12 I'm Rich

I walked up to the counter and was greeted by a beautiful lady, about 24 years of age.

"How are you today? How may I help you today, sir?", asked the lady in a sweet voice like that of an oriole.

"I heard you guys appraise and buy gems and jewellery at a decent rate" I say.

"Definitely, may I know what type of gem or jewellery you are planning to sell, sir?" asked the lady in a polite tone.

I take out a few pieces of diamonds the size of half a peanut and place them on the counter. To me, they were kinda redundant, since I could just compress pieces of coal inside my body and turn it into diamonds, but to the lady, who seemed like she had done her homework, had sparkles in her eyes.

"These are the highest-grade diamonds currently on the market." She exclaimed as she took out her tools and observed them under a lens.

After a few tests done on the diamonds, she turned to me and asked, "Sir, are you really planning on selling all of these? There are about 8 in here, each of the highest quality. Each could go for around 200000 yuan."

"Yes" I nodded, while adding, "I'm willing to part with these family heirlooms for a decent price. I know the current rate, so how about 205000 yuan for each." I knew she was ripping me off, thinking of me as some naïve kid who walked in here with a fortune.

I could see her hesitating, before she turned around and called for the branch manager.

I could see a fat man coming towards the counter from somewhere inside the store, while asking about the situation.

I could see his eyes widen momentarily before he turned around to face me with a business-like smile.

"Young Sir, would you mind following us inside to discuss this deal." Asked the manager politely.

"Sure" I replied while following him inside to a reception room with luxurious furniture.

I sat on the sofa placed opposite to the single chair, where the manager took his seat.

I was offered some tea, which tasted quite good, while we negotiated the sale of my diamonds.

After a little back and forth, we agreed on a price of around 200300 yuan per piece bringing the total to around 1.6 million.

After signing some documents, I gave him my international banking account details to transfer the total amount. Good thing I had asked the Ancient One to create an identity for me.

After the whole fiasco was done, we shock our hands and he asked for my name while offering his.

"Lucifer Cereus Leukos" I answer. "Lucifer is my given name and Cereus Leukos as in Wax White in Greek".

I similarly visited various organisations which would buy some diamonds legally and presented all of them with high quality diamonds on the same day. (less chance of inflation in the market)

By the end of the day, I had gathered close to 3 million USD. I'm rich baby.

I kept on moving east, visiting various cities and staying in 5-star hotels and visiting nearby forests for the next few weeks, until I reached the Chinese border.

Along the way, I kept on secretly absorbing as many books as I could from libraries, universities, ancient temples and when chanced upon some hidden sects, their libraries as well.

Although I didn't find much mystical knowledge or any experimental facilities, I did learn a lot about various fields of science and technology.

I kept on the journey for the next two years until finally I found myself back in New York for the 2nd time.