Well, although he said it like that his description wasn’t entirely accurate.
The floor plan of this new area was much smaller than that of the main convention, and it was separated into three different areas.
The first, as he said, resembled an auction house. There was a large stage with rows of seats lined up in front of it, as well as VIP boxes with tinted glass that even Damien couldn’t see through with his eyes.
Noticing this, he mused that it must be the material of the glass that gave it its one-way feature rather than any formation.
Anyway, the auction house didn’t necessarily matter at this point since there was no actual auction going on. Instead, it looked like the area was currently in the process of being fleshed out for an auction that would take place in the future.
Rather than that, his focus was drawn towards the other two areas. A trading post and an exchange fair.
While they were the same in essence, the difference was the product. While the trading area was for material goods, the exchange fair was more of a science fair, where knowledge was being exchanged.
But none of it was innocent. In fact, the main good being sold in the trade area was slaves. Slaves of all different races, but for the most part, they were bipedal and humanoid.
And that wasn’t to say that there was nothing wrong with the exchange fair. It was to be expected, though, considering that this was a den of devil worshippers.
They worked for the Nox, so their agenda would reflect that. Seeing the proceedings, Damien was reminded of the Niflheim base he and the girls had raided back on earth.
He remembered when Rose and Elena had told him about their discoveries, where scientists were experimenting on humanoids and injecting them with a mysterious serum that tried to transform them but ended up driving them insane.
‘What the hell are these damn aliens planning?’
He still couldn’t figure it out. Artificial Nox? What was the point of that? Devil worshippers? Didn’t they already have those in droves?
So what was the point of all this experimentation? If the Nox served to gain nothing from it, then it wouldn’t be taking place at all.
Damien found himself cursing his lack of information. It wasn’t just him, but everyone he knew lacked information, be it those on Apeiron or the Cloud Plane.
He knew a single person who had more information that he could use, but that person had already died. Even when they met for the first time, he was nothing more than a soul fragment.
Sighing lightly, Damien once again found himself suppressing his thoughts. It was annoying, but it had to be done as there were much more important things to do.
“Hey, did you hear about what’s going to happen at the auction in a month?”
“What?”
“No, I told you to guess!”
“Bastard! Just tell me already! Stop playing these stupid games!”
As they walked, Damien and Ruyue began overhearing many conversations taking place in the surroundings. Of them, the most prevalent were those about the auction.
“There are many crazy items being auctioned in a month. Things that even those Sect Masters would covet.”
“Really? Those guys who are always acting high and mighty?”
“Yeah, I heard there will be artifacts that are even at Chaos rank. And those are just the starters.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I heard the main item is a gift provided by the Lords themselves!”
“Sigh, I wanted to take part in the auction and maybe win myself something good, but it looks like it’s too high profile for me.”
“No shit! What could someone like you do at an auction? You’re more broke than even a beggar!”
“Hey, don’t talk to me like that! I’m going to become a Priest one day, and I’ll be sure to punish you at that time.”
“Priest? You’re just trash. Fuck being a Priest, I’ll become an Inheritor and rule over everyone!”
“Hah? You called me trash? As if someone like you could become an Inheritor. You should know that only those crazy talented people who follow our Lords even have a chance at the position.”
“Hey, can’t you just let a man dream?”
“Hahahaha! As if!”
More than just information on the auction, Damien was given another pleasant surprise. Worshipper, Priest, Inheritor. Judging by the way they talked about them, these were the ranks given to devil worshippers to enforce hierarchy.
And more than just rank, there seemed to be Ake thing else involved as well. The inheritor title in particular interested Damien, as the word alone was dangerous when related to the Nox.
‘Damien, I think we should attend the auction.’ Ruyue suddenly transmitted.
Damien raised his brow. Ruyue had been especially silent ever since they entered the underground, leaving everything to him, but she finally spoke up. And knowing her personality, the words couldn’t be empty.’
Thinking it over, he nodded his head in agreement. Attending the auction would be a great way to gain more information, especially considering what the main item was.
Plus, Tian Yang had given them such an enormous mountain of spirit stones to use on this trip that he almost felt bad for not spending any money.
It was a mountain so big that Damien felt he was currently carrying more wealth than some smaller sects.
A devious grin crept up Damien’s face as he thought of this point.
‘I can’t physically pay that old man back for beating me up, but maybe I can make his pockets hurt enough to make him shed a tear.’
***
Far away from the convention, at the Celestial Star Palace, a familiar old man was peacefully meditating within his residence before a sudden ominous feeling began to creep up his spine.
He was already at a point where he didn’t think he could grow in power more unless he decided to leave the planet, so there was no use in meditating for comprehension purposes.
Instead, he was using the arts the Celestial Star Palace became known for, divination. Regardless of the reason, he wasn’t a fan of sending young kids to do missions that their seniors should be taking on.
But no matter how hard he tried to divine things related to them, or even if he tried finding out their current progress, he could only see bits and pieces. It was as if something was interfering with his divinations.
Considering his strength, he felt that it was impossible for that to happen, but the truth was in front of his eyes, disallowing him from denying it.
He couldn’t do anything about the interference, but from the bits and pieces he could see, his disciples seemed to be doing fine. In fact, they had gotten even closer in this time that they were away.
What startled him, however, was the final vision he saw. It was Damien wearing a smile that screamed mischief. And for some odd reason, he was 100% sure that smile was directed towards him, even though Damien wasn’t aware he was watching.
Shivering slightly, he opened his eyes. ‘What the hell is that kid planning to do?’