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
Royce hastily began, "Sir, my name is Royce Rothschild, the eldest grandson of Harrison Rothschild, the current patriarch of the family—" He then gestured at Julien and continued, "This is my father, Julien Rothschild, my grandfather's eldest son." Charlie glanced at the two men and drew a breath in surprise. He hadn't expected to encounter the inner circle of the core members of the Rothschild family. Normally, the eldest son and the eldest grandson of the family's current patriarch were the first and second heirs of the family. With the presence of these two people, Charlie would be fine taking the Four-Sided Treasure Tower out of the Cole family mansion and even out of the United States. Thus, Charlie composed himself and told Julien and Royce, "Listen to my instruction, and I will spare your lives. However, you only have one chance. If you disobey me even once, I'll kill you right away. Do you understand?" "Yes, yes!" The two hurriedly nodded and said in unison, "We u
"Take your chopper?" Charlie looked at Julien skeptically and queried, "Where can your chopper take me?" Julien answered hastily, "Its range is about 300 miles. You can go anywhere it can fly!" He then added, "I just told the pilot to get ready to take off. You can go anytime!" "Where were you heading when you told the pilot to prepare for takeoff?" asked Charlie. Julien quickly responded, "I was planning to have Royce go home and check on the situation, to see how the others are progressing and gather some information..." Charlie replied calmly, "You're sending your son home, not outside the blockade. How can you be sure that your chopper can enter and exit the blockade?" Julien affirmed, "I'm the first heir of the family. My chopper can definitely get in and out freely. No one can stop me." "We'll see about that," Charlie smirked. He then turned to Hank and ordered, "You will accompany Mr. Royce to take the chopper for a spin. Fly directly outside the blockade area
Hank's men responded promptly, "Alright, boss! We’ve got it!" Charlie knew that there were hundreds of people watching the Cole family mansion now. He could sneak in quietly, but it was impossible to go to the gate and take the Four-Sided Treasure Stone from the lion statue. Moreover, he did not know whether he could take the treasure tower out of that place. There was no doubt that no one would be able to stop him if he forced his way out of the restricted area with the tower, but he would risk exposing himself. Currently, the big trouble with the Qing Eliminating Society hadn't been solved yet. It would only give him more trouble if he exposed himself to the Rothschild family now. Hence, Charlie needed to think of a method that was as safe as possible. He would have fulfilled Raymond's wish as long as he could quietly bring the treasure tower back to Oskia. It was now about three hours before dawn. Charlie decided to see if the helicopter route was feasible. Ten minutes l
Julien was astonished by Charlie's remarks. Upon careful consideration, Julien felt that what Charlie said made sense. Whoever took the Four-Sided Treasure Tower would be the first heir, so the only idea he had in mind was to quickly retrieve the treasure tower so that he could retain his position as the first heir. But when he thought about this crisis from another perspective, what if no one could find the treasure tower? He was the first heir, to begin with. If he cut off others' chances of advancement, he would still be the first heir, wouldn't he? The only difference, of course, was that in this case, although he was still the first heir, the treasure tower would no longer belong to the Rothschild family. But he was left with no choice now. His life was in Charlie's hands, and he was thankful to be able to survive the ordeal. Thus, he asked tentatively, "Sir, can you please guarantee that the other Rothschilds will never find the treasure tower, let alone get it home?"
Julien hastily replied, "The Four-Sided Treasure Tower originally belonged to Oskia. It would be best if it could return to Oskia..." "But your father dreams of getting it back." Charlie asked, "Why don't you share the same thought?" Julien assumed Charlie was testing him, trying to see where he stood, so he immediately responded with an air of righteous indignation, "To be honest with you, my father is still full of imperialist thinking. He believes that anything he seizes is his, but it doesn't work that way now. We're living in a civilized society! The treasure tower was obtained dishonestly back then, so it's only right to return it to its rightful owner. I've been educated with modern legal principles, so I do have a sense of justice!" With a satisfactory nod, Charlie asked, "So, even though you are the first heir of the family and even though your father, the patriarch of the family, desperately hopes that the treasure tower can return to your family, you are still willing
A roar of the helicopter came from far away. Charlie's eyes lit up as he said, "Your son is back." Julien involuntarily muttered, "I hope they're not in trouble." A few minutes later, Hank and Royce walked into Charlie's room. As soon as they entered the room, Julien asked anxiously, "How was it? Did anyone stop you?" "Yes!" Royce blurted angrily. "The National Security Agency's radar blocked the airspace in the blockade area. As soon as our helicopter arrived near the edge of the blockade area, they radioed to warn us that all non-government helicopters were currently banned from taking off in the airspace for national security reasons. They also asked us to land in the designated area for inspection. I told them my identity, and after they verified it, they did not force us to land for inspection, but told us to stay away from the boundary of the blockade area." Hank, standing nearby, added, "This level of strict control hasn't been seen since 9/11." Hearing this, Charlie
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