“I can’t be unguarded in front of him. We’re of similar age, but I’m old and near death while he’s still vigorous, like a young man. Why? Scientific research tells us that a person’s age depends on their inner desires. A movie star in their fifties looks dashing and impulsive, while a company employee in their fifties sports a growing belly and prepares for retirement. It’s because the movie star has greater desires. Desire keeps people young.” Henkel paused. “Anjou’s desire… is revenge. It’s a more powerful, vibrant desire than any other, like the seed of a poisonous plant that takes root in the heart, grows into a tree, and eventually overshadows the entire heart.”
“I truly envy his youth,” Henkel said softly, playing with the alchemical revolvers, “and that wild, fiery desire.”
“Is that it…?” One young man broke the silence.
“For now, we wait. We still have a basis for negotiation with Anjou. He’s different from Frost Gattuso. Frost takes pride in the noble bloodline of the Gattuso family. He looks down on all other families and certainly wouldn’t lower himself to negotiate with us. But Anjou… he only wants revenge on the Dragon Raja for his fallen comrades. For a grudge that’s lasted over a century, he might agree to anything.” Henkel smiled. “Besides, Frost is pressuring him from behind. I hope Frost keeps squeezing him harder—maybe that’ll push Anjou over to our side.”
Henkel walked to a wall and knocked on it. “Anjou has left. You can come out now.”
A red door hidden in the wall opened, and someone walked out silently. He wore a silver-gray suit, shiny leather shoes, and a rose gold watch—a perfect match with his athletic physique. The young men couldn’t help but stare at his feet; his steps were firm yet light, exuding a strong sense of rhythm. What a confident entrance! He exemplified the image of an “elegant and successful man,” and could easily replace Sean Connery as the face of LV travel bags.
He sat in the chair across from Henkel, without greeting anyone. He entered the room of hybrid family leaders as if no one else was there.
Henkel raised his eyes to glance at him. “Could you appear more properly next time you meet me?”
“A custom Prada suit, Hermes shoes, Zenith watch,” the guest shrugged, “pretty presentable, right?”
“What’s that on your head?”
“Never seen a KFC bag? Don’t tell me…” The man stuffed a ketchup-coated fry into his mouth.
The man had a KFC takeout paper bag over his head, with holes cut out for his eyes and mouth. That’s why the young men could only stare at his feet.
“Colonel Sanders this time? Last time we met at a bank, and you had a black stocking over your face… And the time before that was Halloween—you wore a Darth Vader mask.” Henkel rubbed his forehead. “How much do you love playing around? Can’t you be a little more professional?”
“A more professional disguise? Do you like Count Dracula? I have connections in some well-known vampire fan clubs in London.”
Henkel was silent for a long time. He poured a glass of strong tequila and handed it to the guest. “Actually, I like Cleopatra. If you don’t mind, next time, come painted in gold and bare-skinned.”
“Didn’t expect you to have such a heavy taste at your age!” The guest chuckled. “Well, I was just eating some KFC takeout and grabbed it. It’s not time for me to show my face yet, right? No good for either of us.”
“Everyone who can enter this room is trustworthy.”
“When in history did a leak not come from someone trustworthy?”
Henkel paused. “Fair point. You heard everything Anjou said earlier—should we believe him? Especially about the Dragon Skeleton.”
“It doesn’t sound like he hid anything. He’s in possession of one Dragon Skeleton. There should’ve been two, but the other sank into the Three Gorges reservoir and hasn’t been recovered. The School Board is demanding the bone, but Anjou hasn’t handed it over.”
“There are so many people interested in Dragon Skeletons,” Henkel chuckled. “But aside from refining the Philosopher’s Stone, nobody really knows the true value of the bones, right? The so-called ‘power of the Dragon King’—how do we unlock it?”
“If nobody has the key to the vault, they just have to bury the entire vault in their backyard, so that when the day comes, they can be the first to open it.”
“Where’s their next target?”
The man shook his head. “No definite information. But the Execution Bureau has been quite active recently. The latest news is that a top-secret document was just sent from China to the college, but it was immediately passed on to the School Board. The next target might still be in China. They’ve been promoting Chinese language education, training a team fluent in Chinese, and it’s not just for the Three Gorges operation.”
“China? We’ll keep monitoring, then.” Henkel nodded. “Besides, I’m very interested in Lu Mingfei.”
“A student as ordinary as they come, now in his sophomore year, caught in the worries of youth, and his luck has been pretty good—what he’s lacking most right now is a girlfriend.”
“Does he have any special background? There was something unbelievable at the auction. Before he entered, his account had only a two-million-dollar guarantee. But he boldly bid twenty million. We had to pause the auction to verify his financial ability. During the first check, he still had only two million. During the second check, when he asked us to recheck… in ten seconds, his account balance skyrocketed to 102 million dollars. He immediately raised the price to one hundred million, buying that set of alchemical blades. After the gavel fell, one hundred million was transferred to us from Cassell College’s account. Remember, the payment didn’t come from Lu Mingfei’s account, but when we checked it afterward, it was back to two million.” Henkel paused. “It was as if someone had loaned him a hundred million just when he needed it!”
“Was the bank’s system hacked? Or did Anjou cover that hundred million? Anjou can still move a hundred million dollars.”
Henkel shook his head. “Neither. The bank system was normal, and Cassell College didn’t support Lu Mingfei. The support came from a massive crowd: retail investors. In those ten seconds, from the Americas to Europe to Asia, 25 million people around the world each transferred four dollars from their accounts to Lu Mingfei, totaling one hundred million. After the auction, the money automatically returned. In other words, when Lu Mingfei needed money, the world gave it to him. Twenty-five million cash flows pointed to him, and when he didn’t need it, the money returned. The departure of that money caused the major stock indices worldwide—from the Dow Jones to the Financial Times Index—to drop 0.000001% simultaneously, resulting in Lu Mingfei’s sudden fortune.”
The man thought for a long time before shaking his head. “Although it sounds like the work of a hacker, hacking 25 million accounts would require a massive amount of server resources. I doubt any hacker organization in the world currently has that capability.”