The cold wind that came pouring into his skull caused Falco to shiver violently. Immediately after that, he felt a pain that was ten thousand times more painful than dismemberment!This was because the toxin that was released by the native parasitic worm was so terrifying that it made his pain nerves a hundred times more acute than it was before.Not to mention the fact that the native parasitic worm was biting a large hole on the top of his head, but even if someone were to simply poke him with an embroidery needle, it would basically be equivalent to a million arrows piercing directly into Falco’s heart at this time.The extreme and severe pain caused Falco to faint for a moment, but he was then stimulated to the point that he was wide awake again after a short moment. He was in immense pain.By this time, the native parasitic worm had already opened its dark mouth as it dug into Falco’s brain and begun feasting on it.Falco died immediately from the extreme pain.His complex
Charlie nodded in satisfaction and spoke up, “In that case, you can follow me back.”Carvalho hurriedly agreed, and when he raised his head, he suddenly gasped and exclaimed out loud.“Eh?! Could it be that Falco Xanthos has left a sarira behind after getting struck by lightning?” When Charlie heard this, he subconsciously looked at the location where Falco had been struck to ashes by lightning, and indeed, he saw an object that was about the size of a duck egg which was grayish brown lying on the ground.He could not help but frown as he spoke up, “How can a sarira be so big? I think that it might be a kidney stone, right?”“I don’t think that’s right…” Carvalho said as he subconsciously walked over there and picked up the grayish-brown object.He examined it carefully for a moment, and he could not help but exclaim, “Oh, my God! This… this is actually ambergris!”“Ambergris?” Charlie frowned. He had just asked for Graham’s help to find ambergris for him just a few days ago. U
Charlie put the ambergris safely away, and he also felt that Carvalho seemed to be a little more pleasing to his eyes as compared to before when he looked at Carvalho now.After that, he spoke up, “Both you and Mason will stay at Shangri-La from tonight. I’ll get someone to arrange a room for you, and I’ll provide you with three sumptuous meals every day as well as all the other daily necessities. However, the only price that you’ll have to pay is that you cannot have any contact with the outside world for the time being, and the both of you are not allowed to leave Shangri-La without permission.”As he spoke, Charlie then added, “This is the best solution I can offer you. Trust me, Shangri-La is much more comfortable as compared to the dog farm.”Carvalho would never dare to be dissatisfied, and he could only bow honestly as he said, “I’ll follow all of Young Master Wade’s instructions…”Charlie nodded before he called Isaac. Ten minutes later, Isaac rushed over in a helicopter.
Doris asked again, “Since you’ve just come to Aurous Hill, have you gotten used to it, then?”“It’s pretty good.” Autumn smiled and said, “Actually, it feels much better to be in Oskia as compared to being in the United States. On one hand, it’s because there is a greater sense of belonging here, and on the other hand, another important reason is because it feels very safe in Oskia.”“That’s true.” Doris sighed as she said, “I’ve also stayed in the United States for a period of time. The security there is indeed much worse as compared to the security in our country. Aside from the downtown area, I did not dare to go anywhere else after ten o’clock at night since there are often many armed robberies on the streets, and it is especially dangerous for women.”Autumn nodded repeatedly in agreement as she said helplessly, “The security issues in the United States have always been a persistent problem. When I was still back in the United States, I usually did not go out after nine o’clock
When Autumn heard Charlie’s question, she felt a little bashful and embarrassed. She did not want Charlie to find out that she had just been asking Doris whether Charlie was a person that was easy to get along with.Doris was also the kind of woman who had extremely high emotional intelligence, so she simply smiled slightly as she said to Charlie, “The both of us were just talking about our work in the future. After all, the both of us will be working together in your company here in the future. So, many things can be intercommunicated.”As she spoke, Doris looked at Autumn and said, “Young Master, Miss Hart has just returned to Oskia, and she is preparing to accept a brand-new business from scratch. So, you’ll have to give her more guidance when the time comes so that you can help her get the business running smoothly even faster.”Charlie did not think too much about it, and he nodded gently as he said seriously, “That’s for sure. I personally attach great importance to this busin
Therefore, she was not sure how much money Charlie could come up with to run this business.At this time, Charlie thought for a moment before he spoke up, “I’ll take out five billion dollars as the start-up capital for the first stage. After that, I might invest an additional tens of billions of dollars in the future. However, that will depend on the effectiveness of our first stage.”As he spoke, Charlie then asked Autumn, “In your opinion, will five billion dollars be sufficient for the first stage?”Autumn did not hesitate to say, “Yes, it will absolutely be enough! In that case, I’ll be able to expand the scale of my original idea a little, and we will be able to place the order for ten new cargo ships from the shipbuilding enterprises at the same time. That way, our capacity will be greatly increased next year.”Charlie nodded and said, “I’ll leave all of these decisions to you.”At this time, there was another knock at the door, and Doris’s secretary's voice sounded, “Chairm
Charlie only knew that the reason why Sophie had not accused or complained about Cadfan during the live broadcast of her press conference was because she must have already come to some kind of agreement with Cadfan.However, Charlie was not sure what Sophie had actually gotten in exchange from Cadfan.When Charlie heard that Sophie had gotten Schulz Ocean Shipping Group from him, he was rather surprised.He truly did not expect that this girl, Sophie, would actually be so capable. She could actually cut off such a big piece of flesh from Cadfan!Or rather, this was no longer as simple as cutting a piece of flesh off from under his foot, but this was almost equivalent to Sophie cutting off one of Cadfan’s legs!However, Charlie was a little surprised as he asked Nanako, “Since the Schulz family’s ocean shipping business is completely blocked now, is there any way Sophie Schulz would be able to bring this business back to life?”Nanako hurriedly replied, “To be honest, I’m not too
Charlie was not worried about himself if his identity were to be exposed to the Schulz family. After all, Sheldon and Steven were both in his hands. Moreover, he had also personally dealt with Falco. So, even if the Schulz family wanted to deal with him, they did not have any ways to deal with him at all. Hence, he did not really have anything to worry about.What he was truly worried about was Sophie.As soon as she decided to collaborate with him, Cadfan would certainly be furious. At that time, it might be possible for Cadfan to turn his anger on Sophie entirely.After all, the Schulz family and the Wade family had a feud with one another, and they were each other’s biggest rivals. If Sophie were to collaborate with him, in Cadfan’s eyes, this would be tantamount to Sophie betraying the Schulz family and working together with the enemy instead.Although Charlie also wanted to find a shortcut for his own business, he felt that this shortcut should not be built on the basis of pla
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