Chapter 127: Auction

"Knock, knock, knock."

The door was gently knocked, a waiter walked in and handed a telegram to Laites.

Laites nodded slightly, glanced at the telegram, and waved his hand.

Only then did he speak softly.

"Mr. Lu, you have lost the right to choose Lot No. 353, Lot No. 672, and Lot No. 139."

"I want Lot No. 1035, the No. 9 Document; you can help me lock it in using the newcomer benefits."

After a long while, Lu Chen finally spoke softly.

There was not a hint of ease in his tone; instead, it carried a trace of gravity.

"Very well."

Laites nodded slightly and pulled the bell on the wall of his office.

A waiter walked in.

"Remove Lot No. 1035 from the auction, notify the auctioneer for this session to cancel Lot No. 1035 tonight, and replace it with No. 1734."

Laites spoke softly, and after the waiter left the office, he continued.

"Please follow me, Mr. Lu."

Laites stood up and walked to a dark corner of the office; with a gentle push, a door opened silently.

It made Lu Chen, who was following behind, pause in surprise; if he wasn't mistaken, he would never have guessed there was a secret room in this place.

Lu Chen took a deep look at Laites before walking into the other room.

Laites poured a glass of red wine for Lu Chen, then walked to a shelf on the side, and after a long while, pulled out a document bag with a wax seal.

The bag had 1035 written on it, along with a brief description of the information.

"You may open it to check; we at the Neutral Tavern would never tamper with anything."

The kraft paper document bag seemed to have been roasted by fire; parts of the wax seal had melted and spread, and it also bore traces of being smoked black.

Although the handwriting on it was somewhat blurry, it could still be clearly read.

Lu Chen glanced at Laites.

Only then did he gently open the document bag.

"This is how it looked when it was delivered; we only kept it and never touched it."

Laites seemed to see Lu Chen's doubt and spoke softly to explain.

Lu Chen nodded slightly, pulled out the documents inside, and began to read them in detail.

There were over a hundred pages in total, each page signed by the person in charge of a port, clearly marked above.

Although the paper had yellowed and some signatures were not particularly clear, it could still be confirmed that these documents were all original materials.

On one of the pages, Lu Chen even saw Hegel Port.

This made him breathe a sigh of relief.

At least there was one he recognized; after all, Lu Chen previously had no clear understanding of the various ports.

He only knew a few particularly famous ports; like Hegel Port, if it hadn't been mentioned by Luosha, he would never have known such a port existed in the world.

Of course, several famous ports in Xianggang were also among them.

This was also the most important reason why Lu Chen could confirm it was the original.

"It's real."

Lu Chen nodded slightly and spoke softly.

"Since you have confirmed its authenticity, we can sign the contracts. These are the Neutral Tavern's Auction Contract, Confidentiality Agreement, and Risk Hedging Contract. We will have two copies for you and us. If you discover the document is fake within 3 years, you can find me at any time. After our verification, the Neutral Tavern will provide you with a refund and compensation."

After Laites led Lu Chen out of the secret room, the door closed gently, fitting perfectly; under the dim light, Lu Chen still didn't think it was a door.

After a series of contract signings, he walked out carrying the two document bags.

Of course, the document bag that had been smoked by fire had already been replaced by Lu Chen with a new one; the old one was inside, although it was quite difficult to stuff in.

But Laites still did it.

"Mr. Lu, please this way. You are also qualified to participate in today's auction, but since you are late, it is best to go in and apologize to the members inside. At the same time, you can put the document bag away; holding it in your hand is too conspicuous."

The waiter nodded slightly at Laites, bowed, reached out, guided Lu Chen toward the other side, and spoke softly to remind him.

Only then did he take two quick steps and walk in front of Lu Chen.

Lu Chen nodded slightly, put the document bag into the inside pocket of his suit, and then threw it into his portable space.

Only then did he straighten his suit and push the door to enter the venue.

In the dark seats around, a few people were scattered, and a beam of light in the middle shone on the platform where the lots were placed.

The auctioneer seemed to have just finished with one lot.

Only then did he speak softly.

"Welcome, Mr. semsn2. Please take a seat. The third lot has already been auctioned off; you may participate in the bidding for the upcoming lots."

"Apologies, everyone."

Lu Chen pressed his palms together, bowed slightly to the surroundings, and then found an empty seat and sat down.

"Please continue."

The masked auctioneer bowed slightly, then stood up and spoke softly.

"The next lot is a Ten Thousand Ton Transport Ship produced by the Winters Group."

"I believe everyone here is aware of the difficulty of ten-thousand-ton freighters now; their cost is far higher than the value of the freighter itself. The starting bid is 3 Silver Coins."

The auctioneer's tone was only calm, not as passionate as one might imagine; instead, he coolly introduced its data, tonnage, load capacity, and special modifications.

"May I ask if the Winters Group will produce more ten-thousand-ton freighters in the next few years?"

A deep male voice, speaking fluent French, asked softly.

"The Winters Group will likely not release another 10,000-ton freighter for about two years; after all, shipping magnates from every world are placing orders. That we were able to secure one was thanks to the grace of a shipping magnate who, due to personal reasons, canceled their order, allowing us to take it over."

"5 coins."

A male voice resembling a baby voice came from another direction, accompanied by a question.

"Can this special modification pass security checks?"

"Yes, it is not a conventional smuggling compartment; rather, a section was deepened along the keel. In other words, it is a normal ship at its core, and the external compartments require divers to go down to open them. At the same time, regarding the waterproofing issue, the cargo carried must undergo waterproof treatment."

"6 Silver Coins."

A cold, detached female voice rang out from another direction.

Lu Chen recognized it clearly as Luosha.

Yet the entire auction room was designed in such a way that it seemed impossible to tell the specific direction from which a voice originated.

Instead, it diffused continuously throughout the room, as if the distance from which everyone's voice came was equal.

"My question concerns the shipping routes; three routes have already been blocked, will more routes be blocked in the future?"

Luosha's voice slowly faded.

"No, the war will not continue; it is only for now."

The auctioneer paused slightly before answering in a low voice.

"Ladies and gentlemen, does any other member wish to bid on this 10,000-ton freighter?"