Old Gods, Rapid-Fire Guns, and Prohibition

Chapter 223 [Intensive Preparations]

The war of words continues.

Following Ethan's two powerful articles and Rubens's subsequent interview with the Kingdom Deep Observer, Rubens also gave a follow-up response.

People were already anticipating what would happen next, and now their gossip-loving nature has been truly ignited.

Naturally, the Kingdom Deep Observer report is once again selling out of stock.

These past two days have been a mix of pain and pleasure for Hlosh.

On one hand, he was so happy about the ever-increasing newspaper sales that he couldn't sleep, and on the other hand, he was so busy that he barely had time to rest.

There was no other way; the newspaper only had a few people. They had recruited a few talented individuals, but they had all left, so Herlosh had to handle many things himself.

He was the editor-in-chief, chief editor, and editor in charge, and he was also responsible for various sales and printing tasks.

As for shame and original intentions, he had long forgotten them.

Survival is the most important thing.

In an effort to boost sales, he even subtly included quotes from artists who had a poor relationship with Rubens.

The point is to generate buzz.

The term "hype" was coined by Ethan, who thought it was brilliant and borrowed it.

At the same time, he also subtly promoted Ethan's solo career between the lines.

Originally, Ethan's solo exhibition might have been purely an art world affair, and at most, some art lovers would go to see it.

However, as the event gained more and more attention, Ethan's solo exhibition has become a major event in the entire capital.

Everyone is eagerly anticipating Ethan's solo exhibition.

The artworks are secondary; the key issue is the war of words between Rubens. Rubens has already stated in his response that he will personally attend Ethan's solo exhibition. We'll see then what works Ethan has to boast about.

The atmosphere here is very tense, it's like I'm definitely here to cause trouble.

As a result, ticket prices for Ethan's solo exhibition have skyrocketed.

According to Jackson's calculations, even just collecting ticket sales would be enough to make him a fortune this time.

However, Jackson couldn't help but worry: "Are you sure it's okay? Rubens has a lot of influence, and what you said was too... Ethan, honestly, you should have discussed this with me, what if..."

"Don't worry, Jackson, I have confidence."

Hearing this, Jackson had nothing more to say.

Ethan was indeed the most confident person he had ever met, or rather, the most capable of creating miracles.

Whether it was the extremely dire situation of the four-ship case at the time, the subsequent tax case, or even the Winster rainstorm incident when Jackson felt he was going to die.

Ethan pulled through.

As Jackson thought about it, he suddenly felt less worried about the matter.

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Time passed quickly.

Ethan's solo exhibition is already in the countdown phase.

As the date drew closer, the original art debate became less important; the focus shifted to who would ultimately lose between Ethan and Rubens.

The answer lies in Ethan's solo exhibition.

This was the day before Ethan's solo exhibition.

The entire venue was packed with people.

Jackson originally chose a venue that was a private collection of his own.

However, as the incident escalated, the size of that collection was simply not enough, and in the end, they had to temporarily switch to the Kingdom Art Center.

Although it is called the Kingdom Arts Center, it is not purely official; it is more under the control of the Kingdom Arts Association.

We were able to secure the right to use this venue thanks to Ethan. Although Jackson knew Andy, they weren't close enough for Jackson to simply use the arts center.

Ethan was actually able to borrow it.

This gave Jackson even more confidence.

The venue has been set up for the past two days. In addition to Ethan's new works, Jackson has also temporarily brought back several of his older works through his connections, which will be exhibited together.

However, there were simply too many busybodies, not just reporters but also other people, all gathered around the Kingdom Arts Center, which made Jackson very worried that the security force would not be enough and something might happen.

Fortunately, Ethan stepped up his efforts again, somehow managing to get the Kingdom's Security Bureau to help maintain order.

Of course, this was definitely thanks to Joseph's connections.

Jackson simply didn't expect it.

Now that Joseph has been transferred to the Kingdom Security Bureau and is a captain, it would be easy for him to mobilize the Kingdom Security Bureau.

"However, you owe me a favor. How about this, I don't want anything else, just give me a few tickets, I'll give them away. Your tickets are too expensive and too hard to buy."

Joseph was half-joking with Ethan on the phone.

"The tickets were sent to you a long time ago."

Ethan certainly wasn't ignorant of such basic etiquette.

Then, Joseph suddenly said, "By the way, the Martino family in the South District has recently made a strong push and won a brilliant victory, wiping out a wave of Old World immigrants. Did you know about this?"

"Oh? I really didn't know that. It seems the Martino family has quite a history."

Ethan pretended not to know.

"You really don't know?"

"Should I know?"

After a moment of silence, Joseph said, "Ethan, what if I really wanted you to do me a favor?" "Then don't say it over the phone."

These words reminded Joseph of some unpleasant memories, so he didn't continue.

"Thank you for your ticket."

That afternoon, Palen, who was in charge of delivering the tickets, returned.

He said to Ethan, "Joseph invites you to dinner tonight. Here's the address."

As Palen spoke, he handed Ethan a rose gold card with a name written on it—

West's Secret Garden.

Oh?
Ethan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. What a coincidence!

However, since Joseph had chosen the place, he went along with it.

Around four o'clock in the afternoon, Ethan changed into a relatively low-key black suit and drove towards the West End.

Reporters were still everywhere outside his house, but with Anya's superb driving skills, no one could really keep up with them.

However, it must be said that the capital city is too big and there are too many cars. Even with Anya's skills, it was almost five o'clock when she arrived at her destination after traversing the city.

West's Secret Garden at night appears ancient and mysterious, truly like a secret garden from a story.

Joseph arrived almost immediately after him, but compared to usual, he was dressed very inconspicuously today, and you couldn't tell at all that he was a rich young master.

He drove a mid-priced Viden Pegasus and looked like a typical office worker.

"Hey, Ethan!"

Joseph came up and hugged him, and said something quickly the moment they embraced.

“Remember, my name is Will, I’m an art dealer, and we’ve known each other since Winston.”

Upon hearing this, Ethan understood somewhat.

(End of this chapter)