(4/5)
Lucky Cruise
Chapter 564: Highest bidder wins
“…Are you joking?”
Figaro stared at Wen Jianyan’s face but failed to find a single trace of deception.
He failed.
Wen Jianyan was serious.
“Remember our deal?” Wen Jianyan leaned forward. Under the dim red light, his eyes took on a magnificent hue. “I want to get the [Dead Sea Scrolls].”
“But the [Dead Sea Scrolls] have already been…” As if realizing something, Figaro paused slightly, then suddenly looked up at Wen Jianyan. The boredom and disappointment from earlier were swept away, replaced by endless interest. A secretive smile flitted across his lips: “Ah.”
“Exactly, that ‘ah’.”
Wen Jianyan leaned back lazily.
Ordinary auction items were delivered directly to the anchor’s room the night the bidding ended, just like last night.
However, the high-value, top-grade finale items were only sent out after the entire auction concluded—and the auction lasted for three days.
Once the item was delivered to Oracle, it would inevitably be guarded with the highest level of security. With Wen Jianyan’s ability, trying to get the [Dead Sea Scrolls] under those circumstances would be a pipe dream.
The only window of opportunity was when the [Dead Sea Scrolls] had not yet been sent out.
In a sense, Wen Jianyan didn’t lie to Gentleman. He indeed didn’t plan to intercept it midway—he simply didn’t plan to let the item leave the auction house at all.
But the problem was, there was a reason Oracle only worried about issues during transportation. Forcefully invading the strong-rule area of an SS-rank instance was harder than ascending to heaven; it was almost certainly a death sentence.
However…
The stronger and more uninvadable an existence, the easier it was to dismantle from the inside.
Just like entering the deck from inside the ship was far simpler than invading the ship from the deck.
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[…]
[…………Holy crap.]
[Holy crap!!!! I’m dumbfounded. Bro, you’re playing this big?!]
Figaro looked Wen Jianyan up and down and said slowly:
“You truly are mad.”
“I know.”
Wen Jianyan agreed wholeheartedly.
If he had other choices, he would never resort to this last resort. But the problem was, he neither had enough money to win the bid at the auction nor sufficient physical means to snatch the [Dead Sea Scrolls] from Gentleman, so he could only take a desperate risk.
“But how can you be sure Carl Bell will definitely be willing to make you an auction item?”
Figaro said,
“As far as I know, no human has ever appeared in the auction, right?”
“Indeed.” Wen Jianyan smiled. “But everyone has a weakness, don’t they?”
There were three managers on the Lucky Cruise. From his observation, each had unavoidable weaknesses.
Just like Messwis, the casino manager, would never refuse a high-stakes gamble, and Eaton Ethan couldn’t resist toying with everyone under his own rules, Carl Bell was the same.
Based on Figaro’s description and Wen Jianyan’s own observations, his conclusion was—Carl Bell was a connoisseur.
And a good connoisseur could never refuse a fine collectible.
“However, there’s a small procedural issue here.” Wen Jianyan curled his fingers and knocked on the table. “Strictly speaking, a person can’t sell ‘himself.’ After all, if he really did that, whose account would the money go to in the end?”
“More importantly, I can’t let Carl Bell get suspicious.”
Even with weaknesses, as one of the actual managers of the Lucky Cruise, Carl Bell naturally knew the amount of assets Wen Jianyan possessed—a person with a billion in funds suddenly proposing to sell himself was logically inexplicable.
“So, I need someone with no credibility, someone mercenary, to do this.”
“Which is me.” Figaro touched the brim of his hat with a smile, accepting such an evaluation with peace of mind.
Wen Jianyan: “So, you agree?”
“Of course.” Figaro curved his narrow eyes, a shrewd light flickering in their depths. “A good merchant never refuses a good deal, especially one this interesting.”
The two quickly reached a consensus, smoothly finalized the details, and signed the contract.
“Ready?”
“Wait a moment.” Wen Jianyan took out his phone, typed quickly, and stuffed it back into his pocket. “Okay.”
Figaro picked up the teapot on the side and poured a cup of tea. The dark ochre black tea gurgled into the cup, its rich aroma rising slowly with the steam.
He picked up the cup, took a sip, and sighed:
“Ah… Carl Bell’s black tea is the best I’ve ever had.”
Figaro looked at Wen Jianyan, his gaze cunning, smiling like a fox:
“Would you like some?”
Inside the small iron cage, Wen Jianyan finally managed to find a somewhat comfortable position.
He looked down, examining the chains on his wrists, ankles, and neck—very sturdy. The patterns on them were twisted and eerie, like bloodstains deeply seeped into black iron, feeling exceptionally cold to the touch. Most importantly, he felt all over the chains but couldn’t find a keyhole.
This was not a good sign.
A lock without a keyhole meant it couldn’t be physically picked.
Even though he was prepared for the security in the auction, Wen Jianyan couldn’t help but sigh deeply in his heart.
If there were keyholes, things would be so much simpler.
Speaking of which, the livestream…
Thinking of this, Wen Jianyan raised his hand, trying to open the livestream interface as usual. However, the second before the interface opened, the patterns on the chains suddenly lit up eerily. Dark red light flickered inside the dark cage, and an uncontrollable, intense pain assaulted him.
“…Ugh!”
Wen Jianyan’s body arched abruptly. curled up in the cage, face pale as a sheet, shaking like a sieve.
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[?]
[Wait? What happened just now?]
[Looks to me like the auction house found some way to ban the anchor’s permission to enter the livestream.]
[Holy crap? This instance can do that to this extent?]
[Actually, quite a few high-difficulty instances have restricted areas where items can’t be used more or less, but to be honest, to this extent… directly banning the anchor’s ability to enter the livestream, this is my first time seeing it too.]
[No wonder this auction house dares to auction anchors directly. Seems they really have some capabilities.]
[Oh my god, the anchor might have really played himself this time.]
It took a full few minutes for Wen Jianyan to recover bit by bit.
He lifted his trembling eyelids, gaze landing on the iron bars overhead, and slowly exhaled.
Damn it, that really hurt like hell.
Wen Jianyan considered himself experienced with pain. Although he hated pain, his tolerance was probably not inferior to anyone.
But what he experienced in that instant far exceeded his imagination.
The duration might have been less than half a second, but it felt as long as a century. That terrifying pain, almost bursting through his skull, completely stripped him of the ability to think and act, leaving only a shattered blankness.
Wen Jianyan lowered his eyes, gaze landing on the chains, and gave a bitter smile.
At least he now knew what these patterns were for.
—Not being able to open the livestream meant being stripped of his power as an anchor. He would be unable to use points or any items in his backpack.
However, it wasn’t all bad news.
Wen Jianyan’s gaze shifted slightly to his fingers, still trembling from the phantom pain just now. That bright silver Ouroboros ring was still firmly worn in place—and this was within his expectations. After all, when he first put on this ring, Wen Jianyan had tried hundreds of ways to remove it, but all failed without exception.
As an item capable of imprisoning a god, its bound state might be something even the Nightmare itself could do nothing about.
Wen Jianyan was just gambling big, not actually crazy.
In case he really couldn’t escape from the auction house in the end, there had to be a backup plan.
And he had always been good at utilizing all people or things.
However… no matter how rule-breaking, it was ultimately still an item. As long as it was an item, it would be shackled by the auction house’s chains.
That meant, as long as the chains remained, Wen Jianyan shouldn’t even think about actively using it.
Wen Jianyan began to investigate the cage holding him.
Perhaps because the chain restrictions were too invincible, the auction house wasn’t strict about the selection of the cage—this was just a very ordinary cage. His fingers could easily pass through the gaps to feel the keyhole. As long as he could find a tool, it should be simple to pick open.
He carefully grabbed a corner of the cloth covering the cage, lifted it, and looked out through the gap.
This was a warehouse. There were no windows or doors within sight. The light was very dim; almost most places were hidden in darkness. It was hard to determine exactly how big it was, only seeing boxes of various sizes stacked on each other. Inside should be the auction items.
The [Dead Sea Scrolls] must have been here once, but whether it was still here was hard to say.
After all, Wen Jianyan wasn’t sure if items won at the auction would be transported back here.
However, after he, also a “finale item,” was auctioned off, the answer to this question should become obvious.
Wen Jianyan let go, and the cloth fell back down.
He wasn’t ready to do anything yet.
It wasn’t time.
Lucky Cruise, Floor B2.
Chen Mo suddenly braked, his gaze landing on his phone. His face, usually devoid of emotion, suddenly changed color.
“What?” Qi Qian, sitting at the gambling table, raised his eyes.
“Nothing,” Chen Mo quickly adjusted his emotions, but a hint of anxiety still uncontrollably leaked from his eyes. “If you don’t mind, I need to talk to my other teammates privately.”
Qi Qian didn’t say anything, just nodded. “Go ahead.”
Chen Mo waved to the others. They exchanged glances, and although they didn’t know exactly what happened, they quickly walked over and gathered around.
“What?” Wen Ya’s gaze, hiding worry, fell on Chen Mo’s face. “What happened?”
Chen Mo didn’t speak, just showed his phone to Wen Ya.
It was his points balance interface.
The long string of zeros following the number made people dizzy.
“This is?” Ji Guan leaned his head over, gaze landing on the phone interface, and couldn’t help but be greatly shocked.
“The Guild Master. He transferred almost all his balance to me.”
Chen Mo’s expression and voice were gloomy.
Transferred along with the massive funds was a very short message.
“Manage it well. Have matters to deal with, disappearing for two days, don’t miss me. Don’t do anything dangerous.”
“…Who?”
Su Cheng’s face changed. He stood up abruptly, staring deadly at the reporting guild member, asking.
“Pinocchio.”
The Oracle member said.
“Him?” This matter was truly too absurd. Even Gentleman couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Auction item?”
“It’s true,” the Oracle member answered honestly. “The auction’s public catalog was just updated; there shouldn’t be a mistake.”
“…”
Gentleman’s gaze gradually became grave.
Although this matter was somewhat too ridiculous, he trusted the auction house’s reputation one hundred percent. Since the auction house declared Pinocchio as their item, then the facts should be so.
He frowned, turning to look at Su Cheng inquiringly: “Did you foresee this?”
Su Cheng was expressionless, shaking his head silently.
“Ha,” Gentleman pondered for a long time, then suddenly let out a scoff. “[Dead Sea Scrolls]… didn’t expect he would go to such lengths for this item. Truly unexpected.”
“But he’s probably miscalculated this time.”
Gentleman revealed a gloomy smile.
Whether he could escape was still a question.
Daring to go in just like that, he probably didn’t take this auction house seriously enough.
However, since the other party dared to make such a decision, he had to bear the potential consequences.
“Vice President, are we… participating in the bidding?” The Oracle member asked tentatively.
“Of course.”
Gentleman had recovered his usual dashing demeanor. He nodded, sat back in his original spot, and answered cheerfully, “How could we not participate.”
“Even if he really stole the Dead Sea Scrolls, so what? As long as we get our hands on him personally—think about it, owning that guy completely, how intoxicating that would be.”
Pinocchio.
As an opponent, he was extremely hateful, easily making people hate him to the bone, wishing to flay him and crush his bones, humiliating him severely.
But putting all that aside… he indeed had strength that made people flock to him.
Moreover, he was such a charming fellow.
Whether from a practical perspective or other aspects, completely owning such a strong person, forcing him to do everything one wanted him to do—the pleasure brought by such terrible power was thrilling just to think about.
A dark, malicious gleam flickered in Gentleman’s eyes. He smiled and turned to look at Su Cheng:
“I believe you must be looking forward to it as much as I am, right?”
Su Cheng gave him a deep look, answering only after a long time:
“…Of course.”
Lucky Cruise, Floor B7.
Ding.
The elevator opened.
After tossing a tip to the waiter, Chen Cheng walked out of the elevator, looking around casually.
Although the last operation to Floor B3 was a complete failure for him, shortly before he went to sleep last night, his door was knocked on, and an auction invitation was delivered to his hand.
Clearly, this was some kind of remedy from Wen Jianyan.
Out of pragmatic considerations, Chen Cheng didn’t bother questioning if this invitation was obtained from Dan Zhu—his Guild Master.
After passing through the hall full of eerie paintings, Chen Cheng soon arrived at the heavy doors of the auction house and immediately saw a public notice of auction items posted beside the door.
Chen Cheng raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
He walked up and began to read it carefully.
Line by line, each item was a precious prop. Although there were no detailed introductions, the names alone revealed their high value.
Chen Cheng’s gaze moved slowly downward, suddenly stopping at the very last paragraph.
At the bottom of the catalog were a few lines of new, enlarged, and bolded text.
[SPECIAL ITEM]
[EXTREMELY RARE]
[Item Name: Pinocchio]
[Appearance: A | Rarity: S | Utility: S | Collection Difficulty: SSS]
[Collector Rating: SSS]
[Lucky Cruise Auction’s first human item, listing soon, hurry to buy, highest bidder wins]
Chen Cheng: “…”
Huh?
The item is what?
He stared at those lines of text in disbelief, reading them repeatedly several times, before finally confirming he wasn’t hallucinating.
………………Damn it.
