Chapter Nineteen: The Scramble

As time passed, Tao Lu and the winged woman had observed five or six groups of people so far. Among them, only the three members of the Angel Clan led by Xize represented an external force from outside the Non-Free Zone. Tao Lu memorized each of these individuals one by one, just in case something unexpected occurred during this mission.

"Those people," the winged woman said, her eyes sharp. "They belong to the human faction. There are four from the Fierce Fang Squad. I don't know the identities of the other two, but we encountered that girl yesterday."

Tao Lu pondered this thoughtfully.

"There are six people in total on the human side: four members of the Fierce Fang Squad, all at the peak of 4-star Ability Users. As for the other two, I definitely don't know the man, but I do recognize that white-haired girl, even though she doesn't know me." Tao Lu waved her hand dismissively. "It seems the human faction wants to compete with us for the Chain of Purity."

"Ten to one, that's exactly it," the winged woman said with a frown.

Afterward, they also spotted two or three members of the Werewolf Clan, but they didn't see anyone from the Demon Clan or the Blood Clan participating in the auction. This wasn't unusual; after all, not every race was interested in the Chain of Purity.

Tao Lu roughly calculated that there were thirty-two people in total attending this auction, divided into nine factions. There were five local factions, each with a relatively small number of people. The four external factions consisted of their own Winged Clan, the human faction, the three Angel Clan members led by Xize, and the three Werewolf Clan members. No one from the Demon Clan or Blood Clan had appeared.

This was not strange either. Except for the Winged Clan, the other races shouldn't be too enthusiastic about this accessory. It would be strange if they spent diamond currency to fight for it!

Therefore, Tao Lu felt that only the human faction was somewhat problematic, while the other four races were within the normal range.

"Miss, the auction is about to begin. Shall we go up?" the winged woman reminded her in a low voice.

"Wait a little longer. It doesn't start for another three minutes," Tao Lu said indifferently.

"Alright," the winged woman replied.

Just as they waited for another two minutes, Xia Yan and Qihao finally arrived, albeit late. Xia Yan looked quite helpless; he had also noticed Tao Lu guarding the front of the building, making it impossible to avoid running into her.

But if they didn't go in any later, they would lose their qualification to enter. With no other choice, he could only bite the bullet and go in.

Xia Yan originally didn't want to meet Tao Lu, because if they met, the situation would only get worse, especially since they each served different masters.

At this moment, Xia Yan and Qihao were dressed in black cloaks that completely concealed their faces, looking extremely furtive.

"Miss, two more people have arrived," the winged woman whispered.

"Mm." A flash of light appeared in Tao Lu's eyes. With just a single glance, she recognized who was approaching!

Her bond with Xia Yan was so profound that it would be strange if she failed to recognize him.

The girl's judgment was indeed correct; yesterday was definitely not a coincidence.

That was Xia Yan deliberately making such a misleading move to deceive her, causing her to misjudge the situation.

She secretly blamed herself. If only she had thought it through carefully, she shouldn't have given up her pursuit just because of Xia Yan's actions.

Tao Lu raised the laser pistol in her hand, her eyes sweeping over Xia Yan and his companion with a malicious gaze.

As Qihao passed by her, Tao Lu sneered, "Just how ugly must you be to need to hide like that? Are you afraid that if everyone sees your face, they'll be so disgusted they'll want to vomit?"

Qihao stopped in her tracks, her eyes dark and gloomy.

"Heh," Tao Lu chuckled contemptuously, not even bothering to look at Qihao. She turned to the winged woman beside her and said, "If I were a man, even if I were blind, I wouldn't choose such a gloomy woman as a wife. Don't you agree?"

"You are right, my lady," the winged woman replied, nodding quickly even though she didn't know the full details.

Qihao suppressed the anger in her heart. She didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble; the mission was the most important thing.

However, just as she passed Tao Lu, Tao Lu aimed the laser pistol in her hand directly at her head.

This made Qihao break out in a cold sweat. A single shot from such a laser pistol would surely leave no one unscathed.

But Tao Lu also knew the limits, or rather, she hadn't intended to make a move at all; she was just threatening the other party. As Qihao continued walking forward, Tao Lu put the laser pistol away.

It was only when she brushed past Xia Yan that she gave him a rather provocative look.

Needless to say, Xia Yan was no fool and naturally understood that Tao Lu had recognized him!

Xia Yan gave a bitter smile, said nothing, and quickly walked forward.

This auction was becoming increasingly mysterious, and his own situation was growing more and more dangerous. Qihao beside him seemed normal, but she could betray him at any moment.

He felt deeply wronged. What exactly had he done wrong to make Qihao hate him so much? And at this auction, not only had Lan Xin come, but Tao Lu was here too. How on earth would this all turn out?

Xia Yan and Qihao entered Seat No. 10. Subsequently, relevant personnel came to verify the amount of diamond currency they had to prevent them from overbidding.

After confirming everything was in order, the auction began. Since there was only one Chain of Purity being auctioned this time, the auctioneer's introductory remarks were very brief. All the major factions had already conducted relevant investigations on the Chain of Purity, so there was no need for the auctioneer to ramble on and on.

"Well then, the auction for the Chain of Purity will now begin. The starting price is ten units of diamond currency."

"Eleven!" the person in Seat No. 1 called out.

"Twelve!" the person in Seat No. 2 called out.

"Thirteen!" the person in Seat No. 5 called out.

"Fourteen!" the person in Seat No. 6 called out.

Several factions began to compete in the low-price stage. Their bids increased by one unit at a time. Clearly, everyone knew that if the price of this item was below seventeen or eighteen units, buying it would definitely be profitable. Even if they didn't use it themselves, they could resell it!

Unfortunately, things were never that simple. The price of the Chain of Purity quickly soared, reaching nineteen units of diamond currency.

Qihao looked at Xia Yan and asked coldly, "Xia Yan, why aren't we participating in the bidding?"

"Since Amelia gave me one hundred and fifty units of diamond currency, there's no point in bidding right now. Let's wait a little longer," Xia Yan said with a calm expression.

Fierce anger flared in Qihao's eyes again. She gritted her teeth and said fiercely, "Xia Yan, if you call the Lord by her name again, I will definitely tear that mouth of yours off."

Xia Yan shrugged, not wanting to argue with this crazy woman over such issues.

"Thirty units of diamond currency."

The price jumped from nineteen to thirty units of diamond currency. This was the bid from Seat No. 3, the Winged Clan, and the person bidding was none other than Tao Lu.

She cast a provocative gaze at the leaders of the various factions, her expression seemingly saying, "We, the Winged Clan, are taking this accessory!"