Chapter 148: Let the Bidding Start!


    "They are here," Antoan returned a couple of minutes ago while his face told Bloom everything about his current mood. Bloom didn''t say anything to him, as he was mesmerized by the beauty of the city in the night.


    Bloom turned to nce at a group of people appearing from one direction. They were short and tall, fat and slim, yet they all shared one thing inmon; they were all old!


    "Who are they?" Bloom asked.


    "They are the CEO board of the gamepany," Antoan whispered before adding, "they will start a simple introduction ceremony before starting the real test."


    "Hmm" Bloom kept his eyes fixed on them for a moment as he noticed his uncle moving to greet them with a group of men and beauties around.


    He wasn''t the only one trying to curry for their favoritism, many also moved to do the same initiative that sly uncle did. "My uncle can''t let a single chance slip by without licking the boots of anyone," Bloom sneered.


    "He is your uncle after all," Antoan tried to be diplomatic, especially in such an open crowded ce.


    "Not to me, lucky me," Bloom inwardlyughed before changing his gaze towards the two girls standing behind this group of elders. "What''s your secret?" he muttered, "why are you doing this?"


    He knew there must be a reason. "Antoan, do you recognize the girl standing behind Nat?" he suddenly asked while motioning with his eyes towards the two girls.


    "Nat? you mean Natalie, right?"


    Bloom nodded and Antoan added, "She is Peri, her main maid and literally the female version of me," he said with a weird look over his face. "Why do you ask? You should mind the master, not the maid!"


    He was speechless, and Bloom justughed at his naivety. "Did you run an investigation on her?" he asked.


    "Sure," Antoan nodded.


    "Extensive in detail research?" Bloom gave him a serious nce.


    "Well" Antoan felt the pressureing from his master, and he felt for the first time fear from him. "I didn''t do a full out investigation," he said before hurriedly adding, "she is unimportant, insignificant. Her master is!"


    He tried to reason out his slip here, and Bloom nodded as he started to gain more intel about this little yet amazing trick. "I want you to tell her a message from me," he said.


    "Oh, for her master then?" Antoan had this look of realization over his face. "Sure, tell me what you want to convey."


    "Not to her master," Bloom smiled before adding, "tell her this is from me to her."


    "" Antoan had such a funny look that made Bloomugh a short one. "Just do it, alright?"


    "S- Sure," Antoan nodded without understanding what was going on.


    "Did he return to his older weird and sorry self?" he had this thought in mind, yet he didn''t dare to share it out in public. Not in such a ce.


    "Tell her I want to meet the fourth sister," Bloom seriously said and at this moment a sudden realization hit Antoan who sharply turned his face towards Peri. "Don''t tell me" he paused as his eyes got widened, "just wow!"


    He returned to his master as he added, "how did you know that?"


    "A secret," Bloom winked with a pure heartedugh, "don''t forget to do this while everyone is amazed by the results of my test."


    "You seem confident," Antoan muttered, "are you sure of your results this much?" he asked.


    Bloom just shrugged before saying, "Let''s enjoy this amazing evening," he was just about to turn towards the fascinating night scenery of the city when he heard someone shouting out his name from behind.


    "Mr. Terry, you are requested to attend to the front," he was a young butler working for the CEO board it seemed. "The ceremony is about to begin, and your presence is essential for it to start," he added, trying to reason out his demands per habit.


    "Alright," Bloom helplessly smiled, "lead the way," he said before he went behind the butler and Antoan walked behind him like his shadow.


    Whenever he walked through, everyone gave him a mocking nce making himugh more inwardly on the shock they would soon receive.


    "Mr. Terry, thanks for honoring us today," one of the elders moved to greet him, saying these courtesy words which made the nearby Dockrey sneer.


    "Thanks, it''s always a pleasure to meet my future trusted aiders," Bloom shook the hand of the man in a strong manner while saying these words in return.


    "Pft," Dockreyughed and hisugh seemed very much faked. Yet it managed to attract attention to him.


    "Is there anything funny?" Bloom moved towards him while asking in a calm tone.


    "You are really hrious," Dockrey keptughing, "I''ll never get tired of your silly jokes," he added.


    "Enlighten us all then," Bloom waved his hands towards everyone, "let everyone share the same joy as you do."


    His words and manner seemed bizarre to everyone, invoking a wave of whispering everywhere.


    "Are you serious?" Dockrey suddenly felt nervous especially when the members of the CEO board gave him a weird nce.


    "Sure, spill it out, let us allugh," Bloomughed as he calmly replied. His stance and strong attitude were new to everyone.


    In their eyes, he wasn''t even able to stand there in front of the public without even trembling!


    "Tsk, just forget it," Dockrey waved his hand like acting magnonmous.


    "Coward," yet Bloom didn''t leave him off this easily.


    "What did you just say?" This time Dockrey received the insult directly in front of those he tried to impress; he couldn''t let go of such rude remarks.


    "Antoan, make an appointment for him at my ENT doctor," Bloom ignored him as he turned to give his butler a casualmand.


    And Antoan just suppressed hisughter while joining his master in this interesting game. "What for , may I ask?"


    "He can''t hear me well despite everyone here perfectly hearing my words. Tsk, how can Ipete with a patient? C''mon, that isn''t fair!"


    Bloom rude remarks made everyone aroundugh while Dockrey had his face turned instantly red. Even Nat and Periughed while exchanging silent nces.


    "You.. I swear you''ll regret this impudence and rashness soon," Dockrey promised, yet Bloom turned to face him directly without flinching. "Oh, may you enlighten me about how you''ll do that?" he sneered and his tone and attitude just added more fuel to Dockrey.


    As for the CEO board members, they were shocked to the extreme by the new attitude of Bloom. They stood silent in their ces while enjoying this littlepetition getting more heights than they ever thought.


    "Through this," Dockrey answered in a strong and loud tone enough for everyone attending here to perfectly hear him. He pointed towards the direction of the game test tool where he had such a confident smile over his face.


    "Bullsh*t!" Bloom sneered beforeughing, "it''s you who will get his  you know I mean, hehehe," he paused acting like he was about to say such a vulgar response and he didn''t.


    "You have balls!!"


    "Sure, I''m a man after all," Bloomughed and his instant and casual response made manyugh and all started to whisper.


    And that instant answer made Dockrey more nervous and enraged. "Just wait, it''s not toote to wipe this smile over your face," he harrumphed while one of his men tried to step and say something, yet Antoan moved to shelter his master like this man was trying to do physical harm to him.


    "Shall this end here?" the eldest one in the board suddenly spoke up. "We don''t wish to see things escte further," he added, yet his tone told much about his current mood.


    He was excited about the new version of Bloom. After all these people only cared about the next heir to the current empire of Natalie, and the more capable contesters there were, the better future their miss would have.


    "Now, let the ceremony begin," the man said before another one stepped forward with a mic in hand.


    "Ladies and gentlemen, ording to the Triflet agreement signed a couple of months ago, we are now attending the first evaluation test ever in thepetition."


    The man then pointed to Dockrey and Bloom as he added:


    "Our two gentlemen here had already started the game for a couple of days already. We need to see who has the better start and who is thete runner so our sponsors will be able to decide which horse to bet on with their money and future."


    Heughed and everyoneughed a short one. Bloom didn''t understand his meaning, though, yet he recalled the mysteriousment of Antoan.


    "Later I need to ask him about this agreement in detail," he muttered to himself while the man added:


    "As you can see, both are young and vibrant, while we much love to see them twopete, it''s not the right stage for such energy," heughed and others followed before adding, "so, we''ll start the first bid of the Trifletpetition. Please hand in the names and the numbers to our butlers and after that we will start the assessment in public through our top secret assessment system."


    He pointed towards the machine behind while everyone showed their excitement.


    "You gotta tell me what''s all this about," Bloom turned to his butler amidst the chaos that erupted after the old man''s words.


    Everyone jumped in a hurry to ce their bids to many butlers who appeared out of nowhere.


    "Let''s go there," Antoan briefly said while driving him away from the center of attention towards the nearby door they came from.