A man quickly got out of the passenger seat of the car, opened the door behind him, and held up an umbrella. At this time, an old man came out of the car. The short silver hair stood on end, and the square face was solemn. The chin circle and the beard have been carefully groomed, adding a bit of majesty to him. The eyes are sharp and the lips are pursed, giving people the feeling of unrestrained smile.

Although he was in his sixties, his waist was still straight, and his still strong physique made him look at least ten years younger.

"Master, go this way." The butler with the umbrella said softly.

The silver-haired old man nodded, and walked quietly into the building with the butler. In the lobby of the building, a fat man greeted him, rubbed his hands and said, "Welcome, Mr. Horn." I didn't expect you to come to participate in this betting event, what a surprise. ”

"Alstair, if you don't lose weight, your small cardiovascular system will burst." Old man Horn said lightly.

The fat man Alste took out a handkerchief and wiped his sweat and said: "I'm just a little person, I'm tired and running around every day, how can I have time to take care of my body." Mr. Horn, please, the event is about to begin. ”

Alstai, who looked like a sales manager, led Horn and his butler to a private elevator. Although he is not shocking, this man is the chairman of the Death Ring Organizing Committee, the host of every Death Ring for the past ten years, and he also serves as the federal finance secretary. For such a person, there are not many guests who need to be greeted by him personally.

Not much, really.

A private elevator leads to the top floor, and when the doors open, it is not a multi-functional training hall, but a 600-square-meter ballroom. In terms of the size of the ballroom, it is not the largest, but the décor is top-notch. From the statue of David at the entrance, to the brightly colored Persian carpet; From the fiery angel with its stained glass dome to the four Corinthian pillars that serve as both load-bearing and partitions. The various decorative techniques make the banquet hall have a restrained luxury, which is completely in line with the popular aesthetics of the current aristocracy.

The butler handed the umbrella to the waiter, and Lord Horn of Alste came to a relatively quiet corner. At the moment, the so-called betting activity has not yet begun, and under the lights of the hall, people gather in twos and threes to talk or talk loudly. No one noticed that there was an extra Horn in the hall, until a lady accidentally caught a glimpse of it, and then she whispered, "Isn't that Mr. Horn of Bethcord?" ”

Then he quickly put on a smile and walked over with the most elegant gesture. But before he could get close to Horn, he stopped the butler: "I'm sorry, ma'am. My grandfather wanted to be quiet and alone. ”

An unnatural smile appeared on the woman's face, and with a little unwillingness, she retreated angrily. Next, several more men wanted to come forward to talk, but they were all stopped by the housekeeper. The people who can stand in this banquet hall today are also figures with heads and faces thrown into Babylon. On weekdays, it's too late for others to scold them, and they are rarely rejected.

But when Horn refused, they could only dare to be angry but not speak, and more were bitter smiles and helplessness.

In the upper class of Babylon, although they were all called the aristocratic class. But the aristocracy is only a general division, and in this circle, there is a more demanding division. Ordinary people rarely know that above the so-called aristocracy, there are also the classifications of wealthy families, families and famous lords. These three are all families that have been in business for hundreds of years and have a strong background, and they can be regarded as real nobles.

The Beskode family is one of the famous lords, although the famous lords are not as noble as the wealthy families, but there is an insurmountable gap between them and ordinary nobles. What's more, Bescord is not an ordinary famous valve. After all, ten years ago, this family was still ranked among the family, but because of a series of changes, coupled with the emergence of another family, it slipped from the ranking of the family into the famous valve.

That family, named Alexander!

At this moment, the lights of the banquet hall suddenly dimmed, and then the beam of the spotlight focused on the small stage in front of the hall. Alste stood on the stage like a TV presenter and coughed lightly: "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Let's make a long story short, or else the damn light will give me a layer of oil, and maybe as an old friend said, Alste should lose weight. ”

A good-natured chuckle rang out from the stage, and after slightly adjusting the atmosphere in the hall with a witty opening remark, Alstair said: "As you can see, the death ring has begun, and the participating teenagers have also gone through two weeks of assessment. For all of you, their current ranking score should have some reference value, so as usual, guess that the betting event will be held today, so please enjoy the biennial grand carnival. ”

Alste snapped his fingers, and the curtain on the stage behind him snapped open, revealing a large screen. The first thing to show on the screen is the last teenager in the ranking, and Alste smiles and steps off the stage, and the other hosts are responsible for briefly introducing the teenagers to the nobles in the hall, so that they can better understand their favorite betting objects.

Betting is one of the entertainment programs that come with Death Ring, and is open to the entire Babylonian floating island. The bookmaker behind the scenes, of course, is the federal government, which will further stimulate people's enthusiasm and act as an interactive one. Of course, the teenagers who participated in the competition can also profit from it.

For each supported teenager, they will receive a 1% dividend from the total bet. Their dividends will be distributed in the form of goods to help them gain more favorable conditions in the competition. Arguably, the quiz is one of the main reasons why the inhabitants of Babylon are so enthusiastic about the death ring, and it is also an important revenue for the federal government.

Alste walked up to Horn, who was probably the only person in the banquet hall who was qualified to sit near Horn. Alste called the waiters and asked them to serve good wine. After having a drink with Horn, Fang said, "It seems that among the little guys in this year's session, there is a favorite target for Mr. Horn?" ”

Horn smiled and nodded, and Alste couldn't help but say, "I don't know which imp Mr. Horn has a crush on?" ”

"You'll find out later." Horn cherished words like gold, and then kept silent.

At this time, the host on the stage had already briefly explained the information of the 21 teenagers, and then announced that they were starting to accept bets. While the others were still calculating the amount of investment and the corresponding return, Horn glanced at the butler. The housekeeper immediately understood, raised his hand and said softly: "We voted for Allen player to have a ton of high-grade platinum." ”

Altais next to him stiffened, then shook his head and said: "It turns out that Mr. Horn has a crush on Allen, he is good, but don't forget that he is now ranked first." This location is not very advantageous. ”

Altaïs is telling the truth, the benefits of being number one in the death ring are mixed, and the benefit is that he has a lot of material support to improve himself as much as possible before the match. The downside is also obvious, in addition to being the target of public criticism, the top three teenagers will have their coordinates announced to the other teenagers at the beginning of the game.

In the death ring in previous years, there was no shortage of precedents of being beaten and killed by a group before entering the arena after ranking first.

Generally speaking, it is safer to invest your money in second or third place. However, the odds of the top three are not high, and if you want to make a lot of money, sometimes the dark horses at the bottom of the ranking will have surprises.

Horn said indifferently: "I have confidence in him." ”

Alste nodded at the host, and under Allen's avatar, there was a sudden injection of 10 million federal coins, which was equivalent to the market price of a ton of platinum. This number is released in real time to the government platform throughout Babylon, and all bettors will be able to see all the changes in the bankings of all teenagers at once.

Bethcord's generosity shocked the other nobles in the banquet hall, after all, tens of millions of federal coins were not a small amount. The applause suddenly rang out, and everyone looked back, and several people rushed in from outside the door. At the front of him is a middle-aged man, his brown hair is fixed with a hair wax and combed back to his head, and the position of each strand of hair seems to have been carefully calculated, showing meticulous quality.

The sea-blue eyes were full of smiles, but if you look deeper, you will find that the depths of this person's pupils are actually a blue ocean of ice. Suits made by master craftsmen are well-cut and the workmanship from the collar to the cuffs can withstand the most discerning scrutiny. A black and white striped tie not only plays a decorative role, but also further emphasizes the owner's efficient and practical temperament.

When he saw this man, Alste smiled bitterly. This man is none other than Horn's nemesis, Main, the patriarch of the Alexander family.

Main said from afar, "Mr. Horn is really a big laugh, and his shot is a ton of platinum. What others don't know, they still think that Bescord is rich. But if I look at the most recent annual statement, Beskode's revenue has shrunk by 30% over the same period. Mr. Horn, this ton of platinum isn't going to be your old book at the bottom of the box, is it? ”

Horn remained silent and said lightly: "No matter how bad Bescord is, and some luck is not a little, he is a smug nouveau riche. ”

Main sat down directly at the table in Horn's room, which was actually very rude, but he sat down as a matter of course. Considering that the Alexander family has risen from the bottom of the list to the nouveau riche in just twenty years, no one dares to accuse Main of not. Because this family has today, it has an inseparable relationship with Main, who took over the burden of the patriarch back then.

"The Alexander family is naturally not as good as Mr. Horn's family heritage, but a little money can still be taken out." Main smiled and looked at the big screen, his eyes swept over the avatars of many teenagers, and finally said, "I think that kid named Anse is very pleasing to the eye, so throw me two tons of platinum." ”

Suddenly, the hall was in an uproar. As long as you are not blind, you can see that Main is provoking Horn.