Chapter 1497
At that moment, it felt like the air had frozen. Rafael, Mosby, Kevi, and the mysterious man in the cloak beside Rafael all lunged forward in unison, trying to stop Andrew.
The sudden surge of chaos sent a storm of killing intent rippling through the Wright estate’s grand hall.
Tiana shot to her feet, fully alert, her face filled with tension. She silently cursed, "Damn it, this punk! Is he trying to start a full-blown war right now?"
Destroying the final fragment like this would be no different from cutting Kevin and Mosby’s lifelines in half. Obviously, no one would agree with his suggestion.
“Don’t move! If anyone takes a step, I’ll burn it right here!” Andrew roared.
The lighter in his hand spat out a tall, vicious flame. The torn map hovered dangerously close to its edge.
Mosby’s face twitched. He stomped the floor in frustration. “You little bastard! You came prepared, huh? Bringing a damn high-powered lighter with you – what is this, treasure hunting or arson?”
Around the room, the others looked just as miserable. They could tell that Andrew’s lighter was not an ordinary lighter at all. The flame it shot out was over eight inches long, burning bright blue and making crackling sounds.
If the map fragment were put over it, it would turn to ash in the time it took to blow a breath. In that split second, no one was confident they could stop Andrew.
“In ancient Holtrien, there’s a saying: ‘Where tempers cool, gold pools’. My friend, please put down the lighter. Name your price. Whatever it is – we’ll make it happen.”
What surprised Andrew the most was that the first to cave was not Kevin or Rafael. It was the cloaked man whose face was mostly hidden, speaking in awkward Etharic.
Andrew narrowed his eyes. “And who the hell are you?”
The man smirked. “You may call me… Stanley O’Higgins.”
Andrew smirked. “Foreigners are in on this too now, huh? Mr. Driscoll, you’ve got quite the network.”
Rafael let out a disdainful grunt. “Stanley was speaking in my stead. If you want to secure your profit in advance, fine. Say it – what the hell do you want?”
Andrew shrugged. “It’s simple. Every party involved in this treasure hunt needs to wire me one billion each. Call it… compensation. That way, even if I don’t walk away with the treasure, I don’t walk away with empty hands either.”
Mosby erupted. “A billion? Andrew, why don’t you just rob someone?”
Andrew beamed. “Dr. Lake, that’s exactly what I’m doing. Don’t worry – you’re included too.”
Mosby was about to lose it, trembling with rage, his eyes bloodshot like Andrew had just murdered his whole family.
Kevin’s voice turned to ice. “Andrew, we’re sworn brothers. But a billion is no small amount. You’re going too far.”
Andrew looked unbothered. “Too far? You all know the value of what we’re dealing with. The treasure map left behind was divided into fragments, scattered across families to guard for generations.
“What does that tell you? It means this treasure is earth-shattering. Whatever’s inside must be priceless. You think asking for a billion each is outrageous? Honestly, that’s me playing nice.
“Once you get your hands on even one percent of what’s in that vault, it’ll easily be worth more than ten billion. So really, I’m the one being short-changed here. You’re the ones walking away with the bargain.”
With just a few sentences, Andrew had every major player in the room stunned into silence.