Chapter 19: Auction
Time passed, and another day went by in a hurry. When the sun once again set below the sea level in the west, the night once again enveloped the sky of Mon Carlo. This city, like in the past, did not become much quieter because of the arrival of night. Instead, it showed another lively scene.
At night, the busy streets in various parts of Mon Carlo are still brightly lit, and the Huanlang Theater in the city center is crowded and bustling.
At the huge intersection, a tall theater building stands there, with rows of guards standing on both sides of the open door. Horse-drawn carriages are parked on the street, and countless men and women in bright clothes and even of different races get off the carriages. They walk towards the theater door while chatting and laughing humorously on the luxurious carpet. It seems that they are going to watch a wonderful drama at this time, but the posters posted at the door of the theater have nothing to do with the drama.
Now, what is being held in this theater is not an ordinary performance or drama, but a grand auction. Mon Carlo was originally a pirate city, where countless pirates who roamed the seas gathered and brought treasures from all directions to trade with each other. In order to show their proud spoils, the greedy pirates publicly displayed the looted goods to speculators and openly auctioned them, showing their wealth and power at high prices.
Thus, the auction industry in Mon Carlo was born. After hundreds of years, those noisy pirates are no longer around, but the auction industry has survived. Northern Uzbek treasure thieves... big thieves in the big cities of the mainland... bureaucrats who resell public property... all kinds of shady secret organizations... these people always need a channel to help them sell stolen goods, launder money, and turn their hard-earned "labor results" into real income. These needs have given rise to many industries in Mon Carlo, and the auction industry is one of them.
Nowadays, a considerable number of legal...illegal...in the dirt...on the ground...mundane...hidden...all kinds of rare and precious items from around the world have gathered in Mon Carlo, providing a steady supply of goods for the auction industry here. This place has also attracted speculators and collectors from various countries to gather here and select the goods that suit their tastes.
The Happy Theater is one of the oldest auction houses in Mon Carlo. A long time ago when Mon Carlo was still a pirate town, it was originally a place for prostitutes and captured female slaves to perform for pirates to watch. However, there were limited decent buildings in Mon Carlo at that time, so when there were no performances in the theater, it was used as an auction house. Although Mon Carlo has undergone tremendous changes today and the original part of the theater has become independent, it is still called the Happy Theater because people are used to the name.
Now, a new round of large-scale auctions is about to be held in the Huanlang Theater. Audiences and collectors who have been preparing for a long time are now entering the venue one after another. Among them, the most eye-catching is the distinguished guest who has just arrived in Mon Carlo and the most talked-about nun here recently, Sister Vanya.
On the soft carpet, Vanya, dressed in a white nun's uniform, was walking step by step towards the auction venue, escorted by knights in plain clothes on her left and right. Along the way, wealthy people from all walks of life kept coming up to her to say hello and give her their business cards. Many reporters came up with notebooks and wanted to ask Vanya questions but were stopped by the guards on both sides of the carpet. The large cameras set up on both sides of the aisle were operating by cameramen, flashing dazzling lights from time to time, and the air was filled with the smell of burning light powder.
Under the constant illumination of flash lights, Vanya kept smiling as she walked forward, greeting people who came to say hello one by one. This auction was the most important event in Mon Carlo during her visit, and Vanya naturally needed to attend it. Therefore, many people who thought they were of some value chose this time to come to Vanya to make themselves familiar to her.
Finally, after moving forward slowly all the way, Vanya entered the venue. What caught her eyes was a large theater with bright decorations. It seemed to be larger than Tivian's Feiteng Theater, and the whole was round rather than fan-shaped. In the middle of the large circular stage, there were sloping auditoriums surrounding it. Above the auditoriums, there were VIP boxes built up layer by layer, and each box was guaranteed to have an excellent viewing angle.
At this time, the stage in the center of the venue was still empty, but the general audience seats around the stage were already full. Led by an exclusive waiter, Vanya and her group followed the stairs along the edge of the venue to their seats in the box, and then they were seated there. After finally sitting on the comfortable sofa, Vanya breathed a sigh of relief, then she glanced at the bustling venue in front of her, closed her eyes silently, and began to whisper in her mind.
"I'm already in the box, Miss Dorothea, are you here now?"
"My real body is not here yet. The one at the scene is my puppet. He is in box 23. A few boxes to the right is it..."
Dorothy's voice began to ring in Vanya's mind. Listening to Dorothy's words, Vanya opened her eyes and looked in the direction she pointed. What she saw was a handsome young man in a well-dressed suit standing by the window in front of her box, leaning against the railing and waving at her. After seeing this scene, Vanya felt a little relieved, and then spoke with a little worry.
"Ms. Dorothea...are there really three people in this venue right now? There are so many people here, if something goes wrong, what if..."
'Don't worry, when something goes wrong, this place won't be so lively. Although the three women look attractive, they are not one-sided. As long as we handle it well, there won't be any problem. Now let's just wait for the auction to start.
"Don't worry too much. Remember, this operation is also to thwart the conspiracy of the Sea Abyss Cult... It is also to conquer the stability of the sea..."
Dorothy continued to say this to Vanya from a distance. After listening to Dorothy's words, Vanya silently relieved her worries, thinking that she was now also fighting against the cult. After calming down, she silently began to wait for the auction to begin.
…
At the same time, at the other end of the auction site, in another box, a withered old man wrapped in a loose cotton robe was sitting on a sofa, surrounded by sturdy guards. Edward, holding a cane in both hands, stared silently at the noisy venue in front of him, as if he wanted to find something in it.
Without any public announcement, Mon Carlo secretly came to participate in this auction. Not far from him, the bald Tonic in a robe was standing there, waiting with a smile on his face.
"When will the transaction opportunity that Jianlin mentioned come?" Edward glanced at Thornic beside him and said seriously, while Thornic responded respectfully but indifferently.
"Please be patient, Captain Edward. Lord Jianlin has only asked you to attend the auction. The specific transaction time is at a certain stage of the auction. When that stage comes, he will notify us again. As long as you complete the task, Captain Edward, we will also fulfill our agreement.
"Of course... I have to remind Captain Edward one last time not to try to find Lord Jianlin by force. If he can sense your presence, this deal will be void."
“…”
Edward did not respond immediately after listening to Tony's words. Instead, he stared at Tony and then turned his gaze back to the conference hall.
…
At the other end of the venue, in a slightly higher-level box, a white man with a brown beard, neatly combed hair, and wearing a black suit was standing by the railing of the box stand, silently scanning the wide venue with a condescending look. His gaze was fixed intently on the box of the Mon Carlo VIP Church Pilgrimage Group.
While gazing, the man took out a ring with a snake wrapped around it on his finger. Behind the man, there were several servants waiting respectfully.
…
In another box on a slightly lower floor, a man wearing a gray robe, with a thin and long face and dark circles under his eyes was hiding alone on a chair. His eyes sometimes wandered around the conference hall, and sometimes stared at the clock on the wall of the box. Looking at the time on it, he shook his head slightly, and it seemed that he was silently calculating something, waiting for something.
"It's not the right time yet..."
…
Finally, as all the audience took their seats, the theater door was closed, and the band on the side of the stage began to play melodious music. The music echoed in the spacious venue, indicating to all the guests that the auction was about to begin. The noisy environment on the scene suddenly became quiet.
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