Xu An’s lips curled into a smile, but his eyes held a warning.
The man’s earlier question seemed casual, as if he were merely making small talk.
However, there were regulations regarding the times when people descended from the lighthouse. If Xu An had revealed his specific hunting schedule to the man opposite him,
a simple calculation would have revealed when Xu An left the lighthouse.
With even a little influence, this man would surely investigate him.
Undoubtedly, his true identity would be exposed.
Seeing that Xu An wasn’t falling into his trap, the man could only give up.
After all, knowing his identity was a minor issue. What was truly tangible and real were the corpses of the monsters laid out before them.
Therefore, he stopped probing Xu An.
“Miss Zhang, how about this? We’ll set a reserve price for these items for you and then put them up for auction. Our auction house will take a tenth as a handling fee. What do you say?”
Xu An pondered for a moment. Although he felt the handling fee was a bit steep, he nodded in agreement.
The auction method was also a test of the auctioneer.
Previously, Xu An had heard of an auctioneer who managed to sell an item with a reserve price of only five thousand contribution points for a staggering fifteen thousand.
That was considered a legendary feat on the lighthouse.
Thinking this, Xu An felt that the one-tenth handling fee wasn’t entirely unwarranted.
After roughly estimating the prices, Xu An finalized the agreement with the man and turned to leave.
“But, how would it work if I wanted to buy something?”
The man replied, “Ah, right. We’ll issue you a VIP card. If there’s something you need, you can bid for it directly, and later, the amount for the item you purchased will be deducted from the proceeds of your sales.”
Xu An nodded, took the VIP card,
and then left the back office.
After Xu An left, the man’s gaze darkened slightly.
He then walked to a table, hesitated for a moment, and dialed a number.
When the call was answered, the man’s demeanor turned respectful, his tone humble and ingratiating.
“Boss, the rabbit-head monsters have appeared. Yes, a woman brought them.”
“She didn’t reveal her true identity. Yes, I will investigate her identity.”
“……”
“Yes, boss, don’t worry. I know what to do.”
As the call ended, the conflicted expression on the man’s face eased. He then called for someone to come in and prepare to clear away all the corpses on the ground.
Though these things looked grotesque, the man knew that in the hands of those who understood their value, they were priceless treasures.
They even possessed spatial rings, similar to the one the woman had brought out earlier.
Those things originated from a year ago when a mercenary group discovered a strange tree that could absorb people.
However, the person who was absorbed managed to hold their breath for five to six minutes before being rescued from within.
According to the person who went in, the strange tree contained a sealed small space.
But this small space had no air, as if time itself had stopped.
Thus, they brought the tree back to the lighthouse, and researchers, based on its properties, created芥子空间 (mustard seed spaces) with storage capabilities.
With the arrival of the apocalypse, the technology of this world had also developed rapidly, along with certain mutated monsters.
Humans were the only intelligent beings on this Blue Star, and similarly, their ability to imitate and learn was the strongest.
With a sample in hand, it was then a matter of replicating it.
As long as there were sufficient materials, this was a process of rapid development for current human technology.
Therefore, these were not just monster corpses, but countless fortunes and infinite technological possibilities waiting to be explored.
When the attendants pushed the door open, they stared in terror at the giant, terrifying monster corpses laid out on the ground.
Their auction house had auctioned such monsters before, even live ones.
But never had there been a time when five or six corpses were just carelessly thrown on the ground.
“Supervisor, this… this…”
The man, seeing the terrified young men, cursed them as cowards.
“What are you dithering for? Hurry up and call more people to carry these things out. Clean them up and place them as the highlight auction items for today. Oh, and notify the auctioneer to start the warm-up early.”
“Now go inform the marketing department. Start calling our VIP clients to send out notifications.
Ensure that our headline monster auction items for tonight are all well-publicized.”
Saying this, the man rubbed his hands together. Thinking of the bonus he was about to receive, he was not stingy.
“Hurry up. If you do this well, the bonus for this deal will be more than your salaries for three months.”
The attendants, who had initially looked hesitant and disgusted, became full of vigor upon hearing about the bonus and its substantial amount.
They quickly donned gloves and prepared to get to work.
The man also nudged the motionless corpses with his toe before heading off to change his clothes.
Xu An, who had left, took a roundabout route to shake off the people who were staring at her.
She found a corner with no one and no surveillance cameras, and slipped into her space.
After searching for a while in her space, she found a change of clothes. After changing, she slipped out of her space again.
“Those people are gone,” Ze Yuan observed her surroundings and reported to Xu An at any moment.
“Why were those people following you? They didn’t look like they were sent by the man inside to track you.”
Xu An smiled. “That man is very cunning; he wouldn’t use such methods to follow me. He’s just an employee, and he wouldn’t offend me for such a small gain.”
“Then who could it be?”
“Just greedy and lustful petty thieves.”
At the entrance of the auction house, besides buyers and sellers, there were naturally a third type of people.
These were those waiting to “pick up bargains.”
But this bargain picking was different from the usual kind.
These people specifically looked for men and women who appeared alone and frail at the auction house.
They would corner these individuals when they were isolated and rob them of their valuables.
This kind of thing was not uncommon; it happened every day here, and people were used to it.
Ze Yuan, however, did not understand.
“But aren’t there law enforcement teams on the lighthouse? Aren’t these thieves so rampant that they’re not afraid of the law enforcement teams?”
Xu An pretended to have a meaningful expression and pinched Ze Yuan’s chubby cheek.
“Tsk, little one, you don’t understand this, do you? The human world is very complex.”
Not everything is black and white.
Even in normal societies, there are industries operating on the fringes, let alone here.
“This is a typical no-man’s-land, and no official forces will interfere. Therefore, the law enforcement teams cannot manage this area. However, one must assess their own strength before attempting robbery. There are many who try to rob and end up being killed instead.”
“Little one, you still have much to learn.”