More goods appeared at the auction. With hundreds of different high-value items made available, pretty much everyone who attended the auction gained an opportunity to compete. Many people who brought as much wealth as Ves already spent their money on goods such as exotics, medicines, exobeasts, equipment and other things of value. In addition, those who lacked enough firthals to win the bids also had another opportunity to gain what they desired. About one in ten items put up for auction demanded alternate payment. "...35 kilograms of neixe metal in exchange for the services of a Senior Mech Designer. Please input your strengths and the amount of time and effort you are willing to spend in your bidding tools. The owner of the neixe metal will make a selection based on the attractiveness of your offer..." "...This ancient alien relic can only be exchanged for other alien relics. Please upload the files of the relics you are willing to exchange to the bidding tool to make your bids..." "...This unique and powerful spaceborn rifleman mech is a powerful complement to any space-roving outfit. A lot of good stuff appeared on stage, giving Ves a good impression of the kind of goods and services that appealed to the upper echelons of both the Sentinel Kingdom and the Nyxian Gap. Trade was thriving between the two diametrically-opposed sides! Even as they fought and competed against each other in the open, in the background the two groups amiably traded and even partnered up with each other! To describe the hidden relations between the Sentinel nobles and the Nyxian pirate leaders as a conspiracy was a bit too excessive. However, it was undeniable that both sides secretly supported each other in an intermittent fashion. Not enough to make them allies, but just enough for certain conflicts of interests to arrive. The deal that Ves tentatively struck with Finlay pertained to just such a hidden relationship. An unnamed pirate alliance screwed over some unnamed noble houses, possibly due to the direction it received from yet another noble house. All of this sounded very messy to Ves. In fact, if Finlay’s superiors really went through with their supposed plan to deploy nuclear doom crawlers onto a heavily-defended pirate fortification, then the region would quickly become even less stable! The use of so many taboo weapons was such a shocking occurrence that the status quo that both sides had settled upon would never be able to last! An important consideration that weighed on Ves was how the changes that followed affected his father and his mother. More chaos could destabilize their gains. The wars and conflicts that would ensue after inciting the Nyxian Gap into a frenzy would definitely make their current positions in the Nyxian Gap less secure. On the other hand, the onset of chaos also meant that the established pirate alliances and other powers lost stability! Since his mother hinted that his father and her had managed to get themselves established in the Nyxian Gap, the rising conflicts would instead give them an opportunity to fight for greater power! Though Ves did not expect too much from his father, his mother was entirely different. With her many abilities, she was capable of giving his father some crucial advantages. With her intangible body and ability to travel anywhere, she was the perfect scout, assassin and saboteur. Ordinary opponents stood no chance against their combined might! In any case, whatever Finlay and his fellow nobles were up to couldn’t be stopped. At most, they would suffer a delay as they continued to seek for a Journeyman who was willing to blacken their hearts and morals to facilitate the emergence of death machines. Ves smirked underneath his helmet. Ves did not have that much confidence in Finlay’s ability to secure the services of a Journeyman Mech Designer willing to cross the lines set by the MTA. Most orthodox mech designers fully integrated the MTA’s values and principles into their core being! If they believed in them so strongly that their design seeds or design philosophies took them in, then persuading them to break these rules was impossible no matter how much money they received! It wasn’t worth it for a mech designer to break their design philosophies and the crystallization of everything they worked towards for a single commission! Perhaps the only group of mech designers who might be willing to accept this commission were bonafide pirate designers. Mech designers who defected from civilized space didn’t cut it. The pirate designers had to be born and raised outside of civilized space. However, well-educated professionals were very hard to come by, and those who advanced to Journeyman must be exceedingly rare! How hard would it be for Finlay to get into contact with native pirate designer like Mayra, who previously mentored Ketis? Very hard! As for Ves? While he might have started off as an orthodox mech designer that neatly fit into the mold of the MTA, the System and his many experiences with the Vandals during his formative, Apprentice period already turned him crooked. Ves remembered that he struggled heavily at the thought of designing and fabricating a single gamma laser rifle. As for now? It was no big deal to him! In fact, whenever he looked back on that incident, he could only laugh at how pathetic he overreacted to the System’s first Upgrade Mission! To Ves, performing this simple task in exchange of upgrading his Physics Main Skill to Senior-level was a huge bargain! Ves felt better about himself. His willingness and capability to do something that no other available mech designer would do provided him with a lot of leverage. In fact, this could be leveraged over and over again! As long as he became better, the value he could provide to clients like Finlay’s superiors grew more formidable! However, any thoughts about initiating further deals and partnerships sent a warning through his head. A miniature Calabast appeared in his mind and sent him a disapproving look while placing her hands on her hips. "You stupid kid! Who do you think you are? You’re a mech designer! Leave this kind of business to the real professionals!" Ves shook his head underneath his helmet, quickly shaking off the illusion conjured by his overactive imagination. Though he felt a bit petulant about being rebuked by his own imagination, the mini-Calabast had a point. Ves really shouldn’t be conducting shady deals like this on a regular basis. Someone like Calabast who was much more adept at interacting with dangerous partners ought to be able to do a lot better! The separation between Ves and Calabast troubled him more and more. Though the separation helped prevent anyone from figuring out the depth of their partnership, it also hindered him from taking ready advantage of her assistance. This had to change once he returned home. Ves intended to have a very lengthy talk with Calabast about their future cooperation. His tour already illuminated him how vital it was for him to have a shadow force and a network of agents and informants at his disposal. The auction already ran for several hours. As Ves carefully studied each item brought to the stage, he also began to anticipate the appearance of the second spiritually-reactive object. However, other items kept appearing first. Ves began to suspect that his worst fears might be coming true. The object he wanted to acquire must be part of the last batch of goods which the auction hall reserved at the very end of the auction session! "The finale of our auction is drawing to a close." The old auctioneer stated with a lot more excitement than before! "As always, our last ten items are our most prized by our appraisers! Let us begin with the introduction of Item #1255, which we call the Ancient Sarcophagus!" Ves felt a strong spiritual disturbance as a large, red object the size of a coffin emerged onto the stage! Everyone immediately studied the strange object. Consisting of red crystals, the coffin-shaped object appeared both natural and artificial. In addition to that, the crystal was partially transparent, giving observers a vague glimpse of a gray presence underneath! The wear and tear on the crystal surface gave the Ancient Sarcophagus the impression that it endured over several eons. Now that the Ancient Sarcophagus was in sight, Ves conclusively confirmed that it was the second spiritually-reactive object he sensed! He didn’t even need to activate his spiritual senses to distinguish the strange sensation he came under as he observed the red crystal object! The auctioneer began to describe the background of Item #1255. "The Nyxian Gap is a place full of asteroids, but that does not mean that we have never encountered the remnants of intelligent life in this region. Ancient ruins, many of them buried inside sunless moons and planets, occasionally get discovered. This Ancient Sarcophagus is but one of the many prizes retrieved from a newly-unearthed ruin. The treasure hunters sacrificed much to worm their way into the ruins and smuggle out the Ancient Sarcophagus. Now, it is here before you, having incurred only a minimal amount of damage during its retrieval." Despite the rough and worn appearance of the Ancient Sarcophagus, it still exuded a strong and undeniable alien charm! Even if it did not actively radiate a spiritual aura, the indescribable pressure it emanated nonetheless made the other guests feel different in its presence! It was much like how the Devil Tiger exuded a subtle but hard-to-ignore presence after Ves obscured its overpowering aura with a spiritual barrier! A couple of ideas about the Ancient Sarcophagus began to emerge in his mind. What did the solid red crystal coffin contain? "We have studied this unique relic of alien origin extensively and have confirmed the presence of an alien body locked inside. The body is intact, though we have not been able to glean any further methods due to the red crystal in the way. What we can tell is that the alien inside is a humanoid creature and is likely part of the race that built and occupied the ruins!" A number of guests lost interest. The Ancient Sarcophagus may look impressive, but it did not appear to be useful in a direct fashion. A powerful mech or a resilient suit of armor would have been a lot more useful in improving someone’s battle capabilities. Its main use seemed to be ornamental, which meant that only the collectors and those who wanted to acquire more prestige remained interested. This was good news to Ves because it cut down the competition drastically. However, competing against collectors wasn’t always a good thing. Ves knew their type well. Some were very fanatic about acquiring unique and interesting pieces to their collections. They were sometimes willing to spend an insane amount of money to indulge in their obsession! Ves raised his hand. "I want this." "You sure?" Finlay couldn’t hide the surprise and skepticism in his distorted tone. "I wouldn’t think a mech designer like you would be interested. Just look at it! It’s an ancient coffin!" "Regardless, I have made my choice. Please secure the Ancient Sarcophagus. I am willing to begin working on your commission as soon as possible." This caused Finlay to pause for a time. He was probably considering the difficulty of acquiring the Ancient Sarcophagus. Since it was left as one of the last ten items put up for auction, the amount of firthals required to outbid the other auction goers would definitely be considerable! Nonetheless, Ves had been right about the amount of leverage he possessed. Despite Finlay’s obvious reluctance to compete over the Ancient Sarcophagus, he gave a decisive answer. "I’ll do what you want. I hope you won’t renege on your promises." "I won’t. You can trust me. I never break a promise." In the meantime, the auctioneer finished describing the embellish background of the Ancient Sarcophagus. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖 As soon as the round of bidding opened up, Finlay immediately inputted an astonishing sum in his bidding tool! "750 million firthals!"