A beautiful vase was smashed onto the ground by a pair of hands, emitting a crisp shattering sound.
Accompanied by the crisp sound of the vase shattering, the man's angry voice echoed throughout the huge room.
"Trash! A bunch of trash!"
He was a man wearing a well-tailored suit, roughly in his forties, with thick, jet-black hair combed neatly, and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, adding an air of the elite to him.
But this elite was currently flying into a rage; standing before him were dozens of security guards in black, heads bowed and not daring to make a sound. These guards dared not raise their heads, fearing that any movement would only fuel this important figure's fury further.
"What did I hire you for? Are you just freeloaders! I've mentioned how important that item was to you so many times! And you actually let someone openly steal it right from under your noses!"
"Look at you all, where are your eyes? Blind? What about your ears? Deaf? If it weren't for the call from the Hero Association, I would have thought it was just some unlucky soul who got burglarized!"
"As it turns out, that unlucky soul is me! It's me!"
The man grabbed a cup from the table and smashed it onto the ground; another innocent piece of furniture had departed this world.
The ceramic shards on the floor were too numerous to count. This man's temper was truly ferocious; for three whole hours, he hadn't finished venting his rage.
"You, go investigate for me right now. Within three days, I want to know who the culprit is, otherwise, all of you can get out!"
"Yes!" The security guards finally found something they could answer with, straightening their backs and shouting with full vigor.
"The Hero Association will send people to assist with the investigation; you know what to do." The man turned his back, leaving the security guards with a cryptic silhouette. "This is my, Bang's, business, and it's not their place to point fingers."
"Understood!"
"Get to it." Bang waved his hand, dismissing the group of security guards.
After the people in the room had completely left, Bang's gaze turned towards a certain corner of the room. "What, do you need me to invite you out?"
"There is no need to trouble you, Councilman. I shall come out on my own." A raspy voice sounded, and a hunched old man slowly walked out from the darkness. "The transaction went wrong."
"I know. That book has fallen into who knows whose hands now; it's truly infuriating." Bang smashed the wall viciously. "How can your people be so unreliable? They couldn't even find the right contact person."
Old Eagle laughed coldly a few times. "Mr. Ghost Shadow was appointed by you personally, Mr. Wang. This blame is not something this old man will shoulder."
"Are you implying that this is all my fault?"
"Is there any point in discussing whose fault it is now? The item is gone, and that lovely client miss won't listen to our excuses." Old Eagle said noncommittally. "I am just a middleman; at worst, I'll just forgo that little commission fee. But Mr. Wang, you seem to be very much in need of that young lady's sponsorship, right?"
Bang's expression darkened significantly; the old man's words had indeed struck a sore spot.
For Old Eagle, the failure of this transaction was not a major issue; the probability of failure for things he handled was never low.
After all, it would be a miracle if those things could succeed one hundred percent of the time.
An occasional failure could not cause him any substantial impact.
But Bang was different. He was willing to take such a huge risk to trade with the Demon Race precisely because he needed the reward the Demon Race offered.
If this transaction failed, he would surely be doomed.
"Give me some time, and I will get the item back." Bang feigned calmness. "You didn't come here just to make snide remarks, did you?"
"I came to provide you with some help. After all, it is a big deal, and I don't want it to fall through in my hands, especially at the very last moment." Old Eagle did not hide his intentions. "I will provide you with intelligence support, but the commission must be increased by ten percent."
"You really are greedy; is twenty percent not enough, you want thirty?"
"That's not the right way to put it. I could just sit on the sidelines and watch you run around, but out of good intentions, I came over to provide you with some help. You won't find anyone as selfless as me even if you searched with a lantern." Old Eagle laughed heartily.
"People in the trade were right; you old geezer really are shameless." Bang chuckled. "Since you want more, let me see if you can provide help that matches that value."
"Good, good. With those words from you, Councilman, I am relieved." Old Eagle clapped his hands and laughed. "Ghost Shadow will also come to assist you later; he will take you to the place where those two people appeared. I hope, Councilman, that you will succeed immediately."
"Then I'll take your kind words for it." Bang's expression remained grim. He was extremely disgusted by the greed of the old man in front of him, but he had no other choice.
Right now, he could only mobilize all the power at his disposal to retrieve that book and complete the transaction; otherwise, his position as Councilman would likely be unstable.
The matter was of great importance and could not afford any mistakes.