Chapter 286: Ch-286: Attack on Auction

"Finally, the item has arrived," Victor said with a smile.

"The starting bid of the auction will be 10,000 credits, with bids increasing by no less than 1,000 credits." The host paused and then said, "Let the auction begin."

Before anyone could even place a bid, Victor pressed the button and shouted, "70,000 credits!"

Everyone’s eyes widened in disbelief as every pair of eyes locked on the booth he was staying in.

When the amount of 70,000 credits left Victor’s mouth, the auction hall seemed to have fallen into an eerie silence. Even Valerie looked at Victor with her mouth slightly open before everyone broke into an uproar.

"Holy shit, 70,000 credits right off the bat! Which top family does he belong to?"

"Who knows? To casually splurge such an insane amount on an unexplored dungeon, he must belong to a top family."

"70,000 credits? Isn’t that a bit insane of a price?"

Some people thought Victor was a fool, as the dungeon was unexplored, and some unexplored dungeons did not have many resources or had too-powerful Magical Beasts residing in them, making them unexplorable.

Victor ignored the chatter and looked at the host, thinking in disdain, ’Heh, laugh all you want, but this is a Dwarven dungeon, and these kinds of dungeons have the most insane drops of all.’

---

VIP BOX, Scarlet Family

"Sister, aren’t you going to bid?" Ellie looked at his sister and said.

"That voice... that was Victor." Ruby frowned, recognizing the familiar voice.

"What? It’s Victor. Does he have so much money?" Ellie was shocked to hear this, and then his eyes lit up. He had become a little fanboy of Victor after their last meeting, and if not for Ruby, he would have joined his guild instead.

"Yeah, I am even surprised, as the amount he bid is much higher than the money I brought," Ruby nodded.

---

VIP Box, Angel Wing Guild

"Olivia, are you sure you are not going to bid for the dungeon?" Rachel looked at Olivia and asked.

"Yes, I have already located a few S-rank dungeons. I plan to take everyone to explore them," Olivia said in a calm tone.

"You didn’t know?" This time, it was Andrew who looked at Rachel in disbelief and weariness.

"Uh..." Rachel blushed upon hearing his words. She was lazy by nature and did not deal with guild matters most of the time, so she did not know. Rachel hurriedly diverted the topic and said, "Honestly, I am surprised Victor has the money to afford this."

"Most likely, he sold some kind of item," Olivia said in a neutral voice as she thought, ’Could he have sold the attack beads?’

"Here, Mr. Vanglory, this is the token which controls the dungeon. You can relocate the dungeon anywhere with this and filter who enters the dungeon," Athena said with a smile as she handed him the tray, which had the token on top. Victor took the token expressionlessly and injected his mana, and a small blue portal appeared before them.

’Sigh, I should have brought more money,’ Valerie sighed as she looked at the shimmering portal with bitterness.

"I will leave now, Mr. Vanglory," Athena said with a polite smile.

"Stop," Victor said, and Athena, who was leaving, went stiff.

"Yes?" Athena said in a confused tone.

Victor had an amused look on his face as he extended his hand and said, "Before you leave, give me the original token."

As soon as Victor’s words left his mouth, Amber, who was lazily watching the interaction, narrowed her eyes immediately.

"Huh? I don’t understand what you are saying. Haven’t I given you the token?" Athena said, with sweat dripping from her forehead now.

Valerie frowned as she also sensed something was off by seeing Athena’s reaction.

"You have given him a fake," Valerie said with murderous intent.

"This is a misunderstanding," Athena said, panicking, and insisted, "Didn’t the portal appear?"

"Heh, do you think I don’t know about fake dungeon portals?" Victor said with a sneer, as in his past life, he had dumped a couple of players and guild leaders by selling them fake dungeons. The partial principle behind the fake was just a small storage item with enough space to store a few items, and it looked like a dungeon from the outside.

"Come on, 3... 2... 1... huh?" Athena was counting down something under her breath, and her eyes widened when nothing happened as she exclaimed, "How are you not affected?"

"Heh, it might work on amateurs, but not on me," Victor said as he showed a small insect he had caught in an empty vial, and Athena’s pupils contracted to the size of needles.

"Just who are you? This beast was recently acquired by our organization, and this is the first public use. No one should know about them," Athena said in a voice full of panic and confusion.

"Victor, what is that?" Valerie asked with narrowed eyes. "It’s a special Magical Beast. If it bites someone below Tier 1, they would instantly faint."

Victor replied as he remembered this Magical Beast, as in the early game in his past life, many utilized this beast, especially thieves and assassins.

"Fuck, we have been exposed. Initiate Plan B!" Athena jumped back and hurriedly shouted over the communicator.

Just as Valerie was about to act, the entire venue went pitch black, and alarms started ringing throughout the entire venue.

Upon hearing the alarms, many of the guests and staff members immediately understood what it meant.

The host wore the ugliest expression as she frowned. "I can’t believe someone managed to breach our security!"

She cursed under her breath and then apologized to the guests. "Dear guests, I must apologize, but it seems we have to stop the auction now. It appears there has been an intrusion here."

Even though the host showed no panic on her face, inwardly, her mind was racing. ’Who could have breached the security?’

The hotel and the shareholders knew there would be many people with ill and greedy intentions toward the auction. Even though it was held in the safest place—New York City, where they had stationed dozens of Awakeners, and not to mention the guests themselves were powerful Awakeners—there were still people who let greed cloud their judgment, not to mention this auction, which contained priceless treasures that even top Awakeners would drool over. She believed the security should have been enough to handle any malicious intent, but she did not expect a breach.

Hearing her words, many people in the crowd—especially those who had bought treasures and lacked sufficient strength or protection—panicked, as they had been confident in the venue’s security.

"Shit, which bastards dare to attack the auction hall? Aren’t they afraid of death?"

"Whoever managed to breach the security must not be ordinary."

"Damn it, just my luck. I bought treasures but didn’t hire any guards. What rotten luck! If I knew this would happen, I would have spent a fortune to hire security."

The venue had already descended into chaos, with hurried footsteps echoing everywhere as everyone prepared to leave. However, while they were halfway to the exits, a staff member dressed in official attire rushed over in a panic and whispered a few words into the host’s ear, causing her expression to darken.

"Damn it!" The host’s face became increasingly agitated.

"What’s wrong?" One of the guests who was nearby asked.

"The security system of the venue has been breached, and all the exit doors have been sealed shut. It’s going to be difficult for us to come and go now," the host replied.

The security system here was not weak, and infiltrating it was no easy task. Sure enough, the guests started to shout when they realized they could not leave.

Bang! Bang!

"Someone, open the door!" a man shouted as he banged on it. Someone even used their technique to try to destroy the door, but nothing happened.

Victor was now realizing the gravity of the situation. It appeared that the intruders had planned for this.

’Should I just blow the gate?’ Victor thought with a frown. Then he shook his head and looked at the host. ’No, it might harm the others. This is most likely the reason she is not using force.’

Indeed, if the guests were harmed, it would be a stain on the reputation of the auction hall. That was the reason neither she nor the staff were using force.

Just then, from an unknown location, there was a sudden explosion, followed by a red beam of light appearing out of thin air and heading straight for the most crowded place.

In the nick of time, the host waved her hand, and a large, thick vine appeared and intercepted the red beam.

The guests had nearly been startled out of their wits, but upon seeing the vine in front of them, their complexions returned to normal. They shot grateful looks toward the host as they warily looked at the place where the beam had come from.

"The ones hiding should come out now," the host shouted in a voice full of killing intent. Following her words, a few figures walked out without saying a word.