At night. It was dark around the Cole family mansion. In the villa next door, the windows were blacked out by the Rothschild family's staff, so it looked like no one lived there. At night, they restricted the entry and exit of vehicles, and all the vehicles were parked idly inside. Unbeknownst to everyone, more than 40 people gathered inside the quiet villa. In addition to Julien and Royce, there were about 30 people who were responsible for monitoring the Cole family mansion at all times, and the remaining 10 people were fully responsible for the security of the villa. The Rothschild family attached great importance to their own safety, not to mention that the eldest son and grandson of the current patriarch were coming to the scene. Therefore, even though the staff had set up traps all around Biden's house, they did not take the safety of the core members of the Rothschild family lightly. Julien was also concerned about his safety and well-being at the frontline, so he we
Charlie noticed two black Cadillac SUVs parked in front of the motel across the street while drinking coffee. Although both cars were turned off and the windows were covered with a thick tinted film, there were people inside, four people in each car. Charlie presumed that these people were the Rothschild family's men who were on standby at this location. All eight of them could respond immediately whenever there was any urgent matter. Moreover, the SUVs had superb functionality and were heavy, which was the best for interception. They could easily stop ordinary-sized cars or even collide head-on. Charlie felt a little impressed. They had placed their men a mile away from Raymond's house. He couldn't comprehend how many people would be secretly watching in the dark as he moved closer to the house. It seemed that it was not easy for him to take the Four-Sided Treasure Tower away without exposing himself. At this moment, several men in civilian attire entered the cafe. Charlie d
"For real?" The two men were astonished. One of them hastily asked, "Core members of the Rothschilds are here too? But why?" The man answered, "I don't know, but from the series of actions the Rothschilds have taken, I can tell that the Cole family is very important to them. Yesterday, the director went to a meeting, and I heard him talking to the deputy director, saying that almost the entire Rothschild family has been mobilized and that all of New York and the area within a 200-mile radius is under lockdown!" "Lockdown?" One of them queried, "Why haven't I heard anything about this?" The man explained, "It is not publicized and is being handled by the police, who have blocked all land routes. They inspect all vehicles leaving the designated area. The reason they are giving is drug enforcement, claiming that based on a tip-off, a large amount of drugs have entered New York." "Besides, all passengers on all outgoing flights must undergo two security checks, and the goods that h
Late at night. Charlie parked his car in a roadside parking lot and disappeared at the end of the alley. The Cole family mansion was located at the bend of a U-shaped stream. The mansion was right at the inner end of the U-shaped stream, so the mansion was not only at the end of the road but also surrounded by a stream on three sides. Not long ago, Charlie had remotely ordered Porter to kill Mr. Jothurn in Cyprus using a high-tech weapon combined with close-in defense artillery, so he knew very well that he must lay low and be extremely discreet tonight. Instead of rushing straight to the mansion, he decided to approach the mansion from the riverbank on the other side of the river. While hiding in the dark and moving silently, Charlie utilized his Reiki to constantly explore the surrounding situation. When he was about one mile from the mansion, he stopped and released more Reiki to explore the area within a radius of several hundred miles near the mansion. Soon, he discovere
Julien muttered in concern, "Everyone else is guarding the main access by land, water, and air, and we're the only ones sitting here waiting for a miracle. What if the miracle doesn't come? Our efforts would be in vain." He then pursed his lips and added, "This is not an ordinary mission. It's related to family inheritance. It will be all over if someone else gets the upper hand." "What do you have in mind?" asked Royce hastily. Julien was silent for a moment and attested, "I think the two of us should divide the work. I'll stay here to monitor the mansion, and you should go back. One is to find other ways, and another task is to monitor the others' progress. We'll see how far ahead or behind we are to others on getting to the treasure tower." "Alright!" Royce nodded decisively. "I'll get the chopper ready now." "I'll arrange it, and tell Hank about it by the way," said Julien. As he said that, he grabbed his phone and called Hank over. After a moment, Hank knocked on the
Skepticism immediately flashed across Julien's, Royce's, and Hank's eyes as they stood in the pitch-black room. Just as Hank was in a daze in the darkness, a loud commotion came from the walkie-talkie. A man said, "What's with the blackout?! All our monitoring equipment is down!" Another man echoed, "All the detection devices are also down! We can't see anything in the control room. The IFF has been disabled!" "What the heck is going on?!" another man shouted in confusion. "The villa has two power lines, doesn't it?!" Someone snapped, "So what?! There is no power now! Who is in charge of logistic support? Why didn't he prepare a backup power supply?!" Someone cursed, "No one said to prepare one! Even if the FBI goes out on a mission, they will not bring a backup power supply unless they go to the Middle East or Afghanistan! With so much equipment and power, what kind of backup power supply can meet the needs? A Cummins diesel generator? Should I get a power truck for you?"
Alas, Brody was too arrogant and had no sense of crisis. Charlie was different. He realized the importance of being prepared for anything, so he always had a wise method to counter the challenges. At this moment, in the dark room, Hank listened to the commotion in the walkie-talkie and barked, "Shut up! All of you! Go and repair the line right now! Everyone else should be alert and keep a close eye on the Cole family mansion! The rat may return to its nest! This time, we will catch it in the act!" Julien jumped in excitement and beamed, "Hank is right! Biden or his family must have come back to take the treasure tower! I told you that Biden was lying all this while. He said that the swapping was all his doing and had nothing to do with his family. From what I see, his family is in this together! It must be one of his family members who came back!" With that, he warned, "Hank, you must hold back! Wait until they get the treasure tower and catch them all in one fell swoop! Reme
Julien, Royce, and Hank were freaked out as the voice of a fourth man echoed across the dark room. As the faint light came in from the window, the three men could see the outline of a man standing in front of them, but they couldn't see his face. Judging from the figure and voice, they could tell that the man was relatively young, but they had no idea how or when the man had appeared in the room. There was a hint of playfulness and coldness in the man's voice, which made the three men extremely panicked. The man speaking was Charlie. The reason why the villa was without power was because Charlie had destroyed the two power lines across the river using his Reiki. Charlie knew that the villa was equipped with high-tech monitoring and self-defense equipment, so he decided to cut off the power. Ordinary houses did not have backup power. The villa had two power lines, one main and one backup, which was a high-end configuration in the residence. Once the two lines were cut, the hou
Holding up a thumb at Charlie, Julien exclaimed in approval, "You're right, my friend! That's far more exciting than having him jailed!"Just hearing that he would be sent to a kennel, Jimmy knew nothing would come of it—even if he didn't know the details, it was so obvious that Julien was thrilled by the very idea!Turning nervously toward Charlie, he was sobbing as he asked, "Mr. Wade…? What's this about a kennel…?"Julien chuckled coolly even before Charlie said a word. "A kennel is where you keep dogs, of course. Though there are literal dogs and metaphorical dogs, and you are the latter."Oh, don't worry. It's a really nice place where you get your own cage, and you'll be fed every day. You don't even have to work, so just sit tight and keep eating until the day you die."Jimmy's soul left his body in that instant.He was going to be locked in a cage?! That was way worse than being locked up and sent to jail! Where was the humanity around here?!Even as the thought struck h
Matilda was actually caught off guard by Jimmy's pleas, and even Paul found it hard to watch.Turning to Charlie, he said, "Please, Mr. Wade—my uncle can be a little despicable, but he is my father's brother. Please, let him have a chance to turn over a new leaf, seeing that he's earnestly repenting."While Paul spoke with Charlie, Jimmy was still confused and wondered why Paul would plead his case with Charlie instead of Julien. If there was anyone Paul should ask, it was Yolden since he was Julien's friend. So, why would he ask some young man instead of Yolden?That was when Charlie asked in curiosity, "You want to let him off? After he tried to take away your parents' legacy?"Paul smiled awkwardly. "I mean, I know the guy. He made sure to travel all this way to make a scene because he had nothing legal that could help him claim Smith Group Corporate Law from us. Otherwise, he'd have already filed the lawsuit in the States. Sure, it's a dirty move, but that's basically a des
As Julien finished, he realized something was wrong and turned toward Charlie before he knew it.Charlie held his gaze in turn, his expression quizzical and amused.Julien cleared his throat right then. "See, there are people who can order me around, but they have my utmost respect. However, a third-rate lawyer like you? Who do you think you are?"That was when Julien's butler called, and he reported respectfully as soon as the call was answered, "Sir, I've spoken with Nate Ellis, the owner of Ares LLC. He has since agreed to fire Jimmy Smith right away as well as disbar him nationwide."Julien asked, "Good. Anything else?""Well, Mr. Ellis also delivered some documents that can be used as evidence against Jimmy Smith, which he claims is enough for a lifetime sentence. If you deem it necessary, we can have it sent to the FBI.""Yes, let's go with that!" Julien replied, his tone satisfied. "And ask the director to handle it personally—I want this prick to never set foot stateside
Jimmy was sweating profusely in fear, but he argued back before he knew it, "That's impossible! Everything you say is bullshit! Gaiman simply thought he had a fair chance of winning and didn't want to pay Ares that much, and I have no idea who he partnered with, and I'm certainly not involved. Don't you try to slander me!"Nate chuckled. "Come on, Jimmy. We're all adults here, so there are things we shouldn't have to be so direct about. Mills Gaiman and your old classmate met in private many times, not to mention the private conferences you three had in secret, discussing your overall strategy and decisive points. Just so you know, Gaiman recorded every conversation, and I have the tapes with me."Jimmy's heart was left pounding as he blurted, "B-Bullshit! That's impossible!""Grow up, Jimmy," Mr.Goodman chuckled. "Every partner in every law firm always strives to rise higher, so I'm going to need as much leverage as I can. Otherwise, I'm not about to let them advance any further, e
Although the ringtone and vibration frequency were the ones Jimmy always used, this call somehow felt more urgent, leaving him exceedingly uneasy.When it abruptly stopped and left a missed call on his log, Nate Ellis soon sent a text: [Answer your damn phone this instant!]Just seeing the text left Jimmy feeling like his throat had gone dry, and as he gulped, it felt like his throat was being ripped, leaving him hurting.Still, he couldn't care less as his boss called again.Having seen the text, Jimmy didn't hesitate this time and promptly answered, watching Julien's smug face as he started tentatively, "Y-Yes, boss...?"Nate immediately yelled at him hysterically, "What the hell did you do?! Why did the Rothschilds call to complain about you?! And the complaint was from their heir apparent, at that! I worked hard for them and always toed the line for years, and I still haven't gotten a chance to meet the man, so how the fuck did you upset him?!"Jimmy's heart sank to rock bott
Fuming, Jimmy snapped at Julien, "If you insist on playing it like that, I will call my boss, and you can talk to him yourself!"Julien chuckled. "That's unnecessary. I've never met him. He would never recognize my voice."Jimmy laughed and nodded despite himself. "Impressive—you can really come up with anything! You don't have his number because he's beneath you, you refuse to call him because he's beneath you, and when I say I'll call him for you, you say he won't recognize your voice. Well, how do you suppose we should sort this out? At least prove you're a Rothschild, or anyone could claim that they are—"Julien held up a hand to stop him. "Then, how about this? I'll ask my butler to talk to your boss."Jimmy laughed even more loudly as if it were the best joke ever. "Hahaha!!! Butler, you say?! You really know how to talk! Alright, I'll wait and see what your 'butler' can do… I mean, what you can do. We'll see whether my boss calls me!"Julien ignored him and whipped out his
Naturally, Jimmy couldn't care less about Julien's suggestion, even looking at him pointedly from head to toe while smirking in contempt, "What, do you think I'd just do what any nutjob tells me to do just because they're claiming to be the Rothschilds' heir apparent?"Julien nodded, still smiling. "Good point, but don't worry—it's the same whether you call him or he calls you."Jimmy laughed. "I was offering you a way out, but you want to keep pressing your luck? Since you don't care to back off, let's see how you're going to finish this fight."Then, he shrugged while pointing at Yolden. "Well, it's the perfect chance to measure Matilda's husband, I guess."Based on what he saw of Yolden, there was no way he would buy Julien's claims, and thus labeled him an impostor in his mind.An ordinary lecturer in Aurous Hill, being friends with the Rothschilds' heir apparent? Not to mention that there had been plenty of fraudulent cases outside the States where the Rothschild name was use
Jimmy was taken aback since he didn't recognize Julien at all, mainly because the Rothschilds had always kept out of the public eye.In fact, it was basically impossible to gather genuine information about the Rothschilds online, as it was a mix of press releases and gossip. Most online biographies would only be about the older generations or certain frivolous figures. Any information about key members like Steve would never be searchable online.Matilda was confused as well, not quite understanding who Julien was since he wasn't on the list of guests invited.Seeing that she was confused, Julien turned and smiled at Yolden, "So, Professor, shouldn't you introduce me to the bride?"Yolden finally remembered that and quickly nodded, "Sorry, it slipped my mind."Turning toward Matilda, he smiled, "Darling, this is Julien Rothschild… A friend of mine from the states…"Julien's full name left everyone within earshot gaping as the Rothschild name was way too famous across the globe.
Seeing that Jimmy was getting a little nervous, Charlie smiled and assured him, "Please, you have nothing to worry about. No one's going to do anything to you, but if you feel threatened in any way, you can call the cops. The Oskian emergency hotline is 110, by the way."Jimmy was slightly relieved as he could see that Charlie really wasn't trying to make things awkward for him, and he straightened his collar as he said, "Actually, I didn't mean to cause trouble—I'm pleased that Matilda has found true love once more, and if we can be friends, I can set aside my claim and stay for the rest of this wedding, offering the newlyweds our best wishes as a representative of my family."Still, his expression showed contempt as he turned toward Yolden. "Also, I'm really curious and looking forward to seeing what connections Professor Hart might have that you say could be better than Bill.""You'll see soon enough," Charlie smiled and nodded.Jimmy remained skeptical and scoffed, "I really do