Tuls listened in complete confusion. He had been a poor student who never liked studying since childhood, and he even thought this might not be a bad thing. “Uh… Isn’t that great?”
Xie Jianxun said loudly, “He won’t let me study! How can there be such a bad person!”
Tuls pondered for a moment and echoed against his conscience, “Exactly, studying leads to progress. You’re right, Boss.”
Xie Jianxun said, “Wasn’t it just because I was reading until four in the morning and didn’t sleep?”
Tuls: “…Hey! Do you need to go that hard?!”
As someone who had been strictly controlled by a “family head” since childhood, Xie Jianxun felt that his current life was full of freedom and hope—something he had never even dared to imagine: one day, he could stay up past ten o’clock.
He had even nearly pulled an all-nighter!
He muttered, “If Yiwen had discovered it a bit later, I might have even achieved my first all-nighter goal…”
Tuls didn’t catch what he was mumbling under his breath.
He was following the address sent via the communication number and searching for the exact location on the light brain map.
It was best if there was navigation; that way, he wouldn’t even need to find the way himself.
Star Net was indeed the most powerful, precisely locating the address and providing several optional routes.
The two first took a high-speed maglev train. After getting off at the terminal station, they turned right and caught a bus that ran every half hour, swaying as it headed toward the suburbs.
Of course, they didn’t actually reach the suburbs but arrived at a sparsely populated, not very prosperous little corner.
The night was dim. Tuls took off the top hat he had specially worn for the trip (his most valuable possession, worth more than his patched suit) and fanned himself with the brim in exhaustion.
He was in his thirties, after all, and didn’t have the stamina of the young.
The hour-long bumpy bus ride had even made his stomach feel queasy… All in all, not pleasant.
Xie Jianxun looked around and felt a bit uneasy. “Is this really the place?”
It wasn’t exactly the wilderness, but the buildings were sparse, and there was no auction venue in sight that could accommodate such an event.
Tuls felt uncertain too, but how could he show in front of the boss that he didn’t know either?!
So Tuls immediately spoke up, “Don’t worry, Boss. These underground auctions always pick places no one knows about. Anyway, we’ll… uh, walk around and find out.”
He deliberately walked ahead to lead the way into the cluster of buildings.
Fortunately, it wasn’t too unlucky. After walking a distance, they started seeing people, and after a bit more, it was somewhat lively.
They finally found the store based on the door number. The door was tightly shut, and Tuls volunteered to knock.
Soon, the door cracked open, and a hand reached out, palm up, as if demanding something.
Xie Jianxun felt his pocket and placed the entry card on it.
The hand retracted, and soon the door opened fully. A middle-aged man with a sallow face stood behind it, gesturing for them to follow.
Tuls whispered, “Don’t be scared, Boss. Underground auction houses are always this secretive, but there’s no real danger.”
They hurried after him, descending a flight of stairs, and finally entered the underground area.
The space opened up before them. Lights illuminated only the walkways on both sides, while the large private booths had only small reading lamps on their glass tables.
Each booth was separated by a transparent glass panel that blocked sound, appropriately protecting the guests’ privacy.
At the front, a spotlight shone on the auction stage, which was currently empty.
Xie Jianxun found their booth and sat down with Tuls.
On the glass table, besides the reading lamp, there was a pager and a thin booklet with a dark red cover.
He picked it up and flipped through it casually, discovering it was the catalog for this auction’s items.
“Half an hour left.”
Tuls glanced at his light brain. Because he didn’t know the way, they had arrived early, avoiding the risk of being late and unable to enter.
Xie Jianxun was very interested in this auction’s items. According to Tuls, underground auctions not only sold common items from surface venues but occasionally featured some “unique” goods.
He slowly read through the thin booklet from top to bottom.
“Ebony Stone, a coating material for toughening equipment exteriors… Liqi Star Meteoric Iron, anti-radar scanning… Red Whalegrass…”
Each item had its scientific name, a brief introduction, and an attached photo.
He finished the first page without finding anything he needed and felt a bit disappointed.
Pondering, he turned to the second page.
The second page had fewer items than the first, with more detailed descriptions. They were clearly rare goods, but buyers might not recognize their value if they rarely saw them, leading to no bids.
Luckily, the third-to-last item on the second page was one of the materials Xie Jianxun needed.
He immediately shoved the booklet under Tuls’s nose, signaling him to pay close attention.
Tuls: “Got it, Boss. No problem, Boss!”
Unlike his boss, who was focused solely on the items, treasure hunter Tuls knew his role today.
Guide the boss, protect him, provide suitable item recommendations, watch for unusual movements from other… er, guests at the auction—all part of his job!
The booth backs were high, so he half-knelt on the cushion and stealthily poked his head over the top, locking eyes with someone from the row behind.
“…”
Xie Jianxun turned to the third page and was somewhat surprised to find only three items listed.
Dong Crystal Eight-Petal Snake District Raw Ore.
Raw ore mined from an extremely high-risk district, preliminarily estimated to yield around 45% Dong Crystal Eight Petals.
Pure Silver Bionic Dog.
A bionic dog with a layer of flowing silver coating on the surface, just the frame. Buyers could raise it while waiting for the bionic materials to grow on the frame, resulting in a shimmering silver pup. Extremely high technical difficulty.
The final item was an egg.
Xie Jianxun was drawn in by its description and unconsciously placed his finger on it.
Egg-Shaped Bionic Human. Preliminary scans showed bird-like mechanical wings. Upon hatching, it might innately possess flight capabilities.
Xie Jianxun still remembered parts of the Bionic Rights Act, which stated that bionic citizens had equal rights to natural citizens, including maintaining human form.
Any situation that could lead to deformities in bionics was illegal human experimentation—because bionics, in terms of gene screening, could not possibly develop deformities.
Wings present from birth… were clearly a deformity.
He sucked in a breath, not expecting to encounter something like this here.
At that moment, Tuls sheepishly slid down from the top of the booth. Hearing the noise, he leaned over and asked, “Boss, what’s up?”
Xie Jianxun pointed to the last item and asked in shock, “Is this legal?”
Tuls thought for a moment and said tactfully, “Boss, you know the Silver Watchtower is the holy land of mechanics and the origin of bionic humans, right?”
Seeing Xie Jianxun’s blank stare, Tuls kindly gave him a history lesson on the Silver Watchtower. “About a few hundred years ago? I forget, anyway a long time before the Federation had bionics. Back then, another type of robot was popular—highly mechanical ones…”
Xie Jianxun interjected, “Mechanical Puppets.”
Tuls: “Oh yeah, Mechanical Puppets… Ah, Boss, you know about them. Anyway, no problem, continuing. The Federation produced a lot of Mechanical Puppets to protect the planet, and right when the Insect Clan first invaded the Federation’s star systems, the Mechanical Puppets drove them back home and even got praised for it.”
“But Boss, you’re young, and textbooks probably don’t mention it now, but back then, Mechanical Puppets were treated poorly. The Federation didn’t plan to retire them properly, just dumped them on a few planets with some tasks and called it done. Wait for them to naturally break down, then recycle the materials.”
The treasure hunter’s tone was regretful. “Ah, and they were great heroes… I got off track. Then one Mechanical Puppet had an especially high level of intelligence or something—it mutated, fused human genes with Mechanical Puppet mechanics, researched bionic material factors, and the first bionic human was born. The Silver Watchtower has so many biotech companies now because they divvied up the data he left behind and developed from there.”
“That Mechanical Puppet said, if humans are noble and Mechanical Puppets are lowly, then what about bionics that are infinitely close to humans with very low mechanization?”
Xie Jianxun listened raptly, ignoring even the additional lights on the stage.
He pressed, “And then?”
Tuls clucked his tongue. “Anyway, a bunch of messy stuff happened, and later came the Bionic Rights Act… Eh, no need to go into it. Point is, biological experiments, especially on bionics, are a historical leftover issue in the Silver Watchtower. So seeing remnants at an underground auction is probably normal.”
Xie Jianxun inexplicably felt a bit sad.
He said softly, “What about that Mechanical Puppet? What happened to it later?”
Tuls: “It was deemed guilty of stealing human genes for biological experiments—a major crime back then. It and the first bionic human it created were to be imprisoned in a Federation prison for three hundred years.”
Xie Jianxun said in surprise, “Three hundred years—he’s still alive now?!”
Tuls shook his head, his tone heavy. “No. On the third day of the pursuit, his body was found under the snowy city walls.”
“The bionic human he created went missing.”
“Later reports said his energy was depleted, and the extreme cold froze his internal parts, causing machine failure. The tech of that era wasn’t like today; repairing a broken Mechanical Puppet was costly, so they gave up the chase.”
Xie Jianxun listened quietly, feeling somewhat lost.
He murmured, “A Mechanical Puppet that won the war for the Federation became a fugitive and died in a corner…”
Tuls suddenly said, “Not necessarily dead.”
Xie Jianxun: “Hm?!”
Tuls: “There are rumors that he didn’t die—he just had an out-of-body experience, ascended, evolved… whatever. Basically, his consciousness left the body and merged directly into Star Net, becoming a mechanical lifeform in the virtual network.”
He racked his brains for an example. “Like… like the Main Brain!”
…
Clap. The lights illuminated the stage.
The host, wearing a ferocious iron mask, slowly walked onto the stage, raised the microphone, and spoke in a voice devoid of emotion.
“Welcome, esteemed guests, to our 23rd Black Grade Auction. I am the host.”
Xie Jianxun glanced over absentmindedly. His mind was still full of the story Tuls had told—he had no resistance to these little tales from the past.
His gaze fell on the stage, and he froze, snapping back to reality.
Wait, why did this host’s mask look exactly like the one Idis wore in the workshop? Were they buying in bulk from the same place?
Xie Jianxun couldn’t help but laugh, and even the ferocious iron mask didn’t seem scary anymore.
“The esteemed guests have surely browsed our items and are eager for the auction… No rush. First, let’s have a warm-up segment.”
Gentle music played, and several men and women in bikinis walked up from below the stage, all striking the same seductive poses, blowing kisses to the audience below. The host announced how much it would cost to book them for the night.
Xie Jianxun: “…”
Tuls: “…” Aaaah!
He didn’t care about anything else and immediately covered Xie Jianxun’s eyes, trembling helplessly, hoping his still-young boss’s eyes wouldn’t be tainted by this.
But the segment was effective for warming up the crowd. The previously dead-silent venue soon buzzed with pager calls, bids, and laughter.
Once the pagers settled, the host hammered down the final bids. The top picks for the night smiled and headed into that booth, vanishing into the darkness.
The host: “Alright, warm-up over. Next, please welcome our first exhibit!”
As the auction began outside, Tuls anxiously lowered his hand and asked, “Boss, what’s our spending limit today?”
He had seen Mr. Dobin auction for clients a few times and knew some psychological warfare tricks.
Used properly, they could help the boss save money.
—Boss’s money didn’t grow on trees!
Xie Jianxun sat obediently in place, blinking his lashes, still a bit dazed.
Hearing Tuls call him repeatedly, he finally reacted and said, “Keep the bids low, don’t go too high.”
Tuls nodded. This was a normal reaction from any boss.
Unexpectedly, Xie Jianxun’s next words were, “Forget it. Even if we bid high, it’s no big deal. I can afford it.”
Boss, everything here starts at tens of thousands! Tuls grumbled inwardly.
He figured his boss was young and insensitive to prices.
No matter. He, Tuls, a professional (well, not that professional) Treasure Hunter, would ensure fair prices for his boss.
The items on the first page took a full hour to auction off, leaving the two in the booth drowsy and waiting.
The second page began, and they waited another half hour before the rare material Xie Jianxun wanted finally came up.
He nudged Tuls, who was drooling in his sleep, and ordered, “Bid.”
Tuls snapped awake and slammed the bidding device. “Four hundred and thirty thousand!”
This jump of thirty thousand stunned the other bidder. They’d been inching up by ten thousand each time, finally grinding one opponent out at four hundred thousand. How had a new one popped up?
The bidder hesitated but pressed on. “Four hundred and forty thousand.”
Tuls: “Four hundred and sixty thousand!” He lowered his voice. “Boss, this thirty thousand jump puts real psychological pressure on him. His next bids will be smaller. We press the advantage and can take it easily.”
Sure enough, the opponent’s quoting slowed. “Four hundred and sixty thousand… five thousand!”
Tuls: “Four hundred and seventy-five thousand.”
Opponent: “……Four hundred and eighty thousand!”
Tuls chattered on, “Boss, you don’t know it, but this is psychological warfare. We’ll keep tugging back and forth before it settles…”
Before he finished, Xie Jianxun snatched the bidding device and called out loudly, “Five hundred thousand.”
The opponent went silent and withdrew.
Tuls raised an eyebrow. Xie Jianxun turned back with sincerity. “We have money. We don’t need psychological warfare.”
The host announced, “Five hundred thousand once, five hundred thousand twice, five hundred thousand three times… Congratulations to this guest!”
Tuls began pondering just how rich “rich” meant for his boss… A multimillionaire?
With ample funds, the rest of the items would be easier.
Realizing this, Tuls brightened, rubbed his hands, and faced Xie Jianxun. “Boss, which one do we go for next?”
Xie Jianxun’s fingers rubbed the surface of the thin catalog.
He wasn’t interested in many things. With the essentials bought, the rest were…
Xie Jianxun tapped the egg and asked hesitantly, “How much do you think this egg will go for?”
Seeing his interest, Tuls blurted, “Boss, what do you want a bionic person raised from hatching for… Oh, I spoke out of turn. Ahem.”
He gave an awkward smile. “From my limited experience, it’ll start at least at two million, but how high it floats depends. Not everyone sees the use in it.”
Soon, the second page wrapped up, and the venue hit its hottest stretch.
The Dong Crystal Eight Petals was the top item, quickly driven to thirty million by the guests—a sky-high price for a small underground auction.
But the bidding didn’t stop: thirty-three million, forty million, fifty million, finally closing at sixty-seven million eight hundred and twenty thousand.
The Pure Silver Bionic Dog drew slightly less heat. As a cutting-edge tech pet dog for home, perhaps only rich madams would flaunt it.
It sold for eight million.
The final cart rolled onstage, and the host’s tone turned mysterious.
“An unhatched Egg-Shaped Bionic Human, with no lab imprint on the shell—a flawless, perfect specimen.”
“Born with innate wings, it can fly upon hatching, has self-repair abilities, immense combat power, and will imprint on its master after hatching… It will be your most loyal servant.”
The host’s golden gavel gleamed under the lights, raised high.
“Starting bid: five million. Minimum increment: ten thousand.”
Bidding voices and quotes rose from below—not overly enthusiastic, but steady. Even if unused, who wouldn’t want an extra Bionic Person?
“Five million five hundred thousand!”
“Six million!”
“Seven million!”
In the blink of an eye, the egg broke ten million and kept climbing.
Xie Jianxun froze in place, and even Tuls was surprised. He’d thought fewer guests would join, but the wealthy exceeded expectations.
Around fourteen million, the calls slowed, increments shrank, and bidders figured it was topping out.
Tuls hesitated. “Boss, entering now might be a bit…”
Xie Jianxun said confidently, “Just right.”
He pressed the device and quoted, “Fifteen million.”
One strike, kill!
No further bids. The host declared on the spot, “Very well, this bionic ‘angel’ now belongs to this guest!”
