"Even if this really is the Ruyi Jingu Bang you mentioned, you clearly cannot use it," Karl said calmly to Madam Gao. "And since you don't know how to activate it either, then to you it's no different from an ordinary metal rod."
Karl spoke without emotion, directly stating his assessment. To him, the artifact only had value if its true power could be unlocked.
"Which means its value is far lower than what you are implying."
Madam Gao watched Karl quietly for a moment before letting out a faint breath.
"Very well," she said calmly. "Name your price."
The Hand had existed for centuries, but even so, they could not possibly produce one trillion dollars in liquid assets. Over hundreds of years they had accumulated wealth, but much of it had been spent on searching for the Dragon Bones and maintaining their global operations.
Their true available funds were only a few hundred billion dollars.
If they had focused purely on commercial enterprises, the figure might have been much larger.
But they had not.
Karl reached forward and removed the black metal staff from the box.
The moment he touched it, he activated the system's detection.
A translucent system interface appeared in front of his vision.
[Ruyi Jingu Bang (Golden Cudgel)]
Origin: Mythological artifact from an ancient Eastern civilization within this universe.
Description: Weapon once wielded by Sun Wukong, the Monkey King.
During ancient times, when the Celestials descended upon Earth, many powerful beings of Earth's mystical civilizations resisted them. In the resulting conflict, countless immortals perished.
Sun Wukong once confronted a Celestial directly.
The battle lasted ten days.
In the end, both perished together.
After the battle, the Ruyi Jingu Bang sealed itself, waiting for a future bearer.
Unsealing Condition: Infusion of Rule-level power.
Karl's pupils shrank slightly.
He had not expected this to actually be the Ruyi Jingu Bang of this world.
Of course, it was not the legendary weapon from the primordial mythology of his previous life, but even so, its origin here was equally astonishing.
If the system's description was accurate, then this weapon had once been used to battle a Celestial.
In Marvel cosmology, Celestials were cosmic entities capable of shaping entire civilizations and even influencing universal evolution.
For Sun Wukong to have fought one for ten days and perish together with it meant his power must once have reached an extremely terrifying level.
Then naturally, his weapon could not possibly be ordinary.
At the very least, its potential should not be inferior to Odin's spear Gungnir.
Karl quickly concealed the shock in his eyes.
He placed the staff back into the box and spoke calmly.
"This artifact can offset 300 billion dollars at most."
Madam Gao's eyes narrowed slightly.
Karl continued without pause.
"That valuation already assumes it can one day be unsealed and used."
"That still leaves 700 billion dollars remaining."
"Transfer it now."
Madam Gao hesitated for a moment.
Then she nodded slowly.
"…Very well."
She took out her phone and made a call.
A few minutes later, Karl's phone vibrated.
700,000,000,000 USD deposited.
Upstairs, May and Gwen were staring at the banking screen in complete disbelief.
The long string of zeros made them feel dizzy.
"Let's go," Karl said calmly as he stood up. "You brought a transport vehicle, right?"
Madam Gao nodded.
They walked outside the manor together.
A modified heavy truck was parked nearby.
Karl casually waved his hand and brought out more than a thousand catties of dragon bones.
The massive bones landed inside the truck bed.
Karl had cut them roughly according to weight using energy perception, so the measurements were not perfectly precise.
Consider it a small bonus.
Madam Gao bowed slightly.
Then she entered the truck and left.
Karl stood there watching the truck disappear down the road.
Then his gaze slowly shifted toward a villa wall not far away.
Behind that wall, someone was hiding.
Karl smiled faintly.
It was Stick, leader of the Chaste.
But Karl had no interest in dealing with him.
As long as they didn't interfere with him, he didn't care.
Whether Madam Gao could successfully transport those dragon bones back was another matter entirely.
Someone might intercept them along the way.
Karl suddenly seemed to remember something.
He took out a piece of paper and wrote a single sentence.
A shadow silently rose from the ground beside him.
A Shadow Ninja.
Karl handed the paper to the ninja.
The figure instantly vanished into the darkness.
Karl smiled faintly.
Someone had just given him such a valuable gift.
It would only be polite to return the favor.
Meanwhile, Madam Gao's truck was already traveling toward one of the Hand's hidden bases.
Suddenly—
A shadowy ninja appeared beside the moving vehicle.
It silently handed her a piece of paper.
Then disappeared again.
Madam Gao did not attack.
She knew immediately that the ninja belonged to Karl.
After it vanished, she unfolded the paper.
It contained only one line.
"The Chaste is behind you."
Madam Gao's eyes narrowed.
She immediately picked up her phone and began making calls.
Reinforcements.
What happened afterward, Karl neither knew nor cared about.
At this moment, he was sitting in the manor, staring at the box on the table.
Inside it lay the Ruyi Jingu Bang.
Karl chuckled quietly.
"Rule-level power…"
In Marvel cosmology, few things represented fundamental rules of the universe more directly than the Infinity Stones.
The six stones were the singularities of the universe itself.
Each one embodied a fundamental law.
Space.
Time.
Reality.
Power.
Mind.
Soul.
If their energy could be infused into the staff…
Then the seal should break.
Which meant that once Loki arrived on Earth with the Chitauri army, Karl would have an opportunity to obtain at least two Infinity Stones.
At that moment…
The Ruyi Jingu Bang could finally awaken.
Karl closed the box and stored it together with the staff inside his system space.
Then he went upstairs.
On the second floor, May, Raven, and Gwen were all staring at him.
Karl laughed.
"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"
He walked over and sat between Raven and Gwen, casually wrapping an arm around each of them.
Raven had just finished training.
May pointed at him with disbelief.
"Karl… do you realize what just happened to your bank account?"
"Seven hundred billion dollars!"
Even Gwen and Raven were staring at him in shock.
Seven hundred billion.
Karl's age made it even more unbelievable.
Karl smiled.
"I earned it just now."
"It was originally one trillion dollars. But something deducted three hundred billion."
"My God—"
May almost lost her balance.
"One trillion dollars?!"
"What exactly did you sell? Even arms dealers don't make that kind of money!"
Karl laughed.
"Even arms dealers can't match this."
"I sold a thousand catties of something that extends lifespan."
"It contains roughly two thousand years of life."
He looked at May with a playful smile.
"Now do you still think seven hundred billion is expensive?"
May froze.
"Two… two thousand years?"
Her voice trembled.
Two thousand years.
Twenty human lifetimes.
When she thought about it that way…
Seven hundred billion suddenly didn't sound that outrageous anymore.
Karl pulled Gwen and Raven closer.
Then he looked at all three of them.
"Don't worry."
"As long as you're with me, your lives won't end."
"Even if something happens…"
"I will bring you back."
"We'll stay together forever."
The three women looked at him.
Their eyes turned red.
...
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