Chapter 468 The Mysterious King
The call took quite a while to connect, and when it finally did, a modified male voice came through the receiving end. “Hello—”
“Sorry for disturbing you so late, King.” As much as Thomas was someone who had been around, he nonetheless remained exceptionally cautious when dealing with the one who he was on the phone with. “It’s me, Thomas Nichols. I’ve something that I would like to ask for your help with.”
The man hailed as “King” did not respond immediately and, instead, quietly waited for Thomas to state his business.
“I lost over one billion to stone-gambling today.”
“And?” King asked nonchalantly.
Thomas gasped, and could only fess up. “Recently, I’ve also acquired a piece of property and exhausted Dexmed Pharmaceutical’s liquidity in the process. Dexmed may face cash flow issues should this situation remain unchanged and may become insolvent as a result.”
“Are you compelling me to intervene by using threats here, Thomas?”
“You’ve misunderstood, King! How would I dare think about doing such a thing?” Thomas’ wizened face was mired in a cold sweat while he fawned, “If not for your help some twenty years ago, Dexmed Pharmaceutical would have remained in the hands of the Bayer family, so I’ve always kept your generosity close to my heart.”
He continued, “All these years, I’ve kept Dexmed Pharmaceutical’s enduring traditions going while secretly conducting all kinds of experiments at the side on your behalf. But if the company was to implode just like that, I fear that it may be unable to continue to serve your purposes in the future.”
Not once in these twenty years had Thomas ever met with King, for all of their communication had been realized exclusively through encrypted voice calls.
In spite of this, Thomas was never in any doubt of the tremendous influence King wielded.
Back in the day, he had seen for himself how his own father-in-law met his tragic demise in an “accident” for refusing to perform trials on the human body for King.
Jennie should have been the most ideal replacement after Arnold’s passing, but seeing her go off with the children to live in seclusion in the countryside led Thomas to set his own sights on Dexmed Pharmaceutical once more. That was when he fell headlong into working for King.
Over the years, he had done many things for King that contravened regulations, chiefly in the form of unethical drug trials and human experimentation.
Thomas’ intentions for mentioning these were not out of an attempt to coerce King, but a desire to demonstrate his own loyalty in a bid to win the latter’s support.
“Indeed, even if you cannot claim much credit, you do deserve some recognition for your efforts,” said King with general indifference. “I’ll help plug the hole in your finances, but know that this would be a one-off and also, for the last time. Do you understand?”
Thomas nodded furiously.
“Yes. Yes. I’ll continue to abide by your directions.”
“It so happens that there’s going to be a neural control experiment coming up. The request for the test sample will be sent to your inbox shortly, and it must be completed within a period of three months.”
“Understood!”
Before King hung up, Thomas could not refrain from airing his own concerns.
“This young man Yandel has proven himself to be quite a handful, King. At this rate, Dream’s development would sooner or later surpass Dexmed Pharmaceutical’s.”
“Is Yandel Moss, or is it the person behind him, who’s really a handful?”
“What do you mean by that, King?” Thomas sounded confused.
“Ha,” King scoffed. “So you haven’t actually figured out who it is that you’re really up against. How on earth did someone as dull as you manage to father such a brilliant daughter?”
With that, King disengaged, leaving only the hollow humming of the voice changer’s static behind him.
My daughter, brilliant?
Thomas had three daughters this lifetime, namely Natalie, Yara, and Melissa.
Natalie perished in a fire five years ago. Melissa is arrogant and impulsive. Could King be referring to Yara? How did King come to know her? Inferring from King’s tone, might it be possible that he takes a liking to her?
For a moment, Thomas felt deeply conflicted. Although Yara is Jennie’s daughter, taking her in and raising her had to be the best decision I’ve ever made. Perhaps, she might become my biggest pillar of support in the days to come.
