northernbook Chapter 390 Auction (2)
Chapter 390 Auction (2)
Although Tetsuya wanted to ask the mysterious girl in front of him what the destined person was, the woman beside him spoke up at the right time to continue asking the girl for help, and even dragged Tetsuya and Rin into it.
However, the girl pointed out that while her story might be true, her motives weren't necessarily so simple. In the end, the girl used the excuse that she didn't want herself and her child to be escorted out by security. As the auction was about to begin, the girl warned Tetsuya and Rin not to easily trust others at such auctions, otherwise they could easily be completely deceived. She also told them her name—Vivian.
Vivian left, seemingly heading inside to attend the auction. At that moment, Lycahn arrived at the auction entrance to await their arrival, so the siblings decided not to waste any more time meeting him.
It was clear that Lycahn had also noticed the earlier altercation. After the brother and sister came to his side, they also stated that the two people had infiltrated through illegitimate means, and that there seemed to be some secret involved...
Meanwhile, Lekahn also stated that if the two of them took a liking to anything at the auction, they could bid on it. The mayor had provided sufficient funds, enough for them to purchase the consigned item and then one or two more collectibles.
Just as the two were chatting with Lycaon, an uninvited guest barged in. It was the Ravenlock family member who had been humiliated by Zhe and Hugo earlier. If Zhe remembered correctly, his name was Cassius.
Cassius saw Zhe as soon as he arrived and immediately thought it was a small world. However, he was also wondering where that annoying blond pretty boy who had been following behind Zhe earlier was.
Lycaen repeated the description with a puzzled look, and Zhe looked somewhat embarrassed, saying that it was a long story, but Cassius thought it must be one of his friends.
Seeing that Zhe didn't want to say more, Lycaen naturally didn't say anything either, but Cassius still wouldn't let it go.
"Hmph, I didn't expect someone of your caliber to be able to participate in this auction... If Lord Edmund knew, he would definitely investigate the origin of your invitation!"
However, compared to Cassius's threat, Zhe was more concerned about the Lord Edmund he mentioned, and Zhe subconsciously asked him a question.
Although I never expected the other party to say anything from the beginning, to my surprise, they actually did answer, but they stopped halfway through their sentence.
It wasn't that she realized she had let something slip, but rather that she felt Zhe wasn't qualified to listen to these things and wouldn't understand anyway.
But at least Edmund's physical features were revealed; he had a very noble mark on his forehead that anyone who saw it would remember.
Finally, Cassius left hastily after uttering some harsh words. Lycan also noticed that Cassius was full of hostility towards Zhe, but considering that it was too late, he didn't ask any more questions and took Zhe and Ling into the auction venue.
The two successfully entered the venue with their invitations. The first half of the auction was filled with a dazzling array of items, but none of them were what they had commissioned. However, they did take a liking to a strange yet somewhat comical golden Bombu statue.
Since the mayor was footing the bill for today's expenses, Zhe and Ling were unusually free of financial worries, so they decided to try bidding on it.
Fortunately, there were only two people bidding against them: one was Cassius, who was at odds with Zhe, and the other was a person who covered her body completely, but from the vaguely revealed figure, the person seemed to be a woman.
However, the brother and sister ultimately won the bid, though the final price was much higher than they had expected.
"Brother, do you think she might be a plant hired by the auction?" Ling whispered to Zhe, "You see, that's how it's portrayed in those movies."
"Ring, I've told you, you've been watching too many movies lately," Zhe said helplessly.
But Zhe did feel that the person was a plant, though he didn't delve into that. Instead, he was more concerned about the mysterious person's true identity.
After all, Zhe felt a strange sense of familiarity with that person, and at this moment, the mysterious person that Zhe cared about entered a room and took off his hood.
Kiana revealed her true form, and after removing her hood and mask, she let out a long sigh of relief. Being completely suffocated under the hood and mask for so long had been awful.
The captain, who was standing nearby, quickly stepped forward and handed Kiana a towel to wipe away the sweat that had accumulated on her body.
"I told you there was no need to cover yourself up so tightly, now you know how hot it is."
"There's no other way, after all, I'm a missing person now, it wouldn't be good for me to swagger around in public like this."
"Then why did you insist on disappearing in the first place? Now look what happened."
The captain is attending this auction on behalf of the Kaslana family. Although it is no secret among the upper class that the Kaslana family is wealthy, they are still one of the families that funded the establishment of New Elidu, so they should be given the respect they deserve.
The Sheriff's Department was affected by the previous Bollinger incident and is currently under internal investigation, with the current director, Durandal, being the focus of particular attention.
In addition to Kiana's disappearance, and the fact that other family members were not interested in the auction, it wouldn't be good to directly refuse the auction that was closely related to TOPS. Therefore, Durandal had no choice but to send the captain, the Kaslana family's prospective son-in-law, to represent them.
Kiana showed great interest after hearing about this, so she disguised herself and followed the captain in.
As for why she's completely covered up, Kiana explained that it's precisely this kind of mystery that creates the greatest sense of surprise when the truth is revealed.
Well, another person who watches too many movies.
In short, the one who just bid against Zhe and the others for that golden Bomb statue was Kiana. The reason she bid was because she found it interesting, and since she didn't have much money to begin with, she also wanted to drive up the price and make the Ravenlock family bleed more money.
They were surprised that Zhe and his group were so persistent. After Cassius made his bid, they gritted their teeth and raised the price again, eventually winning the gold Bombo statue at a price far exceeding their expectations.
The captain and Kiana's target this time was actually the Ghost Core. Durandal had received the news long before the core was stolen.
The mayor, however, knew that asking the Kaslana family for help during such a sensitive time would arouse unnecessary suspicion, which was why he didn't entrust them with the task. Durandal understood the mayor's concerns, so before departing, he tasked the captain and Kiana with minimizing the number of competitors in the auction.
Given their available funds, it would be unwise to directly participate in the bidding for the final item; it would be better to take a step back and use up more of their competitors' funds upfront.
After all, no one stipulates that each person can only bid on one item. There are so many items in this auction, including some quite good collectibles and even rare items. How could those people possibly resist taking the opportunity to bid on them?
Therefore, the captain and Kiana's mission is quite clear: to participate in all the bidding among their competitors and use their limited funds to raise the final transaction price as much as possible.
Kiana didn't expect Tetsuya and Rin to get so carried away, bidding without thinking, which ended up making things worse.
But it's alright. At worst, Kiana can use some tricks to make her money even more powerful, then forcefully bid for the artifact with the core of the beast, and then secretly hand it over to the mayor.
The final item in the first half of the auction was a posthumous work by an artist, which was also the item that the woman who had sneaked in earlier had been desperately requesting.
The item was ultimately won by Vivian with a bid of one billion denarii. After all, no matter how much the auctioneer raved about it, the item's final value wouldn't reach one billion. Moreover, Vivian had stated that she would buy the item regardless of the bids from others.
Seeing Vivian's extravagant spending, the others speculated that she was some rich young lady out experiencing life, spending so much money without batting an eye. Since the item in question wasn't particularly valuable, they simply did Vivian a favor and let her have it.
The first half of the auction ended, and the people in the hall began to leave. Zhe and Ling, who came out of the hall, received the golden Bangbu statue they had been longing for. Just then, Kiana appeared beside them.
"Aren't you afraid that with such a high bid, you won't be able to win the bid for that item in the second half?"
Kiana's androgynous voice, disguised as male, rang in their ears, and the three, including Lycaon, immediately looked warily at Kiana, who was hiding her appearance under her cloak.
At this moment, cold sweat broke out on Lycaon's face. Until Kiana spoke up and revealed her whereabouts, Lycaon had not sensed Kiana's presence at all.
More importantly, Kiana mentioned that item, which made the three of them suspect that Kiana was intentionally referring to the target of their mission.
"We apologize, we did not understand your meaning. Would you be willing to reveal your true face and explain it to us properly?"
Lycahn gestured for the two to be quiet, saying he would handle the conversation first.
“Let’s skip revealing our true forms,” Kiana said, shaking her head. “I know your purpose and who commissioned you, but rest assured that our interests are aligned and I won’t hinder you from obtaining that Demon Core.”
Upon hearing this, Lycaon instantly entered battle mode. His muscles tensed, and his prosthetic leg was ready to fight at any moment, with its components emitting a faint humming sound.
Kiana naturally noticed Lycan's state and the wariness of Tetsuya and Rin. She sighed and then reassured the three of them, explaining that she was representing the Kaslana family at the auction.
Upon hearing the words "Kaslana family," the three immediately relaxed considerably, but this did not mean they would completely let their guard down.
After all, it was no secret among the upper class that the Kaslana family was not wealthy. As someone who had dealt with this class for many years, Lycahn naturally knew this. He also knew that the organizers of the auction had indeed sent an invitation to the Kaslana family in order to give them face.
But Lycaon remembered that the captain was representing the ship, so why would this woman claim to be representing the Kaslana family at the auction?
Just then, the captain came over and invited the three of them into his room. He then explained the situation to them. In short, the mysterious person in front of them was indeed representing the Kaslana family to attend the auction, just like him. However, his friend did not like to show his face in public, which was why he dressed like this to attend the auction.
As for how she knew that Zhe and his group's goal was the Ghost Core, it was quite simple: the task Durandal had given them was to help the mayor successfully bid for the Ghost Core.
Since participating directly in the auction was not feasible due to limited funds, I was thinking of getting those hidden competitors to spend some funds in advance from elsewhere. Unexpectedly, I ended up dragging my teammates down in the first half of the game.
"So she actually came to apologize to us?" Zhe frowned and pinched his nose. "But there was no need to be so mysterious, was there? We thought we had encountered an enemy."
"There's nothing we can do. After all, the Ghost Core is a classified item, and very few people know of its existence. It wasn't appropriate to say it outright outside just now," the captain shrugged.
Lycahn asked, "Speaking of which, may I ask how the Kaslana family learned about the theft of the Demon Core? My master should have suppressed the news immediately."
"Have you forgotten that the security personnel at that research institute include members of the Kaslana family?" the captain said. "After all, this matter is of great importance. The member secretly reported it to Durandal immediately after the theft of the Ghost Core. Of course, the mayor himself also knew about it."
However, given the Kaslana family's current high profile, the mayor and Durandal tacitly refrained from directly facilitating cooperation, instead opting for this indirect approach to provide assistance.
“I see,” Lykan said knowingly. “Now that’s the truth, Captain, are there any individuals or families at the scene that we should be concerned about?”
"Trying to extract intelligence from us?"
"Yes, after all, according to you, we are allies. Moreover, this matter is of great importance, so please forgive me for overstepping my bounds."
“It’s alright,” the captain said magnanimously. “I’ll be frank: the Ravenlock family is the one we need to pay the most attention to in this auction.”
"Oh? Can you tell me why?"
"Because they, or rather, the current leader of the Ravenlock family, Hartman Ravenlock, may have already cooperated with the Praise Society and learned the secret of the Beast Core."