Shawn was dumbfounded when he heard Marianne’s words.He subconsciously asked, “Are you insane?! Don’t you know that you will only die if you stay here?!”“I don’t care.” Marianne said with a firm expression, “I want to stay with Charlie regardless of whether I will stay and go, die or live!”Shawn became anxious, and he blurted out, “Marianne! This is not the time for you to be loyal! As long as one person can leave now, it’d be better than two people dying together!”Nevertheless, Marianne’s eyes were firm as she said without hesitation, “You don’t have to persuade me. You can go by yourself.”Shawn stomped his feet angrily. “Are you insane?! You will not be able to do anything by staying here!”Marianne said coldly, “I’ve already said that I don’t care! I just want to stay with Charlie!”“F*ck!” Shawn gritted his teeth. He then took out his checkbook and kept writing on it as he clenched his teeth and said, “I’ve let you do everything that you wanted to in the past, but that
For martial arts cultivation, it had always been those who were at the top who could see the cultivation levels of those who were at the bottom, whereas those who were at the bottom could not see those who were at the top.Charlie could tell that he was a martial artist at first glance, but he could not see Charlie’s cultivation level. This meant that Charlie was most likely stronger than himself!If Charlie was a four-star martial artist, he would have the ability to act wildly.If Charlie was a five-star martial artist, he could counter him easily with a single move!When Charlie saw that Mr. Lanyon was flustered, he deliberately said, “I cannot see anything, but I’ve heard others talking about you. All of them said that you’re a three-star martial artist.”In truth, Charlie was simply making things up. He had never heard anyone talk about this person nor his cultivation level.Furthermore, the reason why he had said this was because he did not want Mr. Lanyon to give in so qui
“Call someone here?” Mr. Lanyon snorted coldly in disdain, “Why? You still want to call for help?!”Charlie laughed and said, “It’s not a helper. Don’t you want to know of Dillion’s whereabouts? I can make a call right now and arrange for someone to bring him in.”Solomon sneered and said, “Kid, you are really courting your own death. Do you think that you will be able to get out safely if you just make a phone call to bring your helpers here? Let me tell you that no one, not even God, will be able to take you away in my territory!”Charlie smiled and said, “I don’t need anyone to take me away. I will walk away from this place myself after I deal with you. You will be kneeling on the ground as you bark and crawl like a dog at that time.”“F*ck you!” Solomon was completely furious. He pointed at Charlie and yelled at Mr. Lanyon, “Kill him! Right now! Immediately!”Rudy, who was aside, panicked, and he hurriedly said to Solomon, “Godfather, you cannot act too rashly for the time bei
After he had finished speaking, he turned around and ran in, and he was panicking as he shouted, "Leader! Three people are coming in from outside... Oh, no, it's four people, and one person is carrying another person on his shoulder..."Solomon frowned, and he immediately guessed that the other party should be carrying his god-grandson, Dillion. So, he muttered, "Three people? Three people actually dare to come and mess with me? Don't they know that I have a hundred people here with me?! Let them in!" The subordinate hurriedly ran back to the door and said to Porter, "Please come in."Porter did not say a word and walked in with the two War Kings, Hunter and Zayne.At this time, Solomon had a smile on his face as if he had achieved success. He felt that Charlie was not only crazy but also extremely stupid. So, he looked at Charlie with a playful expression and smiled as he said, "Kid, you cannot pretend to be so forceful when you’ve just entered the arena. You have to use your
When Mr. Lanyon suddenly knelt on the ground, everyone present, except for Charlie and the rest of the people from Ten Thousand Armies, was stunned as if they had just been struck by lightning!After all, Mr. Lanyon was definitely a unique top existence in Hong Kong.The city of Hong Kong was not big, and the place itself had many underground gangs and societies. However, to many martial artists, this was simply not a qualified place to live.For example, the gang members in Hong Kong were far from being as awesome as they were in the movies. When it came to the real gangs in Hong Kong, they were just a bunch of thugs.When the gang members here committed a crime, they could take a one-hour boat ride, which would be considered as them running away. If this were to get exposed to the public, they would definitely become a laughingstock.This was also the reason why many Oskian gangs had gone to Japan or farther to North America to develop. One of the reasons was because there was r
Porter nodded and then looked at Mr. Lanyon as he asked the latter, “Do you know why I don’t allow members of Ten Thousand Armies to use banned drugs?”Mr. Lanyon cried and said, “I know... Although banned drugs are of great help to improve a person’s strength in a short period of time, their essence is to overdraw the potential in the human body ahead of time. It has great side effects on the users themselves. There is more harm than good, and the losses outweigh the benefits...”Porter looked at him and pointed his finger at Solomon, who was standing aside and consumed by fright, and he asked again, “Although you have been expelled by Ten Thousand Armies, you used to be a member of Ten Thousand Armies, after all. Every member of Ten Thousand Armies should be proud of themselves, but why did you degrade yourself to work for such unworthy trash?!”Mr. Lanyon cried out in repentance, “Lord, it was just because I was confused for a moment, and I lusted for profits. I was persuaded by
Solomon was frightened by Charlie’s words and he almost suffered a heart attack on the spot.If Charlie were to give him a dose of his own medicine and act according to his vicious words earlier, Charlie was bound to rip his mouth apart and tear his tongue off. Not to mention whether Solomon’s body would be able to stand this kind of torture, but after this experience, Solomon was afraid that he would lose half his life.As he thought of this, he was extremely terrified. He clutched tightly onto his chest and endured the severe pain in his heart as he cried out to Charlie, “Mr. Wade, I’m already old, and I cannot withstand this kind of hardship...”Charlie smiled and said casually, “Oh, it’s alright if you cannot withstand the hardship. You can just die here. Anyway, I don’t care whether you live or die.”Solomon’s eyes were swollen from crying, but he continued kneeling on the ground as he groveled before Charlie and cried out, “Mr. Wade, I really know that I am wrong... Please
Charlie then said again, “Secondly, your group of subordinates here today already know of my identity. I’m a relatively low-key person, and I do not like my identity to be leaked out. So, it stands to reason that these people should be silenced.”As soon as Charlie said this, all the subordinates who were at the scene were scared out of their wits. Many people wanted to run, but at this time, a figure at the door threw all those who wanted to run out back into the room directly. A five-star War General from Ten Thousand Armies was standing at the door. Porter had asked him to guard the door just to make sure that no one would escape.With him alone, these thugs had no chance of escaping at all. Many people were severely injured by his punches as soon as they ran to the door.At this time, Charlie said coldly, “Kill all those who intend to escape!”As soon as these words came out, no one dared to act rashly again.More than a hundred members from the Order of the Star knelt on th
While Jacob was feeling delighted after pulling off his con, Raymond had posted details of the bronze sculpture online.The website he was using was the biggest platform for antique collectors and the antique trade where each user could set a favorite tag in the antique category and era. If a user who preferred canvas art pieces of the Tudor dynasty set that label as their favorite, they would immediately be notified with text or desktop notifications in regards to any item with the same label.As medieval bronze sculptures were rare in the first place, most who were interested had already set that label on their favorites and were immediately notified soon after Raymond posted pictures of the bronze sculpture online.The collectors were naturally eager to check it out as gilded sculptures of the medieval era were really rare, and most collectors would go a lifetime without picking one up for their collection.On top of that, the seller had even listed a major flaw and was only ask
"Nope," Jacob chuckled. "We were both working separately and just happened to get back in at the same time."Then, he immediately became smug and excited, "Guess what, dear? I made 200 thousand out of the deal! In net profits!""For real?!" Elaine gaped. "200 thousand in just one night?! That's amazing! How did you do that?"Claire was surprised to hear that too, and she came over to ask, "What deal was it, Dad?"Jacob grinned, "Oh, it's nothing to brag about. It's just that I managed to pick up a nice antique item thanks to my wisdom and then sold it for 200 thousand."Pausing, he then sighed in dismay, "However, the buyer wasn't too rich—I would have squeezed him for 400 thousand, but he couldn't afford more, so I had to settle for less."Elaine quickly exclaimed, "Shit, we're talking about a loss of 200 thousand! People would work a year and still never earn that much…"She trailed off for a moment before asking, "By the way, dear—are we still flying out first thing tomorrow?
Jacob laughed. "Put that issue behind us? Sure, but we're not becoming friends. Hell, I can't even hold a grudge now that you're shit out of luck."Then, his tone changed sharply and suddenly became icy, "But you see, Aurous Hill is not a place you can stay just because you want to. No… After this, you're not going to be able to make a living in the antique trade.""If I were you, I'd be running a thousand miles away, far away from Aurous Hill where no one would know my face to start over. That way, you just might be able to make a living."Raymond simply kept smiling, "You need not be concerned about how I'm going to survive here, Mr. Wilson. I'd be very grateful if you'd cease any form of harassment once you leave my premises."Jacob pursed his lips, staring at Raymond in disappointment. "I'm plenty magnanimous, so I won't stoop to such pettiness. Just do whatever you like!"Clicking his tongue, he huffed, "Tut, tut… And here I'd thought you're tough, but you're just yet another
Raymond chuckled at the title, humble as ever, "The Duke of Wastage? Now, that's quite the royal title, and I don't think I deserve such an honor…"Trailing off, he then made an especially curious look, "By the way, how'd you know they were calling me that?"Seeing that he was still so ignorant, Jacob scoffed. "You bought a Renaissance-era bronze sculpture earlier, didn't you?"Raymond nodded. "I did. But technically, it's medieval and not Renaissance, along with a Renaissance-era base."Jacob clutched his stomach as he laughed, "Oh, please! Medieval? Hahaha… You're killing me, Mr. Cole!"Raymond kept a serious look on his face. "It's really medieval. Why don't you take a look?""No way," Jacob snorted, pursing his lips. "Anyway, word has already spread that someone was selling a counterfeit bronze sculpture to defraud Antique Street for some serious dough. He went first to Vintage Deluxe, but their manager, Mr. Crane, saw through it and didn't buy it… and then he came to you, an
That was why most of the collectors only knew that such an item existed but they did not know in whose possession it was.After registering a new account and paying the ten thousand registration fee, Raymond got in.It was very safe as it was anonymous, and he posted a photo of the bronze sculpture and an announcement with an asking price of twenty million.In his opinion, it wasn't that expensive—if it was still gilded, it would be worth around a hundred million. Without it, it was plenty reasonable to cut the price down to just thirty million.And Raymond was cutting another ten million off that, so twenty million was plenty reasonable.Moreover, medieval bronze sculptures were exceedingly rare, and less than one specimen showed up annually at times. Collectors who desired it would therefore be willing to break the bank for it, and that was why Raymond was sure that someone would put in an order once he posted it.As he wrote the summary of the item, someone knocked on his door
Jacob frowned in disdain. "Why would I be worried? He's no longer the manager of Vintage Deluxe, and he just lost a shit ton of money for messing up his appraisal. I am also the vice president of the Calligraphy and Painting Association, so why would I be worried about some loser who will soon be kicked out of Antique Street?"Straightening his collar, he snorted coldly, "I am now going to see Raymond Cole and humiliate him face-to-face! He thinks he's impressive, doesn't he? Let's see how he will keep up that facade!"Zachary chuckled, "Yes, exactly! People like him need to be given a slap in the face! As hard as you can! Don't worry—I'll be right behind you. If he gets physical, I'll rush in to help. If he doesn't dare to start a fight, you just insult him as much as possible!""Good plan!" Jacob nodded since he was concerned that Raymond might get physical when pushed too far.And with his body, there was no way he could beat anyone…Spreading his arms, he exclaimed, "Come! I'l
Mick inspected every video to see who was getting the most views, and he then paid out of his own pocket to use paid advertising to get the video viral.It cost five thousand and it hurt, but reaching the trending page was definitely worth it.Mick was quite shrewd too, making sure that the paid advertising was focused locally. After all, he knew all too well that five thousand didn't buy many clicks, and clicks from elsewhere might be too sporadic to gain any worthwhile attention.As he worked in Antique Street, he naturally had to come up with a plan to promote himself in this place, ideally presenting himself as a master appraiser.That way, his fame would slowly extend throughout the province and perhaps Eastern Oskia, and eventually the country.As such, focusing on Aurous Hill was the best idea.Moreover, he also had another idea—if Jasmine Moore happened to see this video, she would see him in a new light.When that happened, he could look forward to getting really rich!
Soon, the video of Mick's staged act was uploaded to the online group, and everyone eagerly watched it as soon as it was done uploading.Mick certainly set a new bar with his acting as none of them could see that it was an act.Moreover, everyone could see that the bronze sculpture looked like the real deal, and they might have been swindled if it were them.As such, they couldn't help being impressed as Mick had easily seen through Billy's con, and he was the definition of a pro in that video.No matter how Billy had packaged it, there was no tricking real experts like Mick Crane. Just a quick glance and he had seen through that it was a postmodern replica, matched with a base from the Renaissance era to misdirect and beguile.With that, many fellow antique dealers changed their opinion of Mick.After all, Vintage Deluxe's business had been declining after Mick took over as manager, and people were presuming that his skills were lacking.But now, they were all shown that he had
"Amazing, Mr. Crane!""It's Mr. Crane who shines through, in the end! His eyes see through everything!""I guess Miss Moore made the right choice firing Raymond and appointing Mr. Crane! Mr. Crane is infinitely better!"Mick was immediately thrilled to see them fawning over him, and he laughed, "You flatter me—I'm merely sharing my personal perspective on this. In this trade, anyone who knows would understand how hard it is to get the good stuff in this age of technology.""There are plenty of people who hold ulterior motives and change their tactics knowing that there are always those scheming to get their hands on vintage treasures, so they just have to make it. That is how they started making counterfeits of everything, from scrolls to sculptures to statues, each of them so real just to trick those fools who think they could get rich overnight!""Exactly!" Someone promptly agreed. "There's never a lack of any such fools, and I just happened to meet one. I had this piece of jade