Beneath the fragrant perfume and refined music lay an unmistakable undertone of vulgarity.Whispered conversations in corner booths didn't revolve around market trends or corporate acquisitions, but rather human cargo, private bidding tiers, and the "fresh arrivals" expected at the midnight auction. The words were slick and guarded, yet drenched in an unbridled, aristocratic filth."The security presence is double what they advertised in the public ledger," Adam murmured softly under his breath, keeping his posture relaxed as he held a champagne glass. "At least thirty hidden guards in the main hall alone, all armed with suppressed sidearms and martial intent.""Unrefined beasts playing at sophistication," Alistair replied smoothly, his tone so low it was lost to the ambient music. "They build a palace of marble and glass simply to hide the smell of their rot."Before Adam could respond, a rotund man in a velvet tuxedo flanked by two younger executives broke away from a nearby group,

"A distraction to build anticipation," Alistair replied softly, his face unreadable as he watched the bid numbers flash rapidly on the digital screens lining the balconies. "The vultures in these boxes did not come here for raw stone."The auctioneer moved through the first few lots with practiced ease.Rare herbs, prototype military disruptors, and forged sovereign deeds were sold off for astronomical sums, met with eager applause from the surrounding velvet-draped booths.Then, the auctioneer raised a hand, and the atmosphere in the room visibly shifted.The air grew tense, thick with an ugly, palpable greed."And now, ladies and gentlemen, we move to the centerpiece of our evening," the auctioneer declared, a chilling smirk visible beneath his mask. "Our special acquisitions—hand-selected, flawlessly cataloged, and ready for deployment."He snapped his fingers.The heavy steel curtains at the rear of the stage ground opened, and two guards in black tactical gear marched out, draggi

"I'm calling you out right here, 'Mister Sterling'!" Victor bellowed, his voice filled with mocking disdain. "Are you truly a titan from the North, or are you just a nameless, fraudulent parasite using forged credentials to sneak into the Elite World Group's private domain?!” Victor's voice was extremely loud and clear, and his tone was aggressive as well, thus immediately attracting the attention of many people in the auction hall. Due to the special nature of the auction held today, the guests were mostly from wealthy top families, not just from Haven but Riverdale as well. Even those who came from slightly inferior families wouldn't receive an invitation at all, let alone a nobody that no one knew about. Many of them frowned in disdain, especially after seeing the clothes Alistair was wearing. All the scions and members of the wealthy families present at the auction were clad in designer suits worth at least tens of thousands of dollars each, and they paired them with exorb

After hearing Cristian's affirmative answer, Alistair took out a black card from his pocket with a faint smile on his face and nonchalantly tossed it onto the table at the side. “Go ahead and check it!”Cristian swiftly grabbed the card and began to scrutinize every detail of the card.The card was almost entirely black, without any card numbers or bank logos.It looked just like an ordinary magnetic card. But at the top right corner of the card was a golden mark in the shape of an extremely complicated and beautiful diamond!This was the very thing that made Cristian so shocked that he almost lost his composure. The others standing nearby were somewhat bewildered by his odd behavior. In their opinion, it was just an extremely ordinary card that a bank might not even issue.‘Does Mister Bale have to get so worked up?’ they couldn't help but wonder. “My goodness,” Cristian muttered. “This is a Black-gold card. It's been a while since I saw one just like this.”“A Black-gold card?”

Everyone got into an uproar and began discussing it among themselves.The three people whose names Cristian had asked for and whom he had been impressed by just now each had a drastic change of expression, as they couldn't understand what they heard at all. Soon, a staff member working for Cristian walked towards them and asked them to leave coldly. “Gentlemen, you are no longer welcome at this auction. You may leave now.”After hearing this, the three of them finally believed that Cristian was really blacklisting them and that they were getting chased out immediately!Donovan was furious and disgruntled as he realized that Cristian had decided to side with Alistair despite his attempts to make him support him instead.Unable to hold back his anger, he pointed at Alistair while addressing Cristian, “Mister Bale, why? Shouldn’t he be the one getting kicked out?”But Cristian’s expression remained unchanged, and he merely glanced at the staff member behind him. “From now on, all member