In New York, the western suburbs.
In a detached villa, an old man was sitting on the sofa, watching television.
When the channel changed, he saw a painting appear on the screen. At that moment, the old man's eyes widened, and he stood up from the sofa.
His gaze immediately landed on the lower right corner of the painting.
"The swastika symbol is hidden in the shadows. It's the real painting!" The old man got excited.
The old man was a fan of collecting paintings. He came from a wealthy family that had a net worth of 100 billion dollars, and he was an invisible tycoon, through and through.
There were all kinds of famous paintings in the old man's house, but they were all fake.
To say that he could not get his hands on authentic paintings was not accurate.
In fact, a mysterious man had bought all the famous paintings in the world five years ago, and because of that, the famous paintings in the world were counterfeits.
Although the Last Doomsday had been missing for a long time, everyone in their circle knew one thing — The Last Doomsday had once fallen into the hands of the Nazis. Then, to show their achievements, the Nazis carved a swastika symbol on the lower right corner of the painting.
"Is this a live broadcast?"
The old man frowned as he called his secretary over to help him contact the host.
Soon, a secretary with long legs entered the show's live broadcast room.
"Mr. Hendrick, this is a live broadcast of a show. The people they're interviewing are just a normal family."
"But I just received news that Mr. Jiang Muyun in New York has already bid 200 million dollars to buy this painting."
Upon hearing this, Hendrick became extremely anxious. He said, "Quick, quick! Bid 300 million— no, 500 million for this painting."
Hendrick's words stunned his secretary.
He could buy a lot of things with 500 million dollars, but why buy a painting?
Despite that, the secretary still replied to him respectfully, "Mr. Hendrick, 500 million exceeds the value of this painting. If you buy it at that price, you might lose some money."
"Then so be it. We must get this painting."
Hendrick seemed very excited.
Others might not know, but he knew. After the incident five years ago, countless world-famous paintings were lost to the one person who bought them all.
Even he had to bear the pain and give up Tang Yin's original painting of Tang Bohu, which he owned and treasured.
Hendrick did not want to sell it at that time, but not selling it was also impossible. If he did not, he would lose everything.
Hence, when Mr. Hendrick saw the original painting, he was very excited to get it.
..
"Welcome Hendrick from Dragon Rise Corporation to this live broadcast room as an emperor member."
A message popped up in the live broadcast room, surprising everyone.
This live broadcast room was only a temporary live broadcast room that the program team had set up. It was unlike the platform that the streamers used.
So generally speaking, no one would pay for a membership.
Yet now, two people in this live broadcast room had paid to become emperor members, which cost at least five million dollars.
Hendrick from Dragon Rise Corporation: I'm willing to buy this painting for 500 million.
As soon as these words were said, the entire live broadcast room went crazy.
"D*mn, another big shot came in? And he's bidding it for 500 million dollars."
"Dragon Rise Corporation, what a familiar name. I just searched it up. Five of their companies are listed under the Fortune Global 500! It's awesome."
"Godd*mnit, 500 million for a painting? I'm afraid he has lost his mind."
"Very impressive!"
"The program team is getting more and more ridiculous. They got themselves another actor."
When Jiang Muyun, at Misty Cloud Pavilion, saw the comment in the live broadcast room, he became anxious.
"Hendrick has found out about it too and wants to snatch it from me. No way! Little Nan, continue bidding!"
Little Nan looked at his phone despondently as a merciless comment machine.
500 million!
Yet his boss still wanted to raise the price!
With this money, it would nice for him to get a raise.
..
At this moment, at Thomson's house, the staff members were all in a daze.
They had all seen the comments in the live broadcast room and could not fathom how a painting could be sold for such an expensive price.
The host secretly went up to the director and whispered, "Director, can we lay it low? How am I to host the show like that?"
Director was dumbfounded. 'Excuse me, do I look like I have the ability to invite these two gods?'
One had a net worth of billions, and the other had a net worth of hundreds of billions. If he could invite them as his support actors, then how was he still a program director?
At this moment, a million thoughts ran through the director's mind. Now, he was even more certain that Thomson was a big shot.
No ordinary person would hang a famous painting worth hundreds of millions in his home, and no ordinary person could order Gates around either!
The director did not expose it right then because he knew that Thomson was the guarantee of his show's viewership ratings.
If he exposed it, what would happen if Thomson stopped playing?
"A big shot's guilty pleasure!"
The director could not understand why such a big shot would participate in such a small show.
...
At the same time, in the live broadcast room, Hendrick and Jiang Muyun started a bidding war, raising the value of the painting to 800 million dollars.
The price was sky-high.
However, the audience in the live broadcast room seemed as if they were watching a performance unmoved.
After the initial shock, they were already used to it.
"Go on! Continue to act like it's real."
"Don't bid 880 million, just go straight for 10 billion. It'll be more interesting this way."
"If this isn't an actor, then I'll eat sh*t on the spot."
"How can there be such a bidding war? You're treating our audience like monkeys."
"I've learned a lot. This is the first time I've seen the program team use such a clumsy trick to create a gimmick."
"This is all so fascinating. I almost thought I entered the auction room of some big shot."
..
Deep down, the audience had already decided that Hendrick and Jiang Muyun were actors.
After all, this whole thing was all too unbelievable.
The main character had said that he would not sell it, yet the two were still bidding.
Only a ghost would believe that it was not an act.