SWNOVELS Chapter 517
Diana was still out cold, and yet, he was seriously planning to leave.
Suzanne was really starting to freak out. Was Connor giving this back as a sign he wanted to cut ties with the Gilbert family? Diana couldn't just walk away from his protection; they were no match for Claire on their own. His earlier words were just to test Connor's reaction. Connor paused, turned around, and spoke calmly. "I know full well this is one of the keys to the legendary treasure of the four major families. Each family's heirloom is a key, but you need all four to unlock the door to the treasure."
Legend has it that the four powerful families of the Eldridge Elites have passed this story down through generations. A hundred years ago, during the Republic era, three of these families were top warlords in the area. Eldridge City was under the control of four warlords: the Shaw family, the Gilbert family, the Nagel family, and the Sartori family.
Back then, chaos reigned, and each family amassed a fortune. As the warlord era faded, most families fled abroad, leaving behind their immense wealth and gold. They banded together to create a treasure vault hidden in an ancient mountain monastery. They crafted a magical door that required four talismans, each made from pink emerald pendants, to open.
Today, three of the warlord descendants remain: the Gilbert family, the Shaw family, and the Nagel family, all considered prestigious lineages. After a new order was established, these families returned and quietly rebuilt. The Nagel family dominated the grain market, the Gilbert family opened banks, the Shaw family launched trading companies, and the Sartori family got into shipping, expanding overseas trade. The families quickly rose to power again.
Knowing the legend of the family treasure, they soon united, monopolizing industries and intermarrying. But in Jeffery's time, the Sartori family inexplicably fell overnight, leaving the family in ruins. Their pink emerald pendant surfaced on the black market, and the other families vied for it, each using their own tactics.
Yet, a mysterious man, Jeffery, ended up with the pendant. The Sartori family, the newest
powerhouse, was built from scratch, supposedly starting with a small freighter that led to a shipping empire, acquiring nearly all of the
Sartori assets. In just a
decades,
they became the top family.
Nobody knew Jeffery's background, though rumors swirled that he was behind the Sartori downfall. But no one dared to whisper about it now. Over the years, with solid assets and international savvy, the new four families almost controlled all business in the Eldridge Elites.
As each family reached their peak,
they stopped passing down the
treasure tale to the next generations. Actually, starting with Connor's generation, most didn't even know. about it. Suzanne went on, "The treasure is a closely guarded secret among the four families, usually told by the head of the family to their successor, and only to one person. The keys to the treasure are the family heirlooms. The Sartori family has a pink emerald pendant, the Gilbert family has a dragon medallion, the Shaw family also has a pink emerald pendant, and the Nagel family has a pink safety buckle."
Suzanne added, "Legend says the gold alone was ten million taels, along with countless rare treasures. Any one of them would be priceless today. If someone could get their hands on this century-old treasure, it'd be enough to buy several small countries."