Pu Mingyuan's plan was simple. Since they could not touch Vance, they would start with those close to him. Vance's eldest son was named Ewan. Born in 2017, he was only eleven, an age when all he wanted to do was play.
The old man was clearly tempted.
There was no helping it. What had been done to Robert had initially been nothing more than an ordinary Mass, the kind held every week. Only afterward had the participants noticed changes in their bodies. By the time the old man received word, every item associated with the ritual had been disposed of.
The world's richest man was furious!
Others had later tried to reproduce the Mass, but it had accomplished nothing, dashing the old man's hopes.
People always feared aging, especially someone as exalted as him.
In response to Pu Mingyuan's plan, Rothschild spoke.
"How long would it take?"
Pu Mingyuan considered it. "A month if things go quickly. If not... two months? Our president dotes on his eldest son. If we can lure him out and get him under our control, exchanging him for the three astronauts won't be a problem. Besides, even if he refuses, our first lady will agree behind his back."
"A month is too long."
Henry DuPont, seated farther down the table, frowned. He headed a French luxury-goods dynasty and held half of Europe's leather and textile industries in his grasp. He came from an old aristocratic family, unlike those tech nouveau riche.
He said gravely, "We can't wait a month. We can't even wait a week. Never in all our long history have we been this close to immortality."
Pu Mingyuan turned toward him. "Mr. DuPont, do you have a faster way?"
Henry DuPont snorted. "Take control of all three astronauts' families. Make them come