As he spoke, the adjutant then said, “The basic level soldiers from Ten Thousand Armies are the purest mercenaries. They train hard to fight, and they are willing to risk their own lives while doing it just because they want to make more money so that they can enjoy life. Otherwise, why do you think they would be willing to risk so much and come out here to do this kind of work?”Zayne suddenly had nothing to say.He understood Ten Thousand Armies’ current situation very well.Although Ten Thousand Armies had the Four War Kings as well as up to more than a hundred excellent War Generals, almost all of the tens of thousands of ordinary soldiers in Ten Thousand Armies had only joined Ten Thousand Armies exclusively for the sake of making profits.These mercenaries did not have any loyalty to Ten Thousand Armies at all. All of them only felt that Ten Thousand Armies had a pretty good organizational profit, scale, and also popularity. So, that was the reason why they chose to work so h
“Peace negotiation?!”Upon hearing Hamed’s initiative for a peace negotiation, Zayne immediately said angrily, “This b*stard killed more than two thousand soldiers from Ten Thousand Armies and embarrassed us, making us lose our reputation in the international mercenary field. Now, he still dares to come and ask for a peace negotiation with me?! Let me tell you, that is absolutely impossible! Our Ten Thousand Armies will never agree to it!”The supreme commander of the government then asked rhetorically, “You’re not willing to have a peace negotiation, and you’re not willing to attack either. So, are you going to continue wasting time here?”Zayne said coldly, “Didn’t we already reach a consensus on not agreeing to any peace negotiations a few days ago? At that time, everyone’s opinions were all unified, and that is for us to wipe out Hamed’s army. Could it be that you have already changed your mind now after just a few days have passed?”The other party spoke up and said, “The situ
“What?!” Zayne blurted out, “Hamed has killed so many of your troops, and he should be publicly sentenced to death. Yet, you are still going to appoint him as an official?!”The other party spoke indifferently, “All those matters would not be a problem anymore as long as he is willing to surrender. You should know that Hamed has already become the beacon and benchmark of all the other opposition forces now. If Hamed chooses to surrender, the confidence of all the other opposition forces will definitely suffer a huge setback. This is a great thing for us, so of course, we are willing to appoint him!”Zayne clenched his teeth and said, “Hamed is Ten Thousand Armies’ mortal enemy. If you want to appoint him, you will also have to consider how Ten Thousand Armies is going to respond to this matter in the future! Do you really want to make an enemy out of Ten Thousand Armies?!”When the other party heard this, he was obviously a little worried.Indeed, no one would dare to casually prov
Ten Thousand Armies was the last person in the world who would want to make a peace negotiation with Hamed.They had suffered great losses in Hamed’s hands this time, and Ten Thousand Armies was currently the laughingstock in the entire mercenary field. If they agreed to a peace negotiation with Hamed at this time, then wouldn’t they only end up being even more embarrassed and disgraced?However, Zayne knew very well that the real leader behind this matter was the government. If Zayne continued to disagree when the government was willing to agree to the peace negotiation, this would only lead to further contradictions between Ten Thousand Armies and the government.If this continued, not to mention the fact that Ten Thousand Armies might not be able to kill Hamed to avenge their brothers’ deaths, but it would also be very likely for the government to turn their backs on them. The land that the government had previously promised to them would also end up being reduced to nothing. I
So, he asked, “Where did these pictures come from?”The other party said coldly, “These were all sent by Hamed himself!”Zayne had a very gloomy expression on his face, and he ground his teeth and said, “Hamed is putting our army down!”As he said that, he then spoke up, “In this case, it is no longer up to me to decide whether we should agree to Hamed’s request for a peace negotiation anymore. I have to report this matter to our lord immediately, and he will make all of the decisions, then!”The other party said disdainfully, “I do not give a d*mn about you. I just came here to tell you that I’ve already made an agreement with the opponent. Hamed’s negotiator will arrive at the barracks by helicopter at three o’clock in the afternoon, and I will meet him face to face for the peace negotiation regardless of whether you will be participating in it or not!”After that, he took his cell phone back from Zayne’s hand before he turned around and left. Zayne wiped a handful of cold swe
As soon as the phone call was connected, Porter asked Zayne straightforwardly, “Do you have any good news for me?”Zayne was then incomparably embarrassed as he said, “Lord… Hamed looked for a middleman to come over today to request for a peace negotiation with us…”“Peace negotiation?!” Porter immediately said angrily, “Hamed and the soldiers under his command are all responsible for the lives of more than two thousand and five hundred soldiers from Ten Thousand Armies who have been sacrificed. Aside from their complete annihilation, I will not accept any other outcomes!”Zayne mustered up the courage to say, “Lord, the problem now is that we cannot seem to pressure Hamed at all, and the only way would be for us to continue keeping guard here. However, it would not be a solution for us to continue staying here forever! We are making serious daily economic losses, and if this were to continue, it would seem as though our losses would outweigh the gains…”Porter said sternly, “As lo
...After Zayne agreed to the peace negotiation, the middleman quickly returned the news to Hamed.The time for the peace negotiation was then set at three o’clock in the afternoon of that day. As for the location of the peace negotiation, it was set at the garrison where Zayne and the government supreme commander were stationed.However, the other party did not inform Hamed about the specific coordinates of the location of the garrison. Instead, they gave Hamed the coordinates of a transit point so that Hamed’s pilot could send his negotiator to the transit point first before their helicopter would then bring Hamed’s negotiator to the location where the negotiation would be taking place. Charlie understood the opponent’s motive for doing this very well. They must be afraid that information about their leadership’s location would be exposed. They were afraid that Hamed would then fire a round of intensive artillery at that coordinate directly. So, Charlie did not object to this at
Charlie took the helicopter, and he arrived at a wasteland about fifty kilometers away from Hamed’s base.At this moment, there were already two government helicopters parked here as well as a dozen armed men consisting of both soldiers from the government and also Ten Thousand Armies. The helicopter that Charlie was riding in landed slowly on the clearing in front of the other two helicopters under the guidance of the opponent’s soldiers.As soon as the helicopter stopped, Charlie, who was wearing a mask, pushed the door open and jumped down.At this time, a Syrian soldier came forward and spoke a language that Charlie did not understand. So, Charlie waved his hand and said, “Please communicate to me in Oskian dialect or English!”A government officer came forward and spoke in a less than proficient Oskian dialect, “My Oskian dialect… is relatively poor…”At this time, one of the Oskian soldiers amongst the other soldiers from Ten Thousand Armies stepped forward with a surprise
Ramond replied, "I'm not planning on getting my name out there—I was just thinking I could start slow from one shop, but now, I'm suddenly so popular everyone's consulting me for appraisals, so I guess that's the short end of this."Either way, I'm planning to let things cool off by opening the shop late and closing early. That way, I'd receive fewer customers, and the hype will die down in a month."Once it does, I'll lead a slow life, which is perfect in Aurous Hill since it's how things are here. I'm not aiming to get rich or expand my business, and it's a comfortable life, so I plan to retire here."Charlie nodded. "The Rothschilds are relatively manageable, but I'm not sure if the Qing Eliminating Society is still looking for you and the Four-Sided Treasure Tower. You'll be completely free once they are wiped out.""And I'm sure with your abilities, Mr. Wade, that day will soon arrive." Raymond smiled and soon remembered. "By the way, you probably haven't had dinner yet, right
Charlie was never one who covered up misdeeds, and what Jacob had done reflected his corrupted character and clear refusal to feel remorse.As such, Charlie naturally refused to offer any help, completely giving up and allowing Jacob to keep going off on his own tangent, tearing himself apart in the process.Still, Raymond did put a good word in for Jacob. "Actually, one can understand Mr. Wilson's motives from a certain point of view. I was the one who set him up so that he broke that vase, and had him beaten up so that we didn't arouse suspicion. He has every reason to bear a grudge."Charlie sighed, nodding. "There's no issue with holding a grudge or getting revenge—in fact, I have no problem with him trying to salvage some pride. However, what he did was unseemly, and he doesn't know when to stop."He didn't lose anything before Zachary exposed everything. Even if he had missed a killer deal, he bought it off someone's hand in the first place and made two hundred grand in clean
With those words, Jacob didn't wait any further as he turned and left Antique Street, intent on seeking legal counsel.Raymond watched him leave before returning to Treasure Measure.He wasn't going to leave, but he had said so because he didn't want to waste much time with Jacob.Still, to avoid any trouble, he turned the sign outside to 'closed' before locking the door from the inside.That was when a man suddenly arrived, asking through the glass door, "Can I still take a look inside, sir?"Raymond was ready to refuse without even turning around when he realized that it was Charlie.He turned around and saw him standing outside just as expected.Smiling, he hurried over to open the door for him. "It's been a while, Mr. Wade!"Charlie was aware that Raymond was sticking to his identity of 'Raymond Cole' who had not been in touch since Raymond had been fired from Vintage Deluxe.Charlie chuckled in turn. "It has indeed. And you're a business owner yourself now, too.""It's j
Jacob zipped toward Raymond, his attitude immediately subservient, "I'm sure you've seen what Zachary Evans posted on his Twitter page, and to be honest, it's so terrible that my position in the Calligraphy and Painting Association has been affected too. I mean, you've made a lot of money, right?"Hell, even if you donated ten million, you'd still have another ten million and 970 thousand in net profits. So, all I'd like to ask is for you to post something to disclaim Zachary's post.Jacob's words left Raymond in thought.For Jacob, just being suspected of fraud would definitely be terrible. In fact, his position in the Calligraphy and Painting Association would definitely be threatened—if not dismissed altogether—if he wasn't cleared of suspicion.Since Jacob was Charlie Wade's father-in-law, Raymond had reason not to drive Jacob over the brink.But that also begged another question—it must be under Charlie's intention for Zachary to post his confession, and that meant Charlie in
Raymond couldn't help chuckling just as Jacob finished—he had honestly never heard of anyone who demanded a refund after donating to charity, but he was certainly seeing one now.Still, the receptionist was clearly experienced and slowly explained, "Sir, it's a legal clause of the country that all donations for philanthropy purposes can not be refunded under most circumstances—""It truly was a mistake," Jacob quickly said, cutting the receptionist off. "I was going to donate thirty thousand but pressed an extra zero by mistake. Please discuss this with your management—you just have to refund 27 thousand, see?""Sorry, sir," the receptionist apologized. "But it's a strict rule that we ourselves do not get to access the funds that have been donated into our accounts. Every donation will be screened extensively, and if you consider that there was a major oversight on your part, you may seek legal counsel to appeal for a refund. If the courts back your appeal, our organization will the
Nonetheless, Jacob darted into Treasure Measure and plucked off his mask, asking nervously, "Excuse me, Mr. Cole? It's me… Jacob Wilson…"Raymond looked up, pausing for a moment before acting as if he was actually curious, "Mr. Wilson! What brings you here? Don't tell me—you want that bronze sculpture back too?""No, no, no…" Jacob quickly shook his head. "I would never… I returned all the way from Dubai to apologize!""Apologize?" Raymond smiled faintly, and he did not play dumb this time as he asked bluntly, "Did you come back because of Zachary Evan's post?"Knowing he couldn't deny it any longer, Jacob nodded, "Yeah…"Raymond nodded and said calmly, "That's unnecessary. I was the one who benefited in the end."Jacob wasn't quite keeping up—thinking that Raymond was just trying to be nice by telling him he didn't have to apologize, he quickly pulled out his phone.Tapping on it and bringing up his transaction records, he handed it to Raymond reverently, "Mr. Cole, I understan
The cabbie chuckled. "You're a local yet you're heading to Antique Street right away as soon as you land instead of going home? And you're still saying you're not trying to pick up a killer bargain deal?"Come on, man—it's not just you, I want that too. We cabbies work ourselves to death only for ten thousand per month at best while our friend over there made twenty million in one night. I could keep driving cabs for the rest of my life and still not make that much money."Jacob knew that the cabbie must be talking about Raymond and became even more miserable then, grumbling unhappily, "I'm going to Antique Street for business—I'm not trying to pick up some missed bargain.""No? Then you didn't hear what happened yesterday?"The cabbie was immediately curious, and without waiting for Jacob's answer, he exclaimed happily, "Look, man—it was so ridiculous not even Hollywood would put it in their script. There were these fools who were trying to sell an antique trader a replica, but th
It was nighttime in Dubai as Jacob dragged his weary body from the hotel back to the airport.As he was flying economy this time, he was left sitting at the hard bench near the boarding terminal, waiting for it to open.While he waited, his heart was torn as he tapped into the website of the Aurous Hill Charity Fund, found their donation account, and wired the entire 300 thousand he had made over to them.He had picked the Aurous Hill Charity Fund because the circles of antique collectors in Aurous Hill were all discussing how Raymond had donated half of the 20 million he had made to that same charity fund.After Raymond skyrocketed to prominence in Antique Street and became a star, it could not be denied that people admired his profound ability.However, there were also people who envied his skill in turning the tables just as there were those who were jealous he had made twenty million in a single night.Still, Raymond moved fast—soon after word spread that he had made twenty m
Elaine quickly asked, "Well, what if you can't get it done?"Jacob was apprehensive even as he sighed. "If they really pressed the issue, guess I can't even stay at the Calligraphy and Painting Association now… We will see. If things get bad, I'll just resign. I won't ask for much right now, just as long as I don't have to go to jail."Elaine nodded. "Then you should try to reason things out with Raymond Cole or ask for Charlie's help if push comes to shove. Being humiliated is still better than prison.""Okay!"-It was nighttime at Aurous Hill by the time Elaine and Jacob arrived at their hotel.Charlie and Claire had just had dinner, and Claire pulled out her phone, saying, "I just checked my flight app, and it says my parents should have landed two hours ago. They are probably at the hotel, so I'll check in on them with a video call."She had yet to open her WhatsApp when Elaine called her on a video call.Jacob was planning to check in with Claire and Charlie to put their