While collecting money and praising Mr. Chardon, Landon did not forget to compliment him as he said, “Old man, it seems that you’re also an expert! Could it be that you were a tomb raider as well when you were young?”Landon basically meant that Mr. Chardon was possibly a tomb raider who had organized a tomb-robbing team and served as the core figure in this team.Mr. Chardon waved his hand and said with a smile, “I only know a little about antiques, but I don’t know anything about tomb robbing.”In fact, Mr. Chardon truly did not know much about tomb robbing. When he was young, he had once heard of some tomb raiders and tomb-robbing incidents, but the main point was that he had been practicing Taoism in the temple all year round, and he did not have any interest in tomb-robbing or cultural relics, so he frankly did not know much about tomb robbing. However, he had lived for a long time, and the amount of information he had actively or passively received was definitely much grea
As soon as Mr. Chardon placed some Reiki into the ring, he could immediately feel the formation that was slowly operating in the ring.He was instantly shocked and thought to himself, ‘This formation is constantly working, so I wonder what effect it has.’Although Mr. Chardon had mastered Reiki, he did not know much about magical instruments and formations.Although he had a wooden sword and there was an attack formation in the wooden sword, he could only use it but not refine it. He did not understand the mystery of formation nor could he understand the basic principles and logic of the formation.Therefore, when he saw the formation that Charlie had left in the ring, he suddenly could not figure out the purpose of this formation.In actuality, this formation was a passive defense formation recorded in the Apocalyptic Book. Once the person wearing the magical instrument was attacked, the formation would be activated immediately, using its own energy to defend the owner from the
“You want to buy it?”Mr. Chardon nodded and said, “Yes, I want to buy it. Please quote me a price for this ring!”When Landon heard Mr. Chardon asking about the price of the ring, he immediately thought of Zachary’s previous instructions. He would have to quote a sky-high price that was more than a hundred times the market price of this ring no matter who wanted to buy this ring.Landon did not understand why Zachary was doing this, but since he was just getting paid to get things done, he had to play his cards according to the routine. He was just here to pick people up, and the old man would have to go and deal with Zachary directly if he truly wanted to buy this jade ring. Therefore, he pondered for a moment. This jade ring was worth thirty to fifty thousand dollars at most, so he would have to quote a price within the range of three to five million dollars if he had to quote a price that was a hundred times the market price.As he thought of this, he clenched his teeth, stre
Landon was overjoyed and hurriedly said, “Okay, Mr. Zachary. I will definitely do my best to swindle… Oh, no, I mean, to introduce more customers to you!”Zachary reminded him, “Don’t be so focused on getting more customers. The big customer from Hong Kong might come soon, and that is the real big investor!”Landon said excitedly, “You can rest assured, Mr. Zachary! I will definitely not screw up!”After hanging up the phone, Landon paced back and forth excitedly. He was unaware that Mr. Chardon had already overheard his entire conversation with Zachary.Mr. Chardon did not notice any abnormalities from Landon’s conversation with Zachary. On the contrary, his previous judgment was strengthened, and he firmly believed that the other good things that Zachary had mentioned might be some other magical instruments. He was extremely excited as he thought of this. To him, gaining a magical instrument was an important matter that was equivalent to a martial artist suddenly gaining a comp
After Zachary hung up the phone with Landon, he reported the situation to Charlie immediately. Charlie, who received the call, had already arrived at Champs Elys Resort. Charlie planned to spend as much time as possible here during this period of time to prevent any emergencies because Champs Elys Resort was not far from Willow Manor, where his grandparents lived. He had asked Isaac to prepare a powerful rescue helicopter to be on standby here at all times so that the helicopter could take off directly and arrive at Willow Manor within two to three minutes once there was an emergency.Charlie was immediately in awe when he heard Zachary say that someone at the airport was willing to pay three million dollars to buy the jade ring he had prepared.Charlie knew that the person he was waiting for was finally here!He had guessed that the people from the Qing Eliminating Society would definitely come to Aurous Hill, but he did not expect that he would come so quickly!Zachary then a
After Charlie met Zachary in Isaac’s office, he asked him, “Did you bring over the piece of Thunderstrike wood I gave you?”Zachary took the Thunderstrike wood out of his pocket, handed it to Charlie, and said, “I brought it here with me. Take a look at it, Master Wade.”Charlie nodded and told him, “Zachary, go out and wait for me for a while.”Zachary said without hesitation, “Okay! Master Wade, please do not hesitate to call me if you need anything.”Zachary then left the office respectfully. Charlie quickly used his Reiki to make some adjustments to the formation in the Thunderstrike wood. A few minutes later, he called Zachary in, handed the Thunderstrike wood that had been adjusted to him, and then inserted some Reiki into Zachary as he said, “Zachary, you should go back with this piece of Thunderstrike wood now. If the other party asks you about the details of the tomb robbing and whether you have any other products besides this piece of Thunderstrike wood, just tell him t
Mr. Chardon felt like a person who had wanted to win the lottery for a hundred years but had never won even once. Now, he had suddenly won two jackpots in a row.To put it bluntly, it was equivalent to him buying lottery tickets for a lifetime and never winning even the consolation prize of five dollars. As a result, he had suddenly won the grand prize for both Mega Millions and Grand Lotto!His one hundred and fifty-six years of life experience did not cause him to doubt whether this was a trap at all. His reason for not having any doubts was very simple as well. It was simply because the British Lord himself did not own many magical instruments. Mr. Chardon had worked with the British Lord for so many years, and the British Lord had only given him a magical instrument that he could use for self-defense. Moreover, the magical instrument was not a gift from the British Lord. Mr. Chardon would have to return it to the British Lord for safekeeping when he returned. Therefore, who w
Mr. Chardon was completely stunned when he heard this. He did not know that this was the latest script that Charlie had prepared for Zachary, so he could only explain himself helplessly and innocently, “Boss, I’m really not an undercover cop…”“Don’t say anymore.” Zachary waved his hand and said impatiently, “To be honest with you, I asked him to quote a price of three million dollars for the jade ring in order to detect the presence of cops. Anyone who has a proper understanding of antiques would find the price to be absolutely outrageous as soon as they hear the price. Only those undercover cops who want to find out more clues will agree to the price in order to seize the opportunity to find out more clues.”Having said that, Zachary added, “But let me tell you, this trick of yours won’t work with me!”Mr. Chardon was truly speechless. He did not expect that this would be the reason why the other party was only quoting three million dollars for the jade ring. Mr. Chardon was eve
"What?!" Jacob exclaimed excitedly, suddenly on his feet. "That prick is really going to start a business in Aurous Hill? What, did he get sick of living the good life elsewhere?"In Jacob's mind, there were only two reasons why Raymond had returned to Aurous Hill.The first was that he had gotten so rich that he had come back to open a shop on Antique Street, to salvage some dignity after he had been fired from Vintage Deluxe. The other was the complete opposite—he had screwed up elsewhere too and had no choice but to return to Aurous Hill to make a living.If it was the former, he certainly wouldn't have hope for his revenge.But that was not the case if it was the latter!Meanwhile, Zachary replied, "Truth be told, I haven't seen the man in the flesh. But judging from my tip, he definitely wasn't doing well elsewhere, since the business he's planning now that he's back is quite modest."Jacob immediately laughed. "Hahaha! I see… He must have messed up out there and had no ch
Claire pursed her lips, grumbling, "Like you said, I won't tell Mom for the sake of peace. But you know very well that you shouldn't do that ever again!"Jacob nodded repeatedly as he promised. "Don't worry—I'll never do it again."As he finished, his phone rang on the table, and he looked down to see that it was Zacahary."That's weird," he murmured in surprise. "He's been hiding from me for the longest time, but he's calling me now?"Charlie was surprised too.After Zachary left Antique Street and started helping Don Albert's more unsavory business, he shouldn't have any reason to contact Jacob.So, why call him now?Jacob was confused too, but he ultimately answered the call.On the other end of the call, Zachary greeted him respectfully, "Mr. Wilson? It's me—Zachary. Do you still remember me?""Nonsense," Jacob snorted. "Why wouldn't I remember you after we've spoken so many times? I also couldn't reach out to you when I had all that good stuff before, but you're contactin
Meanwhile, at Thomson's First, the family of four was peacefully having dinner for the first time.While Charlie and Claire never argued, Jacob and Elaine were always either bickering or dissing each other, leaving the air around the table tense and awkward.But this time, neither of them argued, and they didn't seem to despise each other.The table was not just peaceful either—Elaine was a lot less bossy, even helping put food on Jacob's plate, having him try this and that, almost as if she was suddenly the best of wives.Jacob used to regard Elaine with disdain in every way, constantly lamenting how a great man like him didn't have a good wife.But with him being the way he was now, he utterly resigned to himself.It made sense that Matilda wouldn't be interested in him given his current state, and it was amazing that Elaine willingly stayed with him. That was why he no longer regarded Elaine with unconcealed disgust and disdain like before and was instead gentle and emotiona
Mick was left gritting his teeth. "Shit, that's true. It's going to be hard to pull the wool over Raymond's eyes—it has to be the best to actually trick him."Then, he sighed. "If there's someone who can do that, it'd be Zachary Evans! The man was a God back in the day!"The employee nodded. "Well, it's true that his replicas were impeccable… But the man has made it big time working for Don Albert, and we won't be able to ask for his help!"Mick shook his head. "No, it's fine. We're quite close—let me call him right now."With that, he whipped out his phone to make the call.While Zachary used to be humble in Mick's presence before, Zachary was now way above him on the pecking order.Afraid of being remotely disrespectful, he promptly greeted Zachary politely as soon as the latter answered, "Hello, Zachary! It's me, Mick Crane!" "Uh-huh," Zachary replied noncommittally before asking in curiosity, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"Ever since Zachary had started working for Don A
Raymond may have worked abroad for years and was a veteran in antiques, but he was still lacking when it came to reading between the lines.Taking Mick's words at face value, he promptly shook his head, "No, you really shouldn't. I wasn't planning to come back here to work, so you mustn't mention me to Ms. Moore either."And unlike Mick, he really meant what he said, while Mick was saying the complete opposite of what he was thinking.Naturally, Mick didn't believe Raymond, even presuming that Raymond was a liar like himself.The more Raymond said he didn't want to return to Vintage Deluxe, the more he thought he was.Hence, he asked despite knowing the answer, "Well, what are you planning to do now that you've returned to Aurous Hill?""It's been years of traveling for me, so I was just getting a little tired," Raymond admitted. "I'm planning to set up a small business in Aurous Hill, most likely here in Antique Street. That's why I'm visiting—do be neighborly when I set up shop
Meanwhile, Raymond had no idea that he was being targeted as soon as he returned to Antique Street.He had reached the middle where rows of three-floored buildings stood, the largest on the street, and where Vintage Deluxe was. It was not closed yet as tradition on Antique Street was for stalls to open in the morning and close in the afternoon. In comparison, shops opened later and closed later.With the difference of two to three hours, they could afford to have customers who had lower purchasing power or were just window shopping to stroll through the outdoor stalls. Then, when they were gone, customers with actual purchasing power would come on their own time.As Raymond arrived outside Vintage Deluxe, Mick just finished his meeting with his employees, summing up, "So, does anyone have anything to do tonight?"They all shook their heads, answering as one, "No!!!"Mick nodded. "If there's nothing else, stay back for overtime. Ask for some spicy crayfish and beer for dinner."
However, Raymond had accomplished the assignment Curtis had given him years ago, so he had no intention of staying at Aurous Hill and remained unrepentant despite Jasmine's pressure. That was why he could ask to resign without hesitation, even urging her to let him go despite the pain.That was why Mick was now worried that Raymond would return to reclaim his position as manager."Keep an eye on him for me," he told Trippy. "Tell me if anything comes up right away—I will make it worth your while.""Alright!" Trippy agreed to it. "Don't worry—I'll call right away if anything comes up."Once Trippy hung up, Mick gathered the handful of Vintage Deluxe employees.They were all his close allies he had groomed after he took over Vintage Deluxe. Even if Mick hadn't been succeeding in his business, he was succeeding in building his own forces. Anyone who didn't obey his orders had since been removed, and the remaining ones were basically his co-conspirators, embezzling a considerable am
As it turned out, the bean counters of the Moore Group had been suggesting that Jasmine axe Deluxe Vintage and other antique-related businesses.After all, Aurous Hill was hardly the heart of the nation's antique business—not even a hub, and Vintage Deluxe wouldn't grow on such soil.Moreover, their revenue wasn't optimistic.While the business wasn't exactly falling off after Mick took charge, the lack of experience amongst the management team meant they were struggling to break even.And for the bean counters, keeping Vintage Deluxe meant no profits—even net losses in the immediate future. Right now, they might still be able to package it nicely and sell it off, and selling a fixed asset coupled with brand value would more or less turn a profit. But once Vintage Deluxe started incurring losses and the brand value diminished in turn, it would be reduced to zero completely.In other words, the value of Vintage Deluxe was on a springboard—sell it anytime now, and the value would be
The Mr. Crane from the other end of the call was Mick Crane—the current manager of Vintage Deluxe, and a man whom all of Antique Street fawned over.Mick was the assistant manager to Raymond back then, and his skill in the antique trade was at best moderate. However, thanks to his friendly personality, he had managed to secure himself many decent connections down Antique Street.As such, once Jasmine had fired Raymond, Mick had taken over his position as caretaker manager. She was also aware that Mick didn't have the skills to do well as a manager, and her plan had always been to keep him as a caretaker before she found someone better.As her ties with Charlie had strengthened and he had started helping her, her position in her family had skyrocketed. However, that also meant she couldn't watch over most of Vintage Deluxe's operations.Now that she was the head of the Moore family and the leader of a dynasty worth billions, a small business like Vintage Deluxe was even less signifi