Chapter 63. The Black Cat Attacks at the Auction House...

The metal elevator doors in front of me slowly opened, revealing a small counter on the side and tall, sunglasses-wearing men in black standing guard on either side of the elevator.

Then, looking up, I saw dim lights faintly visible in the dark space in the distance.

You can vaguely see many figures moving around in the darkness, each holding a tray inlaid with a fluorescent ribbon.

Just as Lin Xiaoxiao narrowed her eyes, preparing to carefully observe the surrounding environment of the auction house, a tall figure on her right moved to block her view.

The security guard on the left took out a black mask that covered the upper half of his face from a cabinet next to him, handed it to Lin Xiaoxiao, and coldly reminded her: "The minimum spending requirement on this floor is 30,000 gold coins."

If you don't reach 30,000 gold coins, you'll likely be detained here and forced to 'work'.

This was a sincere suggestion from the lobby manager when we were in the elevator, considering the few dozen gold coins in tip: make sure to complete the minimum spending requirement.

Lin Xiaoxiao had heard the lobby manager explain the rules here beforehand, so she took the mask and put it on her face steadily: "Give me a front-row seat, and then arrange some drinks."

As soon as she finished speaking, the two security guards in front of her exchanged a glance.

He confirmed again in a deep voice: "Miss, a front-row seat requires a minimum of 200,000 gold coins."

A glint of light flashed in Lin Xiaoxiao's right hand. Her index and middle fingers tightened slightly, holding an anonymous savings card containing 200,000 gold coins between them. She handed it to the security guard standing closer to her right: "Find a quiet spot."

The security guard took the anonymous gold card and quickly took it to the counter for verification.

A dozen seconds later, the security guard smiled, bowed respectfully to the side, his left palm facing up, pointing towards the darkness, and his voice softened considerably: "Miss, please. We have arranged an excellent, quiet spot for you, guaranteeing you a 100% view of everything on the auction stage."

Lin Xiaoxiao chuckled. Money really can make the devil turn the millstone. The attitude of the security guards is completely different from before.

Immediately afterwards, a young man wearing a semi-transparent, deep-V black veil robe appeared.

The boy first greeted Lin Xiaoxiao, then walked ahead with a humble yet confident demeanor, guiding her to the designated area.

Lin Xiaoxiao followed the boy, zigzagging around the various booths, and up a short flight of stairs.

Finally, they took their seats in a small, semi-enclosed booth on the right side of the auction stage, which could seat three to five people.

The small booths are set on a platform raised 1.8 meters high, allowing diners to sit directly on the auction stage without having to look up.

A little over a meter away is a huge booth that can seat about twenty people, separated in the middle by several potted plants that are growing exceptionally lushly.

It seems the reason for placing a small booth in this location is that the large booth next door occupies 80% of the platform's area, and they didn't want to waste this extra space.

The boy stood beside Lin Xiaoxiao, holding a menu that looked like a tablet in his hand. He bowed respectfully, his deep V-neck revealing a large expanse of snow-white skin.

The young man spoke with a seductive yet professional tone, his voice both alluring and gentle: "Miss, what would you like to drink?"

A sweet, cloying fragrance wafted over, and Lin Xiaoxiao unconsciously shifted her position, avoiding the boy's chest as he bent over: "Anything is fine, you decide."

Seeing Lin Xiaoxiao avoid him, the young man knew she had no ulterior motives, so he quickly suppressed his own thoughts and stopped giving her flirtatious glances: "Okay."

Under the boy's arrangement, the table in front of him was quickly filled.

It contained: wine, beverages, fruit platters, snacks... and an auction board that emitted a faint red glow in the darkness.

Lin Xiaoxiao had only been sitting down for a few minutes.

The darkness faded, and colorful lights shone everywhere, but not a single light dared to shine on the front-row booths, clearly to protect the privacy of the guests in those booths.

The auction stage was first filled with song and dance performances, followed by animal training, all accompanied by dazzling lights. It looked more like a bar than an auction venue.

Time passed slowly, and when the time on the communicator reached 12 o'clock.

The music stopped instantly, and all the performers on stage quickly left, leaving a space of about 4 square meters in the middle where they rapidly descended.

A tall, thin man wearing a full red sequined suit, with his hair styled in an exaggerated slicked-back look and sunglasses that covered half of his face, rose up from below the auction stage.

He held a brick-encrusted microphone in his hand, snapped his fingers, and the music that had stopped started playing again. He then made several exaggerated and flamboyant gestures: "Dear guests, good evening. The auction is about to begin. I am your old acquaintance, the auction host—Wang Haozi."

Lin Xiaoxiao looked at the host on stage, who was swaying back and forth like a peacock spreading its tail feathers, and her lips twitched uncontrollably.

The underground auction house, resembling a bar, and the auctioneer with exaggerated mannerisms—the owner of this underground auction house certainly has a unique aesthetic sense.

After livening up the atmosphere for a while, Wang Haozi seized the opportunity and quickly got to the point: "I won't waste any more time. Now let's look at the first item..."

The first one is a gold-grade gun-type weapon with a starting bid of 200,000 gold coins.

Second: Gold level...

Just as the crowd below was enthusiastically raising their paddles to auction off the item.

The empty booth next door had been quietly occupied by several people, all wearing masks, with men and women dressed in thin gauze beside them.

Perhaps because they were not far apart, and the people were speaking at a normal volume, Lin Xiaoxiao could hear them clearly:

“Every time I come here, I think, the boss really knows how to have fun. Isn’t this kind of auction house more fun than those fake and serious ones?”

"If your father hears this, he'll beat you again."

"Forget it, I only came to participate in this auction today because the old man was temporarily ordered to do so. Even if he hears about it, I'm not afraid today."

...

As the men spoke, Lin Xiaoxiao's brows furrowed tightly.

Crossing zones? Wasn't that blood-red magic circle in the sky supposed to be an insurmountable barrier? Why are these people able to come and go freely?

Just as she was eavesdropping, a tiny vortex appeared out of nowhere, 30 centimeters away from her right side.

The next second, an elegant figure leaped out of the vortex, her emerald green vertical pupils standing out starkly against the darkness.

It placed its four paws on the soft sofa, first yawning, then stretching in a cat-like backbend, its fluffy bottom sticking up high to relieve the soreness in its muscles. Finally, it sat down next to Lin Xiaoxiao with practiced ease and began licking its paws as if nothing had happened.

Lin Xiaoxiao felt a slight sinking sensation on her right side and turned her head alertly.

But then he saw a familiar little figure and immediately lowered his voice excitedly, asking in a whisper, "Boss Black Cat, what brings you here?"

When Black Panther Terrar heard Lin Xiaoxiao call out the term "Black Cat Boss," he paused in his licking motion and narrowed his eyes speechlessly.

Black cat? She saw its true form last time, so why is she still calling it a black cat?

Lin Xiaoxiao was pleasantly surprised, never expecting to run into an 'acquaintance' here. Just as she was about to continue talking...

The conversation next door interrupted her attempt to continue exchanging pleasantries.

A man with his arm around a girl and groping her was boasting: "Tsk, if you ask me, my old man is still too cautious."

The man on the other side, who had just picked up his wine glass, immediately chimed in, "Young Master Mu, what do you say?"

The man named Mu Shao scoffed, "There's absolutely no need to be afraid of that bluffing Xiao family. Just deal with them directly. Why bother cooperating with that person and creating this isolation magic?"

The more composed man on the other side immediately interrupted, "Young Master Mu, you've had a bit too much to drink. Be careful what you say; walls have ears."

Upon hearing this, the people next door immediately stopped their current topic and changed the subject to casual conversation, waiting for the items they wanted to be auctioned to appear.

When Lin Xiaoxiao, sitting in the next booth, heard the words "Xiao family" and thought of the huge red magic circle above her head, she felt as if she had been struck by lightning.

She remembered why the magic circle seemed familiar.

In the original novel, there is a scene where: [Xiao Weizhi, whose legs were invaded by ghostly energy, became half-crippled. After half a year of recuperation, her physical condition finally began to recover slightly.]

The capital city was inexplicably attacked by terrorists and enveloped by a massive magical array for over a month, dividing the capital into dozens of districts, each of which was unable to communicate with each other during this period.

[Most of the Xiao family's businesses were also inexplicably targeted in this attack by several families, resulting in severe damage to many businesses and a significant reduction in their assets.]

This devastating blow sowed the seeds of a major hidden danger, laying an indelible foundation for the later downfall of the Xiao family; thus, the male protagonist was able to successfully take over the bankrupt Xiao family later on.

Why didn't Lin Xiaoxiao recognize the magic circle immediately?

The reason is that in the original work, this terrorist attack was only described briefly in a few hundred words.

Then came the plot of an SS-level secret realm descending into reality and a monster army attacking the city, which is why she didn't remember it.

In the original novel, Lin Xiaoxiao had a big question in her mind: why was the male protagonist able to swallow up a former top-tier family in just a few years based on his 'own strength'?

Even if the Xiao family goes bankrupt and is destroyed, it's not something a poor boy like the male lead can take over, right?

Now, after hearing what this unknown young master Mu said next door, the doubts can probably be resolved: if someone is deliberately targeting the Xiao family and has repeatedly attacked and annexed them.

Finally, let the male protagonist, this rapidly rising 'combat star,' take over, and then secretly quell the unrest, so that the mastermind behind the scenes can disappear gracefully.

Moreover, Lin Xiaoxiao did not miss a key point in that sentence: that cooperation.

So there's a mysterious person pulling the strings behind the scenes, targeting the Xiao family?

No, she had a strong feeling that there was more to the story than met the eye. The Xiao family was just a side effect, and the mysterious person's purpose was not limited to that.

Just as Lin Xiaoxiao was biting her thumbnail, frowning and deep in thought, a huge machine was brought onto the auction stage.

The machine is 3 meters high, 5 meters wide, and 7 meters long. It is grayish-white in color and covered with various colored patterns. In the middle is a glass house of about 4 square meters, inside which are 3 dirty workers.

Host Wang Haozi pointed at the machine and passionately announced: "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the latest fifth generation - the Experience Coin Extraction Machine. Unlike the previous machines, this machine only requires you to put the professional inside and press a button to automatically extract the professional's experience points. The process is much simpler."

As Wang Haozi spoke, he pressed the extract button.

Immediately afterwards, many tiny, twisted electric currents appeared out of thin air inside the glass house.

The professionals inside floated into the air, with wisps of colorful energy emanating from their bodies.

Inside the glass enclosure, these professionals convulsed rapidly, their faces contorted in agony as they screamed silently, yet not a single sound escaped from within the enclosure.

It is clear that the designers considered this potential problem and specifically added a noise-reducing design.

In the blink of an eye, hundreds of experience coins with a face value of 50,000 were freshly produced and fell into the slots where the small baskets were placed.

The host, Wang Haozi, held up a basket to show the experience coins inside: "The starting price is 20 million gold coins, and each bid must be at least 200,000 gold coins. There are only three 5th generation fighters available this time. If you want one, please raise your bidding paddles."

No sooner had Wang Haozi finished speaking than someone anxiously raised their auction paddle: "21 million!"

Immediately following this was a chorus of bids:

"25 million!"

"30 million."

...

As prices soared, the three machines were auctioned off for 590 million, 610 million, and 700 million gold coins respectively.

One of them was taken by 'Young Master Mu' and his friends next door to Lin Xiaoxiao.

Time passed slowly, and the auction was drawing to a close.

Among the final items auctioned was a cursed item (color-tricolor grade), which was acquired by the neighboring 'Young Master Mu' for a hefty price.

Right after this item was sold, the group next door resumed their eating, drinking, and having fun, as if this was their only goal at the auction, and the experience coin machine was just a side thing.

The black cat's voice suddenly rang in Lin Xiaoxiao's mind: "Find an opportunity to get close to them later, the closer the better."

Lin Xiaoxiao, who hadn't found what she wanted and was about to get up and leave, immediately sat back down upon hearing this and waited for the right opportunity.

Although we don't know what the black cat is planning to do, it must have its reasons.

After waiting for more than three hours, the group next door got tired of playing and prepared to leave.

Lin Xiaoxiao seized the opportunity, picked up the black cat, and pretended to be preparing to leave.

As it was leaving, it cleverly bumped into 'Young Master Mu' among the group, getting right up close, with the black cat's paws touching Young Master Mu's sleeve.

The drunken lackey reached out to protect Young Master Mu, anxiously pushing Lin Xiaoxiao away: "Are you blind?"

Lin Xiaoxiao, holding the black cat, bowed slightly and apologized: "Sorry, it was too dark to see."

Just as the henchman was about to continue cursing...

Wearing a black shirt and black trousers, Mu Shao looked Lin Xiaoxiao up and down, who was holding a black cat. His eyes were somewhat meaningful. He waved away his follower and said, "Forget it. She didn't mean it. How could she be so mean to a beautiful lady?"

Lin Xiaoxiao frowned slightly, suppressing the nausea from the greasiness, nodded to Mu Shao, then hugged the black cat and left without looking back.

Behind her, Mu Shao stood still, his eyes fixed on her departing figure, his fingers stroking his chin with a look of great interest.

While Lin Xiaoxiao pretended to be calm as she left with the black cat in her arms, her forehead and back were actually covered in cold sweat.

As she approached the group, she clearly saw that the black cat had somehow stolen a palm-sized black token covered in red patterns from the young master Mu's "body" (space).

If those people find out their things have been stolen, they might go crazy. Let's get out of here!

Lin Xiaoxiao calmly stepped into the elevator that continued downwards, holding the black cat.

She couldn't find the thing that summoned her on this floor of the auction house. Since she couldn't find it, she could only continue down one floor to the underground mission area.

But this time the elevator took an unusually long time to descend, about twenty minutes.

When the elevator doors opened again.

A gust of cold air blew into the elevator, and Lin Xiaoxiao's neck instantly broke out in goosebumps.

The first thing you see is a modernly decorated hall with a blue color scheme: a transparent glass floor, bright white lights overhead, and staff in gray suits moving around. It looks more like a technology company than an underground mission site.

"Miss, are you here to accept or post a mission?" A female staff member wearing a white shirt and gray skirt greeted Lin Xiaoxiao in the elevator.

Lin Xiaoxiao hugged the black cat tightly and said in a hoarse voice, "Issue the mission."

The female staff member smiled gently and gestured with her hand, saying, "Okay, no problem, please follow me."

Lin Xiaoxiao followed the staff member across most of the mission hall and arrived at a registration desk.

The registration desk is made of ordinary marble and divided into small sections. Each section is equipped with essential office supplies such as computers and printers. The staff sit in the cubicles, silently registering information for the professionals queuing at the counter.

The wall behind the registration desk is covered with a dense array of electronic screens.

The task screens are divided into sections, displaying various task information. This makes it easy for professionals who want to accept tasks to look up and see the information, and then determine which task they need to accept.

Lin Xiaoxiao stood at the registration desk, casually looking around as if it were just boredom while waiting.

But when he looked up and saw the top few tasks on one of the task screens, he had to use all his strength to steady himself so that others wouldn't notice anything amiss.

She was very familiar with the three tasks displayed most prominently on the task screen:

[1. Assassinate Xiao Weizhi, heir of the Xiao family in the capital. Reward: 7.2 billion gold coins, three diamond-grade or higher resources... Requires a class level of 7th rebirth or higher, and a mission reputation score of 80% or higher...]

[2. Kidnapping the Xiao family twins in the capital, reward: 3 billion gold coins...]

[3. Go to the Xiao family in the capital to find something. Reward: 2.8 billion gold coins...]