Chapter 24: 　Beskard

A man quickly got down from the passenger seat of the car, he opened the rear door and held up an umbrella again. At this time, an old man emerged from the car. The short silver hair stood up, and Fang Zheng's face was solemn. The beard around the chin has been carefully groomed, adding a bit of majesty to him. His eyes were sharp and his lips pressed tightly, giving a sense of casual laughter.
Although he is more than sixty years old, his waist is still straight, and coupled with his still strong physique, he looks at least ten years younger.
"Master, go here." The butler with an umbrella whispered.
The silver-haired old man nodded and walked into the building quietly with the butler. In the lobby of the building, an obese man greeted him, rubbing his hands and said: "Welcome, Mr. Horn. I didn't expect you to join this betting event, which is really surprising."
"Alster, if you don't lose weight, your small cardiovascular system will burst." The old man Horn said lightly.
The fat Alster took out a handkerchief and wiped his sweat: "I'm a small person. I am tired and running every day, so I have no time to take care of my body. Mr. Horn, please come here, the activity is about to begin."
Alstai, who looked like a sales manager, led Horn and his butler to a private elevator. Although not surprising, this man is the chairman of the death ring preparation committee and the host of every death ring for the past ten years. He also serves as the federal finance secretary. For such a person, there are not many guests who need him to greet him personally.
Really not much.
The private elevator goes straight to the top floor. When the elevator door is opened, it is not a training hall with multiple functions, but a banquet hall of 600 square meters. In terms of the size of the banquet hall, the area here is not the largest, but the decoration is top-notch. From the statue of David at the entrance to the colorful Persian carpets; from the flame angel figure decorated with stained glass on the dome, to the four Corinthian pillars that are both load-bearing and partitioning. The numerous decorative techniques give the banquet hall a restrained luxury, which is fully in line with the current aristocratic popular aesthetics.
The butler handed the umbrella to the waiter, and Alstai Lord Horn came to a relatively quiet corner. At this moment, the so-called betting activity has not yet begun. Under the lights of the hall, people in twos and threes gather together or talk in a low voice, or talk loudly. No one noticed that there was an extra Horn in the hall, until a lady inadvertently caught a glimpse, and then whispered: "Isn't that Mr. Horn of Bethcade?"
Then he quickly put a smile on his face and walked over in the most elegant manner. But before he got close to Horn, he asked the butler to stop him: "Sorry, ma'am. My master hopes to be quiet and alone."
There was an unnatural smile on the woman's face, and with a little unwillingness, she stepped back angrily. Several more men wanted to come forward to talk, but they were all stopped by the housekeeper. Those who can stand in this banquet hall today are also defiant figures thrown into Babylon. On weekdays, it is too late for others to flatter them, and they rarely get rejected.
But when Horne refused, they could only dare not say anything, but wry smiles and helplessness.
In the upper class of Babylon, although they are all called the aristocratic class. But the nobility is only a general division, in this circle, there are more harsh divisions. Ordinary people rarely know that, among the so-called nobles, there are also classifications of wealthy families, aristocratic families, and celebrities. These three, all of them have been in the business for hundreds of years, and they are truly aristocrats.
The Beskard family is one of the famous celebrities. Although the celebrities are not as noble as the rich family, there is already an insurmountable gap between them and ordinary nobles. What's more, Beskode is not an ordinary celebrity. After all, twenty years ago, this family was still ranked among the family, but because of a series of changes and the emergence of another family, it slipped from the ranking of the family into the celebrity.
That family, named Alexander!
At this time, the lights of the banquet hall suddenly went dark, and then the beam of the spotlight concentrated on the small stage in front of the hall. Alstai stood on the stage like a TV host, coughing lightly: "Good morning, gentlemen and ladies. Let's make a long story short, or else this light will soon expose me. Come on, maybe as an old friend said, Alstai should lose weight."
There was a kind chuckle from the stage, and after adjusting the atmosphere in the hall with a witty opening remarks, Alstai said: "As you can see, the death ring is just around the corner, and the participating teenagers have also been evaluated for two weeks For everyone, their current ranking scores should have a certain reference value, so as usual, guess the betting event will be held today, please enjoy the grand carnival once in two years."
Alstai snapped his fingers, and the stage curtain behind him opened, revealing a large screen. The first one displayed on the screen is the youngster with the lowest ranking. Alster smiled and stepped down. The other hosts were responsible for briefing the nobles in the hall to the youngsters who participated in the competition, so that they could better understand their favorite betting objects.
The quiz betting activity is one of the entertainment programs attached to the death ring. It is open to residents of the entire floating island of Babylon. To put it bluntly, it is a national gambling activity. The dealer behind the scenes is of course the federal government, which will further stimulate people's enthusiasm and play an interactive role. Of course, participating teenagers can also profit from it.
For every teenager who gets support, they will get a 1% dividend from the total bet. Their dividends will be distributed in the form of materials to help them obtain more favorable conditions in the competition. It can be said that the quiz activity is one of the main reasons why the residents of Babylon are so keen on the death ring, and it is also an important fiscal revenue of the federal government.
Alstai walked to Horn. He was probably the only person in the banquet hall who was qualified to sit near Horn. Alster called the waiters and asked them to serve fine wine. After having a drink with Horn, Fang said, "It seems that among the little guys this year, there is a goal that Mr. Horn likes?"
Horn smiled and nodded. Alstai couldn't help but said, "I don't know which kid Mr. Horn is after?"
"You'll know after a while." Horn cherished his words like gold, and he said nothing.
At this time, the host on the stage has briefly talked about the information of the 21 teenagers, and then announced the start of accepting bets. While others were still calculating the amount of investment and the corresponding return, Horn gave the butler a faint glance. The butler immediately understood, raising his hand and whispering: "We vote for Allen's player a ton of top-grade platinum."
The expression on the side of Altais froze, and then he shook his head and said: "It turns out that Mr. Horn was interested in Alan. He is good, but don't forget that he is now ranked first. This position is not very advantageous."
Altais is telling the truth, the first place in the death arena has mixed benefits. The advantage is that he gets a lot of material support to maximize his strength before the game. The disadvantages are also very obvious. In addition to being targeted, the top three teenagers will announce their coordinates to other teenagers when the game starts.
In the death arena of previous years, there is no lack of precedents of being killed by gang fights before entering the first place.
Generally speaking, it is safer to invest money in second or third place. However, the odds of the top three are not high. If you want to make a lot of money, sometimes the dark horses in the bottom will have surprises.
Horn said calmly: "I have faith in him."
Alstai nodded to the host, and suddenly under Allen's head there was an additional injection of 10 million federal coins, which was equivalent to the market price of one ton of platinum. This number will be released to the entire Babylonian government credibility platform in real time, and all bettors can immediately see the changes in the capital injection of all teenagers.
Bethkode's generous hand shocked the other nobles in the banquet hall, after all, tens of millions of federal currency is not a small amount. Applause suddenly sounded, and everyone looked behind, and several people filed in from outside the door. Walking in front is a middle-aged man. His brown hair is fixed with wax and combed to the back of his head. The position of each strand is as carefully calculated~EbookFREE.me~ shows meticulous quality.
The sea-blue eyes are full of smiles, but if you look deeper, you will find that the depths of this person's eyes are indeed a blue ocean of ice. The suits made by famous craftsmen are well tailored, and the workmanship from the collar to the cuffs can withstand the most critical scrutiny. A black and white striped tie, while playing a decorative role, also further emphasizes the owner's efficient and practical temperament.
When he saw this man, Alstai smiled bitterly. This person is Horn's enemy, Maine, the patriarch of the Alexander family.
Maine said from a distance: "Mr. Horn is really laughing, he shot a ton of platinum. What others don’t know, thinks Beskod is rich and powerful. But I look at the most recent annual report. Fiscal revenue has shrunk by 30% over the same period. Mr. Horn, this ton of platinum will not be your bottom line, right?"
Horn calmly said indifferently, "No matter how bad Beskard is, it's not that he is a bit lucky, and he's a smug nouveau riche."
Maine sat directly on the table in Horn's banquet. This was actually a very rude behavior, but he sat for granted. Considering that in just two decades, the Alexander family has risen from the bottom of the celebrity family to the upstart of the family, no one dares to accuse Maine of not being wrong. Because this family has today, it has a close relationship with Maine, who took over the burden of the patriarch.
"The Alexander family is naturally no better than Mr. Horn’s family heritage, but a small amount of money can still be obtained." Maine smiled and looked at the big screen, scanning the heads of many teenagers, and finally said: "I see that The kid named Ans is pleasing to the eye, so just throw me two tons of platinum."
Suddenly, the hall was in an uproar. As long as he is not blind, he can see that Maine is proving Horne.