When the year was about to end and Gideon was scheduled to have his rating, he received a notice that he must appear at the exact date and time to avoid unnecessary trouble since he just became a high-profile herald by destroying dungeons months prior, the rating temples were temporarily holding his rating off until things blew over.
With the business matters handed over to Rebecca after promising to cook for her every day, at dinner, at their family mansion, Gideon had become basically free!
Gideon was growing numbers, passively. His company's bank account was always threatening to burst and recently, Gideon was personally handed 80-85% of 15 banks' major shares. This was basically because the banks couldn't produce the money that came rushing into the Johnsons' account. To make up for it, they were basically selling their banks to the Johnsons, but this was done rather secretly to avoid any rumors.
His family's wealth was already astronomical that even the World Bank couldn't compare.
Gideon had one other goal to accomplish. He had learned his lesson from the other world. If you want to protect people, do it right.
When he was in the other world, he had many friends that died because he left them in relatively safe locations away from the battlefield. However, this was turned into his weakness instead. The evil god aimed for those people and killed them. Leaving Gideon mad and almost lost his mind to killing and revenge.
The only way to protect them is to put powerful people around them or give them something that would definitely protect them. He had been mulling over it and the only way to absolutely protect them in this world was to put formations on the people which activates when bloodlust or potential harm are directed to them.
There were two layers to this protection, one was the layer to encase them in protective barriers to give the next layer time to activate as well. Putting into consideration the fact that not everyone had energy enough to activate formations, the formations themselves must have energy gathering formations embedded in them. So, the formation was rather intricate and complex. Even with Gideon's attainments in Formations he still needed time to work it out.
With time in his hands now, he was able to focus on it. In the end, after two days of thinking about it, Gideon completed the prototype. He then immediately tested it through a piece of paper. He attached it on a scarecrow and proceeded with attacking it with his mind.
The formation activated but it took too much time to do so and was too late in defending from a thought-based attack.
Without modifying the formation, he tried shooting it with spiritual fire that arrived as if a bullet shot from a gun. This time, the formation successfully defended against the attack and activated the layers of formations intricately woven into it.
Soon, the final defense was activated and the scarecrow suddenly appeared behind Gideon.
This was his desired effect. Knowing that it activates completely to the last layer in just 3 seconds, Gideon was… disappointed.
Three seconds was enough to kill anyone if the attacker had the power of the evil god. Even if just champions came, they would still be able to harm the people behind the barrier before it fully activates.
"I need to improve on this more. This will be my major project and my gift to the precious people to me for the end of the year."
Gideon determined to finish the production in less than a week. His goal, activating it within microseconds after each layer is completed.
Gideon continued to go back and forth from home to a remote workshop he bought for himself. The workshop was well hidden but the way there was not.
One day, when he was on his way there via the super express ways, Gideon's car was surrounded by multiple black sedans.
Seeing this and knowing what's up, Gideon ordered the driver, "Driver, stop the car. After I get off, immediately call for help by driving far away from here as fast as possible. Understood? I leave it up to you."
The driver pecked the air like a chicken to nod affirmatively. He was afraid but he knew that Gideon was at least an S-Class herald which was information that circulated inside the mansion.
"Good. Now, stop the car."
The driver then braked fully, making the car issue screeching noises as the tire burned and the brake drum turned red.
Click. Gideon alighted and the cars that surrounded them also stopped. Then, multiple individuals also got out of their cars. There were 5 cars with 4 people each inside including the drivers.
"15 B-Class heralds and 4 A-Class, there's even an S-Class Fighter with you. It seems you really prepared for this?"
"Come with us without any fuss and you won't get hurt." Said the S-Class Fighter who led the group. Gideon though had not been listening because he was gesturing the driver to now go away and 'ask' for help, when in truth he just wanted the man out of the way.
When the car started to move, the 15 B-Class people tried to stop it but the S-Class stopped them. "Let the driver be. He must have been sent to ask for help. By the time he's asked for reinforcements, we'll be long gone anyway."
"Yes, sir."
"Now then, are you done acting deaf and distracted? You must be strong enough to fight these 15 B-Class fighters, huh. The only time you reacted was when you saw me, an S-Cass Fighter who got off the car, why? Because you knew you won't be able to get away, so you asked for help from your driver."
"…" Gideon stayed silent. He wasn't going to talk shit with these thugs. Truthfully, it was a pity to rid the world of an S-Class Fighter valuable for fighting the evil god's champions and its invasion, but it was better to just rid the world of useless scum.
Gideon revealed a smile to the S-Class Fighter. When he saw this, the S-Class Fighter frowned. This smile, he's only seen smiles like these prior to his awakening. This smile represented contempt and mockery. He also had this smile plastered on his face after his awakening. Now that he's seen this same smile while he was being looked at, it almost drove him mad.
"Insolent fool! I will break your legs before taking you to my employer!"
Gideon wasn't surprised that he'd move. After all, pride was the first thing that festers when receiving an awakening. He also felt this way when he received the goddess' blessing for the first time and was taught a lesson by the evil god's many minions.
However, the difference now was that this lesson would end in blood and tears and snot.
The S-Class Fighter's charge was incredibly fast. To the eyes of the B and A-Class Fighters he had arrived instantly in front of Gideon, but to Gideon's perception, he was too slow as if he was walking in super slow motion.
Gideon lifted his hand and received the man with just his arm stretched, palm out. When the fighter arrived, a loud thud and crack and another thud resounded.
It was the S-Class Fighter, being received, his bones breaking, and then a loud thud for when his body hit the pavement.
"I won't be killing you easily. If you scheme like this towards me, then there's no telling what you'll do to my weaknesses." Gideon faced the fighters and suddenly, every single one of them flopped down as if puppets with their strings cut abruptly. Gideon then waved his hand and telekinetically left while the 20 people were handled like cats bitten on their necks.
Gideon left the area after as he stepped into the air. Of course, there were videos taken of the fight. After all, there was an S-Class Fighter present. Surprisingly though, the S-Class Fighter was rendered unconscious by a single counter of Gideon.
Obviously, everything will be talked about on social media as the video was released. Odd enough, the person that knocked down the S-Class Fighter had his face covered in mosaic even though it was not edited.
"What the hell, man? Is this even real or were they shooting a movie?"
"I think it's real. I heard about the traffic in XX Highway at mid-day today."
"Then where is that expert now with the 20 or so people he'd carried away?"
"Most probably at the hospitals, right?"
"Someone quick! Check all the hospitals in the area!" Some commenters even wanted to investigate. However, the truth was far from reality.
At this point, Gideon had taken the 20 people to his secret hideout after isolating it from the world at large. No matter what others did, they wouldn't find these people again on Earth.
After Gideon was done 'interrogating' them, he turned them all into sub-atomic particles. Leaving no traces behind. The gods behind them couldn't even bargain with Gideon, heck, they were not given the chance to redeem their heralds because Gideon's formation was too effective in isolating the space, and second, he had used his Divine Authority to simply restrict lesser deities to pry and the other Supreme deities to have to knock first.
At the Divine Realm. Bia's domain.
At this moment, Bia was being surrounded by 15 gods. Fifteen, because one God here had 5 heralds under his belt that died because of Bia's herald. They couldn't even negotiate at all.
"Bia! You need to give us an explanation! Why did you allow your herald to kill ours like that? Even if we can't see them, we have felt the connection between our souls to have been cut. This only means that they've died under that herald of yours!"
Bia was now a Greater Divinity, but not many knew this. The greater divinity was talking down on her but since she gained herself a formidable herald, even though officially they were Herald and Patron God, the reality was far from that.
"Shut up, Petrus! A greater god of a minor tribe dare to talk down on me, Bia, a god of Olympus?!"
Bia then suddenly burst out with her Greater Divinity and shocked everyone present. The god, Petrus, was also shocked and his face turned pale. The fact that Bia had become a Greater Divinity already meant that her herald had gained considerable power and have grown to the point that feedback between their souls elevated Bia's divinity to the current realm.
That means, messing with her herald was the worst of the worst match up for theirs.
"Do you realize now your mistake? True, competition between our heralds is encouraged, but the fact that you allow your heralds to become wicked and outrageous while flaunting your power is a detriment to you and your growth and even your herald's. You had 5 out of 20, yet they all were trampled under mine in no time at all.
"Think about that as you reflect, Petrus." Bia felt the rush of talking down on everyone else. She was exhilarated
"Gideon, that bastard." Bia was secretly happy for Gideon. He was after the information these thugs had on their employer, so he didn't kill them immediately.
On Earth. Gideon's hidden workshop.
He was already continuing his research on how to improve his defensive formation to be tattooed on the most precious people in his life.
Prior to this, this place was filled with screams of the dying. The information gathering was done in less than an hour. The culprit known. Gideon relaxed. It was just one corporation, and was not even worth his time to personally move.
He called the banks he secretly now owned, and told them to cease cooperation with that corporation. In a matter of days, this corporation had become desolate, the banks, greatly enriched.
The name of the culprit was Monster Corpus Incorporated. All of its affiliates were also taken down by the banks' firm decision to cease cooperation and even hurried them to pay for the loans that have been put in the back burner. Since they couldn't do this without cause, the banks worked together to 'create' the cause to eliminate reasonable doubt.
In just a week, a major company was razed to the ground by one word from Gideon, not even lifting a finger.
While inside the workshop, Gideon ceased to think about unrelated matters and focused on the project. He was now manufacturing the tool to directly impress the formation on the skin as a sort of family tattoo.
In fact, he also had one. However, this one was like a GPS tracer for the formations that he'd hand out. Without this, they wouldn't be able to teleport behind him in times of trouble. After all, he was not omnipresent.
With the production complete, Gideon left and noticed that the sun had already set. He went home hurriedly.
By the way, he went home after calling his driver, the same one he'd asked to call for reinforcements, to come get him. The driver was nervous but not paralyzed so he was sent back.
When he had returned to the residence to report what happened, Debbie, who received his report only chuckled and asked the driver to go to the spa to relax and lessen his anxiety since her brother was going to be alright.
"Brother probably sent you away because you'll be a nuisance in the fight. Don't fuss about it anymore, okay?"
And so, he was back on driving service for Gideon in the evening.
…
Global news was on when Gideon returned home after a day of cultivation. He wasn't trying to breakthrough, but merely accumulate Qi. His current Qi could drown the Earth if he let it out now. However, he was aiming for a breakthrough in the quality of his Qi instead of going for a breakthrough in realm.
Without a breakthrough in quality, a breakthrough in realm to become a Saint was impossible. This was why many cultivators in Gideon's master's world could not break through to Saint Realm until they died of old age.
As someone who's already cultivated past this point before, he knew the process like the back of his hand.
His accumulation now for the past week has already reached a point where he could refine his Qi. Doing this, would kill him if he was disturbed. As this was him reversing the flow of his Qi to be refined before returning it to the same state he was in now.
However, this was where his other expertise came in handy. With his formations he could isolate, protect, and create a better environment for breakthroughs. And the greatest advantage of breaking through on Earth was that there were no Tribulation Lightning or Heavenly Punishment.
Gideon stepped into the dining area where breakfast was already prepared. Gideon already taught the chef in their home the recipes he could teach. Cooking recipes were not something he had to keep a secret so he shared them without holding back. Now, their house's meals felt like they ate at a god's gathering. It was divine.
The Television was on and Global news was showing the recent events especially in business.
"The Monster Corpus Incorporated and all affiliates have been ruined in just a week. The evidence against them were overwhelming and the banks took them apart like prey that lay on its death bed!
"Reports say that there is a rumor going on that there was a reason for their disappearance and desolation. And that is, that they offended someone they should not have.
"Speculations follow that the person they shouldn't have offended owned the banks like his dogs. However, there are no evidence to suggest this speculation to be true.
"Now, businesses and companies that deal with monster corpses and materials have only one question, who would benefit more because of the Monster Corpus Incorporation's disappearance?"
…
The news went on as Gideon and the rest ate. Oddly, Rebecca and Jane were here as well.
In fact they were practically living here. They stayed at different rooms, used different things, and left home with chauffeurs.
"At this rate, aren't they acting like daughters-in-laws?" Gideon felt conflicted. Anyhow, he was going to protect them all.
After breakfast, he spoke to them briefly and they all agreed I have matching tattoos on their preferred areas. They were all conservative and decided to just have it below their collarbone.
After explaining its functions and impressing it on them, Gideon returned to his own matters.