At that moment, the bar descended into instant chaos.
The crowd, who moments ago were drinking, listening to music, and dancing, now screamed in terror.
But fear aside, none dared to defy the armed men in black, so they raised their hands and crouched on the floor.
Bernard Arnault was utterly horrified, his first instinct being that these men were surely there to kidnap him.
After all, he was a prominent billionaire on the Forbes rich list.
Tavana was equally panicked, convinced she was their target, especially since a similar incident had recently occurred in Japan.
The black-clad man strode up to Bernard Arnault, grabbed the small old man from the crowd like a rabbit, and sneered, “Mr. Arnault, you look much younger in person than on television.”
Bernard Arnault, somewhat apprehensive, said, “Who are you people? What do you want by barging in here?”
“What do we want?” The man gave a sinister laugh and said, “We’re here for money, of course, and we also want to make a big splash, to let the world know we exist and what we’re capable of.”
With that, he raised an eyebrow at Bernard Arnault and grinned, “Come on, Mr. Arnault, pick up your phone and call the highest-ranking Maldivian official you know. Tell them what’s happening here and have them send their best forces to rescue you.”
“Oh, I almost forgot,” he added, “the Maldives doesn’t exactly have elite forces, just a bunch of poorly trained, ill-equipped third-rate soldiers.”
Bernard Arnault, extremely nervous, quickly stammered, “Rest assured, I won’t secretly report this to anyone! If you want money, you can take all the cash on White Horse Island. If that’s not enough, give me a bank account, and I’ll have my assistant transfer more immediately. Just don’t hurt us, and we can work this out!”
The man’s expression suddenly turned ferocious. He slapped Bernard Arnault, drawing blood from his mouth, and roared, “Do you think I’m joking? I told you to make the call, so make the damn call. One more word of nonsense, and I’ll break both your legs!”
Bernard Arnault realised then that they genuinely wanted him to call for help.
So, he tentatively asked, “I have the contact for their Defence Minister. Can I call him directly?”
“Of course!” The leader of the black-clad men said with a cheerful laugh, “Do it now, immediately.”
Bernard Arnault pulled out his phone. Just as he was about to dial, he noticed the no-signal icon in the top right corner and said with a mournful expression, “I’m sorry, there’s been a network issue here. All communication and internet services are down, and we can’t contact the outside world.”
The man’s anger flared at this. He slapped Bernard Arnault again, knocking out two of his molars, and shouted furiously, “Are you messing with me? An island this big, and no network?”
“It’s true…” Bernard Arnault, having been slapped twice, felt both aggrieved and terrified.
He could only choke out, “The network and communications were fine earlier, but they suddenly went down. I was about to have someone check what happened when you came in…”
