Charlie was completely speechless. After a very long time, he finally spoke up and asked, “You… what are you trying to do? You’re only in your early twenties this year, and you’ll have a lot of good times ahead of you! Moreover, with your current cultivation base, even if you do not have any further progress in your cultivation base from now on, you’ll be able to easily live past a hundred years old. That is to say that you’ve only finished living one-fifth, or perhaps only one-sixth of your life now!”“I don’t care.” Rosalie said firmly, “Mr. Wade, if I had not met you, my life would have been one hundred percent over. I would not be the Rosalie Schulz, who is sitting here completely unharmed! So, no matter how much time I have left to live, I owe my life to you, Mr. Wade. Therefore, I’m willing to use all of the time that I have entirely on you, Mr. Wade!”When Charlie heard Rosalie’s words, he felt very touched and helpless at the same time deep in his heart.He originally wanted
Rosalie did not have any opinion in regards to Charlie’s arrangement at all.She had been most afraid that Charlie would also send her off to Isaac, Albert, or even her elder sister.Since Charlie was willing to continue keeping her at Shangri-La, Rosalie would certainly be willing to accept it gladly. Anyway, as long as Charlie was not going to send her off to another place, allowing her to see him often, Rosalie was already satisfied.Charlie said to Rosalie, “By the way, Rosalie, before this, I did not allow you to have any contact with the public, and I did not even allow you to have any access to any news or public information channels. On one hand, it was because I was still a little wary of you, and on the other hand, it was because your identity and situation were very special. If any news about you leaked out to the public, it would be very easy for you to get into trouble.”As he spoke, Charlie paused for a moment before he said, “But now, it seems as though you’re no l
Rosalie was extremely excited, and she said respectfully, “Thank you, Mr. Wade!”Charlie waved his hand. “You don’t need to thank me over such a small matter.”As he spoke, Charlie looked at the time and said, “Alright, then. I’ll not continue talking with you anymore now. I’ll go and talk to Mr. Cameron, Albert, and the others first so that they can also be prepared.”After that, Charlie stood up and said, “I’m leaving.”“Mr. Wade…” Rosalie hurriedly called out to him before she asked in a somewhat ashamed manner, “Can you wait for a moment? I would like to register for a new WhatsApp account and add you as a friend first!”Charlie nodded and agreed, “Okay.”Rosalie hurriedly turned on the cell phone before she downloaded the WhatsApp application in the app store. After that, she quickly registered for an account.She gave her new WhatsApp account a name before she blushed and said to Charlie, “Mr. Wade, let me scan your QR code…”Charlie casually opened his own QR code before
When Albert heard that Charlie was looking for him because of an important matter, he immediately put down all of his work at hand before heading to Shangri-La as quickly as he could.As soon as Albert entered Isaac’s office, he saw Charlie waiting in Isaac’s office. So, he hurriedly stepped forward and asked respectfully. “Master Wade, why are you looking for me?”Charlie waved at him as he smiled and said, “Come, Albert. Sit down and talk.”After he was done speaking, Charlie also greeted Isaac, “Mr. Cameron, you should sit down too.”Both Isaac and Albert sat down next to each other directly across Charlie.Immediately afterward, Charlie then spoke up, “I’ve already established a collaboration with the Harker family. Starting from today, the Harker family will send ten of their top masters to Aurous Hill, and they will be completely at my disposal at any time.”Isaac said joyfully, “Young Master, that is a good thing! With this group of top masters from the Harker family, it c
Immediately afterward, Charlie sighed and said, “I also fought with some Japanese ninjas when I went to Japan before this.”“There are some Japanese ninjas who are very similar to the warriors from Oskia. They are still stuck in the era of physical combat as well as cold weapons attacks. However, there was also a group of Japanese ninjas who were able to keep up with the times and had already incorporated a lot of modern technology.”“There was one point that left a very deep impression on me, and that was that they were paragliding using ultra-black paint and material coupled with a propulsion fan running on silent lithium batteries. They flew very fast in the sky at night, not only were their movements extremely fast, but any ordinary person on the ground would not have been able to detect them at all. This is an organic combination of traditional ninjas with modern technology. I feel that it is worth it to learn from this way of thinking.”Isaac nodded immediately as he said exci
As the sun was setting in the west and the evening sky was filled with the glow of sunset, a Gulfstream airline which was clad in golden sunlight landed at the Aurous Airport.The people seated in the plane were the eleven people that the Harker family had sent over this time, including Holden and Yashita.As soon as these people got out of the plane, they were immediately taken to the riverside villa that Isaac had already bought in advance by the convoy that Isaac had arranged for them.This villa happened to be in the same villa area as the riverside villa owned by Autumn’s father, Yolden. However, the size and area of this villa were much larger as compared to Yolden’s villa.Charlie also had his selfish reasons for arranging for the Harker family to be stationed here.He hoped that the Harker family would be able to help him keep an eye on Yolden and Autumn’s situation. If the Harker family were staying here, if anyone were to try to attack Yolden and his daughter, there woul
As soon as these words came out, the rest of the Harker family members also followed suit.Charlie nodded and said, “That’s it for these trivial matters, then. Let’s talk about serious matters.”As he spoke, Charlie pointed at the large riverside villa in front of him and said, “Lord Harker, I prepared this villa for you to use as your daily accommodation and training. The house is very large, and there are also many rooms. The first floor is open, and it is more than sufficient for daily cultivation and training. If there is any equipment you need, you can just mention it to Mr. Cameron so that Mr. Cameron can arrange for someone to implement it for you.”Holden hurriedly said, “Master Wade, you’re being too polite. In fact, we could just live in an ordinary dormitory, and we really do not have any requirements at all for our living conditions.”Charlie smiled and said, “The reason why I’m collaborating with the Harker family is not because I want to drain and squeeze all of the v
Charlie also did not expect that Holden would be willing to offer him the Harker family’s inner family boxing technique immediately after meeting him face to face for the first time and exchanging two to three sentences with him.Moreover, based on Charlie’s understanding of Rosalie, she would not immediately reveal the fact that Charlie might give a complete set of inner family boxing techniques to the Harker family in advance just because he had given her a cell phone.So, he could see that Holden was a person who knew how to be grateful and was also willing to make trade-offs.This was a very rare point.Countless folk arts had been lost in Oskia from the feudal society to this day, and the reason for this loss was because many people who had mastered these skills simply valued and treasured their own skills too much and were unwilling to pass on these skills to any outsiders even if they had to bring it to their own graves.This had also caused heavy losses to the traditional
As Zachary agreed to do a favor for Vintage Deluxe's Mick Crane in passing, he and Jacob agreed to meet up at 7pm at the car park by Antique Street.He first took Jacob back to the Calligraphy and Painting Association and called Billy, one of his boys whom he thought was smarter than the rest, giving him the gist of the plan and telling him to familiarize himself with the script.Then, he took the sculpture back to Heaven Springs and met up with Billy in office, telling Billy what to do in finer detail and making sure he committed everything to memory.Zachary's strength as a judge of character certainly proved itself—Billy had never done anything like this before, but he took to the plan like fish to water. He committed the script to memory soon enough, and he was flawless.Once he made sure that Billy was fine, Zachary called Mick.As soon as Mick answered, he immediately asked, "Hello, Mr. Evans. How is that thing we talked about going?"Zachary chuckled. All the arrangements
Zachary continued, "Why do you think casinos are always making a profit? It's exactly because no matter how unassuming a guest is the first time, they would be allowed to win a couple of hands, making a little profit.""And suddenly, they would think that they are the chosen one, destined to win against all odds and always come out triumphant! Once such radical, blind confidence hits them, every last bit of his money would be lost to the casino!""At that point, you can get anything from them—their house, their wife, their children… hell, they'd be willing to die if you'd just let them gamble again!"Turning toward Jacob with a grin, Zachary then asked, "So, with all the points I made and that sculpture you're holding… Do you still think Raymond wouldn't fall for it?"Jacob laughed out loud. "Oh, talk about a plan within a plan! No one would ever see it coming! Raymond Cole is so screwed!"Zachary smiled and nodded. "That's why there's no reason to rush—I'll arrange a man to get r
As soon as they drove out of the village, Jacob asked Zachary eagerly, "So, when do you think we should make our move? I can't wait!"Zachary didn't hesitate, "Let's do it today. It's better than waiting! I'll get someone reliable to bring this to Treasure Measure and get him interested. I'm sure that since he has just returned to Antique Street, he'll need a hot deal to generate hype and make himself known. That's why I'm sure he'll take this sculpture."Jacob nodded repeatedly as he chuckled. "I think so too. Today is definitely best since I'll be going to Dubai soon and probably leaving once I'm done with this. Once you get this settled by the end of today, I'll get tickets for the flight tomorrow!"Zachary grinned. "Don't worry, chief. We will definitely get it settled today…"He trailed off for a moment before continuing, "Still, you should be a little patient. We should do this in the evening—at the second just before Raymond Cole closes shop.""But why?" Jacob asked in curi
Jacob was naturally gleeful that he could get the late medieval bronze sculpture along with its base. Right after he wired the agreed upon ninety-eight grand to Mr. Cardensky, he was already imagining how Raymond would buy it from him for several hundred grand.On the other hand, once Mr. Cardensky received the transfer, he saw the name on the account: Jacob Wilson.He was left perplexed—wasn't that man's last name Montague? Who was this Jacob Wilson?Still, he didn't worry about it too much since most antique hustlers preferred to work with anonymity and therefore, using a different name was perfectly normal.He then carefully wrapped up the bronze sculpture before passing it Jacob, asking politely, "Would you happen to have any other requests, Mr. Montague? I have plenty of other items here if you'd permit me to give an introduction."Jacob shook his head, "Just this sculpture will do. I'm not fully confident in your work either since this is our first deal, so I'm just trying i
Jacob asked, "Then, what would this sculpture be worth if it was genuine?"Mr. Cardensky thought about it. "Well, there are standards when it comes to Renaissance relics, but with something this exquisite, it'd definitely be auctionable for one or two million—and that's the conservative estimate.""How much would you sell it to me for?" Jacob then asked."Thirty percent of the market price," Mr. Cardensky quickly replied. "As I've said, the conservative estimate for this one is around one to two million, so we will set the price with the median estimate value at 1.5 million. And thirty percent means 450 grand."Jacob shook his head right away. "No, no, no… that's too expensive. What if I end up unable to sell it, on top of that?"In his mind, while he could barely accept that pricing, he still needed Raymond to be able to afford it if he wanted to swindle Raymond for twice the money.Mr. Cardensky quickly chuckled, "Oh, Mr. Montague—now you're being too serious. In this business,
"Okay!"Mr. Cardensky smiled and pointed at a nearby farmyard. "There's our workshop—the good stuff is all in there. Allow me to take you there!"The farmyard seemed uninteresting at first glance, but Mr. Cardensky soon led them to the stables and brushed off the straws covering the floor, revealing a plank laid flat on the ground.Mr. Cardensky then lifted it, revealing a passage below—they had dug a cellar into the ground beneath, with the stables as an entry point.As Jacob followed Mr. Cardensky down the cellar, he exclaimed in awe, "Your operation is definitely big, digging such a huge cellar!"Mr. Cardensky smiled humbly. "Anyone working in the business would have sustained their losses before. In the end, we're all folk of humble origins, starting out with raiding tombs or excavating artifacts. Just digging a cellar is really nothing."As they conversed, they cleared the stairs and arrived at the main hall.It was certainly a hall as it was around a hundred square meters,
Zachary nodded repeatedly. "Mr. Montague? Very well!""Yes!" Jacob grinned smugly. "Longer last names are simply better—it just sounds so authoritative."With that agreed upon, both men alighted, where the master was waiting nearby.Seeing them get off, he hurried over to them, smiling, "Please, follow me."Zachary looked around and huffed, "Honestly, Mr. Cardensky, isn't this way too far from the highway? The road is narrow and terrible, and I have to park my car all the way out here. Just coming here is taxing."Mr. Cardensky smiled in turn. "My friend, that's exactly why we picked this place. Do you remember seeing a couple of cars parked by the road, occupying half of it?""We arranged for them to be there. Anyone coming by car would have to slow down that way, buying time for us to see who they truly are. If it's cops, our watchers would quietly text us while we clean the house and bail."Zachary exclaimed in realization, "You boys really run a tight ship!""For sure," Mr.
After working in Antique Street for years, Zachary's connections and influence were naturally special. And yet, though he was acquainted with some of the more impressive individuals, he was not that close with them either.For example, the forgery masters who worked specifically to deceive experts only accepted jobs from major clients, usually antique traders high in social status and wealth.In contrast, they wouldn't ever be interested in frivolous people like Zachary. Even if he could reach them, they might not look at him twice.If one would describe them as the cartel boss, then Zachary would be a low-level enforcer, managing night joints or goofing off.But now, Zachary had turned over a new leaf—he worked under Don Albert, so one of those masters was pleasantly surprised when he called one of them, inviting him to his own workshop for a visit and further discussion.As such, Zachary picked up Jacob and went over to the master's hideout where the latter worked on his count
Zachary was naturally shrewd enough to read Jacob's intention.In reality, he wasn't offering to pay just because he wanted the profit. He merely wanted to get in Jacob's good graces. After all, wouldn't Jacob be even more grateful that he wasn't just helping his revenge but also helping him make money?As such, he didn't hesitate to tell Jacob, "Well, chief—since you'll be paying, I will make sure that you will get every cent of profit that you deserve."Jacob was grinning ear-to-ear, but he said, "Oh, you don't have to! If we really are making a profit, there's no way I would let your good work go unrewarded!"Spreading his arms, he continued generously, "How about this? I will pay the full cost while you get twenty percent of the net profit!"Zachary laughed. "Now, that can wait, chief. We need to pay as soon as we decide on the item we want, and there's no time for buyer's regret. But if Raymond doesn't take the bait, all that money will go down the drain, and whether we can s