Chapter 282 Local Ordinary Merchants
Xiao Zhenzhen was on his way to pick up his father and take him home.
From Xiao Zhen's perspective, he and Yan An had only been separated for six days. In fact, Yan An was usually busy with company affairs and went on business trips from time to time, so it was common for him to be separated from his family for a few days. But at this moment, when Xiao Zhen thought of Yan An being thrown into an unfamiliar alien planet for more than a year, he couldn't help but feel worried.
"You've been pacing here twelve times," Captain Madara said.
Xiao Zhen did not stop pacing. He turned to look at Mr. Cat, "Is he okay?"
Mr. Cat ignored him.
Captain Ban coughed, "You have been asking questions since you knew your father was involved six hours ago a year ago." He lowered his voice slightly and imitated Xiao Zhen's tone, "Is Yan An okay?" "Does the gravity and air quality on Tengxi Star have any effect on the body of Homo sapiens?" "Is his mental state okay?" "Will eating the food of gear people for a long time cause changes in the body of Homo sapiens?" "If he gets sick, will the locals install a gear for him?" "What if he becomes mentally ill?"
"Did I ask so many questions?" Xiao Zhen denied.
Mr. Cat said, “You have.”
Captain Madara said, "You have."
"But it's been more than a year!!! What if he becomes mentally ill?"
"I can't stand it anymore." Captain Ban muttered in a low voice, "Now you look like Yan An's father, and Yan An is your son."
"But I'm really worried!" Xiao Zhen looked distressed, "He was really good to me. If anything happens to him, how can I explain to An Yuan and Yan Zhu! How can I explain to the owner of this body! And Principal Wu, his hair is gone, how can I explain to Principal Wu's family!!"
"I think Principal Wu's hair was gone in the first place." Captain Ban turned to Mr. Cat and said, "You see he's already talking nonsense. How long will it take us to get to Tenxi Star?"
"..." Mr. Cat said, "We will leave the mourner now and board the light escort ship Sword of Fortitude."
A light escort ship is a small ship used primarily for reconnaissance, espionage, and messenger missions. It trades reduced defensive capabilities for high-speed maneuverability.
Changing to the Sword of Fortitude will make the speed much faster than the original Memorialist.
Captain Tess of the Sword of Fortitude was an experienced Khazar who looked like a gaunt and thin woman. But when the Sword of Fortitude broke away from the mourners and flew into the sea of stars, the speed and stability of the starship she commanded was astonishing.
But even though the spaceship was traveling so fast, it still couldn't ease Xiaozhen's worries.
"Mr. Cat, Yan An..." After holding it in for twenty minutes, Xiao Zhen asked again.
Mr. Cat glanced at him.
"That was more than a year ago after all." Xiao Zhen said, "Everything that happened is a fait accompli in the past." He looked at Mr. Cat, "What exactly is the prohibited substance 241 in his body?"
"Let's talk about your father's current location."
"As expected! You change the subject as soon as we talk about this."
"We are going to an auction on Tengxi Star soon."
"Auction?"
"Have you heard of Barlett's collection?"
"Who is it?" Xiao Zhen asked.
Captain Madara said: "My database records that Barlett is a well-known archaeologist."
"Barlett Drive, also known as the Endless Seeker, was the most prestigious archaeologist on the planet Tenxi. He passed away recently."
"What does this have to do with Yan An?"
"It left behind a number of archaeological documents and collections, which will be auctioned soon."
"so what?"
"Originally, this was just an ordinary inheritance auction. But the Driving Family is not simple. They have been passed down for nearly thirty-seven generations and are an archaeological family with an ancient heritage."
"I know you want to tell me a long story and then bring it up to Yan An, right?"
"Barlett Driver is the last of this family. After his death, according to his will, his archaeological documents and collections will be auctioned publicly at this auction. Now the Eye of Overseer believes that one of the collections is dangerous and cannot be collected by private individuals. And some enemies with ulterior motives will take advantage of the opportunity..."
"Wait a minute, an enemy with ulterior motives?" Xiao Zhen's heart suddenly started to ring with alarm bells.
"Other colleagues from the Overwatch will handle this matter at the auction venue," said Mr. Cat. "Considering the danger of the enemy, the auction venue is likely to become a battlefield."
"..." Xiao Zhen has already reacted, "You mean, Yan An will be at this auction, right?"
"Originally, we could have taken him back leisurely. But this auction is the biggest celebrity event in Tengxi Star recently. It's probably a common trait among wealthy people who have too much money to spend. According to the information I just got, he and Principal Wu also went to the auction to join in the fun."
“……”Xiao Zhen blinked.
Captain Ban said, "It seems that none of the health or mental problems you are worried about exist. More than a year has passed, and these two apparently still have the leisure to watch the auction."
"What about the enemy you mentioned?"
"This auction house may become a battlefield at any time." Mr. Cat said calmly, "So I switched to the fastest ship, hoping to bring them back before the conflict begins ."
Teng Xixing.
Barlett Drive, a knowledgeable and respected archaeological collector known as the "Endless Seeker", passed away not long ago. This was an explosive and sensational news on Tengxi Star. The Drive family is the oldest family on Tengxi Star, and this family is extremely famous for its academic research on archaeology. Barlett Drive is the last member of this family. His property - including most of the family's ancient collections will be publicly auctioned in the near future according to his will, and used to build a higher education institution on Tengxi Star. After this news came out, it attracted a group of antique collectors with extremely keen sense of smell and wealthy people who were worried about how to deal with their spare money.
Lushela Uniform, a local Vizsla and a secret investigator of the Third Chamber of the Oversight Eye, has been carefully observing the academic and archaeological activities of Barlett Drive over the years. In fact, there has always been a rumor that under the thousand-year inheritance of the Drive family, there is a certain blasphemous antique in their collection that contains ancient mysterious power and even unspeakable. Now, with the death of the last member of the Drive family, this collection that has never seen the light of day is about to reappear in the world.
During these years of observation, Lucela has always respected Barlett Drive's rigorous and low-key research attitude. The archaeological collections collected by this family over thousands of years do contain some very difficult items, but the Drive family has never caused any trouble worth noting. Now that the owner has passed away, it is the duty and responsibility of the Oversight Eye to ensure that the dangerous items in its collection are not used by those with ulterior motives to bring about irreparable consequences.
When Investigator Lucela arrived at the auction venue, many guests had already arrived. In addition to the local Vizsla people who could make a clicking sound, there were also many alien guests with unfamiliar faces.
And the person with evil intentions must be hiding among them.
As it passed through the hallway, a voice called out to it, "Saga Lecturer." The other party laughed softly, "Your last speech was really impressive."
Investigator Luxela hesitated briefly. The Saga lecturer was the disguise it used to enter the venue. In fact, it had never given a speech to the public. Then it saw the other person clearly. This was an Imen man wearing a blue and purple velvet coat. He was smiling and polite. He wore a badge on his collar in the shape of a gear and a book page, which meant that he had been invited to the heritage auction.
It recognized him immediately.
Lucela said in a cold tone: "Investigator Aiki, what are you people from the Fifth Court doing here?"
Iki smiled and said, "Of course it's the same as you, Saga Lecturer, oh no, Lucilla Uniform Investigator."
Iki is an investigator of the Fifth Division of the Overwatch Eye. In previous official duties, Investigator Lucela and Investigator Iki had dealt with each other several times. In the eyes of both parties, the other was a big trouble that hindered them.
“I came to watch the auction.”
"So do I," Ikey replied.
The two of them stared at each other in silence, emitting hostility to their heart's content.
At this time, the auctioneer announced the new items for auction.
"The inheritance to be auctioned now is - The Chronicles of Lothal's Past!"
"The Past of Lothal" is an ancient book with very few copies left today. A full-view floating screen appeared in the center of the auction venue to introduce the auction items to the guests. The content of "The Past of Lothal" has long been made public and does not have much research value in itself, but several pages of this ancient book are handwritten annotations by a great scholar on Tengxi Star a thousand years ago. This scholar was the founder of the largest higher education institution on Tengxi Star, which makes this book have a certain commemorative significance.
After the annotations were displayed, the auction process officially began.
"Three plates."
"Four plates!"
A plate is a counting unit in the auction house. A plate contains 10 chips worth 1,000 Yi coins. Generally, expensive antique collectibles are directly counted in plates.
Investigator Lucela looked around at the guests silently. Compared to Barlett's secret collection, this ancient book obviously did not arouse much enthusiasm among the guests.
As the timer runs out, the item will soon be sold at a relatively low price.
"Their target is behind." Iki whispered.
Lucilla glared at him.
“Don’t use that expression.” Ikey laughed softly, “I know Barlett’s legacy is not that simple.”
“…”
"Look around you. I've spotted at least four dangerous people on the Security Committee's list. I think there are more on the Watcher's Eye wanted list."
Lucela remained silent. Her opponent was right. Just now, she had only looked around and found several smugglers on the run, wealthy businessmen involved in illegal operations who were under special observation, a former politician in exile, and a thief suspected of committing several serious crimes. They were all eager to take the most mysterious collection of Barlett's legacy. It turned out that she was right to come here.
"Did you see that guy over there?"
"I saw it a long time ago," Lucela said coldly. "It's Inspector Camuro of the Security Committee."
"Yes, it's him."
Camuro is the chief detective of the Security Committee. There is no doubt that his goal is the same as that of the two investigators from different branches of the Eye of Supervision, which is to get Barlett's secret collection and the prisoners who are targeting it.
"It's not just him," Ikey whispered.
"Um?"
"And there's that one, the first president of the underground gang in the Semio galaxy."
“It’s more than that.”
"That person over there is the deputy leader of the Sons of Storm."
“It’s more than that.”
Aiji raised his head slightly and glanced at a Levitic woman who had just entered the hall. She was very tall, with dark hair braided into a bun. She was wearing a simple Levitic dress, and she had a chilling coldness forged by war. After she entered the auction hall, several guests showed obvious hesitation and surprise on their faces.
"Commander Lan Xin." Lu Xuela called out in a low voice, "Even the senior officers of the Galactic Fleet are here."
"Bartley's secret collection looks very tempting." Ikey glanced at the guests in the venue. What they saw might be just the tip of the iceberg of the current attendees. There was no doubt that this place was about to become a bloody battleground for all the major forces.
"Six plates!" A voice shook the venue. The auction of "The Past of Lothal" was still going on, and a wealthy Homo sapiens businessman was bidding. This was a strange-looking Homo sapiens, who looked middle-aged, with lush green hair on his head, which glowed green under the lights of the venue, which was extremely strange. Sitting next to him was another black-haired Homo sapiens male.
"Who are they?"
“An ordinary local businessman.”
