— — — — — —
As the light filtering through the giant elm canopy above Elm City gradually dimmed, the clock ticked toward seven in the evening.
The agreed-upon time had arrived.
Right on schedule, Ryo brought Shiroyasha and Kurousagi to the Ori Merchant Guild headquarters.
The moment Ryo's group approached, a maid who had clearly been waiting for them hurried over with a courteous smile, "Are you Lord Ryo Yagami?"
Before Ryo could answer, Shiroyasha's eyes lit up as she looked the maid over. "Even the maids are this pretty? Looks like this place really knows what it's doing."
The corner of Ryo's mouth twitched.
Then he simply nodded, and the maid immediately gestured invitingly. "Lord Singh has already prepared your seats in the auction hall. Please come this way."
Without a word, Ryo followed her deeper into the building until they reached a teleportation gate.
The maid stopped in front of it and smiled gracefully, "Please step inside."
Ryo glanced at the portal before walking through.
The scenery blurred.
When his vision cleared, he found himself inside a small glass-walled chamber, something like a transparent elevator. Shiroyasha and Kurousagi appeared behind him moments later.
Then, without a sound, the chamber began descending.
In an instant, it passed beneath the city, pierced through the bubble containing Elm City, and entered the dark ocean below.
"So the auction's actually built beneath the city... in the deep sea!" Kurousagi stared out in astonishment.
Ryo turned toward the glass walls, taking in the underwater landscape as jellyfish drifted lazily past.
"They've got some impressive tricks."
Even he hadn't sensed anything hidden beneath the sea before entering.
Some sort of power concealed the entire underground facility, subtly causing people to overlook what lay beneath their feet. It was obviously the work of one of Ouroboros' higher-ups.
Shiroyasha let out a cold laugh, "Heh! That method... the Authority of the Sea... So it's that old fossil Poseidon."
"Poseidon?" Kurousagi froze. "Lady Shiroyasha... are you saying the mastermind behind this black market is..."
One of the Twelve Olympians. The God of the Sea himself.
Did that mean Poseidon was also a member of Ouroboros?
Kurousagi immediately straightened up with a determined look. "Should we report him to the Heavenly Army?"
As a proper Little Garden noble, reporting criminals to the Heavenly Army was every Moon Rabbit's duty.
It definitely wasn't because Poseidon's status was too intimidating to confront directly.
Moon Rabbits were never cowards.
...Yes, that had to be it.
Watching Kurousagi convince herself, Shiroyasha shook her head. "It won't do any good. Poseidon commands a community that specializes in oceanic architecture. Concealing places like this is exactly what they're good at. There's no proof tying him to the auction."
"At worst, he'd just claim he accepted a construction contract and had no idea what the building would be used for."
"So that's how it is..." Kurousagi sighed in disappointment.
Ryo narrowed his eyes as the surrounding space rippled.
The underwater scenery began to dissolve. And the space around them expanded.
The darkness of the deep sea suddenly lit up.
At the center stood an enormous clam shell hundreds of meters across.
Resting on the ocean floor amid sprawling coral reefs, one half of the shell lay against the seabed while the other stood upright, fully opened.
Inside was a magnificent golden stage.
Surrounding it floated thousands of translucent bubbles. Within each bubble stood a hazy figure whose features were impossible to distinguish.
The auction's confidentiality measures were quite impressive. Without using special methods, it was impossible to identify anyone inside the bubbles.
"Interesting."
Not wanting to alert the participants, Ryo refrained from probing further. Instead, he quietly memorized the positions of every bubble so he could identify them later if necessary.
Kurousagi looked around in disbelief, "There are so many people... there have to be over five thousand attendees."
"Heh." Shiroyasha snapped open her folding fan and sneered. "Excluding everyone who isn't interested, a black-market auction drawing over five thousand participants... Ouroboros really does have frightening influence. It looks like I'll have to give Indra a good talking-to the next time I visit him. Just what kind of Commander of the Heavenly Army lets something like this happen?"
While Ryo had certainly played a role in today's events, the sheer number of factions aware of this black market was really alarming.
There weren't even five thousand three-digit beings in Little Garden.
And most three-digit beings also represented entire pantheons or communities, meaning dozens or even hundreds of powerful individuals might attend under a single representative, occupying only one bubble.
Yet here there were already over five thousand bubbles, with more continuing to appear.
That could only mean countless four- and five-digit communities from the lower layers had also received news of the auction.
And policing illegal black markets fell squarely under Indra's authority as Commander of the Heavenly Army.
"He was probably too badly injured to deal with it."
Since they were practically family now, Ryo felt obligated to offer at least a token defense of Indra. Then after saying that, he turned his attention to their own bubble.
The sofas and chairs were luxurious. A chilled cabinet stocked with drinks stood nearby. And the table in front of them featured various buttons, including one labeled for auction services.
Ryo sat down, glanced over the controls, and pressed the auction button.
Buzz.
A basketball-sized black vortex appeared on the tabletop, faint spatial ripples swirling inside.
Ryo took out the Gift Card containing living beings and tossed the card holding his "auction item" into the portal.
The moment the Gift Card disappeared, a figure appeared on the stage inside the giant shell.
Looking more closely, Ryo saw a stooped old man dressed in monk robes.
The old man cleared his throat twice, his voice echoing throughout the entire venue. "The appointed time has arrived. The entrance has now been sealed."
"Welcome, everyone, to the Ori Auction. I am Turtle, and I once again have the honor of serving as tonight's auctioneer."
"Damn it!" Shiroyasha complained with a mouth full of potato chips, one foot casually propped on the table. "Why isn't the auctioneer a gorgeous long-haired beauty in a skin-tight dress?"
Ryo gave her a flat look. "Who cares? We're here to sell things."
Shiroyasha rolled her eyes.
"I'm not here to sell things. I'm here to admire boobs." She shot Ryo a dissatisfied look. "Don't tell me you aren't interested."
Keeping a perfectly straight face, Ryo glanced at Kurousagi, whose cheeks had already turned bright red. "I am... I'm looking at them right now."
Shiroyasha stared at him for several long seconds.
Finally, she managed a single word, "...Fuck."
While she was still swearing under her breath, Turtle continued from the stage. "Now then, enough introductions. Let's bring out our first item!"
The lights shifted.
A man with short hair, dressed in a monk's robe and standing with his eyes closed, appeared in the center of the stage.
Turtle's eerie laugh echoed across the venue.
"Our first item tonight is none other than the current Commander of Little Garden's Heavenly Army... His Majesty, the Heavenly Emperor, the Lord of Buddhism... Indra!!"
"FUCK YOUR MOTHER!" An oddly familiar voice shouted from somewhere in the audience.
Turtle pretended not to hear it. After a brief pause, he calmly finished his sentence, "Indra's alternate counterpart."
He raised his auction hammer and slammed it down on the podium.
Bang!
"Let the auction begin!"
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