Chapter 40 Underground Trading Ground 3

Lin Yao's fingertips tapped on the computer screen, and the several messages he sent to Chen Yan fell into oblivion, without even a read receipt popping up.

He stood at the stairs leading from the fourth floor to the fifth floor and glanced at his watch. There was less than half an hour left before the auction began.

"No more waiting." He muttered to himself, put the laptop back into his pocket, and his fingertips unconsciously rubbed the herbal patterns on the sachet, and put the sachet back into the storage ring.

Since Chen Yan's final destination is the auction house on the ninth floor, it would be better to go there and wait. Maybe Chen Yan has already run there and is hiding.

As you go down layer by layer, the atmosphere of each layer is changing, and it feels like it is on a different level from the first four layers.

On the fifth floor, there is no pungent smell of disinfectant, but instead a slight hum from the flow of data.

There were no physical products on the stalls, only a suspended holographic screen flashing a faint blue light, with encrypted information scrolling on the screen.

Things like the coordinates of an abandoned starship, the cracking key for an encrypted channel, and even the private communication records of a certain large family.

Most of the stall owners are hooded hackers, their fingertips flying across the virtual keyboards, communicating in code throughout the transaction. Occasionally, someone takes off their gloves, revealing the neural interface implanted in their wrist, the metal ring on the interface still hot.

The goods here are hidden deep in the code. Once a transaction is completed, no physical trace will be left except for the extra encrypted files in the optical computer.

The people here were also more vigilant. When they saw an unfamiliar figure, they knew it was Lin Yao!

He simply passed by and took a quick look, but those people turned sideways and covered themselves like mimosa plants, as if they were facing a flood or a beast.

Even though Lin Yao continued to walk without looking around, the group of people did not relax their guard against him.

Just as I walked down the last step of the stairs to the sixth floor, I heard the crackling sound of metal collision. This is the technology of mechanical prosthesis and human body modification.

On the exhibition stand, a robotic arm glowed with cold light. A technician in a white coat was pointing a laser pointer at the energy diversion channel of a prosthetic body.

"This one is compatible with 70% of the Sentinels' physiques, and the neural connection delay is controlled within 0.3 seconds. It's much more precise than those pieced-together weapon parts."

The cyborg in the corner took two tentative steps; his mechanical legs fitted him perfectly, exuding a cold, technological aesthetic.

The bizarre and dazzling things on the sixth floor seemed down-to-earth amidst the collision of metals. The stall owners were very enthusiastic and wished that every passerby would come into their shop to have their items modified.

Lin Yao: That’s not necessary!

He dodged left and right, using the ability he had when he was in high school cafeteria, running quickly to the cafeteria and dodging accurately, to escape from the group of vendors, and only felt completely safe when he reached the seventh floor.

Tiny specks of light float in the air here, which are the visible form of energy dissipation, forming a wonderful echo with a layer of raw ore.

The containers on the stalls are all specially made energy isolation boxes, which store liquid star core energy and emit flowing light in the dark environment.

Occasionally, there are sounds of buying and selling here. After all, liquid star core energy takes a lot of effort to purify, and the price is there. Those who come to buy it are either rich or noble, so naturally there are not that many people.

The eighth layer is a mysterious transitional layer. It has neither the energy fluctuations of the seventh layer, the noise of the sixth layer, nor the data flow sounds of the fifth layer.

It was quiet, a comfortable quiet.

The stalls were very sparse, and behind each stall sat a person in a black suit, with the light screen in front of him showing only one line of words: Pass.

What is sold here are passes to special channels.

For example, permission to enter a planet, an invitation to a top auction, or even a temporary access code to a family laboratory.

Lin Yao has no idea what these are exactly. Even the things on the fifth floor, he could only guess.

All transactions here are based on tokens.

Someone pushed a badge engraved with star tracks in front of the stall owner. The other party glanced at it and stood up to lead the way without saying a word the whole time.

The two men's leather shoes made a crisp but not harsh sound on the metal floor, as if they were playing a lonely and proud song, and every step was declaring a certain privilege.

This is completely different from the shady data transactions on the fifth floor. People there would like to hide themselves in the data flow, while the traders here are so frank that they almost show off.

They were not afraid of being seen by Lin Yao, because there were only a few people who could produce the token of trust. The token of trust was a footnote to one's identity and a threshold that ordinary people could never reach in their entire lives.

The comfort here does not come from the soft environment, but from an unspoken rule: those who can trade on the eighth floor are all family members.

Their show-off is hidden in the details of the tokens and in their calmness during transactions, like a silent declaration: We make the rules.

-

So when Lin Yao met the greasy man in fine clothes who came out of the cake box on the eighth floor, he felt that it was a bit unexpected.

After seeing two transactions at the stall on the eighth floor, Lin Yao lost all curiosity.

After all, the steps are exactly the same: hand over the token, then say "please" and go in to trade.

The only thing that piqued Lin Yao's interest was what they were trading, but unfortunately it was impossible for him to see it, so he walked very attentively.

Because of this, he was able to avoid the bright pink that was coming towards him.

The man turned around and was talking to someone. Three buttons of the collar of his bright pink shirt were open, revealing a glowing energy tattoo on his collarbone. He then confronted Lin Yao face to face.

Lin Yao avoided the face-to-face collision, but the opponent moved too quickly and their shoulders still collided.

He felt his shoulder hit a hard wall. The impact made him stumble back three steps, and his lower back hit the edge of the stall behind him, making him gasp in pain.

"hiss--"

Lin Yao thought to himself: The sentry's bones are really hard! He must be hurt by the collision!

“Oh my god!!!” The other party also gasped, holding his shoulder and taking half a step back, his brows instantly twisted into a knot, obviously he was also hit hard.

The cry of pain lost all its dandy air and sounded like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, with a bit of instinctive embarrassment.

Lin Yao rubbed his numb shoulder and looked up to see the other party walking towards him. The pain on his face had not yet faded, but he apologized first: "Sorry, sorry!"

His reaction was so fast that Lin Yao was stunned. The person in front of him was still covering his shoulder, his bright pink shirt was pulled even more askew, and the energy tattoo on his collarbone flashed due to emotional fluctuations.

However, those familiar phoenix eyes no longer had any frivolity, but were filled with genuine apology: "I was just talking to someone and got distracted. I didn't look at the road. Did I hurt you?"

Lin Yao shook his head and pressed his fingertips on his still aching shoulder. His lower back was too sensitive, and although it hurt, he didn't rub it in public and endured it: "It's okay."

The other party was relentless and took another half step forward. "I think you hit your lower back. Is it serious? There's a medical station on the eighth floor. I'll have my assistant..."

"Really, there's no need." Lin Yao shrank back, avoiding his overly enthusiastic approach.

The contrast between this man before and after is too great. Before, he looked like a well-dressed greasy guy, but now the upbringing engraved in his bones has removed that greasy look, making him look like a primary school student who has done something wrong, with sincerity in his eyes almost overflowing.

The other party finally stopped, but still frowned and looked at his shoulder, then looked at his lower back, then he stood up and buttoned up his open shirt twice, finally making it less ostentatious.

Then he waved his hand, and the assistant next to him, who was talking to him and caused the accident and arrived at the scene in time after the accident, handed him a business card swiftly.

"I'm so sorry." He stuffed the business card into Lin Yao's hand.

"This is my business card with my private communication code on it. Consider it compensation for you. If you encounter any problems that you can't solve in the future, send me a message. As long as it is within my ability, I will definitely help you."

Lin Yao held the black business card of excellent texture. There was a gold-embossed name on it: Ye Lang. Apart from that, there was no other information. It was simple and exuded a low-key luxury.

The surname "Ye" made Lin Yao's heart move slightly, and he immediately thought of Ye Heng, wondering if the two were related.

After writing down the name, he was about to return the business card.

Lin Yao was just about to say, "No! It was just a bump on the shoulder, not a broken bone!", when a sour female voice suddenly rang out from behind him.

"Master Lang, is this the urgent matter you mentioned? I've been waiting for you on the ninth floor for quite some time, and you're here 'exchanging feelings' with someone?"

Lin Yao turned around and saw a woman in a pink tight skirt standing not far away.

There was an undisguised scrutiny on her delicately made-up face, and her eyes, like a hook, swept back and forth between him and Ye Lang.

Even though Lin Yao's disguise was still there, this gaze seemed to be more aggressive than mental power.

She was the woman who came with Ye Lang, and Lin Yao had seen her outside.

Although it was just two backs at that time, both of them were pink and came down from the pink Star Dream, which really left a special impression on me.

Ye Lang originally took her to the auction house to wait, but on the way, Ye Lang received a call and was told that he had to go to the eighth floor to do something, so Ye Lang asked her to stay in the box and he would be back soon.

As someone who had finally gotten to the top, she was still very suspicious. Not long after Ye Lang left, she followed his trail and came over, just in time to see Ye Lang stuffing his business card into Lin Yao's hand.

In her opinion, Lin Yao was dressed in an ordinary way and was very timid. Whether she bumped into Ye Lang intentionally or not, wasn't this just a way to attract men?

She is reluctant but also willing, putting out the hook to induce exploration, saying "no, no, no" with her mouth but actually thinking "come, come, come" in her heart!

Accepting the business card further confirmed her judgment of Lin Yao: he clearly wanted to get to the top by clinging to a rich kid like Ye Lang.

She had seen this kind of trick many times, so she immediately spoke in a sarcastic tone:

"Is this young man's first time on the eighth floor? It's not unusual for someone as outstanding as our Young Master Lang to have people wanting to get to know him wherever he goes."

Ye Lang's brows furrowed again, his tone clearly filled with displeasure:

"Su Qing, be careful with your words. I accidentally bumped into this gentleman and I just gave him a business card to apologize. Don't think too much about it. And why are you here?"

Su Qing still stared at Lin Yao, with a sarcastic smile on her lips:

"Do I need to give you a private communication code to apologize? And you also promise to solve the problem? Master Lang, are you so kind to everyone? How come I didn't know that?"

Then she came over and took Ye Lang's arm, her words were like syrup, so greasy that it made people panic:

"Mr. Lang, I came to see you because I was worried about you. I just saw you handing your business card to this person!"

As she spoke, she deliberately rubbed her chest against Ye Lang, flirting with him and revealing the expensive energy necklace that Ye Lang had just bought for her around her neck, as if declaring her sovereignty.

Lin Yao looked at the farce in front of him and felt baffled. He usually didn't bother with women he didn't know, so he was very cultured and rational at this moment: "Madam, this was just an accident!"

Lin Yao shook the business card in his hand and said, "Mr. Ye bumped into me, so it's perfectly normal for him to give me a business card to apologize."

"If you feel it's inappropriate, you can just ask him to take the business card back. I have no objection."

Su Qing refused to give in and sneered:

"Take it back? Do you know you should take it back now? Why didn't you tell me to take it back when Young Master Lang stuffed it into your hand? I think you did it on purpose!"

Lin Yao was really furious this time. He looked up at Su Qing with a cold look in his eyes and a hint of sarcasm in his tone:

"I did it on purpose? Madam, which eye of yours saw me do it on purpose? And where did I do it on purpose?"

Su Qing was very angry that Lin Yao dared to ask her about this matter, and said:

"I saw it with both eyes. I watched you come down from the seventh floor, looking around like a country bumpkin, and then when you saw Young Master Lang, you focused on the road. You originally wanted to ram him directly, didn't you? The change to hitting his shoulder was just a trick!"

As soon as these words came out, Lin Yao knew that he had made the right bet. What did he mean by just arrived? It was obvious that he had watched the whole process!

"You look so carefully! Ms. Su has a very good eye. I think she is really worried about Mr. Ye!" Lin Yao looked around and talked, then talked to Ye Lang.

"Mr. Ye, the person involved is the one who knows best what happened. I accept your apology, but I won't say anything more. I'm leaving now!"

Lin Yao said goodbye politely, and after receiving Ye Lang's response, he went to the ninth floor without looking back.

He didn't care at all about the seeds he had just planted in Ye Lang's heart.

Young masters of a family like Ye Lang who bring a female companion here usually don't carry their female companion on their backs if they are just doing simple business.

Ye Lang's keeping Su Qing at the auction proved that either Su Qing was just someone Ye Lang was playing with, and she was not qualified to know what Ye Lang was going to do;

Or maybe what Ye Lang was doing involved family secrets and was not suitable for her to know.

No matter which one, Su Qing's tracking will touch Ye Lang's bottom line.

Sure enough, after watching Lin Yao's back disappear at the stairs, Ye Lang's gaze fell deeply on Su Qing, who was still rubbing his arm from time to time.

Su Qing was still mumbling and acting coquettishly, her words full of grievances.

"Let's go too, the auction is about to start!" Ye Lang gave a warm smile and then signaled to his assistant with his eyes.

The assistant quickly understood, nodded, and left.

-

Lin Yao walked down the stairs, and the metal handrail suddenly appeared with carved patterns at a corner.

Dark lines suddenly appeared on the originally integrated metal surface. The depth of the lines was just right. They were not uncomfortable to touch, but the entangled lines could be clearly felt.

Just like the patterns in the ancestral halls left behind by the ancient great families on Earth.

With every step down, the solemnity in the air becomes thicker.

Until I reached the ninth floor, the entrance to the auction house was not far away. Two carved obsidian stone doors were closed, and four guards in silver armor stood on the side of the door.

The energy sword at his waist glowed with a frightening cold light, and his aura was several times stronger than that of the guards at any of the stalls above.

Above the stone gate hung a dark golden plaque, engraved with the five ancient characters "Jiuchen Auction House". The strokes were as sharp as knife carvings, revealing an unquestionable majesty.

As soon as Lin Yao approached, he was stopped by the guard.

"Please show us your invitation." The guard's voice was as deep as a bell, and his sharp eyes swept over him with a scrutinizing look.

Lin Yao was stunned: "Invitation letter?"

Only then did he realize the purpose of the stalls on the eighth floor. It turned out that the so-called: authority verification included the admission ticket to the auction hall on the ninth floor.

He hadn't thought about it at all. Now that he was stopped outside, he belatedly realized how strict the place was and how tight-lipped Shen Yan was! He hadn't even told him this!

"No invitation, no entry." Another guard stepped forward, his tone more serious, his hand already on the hilt of the energy sword, "Please go back, do not linger here."

Occasionally, people holding invitations walked by. The gold-plated cards in their hands shone softly under the cold light. When the guards saw them, they respectfully stepped aside and let them pass, which was completely different from their attitude towards Lin Yao.

Most of those people were dressed in luxurious clothes and had arrogant expressions. When they passed by, they did not forget to glance at Lin Yao, who was stopped outside the door, with contempt, as if they were looking at an intruder who did not know the rules.

Lin Yao frowned. He retreated to the ninth floor stairs, pulled out his laptop, and scanned it. Very good! Chen Yan, the stinky cat, still hadn't replied to him.

This made it impossible for Lin Yao to just leave like that. At least he had to get some fragmentary information.

At this moment, a familiar female voice came from behind: "Hey, isn't this the eloquent little brother from before? Why are you stopped here?"

Lin Yao turned around and saw Ye Lang walking towards him with Su Qing. He was playing with a gold-stamped invitation in his hand.

When Su Qing saw Lin Yao being stopped, a gloating smile immediately appeared on her face. She deliberately held Ye Lang's arm tightly and said to him with a boastful tone: "Jiuchen Auction House is not something that just anybody can enter!"

Ye Lang ignored Su Qing's sarcasm and looked at Lin Yao with a hint of apology in his eyes:

"Is this your first time here? You need an invitation to enter this auction house."

When Lin Yao saw Ye Lang, his heart moved slightly. He originally wanted to ask him to help think of a solution and see if he could bring him in with him. After all, this man had just said that he would help if there were any difficulties. Isn't this just asking for help?

He was about to speak, but Ye Lang seemed to see through his intention and said first: "The invitation is only for one person. Sorry."

Lin Yao understood his hint, swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue, and nodded to show his understanding.

Su Qing sneered at the side: "Mr. Lang, why waste time talking to him? Let's go in quickly and don't delay the important business."

As she spoke, she glanced at Lin Yao provocatively.

Ye Lang didn't say anything more. After nodding to Lin Yao, he took Su Qing and the invitation letter into the auction house.

The stone door slowly closed behind them, blocking out Su Qing's smug look.

Lin Yao stood where he was, frowning even more tightly. He planned to wait here for something to happen, but the guards over there looked at him fiercely several times.

The look in his eyes was: Either get the invitation or get out.

Just when he was at a loss, he caught a glimpse of another person walking towards the entrance. Instead of showing an invitation, the person handed over a badge.

The guard took one look and immediately let him pass with even more respect than before.

Lin Yao's heart moved, and Ye Heng's voice suddenly rang in his ears:

"Here's yours. Show it and you can use the express lanes at most places on Central Star without having to queue."

He said this last night when Ye Heng gave him a black badge. It was for the convenience of him and Shen Yan visiting the Science and Technology Museum. There were not many people in the Science and Technology Museum today, so he kept the badge safely in his storage ring.

Lin Yao took out the black badge from the storage ring. The snake body was wrapped with cross star patterns, exuding majesty in a low-key manner.

He took a deep breath and walked towards the entrance again. Before the guard was about to open his mouth to stop him, Lin Yao handed him the badge in time.

The moment the guard saw the badge, his eyes suddenly changed, his pupils suddenly contracted, and his breathing paused for a beat.

One of them carefully took the badge and rubbed the patterns on it with his fingertips. They all recognized that this was the exclusive badge of the head of the Ye family.

But they had clearly received news that the head of the Ye family was in the first-class box number three at the moment. How could someone enter with the head of the family badge?

The two men looked at each other and saw caution in each other's eyes. Then one of them calmly asked someone to confirm.

Another person scanned it with a special detector and confirmed that the energy imprint on the badge was completely consistent with the records.

After verification, he returned the badge to Lin Yao. His tone was much gentler than before, but he still remained vigilant: "Sir, this way, please."

Lin Yao took back the badge, nodded and followed him. The guard took him to a small room on the side of the entrance.

The room was not big, but it was clean and tidy. The sofa against the wall was covered with soft velvet cushions, and there were unopened energy drinks and some exquisite food on the table.

"Sir, please take a seat and feel free to eat at the table." The guard said this and then stepped out, closing the door gently.

Lin Yao sat on the sofa, tapping his knees unconsciously with his fingertips.

Lin Yao could probably guess why the guard brought him here. As soon as he stepped in, he felt the fluctuation of Ye Heng's mental power.

As for the badge he handed over, he didn't look closely when he received it yesterday. But when he took it out today, he saw the combination of a snake and a cross star. Everyone in the empire knew that this represented Ye Heng.

There is red and dark green energy interwoven on it, which further proves that this is the emblem of the head of the Ye family. The emblem of the head of the Ye family is replaced with each generation. It uses the family crest of a cross star as the base, and the spiritual body of the head of the family is painted on it.

When Ye Heng was present, someone else came in with the patriarch's badge. If he were a guard, he would also be alert.

However, these people acted very properly. They accommodated him in an exquisite small box and asked someone to verify it. If it was confirmed that Lin Yao and Ye Heng had a good relationship, they would not be considered negligent.

If it is confirmed that Lin Yao used the family emblem without authorization, trapping him here would be considered as giving Ye Heng a favor and saving the reputation of the Ye family. After all, the head of the family cannot use the emblem of the head of the family. If this is made public, the people on Central Star will laugh their heads off.

Thinking of this, Lin Yao opened a bottle of energy drink without any hesitation. He was really thirsty after walking for a long time. He decided to drink something and wait!

-

In the first-class private room in the middle of the third floor, Ye Heng and Yan Rufeng were talking, and three royal guard sentries, including Ye Mang, were standing beside them.

Yan Rufeng took a sip of tea and asked Ye Heng what he did the evening before yesterday and why his volatility value plummeted as if he had smoked ice leaves.

He is Ye Heng's exclusive military doctor. After Ye Heng put on the suppression ring, part of the background data was connected to his optical brain in order to monitor his changes in real time.

A few days ago, Yan Rufeng took advantage of Ye Heng's stable condition to go to Baicao Star to look for soothing plants. The day before yesterday afternoon, he was operating carefully and cautiously, for fear of digging up the roots of the herbs!

The optical computer screamed an alarm, and it was the alarm sound he had specially set for Ye Heng's fluctuation value.

He was so scared at that time, and thought something had happened to Ye Heng. Could he have died?

I hurriedly took out my laptop and saw that the volatility had dropped from 92 to 65!

Yan Rufeng was stunned on the spot. He slapped himself and realized that this was not an illusion caused by digging herbs. He didn't care about the herbs for a moment, he pulled them up and hurried back to the Central Star.

As soon as I landed on Central Star, I heard from the Ye family that Ye Heng was at the Jiuchen Auction House! I immediately rushed over without taking a breath!

Ye Heng drank his tea in silence. Because of his promise to Lin Yao, he would not answer this question.

Yan Rufeng didn't wait for his answer. Just as he was about to ask questions in his own way, Ye Mang spoke up: "What? The Patriarch's fluctuation value dropped? When?"

"Oh, you don't know either!" Yan Rufeng put down the teacup in his hand and glanced at Ye Mang, who was Ye Heng's most trusted confidant.

Then he stared at Ye Heng who had been drinking tea, and said in a weird tone: "It seems that someone has kept it secret very well!"

Ye Heng continued drinking tea and ignored it.

Yan Rufeng rolled his eyes. "Hah, hah, hah! Water buffalo? Are you?"

After Ye Mang confirmed once more that the value was indeed 65, he breathed a sigh of relief, his lips even curling up slightly in a rare smile: "It's a good thing it's down."

In his opinion, the patriarch's perennially high fluctuation value was like a bomb that could explode at any time. Now that it could be reduced to 65, it was definitely a good thing.

"Bullshit!" Yan Rufeng glared at him. "What do you know? This kind of precipitous drop is either due to a serious injury or a problem with the mental barrier! I tell you, if..."

"Military Doctor Yan." Ye Mang interrupted him, his tone still calm, "The master is fine now, isn't he?"

Yan Rufeng was choked. Looking at Ye Heng sipping his tea leisurely, he did not look like anything was wrong, but he could not suppress the doubts in his heart.

He rolled his eyes, moved closer to Ye Mang, and asked in a low voice, "So, what did your patriarch do the evening before yesterday?"

Ye Mang stood straight, raised his eyes to look at Yan Rufeng, with a hint of warning in his eyes: "I don't know!"

Of course he knew what the patriarch had done that day, but as a member of Ye Heng's personal guard, his mouth was worth more than just five cents!

If he could get the answer by asking just anyone, he would have been tied up and thrown out by Ye Heng long ago!

Yan Rufeng also knew that he couldn't get any information out of Ye Mang, so he curled his lips and muttered:

"Alright, alright, you're all so dumb. I'll give you a thorough checkup later, Ye Heng. I don't believe we can't find the cause!"

As he was speaking, something slid out from Ye Heng's side with a "whoosh".

After seeing clearly what it was, "Oh my god! How did it get out?" Yan Rufeng stood on the sofa in fright.

Mo Yun was sliding back and forth quickly on the floor. Although Yan Rufeng was no longer afraid of Mo Yun, there was a prerequisite, which was to tell him in advance!

Now this sudden attack scared him to death! Ye Mang and the others were also shocked, but they were surprised by why Mo Yun came out.

Before Yan Rufeng could recover from his shock, the door of the private room was knocked. He was startled again and his legs went limp, causing him to fall onto the sofa.

Yan Rufeng: Really tight!