My avatar is becoming the final boss

Chapter 118 Torrential Rain, Tokyo, A Bloodbath at the Auction (Part Two)

Tokyo, Japan, 11:30 p.m. on July 20, inside the auction venue of Mirror World.

There were only thirty minutes left before the underground auction officially began. Beneath the magnificent crystal chandelier, rows of seats were filled with people.

There were about a hundred guests in total, and they were all in their seats.

Every guest is a well-known figure in the underworld, representing their family to bid, but the real power holders will not appear at this banquet.

The black pupa manipulated the restraints into its form, resting its elbows on the seat and quietly observing its surroundings with its eyes.

His gaze quickly settled on a young man wearing a Zhongshan suit and with his hair slicked back.

The young man, wearing sunglasses, rested his head on his hand, his face tilted to one side, taking a nap. He had been asleep for a full hour. Compared to the other guests present, this young man in a Zhongshan suit seemed completely out of place.

Hei Yong vaguely remembered that the young man in the Zhongshan suit had entered the venue an hour and a half earlier—meaning that he had spent most of his time sleeping during the auction.

And there's still no sign of him waking up; it's as if he's passed out in his chair.

"Could this be the guy Ke Qirui was talking about, the one who 'can single-handedly wipe out half a brigade'?"

Black Pupa scratched his chin, deep in thought.

He manipulated the restraints to stand up, and walked past the gazes of the guests towards the young man in the Zhongshan suit.

He then feigned a fall, hastily raising his hand to steady the young man in the Zhongshan suit by the shoulder. A black restraint strap flew from his sleeve, slithering towards the young man's neck like a snake.

Suddenly, a faint golden light spread from the neck of the young man in the Zhongshan suit, snapping the restraints back.

"What the hell……"

Black Chrysalis raised an eyebrow, manipulated the restraints to stabilize her body, glanced at the restraints that had shrunk back into her sleeve, and then looked up again to examine the young man in the Zhongshan suit.

The young man's face remained peaceful; he slept soundly, showing no sign of reaction.

Watching this scene, Hei Yong thought to himself, "Then it's basically certain that this is the person Ke Qirui was talking about."

"But this is too outrageous. He can still defend against my restraints while sleeping like this. Is he a member of the Lake Hunters or the Salvation Society? Should I sacrifice my restraints here and see if I can break through his defenses?"

"Forget it, let's just wait and see."

With that thought, he controlled the restraints to transform into a persona and walked towards the woman in the cheongsam. He took a bottle of coconut water from the plate she was carrying and then returned to his seat.

Just as he sat down, a man in a floral shirt walked over and sat down next to him.

The man in the floral shirt grinned and whispered to the personification of the restraints, "Mr. Fujimoto, it's been quite lively these past few days... Some important figures we don't usually see have come out."

The restraints adjusted the details of his throat, and he coughed twice: "Yes..."

The man in the floral shirt tapped the armrest with his fingers and said animatedly:

"The last underground auction was held three years ago, on July 21st, just like this year. At that time, the eight major underworld families also heard that the White Raven Brigade would take action against the auction, so they were fully armed, but nothing happened in the end. This made the elders laugh at this so-called bandit group."

At this point, the man snorted twice, "This time, with such a grand display, even Blue Arc has been invited. The higher-ups all believe that the White Raven Brigade will be cowardly like last time."

The restraints figure scratched his chin, thought for a moment, and said, "Do you think... the White Raven Brigade might be eyeing something else from the last auction?"

The man in the floral shirt smiled and said dismissively:
"How could that be? Those robbers only care about money. There are so many priceless items on the stage, and they didn't touch a single one, let alone anything else that could tempt them."

The restraint belt avatar nodded: "That's true. Those greedy and stupid bandits only have that much magnanimity."

He glanced up at the clock in the auction hall; the hour hand had completed a quarter of a rotation, and only fifteen minutes remained before the auction officially began.

Black Chrysalis mentally delineated the defensive forces of the two auction houses:
Real-world auction: 50 superhuman bodyguards and 50 armed bodyguards, disguised as important members of underworld families, sit inside the auction hall, waiting for the White Raven Brigade to appear.

In addition, six members of the core bodyguard team are currently inside the real auction house: Yingwu, Ke Qirui, Su Zimai, Xu Sanyan, Lin Zhengquan, and Dongshan Nobunaga.

Mirror Auction House: 100 high-ranking members of underworld families, a young man in a Zhongshan suit who is dozing off (suspected to be a member of Lake Hunter or Salvation Society), and Red Dragon Li Qingping.

Then there are the three core bodyguards: Blue Arc, Mirror Guardian, and Haibara Ritsu.

What Black Chrysalis was curious about was: Where was Old Man Ghost Bell hiding now?
It's impossible for Ghost Bell to have infiltrated the guests; he wouldn't even have any battle clothes to wear if a fight broke out.

Furthermore, he would undergo a thorough physical examination and iris recognition before entering the auction venue. Unless the underworld gave him an admission ticket, he would be blocked from entering no matter what.

Meanwhile, in the actual auction venue, Ke Qirui, dressed in a trench coat and smoking a pipe, stood against the wall at the entrance, with Su Zimai standing beside her.

Seeing Yingwu slowly approaching, Ke Qirui took the pipe from her mouth and said to her:
“Miss Sakura, Xu Sanyan has already placed fogmen in every corner of the fifth floor, even in the restrooms. If his fogmen spot any suspicious persons, he will notify me immediately, and I will then report back to you.”

"Ok."

Sakura nodded, holding the hilt of his sword, and then walked towards the door.

Su Zimai glanced at her retreating figure and said, "Why do I have a feeling that the White Raven Brigade won't be fooled by this smokescreen?"

She frowned and continued, "What if they go straight to the mirror world, where there are only a handful of guards, and they just take the goods without any restraint?"

"Don't worry." Ke Qirui lowered her head, took a light puff of smoke from her pipe, and said calmly, "One of the guests in the mirror world is an acquaintance of mine."

"An acquaintance of yours?"

Ke Qirui nodded. "The old chairman contacted me a few days ago and kept me in suspense, saying that an old acquaintance of mine from Lake Hunting was participating in this auction."

"Lake Hunter?" Su Zimai murmured, then raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes. "That's the world's number one exorcist organization, comparable to Rainbow Wings?"

"Yes, and then I guessed it right away. After all, out of the four people from Lake Hunter, only one little glutton would be interested in the items at this auction."

As Ke Qirui spoke, he put away his pipe, gave a slight smirk, and continued, "One of the four from the Lake Hunters, the forger [Zhou Jiuya], whose Sky Chaser is the Tonggu Compass. Zhou Jiuya is a descendant of the Northern Song Dynasty's mechanical arts, and his ostensible identity is a Hong Kong antique forger."

“Zhou Jiuya has always been very interested in antiques. There should be something he’s interested in in this auction list, otherwise this worthless thing wouldn’t have come all the way to Japan.”

Su Zimai paused for a moment, then said, "Then the White Raven Brigade is doomed, isn't it? Didn't you say that everyone in the Lake Hunters is comparable to Rainbow Wing? They're at least Cataclysmic level, right?"

"If it hadn't rained today, the White Raven Brigade would indeed be finished." Ke Qirui shrugged.

"What do you mean?"

"Because of the president... I've known Zhou Jiuya since I was a child, and we can be considered childhood sweethearts. His Sky Chaser is very special and is affected by the weather. So, since childhood, Zhou Jiuya would suffer from narcolepsy every time it rained. In severe cases, he could be paralyzed in bed and sleep for one or two days."

At this point, Ke Qirui sighed, "Today happened to be a rainy day, so Zhou Jiuya must be getting sleepy in his seat by now."

"What should I do?"

“If the White Raven Brigade attacks, he will naturally wake up.” Ke Qirui smiled. “If he wakes up, I think the brigade will most likely be wiped out; if he doesn’t wake up, then we will proceed as planned.”

She paused for a moment: "If we're outmatched, I'll have the Train Demon and the Movie Demon buy us time so Blue Arc can get you out of there as soon as possible. Blue Arc is fast enough; among quasi-Cataclysmic level beings, no one should be faster than him. So even if we don't gain the upper hand, escaping the venue should be more than enough." "But what if Blue Arc doesn't want to run?"

"Mr. Blue Arc is not one to linger in battle."

"Speaking of which... that Zhou Jiuya you just mentioned is really bizarre!" Su Zimai exclaimed. "He turns into a sleeping pig whenever it rains. What kind of superhuman is he? How could someone like that be selected as a member of the Lake Hunters?"

Ke Qirui explained calmly, "A powerful Sky Chaser is bound to come with huge limitations. You have to pay a price to get anything. The price Zhou Jiuya paid was that his physical condition would be greatly affected by the local weather."

“Okay, I got it. And the regimental commander…” Su Zimai looked up and stared at her. “Why didn’t you mention to me before that you knew someone of that caliber?”

"You didn't even ask me."

Ke Qirui took a drag of his cigarette and, without turning his head, patted Su Zimai's head.

Su Zimai rolled her eyes at her and looked up at the huge clock in the auction hall.

"Ten minutes left..." she murmured.

"Stay close to me," Ke Qirui said calmly. "Xu Sanyan and Lin Zhengquan are a pair. They've been working together for many years and can advance or retreat when danger arises, so don't worry about them."

At the same time, several hundred meters away from the Amamiya Building, inside an abandoned building.

The group members had previously said that the group leader would explain the action plan to them five minutes before the operation began.

But even at this moment, Xia Pingzhou still hadn't seen the regimental commander's figure inside the abandoned building.

Looking around, the group members were all doing their own things, as if it were just an ordinary night, except that the rain outside was a little heavier.

So, out of boredom, he continued playing Connect Four with Ayase Origami, taking turns using pencils. They had played at least ten games so far, with Ayase Origami winning the majority of them, as Xia Pingzhou deliberately let her win.

Just then, Jack the Ripper suddenly spoke, breaking the silence that enveloped the abandoned building.

She looked at Xia Pingzhou and said, "By the way... newbie, you can ask the leader about the 'contract demon' thing we talked about before. He will give you his opinion."

Xia Pingzhou was playing Connect Four with Ayase Origami when he heard what the Ripper said, so he looked up and asked:

"But isn't the leader a superhuman?"

"The captain is an exorcist," Ripper replied decisively.

Xia Pingzhou was taken aback, turned to look at Ayase Origami, and said in a questioning tone, "Then let me ask you, is the leader an exorcist or a superhuman?"

Yesterday, Origami Ayase clearly told him that the leader was an esper whose abilities were related to "crows," but today he heard a different version from the Ripper.

Origami Ayase carefully considered her next move, manipulating the newspapers beside her to form a line of text in mid-air:
"Can't the commander have both?"

"Both?"

Xia Pingzhou paused for a moment, staring at the words pieced together from the pages.

“Yes.” The Ripper flicked his dark red dagger upwards and caught the spinning hilt. “The captain is an anomaly, one in a billion. He is both a superhuman and an exorcist.”

She paused for a moment, then said, "It's just that the leader said my Skywalker doesn't need to contract a demon, so I was too lazy to do it."

"No wonder he's a veteran member; he deserves the guidance of the commander." Andrew sighed as he wiped his sniper rifle.

Lan Duoduo rolled her eyes at him: "Please, with the captain's personality, no matter how long you've been in the group, as long as you ask him, he'll definitely answer you."

“I was just kidding…” Andrew blew on the sniper rifle.

When did you join the guild?
Xia Pingzhou murmured to himself, then suddenly his expression changed, as if he had remembered something. While drawing crosses on the Go board with a pencil, he asked Ayase Origami:
"Speaking of which, when did you join the Phantom Troupe?"

“Three years ago, on July 21st.” Ayase Origami said expressionlessly, “Takikage is the same as me.”

"July 21st, three years ago?"

Xia Pingzhou remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was suddenly startled.

Isn't that just...

The start time of the last underground auction in Tokyo!

In other words... at that time, Origami Ayase was still a member of the yakuza, and she attended the auction with her family.

Then... the members of the troupe came into contact with her at that auction?
Thinking of this, a conclusion quickly appeared in Xia Pingzhou's mind: "The members of the troupe infiltrated the last auction, but their target was not the auction items at all, but the young lady of the Ayase family."

"The leader wanted to use this auction to get close to Origami Ayase and recruit her into the Phantom Troupe, and he did succeed. So, the reason the White Raven Phantom Troupe didn't attack the last auction is because—they already got what they wanted at the auction."

"And the leader... most likely also infiltrated the bodyguard team from the last auction."

In that instant, Xia Pingzhou suddenly recalled the conversation he had overheard in the conference room yesterday while using the body of the black pupa.

Ke Qirui: "How can you confirm that members of the White Raven Brigade will not blend in with the guests and bodyguards?"

Sakura Takeshi: "You can rest assured about that. All the bodyguards present at this auction are veterans who participated in the last Tokyo auction. We can find their resumes in our database, so there is no possibility of any falsification."

Xia Pingzhou paused for a second, then suddenly realized, and thought to himself:

"I was wondering why the leader hadn't shown up at this hour. Turns out he'd already infiltrated the auction's security team."

With that thought in mind, he quickly synchronized his consciousness with the black pupa.

Black Chrysalis opened her eyes in the Maybach, picked up her phone, and sent messages to Blue Arc and Ke Qirui at the same time.

[Black Chrysalis: The auction starts in three minutes, so let me reveal an interesting fact.]

[Black Chrysalis: The leader of the guild is hidden among your people.]

[Black Chrysalis: The leader is not only an esper, but also an exorcist. He used his exorcist identity as a cover, along with his experience as a bodyguard at the last auction, to deceive Sakura and the others.]

[Black Chrysalis: The reason the leader didn't make a move at the last auction is because he had already obtained what he wanted—the young lady of the Ayase family who attended that auction: "Ayase Origami."]

[Black Chrysalis: What the leader wanted from the last auction wasn't a commodity, but to recruit Ayase Origami into the Phantom Troupe. He found an opportunity to approach Ayase at the auction, and afterwards, Ayase Origami and Oda Takikage betrayed the family.]

[Black Chrysalis: I've done all I can for you. You should have guessed who the leader is by now.]

[Black Chrysalis: You'd better watch yourself, Mr. Blue Arc.]

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(End of this chapter)