The negotiations continued until 11 PM, but before William could use any outside tricks, the representatives from the French bank received a phone call and unexpectedly requested to stay at the estate to facilitate the talks.
Although William's estate in London was large, it only had 12 guest rooms, which wasn't enough, and William was even less keen on having outsiders stay in his home.
However, Pierre's unusual request made William realize that something had gone wrong at the bank. Under these circumstances, letting the bank's negotiation team leave would be foolish.
After some thought, William made a phone call to an airline, and 40 minutes later, five helicopters appeared over the estate. The two negotiation teams from the bank and MasterCard, who had already been prepared, boarded four of the helicopters in batches.
The helicopters taking off and landing left the paparazzi and reporters waiting outside the estate dumbfounded. They couldn't understand why so many helicopters were flying around the estate at midnight.
After waiting for more than 20 minutes, the last helicopter, carrying William, took off and flew towards Oxford. A news helicopter that had rushed to the scene immediately followed behind William's helicopter.
By the time they reached Oxford, the reporters realized that William had taken the French bank representatives to a more secluded castle to continue the negotiations, avoiding the media.
As the news helicopter entered the 34,000-acre estate that William had purchased, the pilot's headset received a warning.
They were told they had entered private property, and after three warnings, the castle had the right to take limited self-defense measures. Any damage incurred would be their own responsibility.
The journalists didn't take the warnings seriously, having encountered similar situations before. Even if they had trespassed on private land, the worst they expected was to be chased away by another helicopter since weapons couldn't be used.
However, this time they were dealing with William and Sunday. After three more warnings were ignored, the pilot and the reporters suddenly found themselves blinded by a dozen high-powered searchlights beaming straight into the sky, then turning to focus on their helicopter.
The intense beams of light completely enveloped the helicopter, making it impossible for them to see the ground, the sky, or even open their eyes.
Fortunately, the pilot was experienced enough to hover the helicopter in midair, but just as they began to relax, the temperature inside the helicopter started to rise.
This scared everyone on board half to death. The pilot quickly begged Sunday for mercy, and under Sunday's guidance, they turned around and flew back to London.
After this little spectacle, the bank's negotiation team was sent to rest in a newly built guest building at the castle, designed to a four-star standard, with 24 suites of 70 square meters each.
Anthony and a few key figures from the MasterCard negotiation team then went to the castle's living room to meet with William.
As soon as they met, Anthony said excitedly, "Boss, it seems like the French bank is in big trouble. Earlier at the estate, negotiations were about to break down for the day, but after Pierre received a phone call, his attitude changed completely. It seems like their situation is really bad—so bad they might have to sell the Chantilly Castle."
"Of course, opportunities like this don't come around often. You'd be a fool not to push the price down," William said with a smile. He didn't care about the ethics of taking advantage of someone's misfortune. With capitalists, there was no room for morality. If the situation were reversed, William was sure the French bank would do the same to him.
"I can give you the biggest weapon—once the deal is struck, the money will be paid immediately in cash. The rest is up to you. My bottom line is 3.2 billion USD. Anything below that, and you'll all get a 15% bonus. That means if the price goes down to 3.1 billion USD, you'll each get an extra 15 million USD. Keep in mind, that's extra, so if you want to live well, start fighting."
"Haha, no problem."
"Boss, you're the best!"
The promise of cash had an immediate effect. The next day, not only did MasterCard's team not shrink in size, but they also added more than ten assistants. Both sides went back and forth for several days, with the price dropping from over 5 billion to 3.9 billion before hitting another stalemate.
When negotiations stalled, they dragged it out. William wasn't in a hurry. During these days at the castle, aside from the routine meetings with the MasterCard team in the mornings and evenings, William spent his time either in the basement using a 3D virtual imaging device to design the exterior of a Rolls-Royce Phantom, managing the 34,000 acres of land he had just acquired, or handling the new stables being built at the castle.
Several days later, the Black Phantom, who had been out at sea for a week searching for the snake and ram heads and eight tons of gold, returned to the Devonshire Castle. William then learned that the reason the French bank was so desperate to sell the Chantilly Castle was that one of their traders had made a disastrous mistake in the futures market.
The trader had not only incurred huge losses, but had also taken advantage of the bank's lax oversight to engage in fraudulent short selling.
According to Sunday's preliminary estimates, the French bank had lost at least 7 billion USD—equivalent to the bank's profits for two whole years.
Even more fatal was the fact that, if this scandal were exposed, the bank's reputation would plummet.
However, everyone knew that such things couldn't be kept under wraps forever. It was only a matter of time before the story leaked. Their only hope now was to fill the hole before that happened.
This was why the French bank was so eager to negotiate with William over the sale of the Chantilly Castle and its antique treasures. They were after the 5 billion USD William had deposited in their bank.
If they could secure that money, the bank wouldn't even need to issue new shares to survive.
That afternoon, after meeting with the returning Black Phantom and storing the snake and ram heads, William had barely exchanged a few words before Pierre, the general manager of the French bank, knocked on the door, requesting a private conversation with him.
"Did you find what I asked for inside that tree?" William asked the Black Phantom as he invited Pierre to sit down.
"Yes, sir, the items were indeed inside the tree."
"Excellent." With eight tons of gold about to be in his hands, William was in a good mood. "We'll talk later," he said, waving for the Black Phantom to leave.
The Black Phantom bowed and slowly exited the room.
William walked over to the wine cabinet and asked Pierre, "What would you like to drink, Mr. Pierre?"
"Anything will do. If you have a good French wine, that would be perfect," Pierre replied listlessly.
"How about a 1990 Latour?"
This immediately lifted Pierre's spirits. "Mr. Devonshire, do you really have a 1990 Latour? That's a rare vintage!"
"Haha, looks like you're a wine lover too," William said with a snap of his fingers. A hidden wine cabinet automatically delivered a bottle of 1990 Latour from the underground cellar.
William took the bottle from the cabinet, feeling quite satisfied with this hidden, theft-proof feature. No one would ever be able to raid his wine collection again.
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