Chapter 183 A Single Blow
Seeing Sophie's disdainful look, James just sneered.
"Disrespectful? I'll show you what it means to strike with a single blow," James thought.
He turned to Sebastian. "Mr. Collins, how much money do we have on hand?"
Sebastian didn't hesitate. "140 million dollars, ready to go."
James then looked at Ellie. "Is the Morris Antiques' raw stone for sale?"
Ellie was taken aback at first, then burst into laughter. "So you want to gamble on stones to make us suffer a loss? That's bizarre and laughable."
Sophie and the others laughed, too, their faces full of mockery.
It was not just that betting on stones was a game of skill—though pure luck might give James an unexpected advantage, the Morris Antiques would not incur losses. After all, the marked prices were just cost plus profit.
The onlookers shared similar sentiments, their disdain for James evident. They had expected him to stage some sort of underdog comeback but were surprised to find him focusing on a gambling game.
Sebastian, however, looked at James with fervor, believing James had a plan.
"Stop wasting time." James ignored the crowd and stared at Ellie. "Just tell me, are you selling the raw stones or not?"
"Business is business. Whether you're a friend or foe, you can trade here." Ellie looked down on James. "We have eight thousand raw stones, each with a marked price, totaling over 10 billion dollars.
"You can buy as many as you want. As long as you and Mr. Collins have enough money, you can buy them all.
"Just don't be surprised if you end up losing your shirt."
The so-called 10 billion was an exaggerated price; the real cost was only about three billion.
James asked, "No regrets?"
Ellie raised her pretty face. "Fair trade, no deception."
Sophie glanced at James. "James, don't embarrass yourself. Do you even know anything about gambling on stones? Don't lose Mr. Collins' 140 million dollars."
James smiled. "Don't worry; today I'm venting Mr. Collins' dissatisfaction."
Sophie pointed a finger and shouted, "If you manage to do that, I, Sophie, will bow to you in respect."
To Sophie, James was just a hanger-on who had meddled in a power struggle, a fool seeking to draw attention.
"Mr. Collins, bring your people and follow me."
James stopped wasting time and waved his hand, heading toward the raw stone area.
Sebastian followed with over twenty people.
James began inspecting the stones, his hand brushing over them.
Suddenly, a stone priced at two million caught his strong interest.
"This one." James slapped it and said, "Buy it!"
Sebastian immediately swiped his card and bought it.
James continued forward and then stopped at a three-million-dollar raw stone.
"This one, buy it."
Sebastian swiped his card again and bought it.
James didn't stop, leading Sebastian and the others forward.
They walked and stopped along the way, but each time they stopped, James would slap a raw stone.
"This one, three million!
"This one, four point eight million!
"And that chipped one, buy them all."
Sebastian didn't waste any time, buying each one without hesitation.
Soon, Sebastian had thirty raw stones, with a total expenditure of two hundred million.
James still didn't stop.
Ellie and Sophie watched James the whole time, filled with ridicule for his actions.
If gambling on stones could be successful with just a few glances and slaps, many experts would have to bang their heads against the wall.
They were convinced that the raw stones James bought had zero chance of yielding anything valuable.
"This one, this one, that one, buy them all."
"This one, that one, this one—buy them all!" James continued briskly, moving through the raw stone section. His hands brushed over a total of eight thousand stones.
In the end, he had Sebastian buy a total of two hundred raw stones, spending a whopping eight hundred million.
Not only were the twenty-plus Collins bodyguards sweating and looking serious, but even the curious onlookers were stunned.
"Is James crazy?"
They had never seen anyone gamble on stones like this, let alone buy eight hundred million worth of stones in one go without bargaining.
"This is like having a gold mine at home."
Meanwhile, Sophie and the others were delighted, more convinced than ever of James' foolishness for buying stones without a second thought.
The antique shop had already recouped a quarter of its cost just from selling two hundred stones. If James kept going, the shop might end up making a fortune, a billion at that.
"Cut them all open!" James ordered, waving his hand.
Sebastian thought James was crazy, but he followed the order. The eight on-site cutters started their machines immediately.
The hall filled with the rumbling sound, making everyone's nerves tingle.
Many spectators were eager to see James fail, wondering if he could even recoup fourteen million dollars from his massive expenditure.
"Thank you, Mr. Collins and Mr. Williams, for your support," Ellie said sarcastically. "When Mr. Morris comes in a few days, I'll make sure they thank you properly."
Sophie also smiled. "Money-givers."
She glanced at James with even more disdain, thinking, 'Kaitlyn's brother-in-law is truly useless; I cann't understand why Kaitlyn would associate with him.'
Sebastian's face was gloomy, but James remained calm. "Mr. Collins, don't be angry. Soon, it will be them who are angry."
Many female shop assistants pouted, thinking James was too confident.
As Sophie and Ellie sneered at James, one of the cutters suddenly stopped and excitedly shouted, "We've found jadeite in the raw stone! It's glassy jadeite!"
Another cutter followed suit, "My stone has jadeite too! It's ice jadeite—and it's got some sunlit green jade!"
"I've got jadeite here as well—there's not only green jade but also yellow jade, weighing 200 pounds!"
"I've got imperial green jade here! My God!"
One by one, the cutters erupted in excited shouts, revealing a succession of top-quality jade stones to the astonished crowd.
The entire room was stunned.
Sebastian laughed heartily.
Sophie and Ellie were dumbfounded.
Three million, ten million dollars, fourteen million dollars, two hundred million, five hundred million, even one million dollars.
Every piece of jade was a gem, all two hundred raw stones yielding green jadeite—each piece of the highest quality, the smallest worth at least three hundred thousand dollars.
In total, the value of the jade had already surpassed eight billion dollars. If auctioned off, the figures would be even more staggering.
In just one hour, eight hundred million turned into eight billion—no printing press could keep up with that.
"Amazing! All two hundred stones have green jade!"
"Incredible! Absolutely incredible!"
"I have no regrets in life now! Seeing this scene with my own eyes, I'm completely satisfied!"
"This young man is an expert! An absolute expert, even better than Master Ghost, the number one in treasure appraisal."
James stood with his hands behind his back, calm and composed, but he stirred a storm in everyone's hearts!
A hundred percent success rate—he seemed like a deity.
Many appraisers were also stunned, their mouths agape, admiring James' skills to the utmost.
James thus earned the title of the number one in treasure appraisal.
Only Sophie and Ellie's group had darkened faces.
They never dreamed that James would be so formidable, sweeping away so many treasures from their territory in just one hour.
Although they had recouped their costs, the sheer disparity between what they had spent and the value revealed was gut-wrenching.
This was nearly 10 billion dollars.
James climbed onto a table and declared with a sweeping gesture, "Ladies and gentlemen, of all the eight thousand raw stones here, I've picked out every one that had green jadeite. The rest are either scraps or not worth the cost. Anyone with a functioning brain should stop wasting money here."
A single blow to kill.
A single blow to kill, indeed.
James' flamboyant buying spree and the stunningly high success rate of his stone cutting had captured everyone's attention.
Now, no one dared to question James' ability to gamble on stones.
So when James said that the remaining stones at the Morris Antiques were waste, how could the crowd not believe him?
If they were all worthless, who would still be foolish enough to invest?
As a result, the Morris Antiques' remaining five thousand eight hundred stones were bound to rot, incurring at least a two-billion-dollar loss.
And that was exactly what happened. The onlookers regarded the remaining raw stones with the same disdain as they would a pile of junk, devoid of any warmth or interest.
Sophie and Ellie were pale-faced.
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