Chapter 3 Ten Rings

Upon returning to the office floor and seeing Luna with a bandaged arm, Jack observed Emma comforting her.

Emma gave Jack a serious look and said, "Thank you, sir. If it weren't for you, I would have lost my precious daughter."

Luna, with a soft voice and bowed head, echoed her gratitude, "Thank you, thank you."

Worry etched on Jack's face as he looked outside through the glass. The chaos and destruction seemed real, along with those ten ominous rings. He pondered on their significance.

"Sir, sir!" Emma called out multiple times.

Snapping back, Jack glanced at Emma, who was asking if he was fine. "Yeah, I'm fine. Miss Emma, take Luna home. Also, cancel all my schedules for today," Jack instructed.

Emma hesitated but nodded, considering Luna's almost traumatized state. As they left, Jack returned to his seat, opened his laptop, and began searching.

The term "Ten Rings" led to various local ring results, including wedding rings. Digging deeper, Jack explored ancient Ten Rings, finding no conclusive information. He then delved into auction rings, stumbling upon a post about Liam Auction House hosting a yearly grand auction with rare antiques, listing the ten rings as one of the relics.

"Liam Auction belongs to one of the oldest families, the Williams, tracing back to one of our human ancestors," Jack muttered. "Well, I will attend this auction, ten days later."

Jack expressed his interest in the auction, knowing that, as the Head of the Ellis Family, he would soon receive an invitation.

After a while, Jack found himself dealing with the repercussions of a viral video showing his heroic act of saving Luna from a truck. The internet buzzed with speculations:

"Is this the girlfriend of one of the ten princes?"

"My prince was stolen by some witch."

"Find her, kill her."

"Is my prince fine?"

Amidst calls from friends and relatives,

Jack patted his forehead, wondering who leaked the video. He reassured everyone, "I am fine, nothing happened. She's just a colleague from the office."

After answering calls one by one, Jack sighed, "I'm tired. So that's how those customer care workers feel, answering the same questions repeatedly. I should raise their salaries."

Walking out of the building, he explained and answered media inquiries, eventually reaching his villa.

The next day, Jack examined Liam's official invitation card on his table and remarked, "Well, that was fast." Opening it, he read the details and placed it on the table with a calendar reminder.

Nine days later, Jack arrived at Liam Auction House. A middle-aged man with a heavy mustache greeted him, saying, "Ha ha ha, Mr. Jack, welcome to Liam Auction House."

Surprised, Jack responded, "Hi, Uncle John. Just call me Jack; no need to be formal. You're my father's friend."

John William, the head of the William family, known for rumored ruthlessness, praised looking at him, "You deserve this respect. Your family made Atom as an icon, but you turned it into a brand. Look at those guys; everyone arrived in a vehicle, only your Atom is selling. I wish my sons were half as competent as you."

Jack shook his head, "Maybe your sons have some specialty that I don't possess."

Williams, suspicious, asked, "Are you telling the truth?" Turning to his sweating son, he instructed, "Let's go, take Mr. Jack to the VIP seat."

His son nodded, guiding Jack to the VIP seat and saying, "Thank you, Mr. Jack," before walking away.

Jack was speechless, glanced at the front auction venue, nodding at a few figures who knew him and were connected to him in business.

The auction commenced,

"The first auction item is the ten rings discovered in the northern territory ruins of a tomb. Our archaeologists retrieved it through significant effort, but unfortunately, it doesn't match any known historical records."

The auctioneer dramatically unveiled the cloth covering the table, revealing rings with sparkling stones that caught the eyes of the attendees.

"However, each of these rings contains half-carat precious stones. The starting price is 10 million FC," the auctioneer declared.

Jack suppressed his pounding heart, gripping the armrests of his seat as he observed the old rings adorned with colorful stones.

Bidding ensued: 10.5 million, 20 million, 50 million, and then a sudden jump to 100 million. A northern-faced man bid 100 million, catching Jack's attention, recognised him as a gangster from the north.

"100 million, once. Anyone else?" the auctioneer inquired.

"100 million, twice."

As others hesitated, Jack boldly declared, "200 million."

Silence fell over the auction house. Attendees glanced at Jack in surprise, speculating on his sudden interest.

Even the auctioneer and central tycoons were astonished; Jack, known for not showing interest in such auction before, raised the stakes significantly. The northern bidder looked at Jack with disdain, labeling him as someone tired of living. "We should increase the bid, boss asked us to grab rings at all cost"

A companion beside the northern bidder warned, "You fool, he's not someone to trifle with. Jack is a ruthless tycoon; he placed a

1 billion bounty on a world-famous mercenary group and their families who invaded his company. They vanished overnight."

The northern-faced man paled, realizing the gravity of the situation.

"200 million, once."

"200 million, twice."

"200 million, thrice. Sold to Vip No. 4."

Jack sighed in relief, leaning back in his seat. He proceeded to purchase more antique auction items, engaged in conversations with famous figures, and eventually returned to his villa.

Inside Jack's bedroom,

Jack gazed at the box containing the ten rings aligned inside. One by one, he picked them up and wore them, yet he felt nothing.

Puzzled, he examined the colored stones above each ring. Then, he arranged them on his fingers in a specific order: Black, Gold, Purple, Red, Brown, Metallic, Green, Blue, Silver, and White.

Despite the arrangement, nothing happened.

Jack shook his head in disappointment. Recalling artifact identification from novels in his previous life, he considered the connection to the soul and blood.

Lacking access to a soul,

Jack decided to use his blood. He found a pin, burnt its tip with a lighter until red, upon cooling it pricked his finger, muttered, "Well, it hurts less than that bullet passing through my temple."

Dripping a drop of blood on one ring, it immediately shone. Excitement welled up in Jack as he repeated the process for all the rings.

Suddenly, all the rings gleamed and tightened, fixing themselves on his fingers. Jack's eyes rolled upward, and he fell back on the bed, unconscious.

Inexplicable runes emerged on all the rings and spread across Jack's entire body. His body's surface became adorned with shining, colorful runes, only for them to disappear shortly afterward.

The rings vanished from his fingers, melting and merging seamlessly with his skin layer.