Tomb Raider King

“Wait……h, hold on!”

Julian was about to go crazy. He didn't want to be misunderstood as the perpetrator like this.

That was why he quickly slipped out and tried to take out his artifact.

However…

“We found it!”

These bastards had found the artifact in his jacket pocket. It was easy to find as it was the size of a bracelet.

Julian was placed in an awkward situation but he quickly calmed down and tried to explain the situation.

“Hold on! I have something to say!”

But damn it, they didn’t even give him the chance to talk.

“We’re certain of it! It’s the same laurel wreath artifact!”

"What? Grab him!”

Julian started to get a headache.

But the people around him started to treat him as the perpetrator whether he had a headache or not.

"What the, what is going on here?”

“Did that person steal the real artifact?”

A shocked Lee Seol-A quickly walked toward Julian. She had expected that Seo Ju-Heon would have ran with the real thing.

But what the hell?!

“Please move! I’ll check if it is real or not!”

Sophie grabbed the dagger from Lee Seol-A. She then swung the dagger artifact the same way Seol-A had done earlier.

There was a loud clanging noise and the blade ruthlessly struck down on the golden laurel wreath.

However…

“!”

Crack!

The same thing as earlier did not happen. In fact, it was the dagger that Sophie swung that broke this time.

Lee Seol-A and the others all gasped.

“The dagger broke!”

“We know for sure now! That laurel wreath is the real artifact!”

Of course, there was no need to even check. Nero's artifact that had been hiding until now was sending out its heinous aura as if it was finally free.

This savage artifact was obviously an S-Grade or higher artifact!

[#$&#$&*#!]

Ahahahaha, bow before me. You peasants! Bow!

It had been hiding its aura well until now but was suddenly making its presence known. It was as if it had been told to reveal its presence with this timing!

Thanks to that, Julian almost fainted from nausea.

‘Why did it have to choose now to reveal its presence?!’

People would not have fallen for the fake item if it had done so from the beginning. Of course, it had not been revealed because Ju-Heon had ordered it to shut up while the auction was going on.

But the people who had no way of knowing that started to get angry.

“Did they say his name was Julian Miller? That bastard had taken the real thing!”

“My goodness, when did he swipe it?”

“Was the thing earlier in the theatre related to this too?!”

“What meticulous bastard!”

It was at that moment. Ju-Heon grabbed Julian's collar to take this act one step further.

“Miller! It was you?!”

Ju-Heon looked extremely angry.

“I thought you were suspicious from the moment you caused the ruckus inside but are you that person who threatened us? You pretended to be a knight of justice and then stole the real thing?!”

"What? Seo Ju-Heon, tell them the truth! You put that in my……!”

“Shut up!”

Ju-Heon cut him off and didn’t give Julian any time to speak.

“Now I get it. You're the one who stabbed my subordinate, weren’t you! Were you the one who threatened us?!”

What did he mean by stab?!

It was now Yoo Jaeha's turn to gasp in shock.

“My goodness, that person is the one who stabbed me? Now that you mention it, he does seem to have a similar build……!”

Of course, Julian who had showed up later didn’t know what was going on.

“What the hell do you mean by stabbed you?!”

“What else?! Don't you remember this injury?!”

Yoo Jaeha shamelessly lifted his shirt again. People looked at him with pity after seeing the ugly scar, but Julian was flabbergasted.

How could he not feel that way?!

‘That’s a fake scar created with the counterfeit artifact!’

He was able to take a good look at it with Zhuge Kongming’s artifact.

He could feel the aura of the counterfeit artifact roaming around the scar.

He was now certain.

‘These bastards are true scammers!’

That was why Julian who was being held back shouted with urgency.

"Everyone! Don’t be fooled! That scar is a fake! It is all just a trick! I don’t know why the real thing was in my pocket, but I'm sure that bastard ran this auction to scam people!”

However…

“What do you mean it's a fake, there’s even a doctor’s note!”

“How can you not notice something getting into your pocket?”

‘No, that’s what really happened!’

Although Julian was going crazy, the few people who had still been suspicious of Ju-Heon were fooled as well.

It was an obvious reaction. That was how close to perfect Yoo Jaeha's fakes and Ju-Heon’s ability to adapt to the situation were.

Because of that, the only ones who knew the truth were the perpetrators and Julian who could see through the fakes.

A frustrated Julian started to shout.

“Please trust me, I am able to see through artifacts! I have an analysis-type artifact like that! They are the ones scamming you!”

Ju-Heon shamelessly shouted at that moment.

“Then show us proof. Show us proof that you could see it.”

Julian was at a loss for words after hearing that.

How could he prove something that only he could see and others couldn’t?

“Seo Ju-Heon! Tell them the truth! You were the one who had the artifact on you!”

But Ju-Heon didn't care what he was shouting and started to call someone.

“Ah, hello? Is it the police station? I've been robbed.”

He called the cops on Julian.

“Wow, Captain-nim. Just be an actor. Definitely an actor.”

Yoo Jaeha started to chuckle. But Ju-Heon glared at Yoo Jaeha as if he was asking why he was laughing.

“Shut up and keep your head on the ground properly.”

“M, my apologies, sir!”

Yoo Jaeha, who was being punished by lying in a pushup position on his head and feet, quickly put his head back down.

Ju-Heon, who had returned to his penthouse after the auction, was checking the artifacts he had received from the princess.

“Stupid idiot who can't even do his job properly.”

“U, ugh!”

Ju-Heon and Yoo Jaeha had split tasks prior to the auction.

Ju-Heon would take care of the auction while Yoo Jaeha prevented anyone from bothering him.

It would be bad if an accident happened in the middle of the auction. Yoo Jaeha had told Ju-Heon to trust him and that he could conduct the auction without any worry.

‘I'll jump off the penthouse if I can’t stop them.’

But they were almost dragged into a headache of a situation because of Julian.

That was why Ju-Heon was grinding his teeth as he started to speak.

“It’d be one thing if he suddenly barged in. But you let a bastard, who came up to you and told you to confess, into the auction area?”

“W, wait, that damn pumpkin of a bastard wouldn’t listen……!”

“Enough excuses. You said you would jump off yourself so you can jump off the roof later.”

Yoo Jaeha started to sniffle but he wouldn’t have anything to say even if he had 100 mouths. Ju-Heon had handed the princess Nero's artifact because he could not stop Julian.

‘Aigoo, it’s all my fault. We lost an artifact that we worked so hard to get……!’

However, Ju-Heon was actually not angry at all. There was a simple reason for it.

‘It's about time…’

At that moment…

[Alright! I did as you asked, you bastard! Now fight this Emperor!]

‘It showed up as expected.’

As if to respond to his expectations, Ju-Heon heard a voice outside the penthouse balcony.

Yoo Jaeha peeked after hearing some banging noises and dropped his jaw in shock.

How could he not?

“T, t, that thing! That’s Nero's artifact!”

He was right. There was a golden laurel wreath jumping up and down on the balcony.

It was Nero's artifact that should have been with the princess.

Yoo Jaeha shouted in complete shock.

“Shouldn't that thing be in Monaco right now?! Why is that over here?”

Why else would it be here?

“It's an artifact so it should have been able to teleport……”

[Shut up, human! Did you really think this Emperor would not be able to use your transportation methods?!]

It had gotten a free ride. Ju-Heon, who had expected Nero's artifact to show up, started to laugh.

‘It somehow managed to leave the beautiful princess behind.'

However, Yoo Jaeha was crying tears of joy. Forget the beautiful princess or what not, the important thing was that the artifact was here!

“Wow, I'm so relieved. I thought we wouldn't get to see it again because we gave it to the princess.”

"Are you an idiot? There’s no way I would have given it away without any thoughts.”

Of course not. Ju-Heon knew that Nero's artifact would appear in front of him again.

It was obvious. Nero wanted a literary battle with Ju-Heon. It wanted it so bad that it was willing to leave its tomb!

In other words, this bastard would come looking for Ju-Heon like a stalker no matter how many times Ju-Heon pushed it away.

‘That was why I pretended to hand it over to the princess.’

What could the princess do about the fact that the artifact came back to him after the deal?

‘Loss after the deal is on them.’

Not only that…

‘I got a lot of things from this auction.’

He managed to drag Julian half-way into this and also got money and artifacts.

Actually, one of the artifacts the princess had offered was unexpectedly something that Ju-Heon had wanted since a long time ago.

‘Other people would probably think it's an useless artifact.’

Ju-Heon who became happy started to speak to Yoo Jaeha who was crying tears of relief.

“Anyway, I helped you with the scam this time, but never again.”

“Y, yes sir!”

Of course, Ju-Heon was quite satisfied even though he was saying that.

Although it was his first time doing it, the fake stab wound, the doctor's note, and even the fake Nero's artifact was beyond what Ju-Heon had expected.

‘It's enough if he can use a B-Grade artifact to do that much.’

That meant that Jaeha would seem to have grown wings if he got his original Leonardo da Vinci's artifact.

‘I just need to gather talented people one by one like this.’

“Well, I'm disappointed we couldn't imprison those bastards inside the auction house.”

“Hello there. I told you that you'll be arrested if you do that……wait, I guess we’ve already done more than enough to warrant that.”

Anyway, Yoo Jaeha, who was feeling a sense of responsibility for this incident, made up his mind that he needed to try harder next time.

Nero's artifact was now jumping up and down asking if it had done a good job.

[Alright! That’s good enough, right? Battle this Emperor now that I did as you ordered!]

Ju-Heon did need to battle this bastard to contract it and subjugate its subordinate artifacts as well.

However…

‘I can’t do it here.’

Why?

This bastard was bound to cause a Tomb Appearance and use its authority once the battle started.

And the Domus Aurea (Golden House). It would definitely take that out.

In simple terms, it would call out the burning palace and turn the nearby area into ruins.

‘That’s why we can’t battle it out at my house.’

He needed somewhere that wouldn't harm the civilians…… But also a place where it wouldn't matter if there was a lot of damage……

Ju-Heon debated for a bit before looking at a map he pulled up on the internet. Ju-Heon then started to smile like a fox as if he found the perfect place for it.

[The current fire in Monaco has been subdued but nobody is able to tell who is responsible.]

[The damaged areas are the Monaco palace, garden, casino, etc……]

[The arson is still on the loose.]

Sophie, Monaco's lovely princess, was shaking while looking at the news. The news was discussing the recent arsonist incident.

Of course, she clearly knew the perpetrator.

“That damn artifact!”

It was Nero's artifact that had escaped.

200 million dollars was one thing, but she had also given multiple artifacts for it. And those artifacts were things that Monaco, the second smallest country in the world, had worked very hard to get. There was no way it wouldn't feel like a waste.

“Find that artifact right now! Do you know how much I had to give for it?!”

“Yes, yes, your highness! We are looking for it right now.”

But at that moment…

“Princess Sophie, I located your artifact.”

The person who showed up was Lee Seol-A. She had been bargaining with the princess after helping her find the real artifact, and then started to chase it down once it disappeared a few days ago.

The Princess stood up with joy on her face once Lee Seol-A appeared.

“You finally found it? Where is it right now?”

“It is by the Kauai beach in Hawaii, but……”

Lee Seol-A's face looked odd as she said that.

It was to be expected.

“To be honest with you, it is a wide area but there’s nothing where the artifact went. It makes me wonder why it went there. There is just one large building there.”

"What building is it?”

“It is TKBM’s Chairman Kwon Tae Joon's vacation house.”