Charlie finally knew the whole story of Raymond's imprisonment in Brooklyn Prison. He sighed lightly. "I was skeptical at first. With the Rothschild family's power, if you had really stolen from them, they would not have to settle it through legal means. It turned out that you called the police and surrendered." "That's right." Raymond nodded and lamented helplessly, "In this country, even though the family is powerful enough to override the law, they do not want to cause public anger. I did indeed steal from them, but since I turned myself in, the case must go through the legal process.” "In this case, they cannot take me away directly. After all, I'm famous in antique dealing, and I know people. If they arrest and torture me and the news gets out, the police will suffer the humiliation. "So, the family can only settle for the second best option and let the court do their things and imprison me. However, no matter how badly they torture me, they can't kill me because I was onl
Touched by Raymond's patriotism, Charlie nodded and promised, "Don't worry. I'll bring the treasure tower back to Oskia. You have my word. I happen to know someone who has quite a diverse network. I can bring back the treasure tower through him." The person Charlie was talking about was Emmett, Vera's adopted son. He had no right to keep the treasure tower since it was a national treasure. Returning it to Oskia through Emmett was the right thing to do to honor the treasure. Excited to hear this, Raymond beamed, "Thank you, Mr. Wade. I can call it even after the treasure has returned to Oskia and I serve my fifteen-year sentence." Charlie cleared his throat and said in a solemn tone, "The British and the Rothschild family have looted so many historical relics from China. They belong to Oskia no matter how hundreds and thousands of years have passed, and that's the truth. Sooner or later, they will all be returned to Oskia. I won't let you stay in this hellhole for fifteen years.
Raymond's passion was so intense it overwhelmed Charlie. Truth be told, Charlie's father had already predicted and planned everything for him. At that moment, Raymond's eyes were filled with heightened excitement as he continued, "I've been waiting for the day when you were ready to rise from the abyss ever since your parents passed away. I've been waiting for twenty years!" "Old Master Lennard went to Eastcliff about five years ago. He departed from the United States, and I happened to be in the States as well. When he took off from Los Angeles in your family's private jet, I stood by the fence at the end of the airport runway and watched the plane fly into the sky. "At that moment, I knew that the moment when you reached the fate of the dragon would come soon!" "After arriving in Eastcliff, he spent several years and used his lifetime's knowledge to finally solve the dilemma of the dragon-stranding predicament in Mount Wintry. I was so excited when I heard the news, I could
"But why?" Charlie asked, bewildered. "How could my father, who was much better than me, not have the fate of the ascending dragon? Why me? An orphan who lost his parents at the age of eight and a loser who was a laughingstock in Aurous Hill! Why? I don't get it..." With a long sigh, Raymond lamented with a tearful hint, "Oh, Mr. Wade... You have no idea what the fate of the ascending dragon means. It isn't a fate that people are born with, but a fate that is changed artificially. Your father had the fate of the dragon, and your highest destiny is a dragon. To become an ascending dragon, you need the combination of two dragons..." As he spoke of this, Raymond choked up, tears flooding his eyes, "The reason you have the fate of the ascending dragon is because your father took away his destiny and gave it to you! "That combines with your own fate of the dragon, and you eventually acquired the fate of the ascending dragon!" "What? W-What did you just say?!" Charlie's heart skipp
At that moment, Charlie could no longer compose himself. He lowered his head, covered his face, and wailed aloud. His parents had been murdered when he was young. For many years after that, he often had survivor's guilt. If it weren't for Mrs. Lewis's decades-long care and guidance, he would have become depressed and disturbed, and at one point, he would have even committed suicide. Ever since receiving the Apocalyptic Book, he had been able to discover some of the hidden secrets behind his parents' death. When he learned it was his father's meticulous arrangement that enabled him to grow up safely in the orphanage, his sense of guilt and shame had intensified. And now, he learned that his father had left the Apocalyptic Book for him, and it was his father who had sacrificed himself so that he could have the fate of owning the book. The truth was so harsh and heart-wrenching that he felt immensely remorseful. Raymond's final remark was the last straw. He said that strippin
Charlie murmured, "I want to know what my father went through..." "I understand." Raymond nodded, asserting, "But too many attachments will only become your burden. Besides, I don't want to reminisce about the cruel and devastating past. I'm sorry..." Charlie pursed his lips and nodded gently. Raymond quickly changed the subject, "By the way, I hid the treasure tower in the same place. After you leave this hellhole, you must retrieve it and bring it back to Oskia as soon as possible." Charlie nodded and asked, "Where did you hide it?" Raymond chuckled and replied, "I hid it outside my family mansion's gate in New Jersey." He cleared his throat and continued, "Outside the gate is a pair of majestic lion statues. There is a secret compartment in the base of the male lion. That's where I hid it. It's easy to open the compartment. You just need a crane or forklift to lift the body of the male lion, and the base will open. You'll find the compartment there." "Huh?!" Charlie ga
Noticing the firm determination in Charlie's eyes, Raymond earnestly persuaded him, "Please don't get into a direct conflict with them for my sake. It isn't worth it, and it may affect our strategy." "Don't worry." Charlie nodded and reassured him, "They don't know who they are up against. It's easy to attack them when we're in the dark." As he said this, he looked at Raymond and said, "I still have some questions. I would like you to answer them for me." "Of course," Raymond replied hastily. Charlie swiftly asked, "I want to know how my father came into contact with the Preface of the Apocalyptic Book and the Apocalyptic Book. Also, how did he get involved with the Qing Eliminating Society?" With a sigh, Raymond illustrated, "Your father had similar experiences to you. The process by which he obtained the Preface is very similar to the process by which you obtained the Apocalyptic Book." Thinking of something his uncle had said, Charlie asked in surprise, "Did he also get
"There were several palace collections that the Qing court recorded, and their prices were even more expensive." "Such a large number of highly valuable cultural relics could easily reach 200 million dollars even in the lowest bid, and that was 20 years ago." "Although my family business was on a relatively large scale at that time, the antique industry is capital-intensive. Our family's assets might be tens of billions or even hundreds of billions of dollars, but a large part of it was inventory all around the world. It was hard for us to come out with 200 million right away." "Also, in the antique industry, you can't expect to liquidate inventory quickly. The more inventory you have, the more patient you have to be." "Because the antique industry is similar to the stock market. The worst thing that can happen is a concentrated sell-off that crashes the market. I can buy ten pieces of 14th-century porcelain at once, but there is no way I can sell ten pieces at once. The more I
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 nervous—save 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
Seeing that Mick had a favor to ask, Trippy was naturally eager to seize the opportunity to get in his good graces."Don't worry, Mr. Crane!" He promptly replied. "Just leave it to me!"Returning to Treasure Measure, he went up to the first man who had come and said, "Hey, brother… Did you come to buy the bronze sculpture from Mr. Cole?"The man asked warily, "You know about the bronze sculpture?""Of course!" Trippy grinned. "I know all too well—it's actually famous here in Aurous Hill."Whipping out his phone, he played the short video that Mick had spent five grand promoting, saying, "Here—check this out!"Curious, the man took the phone and watched the video solemnly.The other latecomer soon hurried over as well and stared fixedly at the screen too.They watched as Bill entered a room with the bronze sculpture with Mick, the latter who checked it out and started commenting on it.The first man exclaimed in surprise, "Oh, it really is that bronze sculpture."The second ma
The other antique traders who were keeping tabs on the situation were left confused by Trippy's message.[Maybe even those out-of-towners know that Raymond is a sucker? So they traveled overnight just to see what happens?][I know Raymond is in trouble, but is it really worth traveling hundreds of miles just to watch?][Maybe they know he's a sucker, so they came to sell him more counterfeits?][Shit, that must be it! Suckers are rare these days, after all!][Damn straight! Just knowing that there's one in Aurous Hill, you'd be eager to come over.]Even Mick Crane who had just woken up and saw the message immediately sent a voice message: "Those conmen are just like flies flocking around shit as soon as they smell it.""Oh, but what they don't know is that Raymond has no more money! I heard he only had a few hundred thousand for the startup, and the bronze sculpture must have cost most of it. I'm afraid those people won't even get their gas money and toll costs back after travel
Trippy rolled his eyes as he texted back: [Hell no. I need to start my business instead of wasting my time. You morons can come get a number yourself if you like. Haha!]Still, Trippy had just sent his text when a trio arrived in a hurry outside Treasure Measure.Seeing that the doors were closed, the leader asked Trippy, "Excuse me, can I ask if this is Treasure Measure? Owned by a man named Mr. Cole?"Trippy was at once surprised. "You mean Raymond Cole?"The leader quickly said, "We don't know his first name, only that his last name is Cole, and his handle name was Treasure Measure's Mr. Cole."Trippy chuckled. "That'd be him. Has to be, since he hand wrote that shop sign."Pausing, he then asked in curiosity, "So, you've come to see him being a sucker?"The leader was naturally curious as to what Trippy was talking about. However, he was also reluctant to reveal why he had come since there was a killer bargain at stake. In fact, every other collector who was coming was k
Raymond also added that the 20 million price tag wouldn't be cut or increased. To put it simply, the bronze sculpture was right there in Aurous Hill and waiting—it was a race.Hence, many reputable collectors contacted expert appraisers throughout the night, some even booking night flights straight to Aurous Hill.The best amongst them was a fanatic collector of bronze items in Eastcliff.Following a brief exchange with Raymond online, he immediately called an expert who was also a close friend. As soon as his call was answered, he asked the other man if he had time to travel to Aurous Hill so that no one else would beat them to it—and they would drive out in the night if at all possible.After all, the earliest flight was at six in the morning, and it'd be eight by the time they made it to Aurous Hill Airport and nine by the time they got to Antique Street in a cab.Therefore, the ideal way to get there was by driving over six hundred miles at top speed, and that meant reaching A
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