Resentment flooded Jordanâs heart, coursing through his veins. He simply couldnât fathom as to why Carlson would compete with him. The man was forcing him to the verge of collapse.Carlson clearly knew about Jordanâs circumstances. On top of that, they had been acquainted with each other for some time. Though they couldnât be considered bosom friends, must Carlson act so ruthlessly? Jordanâs life would be coming to an end in perhaps just several days after this auction. If he missed his chance to acquire the pill, his life would be over.Carlson was only in his fifties. Why must he compete with Jordan so?If Carlson needed the Rejuvenating Pill, he could easily wait until the next yearâs auction. Jordan felt that Carlsonâs relentlessness was intended to kill him.Carlson, meanwhile, had his hands tied. He was quite helpless in facing the current predicament, but he had his own reasons despite knowing Jordanâs plight. As such, he had no choice but to continue competing for the p
That also meant that Jordan had reached his limit, and wouldnât be able to continue bidding.Despite all the odds stacked against him, Jordan was reluctant to give up without a hard fight. He thought to himself, âThe auction requires the payment to be made in half an hour. Iâll think of some way in that time. Maybe I can gather the remaining funds elsewhere!âJordan decided to take the risk. He raised his hand again and said, âI offer two hundred and ten billion US dollars!âJordan knew that this would be his last bidding for the night.If Carlson continued to bid, he would have no choice but to admit defeat. When that happened, he would have to prepare to face his death and funeral.His granddaughter Kathleen had gotten in touch with the owner of the Rejuvenating Pill for his sake. However, Jordan no longer pinned his hopes on Kathleen, not when the pillâs price had reached this much. If he couldnât get it, then his granddaughter wouldnât be able to either. However, Jordanâs as
Three hundred billion US dollars! Many in the hall almost fainted at the insane offer.However, their curiosity was roused. Who was Carlson? How was he able to pay so much money?Not only that, but he even offered an additional eighty billion US dollars just to take the pill with him. Was he buying the pill for someone else?!Jasmine began to panic. Charlie was the one who set the rule where the bidder must eat the pill immediately upon winning. However, Carlsonâs offer came with an additional eighty billion US dollars. That alone had already exceeded the Moore familyâs total net worth.That, and Jasmine couldnât possibly make any decisions on Charlieâs behalf!In the control room, Isaac was completely stunned by Carlsonâs offer. He turned to Charlie and gulped nervously, and asked with a stammer, âS-sirâĶ ThisâĶWhat should we doâĶ?âCharlie watched Carlson through the surveillance camera and smiled slightly. âThose who want to take the pill home only have two objectives. They eithe
âIf I canât bring back the pill, I shouldnât buy it for myselfâĶââBut Iâve finally won it and even offended Sir Jordan for it. To return home empty-handed is justâĶ I canât accept this!âWhile he hesitated and struggled to decide, Jasmine asked again, âNumber 99, will you be making the payment?âCarlson hesitated for a moment and finally decided to put his dignity away. He begged, âI beg you! Please give me a chance and let me have the pill! If one hundred billion US dollars isnât enough, Iâll top up another fifty billion!âAn additional fifty billion to his existing offer would make it three hundred and seventy billion US dollars in total.Many in the hall were stunned. They wouldnât have dreamt of someone who could come up with three hundred seventy billion US dollars in cash! Who was this man?Carlson knew he could not eat the Rejuvenating Pill himself. Otherwise, he would become a target for the rest.He only had two choices, and both didnât look very good. Either he took the
Bernard was so emotional to hear that, he almost burst into tears there and then. He was eliminated early because of Jordan and Carlson. He didnât expect that there was still hope left for him.He looked forward to seeing Jordan give up. The Rejuvenating Pill would be his if Jordan gave up purchasing rights. He also hoped Jordan wouldnât be able to pay so that the pill could become his!On top of that, he wouldnât have to pay any additional amount. He only needed to pay with the amount he made in his last bid earlier, which was only seventy-two billion US dollars.Thinking that, he changed his opinion on the organizer. Whoever he was, he wasnât as horrible as Bernard once thought. On the contrary, his actions were reasonable and humane.Jordan had become emotional once more, on his way to a second breakdown. He ended up with a final bid of two hundred and ten billion earlier because of Carlsonâs persistence. If Carlson didnât join the bidding, would he have pushed the price up so h
Jasmine then added with a meaningful smile, âNumber 35, youâre the one who made the bid at two hundred and ten billion US dollars. That means that the price is within your affordability. Besides, itâs already a dream come true for you to purchase the pill even at this price. If you are dissatisfied and keep insisting for a re-auction, Iâll have the staff escort you out.âShe went on, âWe can sell the Rejuvenating Pill to Number 16 at seventy-two billion US dollars. Perhaps that means weâll suffer a huge loss. After all, itâs around three hundred billion US dollars less than the highest offer earlier.ââHowever, losing three hundred billion US dollars isn't important to us. Upholding the rules is the most important!ââFor those who try to challenge our rule and fairness, weâll remove them from the auction at once!ââWe will do the same regardless of the offenderâs wealth and status. We do not welcome them here!âJordanâs heart skipped an anxious beat at Jasmineâs harsh reminder.H
âYou! What did you just say?!âJordan blacked out and almost fainted at that very second. Fortunately, Jarvis was right beside him. He supported him and pressed on a pressure point on Jordanâs hand, allowing Jordan to regain his consciousness.Immediately after, Jordan demanded furiously, âHow can that b*stard call the emergency order? Does he even have the authority?!âJace explained with great difficulty, âThe Sir has called for a board meeting and presented the complete evidence regarding your funds and transactions at the groupâs Swiss bank accountâĶââHe told the board that youâve deliberately gathered two hundred billion US dollars just for a fabled life elixirâĶââHe believed that your current health conditions have affected your sanity, including your rationale. If you continue to be the chairman, itâll cause the group a huge financial loss and pose a big risk to the future operations. As such, they executed the highest emergency orderâĶâJace continued, âEveryone on the boa
He lost count of the endless despair, emotional, and hopeful moments he had during the entire night. It kept going on and on like an unending cycle.He felt his heart was growing weak from all the overwhelming emotions. If this continued, he would go through a heart attack and pass away before even eating the pill.Bernard stared intensely at Jordan, hoping to hear Jordan say that he couldnât buy or pay for the pill. If that happened, Bernard would be able to buy the Rejuvenating Pill with just seventy-two billion US dollars!Kathleen, meanwhile, was relieved when she found out that her grandfather was eligible to win the pill. However, her heart jumped in shock and anxiety when she heard her grandfatherâs angry roar. Immediately, she knew her uncle must have taken the chance to usurp her grandfatherâs position. Jace the butler stuttered helplessly, âMy LordâĶ Iâm so sorry. I have no way to help you nowâĶ Iâm under house arrest. Sir ordered at least dozens of mercenaries to surround
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 handsâthey 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 emptyâit 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 stallâain'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 worryâI 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 eitherâthey 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 hideâĶ"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 nervousâsave 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