“The Takahashi family?!” Both of them were utterly shocked.Isaac blurted out, “Young master! Is the Takahashi family trying to harm you?”Charlie nodded. “They simply followed me first, and then waited for a suitable opportunity to kill me.”Isaac gritted his teeth and cursed, “A mere Takahashi family, whose strength is probably comparable to the Golding family from Eastcliff at best, actually has such audacity!”Charlie smiled as he said, “Their family is actually still considered very strong in this sphere of influence in Tokyo.”As he spoke, Charlie asked, “Did you find the refrigerator truck?”“We found it!” Isaac replied, “We simply bought a refrigerator truck that was used to transport seafood directly from the seafood market at a high price. We drove over here in a hurry without having time to unload the cargo from the truck.”Charlie asked, “If that is the case, then the carriage should still be frozen, right?”Isaac nodded. “It should be negative twenty degrees inside
Two of Masatetsu’s junior were keeping watch nearby the hotel lobby at this time.When they saw Charlie returning to the hotel as though nothing had happened at all, they notified Masatetsu immediately. At the same time, both of them could not help but feel a little surprised. It seemed as though this guy had just gone out for a walk. They could not see any trace of him getting into a fight with anyone at all. Could it be that Aota did not fight with him at all?The reason why they thought this way was because they felt that even if Aota was not as capable as Charlie, he would certainly not be powerless against him.If Aota had already met with a mishap, then his opponent should have also suffered from some injuries at the very least. It was completely impossible for him to look like nothing had happened at all.At this time, Masatetsu, who had already installed several bugs in Charlie’s room, surreptitiously slipped from Charlie’s room before telling his juniors, “Come up to my ro
Charlie replied seriously, “I just feel that something is wrong. When I went out for a walk just now, it seemed as though I inexplicably heard someone fighting behind me and there were sounds of weapon collision too. However, when I turned around to take a look, there was nothing at all.”Isaac thought for a moment before he said, “Young master, I think that you are being a little too sensitive. Perhaps you were having auditory hallucinations too.”“Something really seemed off.” Charlie smacked his lips together as he said, “The movements that I overheard were very chaotic and it seemed as though several people had been fighting for quite some time. And then, it seems as though someone was struggling and whimpering after getting his mouth covered. After walking towards the direction of the sound, I found a pool of blood on the ground and also a shoe. The shoe was also damn weird…”Isaac said, “Young master, the blood could possibly belong to an animal too. As for the shoe, what can
At this moment, Tokyo, Japan.Machi had just ended a whole day of discussion with Jaime and Sophie.The discussion between the both sides of the families could be said to be very in-depth and they were very satisfied with one another.This was mainly because Jaime and Sophie felt that Machi was a very sensible man. They did not even need to guide him to get rid of the Ito family but he already had his own plans and intentions to do so.Secondly, it was also because Machi intentionally released a few percentages of the profit sharing on the specific collaboration terms in order to finalize the cooperation between the two families as soon as possible.Jaime originally intended to discuss a thirty to seventy percent collaboration agreement. Regardless of discussion with the Takahashi family or the Ito family, they would only allow thirty percent of the benefits to be given to them.However, he really did not expect Machi to take the initiative to reduce his own share of the profit s
“What?!” Machi blurted out in shock, “Do you mean that Fujibayashi Aota is dead? Who did it? Was it that Oskian?!”“No.” Masatetsu had a gloomy expression on his face as he said, “There is a high probability that this was done by another ninjutsu family!”“Another ninjutsu family?” Machi frowned and asked, “Did any of you provoked anyone?”“No.” Masatetsu replied, “Mr. Takahashi, four of us fellow apprentices have been working for you throughout all these years. Aside from your enemies, none of us make enemies outside. So, I suspect the other party must be targeting you and acting against you instead!”“Targeting me?” Machi blurted out, “Who could possibly be targeting me? Moreover, if the other party is also using ninjas, then it seems as though he must come from a pretty strong background then!”Masatetsu replied, “Mr. Takahashi, do you think that this was done by the Ito family? As far as I know, out of the ninjutsu families, the famous and reputable Koga family had always been
Aman Hotel Tokyo.Having just taken a bath, Sophie turned on her laptop in her room. After that, she and her brother went on a video conference call with Sheldon, far away in Eastcliff.The siblings quickly reported the huge concession that Machi had made to Sheldon, who was extremely surprised.From Sheldon’s point of view, Machi knew what he was doing. He did not only have the determination to kill and destroy the Ito family, but he also had the consciousness to willingly give in and accept the lower end of the bargain, enabling Schulz family to gain a more favorable percentage in their collaboration. This kind of person could easily be taught and tamed.Sophie said, “Dad, we will also be meeting up with Yahiko from the Ito family tomorrow, as we have already agreed to this meeting in advance. However, I think that Yahiko has already lost his advantage and competitiveness in this collaboration. Moreover, it will be impossible for him to offer us an even better proposal compared
The expression on Sophie’s face turned solemn as soon as she heard this.In fact, she had only mentioned that man earlier just so that she could piss her father off. However, when she thought about that man, Sophie could not help but feel a little worried for him.When she thought about the fact that Machi might not be letting him off so quickly, Sophie immediately blurted out.“The next time we meet Machi, I’ll be giving him a warning. If he dares to secretly attack that man after we have reached an agreement, then I will terminate our collaboration and partnership with him at any time!”“Nonsense!!” Sheldon reprimanded Sophie sternly. “As the Schulz family representative, everything should be done and negotiated for the sole interest of the Schulz family. How can you possibly allow a stranger and an unknown man to affect the interests of the Schulz family?! As long as we can get Machi to agree to the biggest concession clause, then what has the life and death of that stranger g
At the hotel lobby of Aman Hotel Tokyo.Yoshito, who had not even turned forty yet, was already looking forward to meeting the Schulz family.He made this trip to the hotel today because he had been hoping to use his humble attitude and personality to gain an opportunity to meet up and speak with the Schulz family. Although the Matsumoto family’s strength was not as grand or capable as that of the Takahashi family or the Ito family, Yoshito felt that his abilities and capabilities were not weaker than anyone else. He was young and bold, and he would be an ideal partner to collaborate and work together with the Schulz family.As the Matsumoto family was still weaker some years ago, they were far behind compared to that of the Takahashi and Ito families.Although Yoshito had already led the Matsumoto family to develop rapidly and achieve greater heights to catch up with the Takahashi family and Ito family, they were still relatively falling short behind.The Matsumoto family could
No one except Raymond expected that the terms would be agreed upon so quickly.He was utterly confident in his judgment and even more so in his value appraisal.He was convinced that once they had a good look, any one of these collectors who could afford twenty million wouldn't miss this bargain.After all, an opportunity to secure an item worth millions more than the price they paid was very rare.In fact, when the other nine collectors heard that the first collector was buying it, it was only to be expected even if it left them all gloomy. They had all held the bronze sculpture in their hands—they knew it was definitely worth that much.However, no one in the room was more shocked than Trippy.He looked utterly flabbergasted, his eyes wide and bulging as he stared at the bronze sculpture while asking himself the same question repeatedly.Was that crap really worth twenty million? How?!While Trippy was still stunned, Raymond had already sent his payment details to the first
Unable to nitpick on the air stewardess' response, Elaine pouted, "Well, try to ask management to improve on your first-class cabins anyway. Maybe even make a premium-class or something since it's not like we can't afford it."The air stewardess quickly said, "We will definitely relay your message to the management."Nodding in satisfaction, Elaine waved her off. "Alright. You can go back to work now."Clearly relieved, the air stewardess bowed her head respectfully. "Always happy to be of service."After the air stewardess left, Jacob asked Elaine in curiosity, "Was the private jet that good?"Elaine rolled her eyes. "Didn't you see the stuff I posted in the chat group?""Not really," Jacob blurted. Elaine was ready to snap at him for not caring, but considering that they had made up now and she shouldn't fuss too much over the little things, she snorted, "Just remember to like and comment on all my posts in the chat group, otherwise, I will make you regret it!""No problem!"
While the ten collectors were taking turns studying the bronze sculpture, Jacob and Elaine were boarding their flight.As they were flying first-class, they had priority over the other passengers and boarded from the separate plug door at the first-class section.The capacity of the Boeing 777 was huge, and the wide-body aircraft could be connected to a special double corridor bridge where first class and business class passengers boarded separately from the economy class passengers.As the terminals to economy class and business class were connected, Elaine and Jacob were able to get through the first-class terminal unimpeded, but the passengers in economy class had a queue of over two hundred passengers. Even as she walked, Elaine was looking over her shoulder and exclaiming at Jacob, "Must be nice being rich! We used to have to queue like the rest of them, waiting for over thirty minutes just to board our flight." "In first class, we may be in the same plane, but we don't hav
Meanwhile, once Raymond had briefed everyone about the rules, he opened the door and invited everyone into Treasure Measure.It was not that wide but appeared spacious since the interior was mostly empty—it was not really crowded even with thirty-ish people.Then, locking the door from the inside, Raymond told them, "I can tell from everyone's faces that we are all veterans here, so I'm sure you understand the rules while appraising: no photos or videos, thank you very much."Indeed, there were many rules that governed the hobby, the most important being respecting the seller's requests and privacy.As the collectors listened, they knew that Raymond was selling but did not want the public to know too much about him.They all nodded, and those who had their phones out slid them back into their pockets.With that, Raymond took out the bronze sculpture that he had brought, leaving Trippy a little surprised.He had never seen the bronze sculpture with his own eyes before, only from
"Alright!" Trippy was at once fawning, tagging along behind Raymond like a little child.Around thirty people were waiting in front of Treasure Measure by now. The collectors came in twos or threes, and all ten numbers had since been taken.Before Raymond arrived, he had a brief look at the collectors' faces through the security cameras before walking over, and he was really relieved to see no familiar faces.Having traded Oskian antiques for years abroad, it was only natural that he was acquainted with some of the elite collectors in the country.He also knew that they were especially demanding with the quality of their collection and wanted almost flawless items. As such, the bronze sculpture which had been completely lost wouldn't interest them.Still, he was also a little concerned that amongst the elite collectors he knew, there might be some who were losing money and losing purchasing power in turn. If they happened to take an interest in the bronze sculpture on top of that,
Trippy grinned. "I mean, just look at my stall—ain't no way I'm getting any business here. Why not let me check out this item of yours? And see how interested they are? I'm really interested in learning and upping my game."Then, as if worried that Raymond would refuse, he quickly added, "Don't worry—I promise to stay in a corner and just watch."Still, Raymond could guess right then that someone must have sent Trippy to spy on him.It didn't matter whether it was Mick, Jacob, or Zachary either—they were all in this plot together, and one knowing meant all three knowing.Trippy was a gossiper in nature. If he was allowed to witness the whole process, everyone down Antique Street would definitely know before long.In fact, he could use someone like that right now, and Trippy had come straight to his doorstep.With that in mind, Raymond smiled, "Come join me if you're interested. It's not like there's anything to hide…"Pausing, he then warned Trippy, "But since you're going in my
After watching Mick's video, Jasmine's opinion of the man improved considerably.She was actually well aware that the decline of Vintage Deluxe was mostly due to Mick's incompetence.However, as Jasmine was now managing a billion-dollar company, she couldn't spare any time to ask many questions about Vintage Deluxe's performance. In her opinion, as long as Vintage Deluxe didn't lose too much money or ruin the reputation they had worked so hard to build, she wasn't interested in a regime change.It was the same mindset as Marianne Long, who begged her father to keep that lane full of food stalls in Hong Kong over sentiment.As such, seeing that Mick actually had some skill pleased her considerably.She couldn't resist checking out the comments of the video too.She saw that many were praising the manager of Vintage Deluxe for taking a tough stand against the scammer as well as how Vintage Deluxe's reputation was long-standing and without comparison.She soon noticed Jacob's comme
Soon, more collectors had gathered outside Treasure Measure even before Raymond showed up at Antique Street, with over ten of them gathered outside in no time at all.Since Raymond had only prepared ten slips, the rest left in disappointment seeing that they had no chance.Even so, the ten collectors who had gotten a number were nervous—save for the first man who had arrived.The details on the online sales post insisted that the price was fixed, and that first-come first-serve applies.If he bought the bronze sculpture, the other nine would have come all this way for nothing.However, if the seller decided to make it an auction, they would have a chance too, although their net profit would thin in turn. After all, they could have acquired the bronze sculpture for just 20 million, and that meant a solid 8 million in profit.An auction would at least raise the price to 27 million, and more would make it chicken feed.If they gave up at that point, it was a waste of a trip.If
Trippy naturally wasn't going to tell Mick everything word-for-word, so he said vaguely, "Uh, they were just being stubborn and refused to listen to anything I said. They kept saying that they wouldn't know until they saw the actual item."Mick got out of bed, staring at his phone as he mused to himself.This was getting a little ridiculous, was it not? A fool who was scammed, actually able to scam someone else? But if he really could sell it, wouldn't all their work be for nothing?With that in mind, he promptly called Zachary, who wasn't even up yet.Ever since he had started working for Don Albert, his daily routine was no longer the same as the days when he was a humble stall owner working on Antique Street, but a man of importance who slept late and woke up late.In the evening, he would be spending his time patrolling Don Albert's night entertainment properties as well as holding meetings with subordinates to decide on management policies and the like. That was why he wo