Chapter 301 - 189: Treasure Chest Opening, Gold Item
"What’s wrong?"
Julian asked, looking puzzled at Mark’s expression.
"Nothing," Mark said nonchalantly, shaking his head. "Just a little envious of them."
"I know, right?" Julian lamented. "People like us struggle our whole lives just to work for people like them."
"Yeah, yeah," Mark said, his eyes still fixed on Anya’s photo. "You’re absolutely right."
"Trust funds worth hundreds of millions the moment they turn eighteen, private jets, luxury yachts..." Julian mused. "When I first made partner five years ago, that was the first time I saw what real money looks like."
He saw that Mark’s attention seemed to be completely focused on the documents he’d given him.
"So, are you going to take this?" he asked.
"Yes, that’s right. I’ll take it."
A smile appeared on Julian’s face as he handed the file to Mark.
Back in his office at Merrill Lynch Securities, Mark immediately locked the door, pulled down the blinds, and spread out the documents from Julian.
Looking at the full name "Anna Sergeyevna Volkova" and the detailed background check in the file, Mark couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath.
As a Wall Street partner, how could he not know the weight the name Sergey carried in offshore finance circles?
Sergey controlled the vast energy and mineral lifelines of Eastern Europe. A conservative estimate of his hidden assets was in the tens of billions of USD.
And Miss Anna was not only the oligarch’s sole heir but also Li Wei’s girlfriend.
’No wonder she could casually pull out three million USD to save me,’ Mark muttered to himself. ’That idiot Julian still thinks I’m under investigation by Merrill Lynch’s compliance department.’
「Meanwhile, inside a luxury apartment in Fortress City, Lower Manhattan.」
Li Wei was sitting in front of his computer, frowning at the dense wall of search results on the screen.
He was looking up clues about the "Alchemist." According to the system’s prompt, this Alchemist, hidden in the Royal City, was trying to reverse-engineer ancient Magic Potions using an entirely new system.
’If I project this setting onto the United States of America, what would the most likely real-world identity be?’
’A lead researcher at an independent lab? Some eccentric scientist at a cutting-edge biopharmaceutical company? Or a chemistry genius in the black market who purifies illicit drugs?’
Just as he was trying to cross-reference various patent databases for any unusual beverage or medicinal formulas recently registered in New York, the phone on his desk began to vibrate.
It was a call from Mark.
"Mr. Li Wei, are you free right now? I must meet with you immediately. It’s something extremely urgent and important."
"Come over," Li Wei said immediately. "Wait, are you safe? Do you need me to pick you up?"
"I’m safe, don’t worry," Mark said, a warm feeling spreading through his chest. "I’ll be there right away."
Half an hour later, Li Wei opened the door for Mark.
"If I remember correctly," Li Wei said pointedly, "it’s not quitting time yet, is it?"
"Here’s the thing, Mr. Li Wei," Mark said, not taking the water Li Wei offered. He blurted out while still standing at the door, "Isn’t Miss Anna arranging a 50 million USD bridge loan with Elizabeth Mellon?"
"How do you know that?" Li Wei’s brow furrowed. "Come in first, then we’ll talk."
Mark rushed into Li Wei’s apartment and immediately pushed the thick file from Julian across the coffee table to Li Wei.
"Julian gave this to me," Mark said, taking a deep breath and laying everything out with no concealment. "He offered me the sub-underwriting rights for a 300 million USD asset management package. In exchange, he wants me to use Merrill Lynch’s internal compliance procedures to hold up Miss Anna’s 50 million USD bridge loan to the Elizabeth Foundation for three months."
Li Wei picked up the file and began to read it carefully. Without looking up, he said, "That’s not a small price he’s offering. The management fees on 300 million in assets are no small sum."
"But without you, I’d be ruined," Mark said, his tone firm. "You were the one who didn’t hesitate to pull me out of the abyss with three million USD in cold, hard cash when I was on the verge of losing my reputation, my house, and my family. Compared to that, what’s a few million, or even ten million, in performance fees to me?"
’I’m no saint,’ Li Wei thought silently. ’After all, this was for a Silver Treasure Chest, something that had never appeared in the system before.’
However, the moment Mark finished speaking, a series of dialogue boxes popped up before Li Wei’s eyes.
[Mission: The Devil’s Temptation - Complete]
[Knight-Apprentice Mark stood at the edge of the abyss, saw through the devil’s true bargain, and made a choice that followed his heart.]
[He has upheld the Knightly virtue of ’Honesty’.]
[Mission Complete!]
[Reward Acquired: Silver Treasure Chest x1]
An uncontrollable smile finally lifted the corners of Li Wei’s mouth.
"Thanks, Mark," Li Wei said, standing up and patting Mark’s shoulder reassuringly. "Don’t worry, I already know about this. I’ll tell you how to handle it, but first I need to discuss it with Elizabeth and Anya."
"Then what should I...?" Mark asked, stunned for a moment.
"Tell Julian you’re going to go back and study it, that you’re working on a compliance plan," Li Wei instructed methodically. "I’ll tell you what to do as soon as possible, but I need you to report his movements and any new information to me at all times."
After seeing Mark out, Li Wei thought for a moment and decided to hold off on opening the Silver Treasure Chest for now. Instead, he called Elizabeth.
Once the call connected, Li Wei skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point, repeating the intel Mark had just revealed.
"...And that’s the situation," he concluded. "Julian wants to use Merrill Lynch’s compliance process to bog Anya’s bridge loan down in an anti-money laundering review. He’s clearly acting on someone’s orders. Considering you were kicked out of the Skull and Bones Society, I suspect your cousin, Charles Mellon, is behind this too."
The other end of the line went silent for more than ten seconds.
"I understand," Elizabeth said, realizing the implications. "Charles Mellon is deliberately trying to embroil my foundation in an anti-money laundering investigation scandal. His core objective isn’t Anya’s 50 million USD, because he knows this can’t be allowed to affect the relationship between Mr. Sergey and the Mellon Family."
She paused, then continued, "But this will affect the funding for that merger and acquisition deal. Once my foundation is caught up in an anti-money laundering scandal, his Manhattan Art Center becomes practically the only solution."
"I need to make a few calls to confirm," she said before hanging up in a hurry. "I’ll be quick!"
After the call ended, Li Wei thought for a moment, then told Anya about the situation as well.
"What do you want to do?" Li Wei asked. "I think it’s necessary to inform you of the risks."
"That Charles Mellon is a real bastard," Anya said, grinding her teeth. "It’s fine. Let the money go through the normal process. I don’t believe he’d risk damaging the relationship between my father and the Mellon Family by putting 50 million USD at risk for no reason."
With matters settled, Li Wei looked at the Silver Treasure Chest before him, thinking that this time, he should be able to open it.
But when he saw the Silver Treasure Chest’s description, he hesitated again.
[Silver Treasure Chest: Open to receive 1-2 rewards, including silver-grade equipment, skills, or corresponding attribute points (with a very small chance of obtaining Gold-grade equipment or an extremely rare, upgradeable piece of equipment).]
"This thing..." Li Wei muttered to himself. "Should I burn some incense and take a bath first, to wash away the bad luck?"
No sooner said than done.
Li Wei walked straight into the master bathroom, turned the thermostatic showerhead to full blast, and even used the high-end sea salt scrub and essential oils Anya had left there.
After his nice, fragrant shower, Li Wei changed into a fresh set of clothes, dried his hair, and sat properly on the leather sofa in the living room.
But just a shower wasn’t enough. Li Wei picked up his iPad and downloaded several of the most famous gacha games from the bestseller charts. These games, from the Celestial Dynasty, were notorious on forums for their abysmal drop rates, expensive pity systems, and a gacha experience that felt like a "Mind Reading Technique."
In the past, he would never have spent money on such virtual data, but now, he unhesitatingly linked his palladium card on the payment page.
"99.99 USD, payment successful." "99.99 USD, payment successful."
Since the highest top-up amount in the US region was typically 99.99 USD, Li Wei, expressionless as an emotionless clicking machine, mechanically repeated the action of purchasing the largest tier of tokens.
After topping up, he went straight to the most popular limited character banner and began a frantic series of ten-pulls.
He pulled a top-tier 5-star character on his very first ten-pull. Li Wei’s heart skipped a beat. He took off the [Ring of All Things Smooth] and continued to throw money at the game.
Only then did Li Wei truly understand what it meant to have bad luck.
1,000 USD in, and not even a shadow of a top-tier character.
3,000 USD in, and aside from a few "sewer-tier" permanent characters that had existed since the game’s launch, the current limited-run top-tier character remained as elusive as ever.
Li Wei switched to another game, one famous for its "doubly toxic weapon and character banners," and continued the cycle of topping up and pulling.
5,000 USD... 8,000 USD... until a bank transaction alert on his phone showed that his total spending in just half an hour was approaching the 10,000 USD mark.
Looking at the useless character he got from "losing the 50/50" on the pity system again, Li Wei didn’t feel angry at all. Instead, he let out a long sigh of relief.
"Now’s the time!" Li Wei roared, putting the [Ring of All Things Smooth] back on.
He closed his eyes, locked onto the alluring, glowing Silver Treasure Chest deep in his consciousness, and issued the command to open it!
A soft light flashed, and a row of indistinct items seemed to appear before Li Wei’s eyes: a longbow, a treasured sword, a long spear, a warhorse, and so on.
Finally, the light faded. The Silver Treasure Chest vanished, and in its place, in Li Wei’s hand, was a—
Skull?
[You have lost: Silver Treasure Chest x1]
[You have obtained the item: Skull of the Garrulous Court Jester (Gold-grade)]