Richest Rag-picker

Brother Xiaoma continued his explanation, giving Fang Chenyi an even deeper understanding of the world’s Baida Clans.

"Oh, right. Let me show you something, my friend."

After he had more or less finished his story, Brother Xiaoma suddenly remembered something. He stood up and walked over to a safe.

In just a moment, Brother Xiaoma returned to the tea table holding a small, antique wooden box. He held it out to Fang Chenyi.

Fang Chenyi accepted it with both hands, a look of confusion on his face. He didn’t rush to open it, instead turning his gaze to Brother Xiaoma, waiting for an explanation of what it was.

Sure enough, Brother Xiaoma pointed to the wooden box and said with a chuckle:

"Speaking of my grandfather reminded me of this. According to him, he obtained this item during his most glorious years. He said it was a symbol of the top ten among the world’s Baida Clans. Back then, you had to possess this to be truly recognized as one of the top ten."

Listening to Brother Xiaoma’s tale, Fang Chenyi’s interest was piqued. He was extremely curious about what the small box in his hands contained.

After getting Brother Xiaoma’s approval to open it, Fang Chenyi finally pulled out a small wooden peg from the top and gently opened the box.

"Haha, to be honest, I haven’t opened it in over a decade. If we hadn’t been talking about my grandfather, I would have almost forgotten it existed.

"Who knows what kind of secret it holds, or what it’s supposed to symbolize.

"It’s been in my family for a hundred years, but none of us have ever figured out what it’s made of."

Brother Xiaoma was still talking, but Fang Chenyi’s pupils had contracted sharply. He wasn’t hearing a word Brother Ma was saying.

The reason was simple: the object in the box was incredibly familiar to him!

At that moment, a saying popped into his head: ’To search high and low for something, only to have it fall right into your lap.’

That’s right! Inside was a black Rune Stone! The very thing he had returned to find!

Fang Chenyi never imagined he would find the second one so quickly!

’It seems finding these Rune Stones isn’t as hard as I thought!’

"My friend? You recognize this?"

Brother Xiaoma trailed off, suddenly realizing something was amiss. He saw that Fang Chenyi wasn’t listening to him at all; his eyes were glued to the dull, blackish piece of metal in the box, completely lost in thought.

A moment’s thought told him there was more to this than met the eye. Judging by Fang Chenyi’s reaction, this clearly wasn’t the first time he’d seen such an object.

Connecting it to Fang Chenyi’s recent activities, he wondered if they were related to this metal plate. He voiced his question, a bit uncertainly.

Brother Xiaoma’s voice snapped Fang Chenyi back to reality. Hearing the question, however, he wasn’t sure how to respond.

’I can’t just tell him this is a key from the asteroid I summoned, can I?’

After a brief pause, Fang Chenyi smiled and nodded.

"I wouldn’t say I recognize it, but I have been fortunate enough to see one before. I also feel like this object is closely connected to me somehow; it has a strong pull on me. To be honest, I’ve been searching for them."

He had just heard Brother Xiaoma say his grandfather had led their family to the glorious achievement of being in the top 50 of the world’s Baida Clans. ’But doesn’t this metal plate represent a top-ten status?’

’How could a top-50 clan get their hands on a token meant for the top ten?’

Of course, Fang Chenyi wasn’t too curious about that right now. All he could think about was how to get his hands on this item.

Hearing this, Brother Xiaoma couldn’t help but frown slightly.

It was obvious that Fang Chenyi wanted it. But this was his family’s heirloom. Even though their relationship was quite good, it hadn’t reached the point where he could just give away a family heirloom.

Fang Chenyi naturally saw Brother Xiaoma’s predicament. He knew you couldn’t just ask someone for their family heirloom for no reason and expect them to hand it over.

And sure enough, Brother Xiaoma spoke, his tone troubled:

"Well... while it’s true the world’s Baida Clans don’t really need these kinds of symbolic trinkets anymore, the main issue is that this was passed down from my ancestors. It’s not that I’m unwilling to part with it, my friend."

Just as Brother Xiaoma said, the world’s Baida Clans had long since stopped valuing such things.

In their eyes, these items were like ancient tokens—akin to a Martial Arts Alliance Leader’s token from a bygone era. Back then, such a token might have represented identity and status. But in modern society, status isn’t determined by a mere token.

In today’s world, the real competition was about heritage and wealth.

With enough money, you could do anything you wanted. Even the leader of Old America was controlled by major corporations, wasn’t he?

For this reason, the dull, blackish metal plate was, to Brother Xiaoma, simply a treasure passed down from his ancestors.

In his mind, it was an heirloom that he couldn’t bear to lose on his watch. That was all.

Fang Chenyi’s brow furrowed as he sank into thought. After a long moment, he suddenly looked up at Brother Xiaoma and spoke calmly:

"Planet Tower. Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, or Earth—pick any one to be the headquarters for the Penguin Group."

Hiss...

The moment Fang Chenyi finished speaking, Brother Xiaoma couldn’t help but draw in a sharp breath. Planet Tower was destined to become a global landmark!

It was something he had only dreamed of acquiring!

Never mind that each tower was worth well over tens of billions; the simple fact was that the technology to construct such a building couldn’t be bought with money!

Otherwise, Brother Xiaoma would have spent his own money to build the world’s number one skyscraper long ago.

Hearing Fang Chenyi’s offer now, it would be a lie to say he wasn’t tempted.

Brother Xiaoma wanted nothing more than to accept on the spot.

But his years of experience navigating the business world made him swallow the words on the tip of his tongue. He knew that for Fang Chenyi to make such an offer, the item must be of extraordinary value to him.

’Should I take this opportunity to ask for more favorable terms?’

Fang Chenyi could easily guess what was going through Brother Xiaoma’s mind behind his calm facade.

After all, a man who had become the richest person in Huaxia was no simple character. Calling him an old fox of the business world would be an understatement.