The Strongest Businessman

But thanks to this, Dylan was able to identify all of his mistakes for the past month. First, he was too eager and excited that he made his establishment develop too fast that it made other businesses feel like he posed a threat to their business like what happened with Andrew and the Vigor Hotel.

If he had adjusted the pace of his business\'s development to a slower and steadier pace instead of an explosive growth, then most of the business establishments would have gradually accepted his superiority in business and little conflict would have been made between him and Andrew.

Then Andrew wouldn\'t have chosen to challenge him and join Byron and the Darkness Castle. Scarlet would not have activated her Ancestral Bloodline earlier than what it should have been. Gabriel and the Elder wouldn\'t have sensed Scarlet and took her away. Leila and Frank wouldn\'t have died in such a manner.

But, Dylan knew it was already to late to regret his past decisions. The only thing to do now was to keep moving forward and develop his business and strength slowly yet surely.

Second, he was too weak when he confronted others. He originally thought since he was a transcender, then his path to becoming stronger would have been esasy as pie or a walk in the park. But he was wrong to believe as so.

Now, that he was thinking clearly, he was able to think more critically and he remembered that most of the popular novels he has read had setbacks to their MCs in order for them to get stronger. He was just the same as anyone in this world. He may have a few hacks that others don\'t have but it always comes down to how hardworking and tenacious a person is.

He must be able to become strong enough not only for himself but also for his loved ones

Third, he was too soft. Maybe it was because he has never killed anyone before the battle that he was reluctant to kill the rebel army but now he learned that being soft to your enemy is bringing harm to your loved ones and allies. Because of what he experienced, he is prepared to massacre even a city of people who tried to hurt him and his comrades for the sake of saving his loved ones.

He readjusted mindset. The evil are evil. No matter what excuse they may have, even if they have families, the way they killed other people who might have families to return to is downright evil. So by killing them, it would also serve as avenging the victims of the evildoers and also giving the justice that the families of those who were murdered are yearning for.

Fourth, he let the enemy control his emotions and mind. This lead to the loss of clarity and clear-headedness that he usually had. He should have stayed calm despite how desperate the situation becomes. If he did that, he could have at least used his skills to negotiate with the enemy and made the enemy dance in his palms like what he does to his rivals in business back on Earth.

But, Dylan was unable to because Scarlet was the one who was in danger. The anger and hate he was controlling burst open when he saw that Scarlet was held by the puppet. Thus, losing his reasoning and calm disposition.

However, now that Scarlet was gone. Dylan had no more vulnerable weakness to be exploited by his opponents. Although his employees were important to him, Scarlet was in a completely different level of importance to him. He kept in mind and heart to not play by the mind games of his opponents ever again.

Dylan was slowly walking while looking at the rubble with nostalgia when he suddenly heard a crashing sound.

*CRASH!*

Dylam immediately headed to where the sound originated and jumped over the scrap hills. After scaling those scrap hills, he was able to see a house surrounded by countless men who were bashing it from the outside. Ronald and most of the boys were trying their best to defend against the overwhelming numbers.

Dylan recognized those uniforms, they were the remnents of the rebel army! Dylan\'s expression became colder as he summoned the Waning Moon Sword. He dashed to the center while slicing off 10 heads of the remnant soldiers of the faction of the three giants as he headed to the center.

Ronald and the others were shocked by the sudden arrival of Dylan. It has been 3 days ever since Dylan\'s retreat and they were all inside the house waiting for Dylan to return home. But suddenly today, the remnannts of the rebels still had some lingering hate towards Dylan so decided ta take it out to Dylan\' employees. Almost half died due to the residual damage and after shocks that Scarlet and Byron created during their feirce battle.

"Dont worry, I\'m here already, we will be able to easily kill these remnant." Dylam smiled reassuringly as he tightened his grip to his sword and vertically slashed an Energy Slash which killed over a dozen soldiers.

"What? He- He\'s Dylan Ford!" A warrior said.

"Wasn\'t he crippled?" Another commented.

"Whatever method you may have used to restore your cultivation! You will still die!" A 10th level Spirit Veins Realm Expert charged to Dylan.

"Oh, really?" Dylan\'s face got colder as he dashed towards the 10th level Spirit Veins Realm practitioner. When their blades were about to meet, Dylan redirected his body to the left side of the warrior using his [ Four Soft Steps-Perfection]. When he reached the left side of the warrior, the warrior was startled.

Dylan did not give the warrior for any room to think as he sliced the throat of the warrior. After which, Dylan put something into his body and threw it to a crowd of rebels​. A loud explosion was heard the next moment as Dylan ravaged the rebels and massacred all of them.

The initial number of warriors was around 200 all of which at the Spirit Veins Realm. But in just a few attacks, Dylan reduced them to ¾ of their original number!

Seeing Dylan\'s lead, his employees got fired up and started join Dylan\'s slaughtering of the three giants\' dogs.

Dylan was currently facing the three tanks alone. It was ironic how these three once served him but betrayed him amidst a great crisis. But Dylan expected it as the one they swore loyalty was the three giants.

"Do the three of you have any last words?" Dylan asked with calm expression on his face.

"Die, Dylan Ford!" The three tanks charged at him together.

"Very well." Dylan closed his eyes and slowly shook his heads. When he opened it again, Dylan jumped in mid-air as he launched three consecutive Energy Slash. Each one meant to take the life of each of the three tanks. They fled in different directions to evade it when Dylan somersaulted in mid air until he reached the top of the three tanks head. Seeing that Dylan delivered himself to their doorstep, they struck out their strongest attack!

"Triple Tiger Breaker!" The three tanks roared. Three tiger Avatars materialized behind their backs when the struck their fists out. Clearly, they were aiming to kill Dylan for causing their masters death.

As the three tigers were launching an attack to Dylan, Dylan was calm because even though he was preoccupied with the three tanks, he was able to perfectly see the surrounding areas of battling between his employees and the rebel army.

To Dylan, the three tanks attacks were slowly​ moving which was in contrast with the perception of the surrounding warriors. Dylan was able to see every detail that the three were doing from the fusion of their avatars down to the trajectory of the attack.

\'What happened to me, specifically, what happened to my eyes?\' Dylan pondered as he was in mid-air.

Although Dylan found it strange how he was able to identify every detail during battle, he did not let it get to him and remained calm. He devised a plan in a split second and executed after the next moment.

"Hmph." Dylan coldly snorted as the Shield of Dusk materialized and blocked more than half of the combined attack of the three. The shield burned the Tigers as Dylan came closer to them. He injected a large amounts of energy to the Waning Moon Sword.

"Take this, Crescent Moon Slash!" Dylan sent a deadly attack to the straightly aligned three tanks as the blade strike passed through their bodies and killed the three tanks of the three giants!

The entire battlefield stopped. Dylan had slain the three strongest opponents. The rebels started to scatter but Dylan did not let them flee as he chased down those who were at the Awakened Spirit Realm.

After an hour of battle, Dylan and his employees finally annihilated the rebel army. Dylan was a bit shocked when he was able to easily take on 12th level Awakened Spirit Realm Expert in just ten moves. Clearly, he got stronger from the fight with Andrew and Byron.

He also noticed that his Spirit Veins were much wider and robust than they were before. Dylan thought that it was because of his repeated refilling of energy during his battle with rebel army 3 days ago.

Noticing this, Dylan was psyched knowing that he was steadily growing stronger.

"Yeeeehaa, we won!" The employees rejoiced and leaped repeatedly in mid-air.

"Okay, everyone gather all their bags or storage rings. We will collect our spoils of war!" Dylan anounced.

"Aye, aye, sir Dylan!" The employees responded.

After an hour, Dylan was able to calculate the overall spoils of war. They collected more than thirty thousand gold coins which is equal to 3 million silver coins. The treasures that they collected could also be pawned for another twenty thousand gold coins! But what was really the most valuable spoils of war was the 16 storage rings and 89 Spirit Stones!

Storage rings are sold for 10 spirit stones. Having 16 means that they have a total of 249 Spirit Stones! They also found an ample amount of Battle Techniques, Movement techniques, and Secret Techniques!

"Okay, we will now embark on a journey to go to the next city for us to establish another business." Dylan spoke loudly with confidence.

"Yes, sir!" His employees replied.

"Does any of you know which is the nearest city for us to go? How far is it from here?" Dylan asked.

"Sir, the nearest city is the Middle Proximity City- Peaceful Clouds City which is 10, 000 kilometers west. But we will be having a problem to go their since somewhere along the way, we must tread one of the danger zones of the Mystic Red Cloud State, The Nightmare Clouds. A giant mass of dark-red clouds that is estimated to be 1,500 kilometers in diameter. One wrong step will make any warrior fall into an eternal sleep that is filled with nightmares." Jack informed Dylan.

\'Not wonder, no city provided as assistance during our battle with Byron. The nearest city is about 10,000 kilometers away. Just how large is the entire Mystical Clouds Country if cities are even tens of thousands kilometers away from each other. It seems like this world is tens of times bigger than Earth, right?\' Dylan laughed bitterly.

Scanning his surroundings, it seems like for the people who are residing in this world ever since they were born such distance is normal for them. So Dylan still decided to ask about something he got from the rebel army.

"Ehh? I heard that the city lord evacuated the citizens to that city. How would they be able to pass through that?" Dylan inquired.

"That\'s because the City Lords of the two cities are sworn brothers. The City Lord of the Peaceful Clouds City sent a navigator for the City Lord of Soaring Cloud City to rely on if they were to evacuate. Our City Lord has also sent a navigator for the City Lord of Peaceful Clouds City to rely on. These navigators are skilled adventurers that dared to roam the Nightmare Clouds." Ronald narrated.

"Ohhh, so which city is the nearest aside from the one you mentioned which is safe to go to?" Since they can\'t go to the nearer city, Dylan must settle for other choices.

"The nearest and safest would be the Middle Proximity City- Clear Clouds City which is 14,000 kilometers east and the Inner Proximity City- Thunder Clouds City which is 14,000 kilometers south." Larry spoke.

"Hmm, let\'s head for the Inner Proximity City- Thunder Clouds City. Let\'s take our business to an even bigger stage!" Dylan anounced.

"Yes, sir!" His employees replied out loud.

"Now, pack up. We will leave by dawn.\' Dylan smiled

In the morning at the light of dawn, Dylan and company were all set to leave.

"Is everyone set to go?" Dylan asked his employees whose eyes were bringing with excitement.

"Yes, sir!" His employees roared with smiles plastered on their faces as new challenges would try to hinder them from fulfilling the goals!

"Okay, let us embark to a bigger stage, the Inner Proximity City-Thunder Clouds City!" Dylan took the lead ass they headed out.

After exiting the periphery of the city, Dylan smiling as he performed a head count. He noticed that there was one person missing. He approached Jack and asked.

"Have you seen, Diane? I haven\'t seen her for quite a while now." Dylan asked.

"Diane? Sir Dylan, who is that?" Jack looked puzzled.

"What do you mean? You don\'t know who she is? You\'re not joking, right?" Dylan felt that something was off.

"I don\'t really know who she is." Jack looked confused and it was evident that he was telling the truth.

"Uh, nevermind​." Dylan asked everyone​ with regards to Diane but to no avail, no one could even remember her name and who she was. Dylan found it strange and truly peculiar how his employees would forget the top-performing beauty among them.

\'How come I\'m the only one who remembers Diane? I remember she was still there at morning before the evening of the restaurant\'s destruction but I am unsure if she was still there when I responded to the Spirit Beast horde. Just where did she go? Why did she leave?\' Dylan racked his head as he thought what could be the reason.