Just watching Helena ready to take the half-pill left Harrison utterly uncomfortable and blurting out, "Your Majesty… Wait!"However, Helena only waited until the half-pill melted into a stream of warmth gushing down her stomach, feeling the revitalizing medicine when she finally turned to Harrison, "Yes, Mr. Rothschild? Why the sudden outburst?"Harrison was left clenching his knuckles, seeing that she had already taken the entire pill. "Your Majesty… How could you just take the pill…"Helena appeared mystified. "What's the issue? You only bought half of it. Am I breaking some sort of rule here?"Realizing he was being rude, Harrison quickly said, "M-My apologies, Your Majesty… That's not what I meant… I mean, you're still young, healthy, and full of vigor… It's such a waste…"Pausing as he realized 'waste' was once again seemingly rude, he quickly corrected himself, "Wait, no… I just meant to say… I could have bought that half-pill too. I would have paid fifty billion or even mo

Harrison had yet to return when Julien returned to the banquet hall.It was only when he took his seat that Harrison showed up, his half-pill tucked safely away, but his expression somehow miserable and delighted all at once.Julien's eyes remained fixed on his old man's face to see if he had rejuvenated after his private audience with Helena.If yes, that proved that Charlie's pill was part of a trade with the queen.As such, it was quite strange that he couldn't see any difference on his father's face from before, and he was left musing to himself—the old geezer had worked blood and sweat on this project, but it still somehow hadn't gotten him half a pill from Charlie?And if Charlie had met him in private yet also hadn't given Harrison the pill, didn't that mean Charlie was placing his bets on him?Just the thought alone thrilled Julien, still blissfully unaware that his father had his half-pill tucked safely in his pocket.Harrison definitely couldn't wait to take the pill,

While the alphabet agencies held the reins over Horizon and enforced more than a few industrial restrictions, the Rothschilds were basically American thoroughbreds who could completely bypass any potential hindrances.Moreover, Carl and his shareholders had been keen to bail for a while now. As soon as they heard that the Rothechilds' heir apparent would personally be there to discuss a potential acquisition, they held a meeting, in which everyone unanimously agreed to work toward a sale of their shares and how much.Julien was just flying to Houston by the time they had already ironed out the details—if it was a singular buyout, they would fight for an asking price of at least three billion. It was a done deal if Julien could offer that much.On the other end, if Julien's offer came in an installment plan that lasted over a year but without other additional incentives, their asking price would be at least 3.3 billion, with a 10% increase per year.If it were an installment with ad

Horizon's CTO then continued, "And after the photos have been stored—categorized by timestamps, the system will automatically refresh and replace the previous satellite images when the regulation time limit that is set by alphabet agencies expires."That said, Earth is still a huge place, and we need at least a couple of months to truly complete an up-to-standard photograph of the surface. That's why our data vault can provide users with satellite imaging of any corner of Earth, accurate to the last few months. It's both the main source of our income and the key ingredient that sets our software apart from the rest."Carl then butted in, "On the topic of income, Mr. Rothschild, my CFO will brief you on our latest financial forecast—""Patience," Julien held out a hand, stopping him. "I have other questions at the moment. For example, the imaging that the alphabet agencies asked to be stored—can you access it?""Yes," the CTO replied. "All imaging data is first relayed to our own se

The SOPs for corporate acquisition were extensive and complex. The buyers would want to make sure they were not picking up a time bomb, and therefore send in professional appraisers to review company operations across the board. That meant they would be auditing to determine the numbers were right, and only commence the handover process after they found no issue.That was why Julien's intention to skip all of that left them in shock—forget auditing, the man wasn't even asking for a framework agreement before paying 2.5 billion USD.It was simply ridiculous!Still, seeing Carl's surprise, Julien shrugged. "When it comes to swindling the Rothschilds, there's no person who has lived to tell the tale. Paying you would be inevitable anyway since you would've already taken my deal, but if something came up in the audit, I would have all the resources I need to squeeze you and get my money back… and then some."Carl nodded repeatedly—that much was true, as anyone optimistic enough to de