Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet

After the auction ended, William was surprised to find that only Daniel Davis stayed behind. The other Chinese guests, after exchanging polite farewells with William and Wilson, quickly left on their own.

In a way, it was better this way—fewer people meant some things could be discussed more freely.

As they sat in the VIP lounge chatting, waiting for a few minutes, the auction house staff arrived with the three zodiac heads and the "Eight Horses Jade." They approached William and asked, "Mr. Devonshire, would you like to verify the authenticity of these antiques again?"

William knew this was just a formality. If these items had been tampered with or were fake, the auction house would lose all credibility. This was just a polite way of reminding him to pay up.

"Hold on a second," William said before beckoning to Lawrence, who had been waiting about ten meters away. The chubby Lawrence quickly walked over. "What can I do for you, Mr. Devonshire?"

"I've got some information to sell you, worth 20 million pounds," William said with a sly grin.

"Information?" Lawrence was stunned for a moment but quickly composed himself, not questioning why this information would be worth 20 million pounds. Instead, he immediately replied, "Please, go ahead."

Laughing, William led Lawrence aside and whispered, "I know you've been searching for a Da Vinci painting called The Rose."

"Y-yes, sir," Lawrence stammered, startled once again. Sweat began to form on his forehead.

Only three people knew about Lawrence's search for The Rose, and he was certain that the other two wouldn't dare leak the information.

"Don't worry, I don't care what you're up to," William reassured him, patting Lawrence on the shoulder. "That painting is in Russell Castle in France. I don't want the painting. All I want are the zodiac rat and rabbit heads, and the Desert Star sapphire from Count Russell. Is that a problem?"

Lawrence thought it over for a few seconds before agreeing. "No problem, sir. As long as the items are there, I guarantee I'll get them into your hands."

"Good, then let's talk about the 20 million pounds you owe me," William said with a grin.

"This... this..." Lawrence was clearly pained by the thought of parting with 20 million pounds, but he didn't dare back out. "Would you accept antiques in place of payment?"

"Of course, but they can't be stolen goods," William replied, pausing to look meaningfully at Lawrence. "Or you could use other zodiac heads to offset the debt."

"The dragon head is in your possession. I'll count it at 5 million pounds. The horse head at 3 million, and the others at 1 million each. Does that sound fair?"

"Agreed, sir," Lawrence said after doing some quick mental calculations. "I can have the dragon head delivered to your estate first thing tomorrow morning. With the three heads from today's auction—the ox, monkey, and tiger—that's 6 million pounds. So I still owe you 9 million pounds, which I'll repay with the other zodiac heads."

"Exactly. Any excess will be refunded or made up," William said, smiling as he patted Lawrence on the shoulder again. "Now, you can handle the rest with the auction house. I'll wait for your good news."

"Understood, sir," Lawrence apologized and walked over to the auction house manager. After a hushed conversation, the manager gave Lawrence a surprised look before nodding. He then approached William and said, "Mr. Devonshire, the payment has been taken care of. Thank you for attending, and we will continue to send you invitations to future events. We hope you'll join us again."

With that, the manager signaled his staff to hand over the three zodiac heads to Antonov and his team. He personally brought the "Eight Horses Jade" to William on a tray.

"Would you like us to provide a manual on how to properly handle the jade? As you may know, according to Chinese tradition, handling jade is a serious and time-consuming task. Mishandling it could ruin the piece."

"No need," William said, picking up the "Eight Horses Jade" and examining it for a moment before casually playing with it in his hand. "I have an expert on this at home. Thank you, and goodbye."

"Thank you once again for your visit. I'll personally escort you out," the manager said as he led William and his group to the exit of the auction house.

As soon as William stepped outside, the reporters waiting outside immediately erupted in a flurry of shouts, calling his name and bombarding him with questions.

"Why are there so many reporters?" Wilson, standing next to William, silently counted. He found that there were at least 100 journalists, all blocked outside the auction house by security. Worried, he asked, "How are we going to get out of here?"

"Don't worry, we'll fly out," William said, just as the sound of helicopter rotors filled the air. Twenty seconds later, two Bell 407 helicopters descended onto the auction house grounds.

William let Wilson board first, then climbed into the second helicopter with Daniel, Antonov, and Valentine, while Yakov and the bear-like Ivan were left to drive back.

Back at the estate, Antonov and Valentine left the zodiac heads on the table in the parlor before departing.

"What'll you have to drink?" William asked as he walked over to the liquor cabinet.

"Whatever you're having," Daniel replied casually, sitting on the couch. Watching William pour the drinks, he couldn't help but grumble, "You had that fat guy rig the auction to change the order of the zodiac heads, didn't you?"

"Heh," William neither confirmed nor denied it. He set two glasses and a half-bottle of 15-year-old Macallan on the coffee table, popped the cork, and poured two drinks. Handing one to Daniel, he said, "I was actually helping you. If you had managed to buy these three zodiac heads today, their value would multiply several times over in just a few years, maybe even tenfold."

"Really? But I think that after you paid twice the market price today, no one will be able to buy any of the remaining zodiac heads for less than 2 million pounds apiece," Daniel retorted. After hesitating for a moment, he directly asked, "Can you tell me why?"

"Why what?" William looked up, puzzled, as he sipped his drink.

Daniel had been staring at William, and seeing his genuine confusion, he clarified, "Why would someone as wealthy as you—someone with more antiques than can fit in a bank vault, with over a billion dollars sitting in the bank unused—go to the trouble of using a little trick to get a few bronze heads? Is this just the nature of a capitalist, to disregard basic morals for profit?"

William froze for a second. Why, indeed?

He already had so many Chinese antiques that he could barely keep track of them. Why was he so fixated on obtaining a set of zodiac heads, which weren't even the most valuable antiques?

After thinking for a while, William finally answered, "Maybe it's because I just have too much money, and the zodiac heads are so famous that I felt the urge to own them."

"Using tricks won't win you real friends."

"Well, I'm not doing business in China anyway," William said with a shrug. After a few moments of thought, he added confidently, "You're right. I'm William Devonshire. If I want the bronze heads, I'll just buy them. There's no need to be sneaky. And if I want jade or mutton fat jade, I can just pay for it—no need to rely on you guys."

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