Chapter 149: Capture

"We can wait until they finish the auction before we go talk, don't be anxious." The person speaking was comforted by the woman beside them, though they still gripped their fists tightly.

Judging by their appearance, they should be ordinary middle-class people; there was nothing unseemly about their attire, yet one could still tell from the worn-out fountain pen in their pocket and the neatness of their cuffs that these two were not the kind of wealthy, influential people who came here to bid.

In fact, this type of person actually made up the vast majority in the venue, and there were quite a few who were bidding on behalf of other auction houses, or acting as agents for speculators.

Thanks to the binoculars provided by Ye Laoshi—oh no, by Evans's friend—Luolita and Ye Laoshi were able to view the specific auction items of the entire auction.

Otherwise, if they weren't sitting in the very front, there would have been no possibility of seeing them at all.

The items displayed at the beginning were all supplies from the cargo hold of that shipwreck; besides porcelain, these supplies were mainly wine, and in addition to that, a large amount of rotten crops was also a major component.

The boxes opened at the very beginning were all rotten crops, causing many people to cover their noses, but gradually, as the opened supplies became primarily porcelain, people began to exclaim in succession.

It must be said that three-hundred-year-old porcelain, if undamaged, can indeed be called a work of art.

Artworks from the period of Queen Licorice are still worthy of praise even now; with the two historians sitting in front, Luolita and Ye Laoshi could be said to have listened to a lecture for free, and Luolita even struck up a conversation with them, sighing in admiration incessantly.

Soon, a box that looked very new was carried out, and both historians frowned.

"This box doesn't look like a box from the shipwreck at that time."

"Could it be that a replica is being brought out?"

"These merchants really will do anything to make money."

The two historians said, filled with righteous indignation.

Luolita took the binoculars and took a look; indeed, the box looked as brand new as could be, completely different from the previous boxes.

Soon the loudspeaker blared, "This is a box we just found in the Captain's cabin. It looks very new. We aren't sure what is inside, but it's hard to say—there might be unexpected good things inside. After all, this box has been soaking in the water for over 300 years; who knows what good stuff is inside!"

"Open it and let's see!"

"Don't keep us in suspense!"

The commoners standing in the distance were noisy and clamorous, but they couldn't actually see anything and could only watch the spectacle.

Soon, the box was opened, and a foul stench wafted out from it.

If the box hadn't been opened, no one would have smelled this odor.

The things that had rotted before didn't smell this foul, and it was rare for the smell to even reach the back rows.

"What is this? It's too foul. Could it be that the box we opened isn't a box of treasure?" The host couldn't help but complain into the microphone; he hadn't expected that the most attractive box would contain something so unbearable.

"Ah!" The ship worker who pried open the box let out a loud cry. Inside the box, a mass of indescribable matter crawled out—it was actually alive!

Who could have imagined that there was a giant octopus inside this box? After this octopus came out of the box, it expanded rapidly and swallowed the nearby ship worker directly!

Not only that, several ship workers nearby were not spared either. Perhaps because it had been trapped in the box for too long, this octopus instantly swallowed five or six ship workers, as well as the host who had been complaining.

The bidders in the front row immediately ran away; seeing this giant octopus, everyone was so frightened that they scattered and fled!

A burst of dazzling light erupted from the flashbulbs on the high platform not far away. The octopus seemed to react to something; it abandoned the crew members still on the ship and instead moved toward the platform.

Those reporters, in order to get first-hand material, didn't run away at all, and relying on the fact that they were standing in a high place, they didn't even consider the matter of fleeing.

After all, to them, this big octopus couldn't possibly harm them; they were in a safe position.

But they clearly overlooked one problem: this is a world with Transcendental Power; how could that octopus be an ordinary octopus?

That creature, which looked like a bedbug, soon crawled onto the wall, snatching two people along the way and swallowing them into its belly.

Watching this octopus grow larger and larger, the fear brought by such a giant creature became increasingly severe. The police's reaction was quite swift, and they soon arrived to start controlling the situation.

Luolita and Ye Laoshi were pushed by the crowd toward the fence; the people inside wanted to run, and the people outside wanted to get in, and the scene was once very chaotic.

The two historians were even more pale-faced, and the woman who had been comforting the man beside her was so frightened that she burst into tears, looking extremely anxious.

"It's this kind of thing again. What's going on lately? Why do these problems always appear with shipwrecks salvaged from the sea?" The man complained, then looked anxiously at the octopus. That thing had already eaten two reporters, and there was no telling if the people who had been eaten could still survive.

According to the official statement, these people swallowed by strange creatures can still survive; the pharmacists at St. Peter Hospital can solve these problems. Although the guys who were swallowed by the creatures suffered some trauma, they can live.

However, these people who study history always dig up some strange things, so the two of them didn't believe this statement.

At least to them, among the people they knew, even if they were alive, it didn't count as being alive anymore.

"How is it? Does this problem occur often in the Royal Capital?" Ye Laoshi asked with a frown.

Seeing that it was a very gentlemanly, handsome man asking this question, the man said, "Sigh, I shouldn't say too much, but you can see this situation yourself, it really is..."

That lady tugged at him and then asked, "Don't you watch the news?"

"We only arrived a few days ago. We came from Tana City, intending to broaden our horizons this time, but I didn't expect such a thing to happen." Ye Laoshi said sincerely, "We originally wanted to see the ancient artifacts here. By the way, this is my Business Card."

"You are actually a bookstore manager? Sorry, I took you for a reporter." The lady said with some guilt, "My name is Mazhan Burton, a history graduate student at St. Eric School, and this is my senior—Griffin Grant. We had hoped to be allowed to visit those collections in advance so we could examine the authenticity of those items up close, but unfortunately, the other party didn't agree. But it's a good thing they didn't agree."

"It's alright, it looks like you've been quite frightened." Ye Laoshi didn't have the self-awareness that he was a handsome man; after all, in real life, he couldn't really be considered a handsome man, and he was already old, so he couldn't think to use the advantage of his looks.

He comforted her and then said, "Can these police solve this problem?"

"No, they can't. They need professionals." Mazhan said anxiously, "We should leave here as soon as possible. I don't think they can solve this problem in a short time."

"Listen to me, dear, don't worry. Since it has been advertised for so long, there must be a relevant plan." By comparison, Griffin was a bit more composed.

Seemingly the exact opposite of just now, Griffin wasn't afraid of these things, but was instead very angry about the porcelain being defiled.

Not being able to authenticate them was more detestable than encountering this mysterious creature.

Ye Laoshi expressed his understanding, "Indeed, look, someone has already gone over."

Two people wearing white Daoist robes walked over barefoot. At this time of day, the Royal Capital was still relatively cold, and walking on the road barefoot would definitely not be comfortable, but those two people didn't care about this at all and instead started sprinkling powder directly onto the octopus.

"That is... people from the Sun God Cult." Seeing the people from the Sun God Cult, Griffin's eyes darkened, "They aren't necessarily any kind of professionals either."

"How so? Is the problem very big?" Watching the movements of those few people, Luolita felt the problem wasn't big, because the people from the Sun God Cult were already using their unique methods to make the octopus slowly retreat.

Although they hadn't cut open the octopus's belly, they could scare the octopus away, and there were also several police officers standing trembling on the side, waiting to put the octopus into a net.

"If they don't release the people inside in time, they will very likely be digested by that octopus."

"And this approach of theirs will also lead to a terrible consequence." Before Griffin could finish speaking, the octopus began to spray venom.

Now all the surrounding police officers fell down, and every person who came into contact with the venom began to wail.

Soon, the venom seeped into their clothes, and obvious bloody burn marks began to appear on some of the police officers; the scene was too horrible to look at.

Those reporters who had just experienced one disaster once again fearlessly turned on their flashbulbs to film.

It seems that death is not worth mentioning when it comes to news.

That octopus seemed to have been provoked and attacked those holding flashlights once again, but restricted by those two barefoot Believers, this octopus could not move forward another step.

The scene immediately reached a stalemate.

That fishing net must have been made of special material, as it was not corroded by the venom.

But if no one was holding those fishing nets, nothing could be accomplished.

If one cannot catch this octopus, how could it be possible to release the people inside?

Ye Laoshi frowned with worry, especially after hearing the crying of many people.

Among those who had been eaten, or the families of those police officers, there would always be someone who saw this scene and began to weep.

Some children who were watching the excitement also started making a fuss, and with the loud speakers emitting a buzzing sound, the scene became increasingly chaotic.

"What should we do? We should run outside," Mazhan said, trembling. "If this continues, we will also be sprayed by the venom."

As he spoke, the octopus squeezed out venom once again and sprayed it out; this time, it was gushing directly toward the crowd.

Consequently, Ye Laoshi felt as if the ground had been pulled out from under his feet, and his whole body followed the tide of people, retreating continuously.

Yet the people behind who were watching the excitement were still moving forward.

For the first time, he experienced this kind of anxiety of being squeezed by people; one must know that in the real world, when such events occur, the organizers usually coordinate the flow of people.

But now everything was in chaos, and it was hard to say whether this would cause a stampede.

"Go up! What exactly are you waiting for? Don't you see this guy no longer has the strength to keep spraying venom?"

"We shouldn't have cooperated with the police in the first place; these guys are truly too useless."

"I said we should use our own Believers; they are all loyal, good children. These police officers are often just miscellaneous believers."

The two Believers cursed and swore; in their view, they had already done their utmost.

This incident had long been prophesied by the Archbishop of the Sun God Cult; although the Sun God Cult is not responsible for divination, they possess Magical Items used for divination and had long since confirmed this issue.

Moreover, this time, they should have been the ones to keep this Mutated octopus; it was just that their preparations were truly insufficient.

These police officers are good at talking big, but when it comes to actually doing things, they are still inferior to those Believers.

It is a pity that the Sun God Cult is not a large church in the Royal Capital, having been suppressed too severely by the followers of the Beauty God.

However, just as they were anxious, a red figure appeared; Luolita, wearing a small dress, picked up the fishing net directly and then threw it out with force.

As a player with fishing experience, her technique cannot be called expert, but it is definitely not bad.

Although her strength was a bit small, it was, after all, just an octopus; no matter how big, it was impossible that she couldn't trap it by throwing the net.

The octopus did indeed want to spray some more ink, but Luolita was not afraid at all; at worst, it would just be death.

These people from the Sun God Cult couldn't possibly refuse to pay compensation!

"My god!"

"By the Wisdom of the God, how could this situation happen? Your female companion... she actually went to cast the net!"

Mazhan, who was being squeezed until he felt like vomiting, shouted. Her voice was not small, and some people gave up on the crowding and turned their heads to see which lady it was who had performed such a heroic feat.

The sound of "snap-snap" photography rang out once again, and Luolita's figure was captured. At this moment, Luolita had no idea what this meant, only feeling very glad that she had taken action.

Having helped the Sun God Cult this time, could she farm some favorability with the Sun God Cult?

Or perhaps, could her heroic feat earn some prize money? Xide is a good thing; hopefully, they give a lot.

The octopus immediately fell down, and the two white-robed figures of the Sun God Cult also began to pull on the fishing net; although the octopus had great strength, once the fishing net was cast over it, the more it struggled, the tighter it would become, so the octopus, unable to spray any more ink, was quickly brought under control.

Watching the police officers being carried away, Luolita felt a lingering fear, then walked over and said to the two white-robed figures, "I hope I didn't affect you."

"Uh, this lady, you are truly too brave." One white-robed figure squinted at Luolita, then said with a smile, "I wonder which deity you worship?"

Luolita was stunned, then said, "I, I am a Believer of the Wealth Church."

"Is that so? The Wealth Church..." that white-robed figure said coldly, "I'm sorry, I'm afraid you also need to come with us."

(End of this chapter)