THE SOVEREIGN SCAVENGER: GOD-LEVEL EXTRACTION SYSTEM

FACE SLAPPING AT THE VIP AUCTION

The Diamond VIP Suite was as over-the-top as it got. Floating above the vast, circular floor of The Obsidian Vault, it sat sealed behind a wall of polarized, soundproof smart glass utter privacy. All around me, plush velvet armchairs faced the stage. The mahogany console glowed, alive with digital bidding screens and streaming data at my fingertips.

The view was perfect. Through the glass, I watched the whole arena below stadium seats packed with the city’s elite: guild masters, top-tier mercenaries, corporate moguls. They huddled together, whispering in tight, anxious clusters.

Then my eyes landed on the front-row balcony just beneath my suite. That’s where I spotted Oliver and Chloe. Oliver hunched over an encrypted comm-device, his face pale and shining with sweat as he spat out frantic whispers. Chloe stood by, a bundle of nerves, hands twisting her silk robe, eyes darting everywhere.

$$BEEP! TARGET ANALYSIS THROUGH ABYSS EYES:$$

* Oliver Vance: Pulse at 140bpm. Mana unstable. All liquid assets going into one bidding account: 85 million credits.

* Chloe Mercer: Mana stable, but her emotional readout screamed anxiety.

A low chuckle escaped me, muffled by my matte-black iron mask. Eighty-five million credits. The Vance Corporation had bled itself dry, shutting down dungeon research, freezing salaries—everything, just to pile all their chips onto a single, blind bid against me. They staked their survival on one ancient recipe.

Dong

A deep bronze bell echoed, silencing the whole stadium. Spotlights dimmed and focused, slashing two harsh white beams onto the center stage.

Grand Master Vance the Chief Appraiser stepped up to the podium, his sage robes perfect. He raised his hands, flashing a warm smile.

“Welcome, Lords, Ladies, and Honored Guild Masters, to tonight’s premier event at The Obsidian Vault!” His voice thundered through the speakers. “Tonight, we skip the usual catalog. Thanks to a supreme benefactor, we are privileged to unveil an item that’s about to change this city’s economy forever. Without further ado, the crown jewel of the night.”

From the stage, a sleek, chrome pillar rose, velvet cushion on top, and resting there: a shimmering obsidian capsule. The encrypted, unawakened recipe for the Sovereign Dragon Elixir.

A stunned gasp swept the room. Holographic displays flickered overhead, showing the capsule’s certified chemical matrix, Epic-Grade signature and all.

“This,” Grand Master Vance declared, his awe clear, “is the lost heritage recipe of the Dragon Sovereign Sect. Brew this elixir, and you can upgrade a Tier-1 to Tier-5 hunter’s stats by a full twenty percent. It smashes every known limit.”

Chaos erupted. Guild masters slammed fists on railings. Executives started barking orders into their phones. A twenty percent stat boost would turn a Tier-5 into a Tier-6 titan overnight crazy enough to shatter every balance in the city.

Down below, Oliver leaned over the rail, his eyes wild with greed. “It’s real,” he muttered, voice cracking, manic. “It’s the blueprint my father’s hunted for ten years. Once I bring it home, I’ll rule the hunter world!”

Grand Master Vance tried and failed to contain the excitement. “Starting bid: ten million credits! Minimum increase: one million! Let the games begin!”

“Fifteen million!” A burly guild leader shouted, terminal flashing.

“Eighteen million!” A corporate rep from a rival elixir brand shot back.

“Twenty-five million!”

The bids soared. Twenty-five, thirty-five, forty-five million the numbers on the big tracker above the stage spun into a blur. When the price passed fifty million, small-time players bailed out, despair on their faces.

At sixty million, only two big bidders remained on the floor.

Oliver wore a cocky smirk now. He rose from his seat, straightened his gold-trimmed obsidian armor, and called out in a booming voice, “Seventy million credits!” Every head turned.

He took it a step further, glaring around as if daring someone to challenge him. “Vance Corporation will not be outbid. Save your allowance. This one’s ours!”

Chloe stood beside him, glowing with pride as she caught everyone’s jealous stares. You could tell she lived for this. The wealth. The power. Exactly why she’d left her “trash-tier” past behind.

The stadium grew still. Nobody made a move. Seventy million credits most people couldn’t scratch that together.

“Seventy million, going once…” Grand Master Vance’s sharp eyes scanned the crowd. “Going twice…”

Oliver already started to celebrate, arms lifted, triumphant.

I leaned back, relaxed, and tapped the golden bidding button within my suite. Just one number. The audio system picked it up and broadcasted the bid, my voice unrecognizable through deep digital distortion.

BZZZ.

“Eighty million credits.”

The entire stadium fell dead silent. Every head whipped up, faces pressed toward the dark glass of my suite.

Color drained from Oliver’s face. His arms dropped. He recognized the chill aura creeping out of my box. The lobby “lowlife.” Right then, he knew.

“Eighty… eighty million credits!” Grand Master Vance stammered, running on adrenaline. “Our Diamond Suite lord bids eighty million!”

“YOU… YOU BASTARD!” Oliver completely lost it, all that corporate polish peeling off. He jumped onto the railing, waving his dragon-bone staff at my window, screaming, “Who the hell do you think you are?! You think you can hide behind a mask and steal what belongs to us?!”

Chloe tried to save the moment, tugging on his cape, voice shaking. “Oliver, stop! That’s the Platinum card holder you’ll get us killed!”

“Shut up!” He shoved her hand away, eyes bloodshot. He slammed his fist onto the terminal and shoved the rest of his lifeline into the bid. Every last credit.

“EIGHTY-FIVE MILLION CREDITS!” he screamed. “That’s my final bid! If you want it, you’ll have to buy it with your life!”

Collective gasps rolled across the crowd. That sum could crumble a mid-size company. If Vance lost, they’d be ruinedstocks tanked, contracts voided, a corporate massacre.

Oliver glared up, wild with triumphant desperation. This had to be enough nobody would pay eighty-five million for a raw, unawakened recipe that still cost a fortune to process.

I just stared back, hidden smile icy under the mask.

No need to press the bid button again. I didn’t have to beat him. I was the seller.

I leaned into the console mic. My masked voice echoed through the vault, calm as ever.

“Eighty-five million credits… sold to the arrogant heir of the Vance Corporation. Enjoy your empty paper, Oliver.”

Oliver just froze, smile breaking, confusion washing over him. “Wait… what do you mean, sold? You’re not bidding?”

Grand Master Vance didn’t even wait for it to sink in. The gavel came down with a thunderous bang.

“SOLD! For eighty-five million credits, to Mr. Oliver Vance of the Vance Corporation!” He turned, bowed at my suite. “And congratulations to our supreme anonymous seller this is the biggest single-item sale in Vault history!”

That detonated across the stadium like a bomb.

Oliver’s terminal beeped red, angry. Eighty-five million credits gone in an instant, funneled straight into my fresh Platinum Black Card.

He hadn’t just bought a recipe. He’d transferred his whole family fortune directly to the “trash scavenger” they left for dead.

“He’s… he’s the seller?” Oliver whispered, knees buckling, collapsing into his chair. His dragon-bone staff rolled across the floor.

Chloe stood next to him, paralyzed. Her mind finally snapped it all together the height, the build, the way I treated the Vance name. Horror flooded her face as she looked up at the faceless mask behind the glass. Ethan? Is that really you?

Inside the suite, my Platinum Black Card flashed a cheerful blue notification.

$$BEEP! SUCCESSFUL TRANSACTION CONFIRMED.$$

* Balance: 85,000,000 Credits.

* Extraction: Financial dominance achieved. Oliver Vance has triggered corporate bankruptcy.

I stood, fixed my collar. Without glancing back at the wreckage below, I walked out of the suite, a dozen elite guards falling into step behind me.

Revenge in the dungeons physical, direct would wait for another night. For now, I’d stripped them of pride, wealth, and a future. Oliver was ruined. Chloe was stuck by his side, a queen with no kingdom.

This was just the start of the Ghost Hunter’s harvest.