The old man named Malediz was once a high-ranking official in the Imperial military and participated in the second overseas landing war.
He has gone through many wars and made many contributions.
After retiring, the old man was awarded the title of honorary marquis, and was considered to be one of the upper-class among the imperial nobles.
At the same time, he was also the immediate superior of Pompey and Sibert, and during the war, he valued them very much.
It was just that because of a war at that time, Pompey and Siberia had a disagreement, which eventually led to the two comrades-in-arms turning against each other and never speaking to each other again.
This time, it was because Mr. Maledice's granddaughter, Miss Rui, had some health problems and came to them for help, which allowed the two to meet again after many years.
"Well... forget it, Pompey."
Malediz said slowly, shaking his head.
"General, although I hate Pompey, I have to say that I know the young man he mentioned... Mr. Jack is indeed very talented. Why not let him give it a try? Maybe..."
Sibert said in a deep voice under Pompey's surprised gaze.
But before he could finish his words, Maledice raised his hand to stop him.
"Okay, no need to say more. It's not that I don't trust you, but I don't trust that young man named Jack... The problem with little Rui Yi touches on the mystery, and it is not an ordinary difficult and complicated case.
And I have found a cure, and that is what we are here for, isn’t it?”
Pompey and Sibert looked regretful, but finally nodded.
Since my old boss doesn't agree, there's nothing I can do.
They were only responsible for giving advice, and the real decision was made by Maledice himself. After all, this was about the favorite granddaughter of the old boss, so they could understand being cautious.
"Five hundred and sixty pounds."
The man who was bidding against Chen Lun raised his sign again and gave him a warning look.
Chen Lun smiled slightly.
"Six hundred pounds."
The words were indifferent, just like the dignitaries who had just bid on the property, who didn't care about the small amount of money at all.
The man was a little annoyed, but still gritted his teeth and held up the sign.
"Six hundred and ten gold pounds!"
He was just an ordinary extraordinary person in the wild, and it was luck that enabled him to enter the mysterious realm.
Most of the money used for bidding was the family inheritance, which had been supporting him to move forward. However, more than 600 gold pounds was almost his limit.
This made him very anxious.
He was determined to win this item because he had been stuck at Sequence 9 for many years and had recently been in danger and was being followed by a mysterious person.
He urgently needs subsequent extraordinary knowledge in order to be promoted.
But now…
"Six hundred and fifty pounds."
Chen Lun was too lazy to increase the price gradually by ten gold pounds, so he just raised the price by one level.
The man who was bidding against him gritted his teeth and raised the sign with a slight tremor. The look he gave Chen Lun also changed from anger to a hint of pleading.
"Six hundred and sixty gold pounds..."
He opened and closed his mouth slightly and silently said the words "please" to Chen Lun.
Chen Lun saw it clearly, but remained indifferent.
"Seven hundred pounds."
He raised the price again.
This time, the man finally retreated and sat down on the chair dejectedly, feeling powerless. His despair and pain even surprised the two distinguished guests next to him.
They simply couldn't understand why they were so disappointed over just a book.
The other guests seemed to have no interest in the book and did not intervene. Finally, the host knocked three times with the gavel in his hand and announced that "Keyhole" belonged to Chen Lun.
"In fact, this book is already a bit overpriced. According to the general knowledge of Sequence 8, the price is only around 500 to 600 gold pounds... But the auction price will be much higher than the market price."
Chen Lun thought.
He glanced casually and noticed that the man who had not taken the photo of the mysterious book had left the scene dejectedly, dragging his heavy steps and walking outside.
Chen Lun thought about it and waved to a waiter beside him.
The waiter bent down and Chen Lun whispered something in his ear.
The waiter nodded and chased after the man.
After stopping him and having some conversation, the man turned around and looked at Chen Lun with a surprised expression.
At the same time, the other person's eyes were full of hope.
"After all, he is an extraordinary fighter. If we can buy him off with some knowledge, it would be a good choice... The circus has a long way to go in the future."
Chen Lun shook his head slightly.
He asked the waiter to convey a message, that is, the extraordinary knowledge of [Sequence 8 - Locksmith] could be given to the man, but there were conditions.
If you are interested, we can discuss it in detail after the meeting.
"The next lot is a mysterious material called 'Sunset Chrysanthemum Dew'. It has a strong fragrance and powerful medicinal properties. If it is mixed with special techniques, it can even be made into a 'panacea' that can cure various diseases."
The host Yuri described the small tube of transparent liquid in his hand in a very seductive tone.
"According to the client's request, the starting price is 200 gold pounds, and each increase in price must not be less than 5 gold pounds."
Chen Lun burst out laughing.
The host's words were clearly misleading.
Because many extraordinary materials can be used to prepare medicines to cure diseases, not just Sunset Chrysanthemum Dew. But these ordinary people are not aware of this. Even if they are in high positions, with power and wealth, they mostly only have a superficial understanding of the mysterious world.
Moreover, even for deployment, extraordinary people of the relevant sequence are needed.
Not everyone can mix extraordinary potions.
Sure enough, the guests in the audience became interested.
"Two hundred and five pounds."
"Two hundred and ten gold pounds!"
"Two hundred and twenty-five pounds."
"Two hundred and fifty gold pounds..."
“…”
Fierce bidding began, which made Chen Lun shake his head secretly.
I just came here to buy some ritual materials, but I didn't expect to encounter such a situation.
Even if these ordinary dignitaries took pictures of this material, it would actually be of no use to them. It was simply because the host aroused their desires.
"It seems like I have to spend more money..."
Chen Lun thought expressionlessly.
"Five hundred pounds."
At this moment, an old voice came from the corner.
Chen Lun glanced and saw that it was the old man who was with Pompey Sybert.
"Five hundred and five gold pounds!"
"Five hundred and twenty pounds."
"Five hundred and thirty gold pounds!"
The sound of bidding did not stop and continued.
The old man said again in a low voice:
"A thousand pounds."
This time, it became a little quieter.
Chen Lun frowned slightly.
"This price is already several times higher than the original price..."
He didn't quite understand why the old man was so obsessed with the "Sunset Chrysanthemum Dew" as he had never seen him bid for other items before.
From this we can see that the old man came here just for this thing.
Align with your purpose.
"One thousand two hundred gold pounds."
Chen Lun raised the sign tentatively.
The people present have stopped bidding, and it is obvious that they are not willing to spend so much money to buy a so-called "panacea" material.
Although they are rich, they are not stupid enough to not take money seriously.
"One thousand five hundred gold pounds."
This time the old man glanced at Chen Lun.
Seeing that the other party was so strong, Chen Lun didn't plan to continue to fight with him.
Put down the sign silently.
He had a feeling that if he raised the price, the other party would definitely follow suit. This would go on forever, and there was no need to spend so much money for a bowl of sunset chrysanthemum dew.
Chen Lun remembered Rosa's previous reply. All the Sunset Chrysanthemum Dew in the Silver Dragon Chamber of Commerce's inventory was bought by an old nobleman in Huangtie City.
"This old man might be the old noble who cleared out the Chamber of Commerce's inventory."
Chen Lun thought.
"If it's really him, then he should have a lot of sunset chrysanthemum dew in stock. After the meeting, I'll go talk to him... With Viscount Pompey and Mr. Siebert acting as intermediaries, I should be able to try to get him to sell me a copy."
After he gave up the bidding, the Sunset Chrysanthemum Dew fell into the hands of the old man.
There were no outstanding items in the subsequent auctions, so Chen Lun simply left the venue and went outside.
In a secluded corner on the third floor of the shopping mall, he found the man waiting there.
"Sir! Is what you just asked the waiter to tell me true?"
The man seemed very excited.
Chen Lun nodded and chuckled.
"If you are willing to agree to my terms, I can give you a copy of the extraordinary knowledge of [Sequence 8 - Locksmith] for free."
The man was stunned at first, then his face showed confusion and struggle.
He understood that if knowledge of such great value was to be given away at will, the conditions must be extremely harsh.
"Sir, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Morey."
The man took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and stretched out his hand.
Chen Lun shook hands with him briefly and said:
"Jack."
"Mr. Jack, what are the conditions you mentioned...?"
"Join my team and work for me."
Chen Lun put it very directly.
The other party was just a Sequence 9 Beyonder, and recruiting him was just a spur-of-the-moment decision. Chen Lun did not want to spend too much energy on this matter.
Morey didn't seem surprised by this, but after a few seconds of silence, he asked:
"Excuse me... who is your team?"
"It's a supernatural organization. There aren't many members at the moment, but they are all partners who trust each other... But temporary members like you need to sign a contract with me."
Chen Lun explained.
"I'm sorry, this is just a safety measure. I need to be responsible for the other members."
Morey's conflicted look became even more intense, and he rubbed his hands on his face, appearing to be struggling extremely.
"Don't rush to make a decision. I can give you some time to think about it... I will stay for another hour after the meeting."
Chen Lun said calmly.
Morey took a deep breath and suddenly said:
"Mr. Jack, no... no need to wait any longer. I am willing to join your team and serve you. But can you please do me a favor...? This is one of the reasons why I am so eager for extraordinary knowledge."
"Oh? Tell me about it."
Chen Lun asked with interest .
"Help me kill someone!"
Morey swallowed and said in a deep voice.