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anangelicday-mrwolf · 3 years

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Wolfsbane : Noblesse Fanfic (post-ending)

(previous chapter)

Chapter 55 – Crisis

“Hmph... So it was more than pure luck that you took out Aris.”

Kornel mumbled through ground teeth, his voice seething, his face kissing the dirt.

Or rather, he was trying to get his behind back up, during which he inevitably got his mouth plastered to the ground.

Kornel was more than eager to wage himself against Takio. He was not alone, and Helga officiated that he is welcome to beat the snot out of the purple-haired sniper, so he played a bull met with a red flag as he chased after Takio.

To his utmost humiliation, Kornel has lost his count on the number of times he was forced to wipe the floor with his body.

He chastised himself that he should not have assumed Takio would be helpless in hand-to-hand combat, based on the pair of guns he was clutching.

Which was not the main reason why he was at disadvantage.

“Damn it, just what kind of drug has he been on since his departure from the Union? He’s too strong!”

Kornel did not stand a chance against Takio, perfectly equipped with agility in motion and action, precision in shooting, and qualified close combat skills supported by his bladed guns.

Because of which Kornel could not dare to lunge towards Takio, even after completely getting on his feet, to instead glare at the sniper poised on his feet.

However, Takio was not poised at heart, as he stared back at Kornel.

Their battle was as good as settled, but that was not the case with Helga.

‘Just what is her power? I could not land a single attack on her.’

In consideration of the situation, he took much more care than we could ever muster to pull the triggers, recalibrate his steps, and swing his guns.

All of which Helga reacted to cleanly.

She even twisted her body before he could point or lift his guns to fire.

Given that Takio’s responses were much faster, nevertheless, Helga could not avoid getting slashed on skin by his bullets from time to time.

Notwithstanding, the fact that she was in all unscathed was enough to render him wary of her.

‘And unlike this guy, she’s prudent, grounded, taking her time to put herself against me and pushing and pulling at me just about right to keep me rooted in this zone. It’s a wonder I had no idea such agent existed during my time at the Uni... Ugh!’

And in the meantime, he had to stop or shoo away modified civilians from engaging in battle royale or being a hindrance-slash-nuisance for him.

Of course, Helga and Kornel did not give him time to teach a lesson to the meddlers, which involved the biggest problem for Takio.

‘Is it just me, or does she see every movement I’d make in advance? Though my speed does not allow her to leave a mark upon me, somehow it feels like she can predict every coordination I will make.’

Everything about her – her blue eyes blazing with artificial glow, the direction her shoulders and knees would take, and the weight and air stirred by her body whenever she moves – was all pre-calculated to where Takio would prepare an attack, evade an impact, or devise a counter.

‘I would have suffered at least dozens of slaps and thwacks if I didn’t happen to have grown much faster and stronger.’

Even with Takio’s somewhat-recognition, Helga did not deem her standing better than that of Takio.

Just like how he internally pointed out, she could not connect a single attack to Takio’s body, and she could see that Takio has more than improved in terms of combat capabilities and specs.

And she did not have to meet his fists with hers or strike up a deathly waltz of kicks to realize that she was now no match for Takio.

She could not guarantee whether she could stand against him, even with Kornel and the rest of very few remaining combatants of Union by her side.

‘The fact that he did not manage to diagnose my power is serving as a shield for us. Along with these modified humans. Which is more than good for us.’

She knew that otherwise she and Kornel would have already hit the road to the afterlife.

‘Not to mention apparently he did not even use his powers to maximum. Considering how Aris and her gang were the type that enhances powers through meds and employs a variety of equipment, he must be leaving his pills for the next stage. Which I didn’t even get a glimpse of. Damn it, just where is that man when we need him?!’

With the battle caught in the tense, unpleasant balance, Helga was naturally reminded of her accomplice.

An accomplice she told to stand by, since it would be preferable for their foes to learn about his betrayal as late as possible.

An accomplice who should be watching what was going on.

But how come he is nowhere to be seen?!

Kornel gaped at Helga with crumpled forehead, packed with inches-deep creases, his mind probably in synchronization with Helga’s mind.

“Guess we don’t have a choice. We’d be basically admitting that you are way out of our league, but we’re in no situation to place our pride above our purpose.”

Helga’s fiery eyes flashed in sinister blue, and Takio automatically grasped his guns, only to withdraw them in bafflement the next moment.

“Kraaaah!!!”

A modified citizen stampeded towards Helga with his mouth wide open, whom she grabbed and flung towards Takio.

Out of gut reaction, Takio stretched out his bare hands to safely pluck the man out of air and gently push him away, and as soon as he straightened himself with pow and wham Kornel and Helga punched his chest and kicked at his abdomen, respectively.

He raised his arms in defense before he could suffer legitimate blows, but as a result his balance was toppled, which Kornel and Helga were not satisfied with.

“Krgh!”

“Krah!”

The two Union agents were now fervently ripping away and pitching the nearby civilians, and Takio was in frenzy to save them and thwart Helga and Kornel’s blitzes.

“Ah-ah-ah! I wouldn’t move if I were you, unless you want this fella’s head cannonballing towards the sky.”

To top it off, whenever he attempted to fight back when the opportunity was given, they snatched one of the modified people as hostage to still him.

“Goddamn it...!”

Now no longer upper-handed in the battle, Takio furiously grit his teeth.

*****

Meanwhile, in the area off-limits

“This gear is much more useful than I had presumed.”

Deneb snickered, having accomplished a feat of staying alive against the head of the Kertia clan and faring pretty well.

Rael could not even move his lips to his taunting comment.

Without his Grandia, he could not flaunt his art of stealth or go all out against Deneb.

And since Deneb was to be captured, not butchered, he could not even exercise proper assaults.

Nonetheless, the dilemma lay with Deneb, not him.

Whenever he targeted Deneb’s shoulders, back, or waist with his bare hands, the Illiness responded each time, to very narrowly swivel and curl his body to nullify Rael’s thrusts and slices of hand.

Yet given that Rael is the fastest of all nobles, his clan being the genesis of assassins among mankind, nobody would have denied that what Deneb managed to pull off was worthy of a boast, the reason being the gear he was using – extrasensitive thermal detector.

Rael could make out from its title that the gear could detect his location by locking upon his body temperature; he supposed the gear in fact did more than picking up body temperature, since with the gear Deneb could react right at the moment when Rael was about to move.

Short in knowledge in terms of machinery, Rael did not even hope to dissect in his head what exactly the gear could do.

After all, what truly mattered at the moment was to figure out how to defeat Deneb.

‘If only I had skills in ranged melee, like Regis.’

He knew he could try out an adjustment he practiced at Yuhyung’s lab when he put out the fire.

Too bad Deneb was seemingly wary of Rael’s potential ranged attack, for he had not moved a bit from his in-a-way-battleground, with Yuhyung at the background.

No matter how deadly Rael was with his aim, he did not know and did not want to find out if Yuhyung’s human body could stand through the aftermath of his attack.

He would have been grateful if Yuhyung would step aside, but the man was impeccably frozen, after a series of shrieks and shouts into his device.

And Deneb added much more to his trouble.

“Humans are not so useless, after all. I’m so glad I could get enlightened before it was too late, unlike you.”

Unlike you.

Rael wobbled at his spot, his determination wavering at the brief statement.

Swirling just enough to stay safe from Deneb’s attacks, Rael did not even feel like parrying.

His head was too complicated – too distraught for the job.

‘Just what do I have to be... In order to be like me?’

With his soul weapon absent, with a number of conditions he could not fix at the moment, with the battle not making any progress unlike his prior experiences, and with his body and mind too fatigued, Rael could not collect his mind together.

Each time he endeavored to piece together the thoughts drifting within him, the memories struck him hard and corrupted his will.

I have never been recognized by the patriarchs of my clan.

I have never prevailed superb with a task for the QuadraNet Project, other than escorting Yuhyung.

I could not even keep my soul weapon safe.

I could not even realize we were hosting and housing an enemy with lethal goal.

And I could not stop this from happening.

As he thought of have-not’s and could-not’s, Rael eventually stopped moving.

His body growing heavy with cuts and bruises, to ultimately roll over dirt, Rael plunged deeper into the swamp of despair.

Maybe I was never meant to be a head of my clan.

Maybe I never should have thirsted after the title of the head of the Kertias.

Maybe I don’t deserve to be dubbed the son of Rayga Kertia. Or the brother of Razark Kertia.

Maybe this is where I should give up on Grandia for good. I have done nothing correctly ever since my return to Lukedonia.

Rael’s knees were glued to the ground, and he stopped altogether.

Not missing his chance, Deneb drove his pointed hand towards Rael’s heart.

*****

Somewhere in the far ocean

Splash!!!!

As many souls were flustered and jeopardized by the circumstances they could surely handle but could not, a watery thud broke through the salty surface and whisked up a bloody mist.

The werewolf’s eyes were already half-lidded as she was wrapped and dragged by the foams and saltwater.

‘No... I can’t let this... End here...’

Much to her devastation, her body did not cooperate.

Raising her hands towards the surface of water she was so sure she could rise through if she tries just a little bit more, Lunark sunk deeper and deeper into the endless dark and blue of the nether region down below.

(next chapter)

Sorry I posted this past the usual time I upload my fic. I was supposed to post this after attending something for a bit, but I had no idea so much time has passed. I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again in the future. :’(

There is trouble everywhere - but in order to take a leap into the sky, one must first crouch. And I promise the crisis won’t last long. :)

#korean webcomic #korean webtoon #fanfic #noblesse #frankenstein #lunark #frankensteinxlunark #lunarkxfrankenstein #wolfsbane #Mr.Wolf #AnAngelicDay

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oeming · 5 years

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The complete collection (so far) if Takio is out from @dccomics by #milesmorales creator @brianmbendis and myself- a great read for any fan of #superheroes out now at your local #Lcs or #amazon #comicbooks #comics https://www.instagram.com/p/BwXCPvUAjY1/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=khg6elijsynj

#milesmorales #superheroes #lcs #amazon #comicbooks #comics

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dccomicsnews · 6 years

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Celebrated writer Brian Michael Bendis revealed some welcome news to fans of his Jinxworld universe of titles, announcing that he’ll be reuniting with two of his favorite artists on two brand-new Jinxworld comic books.

For the first time since creating Jessica Jones, Bendis teams up with artist and co-creator Michael Gaydos on Pearl. Scheduled to debut this August, Pearl is a story about finding out and embracing who you are, not what you were born to be. This sweeping, epic romance is set against the violent backdrop of warring Yakuza factions in modern-day San Francisco.

Pearl is a very special tattoo artist and accidental assassin whose life is turned upside down when she falls for her counterpart from a rival faction. Realizing that they’re both products of a hellish environment with few prospects for real happiness, Pearl and her new lover are determined to escape this life and chart their own fates together.

As complicated and topical as Jessica Jones but with a completely different flavor and voice, Pearl will debut this summer.

Next, the award-winning creative team of Bendis and artist David Mack (Kabuki, Jessica Jones, Powers) reunite for another all-new Jinxworld series, Cover. Debuting this fall and based on a true story, the intelligence community figures out that the traveling band of social misfits who make comic books are an exact match to the profiles of candidates recruited for intelligence and counterintelligence gathering. A very well-known comics creator is recruited by the agency to live a double life as a spy. And convention season is upon us. With a nod to films like Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and The In-Laws, this comic celebrates comics, comic creators, readers and of course, spies.

“I’m BEYOND excited to announce these new titles at Emerald City Comic Con,” said Bendis. “The show has always stayed true to its comics roots and that makes it a perfect place to talk anything Jinxworld, especially new titles I’m working on with creators like Michael and David whom I value and respect so highly.”

Finally, fans waiting patiently for Bendis’ classic Jinxworld titles to return were amply rewarded when the writer announced that more than 150 Jinxworld periodicals and collected editions, covering Jinxworld favorites like Brilliant, Fire, Fortune & Glory, Goldfish, Jinx and Torso, plus the full run of Bendis and artist Michael Avon Oeming’s landmark series Powers (spanning 100 individual issues and 17 collected editions), are available now for digital purchase and download through platforms such as readdc.com, the Vertigo app for iOS, Comixology and Amazon Kindle, with more platforms to follow.

In celebration of the DC/Jinxworld partnership, several titles from the Jinxworld catalog will have their #1 issues downloadable for free until March 7: Powers, Scarlet, United States of Murder Inc., Brilliant and Takio. Many of these series will be relaunched with all new stories.

“Making our catalog available for purchase digitally has been a tremendous undertaking, one that might not have been possible without Comixology and the support of our partners at DC,” said Bendis. “Now, old fans and new have the opportunity to experience and re-visit some of the great characters and stories that formed the foundation of the Jinxworld publishing lineup and set the stage for more exciting titles to come.”

Bendis Launches Two New Creator-Owned Titles Under Jinxworld Banner Celebrated writer Brian Michael Bendis revealed some welcome news to fans of his Jinxworld universe of titles, announcing that he’ll be reuniting with two of his favorite artists on two brand-new Jinxworld comic books.

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bestmarijuanaboutiques · 4 years

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Folium Biosciences Colorado: Stock hiking, cutting corners, sidestepping regulatory requirements & strong arm tactics

New Post has been published on https://bestmarijuanaboutiques.com/?post_type=wprss_feed_item&p=23811

Folium Biosciences Colorado: Stock hiking, cutting corners, sidestepping regulatory requirements & strong arm tactics

Folium Biosciences, based in Colorado, is one of the US’s largest privately owned CBD processing companies. As the demand for CBD has risen from many sectors of the US & international economy over the last 36 months, so, it seems, has the desire to process business without the normal checks and balances.

After a CLR story published last month about owner , Kashif Shan, further irregularities and questions about Folium’s products and operational management have come to light.

CannTrust was a wake up for the regulated Canadian market will Folium be the same for the USA as 2019 draws to a close. Colorado has long been regarded one of the the US’s better state markets for efficient compliance and good regulatory management by state and local authorities.

We ask, after the following revelations detailed below, if in the first 2020 sitting, CO legislators have to go back to the drawing board and effect a stricter regulatory and compliance regime than the state currently has in play.

Teri Buhl reports

PART I

Formulating Folium Finance: Australis Stock Hiked after Misleading Folium Announcement

Colorado based Folium Biosciences, run by Kashif Shan, teamed up with Scott Dowty of publicly traded Australis ($AUSAF), to announce the launch of Folium Finance, April 2019.

Kashif Shan Folium Biosciences

Australis is a U.S. based spin off of Canadian marijuana grower, Aurora, with a strategy focused on investing in and acquiring cannabis related companies in the U.S.

Scott Dowty Australis (You Tube)

A press release issued by Folium April 3, 2019 said Dowty had served as a strategic advisor to create Folium Finance, a collection of financial products and services designed as a new means for cannabis start-ups to get banking services from non-traditional banks. Except, according to two senior Folium employees involved in the transaction Australis at no time had anything at all to do with the creation of Folium Finance.

The press release was issued by Folium, not Australis, but contained within it, this quote from Australis.

“Our growing relationship with Folium Biosciences provides Australis and our brands access to the true global leader in the CBD space,” said Scott Dowty, CEO of Australis. “We firmly believe Folium Finance’s impressive and complete suite of financial service solutions is the industry game-changer.”

Australis stock price which had been trading around $.70 jumped to $1 $USD over two weeks after the press announcement. The sole purpose of the April press release was to announce the launch of Folium Finance.

Australis is listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange and was up-listed to the OTCQB earlier this year to trade on a U.S. based trading system called OTC Markets . The stock currently trades around 40 cents $USD.

Folium Finance was the brain child of Florida lawyer, Craig Brand, who had moved to Colorado to become the General Counsel of Folium Bioscience.

Craig Brand, Lawyer

Attorney Brand had an equity interest in a Loveland, Colorado hemp farm, called Space Cowboys before he became Folium’s general counsel. Brand also runs his own law practice that covers criminal and civil litigation under the business name, The Brand Law Firm with the Cannabis practice called Ganja Law. According to people who have worked at Folium it was Brand, with the help of a former business development executive Dale Takio that ushered through the approval of Folium Finance by teaming up with a company called CannaSecure Alliance Partner. When John Schilhab, the head of CannaSecure, was contacted by Cannabis Law Report he said he has never met Scott Dowty and “didn’t know the man.”

John Schilhab, CannaSecure

Dowty has refused to respond to multiple emails about the alleged misleading press release or what his exact role was at Folium Finance. When Folium was asked about the press release a local Colorado Springs lawyer responded on behalf of the company threatening legal action if CLR wrote anything about Australis and Mr. Dowty’s relationship with Folium it could be considered putting the company in false light . The law firm also wouldn’t answer any detailed questions about Dowty or his CFO Michael Carlotti‘s exact role at Folium Finance. The attorney, Justin Bailey of Sanders Law , did respond by email saying the transaction was private and as a result “the details CLR were seeking were protected by company confidentiality rules”.

Justin Bailey, Sanders Law Firm CO

According to two former Folium employees internal rumblings at the company this past spring were that Kashif Shan had stock or discounted warrants in Australis and the press release Folium wrote was used in the hopes of moving the stock price up. Cannabis Law Report has not been able to verify if Shan holds any stock or equity in Australis and Shan has refused to respond to any emails or calls for comment with regard to inquiries about Australis.

CLR has previously reported on Shan being accused in a lawsuit of financial misconduct involving moving money out of Folium into family bank accounts and not paying investors promised dividends or employees their equity. Since then Folium and Shan have been sued by two more former staffers at Folium in Colorado state court over alleged lies about equity ownership to induce top employees to work at Folium. The individuals suing Folium and Kashif Shan are: Dale Takio, Juanita Ramos, & Brandon Young.

Folium indicates it employs around 200 people and is a vertically integrated cannabis company meaning they own, both, the farms that supply hemp and the processing facility to create what they label as THC-free wholesale CBD. This means the company sells CDB oil and other related products to retailers who then label and brand as their own products.

OWNERSHIP CONFUSION:

A local press story (* the story is factually wrong because they report Diamond A owns Folium) has reported that a farm growing crops and hemp called Diamond A Farms out of La Junta and Rocky Ford, Co is the owner of Folium Biosciences. Folium sales people interviewed by CLR believed Diamond A is owned by Folium and were even asked to tell potential wholesale customers the Diamond A farm locations were Folium farms when clients came to visit the facilities. Folium’s website has a section talking about “our farms” but doesn’t list what the name of the farms are or provide links to their locations.

A records search in the Colorado government database shows the required industrial hemp grower certificate is registered to Diamond A Farms. Colorado corporate registration records do not list an owner of Diamond A Farms only an agent named , Deborah L Bayles, who is a partner of local law firm out of Greenwood Village, Co called Stinson Leonard Street LLP.

Deborah L. Bayles, Partner Stinson

A subsequent search in the U.S. government federal vendors database that list companies approved to bid for government contracts shows Diamond A Farms is actually registered as a minority owned business with a Dianne Chavez as the owner. A minority owned business has to have a minority person (a women in this case) own at least 51% of the company to qualify for this status. Dianne Chavez is the wife of Phillip Chavez who was listed as the original owner of Diamond A Farms before Folium showed up to grow hemp.

Bill von Gremp, a California M&A deal broker, who worked on the sale of a specialized hemp with a unique CBD to THC ratio from a Canadian company to Folium for their proposed Canada processing plant in Medicine Hat told CLR,

“Folium told us they wanted out of the grower business.

We tried to sell them the farm but Folium only wanted to buy the grown product.”

Source: https://medicinehatnews.com/news/local-news/2019/09/07/folium-seeks-temporary-local-facility/

Von Gremp agreed to negotiate with Folium on behalf of the Canadian company, including dealing with Kashif Shan, after he was introduced to the company by NBA hall of famer Rick Barry von Gremp said the deal isn’t expected to go through now and he had concerns about Folium’s promise to share a percentage of profits which was part of the deal negotiations.

Rick Barry, NBA Hall of Famer

Part of Folium’s ongoing pitch and advertising to wholesale clients is that the company has a propriety processing method that removes all the THC from the hemp.

PART II

Cutting Corners, Sidestepping Regulatory Requirements

According to over half a dozen former Folium employees, interviewed by CLR, mis-truths are simply party of the company’s corporate culture.

This includes buying hot hemp, meaning cannabis with THC above the Federal mandated minimum % , from a California grower in August 2018 when Colorado hemp supply was unavailable to Folium because of strained relationships with local growers who had experienced slow or non-payment for goods by Folium, according to two former Folium employees.

According to two former Folium sales people involved in the California transaction Kashif Shan (aka Kash) asked a Folium sales employee to locate and negotiate purchase of some out of state (CO) hemp. Folium would be unable to meet sales commitments if they could not get access to hemp stock .

The Folium salesperson who has asked to not be named for fear of retribution said he / she helped broker the deal via a women named Kristyne Croce who was a hemp broker he / she met at a hemp/cbd Las Vegas conference called Super Zoo earlier that year. When reached by phone Kristyne Croce admitted to CLR that she brokered hemp for Folium but said she did not believe she brokered hot product. Croce said the transaction was private and would not explain further details about the deal.

Super Zoo, Las Vegas 2019

This salesperson was told by Croce at the conference the product to be purchased had already been tested at the Oregon farm and had the legal limit (.3%) of THC to be considered hemp. When the product arrived at the processing plant in CO, and Folium subsequently tested it, the flower came up as “way above” the legal THC limit; meaning the company had just purchased adult use cannabis and transported it across state borders . Folium subsequently cancelled the check that secured the deposit for the payment telling the Oregon farm they would be unable to use the product.

But then, according to two former Folium sales employees familiar with the deal, the cannabis was used anyway to process CBD oil and subsequently sold.

Folium Biosciences is a Colorado headquartered company specializing in the cultivation, extraction, and manufacturing of hemp-derived bulk CBD ingredients and finished products. We are the largest known fully vertical cannabinoid extractor and producer in North America, shipping wholesale CBD products including: Broad Spectrum hemp oil (with 0.0% THC), water-soluble CBD powder, water-soluble CBD liquid, nano CBD, and finished goods throughout the United States and much of the world. Our emphasis on research, product development and clinical science is reflected in our state-of-the-art extraction processes and advanced formulations, resulting in multiple pending patents. SOURCE https://foliumbiosciences.com/#

Folium’s General Counsel, Craig Brand, told Cannabis Law Report this story just wasn’t true. But according to the former sales person who helped broker the deal and another sales person who heard the conversation, a member of the legal team was very aware of the processing and acceptance of the “hot product” and told the sales person he’d take care of the non-payment issue and to stop communication with the farm that grew the hot product.

After Cannabis Law Report published our first story on the alleged problems at Folium , a former graphic designer at the company, based out of the Colorado Springs office came forward to inform CLR that they, as a designer employed at the company, had been asked to doctor Certificate of Analysis reports by Folium management.

These reports / forms known as COA’s are used by Colorado CBD processors to prove to retail clients that the CBD is the percentage level the company says it is and that the THC level is the required zero %.

The former employee, said he / she was unaware of how the doctored reports were used after they were passed onto his / her superiors.

According to multiple Folium staff who spoke with CLR the person who requested the changed CAO reports was Jenna Lubenicki V.P. of operations. Lubencicki, when reached on her cell phone denied the accusation and demanded to know the name of the whistleblowers.

A current wholesale client, Holistic Hounds, in Berkley California, was contacted by Cannabis Law Report and said they had never had any THC level problems with Folium because they did their own third party testing once the wholesale product was received.

Additionally a former NBA hall of famer who also acts as a brand ambassador for Folium, Rick Barry, told Cannabis Law report when reached on the phone that he has “never had any problems with Folium’s products”. Barry did not confirm if he had done any third party testing on the product, on his own.

But, a former Folium sales person, Jean Paule Fekete , said he knew of at least one client that did third party testing and the CBD level on product received from Folium was much lower than the level she had been promised. As a result Folium eventually returned the client’s money after multiple complaints.

Former Folium employees have also informed CLR that fudged CBD or THC levels were the least of their worries when it came to the company’s day to day operations.

Instead, their real concern was Folium’s management’s lack of willingness to follow the necessary regulatory requirements to create safe process and disposal of chemicals used to create CBD products.

CLR has learnt Folium has already suffered two explosions at their processing plant which included a 911 being called on the night of July 23, 2017, according to an internal company email chain obtained by CLR that included Kashif Shan. One explosion involved an oven, the other a refrigerator, according to counsel Craig Brand.

According to an email obtained by Cannabis Law Report from the July 2017 event, Folium staff were informed that the incident would create a delay in the availability of their product because 20 kilos had been contaminated but the email didn’t inform staff of the severity of the explosion. The email did promise Folium would work on safety conditions for staff.

In July 2017 an email from a member of the Fire Protection Engineer team of the Colorado Springs Fire department, Steven Smith, sent to Folium showed serious concern was expressed by the CO Fire Dept because they had been informed Folium was housing 3000-5000 gallons of ethanol without the required permits.

Two former Folium employees involved in operational matters at the company told CLR they were asked on more than one occasion to rent trucks and move the ethanol to a friend’s house when the fire inspectors or OHSA came through the Colorado Springs plant.

This, we have learned, happened regularly throughout 2017 and 2018. Additionally a former driver for the company said he / she was asked to move dangerous chemicals, without relevant paperwork, by Folium executive, Brad Jones, but had eventually refused to comply with requests because the company was not licensed to transport chemicals.

The driver also added that Folium’s Rocky Ford location was used to house the chemicals the company wanted to hide from inspectors.

20094 Hwy 60 Rocky Ford, Co 81067, Google Maps

In an exit letter obtained by CLR one employee wrote to Folium executives in 2018 highlighting the company’s modus operandi for transporting regulated chemicals

“I’ve been instructed on many occasions to move thousands of gallons of ethanol in rented trucks, off site, in preparation for Colorado Springs Hazmat/Fire and OSHA inspections.”

A review of the Colorado OSHA website that tracks inspections, complaints and violations within the state’s regulated cannabis sector show that Folium has been fined a number of times over the last three years.

In 2018 the fines were listed as ‘serious’ and involved problems with chemicals among other safety issues in the processing facility. This summer (2019) the Colorado division of OSHA had to go to federal court and get a warrant to enter the facility after attorney Craig Brand denied their entrance on a surprise inspection, according to the warrant application. The warrant listed over a dozen serious concerns that related to employee safety. David Nelson, a manager at OSHA, wrote in the warrant,

“Employees are exposed to chemical and fire hazards due to inadequate storage, handling, use, and clean-up of flammable liquids, such as hexane.”

Attorney Brand told Cannabis Law Report he didn’t allow the OSHA inspection because he wasn’t on the premises at the time and was surprised they wanted to review an area that held what he called “our propriety equipment”.

OSHA subsequently obtained warrant approval and entered the facility over a week later. As recently as September 30, 2019 Folium has settled fines that OSHA listed as serious concerning the control of hazardous energy and other safety issues.

Folium CEO, Kashif Shan would not answer any questions about the OSHA inspection or the fines when approached by CLR.

Attorney Brand is no longer with the company and said he was not aware of the September 2019 fines.

PART III

Strong Arm Tactics to Silence Whistleblowers and Competitors

“Intimidation” is the word used by former employees when talking about how Kashif Shan operates the company.

Over a half a dozen former Folium staff interviewed by Cannabis Law Report said false internal charges, from being accused of taking a range of illegal drugs at work, threatening other employees during arguments, and sharing trade craft with competitors, were made up about them when Folium management wished to move them out of the company’s employ after they made specific complaints about operational matters.

This approach to HR management was seen as an avenue for Folium, as a company, to avoid unemployment tax payments. It is also alleged that Folium attempted to make some staff, leaving the company at their own will, sign NDA’s with a promise of only a few weeks extra payout. As a result Cannabis Law Report is not currently in a position to name former Folium employees interviewed for this profile.

Additionally, we have learnt, when the Folium’s former head of sales, Ryan Lewis, left the company to launch his own bulk business sales CBD company called Global Canabanoids in January 2018. There was, we learn, an aggressive pursuit by Folium management to gather “dirt” or information about Lewis to build a lawsuit, according to an email written by attorney Craig Brand and obtained by CLR. Lewis did subsequently file an arbitration claim against the Folium but it was settled out of court and the settlement was not made public. Internal documents obtained by CLR show Lewis had been given 7 percent equity in Folium when he came on as a new employee.

Ryan Lewis, Chief Business Developer of Global Cannabinoids, talks about the emerging markets for CBD and hemp-derived products.Global Cannabinoids is a high volume producer and distributor of bulk and wholesale phytocannabinoid-rich (PCR) industrial hemp—naturally high in CBD, CBG, CBC, CBN, CBDA, and terpenes.

But Kashif Shan’s negative reaction about Lewis leaving and taking Folium clients with him went much further, much much further. The following allegations investigated by Colorado Springs Police read more like a Scorsese movie plot line than the machinations of a CBD processing plant and white labelling outfit.

According to three individuals who either worked at the company or were employed on a consulting basis, they all confirm that they heard first hand from a Folium executive of an attempt in the summer of 2018 to hire a person and pay a six figure sum to kill Mr Lewis.

Cannabis Law Report has spoken with a lawyer who had verified that the Colorado Springs Police department investigated the case but no charges were brought.

It’s unclear if anyone at Folium was ever able to actually hire a person to undertake the murder for hire or if the offer was made in the heat of the moment anger and not intended to be carried out. Kashif Shan would not respond for comment about the alleged murder for hire offer. Former Folium counsel, Craig Brand, told CLR that the claim was “ridiculous”. Henry Baskerville Ryan Lewis’ lawyer called the Colorado Springs Police Department when he heard about the murder for hire plot and asked if the CO Springs Police Department were investigating. The officer said yes but would not comment to Baskerville on who they were investigating.

Henry Baskerville, Fortis Law Partners. Henry Baskerville, recognized by Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, and National Trial Lawyers, is an experienced trial lawyer who focuses on complex commercial litigation, cannabis law, white-collar criminal defense, government contracts, and construction law.

Cannabis Law Report also learns that Shan told a cannabis podcast in a rare interview in January 2019 that prior to Folium he was a tech entrepreneur in San Francesco.

But CLR has not yet discovered after months of relevant research the name of this technology company. Also we have been unable to locate where this “tech”company was based and what work he and they undertook.

A separate USA court records search shows that Shan was president of a real estate services company prior to the 2008 financial crisis in San Jose, California. The company, Aidan West Financial Group, and Shan filed for personal bankruptcy as a result of the financial crisis. Court records show the trustee for the company had to file a claim of fraudulently transference against the company saying Shan allegedly moved assets out of the company prior to the bankruptcy. The claim was eventually settled.

Editor’s note: In the reporting and research for this story Teri Buhl was repeatedly threatened over the last two months when trying to reach current Folium employees to get their response for comment about accusation or their misconduct saying they would report her to the local police for asking questions. Buhl ignored their threats.

This week Buhl was served with a lawsuit (prior to story publication) claiming defamation for calling Folium staff for comment and conducting journalistic research. Law360 – a US trade publication for Lawyers wrote about the attempt to silence Buhl before the publication of this story

Please see / download document at https://www.scribd.com/document/433949012/Colo-CBD-Co-Accuses-Reporter-of-Defamation-Law360

I’m a professional financial investigative journalist who has written for the Greenwich Time, Hearst CT Newspapers, Forbes Magazine, Fortune.com, The Atlantic.com, New York Magazine, New York Post, Trader Monthly, Housingwire, ML-Implode, The Business Insider, Long Island Business News, Dealbreaker, New York Observer, Bitcoin Magazine, DealFlow Media, SIRF.org and more. For the last five years I have been a contributing reporter for Market Nexus Media who publishes a financial trade publication called Growth Capital Investor.

I earned my breaking/investigative news chops reporting during the financial crisis in 2008 for the Sunday edition of the New York Post. I was one of the first to report on the missteps at IndyMac that lead to government investigations and lawsuits against the banks founders. Caught hedge funds like Carrington Capital abusing investors without disclosing conflicts of interest with senior RMBS bond holders; they were sued by Wilbur Ross for Civil RICO. I exposed Bear Stearns misleading their own investors and monoline insurers on the quality of the loans in their mortgage-backed securities, which led to a fraud lawsuit against JP Morgan/Bear Stearns and the $13 billion settlement with the DOJ in 2013. Since 2010 multiple Wall Street firms, that my reporting warned about first, have been [JP Morgan, SpongeTech, Security Savings Bank, SAC Capital, Palm Beach Capital Management, New Stream Capital, NIR Group/Cory Ribotsky, Bear Stearns RMBS Traders, Mike Perry IndyMac CEO, Steven Muehler and the Nanocap MarketPlace, Barry Honig and The Frost Group] investigated or charged for financial violations by the FBI/SEC/State AG or shut down by bank regulators.

The Huffington Post named me the number three most dangerous financial journalist for being willing to challenge the establishment and inform readers best. I’m working on trade-marking “Smashmouth Journalism”

Read More About Teri’s Work At: https://www.teribuhl.com/about/

#Array

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comicsxaminer · 6 years

Text

BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS REVEALS HUGE NEWS FOR JINXWORLD FANS

Acclaimed Writer Reunites with Longtime Collaborators Michael Gaydos and David Mack

For Two All-New Jinxworld Comic Books

More than 150 Jinxworld Comic Books and Collected Editions Available Now for Purchase

on a Host of Digital Platforms, Plus Five Free #1 Issues

SEATTLE, WA and BURBANK, CA (March 2, 2018) – Celebrated writer Brian Michael Bendis revealed some welcome news to fans of his Jinxworld universe of titles, announcing that he’ll be reuniting with two of his favorite artists on two brand-new Jinxworld comic books.

For the first time since creating Jessica Jones, Bendis teams up with artist and co-creator Michael Gaydos onPearl. Scheduled to debut this August, Pearl is a story about finding out and embracing who you are, not what you were born to be. This sweeping, epic romance is set against the violent backdrop of warring Yakuza factions in modern-day San Francisco.

As complicated and topical as Jessica Jones but with a completely different flavor and voice, Pearl will debut this summer.

Finally, fans waiting patiently for Bendis’ classic Jinxworld titles to return were amply rewarded when the writer announced that more than 150 Jinxworld periodicals and collected editions, covering Jinxworld favorites likeBrilliant, Fire, Fortune & Glory, Goldfish, Jinx and Torso, plus the full run of Bendis and artist Michael Avon Oeming’s landmark series Powers (spanning 100 individual issues and 17 collected editions), are available now for digital purchase and download through platforms such as readdc.com, the Vertigo app for iOS, Comixologyand Amazon Kindle, with more platforms to follow.

About DC Entertainment:

DC Entertainment, home to the iconic brands DC (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, the Flash, etc.), Vertigo (Sandman, Fables, etc.) and MAD, is the creative division charged with strategically integrating across Warner Bros. and Time Warner. DC Entertainment works in concert with many key Warner Bros. divisions to unleash its stories and characters across all media, including but not limited to film, television, consumer products, home entertainment and interactive games. Publishing thousands of comic books, graphic novels and magazines each year, DC Entertainment is one of the largest English-language publishers of comics in the world.

BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS REVEALS HUGE NEWS FOR JINXWORLD FANS BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS REVEALS HUGE NEWS FOR JINXWORLD FANS Acclaimed Writer Reunites with Longtime Collaborators Michael Gaydos and David Mack…

#brian michael bendis #dc comics #Jinxworld #MICHAEL GAYDOS #Pearl #powers

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anangelicday-mrwolf · 3 years

Text

Wolfsbane : Noblesse Fanfic (post-ending)

(previous chapter)

Chapter 54 – The Night of Horror

“Tao, duck!”

Screamed M-21, to which Tao responded by promptly letting an imaginary hand wrench his entire torso towards his feet.

Not a second after, a human body thrust its way through the exact spot where his head used to be.

Wham!

“Krrrgh!”

“Kraah!”

The agent M-21 just wrestle-flung collided with a man in a lab coat, reaping from them grunts close to beastly snarls.

They shared one thing in common – nothing about their appearances suggested they are Homo sapiens, with discolored skin reminiscent of corpses, nails and teeth jutting out in a vicious manner, and eyes seemingly brimming with blood.

And these were not exclusive to the two pseudo-zombies giving Tao and M-21 a challenge like nothing before.

Of course, it would take less than a minute and feel like less than 10 seconds for Tao and M-21 to make sure their opponents will never again disrupt them.

Alas, they could not position themselves appropriately, let alone pull out a weapon or shift into battle forms, because they happened to be facing the staff of KSA.

“Looks like that gas was combined with the technology on... What was it again? Rapid body modification?”

“Yup. Damn, I didn’t think it would be so effective.”

The two men lamented upon witnessing how employees and agents wobbled back to their feet; they could swear they did more than a proper job of hitting their vital points to knock them out.

They even twisted the ankles, solemnly swearing to get upon their knees for forgiveness once the storm is gone; however, their plan was made null by the healing power that naturally comes with body modification.

“...I don’t think we’ll be getting out of this situation, unless we pry out their limbs or a rib or spine or two.”

“...How I hate the fact that I can’t help but agree with you there.”

The outcome was beyond Tao and M-21’s expectation, probably because of Yuhyung’s adjustment.

Nevertheless, they presumed the healing power that surfaced within the victims would be below average.

After all, the project on which their modification was based off was classified as failure and ultimately canceled.

So just like M-21 said, the victims would not be able to recover the loss of a limb or skeletal structure.

Nonetheless, Tao and M-21 could not dare harm them; the only thing they have done wrong, if they have done anything wrong, was staying overnight to fully dedicate themselves to their duties.

It was not the question of post-measurements, already guaranteed by KSA and Frankenstein; it was the question of morals.

M-21’s and Tao’s faces stiffened as the victims dragged their feet towards them, the two men cornered in the room.

Just then, one of the agents bumped shoulders with a researcher closest to him, from which the situation took a precipitous downfall.

Slash!

Chomp!

The agent made a violent lash at the researcher’s face, and the researcher countered by rooting his teeth into the agent’s shoulder with full power.

Which served as a cue for the rest of the victims to tackle and thwack and open their mouths wide at one another.

Tao and M-21 turned pale as they watched how a scene from fratricidal zombie movie was being played live, their minds becoming numb with shock as the floor being slowly freed from gas was now being plastered with victims’ blood.

They threw themselves in the middle to separate the victims from each other, and that was when their communicators finally vibrated with life.

<Tao! M-21! Do you copy?!>

“Takio? Where are you? What in the world is keeping you? And why did you have to wait to...”

Tao and M-21 met each other in the eyes for a moment at how alarmed Takio sounded.

Then their memories rang the bell for them – the corridors of KSA were not the only area under the effect of Yuhyung’s gas.

“Don’t tell me... Are there people whose body went through modification? Shoot, I was hoping it’d take time for the gas to spread!”

<It’s not far from KSA’s HQ, but what on earth is going on? And what do you mean, body modification? I’m sure these people are civilians!>

“We’ll talk about this later! First, get over here! We could really use a hand or two right now!”

Knowing Takio, they anticipated him to fly over on the double, although they ended up acting individually, a rare occasion to begin and to continue.

Notwithstanding, there was a reason why Murphy’s law was ever coined.

<Uh... I’m afraid as of now I’m... Ugh!>

Swoosh!

Pow!

Their ears whirring upon the sonic boom so very tangible despite the distance secured by the communicators, Tao and M-21 gaped each other with their eyes trembling.

“Takio? What’s going on?!”

“Are you also under the civilian attack?”

<No! It’s the Union! I ran into two of them on my way. One of them happens to be that big guy we saw in the footage we pieced back together from the security camera outside the safehouse that was destroyed. And the other one is a woman with...>

“...Orange hair and cerulean eyes?”

<H-how did you know?>

“Takio, that’s the one!”

“That’s the woman Miss Lunark mistook for Kespar! The one who plotted against Frankenstein in joint with the 3rd Elder!”

“Hang in there. We’re coming in...!”

M-21 and Tao stomped their legs in a halt, in the middle of their sprint carrying the violently struggling people, partitioned with their arms and shoulders.

As soon as they turned the last corner connected to the nearest lab, they saw how the tiles were barely visible due to countless people with abnormal builds.

“Impossible! There’s no way such number would be remaining at this hour!”

“Tao, look at them.”

M-21 directed Tao’s eyes towards the side, where three men and women were yanking each other with their mouths like hyenas that fasted for a month.

“Look what they’re wearing. They’re no agents. Or employees.”

“Are they civilians...? Did some of them trespass?!”

Tao bellowed in dismay, which unfastened the door that was keeping the avalanche of trouble from stampeding towards them.

“Grrr...”

“Krr...”

The blood-shot eyes of people who were busy taking a bite or grab out of anyone within their reach darted glances towards M-21 and Tao.

Not long after, the artificially modified humans lunged towards the two RK’s like a pack of rabid dogs that have spotted a target, a phenomenon propagating outside KSA.

“W-what the hell?!”

“Argh! Mommy!”

“H-help me! Somebody please he... Aaaah!!!”

People who have never consented to their monstrous changes spread out from the street housing KSA’s headquarter, to hunt down innocent citizens, paving the streets with blood and gore.

Which Yuhyung was watching through his device, via the cameras attached upon interior and exterior of the KSA building.

His hands gripping the device quaked, and he hurriedly pulled out a communicative device he would keep asleep unless he has to talk to Helga.

<Oh, hey. So how’s the plan go...>

“What the heck is going on?!?!”

Yuhyung shrieked, as if he were forcing his guts out through his throat, as soon as Helga’s pointed-as-always voice hit his eardrums.

And her response successfully blew up his half-powdered mind.

<What’s the yelling for? Is there a problem?>

She sounded so very placid, whereas her voice was toned up and down deliberately, as if she had seen this coming.

“Problem? Problem is an understatement!!! You know what is... I mean, you are seeing and hearing what is going on! You said you’ll make your way to KSA, so you should know very well what’s...”

<Oh, yes. I know. Of course I do. In fact, I’ve known it for quite long.>

“...What...?!”

Yuhyung’s quivering voice listlessly scattered into thin air, like a ball of dirt caught in the wind.

<I’ve never told you, have I? I mean the reason why this project the data I gave you came from was labeled as failure and canceled. Well, you were too excited to get your hands on the data and didn’t even bother to ask.>

Helga did mention that the project has a side effect, but he heeded not much, since the way she spoke of the side effect gave impression that it is no big deal.

Still, like she said, he was so thrilled back then to at last gain the Union data he had been thirsting for.

His thoroughness, a must-have value for anyone affiliated with investigation, was discarded temporarily, as he was too occupied with letting his elation jingle his entire universe, like popping champagne open.

And when he later examined the data, he could not find anything in particular in terms of side effect, so he had forgotten about it, until now.

<That’s right. What you’re seeing as we speak is the side effect of this project. The subjects that experience rapid body modification lose the ability to tell their friends from foes. Whenever they see something living and moving, they will first and foremost react by driving their teeth and nails into flesh. And if they are devoid of lifeform around them, they will slash and masticate and take apart their own bodies.>

Instantly, Yuhyung felt as if the entire world spun right into his chest; the entire world turned into a stone of immeasurable size and unimaginable weight, smashing his heart into pieces and plummeting towards his core.

Helga snickered, stage-choking herself.

<Anyways, congratulations. You made your wish come true – turning non-modified into modified. And now, you’d get to collect as much data as you’d want, like picking apples under the falling leaves!>

Helga sneered as she smiled in vile entertainment and sinister glee, and Yuhyung could only make out his mind escaping far away from him as he watched her.

And the horror spreading throughout Seoul, delivered to his device in divided screens, did not stop assaulting his calm.

No...

This isn’t what I wanted......

I’ve never asked for something like this......!

After peeking at something that was not accessible for sight from Yuhyung’s side, Helga cut off the signal, to restrain Kornel once more.

“I’d thought I told you to be prudent!”

“Oh, come on! Can’t you stop stopping me now?! We’re going to kill him anyways!”

“I would have let you, if it were someone else. But that’s Takio we’re facing – the one Sol told us. Takio of DA-5.”

“What? That’s him?”

“Precisely. We assumed it’d take a miracle for him to stand against Aris, let alone beat her. But he not only deleted her existence but also decided to put himself against us. Do I have to explain what we could achieve if we manage to apply the secret of his growth to us?”

“Okay, okay. I got it. Geez. But you don’t mind me beating him up just enough to leave him battered but breathing, do you?”

“Actually, that’d be more than welcome. There’s no telling what will unfold if we don’t go that far to capture him.”

This was certainly not a pleasant situation for Takio, about to battle two Union agents when immediately surrounding him was a scene from a common disaster movie.

His fingers poised upon the triggers, waiting for his order, were strained with pressure.

(next chapter)

So in summary, there are 3 battles taking place at the same time: (1) Takio (ft. Tao & M-21) vs Helga and Kornel, (2) Rael vs Deneb (with Yuhyung), and (3) Lunark vs Dark Spear. As I am posting this chapter, I finished composing part 1 of this battle. And once I’m done with the remaining parts, I’ll finally move on to the finale of this fic. I already know what I’m going to write, and I can’t wait to reach there lol. I’ll do my best as I take this fic to its ending!

#korean webcomic #korean webtoon #fanfic #noblesse #frankenstein #lunark #frankensteinxlunark #lunarkxfrankenstein #wolfsbane #Mr.Wolf #AnAngelicDay

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anangelicday-mrwolf · 3 years

Text

Wolfsbane : Noblesse Fanfic (post-ending)

(previous chapter)

Chapter 60 – Help out of Nowhere

“Sir Rael?!”

“What are you doing here?!”

Contrary to the daze in their huge eyes, Tao’s and M-21’s voices spoke of glee, although they were too occupied at the moment to show any welcoming gesture.

As much as Rael was braced for what he was beholding, things only took the worse turn throughout his race towards KSA, which is why the distortion in his face intensified as he neared his destination.

Now that he finally entered the heart of the calamity, he was appalled to find the perfect example of chaos.

There was cataclysm in every corner his eyes could meet; Tao, M-21, and Takio, now somewhat used to the discord, eyed what Rael was holding at either side of his arms, which made their eyes expand for the second time.

“M-mr. Jang?!”

“What happened? What’s with that look?”

“And who’s this...? His attire tells me he’s one of yours.”

“...Long story. Let’s save it for later. First of all, I need you to do something about this one. He’s burnt badly.”

Tao said no more, as he was already aware of how Yuhyung was grunting non-stop, and he swiftly led Rael to the KSA lab.

“I did what I can at the moment, but he’s gonna need full check-up and heavy treatment, since it’s obvious the fire that burned him is no ordinary sort. I’ve never seen such serious burn ever since my departure from the Union.”

Tao muttered, after cloaking Yuhyung from head to toes with a spray specially made for burns.

Just as he pointed out, Yuhyung, even though he was grunting less, still looked like he was in pain, enough to make the bystanders worry that he might kick the bucket as soon as they take their eyes off him.

Unfortunately, they were not given more time to care about the human.

“Krr...”

“Kraah!”

They have been binding the modified agents, employees, and civilians and holding them captives, using the lab as a temporary concentration camp.

However, they were beginning to wonder if the gas in the missile was embedded with zombie virus, for the modified humans did not cease to shove themselves into their eyes.

Shifting away from Rael (whose eyes for some reason were fixed on Yuhyung), Tao, Takio, and M-21 had to dedicate themselves in stopping the group of people that crawled their ways into the lab.

“By now these people would have spread throughout Seoul. I’m sure this isn’t the only place going through this catastrophe at the moment.”

“But we dare not leave this place. Which is nuts.”

“This will never end if we stick to this measure. We need a solution – a more fundamental solution.”

“Isn’t there any antidote for this phenomenon? If Union came up with a rapid body transformation, I’m sure they had devised something that undoes it at an accelerated rate.”

There’s no way Union would have completed a technology without any safety gear, objected M-21’s face.

Yet they knew that what M-21 was asking for was more than hope – it was a miracle that he was demanding.

“Even if there is such technology, it’d take time for us to apply it for actual use, at none other than a time like this!”

Tao flung himself towards the two of the captured humans, who were squirming away from their original spots.

M-21 did have a point, however – the founding cause of this disaster is the rapid body transformation that took over people.

The most effective solution, therefore, would be to counterwork their body modification.

And of course, they had no idea where and how to obtain the technology needed.

Nevertheless, there is a reason why hope is meant to shine at the darkest moment; a solution was given to them so very absurdly and suddenly.

“Tao! Take a look at this!”

The man’s head rotated right away; it was only on a rare occasion that Rael would address him with his name.

The noble who was away from the skirmish so far unbenched himself with something: a notebook in one hand and a palm-sized kit in the other.

“What’s this? Where did you...”

Perplexed, Tao directed his gaze towards where Rael just sprang from, and understanding smeared across his face.

He concentrated on the notebook, to soon enough lift his shuddering eyes from the papers.

Compared to his eyes that were ridiculously far from calm, his lips were curved in an unmistakable sign of hope.

“I-is this true?!”

“Beats me. But it’s worth a shot, don’t you think?”

“What? Tao, what is it?”

Asked Takio, who was immersed in a battle with empty hands for once.

“Guys, I need you to buy me some time! Perhaps we’d be able to settle this once and for all, in one go!”

Immediately, the three pairs of eyes flashed from three gorgeous faces.

As Takio, Rael, and M-21 were chasing and arresting the modified humans, not at all dwindling in number and thus giving them impression that there was duplication instead of infection behind all this, Tao frantically whipped his way all over the lab for essential kits and parts.

He snatched away Yuhyung’s bag, luckily in one piece despite the fire, stationed right next to the table serving as Yuhyung’s bed, to go ahead and put his fingers to violent labor as he fidgeted with Yuhyung’s machine, with desperation that was by no means behind the one he harbored during Crombel’s nuclear missile incident.

After who-knows-how-long, Tao raised his voice to let his party know that he was ready.

“Get over here! We’ll need to brief this!”

All men practically threw themselves upon Tao within a second, and the latter wasted no time in explication.

“This is called a GC chip. Simply put, it’s a biochip meant to carry DNA information. And the weapon charged with this chip will target only the creature from which the DNA information was taken.”

“Is this part of Union’s scientific arts? Where did this come from out of blue?”

“We’ll talk about this later. Right now we have to use this thing and...”

Tao’s face abruptly stiffened, his hand thumbing over the last pages of the notebook.

The change was so brisk that Takio, M-21, and Rael could not help plunging their faces into the notebook.

“What? What’s the problem?”

“If this thing targets only the creatures that provided the DNA information, are you saying we must collect from every single victim their DNA information?!”

“...No. I already made adjustments regarding that part, so we only need single DNA that will function as the master key. When a human body goes through body modification, regardless of the intensity of the modification, it will inevitably go through genetic transfiguration, to beget artificial genetic factors. I can pinpoint and sample those common genetic factors that follow all types of body modification. But the thing is...”

Tao had to struggle to move his lips, as six pupils with varying contours and hues bored holes into him.

“We need high-class modified human’s DNA as a sample. Let me give you a rundown of the missile I’m about to launch with the GC chip injected: it will basically work as a neutralizer. I have turned the catalyzing components inside the gas to work exactly the other way, so this gas will neutralize, delete, and, most importantly, permanently exterminate the artificial gene factors in the victims. But human cells never stop diving for good unless their hosts are dead. So by now the victims’ bodies would be teeming with the gene factors from modification. In order to neutralize them all at once, I need DNA information so strong that it will not fail to cover every single gene factor.”

“Is it similar to how you need painkiller at least equal and hopefully stronger than the pain you seek to erase?”

“That’s close enough, M-21. Modified humans that have gone through elaborate modification would boast elaborate, supreme genetic information. So even with just a little bit of their DNA, I’d be able to wash off modification in the victims.”

“Well, then what are you waiting for?”

Takio rolled up his sleeve as he stepped up and offered himself, but Tao waved his head and grabbed his teammate’s arm.

“Takio, you and I received Dark Spear’s power from boss, remember? If the Dark Spear’s power is included in our DNA sample and end up passing onto the victims...”

“...What we’re sweating our behinds off for would be nothing but a child’s play.”

Takio shivered and stepped back, and M-21 was the one to take over the volunteering.

“Then what about me? My body is clean of Frankenstein’s power.”

“I’m afraid you’re not an option, either. As of now your physical makeup is close to that of a werewolf than that of a human. For this GC chip, we need genetic information of a modified human. There’s no guarantee that your genetic information would be compatible for the result we want.”

“...I guess it’s impossible for me to make myself available for the job, if it is a must that you base this missile on a modified human.”

Rael added, to which Tao nodded with despair.

Nobody denied that their standing was preposterously frustrating; they had the remedy right in their noses, but they could not bring themselves to use it.

Just when they were about to plummet into the despair of no exit or safety net, a call as light and bright as a ray of sun awakened them and brought them back to reality.

“Allow me.”

Yuigi clicked her way towards the four men, who flipped their eyes at her as if flipping a pancake.

“DNA from an ex-bodyguard of a Union elder would be more than enough to cure those people, right?”

Yuigi and Takio’s initial plan was to head to KSA together, but upon witnessing how every street and road, for pedestrians or not, were apparently plastered with modified humans, they decided to split up.

And Yuigi was supposed to mediate and control the modified people, so it was not surprising that Takio jumped out of his skin upon spotting her.

“Miss Raciela?! What are you doing here...?! Without you, the civilians...!”

“Don’t worry. You think I would have come without taking that into consideration?”

Yuigi nonchalantly shrugged and showed something in her hand.

It was a communicator, not much different in size from the ones used by the RK, but the founding three members of RK flinched upon recognizing the design.

It was a model adored by the Union.

Sure enough, the men opened their mouths wide when a voice resonated from the communicator.

<What’s your plan regarding these people?>

They were so very inclined to bark at him that he is surely thick-skinned, asking them what to do with the victims of rapid body modification.

Nonetheless, they put their rage aside for the moment, and they shared their plan with the GC chip with the 3rd Elder, to which he responded oh-so-casually.

All the listeners beamed except Tao, who hurriedly tossed a warning.

“Wait – once this gas is detonated, it will surely take effect on you, too. The degree of your genetic completion is superior to that of Miss Yuigi, so your power won’t be completely gone. But there’s a chance that you will never get to exercise powers like before.”

Only silence existed beyond the communicator and at the lab, where variously colored hairs were nestled together.

The RK’s mouths were instantly shut, for they did not expect the 3rd Elder to bring up Raizel in order to convince them to let him sacrifice himself.

Notwithstanding, both their silence and their conclusion were quickly met with an end.

“...Very well. Give us some time. We must collect as many victims as possible in a single location so that I can launch the missile only to that place.”

The audience exchanged flabbergasted looks, for there was no denying that the 3rd Elder was truly willing to help them, but they lost no more time in carrying the modified humans they were safekeeping at KSA.

“Krgh...”

“Krrr...”

At the largest crossroads stood the 3rd Elder, pressing down modified people with his power.

Thanks to the aid from the KSA agents summoned in the middle of a night, the area was set as off-limits, because of which the agents and the 3rd Elder were the only people at the site.

“Now hurry up and get out of here. I’ll hold them.”

RK’s and Yuigi, after relaying the KSA agents not too far from them the evacuation message, turned around to look at the 3rd Elder just as they were about to leave.

“I’m fine. Just go ahead and do it. Consider it my atonement for unleashing such tragedy. Of course, I know that I am still far, far away from paying off for all of my sins.”

Realizing how his face was marred with determination and disconnection from something they could not name, they finally turned away, to give a signal for Tao, who was waiting to launch the missile sampled with Yuigi’s blood, and run towards KSA as if their lives were on the line.

Listening to Tao’s countdown until the missile’s arrival through his communicator, 3rd Elder smiled a bitter smile – a smile suggesting guilt, wholeness, and mysterious relief.

At last the count was downed to zero, and thick pearl-shaded gas flourished from the missile that speared the ground the 3rd Elder was keeping.

(next chapter)

This is what I saved Yuigi & introduced the GC chip for. XD I already planned a scene in which Yuigi steps in and saves the day during the brainstorming of this fic, and at last I got to post it. :D When Yuigi was first introduced in the original webtoon, I was excited about this suggestion that there is and will be something concerning Yuigi and Takio (because it meant Takio will be given more scenes and opportunities; I was kind of disappointed how he was shoved away from the spotlight since the end of the 2nd season of Noblesse). But in the end there was nothing that met my expectations, so I decided to give her a chance in my own fic. And there is a reason why the 3rd Elder had a change of heart, which I’ll talk about in the following chapters. Now that the trouble at Seoul is over, all that is left is Lunark’s battle, as well as the ending chapters of this fic. I shall do my best until this fic meets a grand finale. Thank you so much for staying until me now, and I hope you’d check out the final chapter of this fic as well. :)

#korean webcomic #korean webtoon #fanfic #noblesse #frankenstein #lunark #frankensteinxlunark #lunarkxfrankenstein #wolfsbane #Mr.Wolf #AnAngelicDay

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anangelicday-mrwolf · 3 years

Text

Wolfsbane : Noblesse Fanfic (post-ending)

(previous chapter)

Chapter 44 – The Story Unbeknownst

“Welcome back. And thanks. We owe you so... Miss Lunark?”

Tao beckoned Lunark; he was outside, having watched the four teenagers leaving less than a minute ago.

He raised his arm halfway before he froze awkwardly, upon checking the composition of her face.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen at the KSA?”

“Oh, yes. Something did happen – something far from small. And for your information, this has nothing to do with the fact that you made me your substitute.”

Lunark foresaw what Tao will first and foremost forecast and barricaded his apology.

“Is everyone home now? I reckon this is something I gotta share with all of you.”

She directed her eyes towards Frankenstein’s house as she spoke.

Tao instantly understood what she was implying and in return nodded as he turned.

“This way, please. And I’m sorry, but could you please give Takio a few moments? He has yet to come back, and...”

“Forget it.”

“Pardon?”

Tao for a moment was appalled by the apparent distaste she has come to harbor for one of the founding members of RK, probably because of his connection to Yuigi, but soon enough he was told wrong.

“We don’t have time to wait until he makes it back. Call him. Use the video call feature on your phone.”

“What? I-is it that serious?”

Lunark did not issue a reply for him.

Which was more than enough for him to fathom the magnitude of the situation; Tao promptly led the way for the werewolf warrior, thumbing through his phone to scroll down his recent call records.

*****

The gathering was held for the second time, featuring Tao, M-21, Raizel, and Takio through a video call.

It was revealed Takio was at the other safehouse under Frankenstein’s ownership.

Yuigi had been made homeless, with the previous safehouse no more. So he was helping her to move in to her new residence, as well as installing and auditing the variety of defense kits devised by Tao, in order to prevent anything reminiscent of Kornel’s visit from taking place.

He was finished with his task by the time Tao’s name popped up upon his phone screen, so he was currently standing atop an empty building on his way back home.

And this time they were occupying the underground lab, originally Frankenstein’s possession now passed on to Tao.

If it were not for the essence of the situation, Lunark would have been completely mesmerized by the touches and traces of Frankenstein flaunting themselves in his lab.

“I got the item from the KSA – Yuhyung’s USB containing a security program developed by the man himself, along with its upgrade version from their doctor. But of course, that’s not what I requested this meeting for. It’s the researcher we have to talk about.”

The moment Yuhyung’s name came up, all men’s eyes glinted with nervousness as they flickered over Lunark’s face.

Keeping her facial muscles in control, despite knowing it would be no use once she is done talking, Lunark pulled out from her head the conversation she had at KSA.

*****

“...That’s what he told you?”

“What? What is it?”

“We beg your pardon, but could you reiterate for us exactly what he told you?”

“Hmm... He said... ‘The shock I received was too severe for me to return to work. I was half-forced to take off work, and I could return after much time was spent.’”

Taesik’s and doctor’s expressions were intensified with anxiety as they met each other in the eyes, holding something somewhat different from useless concern.

What their pupils were hinting were not meaningless concern; it was untainted apprehension, close to fear.

“If there is something going on between you two, I’d really appreciate it if you could share with me. Whatever it is that you know about him, I’m obliged to learn. He’s not the only one affiliated with the QuadraNet project.”

Lunark’s words were inquisitive, not imperative or exclamatory.

Albeit she could not help emitting a splinter of annoyance, she had no intention of telling them off.

Nevertheless, Taesik and the doctor grew much smaller in presence, like brothers whose parents figured out at last what they had done wrong and kept as secret so far.

“Listen carefully, Miss Lunark. About the reason why Yuhyung took off work in the past... It wasn’t a vacation or anything of the sort.”

“What are you talking about?”

“At least on his dossier, it is described as personal vacation. And that’s what all personnel and staff of KSA think regarding his temporary leave.”

“Are you saying in reality, he was momentarily kicked out or something?”

“That was not what we had in mind, but... I guess he’d say that was the case. Because he left not because of the assault you mentioned.”

“Strictly speaking, that assault is not completely unrelated to this matter, but in reality there’s a difference. This is partially why we can’t stop asking you if Yuhyung has troubled you in any way.”

Taesik solemnly clasped his hands upon his desk, and the doctor wound up his arms behind his back as he stood beside his boss.

“Do you know what Yuhyung majored in during... I mean, do you know what he used to specialize in before joining us?”

The doctor unfolded for Lunark almost the exact same thing Sangin and Yeonsu relayed to Rael on his first encounter with Yuhyung.

The fact that prior to the job offer from the doctor himself, Yuhyung majored in Bio And Brain Engineering at KAIST.

The fact that 6 years have passed ever since, and he is now the lead technological assistant and one of the lead researchers of KSA, making majestic contributions to bioengineering studies and developments.

The fact that he is almost solely responsible for the studies associated with artificial intelligence and brain and neurology.

“He had made names for himself during his time at KAIST for his creative-slash-bizarre imaginations and suggestions. Some would dub them as innovative and original, while others would dub as unrealistic and preposterous.”

“Really? But wouldn’t your folks consider those handy? You’d need to take your perspectives and imaginations way over human boundaries to struggle and survive against a bunch of people with supernatural, superhuman technology and knowledge.”

“You’re right. And we wouldn’t have stayed on the edge of our seats if Yuhyung had... Kept his limits, to say. Ever since the assault you mentioned, he was basically a ball of glass on the tip of a sword.”

Once again came up the assault Lunark laid on Korea along with Zarga and 8th Elder; nonetheless, this time Lunark did not even flinch.

She was too curious about the contents and conclusion of this mystery to care.

“Just a few days afterwards, Yuhyung visited us in private, to make scandalous proposals.”

“He proposed that KSA accepts the Union way.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Was he suggesting KSA should officially request Union to share its technology on body modification?”

“No. He meant it in a literal sense. He wanted us to adopt Union technology and methodology completely void of ethics or morals, treating humans as nothing more than shovels and garden trimmers in paving and shearing way towards goals.”

At this point, Lunark felt highly inclined to pause the current situation, to instead run over to Frankenstein’s house and book a full body exam on her auditory system.

She has witnessed countless examples of immorality and corruption throughout the past centuries. Even with such pre-exposure, she had been thoroughly disgusted at what Union could and would do.

And now that she has learned that the human so very timid and clumsy but meticulous and passionate in his job wanted his lot to copy and paste the Union’s manners, she felt positive that there must have been a mistake, much more strongly than she did with Adne’s potential betrayal.

Alas, just like with Adne, her suspicion was altogether blown away by Taesik and the doctor.

“After the assault you referred to, Yuhyung came to us and said... He said even though Korea’s history on modified humans is short, especially with Union watching, this was not supposed to happen. He said he couldn’t take that Korea’s modified humans could do nothing to defend their motherland, leaving everything to the modified humans in the ex-chairman’s team and creatures outside human classification. Which gave him nightmarish despair, making him question KSA’s existence and the purpose of studying body modification.”

“I remember how he appeared more agitated than usual. However, the sense of guilt, insecurity, and helplessness seething from his every vowel and consonant were neither exaggerated nor feigned.”

“And he urged us to remove all cautions and limits in studies, claiming that since our technology is an imitation of Union’s arts, there’s no reason for us to leave their ideology unimitated. He claimed that if we stick to rules unlike the Union, we will make no progress at all.”

“He even insisted on making it mandatory for incoming agents to go through body modification.”

Lunark could not even feel her lips parting. She was too busy suspecting whether the one they were designating was really Yuhyung Jang.

“Make body modification mandatory? That’s exactly the kind of thing Union would do, but not even Union went that far. Not that the Union kept the final line uncrossed – it was simply because their system did not need all of its human resources to pay at least one visit to the lab tank.”

“Is that so? Anyhow, this was what he had in mind – we are undoubtedly short of data on body modification, so reserving for ourselves more trials and errors in body modification would lead to natural collection of data, which will ultimately lead to progress.”

“Both of us vetoed the idea. No, there was no need to veto it. We never took into account his idea in the first place. I mean, force body modification? That’s just plain wrong.”

“Moreover, something was not right with Yuhyung back then. His mouth spoke of KSA’s progress, but his eyes were...”

Taesik and the doctor shuddered as they brought up the memories of the day.

“His eyes were shrieking vengeance and insecurity.”

“So the director gave him vacation, just to force him away from his lab. We figured we had to do something to separate his mind from such unreasonable thought.”

“Once he was back, he began to sort out and discard all his studies and creations on body modification, to instead shift his attention to artificial intelligence. So we figured he has come to his senses.”

“But listening to you, perhaps we were told wrong. Or are we being delusional here?”

Taesik and doctor stared at Lunark, as if imploring her to tell them they are being delusional.

But of course, she could not meet their demands.

*****

Tao, M-21, Raizel, and Takio beyond the phone could not even bat an eye, their bodies now entirely taken over by the danger alert that was growing increasingly cacophonous as they were listening.

The fact that the man of their interest did not outright deceive them but nevertheless led them to believe otherwise regarding the reason why he had to leave his job.

The revelation on his standing as a researcher, close to that of a mad scientist.

His specialization on artificial intelligence and brain, which ominously stood out for them as of now.

The raid by weapons against heads of noble clans that Rael and wolfkind suffered nearby Lukedonia and in their front lawn, respectively.

And the exhibition of changes in the weapons, indicated by the fact that they could now interact with each other and exercise strategies during battles.

For some very strange reason, it fatally dawned upon them that there must be a missing link in all of these.

However, none of them voiced their suspicion.

Things happened, but there was no evidence, material or immaterial.

More importantly, they knew that if they are to even pretend to point it out, the dam that has been remaining firm would finally break down, to result in something irreversible, inevitable.

“Now it’s your turn.”

“Uh... Sorry?”

“You said that something came up after hearing what I had, so you had to look into it. Doesn’t that mean now you have something new to tell me?”

“Uh... Uh, right!”

Tao spun in his seat, to race his chair towards the humongous desk plastered with a bunch of screens.

The rest followed suit, and Tao began to speak as he let his fingers dance.

(next chapter)

That’s right - Yuhyung had a secret. And guess what - there’s plenty more where that came from XD For now I don’t want to provide too much details about his past, as I do not want to spoil my own fic. Please stay tuned to find out more about Yuhyung!

#korean webtoon #korean webcomic #fanfic #noblesse #frankenstein #lunark #frankensteinxlunark #wolfsbane

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