191: Chapter 190 Laughing Too Early

Once the origin of the treasure inside the mechanism box was known, the background of the box itself could be explained. Guiguzi and Mozi were friends, yet Guiguzi had lived to see the First Emperor. As an ancestor, it was only logical for him to have the descendants of Mozi put their full effort into crafting a mechanism box for him.

"Cao Xiao, what's wrong with you? You look so strange! You're sweating! I called you several times and you didn't respond."

The pain in his hand brought Cao Xiao back to reality. He came to his senses and saw Xiao Pinger looking at him with concern as she spoke.

Cao Xiao smiled with relief and said, "I'm fine, I just zoned out. Huh, why isn't it over yet?"

"It's already at 2.6 billion! Is the item my family lost really that valuable? No wonder it's being coveted by others!" Xiao Pinger said with worry.

Cao Xiao took a look. Besides Chen Huaiming, there were five others competing at the scene: Mr. Wu Weiming, a veteran Hong Kong tycoon and financial magnate; a Korean; a Japanese person; a Middle Eastern crown prince; and two Western tycoons. The pace of the auction had slowed down significantly, with someone placing a bid only every little while.

Cao Xiao hadn't expected Chen Huaiming to actually dare to keep following. Seeing his decisive manner when bidding, Cao Xiao felt a bit conflicted. Could this guy be addicted to the game? He didn't even know if he had that much money—over two billion—yet he didn't hesitate at all when calling out the price.

Just then, Cao Xiao's phone rang. He took it out and saw it was a call from Commissioner Zhang. A call late at night surely meant no good news, but Cao Xiao still excused himself to Xiao Pinger and went to a corner to answer it.

"Cao Xiao, are you in Hong Kong right now?"

"Yes! What's the matter?"

"Then get to The Peninsula Hotel as fast as you can. A charity auction is being held there. Once you arrive, you must win the auction for a mechanism box, no matter how much it costs. Don't worry about the money; it will be reimbursed later. If it has already been auctioned off to someone else, then... you must get it back at all costs. You are authorized to use any means necessary. The local garrison and the Supervision Department branch will cooperate with you unconditionally. This is an order from the Supervision Department headquarters—it is a mandatory order!"

"Uh! Actually, I'm already at the scene. It's not convenient for me to show my face, so I've already had Chen Huaiming, the fourth son of the old Chen family, participate in the bidding. What exactly is this thing that makes you all value it so much?"

"I only know that the item was brought over from the mainland and involves some major classified secrets. Neither you nor I have the clearance to know exactly what it is. Do not touch it after you get it."

"Alright, I understand. Help me relay a message to the people from the Supervision Department branch here and the garrison; tell them not to intervene and alert the enemy. I can handle this on my end. Also, have the Hong Kong police cooperate with me unconditionally."

Hanging up the phone, Cao Xiao started to get a headache. This matter was becoming increasingly complex; even the Supervision Department headquarters had been alarmed. He did not intend to hand over the animal skin formation map to anyone. If he didn't handle this matter well, it would bring trouble upon himself. The headquarters' order had to be fulfilled, which meant he had to get a mechanism box to take back to satisfy them. He still had to scam the foreigners, and he also needed to provide an explanation to Xiao Pinger. Other things didn't matter, but the Supervision Department was full of talented people and it wouldn't be easy to fool them. He wanted to achieve a win-win-win situation, but how difficult that would be.

His mind raced as he quickly thought about how to handle it. After thinking for a while, he realized that this matter wasn't actually hard to solve, but it would leave a flaw on the Supervision Department's side. He couldn't make up his mind for a moment, but fortunately, he held the initiative, so there was no need to rush. Before handing the item over to the Supervision Department, he had to first confirm what information they actually had regarding it. He didn't have the clearance to check on the Supervision Department's side, and others might not know, but the foreigners participating in the auction would surely know something. And then there was the original owner of the mechanism box—Xiao Pinger's father. Only by knowing this information could he come up with a specific response plan.

"One hundred million!" Chen Huaiming saw Cao Xiao's text message and suddenly started increasing the bid by a large margin.

Seeing this, Wu Weiming frowned inwardly. Today's phenomenon was very strange; it seemed this mechanism box definitely had secrets he wasn't aware of. He knew Chen Huaiming's net worth; it was impossible for him to suddenly come up with so much money for an auction. Even if all his friends added their money together, they couldn't immediately scrape together billions in cash. Chen Huaiming was from the mainland, so it was self-evident who was instructing him to do this from behind the scenes. They had participated in the bidding because they were afraid this mechanism box was some incredible treasure that would fall into the hands of foreigners. Now that someone had stepped up with such confidence, he didn't need to worry anymore. After all, even with his deep resources, he would have to borrow from friends to scrape together such a large amount.

"Ten million!" ... "Ten million!"

Mr. Wu Weiming withdrew, but Chen Huaiming's one-hundred-million bid didn't scare off those foreigners either. Now the price had reached 2.81 billion.

"Two hundred million!" Chen Huaiming was unmoved, glancing domineeringly at the few foreigners and doubling the increment.

"Three billion and ten million! Mr. Chen Huaiming bids three billion and ten million, taking the lead!" The auctioneer's voice trembled with excitement. This was a private charity auction, yet it had set a record for the highest auction price for an artwork in the world, and it might not be surpassed for a long time. As the auctioneer, his status in the industry would also rise with the tide because of this auction.

The scene was in an uproar, and all eyes were focused on Chen Huaiming, as if they wanted to get to know him all over again.

"Shit! This guy only has a listed company with a market value of less than two billion us dollars; it's impossible for him to have that much cash. We demand a capital verification! We suspect he's a shill for you!" A Western bidder, like an enraged bull, pointed at Chen Huaiming and shouted at the auctioneer.

"This..." The auctioneer was dumbfounded. He knew Chen Huaiming and had been too excited before; now he realized this serious problem. If things went wrong, all previous efforts would be wasted, and he didn't know how to handle it for a moment.

Chen Huaiming felt a bit guilty. Cao Xiao wasn't showing his face now, and his own cash wasn't even enough for the fraction; he definitely didn't have three billion. He had no choice but to cast a helpless look at Cao Xiao for help.

"No need for capital verification. Regardless of whether he has that much funding or not, we will vouch for him!"

Just then, five or six Hong Kong tycoons, led by Wu Weiming, stood together by Chen Huaiming's side and declared firmly.

"Screw your sister, it's just money! We can also provide him with sufficient funds. If you're scared, then get the hell out!"

Immediately after, another group of people stood by Chen Huaiming's side, shouting and cursing. They were a group of obscure mainland tycoons. Afterward, more Chinese tycoons quietly gathered around Chen Huaiming.

"With all of you vouching for him, Mr. Chen's funds are not an issue. Now, the auction continues! Please place your bids!" the auctioneer said happily.

Those foreigners had originally thought they had caught their opponent's weak point, but they hadn't expected to hit a major wall. They had to grit their teeth and continue bidding, but they were much more cautious, increasing the bid by only five million at a time.

Chen Huaiming pressed his advantage and suddenly increased the bid by another two hundred million, which only caused the Korean to withdraw. By the second time he increased the bid, there was only one Westerner left named Hunter, and the price had reached 3.45 billion.

Seeing that the timing was about right, Chen Huaiming pretended to hesitate and only added fifty million the third time. Hunter, seemingly seeing victory in sight, confidently added fifty million. Chen Huaiming, encouraged by those around him, still looked unconfident and gritted his teeth as he added another fifty million.

Seeing this, Hunter suddenly exerted force and brazenly increased the bid by one hundred million.

Sure enough, Chen Huaiming hesitated for a long time and, amid the disappointed looks of those around him, timidly gave up.

"3.7 billion for the second time, 3.7 billion for the third time, bang! Congratulations to Mr. Hunter for winning this priceless mechanism box! This charity auction has been a complete success, raising a total of 5.63 billion in donations, the highest single donation in the history of world charity. Tonight will surely go down in history..."

The auction came to an end with the auctioneer's passionate drivel, and people began to disperse. But Xiao Pinger couldn't move her feet; she grabbed Cao Xiao helplessly and said, "Cao Xiao, what should we do now? Should we really call the police? That Mr. Hunter is a foreigner; the embassy will interfere, and the police won't be able to do anything to him."

Cao Xiao comforted her compassionately, "I've already called the police. They should be here soon. It's okay; even if we can't get the mechanism box back, we must at least get the money back. After all, the mechanism box belongs to your family. Let's go, we'll follow that Hunter."

"Haha, congratulations, Mr. Lei. The great contribution you have made to the cause of charity is visible to all. I believe that tomorrow, not only the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, but even the whole country, Asia, and the world will extensively report on your charitable act today. The Lei Charity Foundation will leap to become one of the world's well-known charity foundations. Congratulations!"

"Yes! After tonight, Hong Kong will be proud of you!"

Lei Bishen was enjoying the flattery and compliments of others, responding reservedly, "Congratulations to all, congratulations to all. However, these are things that we businessmen should do. Once we have the ability, we should give back to society and do our best to help those in need. This is our bounden duty and mission! To celebrate the significant results of this auction, I will host a banquet here tomorrow night, and I welcome you all to grace it with your presence."

"Wah~!"

An discordant retching sound made the intoxicated and floating Lei Bishen turn his head involuntarily. He saw a young man of about twenty-five or twenty-six looking at him with an expression of disgust. The undisguised look of nausea made him want to get angry, but the other party was just a young man and not worth his attention. On the contrary, at this time, he should display the amiability of a big shot. So, with a faint smile on his face, he looked at Cao Xiao with kind eyes and asked with concern, "Young man, are you not feeling well? I'll have the hotel doctor come over to check on you."

"Then thank you! I don't know why, but whenever I hear you speak, I have a strong urge to vomit." The person who could say such things was naturally Cao Xiao. He had originally just been passing by and felt nauseous seeing Lei Bishen's shameless performance. Upon learning that the police had already sealed off the hotel, he stopped to deliberately disgust this old guy.

"You, whose little bastard are you, having such poor upbringing!" Being humiliated to his face without mercy, Lei Bishen was naturally so angry that his face turned livid. He immediately tore off his mask and pointed at Cao Xiao, cursing.

Cao Xiao retorted, "Who are you calling an old bastard?"

"Kid, I don't care whose little brat you are, call your family immediately, or suffer the consequences!" As an old gangster, Lei Bishen naturally wouldn't be played. He looked at Cao Xiao grimly, the aura of a ruthless tycoon suddenly emerging.

"You're scaring me so much! I've already called my family, and look, they're here!" Cao Xiao countered, and seeing a squad of police officers had already entered the door, he pointed at the police and said to Lei Bishen.

Seeing the police arrive, and a whole squad at that, Lei Bishen was secretly alarmed. He knew something must have happened; otherwise, the police usually wouldn't barge into The Peninsula Hotel, especially a fully armed squad. However, having lived on the edge of the blade for many years and dealt with the police countless times, as a member of Hong Kong's upper class, he naturally wouldn't be afraid.

"Officers, which precinct are you from? This is a private venue. Barging in without permission is illegal."

The lead officer ignored Lei Bishen's words. He walked up to him, displayed his ID and a document, and said resoundingly, "I am He Zhengsheng, Senior Superintendent of the Operations Department of the Hong Kong Police Force. Mr. Lei Bishen, you are suspected of engaging in triad activities, drug smuggling and trafficking, illegal fundraising, money laundering, receiving stolen goods, and many other crimes. We have orders to arrest you according to the law. This is the arrest warrant; please come with us!"

"Impossible! You have no evidence. You are only a Senior Superintendent; even your Commissioner of Police doesn't have the authority to do this. You cannot touch me! I will call the Chief Executive immediately; I will report you!" The smile that had just appeared on Lei Bishen's face froze, and like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, he scolded He Zhengsheng in disbelief.

"You have the right to call anyone, but everything you say will be used as evidence in court. Put them on him!" He Zhengsheng replied coldly, ordering the officer holding the handcuffs beside him.

Lei Bishen didn't struggle. After being handcuffed, he unhurriedly took out his phone to make a call. Surprisingly, the other end rejected the call directly. He tried calling several other familiar officials, and it was the same. Now he finally began to panic. At such a critical juncture, not answering the phone was a very bad sign. If the situation hadn't been serious, how could those officials who usually used honorifics when speaking to him unanimously refuse to contact him? He had a terrible intuition that he might really be done for this time! Recalling the things he had done, a feeling of despair spread from his heart to his face.

Thinking of his own children and his underlings, people's hearts were fickle, and he himself was a callous and ungrateful person. After he went in, what they would do was quickly distance themselves from him and then carve up his assets. No one would try to rescue him. At this moment, he no longer had the confidence to make threats and was ignominiously taken away by the police.

Cao Xiao looked mockingly at the people who had just been flattering Lei Bishen and said in a sarcastic tone, "Everyone, would you like to host a banquet to celebrate the fact that Mr. Lei has found someone to take care of him in his old age?"