Chapter 167 : Chapter 167
Chapter : 167
Isn't doing intelligence work this shoddy just screwing over your teammates?!
The man wanted to curse.
However, he no longer had the chance to scream abuse. The sounds of fighting from their side had already alerted the auction house, and quite a few people dressed in patrol uniforms were rushing in this direction. The man knew that if he didn't leave now, he wouldn't be able to leave later.
He glanced at me one more time, somewhat regretful that he hadn't achieved his goal. Since he failed this time, the auction house would likely become vigilant, and it wouldn't be so easy to make another attempt.
Tsk, just what is the intelligence squad doing? They didn't even get such important intel right!
The man threw his dagger in my direction, and while I was dodging, he turned and ran.
I dodged the dagger and didn't try to stop the man, practically letting him go free. After all, his real target wasn't me anyway.
I should go back and beat up that damn fatty to vent my anger. It's all because his identity attracts too much attention. Why did he have to climb so high for no reason?
Watching the patrol team rushing toward me, I couldn't help but get a headache.
Great, now I have to think of a way to explain why someone tried to kill me in the auction house, and how I managed to deal with it so calmly.
And this...
I threw the railing in my hand aside. An ordinary person really couldn't pull this thing out of the ground. No matter how you thought about it, it was impossible for that damn fatty to do it.
So annoying, just let it all be destroyed.
I watched the patrol team rushing over, shouting, "Mr. Riley, you..."
The next second, amidst the stunned gazes of the patrol team, the fatty dressed in the Senior Manager's outfit nimbly jumped onto the windowsill, smashed the glass with a punch, and leaped out—
"Hey, Mr. Riley—" One of the patrol members wanted to grab the corner of the fatty's clothes but was stopped by the person beside him.
"That's not Mr. Riley."
Several patrol members threw themselves at the window and looked down. Sure enough, they saw a flash of a red cape rising. Seemingly sensing the patrol team's gaze, the man wearing a half-face feather mask turned back and waved at them.
Chestnut hair arced beautifully behind him, and immediately after, the patrol team felt a wave of heat hitting their backs.
"Boom—"
I withdrew my hand, muttering regretfully to myself, "Oh my, I wanted to warn them it was about to explode, but unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough."
As I spoke, my gaze swept over the equally dumbfounded crowd by the roadside. Locking eyes with one person who had 'Blood Mist' above their head, I blinked at him and pressed my index finger against my lips.
Then, I vanished from the spot.
Leaving the 'Blood Mist' member hiding in the crowd in a state of shock and uncertainty.
That was... Joker?
Why would he appear here? And that gesture he made just now... why did it feel like it was directed at me?
That member's CPU spun rapidly, then crashed.
On the other side, having used the Substitute Doll's active skill to swap positions to a corner, then quickly canceling the acting skill to revert to the appearance of [Good Day], and finally remotely recalling the Substitute Doll—completing this series of pretentious vanishing acts—I breathed a sigh of relief.
NPC identities couldn't be stacked while in a player identity. Fortunately, I had established the 'Joker' NPC identity earlier, allowing the acting skill to treat 'Joker' as an independent individual for roleplay.
Otherwise, I would have really messed up.
Now that I've drawn another wave of aggro for 'Joker' from the Augreer family, that Queen probably hates Joker to death.
Not only did he kill her second son, but he also repeatedly caused destruction at her family's auction house.
Oh my, I reckon the bounty on Joker is going to go up again.
Having been wanted in Bartovita for the better part of a year, I was almost getting used to seeing my own wanted posters.
***
Night fell.
Slanlipa was brightly lit by various alchemical items. The people who had been busy all day showed no intention of going home; instead, it seemed even livelier than during the day.
Outside the Augreer Auction House, the carriages were 'slow'—jammed tight by merchants and nobles coming and going. The crowd was surging; everyone was here to attend tonight's auction.
I activated my acting skill, changed into the Joker identity, and sat atop the highest clock tower in Slanlipa City, overlooking the entire city.
I could clearly see the members of 'Blood Mist' disguised as various identities mixed in the crowd. However, very few could directly infiltrate the auction house; most could only squat outside.
But this Augreer Auction House is quite impressive. I blew it up this morning—although I didn't use many Fire Emblems this time, I still blew a hole in half a floor—yet they can still hold the auction as usual at night?
How many mages and alchemists did they have to mobilize to repair this!
I sighed, suddenly feeling a bit of resentment towards the rich. How does the saying go? Resenting the rich isn't an emotion, it's an attitude towards life.
I watched from the clock tower for a while until a person dressed as a noble, surrounded by servants like stars around the moon, appeared in my field of vision. Only then did I straighten up slightly.
Even though the other party had done some disguising, having met him before, I recognized him at a glance.
Fitch.
The Sixth Prince of Bartovita, the target 'Blood Mist' was eyeing.
I glanced at the 'Blood Mist' members mingled in the crowd on the other side. Sure enough, I saw that their attention was basically focused on the newcomer.
Perhaps one couldn't feel it when in the midst of it, but looking down from my position, these people's intentions were a bit too obvious.
Of course, it was also possible that because I was looking for clues with the answer already in hand, it felt even more obvious.
How interesting.
The 'Blood Mist' people fought with me this morning, presumably for that Senior Manager identity. I wonder what other actions they will take after their operation failed this morning?
They wouldn't change from causing trouble inside the auction house to causing trouble outside, would they?
I propped my chin up, watching the scene below. Until Fitch entered the auction house, those 'Blood Mist' people didn't make a move. I raised an eyebrow.
not making a move now, so are they really going to act inside the auction house? Or act after the auction ends?
I thought for a moment, pushed back with my palm, and leaped lightly. With a few small jumps, I descended from the clock tower and landed steadily on the ground.
At the same time, Yuchir, located in the crowd, looked up. He glanced imperceptibly in the direction of the clock tower and narrowed his eyes.
If he wasn't mistaken, there seemed to be a person up there just now?
***
"Mmph—!"
"Thud."
I skillfully tied the person up with hemp rope, threw him into the grassy bushes in the corner, and gagged him with the cravat from his chest.
After confirming that he wouldn't wake up for four or five hours and wouldn't attract the attention of nearby patrols, I used the acting skill to transform into the appearance of this middle-aged man.
Adjusting the haute couture formal wear on my body, I nodded with satisfaction.
It seems the unlucky guy whose identity I borrowed this time is a minor noble with decent family background and status, and he has a bit of money.
I fished out the invitation from his pocket, placed it properly into my own breast pocket, and conveniently took out [Merlin's Pocket Watch] from my backpack.
The antique yet luxurious pocket watch, paired with the gold chain hanging outside the pocket, looked very elegant.
...Of course it was elegant. Although Merlin looked unkempt, he was indeed born of old nobility, the kind of super nobility with over three thousand years of heritage. His family history could be traced back to the early days of the establishment of the Empire of Light.
A family that wasn't like that couldn't have cultivated the so-called 'Greatest Mage in History'; learning magic costs a lot, a lot of money.
I casually removed a tie from a costume in my backpack. It was a design similar to a bolo tie, with a beautiful blue gem set in the center clasp, and two woven cords resembling vines hanging down, which I tied into a bow.
Turning around and walking out of the dark alley, I seamlessly blended into the stream of people, moving forward slowly with the queue entering the venue.
"Sir, please show your invitation." When the line reached me, the attendant guarding the door bowed slightly.
I glanced up at the attendant, took out the invitation from my pocket, and handed it over. The attendant respectfully took the invitation, opened it to check the unique anti-counterfeiting mark, and after confirming it was correct, he didn't return the invitation to me. Instead, he sized up my appearance and attire.
I pretentiously took out the pocket watch, pressed the button, glanced at the time, and acted impatient: "Can you be a bit faster? You're too slow. Does it take this long to confirm an invitation?"
"Apologies, sir." The attendant apologized immediately, then asked, "Sir, may I ask where you are from—?"
I lifted my chin. "The Ken family."
The attendant matched the surname with the face, respectfully handed the invitation back to me with both hands, stepped aside, and made a welcoming gesture:
"Please forgive us. Because the auction house was attacked by unidentified persons this morning, the strict checks are to ensure the safety of all lords. Please enter."
I glanced at him indifferently, snorted coldly, and walked inside. The attendant, having received such treatment, looked completely normal, not feeling there was any problem at all.
Sure enough, being an arrogant and domineering person feels the best.
As soon as I walked into the auction house, an attendant responsible for the interior welcomed me. After checking my invitation, he led me to a small booth.
Surrounded by green plants as partitions, and perhaps due to a separate soundproofing formation, I felt the surroundings quiet down a degree after sitting down, leaving only the melodious music played by the orchestra on both sides.
I scanned the area and found that apart from two 'Blood Mist' members mixed in among the attendants, I didn't see people in other positions for the time being.
It seems they plan to act after it ends.
I adjusted my sitting posture, found a comfortable position, leaned lazily against the back of the chair, fished a goblet out of my backpack, poured myself a glass of drink, and swirled it occasionally to pretend I was tasting wine.
Although I sneaked into the auction today mainly out of curiosity about what collection items could be displayed after Augreer made such a big fuss.
As for the City Lord's son, I had long since informed Isabel. Revenge for the Giant Dragon race wasn't my turn to take, and I was happy to be at leisure.
However, even without urgent matters, I couldn't be too casual. After all, the Augreer family was still a 'red-named monster' to me.
Being surrounded by a bunch of red names while leisurely drinking would make me a real fool.
I took a sip of the Berry Fruit juice, my expression contented.
Suddenly feeling a gaze fall on me, I paused, pretended to turn my head inadvertently, and saw that familiar face again.
You again, Yuchir.
Realizing the other party was watching me, the expression on my face didn't change. I raised my glass remotely in Yuchir's direction, performing the etiquette of a stranger perfectly.
Yuchir withdrew his gaze and didn't continue staring in my direction. I breathed a sigh of relief imperceptibly, pinched a fruit from the small table in the booth, and threw it into my mouth.
Tsk tsk, I have to say the Augreer family's service is indeed good. I've only been to their family's auction house twice, and the quality of the fruit I ate each time was very good. Is this the quality control of a big family?
If I didn't know the Augreer family smuggled and sold demonic beasts, I would have praised them, saying no wonder their business is doing well.
After waiting for a while, mainly for all the important guests to be seated, the auction officially began.
This kind of auction didn't have a catalog of lots, so I didn't know what I would see next. While eating the free fruit platter sent by the auction house, I observed the other guests.
Below the booths were the ordinary seats. Without obstructions, it was easy for me to observe the NPC titles above their heads.
A pile of flashy noble names dazzled my eyes.
The first lot was a magic scroll crafted by a Level 87 Grand Mage. It contained a defensive spell that could withstand attacks below Level 60, with three uses.
For great nobles with substantial family assets, this kind of defensive magic scroll wasn't as good as a defensive item. Items that could detect attacks and activate automatically were even better, so this scroll form of defensive magic wasn't very popular.
Only small nobles and small merchants who lacked combat power at home would be interested.
Sure enough, only people in the ordinary seats below participated in the bidding, while no one in the booth area where I was, or the private room area further up, took action.
I was even less interested. I was almost Level 74 myself; a defensive scroll that could only withstand attacks below Level 60 was about the same as waste paper to me.
I yawned, propped up my head, and continued watching.
The first few lots held little attraction for me. They were either things I couldn't use or things I had better versions of in my backpack.
Don't underestimate how substantial the small treasury of someone who used to be the ruler of a kingdom is.
Midway through, several Beastman beauties and handsome men appeared. Treating people as auction items was a common operation for the Augreer family. In the human empires, Beastmen had a low status, so being put on the auction table wasn't anything strange.
I sighed, took out the bidding paddle beside me, and bought all these Beastmen.
I couldn't do too much, but helping one count as one. Anyway, the identity I was using this time was a wealthy one; buying a few more Beastmen would at most get me labeled as a lecher by others.
Speaking of which, didn't those few Novice Villages still lack a few NPCs? These Beastmen could be sent to the Novice Villages to deal with players after some training.
I casually raised a paddle, which had the number 10,000 gold coins written on it.
The auctioneer on stage was excited. "This gentleman has raised the bid by ten thousand gold coins. It is now one hundred and twenty-two thousand gold coins. Are there any other guests who wish to bid?"
Yes, this was a paddle that raised the price by ten thousand gold coins each time.
Another noble sitting next to me couldn't help but cast an indescribable look in my direction.
Where did this noble come from? Every bid increase is in units of ten thousand, and he doesn't let go of any beautiful ones. How lustful must he be?
I crossed my legs, not caring at all about how many gold coins I spent. No matter how much I spent, I wouldn't actually pay this much money to Augreer in the end.
I could use the skill I obtained in Mandiper earlier.
[Touch of Midas]
Description: After using the skill, you can transform any unit into gold by touch. The duration is determined by the MP consumed and the target's level.
There is a certain chance of causing your own willpower to decrease and suffering a backlash. 'Trading with the False God Morgan, this is the price!'
With this skill, I have as many gold coins as I want. The only difference lies in how long these gold coins remain in the state of gold coins.
For example, I just handed a box of gold coins created by [Touch of Midas] to the auction house. As soon as I turn around and leave the auction house, that box of gold coins will turn back into its original form.
Me: Please respectfully call me Counterfeit-man.
I bought all the Beastmen among the auction items, but I didn't bid on the other lots. After all, the gold coins I paid weren't real. It was fine to scam the Augreer family who sold Beastmen as goods, but it would be unethical to scam other sellers.
"Next, is our auction house's treasure of the shop—"
The auctioneer waved his hand, and two glamorous attendants pushed the lot up, solemnly pulling open the curtain covering the item to reveal the treasure underneath.
Dragon scales and dragon blood, carefully wrapped up.
"I believe some sharp-eyed guests have already discovered what this lot is!" The auctioneer's voice rose and fell in cadence. "That's right—precious alchemy materials, multi-purpose complete dragon scales, and three bottles of dragon blood!"
"I believe everyone is well aware of the rarity of dragon scales and dragon blood. Dragon scales and dragon blood have always been items that have a market but no price.
And the few dragon scales and dragon blood brought out by our auction house this time are not meant to fool everyone with mixed-blood dragon race items, but were taken from a real, pure-blooded giant dragon!"
The whole venue was in an uproar. I was very calm. I observed that a small number of people in the overhead private boxes and booths didn't have much reaction, probably because they already knew that the Augreer Auction House sold dragon scales and dragon blood once a month, so they weren't surprised at all.
Calling it the 'treasure of the shop,' I wonder how many times this phrase has been used.
"Because the quantity is not large, these dragon scales and dragon blood will be sold as a set. The highest bidder will take home all the dragon scales and dragon blood!"
"Starting bid at 300,000 gold coins, with each increase no less than 10,000 gold coins!"
This price immediately scared off a small portion of people, but more people quickly raised their bidding paddles the moment the auctioneer's voice fell.
"350,000!"
"480,000!"
"540,000..."
"..."
Every time something related to giant dragons appeared at an auction, the sounds of bidding would rise one after another. The climbing prices also demonstrated how attractive parts from a giant dragon were among the human race.
Giant dragons were few in number. Actually, the more powerful a creature was, the harder it was to conceive offspring. As the individuals with the strongest single-entity strength, giant dragons were a race that was extremely difficult to propagate.
Most giant dragons now lived in seclusion in Dragon Valley and rarely came out, so it was very difficult for the outside world to obtain those insignificant small parts from their bodies.
However, the small parts from the giant dragon race were excellent alchemy materials, which resulted in a situation where once these dragon scales and dragon blood appeared, they would be madly snatched up by a group of people.
I hadn't planned to participate, but when the price reached 3.2 million, the largest private box upstairs also called out a price, "6 million gold coins."
This single breath added 2.8 million gold coins, almost doubling the price, making everyone's scalp tingle.
I almost thought the currency unit used by the auction house this time wasn't gold coins but silver coins.
Is there such a way of bidding?
I looked back. The entrance to that kind of private box wasn't in the same place as the entrance for us booth guests, so I didn't know who was sitting in that private box.
But thinking that Fitch was present today, Augreer probably wouldn't leave the largest private box to someone else and let their employer sit in a small private box, right?
That should be Fitch.
The bidding sounds at the scene paused. Those who frequently attended auctions knew that people who could enter private boxes with good views, good environments, and separate soundproofing were either rich or noble, and mostly not to be trifled with.
To continue bidding, one had to weigh whether they would offend these nobles who could enter the private boxes.
For a moment, the scene quieted down.
The auctioneer also knew who was in that private box. suppressing the astonishment in his heart, he shouted proficiently: "Six million going once, six million going twice, is there anyone..."
Before he could finish his sentence, I raised the paddle symbolizing an increase of ten thousand gold coins again.
"Uh." The auctioneer was stunned. "This gentleman raises by 10,000, the price is now 6.01 million gold coins."
Immediately after, the private box called a new price.
"8 million."
I didn't wait for the auctioneer to ask, directly raising another 10,000 gold coins.
"10 million."
"10.01 million."
"12 million."
"12.01 million."
It wasn't until the price soared to twenty-eight million gold coins that I let up, stopping my desperate way of bidding. The people sitting next to me all looked at me with shocked eyes.
This is a brave warrior!
Driving up the price against the top-floor private box, and by over ten million gold coins at that—is he really not afraid that the big shots on the top floor will come looking for trouble?
Naturally, I knew why these people were looking at me, but I felt refreshed at this moment. Having scammed Augreer and Fitch out of a sum, I felt that even the white-bearded auctioneer on stage had become pleasing to the eye.
I haven't forgotten that on my first day transmigrating to this world, I was almost auctioned off as goods by the Augreer people.
They say it's never too late for a gentleman to take revenge, but I, Yan Yunqing, am not a gentleman. A revenge already taken needs to be taken a few more times for my heart to feel at ease.
The old auctioneer wiped away his sweat and finally banged the gavel three times, selling the item to their own people at a price that had flipped several times over. Although this matter had nothing to do with him, as the auctioneer, he would definitely be troubled after the auction ended.
Especially since the person who bought the item was from the main Augreer family...
Feeling his calves trembling a bit, fortunately, the next lot was pushed up. The old auctioneer barely managed to shift his attention to the new lot.
"The next lot, cough." Noticing his voice was a bit dry, the old auctioneer cleared his throat and spoke again: "The next lot is a magical treasure."
"It is a treasure containing the power of a god who fell thousands of years ago. It is said that owning it gives one a chance to possess the power of that god."
"It is also the highlight of our day—Morgan's Heart."
As the old auctioneer's rising and falling voice landed, I also sat up straight, looking up in surprise at the item pushed onto the stage and placed on the surface.
It was a black chess piece wearing a crown, similar to the 'King' piece in western chess.
—[Morgan's Heart].