Once they settled down into the glamorous party, Anthony and Jeniffer had finally snapped out of the awe-struck feeling that they harbored since coming into this place.
The experience that they had just been through felt like a dream to them.
Although they were well-compensated working in Blacklight Biotechnology, it was still a huge gap away from becoming a true tycoon. For Jennifer and Anthony, it was their first time witnessing such an opulent occasion.
“By the way, Mr. Clifford,” Jeniffer asked softly once the middle-aged man had left, “is that the organizer of this party?”
“Yes, his name’s Gross. You can address him as Mr. Gross.”
Clifford nodded. When he noticed a group approaching him, he preemptively said to his companions, “You both can go take a look around. Once I finish catching up with some old friends, we can talk about business later.”
“Don’t mind us.”
Anthony and Jennifer nodded and hastily walked away.
As the party did not call for any dress codes, the duo did not seem to stand out too much despite being in their work clothes.
Once they walked toward a quiet corner, Jeniffer’s eyes were beaming with envy as she said, “Is this how the upper-class live their lives? Why do I never see Mr. Chen live like this?”
“Mr. Chen is wealthy only fairly recently. His personality and culture wouldn’t resonate with what we’ve observed here. These are tycoons who’ve been wealthy since decades ago, perhaps even up to a century.”
Anthony lamented, “Besides, Mr. Chen is still a Chinese after all, his culture is fundamentally different. As far as I know, they don’t typically host parties like these at night.”
“What if we’re comparing influence?”
Jeniffer asked softly, “Would these tycoons be as influential as Mr. Chen?”
“A normal tycoon would never be as influential as Mr. Chen.”
Anthony was determined. “Although Mr. Chen was only wealthy recently, he had already amassed capitals that could rival an entire healthcare industry. This isn’t something a normal tycoon can pull off.
“However, if we’re talking about the top tycoons, then things might be different. After all, their capitals that have been amassed for centuries could probably be compared against Blacklight Biotechnology’s properties. It’s fifty-fifty at this point…”
“Are you overestimating Mr. Chen?”
Jennifer was shocked. “Although I concede that Mr. Chen’s a remarkable individual, these Northern American and European tycoons are capable of influencing major government policies.”
“Indeed, but don’t forget that Mr. Chen also has support from dozens of wealthy families and financial conglomerates,” Anthony said, “besides, do you think our company’s as simple as it looks?”
“You mean…” Jennifer asked cluelessly.
“You’ve worked in Blacklight Biotechnology for a while now. I’m sure you would’ve noticed.”
Anthony spoke softly, “For instance, arms smuggling. This has already been an open secret for a while now. There are hundreds of fully armed Black Security Service personnel as well as the Black Knights that were owned under Tara Private Security Company. These armed forces even have armored cars and military helicopters at their disposal…”
“Well, if you put it that way, our company seems much more powerful now.”
Jennifer nodded and felt a wave of excitement.
Just when the duo was chatting away and sipping champagne, the middle-aged man suddenly went on stage and clapped his hands.
The music system of the hall was instantly turned off as all of the guests unanimously channeled their attention toward the person.
Even Anthony and Jennifer had stopped their conversation.
“Ladies and gentlemen.”
Gross seemed to have put on a layer of foundation on his face. His cheekbone seemed to be protruded obviously from his cheeks as his face appeared to be extremely pale under the glare of the spotlight.
Gross continued smiling and said, “Aside from bringing you a source of entertainment, I’ve hosted tonight’s party to show you an extremely important object. Now, would the lovely guests standing near the stairs entrance please take a few steps backward?”
Following his gesture, the few guests seemed to retreat subconsciously, forming an empty space near the staircase.
“As you all know, aside from being an entrepreneur, I’m also a collector who loves collecting precious artifacts. This time, my construction team has found this in a gold mine…”
Following his announcement, three showcases gradually rose from the ground. The guests were completely awe-struck by this scene as they gasped in shock. No one would have thought that there would be such platforms in this area.
“Come, let’s take a look.”
Anthony and Jennifer walked curiously toward the crowd as they saw the showcases that were still ascending from the ground.
After all, an object that was sought after by Gross would be one of invaluable price. Even if they could not get their hands on it, the duo thought there was no harm in learning something new.
The showcases were no different from those in museums, both were covered by a transparent glass case that was specially handled to become bulletproof.
As the platform continued raising, the crowd could finally see what was contained in these showcases. Those were three stone statues!
Anthony observed that these statues were completely carved out of stones. These statues seemed to have stood the test of time as their edges and boundaries were slowly blurring away. The statues seemed to belong in a group, each featuring a human head that had a peculiar expression on it.
The first statue was a human head that had its eyes tightly shut. It had long pointy ears that seemed to grow out of its temporal lobe, bearing resemblance to a person growing a bunny ear.
The second statue had its eyes wide opened and a deep eye socket, seemingly dragging its eyes into its skin. Under the shine of the spotlights, the eyes sockets seemed to become a deep abyss.
The third statue had eyes and ears that were fairly normal. However, its mouth stretched open so widely that it elongated its face by one-third of its normal length. The inside of the mouth was also pitch-black, resembling a black hole that could absorb any traces of lights.
Strange was the only word that Anthony could use to describe his first impression of these statues.
Unsure of whether it was an optical illusion, Anthony felt like the lights had dimmed significantly in the party the moment these statues were featured.
“Oh my god, look at that ancient texture and the traces that were left ages ago. How unbelievable…”
After a short silence, someone in the crowd abruptly marveled out loud. After all, if it was something Gross had brought out, no one would have second-guessed the authenticity of these items.
“Mr. Gross, is this an artifact of the Mayan civilization?”
“I think these were made during the times of Ancient Greece!”
“I don’t think these fit the styles of Ancient Greece. In my opinion, they should be statues that were carved by the Sumeru civilization.”
The crowd soon engaged in exciting discussions. In reality, everyone was merely supporting Mr. Gross as they attempted to appear interested.
“These statues are ugly…”
Jeniffer said softly, “Anthony, are you able to recognize which era these statues belong to?”
“Nope, but there are so many experts here, one of them ought to have the answer.” Anthony shook his head.