There were more than ten masked men inside all four cars, and they were all members of the Italian gang under Andre’s command. Two unconscious young women were stuffed inside the trunk, both bound and gagged, with black gunny sacks pulled over their heads. These unfortunate women were the gang’s targets, and it seemed Stephanie was the last one to complete the collection. Following the plan, they would drive to the pier immediately after acquiring Stephanie. They would meet the rest of the gang there, and then ship the kidnapped women to the high seas.The window of the passenger side of the car at the very front was soon lowered, and out popped the head of a masked man. He shone a special violet flashlight at Mrs. Lewis’ house. Sure enough, his gang’s markings could be seen on the pillar by the door. Having confirmed this, he closed the window and whispered in the intercom, “Sam, drive around to the back door. We’ll go in at the same time. Make it quick!”A voice replied to him
At this, they almost collapsed in fright.Since these men in black could deal with their colleagues without making a sound, it proved that the men’s strength was beyond their level.They knew they were next. There was no way for them to escape their doom!As they stood petrified, several more men in black came in, carrying more of their unconscious colleagues. “Sir, we found some drivers in the cars outside. There are two unconscious women already hidden in the trunk.”Now, even their getaway drivers were caught! They broke into cold sweat, shivering upon the realization that they were done for. Porter, dressed in the same black combat uniform as his subordinates, approached them and demanded in an icy tone that allowed no rebuttal, “Who’s your leader?” The thugs were too scared to speak. All they could think of was how to find a way out of this mess.Porter grew impatient when the thugs refused to speak. Without wasting a second longer, he grabbed the nearest one and strangle
The needle was thin and much shorter than those in normal syringes used for blood collection. Under normal circumstances, it shouldn’t hurt too if a needle as short as this pricked one’s skin. Yet, the leader was met with an entirely different sensation. Just as the tip of the needle plunged into his flesh, terrible pain shook him to the core.Porter said calmly, “There’s a little bit of liquid at the tip of the needle. You should already be feeling some of its effects. But you see, the liquid at the tip of this needle is just about a thousandth of the total amount of the medicine. Imagine how you’ll feel after I inject the entire contents of the syringe into your body. I’ll tell you: every time you breathe, it’ll be as painful as sucking in a pile of broken glass into your trachea!”The man was horrified. He immediately shouted, “Don’t! Please don’t! I’ll talk! I’ll tell you… I’ll tell you everything!”…Ten minutes later… Several black cars stopped in front of Mrs. Lewis’s hous
The Vancouver port was as busy during the night as it was during the day.Large-scale ports basically operated twenty-four hours a day. Despite the late hour, the lights were still on. A large number of trucks transporting containers kept going in and out, and the dock was constantly loading and unloading cargo to docked ships.Therefore, the sight of many cars entering the pier one after the other didn’t raise any alarm.Porter arrived at the port first, under the guidance of the Italian gang members he had subdued. He and his soldiers brought the gang members to a small, dilapidated cargo ship at the dock.There were eight members of the Italian gang on the cargo ship, as well as three young women whom the gang had kidnapped. In addition to the two women that Porter brought with him, there were a total of five young women at present. They were all kidnapped by the gang, ready to be sent to the high seas tonight.Porter conducted a surprise interrogation on the gang on the old
Charlie pretended to walk out of the car resentfully, looking very aggrieved. In truth, he was delighted. To think it would be so easy to fool Andre! He was pleased.He simply threw the bait in front of Andre. The fish went beyond his expectations and actually took the initiative to bite the hook before he even had time to properly entice it. The fish also brought all of his lackeys together with him to bite the hook. This feeling of a one-shot explosion was amazing.The entire fishing process went very smoothly at every step. Everything was within Charlie’s control. Just then, two to three hundred men came out of their cars. They too grew excited when they saw the large cargo ship. A few shouted eagerly, “Boss! Since this cargo ship is ours, we have to take it to the high seas and have a huge party on deck to celebrate!”Everyone approved this proposal immediately and cheered in delight.Another person added, “We have to get more hot girls too! And we should get a DJ to
Andre let out an ecstatic yell, rousing his men into excitement. They were all in high spirits, eager to board the ship and look through every nook and cranny. Andre pressed his pistol against Charlie, grinning. “Mr. Wade, please lead the way.”Charlie said nothing and complied in silence, taking a step forward as he entered. Andre and Gopher followed closely behind, with the crowd cheering and swarming in from behind them.The power part, control area, and the crew’s living quarters were all in the stern of the cargo ship. The front part was full of cargo storage.From the cabin door, they entered a stairwell with a steel structure that led to the engine room, and then to the cargo hold. However, these passages were locked in advance. They could only climb the staircase and go all the way up. None of them, Andre included, were interested in the structure of the cargo ship. They simply wanted to rush to the top floor and take control of the entire bridge. The entire gang
The reason why they used to do well in Canada was solely because they came early.Before the large-scale influx of Asians into Vancouver, the Italians came from Sicily and established themselves in the United States and Canada. After the Vietnam War, a large number of retired and defeated Vietnamese soldiers arrived at Canada and quickly took over with their superior military qualities. Since then, the Italian gang went through troubled times.With the rise of the Oskian gangs and the infiltration of the Eastern European forces later on, things became more and more difficult for the Vietnamese. The Italian gangs suffered even worse.In recent years, the Italian gangs struggled to survive. Even the past few days were terribly suffocating. Porter turned a blind eye to Andre’s pistol, not bothered to spare Andre a glance. He remained calm and continued speaking to Charlie. “Mr. Wade, there are less than a million people in a small city like Vancouver. If you’re interested, just
Charlie’s words stunned Andre, Gopher, and the rest of the gang.Gopher couldn’t help but think to himself, ‘Isn’t it enough for what’s-his-name to lose his mind? Has Mr. Wade also lost his marbles too?’While Gopher was caught up in his thoughts, Porter clasped one of his hands over the other in front of Charlie. After that, he turned to Gopher and Andre, and said indifferently, “Let me introduce myself. My name is Porter Waldron.”“Porter Waldron?!” Gopher was stunned to hear the name. He found it particularly familiar, but he couldn’t put a finger to it.At this time, Andre sneered, “Your name’s Porter Waldron? Damn! No wonder why you’re so arrogant. You have the same name as the famous lord of Ten Thousand Armies!”Then, it dawned on the crowd!No wonder this name sounded so familiar!Porter Waldron, the famous lord of Ten Thousand Armies, was a legendary god-like figure.However, none of them believed that the Porter in front of them was the same Porter Waldron who was the
Mr. Cardensky's forgery syndicate had made the bronze sculpture—all Zachary had done was talk Jacob into buying it, and Jacob himself had made some money after Raymond bought it.That meant the entire plot had nothing to do with Zachary as he was just a mediator at best.In other words, if the bronze sculpture was worth nothing, he didn't lose anything… although he wouldn't make a cent even if it was worth a hundred million.However, he also knew all too well what Jacob Wilson was like.In fact, in this world, he was only second to Charlie when it came to knowing what type of man Jacob Wilson really was—not even Claire or Elaine would win against them.He was a dead man.That was Zachary's immediate thought on the matter, should Jacob ever find out.After all, Jacob was precisely one of those people who didn't play by any rules—no buyer's regret? No seller's remorse? None of that applied to him.Not even the Gods could make Jacob offer a refund if he scalped them. And vice vers
As Mick Crane had established a corrupted hierarchy in Vintage Deluxe, he had to make sure his position was never threatened by Raymond Cole.That was why he wanted Raymond gone, and it was obvious from that how important self-gain was to him.However, though he plotted to protect this job with a salary of several hundred grand per annum and incentives worth just as much, he didn't think that doing so meant he had missed out on 20 million.And to add insult to injury, that 20 million had ended up in Raymond's pocket.Mick wasn't just thunderstruck—he wished he was dead.Hanging up on Trippy right then, he called Zachary directly since Zachary had told him earlier that text notifications from his number would be silenced.Zachary was just about to fall asleep when his phone began buzzing.Already annoyed when he picked up his phone, he immediately snapped at Mick when he saw who the caller was. "I told you! Text me if you have any updates, and I'll check it when I wake up! Why ar
As Ian Cash's trio turned and left Treasure Measure, Trippy was still standing there, staring blankly as they headed off to the distance, utterly dispirited.Seeing that, Raymond returned his phone and said coolly, "We had agreed on some ground rules, but not only did you break them, you even tried to sabotage me.""Since you refuse to be honorable, you can't blame me for being cold—starting now, we shall have nothing to do with each other. We'll be strangers even if we bump into each other."Trippy was already choking, and he snatched his phone back before dashing out of Treasure Measure, calling Mick Crane as soon as he left.Mick had just arrived at Vintage Deluxe and hadn't even sat down when Trippy called, and he asked as soon as he answered, "How did it go? What did you find out?"However, Trippy was so exasperated he burst into tears right then, "M-Mr. Crane… My dear Mr. Crane…"Mick was left reeling from shock, and he promptly snapped, "Can't you fucking talk? Why are you
Seeing that the transaction was complete and that the bargain deal had been taken, the other collectors all excused themselves and left.As for Ian, once he had bagged the bronze sculpture, he nodded at Raymond. "I apologize for leaving early, Mr. Cole, but I must return to Eastcliff. However, you can contact me again should you pick up another treasure. I'm quite a spendthrift, and I pay up right away if the item is good and the price is right."Raymond smiled. "Very well. I shall contact you first the next time I get something good."Ian nodded and was ready to leave with his two friends when Trippy chased after them."Please, Mr. Cash!" He cried urgently, his anxiety overcoming him. "You shouldn't buy that! It's a forgery!"Ian frowned at him. "Are you trying to sabotage Mr. Cole? Aren't you supposed to be his friend?""Hell, no!" Trippy promptly replied. "I'm no friend of his—I'm just here to watch, but I didn't think he dared to trick you for 20 million! I can't bear to see
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,