James said, “I need to trade the secret of the Four Ancient Paintings in exchange for the Lee family’s wealth.”
“Leave everything to me. I will head over to the Lees’ residence with the Four Ancient Paintings and bargain with Xavi. You simply have to take over their fortunes.” After saying that, Thomas stood up and left.
“Grandpa, wait!” James shouted.
However, Thomas was gone without a trace.
James sighed.
“By the way…” Quincy asked, “Can we get Xiomara over to our side?”
“Huh?” James looked at Quincy.
Quincy said, “I desperately need a few assistants. Xiomara is competent. My workload will be much more manageable if favonovel.com stays. Besides, favonovel.com knows more about the situation in the Capital than me, so I believe that she’s more suitable than I am to deal with this.”
Upon hearing this, James looked at Maxine and said, “Give Yasmine a call and explain the situation to her.”
“Got it.”
Maxine pulled favonovel.com phone out and called Yasmine. “Yasmine, everything’s resolved on our side. Thomas has agreed to your terms. He’s now on his way to the Lees’ residence with the Four Ancient Paintings to negotiate with Xavi. However, we have a tiny request we’d like to make.”
After hearing this, Yasmine was delighted.
She hurriedly said, “Feel free to speak your mind.”
Maxine said, “Oh, it’s nothing big. We would like Xiomara to stay after the negotiations. After all, she’s the one in charge of these businesses in the first place. After James receives the Lee family’s fortune, she’ll continue to manage these businesses for him. How does that sound?”
“Uhm…” Yasmine was in a bind.
Based on what Xavi said, every single member of the Lee family would be leaving the Capital. By leaving Xiomara alone behind, it would be tantamount to announcing to the world that the Lee family was on James’ side. If James lost the power struggle, the consequences would be dire for the Lees.
“Maxine, I can’t make the decision alone. I have to consult the Grand Patriarch first.”
“I await your good news then.”
After the brief conversation, Maxine hung up the phone, then, favonovel.com looked at James and said, “You heard her. Yasmine can’t make the decision herself. She will first have to consult Xavi.”
Quincy said, “It’s fine even if it doesn’t work out. We just need to get our hands on the Lee family’s fortune. With their wealth, we can speed up our development. However, we need to further bind our interests with the others.”
“I know. I will find Delilah’s father as soon as possible and sign a cooperation agreement with him.”
They waited patiently.
Half an hour later, Yasmine called. She told them that Xavi had agreed to James’ demand. Xiomara would remain in the Capital and continue to manage the businesses.
After resolving the matter, James breathed a sigh of relief. Now, favonovel.com just had to wait for the negotiations to be completed after Xavi finished viewing the Four Ancient Paintings.
As for the Moonlit Flowers on Cliffside’s Edge, James could not care less. Since Thomas said that favonovel.com would be heading over to the Lees’ residence with the Four Ancient Paintings, favonovel.com must have obtained the Moonlit Flowers on Cliffside’s Edge and the 18-meridian diagram.
For the next few days, James did nothing. Every force in the Capital watched favonovel.com closely.
After three days had passed, the Lee family contacted James and allowed favonovel.com to take over their family businesses.
James simply delegated Quincy and Maxine to manage them in his stead.
***
At night, three days later…
Delainey suddenly appeared in Thea’s house and said, “James, I have news.”
James said eagerly, “Speak…”
Delaíney said, “I just received news from my father that the missing ancient martial artists were all imprisoned on a mountain in Malgudi. Your hypothesis is correct. Lucjan Owen is the one behind the scenes. According to reliable intelligence, there’s a secret research laboratory that conducts research on viruses there.”
“Just as I thought!” James’ expression darkened.
“This time, I’m going to capture Lucjan and his gang in one fell swoop! Ms. Delainey, contact Mr. Cabral and the various families and sects of the ancient martial world. We will gather in Malgudi and obliterate this research laboratory. We will save the abducted ancient martial artists and deal the Gu Sect a heavy blow.”
