Chapter 283 The Unfilled Cup
Since this sudden accident, today is the first time in Yan An's life that he has seen so many kinds of aliens.
During this year, most of the time he saw the Weizra people with clacking gears. Tengxi is a planet that does not communicate frequently with the outside world. The town where Yan An and Principal Wu first arrived was also a rather closed inland city. For a long time, he only dealt with gear people and gear people. As his business continued to expand, he and Principal Wu finally came into contact with aliens from outside Tengxi. They were merchants passing through Tengxi, captains of cargo ships traveling through the stars, alien envoys, tourists, interstellar refugees who were exiled for unknown reasons, and even high-ranking interstellar nobles. They had amazing and strange alien appearances, and there were also humans who were almost the same as Yan An and his people. There were several times when Yan An and Principal Wu almost thought they had met fellow earthlings. They were surprised to talk to them, but unfortunately, they also knew nothing about the earth.
Another important piece of information was the Eye of Supervision. In fact, Yan An still had no idea what the alien organization that kidnapped them and robbed them a year ago was like. But they remembered the term they had heard that year - the Eye of Supervision.
After communicating with the local Vizsla people and many aliens, no matter what kind of aliens they were, they all showed fear and kept silent when they heard this term. If you want to save your life, stay away from the Eye of Supervision. Almost all aliens mean this. At this time, Yan An had his own judgment on this organization.
The Eye of Supervision is a violent armed organization that is famous throughout the galaxy and is feared by most aliens. This terrible organization wants to take back something unknown from him and Principal Wu. From the current situation, he and Principal Wu may have been transported to Tenxi Star due to some accident, and the Eye of Supervision has lost their whereabouts.
Yan An was not sure that he and Principal Wu would be able to return home safely after the Eye of Supervision retrieved what they wanted. From the perspective of these aliens, according to the Eye of Supervision's style, there was a high chance that he and Principal Wu would be destroyed. In this case, the safest option was to stay away from the Eye of Supervision and find their way back to Earth.
Over the past year, their business has flourished, and their wealth and connections have continued to accumulate. Although they still have not found out any information about the Earth, they have found out the methods and means of interstellar travel. This means that they are one step closer to the Earth.
At this moment, Yan An was watching the guests at the auction with a rather excited mood. These alien guests looked very different and were of various races, but they all crossed the credit threshold accumulated by resources to enter the most watched auction in the upper class of Tengxi Star.
Many alien races and civilization traditions are completely different from those of Earthlings. But in this auction business, no matter where the aliens come from, they have to follow one rule, which is to spend a lot of money to get the target you want.
"Six lots! Dear guests, is there anyone who wants to bid?" the auctioneer shouted in front of the stage.
There was no response from the audience. The auctioneer asked again. The atmosphere in the venue was quite cold. Although there were annotations by past scholars, the archaeological value of the "Records of Lothal Al" was limited after all. This scholar was still a little unknown to the vast galaxy. There was only one local collector competing with Principal Wu for the price.
The auctioneer called out the price again.
Principal Wu gave Yan An a look that indicated that he felt it was almost certain. Soon, The Chronicles of Lothal Al would fall into their hands.
At this time, a man came to Yan An's seat and smiled at Yan An.
"Greetings from the Star Spirits above. I am Leilo, the deputy leader of the Sons of Storm." said the visitor.
Yan An raised his head and greeted him. He saw that the alien in front of him was wearing a green cloak. He had a thin face, sharp eyes, and thick hair. There was a slight scar on his face, but he didn't look fierce. His voice was not loud, and even a little polite.
"Hello, I'm Yan An." he replied.
The guest named Lei Luo sat down beside him without any restraint. As he sat down, Yan An smelled a faint scent similar to cedar.
"I noticed that you and your companions are not locals?"
"Yes, that should be obvious. I am a Homo sapiens like you," Yan An replied.
Lello smiled happily, "I guess today is the day with the most Homo sapiens ever on this planet."
"I didn't expect this auction would have so many..." Yan An looked at the strange creatures in the room and chose his words, "Alien guests."
"Because there are tempting treasures here."
After the timer ended, the final price of the "Lothar Records" was six plates. The auctioneer hammered down, and with a crisp mechanical sound, the six plates placed in front of the auctioneer were transferred into a metal frame. The metal frame was marked with the serial number of each item. This was a ritual procedure for publicly displaying the price of the items that had been auctioned. Principal Wu smiled, and the "Lothar Records" was now theirs.
The next lot is still an ancient book, a collection of poems called "Song of Forgetting Worry" written by a Tengxi poet a thousand years ago. This poet is not well-known, but the paper used in this set of copies is a kind of Wen grass local to Tengxi Star. It is extremely rare to have been preserved to this day, and it has certain research value for researchers of Tengxi printing history.
Principal Wu gave Yan An another look, and Yan An nodded.
Principal Wu was the first to bid again.
Lei Luo said, "I didn't expect you two to be so interested in local ancient books."
"After all, these are the precious cultures of the local people."
"But it seems that the guests here are not interested at all." Lello said. As he said, after the auctioneer introduced the auction, only Principal Wu called out the price. After a long silence, a scholar-looking guest bid. Most of the guests had expressions of boredom and disinterest written on their faces.
Yan An observed the surroundings and replied, "That's good too. This way we can also pick up bargains."
"I have a question. Why did you two outsiders, merchants who made their fortunes by investing in the local area, think of buying these old and worn-out books?"
Yan An looked at the deputy head of the group. "Because these ancient books represent the local culture and are precious historical materials. The legacy of the late Barlett is basically antiques like this. Aren't the guests who come to this auction all here for these precious cultural heritages?"
"You are right. But in fact , most of the guests here have only one goal."
"What is it?"
"Oh?" Lello smiled. "As a well-informed businessman, you don't know?"
"I don't know. Just like I don't know anything about you."
"Well, I think we get along quite well. Since we are already here, and you are also a bidder for all the items, for the sake of fairness, I will tell you the treasures that the guests here are targeting."
"Please go ahead."
"Have you ever heard of 'the unfilled cup'?"
"What is that?"
Lei Luo looked at Yan An's expression, and his demeanor became a little serious. "The truly priceless treasure among the items auctioned today is related to the unfilled cup."
"Please tell me more."
"It has always been said that long before the birth of the galactic civilization, there was an even older prehistoric civilization. They were the king of the stars in the past and the pinnacle of civilization evolution." Leilo said slowly, "But this brilliant civilization eventually went to extinction."
"I understand. Could it be that this unfilled cup, the goal that all the guests are longing for, is the relic of this ancient civilization ?"
"I like talking to smart people." Leilo smiled. "Yes. The most precious treasure in Barlett's legacy is the remains of that ancient civilization."
"So it's a very old antique." Yan An understood clearly, "Just like the Sanxingdui's money tree and the Simuwu Large Square Ding."
Leilo looked confused, "What is that?"
"It's a very precious ancient cultural relic from our planet. I'm just making an analogy." Yan An looked at the alien Homo sapiens cautiously, "Do you know Earth?"
"This planet is named after the Earth, which sounds like a common problem among planetary civilizations that have not yet developed interstellar communication." Lello replied, "There are about 10,000 civilizations in the Milky Way that have given their planets this name."
"Okay." Yan An was a little disappointed. "I think I understand the value of the antiques you mentioned. This kind of prehistoric civilization relic is of great archaeological value."
"It's not just of archaeological interest."
"oh?"
"In galactic legend, the ancient civilization that has perished has reached the realm of God, and the unfilled cup may be God's legacy in a sense."
"God's Legacy..."
"In the legend, the unfilled cup is connected to the ancient power of the past." Lei Luo looked at Yan An, who was full of doubts. "There is a saying that whoever can obtain the unfilled cup means that he has the power of God."
"..." Yan An thought for a moment, "Could this antique be a weapon of mass destruction from ancient civilization?"
"If you want it to be a weapon, then it is a weapon."
“I still don’t quite understand.”
"To put it in simple terms, there is such a plot in the legends of every civilization, that is, making a wish to the gods and having your wish fulfilled." Lei Luo looked at Yan An, "So, the Unfull Cup is the embodiment of the highest technology of that civilization. It can fulfill any wish of the person who controls it ."
"..." Yan An blinked and blurted out, "It's the Holy Grail!!"
"The Holy Grail?"
"Oh, it's a legendary product of our planet's culture. It comes from the cup that Jesus drank wine from before his death . Later generations believed that this cup had miraculous powers." Yan An added, "Legend has it that King Arthur also looked for this."
"The unfilled cup I'm talking about is a product of ancient technology."
"I understand. Anyway, it's a wishing machine that can fulfill your wishes, right?"
"You could say that. The most precious treasure in Barlett's legacy is related to the Unfull Cup." Lello looked around. "This is the goal of today's guests from all over the world."
Yan An fell silent. He looked at the guests around him. Only then did he notice that they all had solemn faces, full of hostility and murderous intent. He said, "I understand! Are we going to have another Holy Grail War?"
