Zhou Yan, while keeping an eye on the movements of those people, came to one of the stalls to begin his purchases.
Above were the seller's lists of items and their prices. Once selected, the transaction could be completed directly.
The prices of these items were set according to market value, with significant discounts for bulk purchases.
Upon arriving, Zhou Yan surveyed the items for sale. Only high-grade materials were being offered, and there were many of them. Zhou Yan directly asked, "If I were to buy everything, what price would you consider fair?"
The seller was a foreign merchant, and Zhou Yan was unsure of his nationality. The merchant paused slightly upon hearing the question, scrutinizing Zhou Yan before asking, "Are you sure? If you truly intend to purchase everything, I will certainly offer you a very favorable price. How about a 5% discount?"
"A 10% discount!" Zhou Yan countered.
"I can offer you at most a 7% discount," the merchant replied.
"Alright," Zhou Yan nodded. The merchant then packed all the items into a storage bag and presented it to Zhou Yan for inspection, saying, "Please check if everything is correct."
Zhou Yan examined it carefully and commented, "The quantity is good."
"The total comes to one hundred and thirty-six point five billion spirit coins!" the merchant declared.
This amount was truly insignificant to Zhou Yan, as his recent business dealings involved hundreds of trillions, even tens of quadrillions.
After paying, Zhou Yan moved on to the next merchant.
For Zhou Yan, the greatest pleasure in shopping was to buy out everything displayed by a seller. This was a maneuver he was very familiar with, having grown accustomed to it.
However, he was not the only one operating this way. Several other factions had also set their sights on specific merchants' goods and were purchasing them entirely, so no one was overly shocked.
Ye Bufan was also employing the same strategy. Primarily, after profiting handsomely by following Zhou Yan recently, he could finally indulge in lavish spending like Zhou Yan.
Indeed, the feeling of casually buying whatever one pleased was incredibly exhilarating.
Zhou Yan did not buy everything. He naturally did not purchase items he had no need for. However, any place he visited would not have much left.
Zhou Yan's frenzied purchasing spree did attract attention.
"Which group does this person belong to? So extravagant, they've already bought from dozens of merchants."
"They look somewhat familiar; I think I've seen them somewhere before."
"Is it a Lord celebrity, or an heir to some conglomerate?"
"Heavens! Isn't that the 'Number One Under Heaven' from the Divine Dragon Kingdom!"
"He actually came here, and bought so much."
...
The fact that Zhou Yan and Ye Bufan had arrived at the Sun Never Sets was already known to others. Zhou Yan had made no effort to conceal his presence; he was completely out in the open.
But now, who dared to make a move? All the people they had dispatched previously had been annihilated. No one was foolish enough to confront Zhou Yan anymore. Since they couldn't kill him, why bother making a move?
As noon approached, Ye Bufan and Zhou Yan met and found a place to have lunch.
Then, Ye Bufan asked, "How was your haul this time?"
"Very good. The feeling of having ample funds to buy things is fantastic. I finally understand how you felt when you used to buy materials!" Ye Bufan was genuinely happy.
"The key is that all this money belongs to others, so it doesn't hurt to spend it," Ye Bufan revealed the truth.
Using other people's money to buy what you need, surely anyone would be happy.
"The auction items in this venue are being guarded very strictly," Zhou Yan commented.
"Oh, have they failed? It's been two hours; why is it taking so long?" Ye Bufan checked the time.
"They haven't failed yet. They are just one step away from success and should be able to enter the final area in about an hour. And there are over a dozen groups involved." Zhou Yan replied.
"With so many people targeting the auction house, doesn't that increase the probability of failure?" Ye Bufan mused.
"They are all cautious individuals, and their methods are highly sophisticated. So far, there have been no major disturbances," Zhou Yan stated.
After lunch, they parted ways again to continue their shopping.
However, Zhou Yan's attention was primarily focused on the thieves. He provided assistance on occasion, and without his help, these individuals would likely have been discovered.
"Very well, the rest is up to your own performance."
Zhou Yan chuckled. He had installed tracking and monitoring devices on them, so nothing escaped his notice. No matter where they were, Zhou Yan could pinpoint their location.
The first group of thieves was the world's number one grand theft organization, and Zhou Yan was assisting them. This group consisted of fifteen individuals, each an expert in various skills.
They had clear divisions of labor: a lockpicker, an expert in formations, an expert in barriers, an expert in traps, and a hacker. Each was a master in their respective fields.
Through their meticulous cooperation and Zhou Yan's covert assistance, they spent several hours successfully penetrating the outer perimeter of the venue and entering the auction hall, navigating through layers of security and various traps.
Now, they had opened the warehouse door of this auction and stepped inside. The warehouse contained a myriad of auction items, each marked with a number.
Every auction item was equipped with an anti-theft device. Triggering even one would set off an alarm.
They began to disarm these alarms. It was simple; they had devices that prevented alarms from being triggered. When placed on the glass cover, they could effectively shield the alarm.
They had to disable them one by one, which was time-consuming, but entirely worthwhile.
Five of them infiltrated the interior and began placing the items from within the glass cases into designated spatial rings. One auction item after another was taken.
They were overjoyed but dared not relax in the slightest. They knew what the consequences would be if they became careless.
Time ticked by outside as items in the auction warehouse dwindled.
There were simply too many items up for auction, tens of thousands in total, enough to keep these individuals busy for quite some time.
Zhou Yan also hoped that these people would not make any mistakes.
However, at this moment, a second group entered. The two groups exchanged glances but, in a tacit agreement, did not attack. Instead, one of them said, "How about we take as much as we can, and if an alarm is triggered, you know the consequences."
"Agreed!"
And so, they proceeded to take items without interfering with each other.