“Second, I decided to hire Darnell as Woodsea’s security consultant, with a yearly salary of one million dollars, to be responsible for Woodsea’s safety.”
“Do you all agree?”
As soon as she finished speaking, the crowd roared unanimously, “Agree!”
The shouting was overwhelming.
Having the Apex protect them would cost over ten million dollars. With similar effectiveness, Darnell only needed one million. Only a fool would refuse such a deal!
“I don’t agree!”
Darnell weakly raised his hand. “I came to Whiteville for an assistant job, not some security consultant position.”
“Besides, a million sounds like a lot, but no matter how awesome I am, I’m still just one person. How can I protect thousands of people?”
“If situations like today happen frequently, I won’t survive until year-end.”
He didn’t want to get him into trouble. “Ms. Sotheby, just reward me ten or eighty thousand instead.”
“I haven’t finished talking yet!”
“One million is your salary. I just need your name to be associated with the village committee. You don’t need to do much and help when needed.”
Noemi coaxed gently, “Fights like today’s rarely happen, not even once every five years. You’ll practically earn it for nothing.”
“It won’t affect your freedom or your job. You’ll only be busy for less than ten days annually, I promise.”
Darnell looked skeptical. Such a good deal?
“Of course, you’ll still need some initial work.”
Noemi continued, “We need your help forming a security team. The Apex’s disruption caused over two hundred guards to quit.”
“I hope you’ll spend some time screening candidates and recruiting new members. You can decide how many people to hire and what kind of individuals to bring on board.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll provide you with a budget of nine million per year. Additionally, we will offer you office space and accommodations, and even cover your meals and housing.”
“Darnell, isn’t this offer good?”
Crap!
Hearing this made Darnell’s head spin. Recruiting guards? This meant being both a security consultant and head guard and managing two hundred guards’ affairs!
How would he find time for dating? He was on the verge of tears, his face contorted with anguish.
“Ms. Sotheby, it’s too much.”
He confessed his shortcomings publicly.
“I’m poorly educated. With low qualifications, I can’t handle such big responsibilities.”
Noemi glared at him fiercely, slamming the desk.
“How can you not handle it? You’re young, and you must learn to face challenges!”
“Do you still want to pursue Lillian? Just think about her beautiful face and those flawless thighs. Are you really sure you don’t want her?”
Upon hearing Noemi’s threat and picturing the fair-skinned Lillian, Darnell hesitated for a moment, then finally managed to squeeze out a single word.
“Fine!”