Chapter 220: Sell The Cores?
Chapter 220
But as Celine continued sitting quietly on the soft mattress, with her hand now unconsciously resting lightly on the warm spot where Alex had been lying just moments before.
Her cheeks burned with a faint crimson blush as memories of last night flooded back into her mind.
Despite everything, she couldn’t deny the undeniable truth that sleeping in this bad man’s arms had given her a strange, profound sense of peace and security. A feeling she had never quite experienced before in a cold and dangerous world like this one.
Ever since knowing about her sister’s tragic death, her nights had always been plagued by terrifying nightmares, and the lingering shadow of grief. Yet, lying beside Alex, wrapped in his solid embrace and heat, she had slept more soundly than she had in years.
Suddenly, Celine snapped out of her daze and vigorously shook her head, slapping her own warm cheeks with both hands to clear those stupid stray thoughts of hers.
"What on earth am I even thinking about?!" she scolded herself in a sharp, quiet whisper. "That man is still a big pervert who took full advantage of me not only once, but twice! I shouldn’t be giving him any credit at all!"
Just then, Alex’s smooth, relaxed voice echoed from the distant hallway downstairs, breaking through her internal monologue.
"Hey, Celine! What’s holding you up so long over there? Aren’t you coming down to help me with breakfast, or are you really not hungry at all?"
Celine let out a loud huff, throwing the soft blanket aside as she stood up from the bed. "I’m coming, you impatient man!" she shouted back toward the door, quickly smoothing out her clothes and fixing her messy hair before heading down the staircase.
When she stepped into the spacious, luxury kitchen on the ground floor, she finally spotted Alex standing by the countertop.
He was now wearing a simple black t-shirt and grey sweatpants, and the way his long dark messy hair fell lazily over his forehead as he calmly whisked a rich bowl of batter before pouring it directly into a hot waffle maker, had that oddly strange charm about it.
No! Snap out of it Celine he is a big perv with a decent face that’s all.
Soon, the sweet, buttery aroma of fresh batter hitting the sizzling iron plate filled the entire room, making Celine’s stomach give an unexpected, and embarrassing rumble that made her just want to bury herself down.
Alex turned his head slightly, spotting her standing near the kitchen entrance with a slight grin on his face.
"Great, you came down just in time. Since you’re officially the manager here now, could you please help me set up the plates and cutlery on the dining table? After that, there’s a fresh jug of fresh orange juice inside the fridge in case you want some. But if you don’t like juice in the morning, there’s also a cold carton of fresh milk right beside it."
Celine gave a brisk, silent nod, refraining from tossing another insult since he was actually cooking for her. She opened the cabinets, pulled out two plates along with shiny silver forks and knives, and neatly arranged them across the large glass dining table nearby. She then opened the fridge, retrieved the cold jug of orange juice, and poured two full glasses.
A few minutes later, Alex walked over to the dining table carrying two large serving trays loaded with food. The table was soon filled with a mouthwatering, golden spread fit for an emperor: crispy premium grade waffles he made with care, drizzled with rich maple syrup, the expensive one of course, golden scrambled eggs, thick slices of smoked bacon, and last but not the least, a colorful bowl of sliced berries.
"Dig in before it gets cold," Alex said, sliding into his chair and picking up his fork without any formality.
Celine sat down across from him, picking up a small piece of waffle dipped in syrup and placing it into her mouth. As soon as the crispy texture and sweet flavor hit her tongue, her obsidian eyes lit up with genuine surprise and delight. Woah, it was actually good.
She chewed carefully, trying her best to maintain an unimpressed expression on her face, since she absolutely did not want to give him the joy of watching her enjoy his cooking.
"Hmm... not bad for a stinky man like you," Celine muttered softly, taking another quick bite of the fluffy waffle.
Alex paused with his fork halfway to his mouth, rolling his eyes as he looked at her with a helpless smile. "Will it seriously kill you to stop calling me that for even five minutes? I literally just cooked you a full gourmet breakfast."
Celine pretended not to hear a single word he said. She completely ignored his plea, shifting her gaze back down to her plate and aggressively focusing all her attention on devouring the delicious food in front of her. Alex chuckled quietly under his breath, shaking his head as he continued enjoying his own meal.
Before long, the two of them had completely cleared every single plate on the table, leaving behind only crumbs and empty glasses. Celine leaned back against her chair with a soft, satisfied sigh, feeling fully energized for the first time in forever.
Seeing that they were both finished eating, Alex’s playful demeanor suddenly faded, replaced by a calm, serious expression. He casually leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes for a split second, reaching his mental awareness deep into his system’s spatial storage space.
Inside that vast, pure white void where countless items were stored, barely even occupying a tiny corner of the storage space, Alex located two specific items. With a thought, he summoned the two genuine Ascendant Realm Primordial Cores he had harvested after killing those two Ascendant Realm brothers during the battle at Marcus’s estate.
The air across the surface of the glass dining table soon distorted, and then two crystal clear glowing spheres materialized out of thin air.
Alex looked directly into Celine’s eyes, with his tone now turning more and more grounded and businesslike.
"So... how are we going to sell these two genuine Ascendant Realm Primordial Cores?"
Celine’s beautiful eyes widened slightly as her gaze fell upon the two glowing spheres resting casually between their empty juice glasses. Shock flickered across her face before she quickly regained her composure, leaning closer to inspect the intense energy radiating from them.
"You really managed to extract both of them..." Celine murmured in disbelief, shaking her head. She looked up at Alex with a thoughtful expression before continuing. "Normally, my first suggestion would have been taking them straight to the underground black market. Genuine Ascendant Realm cores like this ones are incredibly rare, and quite frankly, they are almost priceless to powerful families and organizations. But selling cores of this magnitude on the open black market right now isn’t feasible for us. It would instantly attract too much unwanted attention from dangerous and powerful organizations who would do anything to trace where they came from. Some of which might possess tens of Ascendant Realm fighters or even a rare Master."
She paused, leaning her chin against her hand as her sharp black eyes narrowed in deep concentration. She thought silently for a few moments, sifting through all the intelligence and chatter she had gathered during her time working under Marcus.
Finally, her eyes snapped back up to Alex, a bright gleam of realization surfacing in her gaze.
"Wait... you’re actually in luck. A few days ago, while I was accompanying Marcus to one of his private meetings, I overheard some very important news. A powerful, elite family from Washington is hosting a massive, high-profile auction event very soon. They are going to be auctioning off various exquisite treasures, rare artifacts, and top-tier resources from all over the country."
Alex raised an eyebrow, listening intently as Celine continued explaining.
"Marcus was absolutely thrilled when he heard about it," Celine added, a faint sneer gracing her lips at the memory of her former master. "That greedy fool desperately wanted to use that auction as an opportunity to build connections with those powerful big shots from Washington, and he also hoped to get his hands on a rare dark technique called the Forbidden Ascension Art. Because of that, he painstakingly pulled every string he had and spent a ridiculous amount of money just to secure entry tickets for the event."
Celine rested her elbows on the glass table, pointing toward the two glowing cores. "If we can find a way to attend that auction house ourselves, I think you can easily have them feature these two Ascendant cores as prime auction items. An elite event like that has plenty of wealthy, high-ranking buyers who can actually afford them, and the host family will handle all the security and discretion. But of course, the auction house will definitely take a decent cut of the final profit as their standard fee after a successful sale."
Alex’s eyes opened wide with clear interest as a sharp, calculating smile formed on his lips. "That’s actually a fantastic idea. A high-end auction house is much safer and far more profitable than dealing with shady underground buyers who might try to double-cross us."
He leaned forward, looking at Celine with an eager expression. "So what about those tickets? Do you happen to know where Marcus kept them?"