The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1463

Inside, the auction hall’s dark, drab but roomy interior did not detract from the interest the upcoming auction attracted.

Already, hundreds of wealthy guests awaited entry into the main hall!

Meanwhile, the more privileged auction goers with better access passes headed for the less-congested balconies and private boxes upstairs.

Ves did not wish to bid for goods in the main hall where everyone could see him. He approached one of the workers.

"How much for a private box?"

"100 million firthals."

"Too expensive!"

That sounded like pure extortion! There was no way Ves would pay the equivalent of 2.4 billion bright credits just to secure a private box!

The worker looked at Ves’ disguised form with contempt. "Temporary pass holders like you don’t merit anything better. To gain the right to enter a private box, you must either upgrade your pass to one of the higher tiers or convince someone with an upgraded pass to invite you inside. The only other alternative is to offer a high-value good for auction that exceeds the value of 100 million firthals."

"Understood.."

Ves stewed in his mind as he turned away as soon as he learned he had no means to obtain a private box.

It would have been a different story if he still possessed his Devil Tiger! Let alone 100 million firthals, the mech was definitely worth more than a billion firthals!

He mentally imagined shooting his mother over and over again with the Amastendira as he and Nitaa stood at the back of the waiting crowd.

He found out that they had come to the auction a little early. The doors to the main hall would only open in an hour, with the auction starting half an hour later.

The Circle of Mota who organized the auction wanted to make sure they attracted as many moneybags as possible.

Strangely enough, the normally quiet and standoff-ish guests began to converse with each other.

Only a certain caliber of guests were allowed to participate in the upcoming auction. They possessed a greater amount of wealth, strength or connections.

Despite knowing nothing at all about each other, the robed and disguised figures carefully approached the people next to them. Ves even witnessed a number of transactions taking place!

Soon enough, a group of recently-arrived guests approached Ves and Nitaa. The group of three immediately gave Ves the impression that the figure wearing identical shadow attire as him was a noble. The two larger figures following deferentially behind the person in the middle hadn’t done a good job at hiding their bodyguard tendencies.

A distorted voice sounded out over the low din of conversation.

"The dark sun will collapse."

"Pardon?" Ves couldn’t help but respond.

"Nothing. I was merely curious if you are in the know."

"Well, I’m not part of your club."

The unknown figure turned towards Nitaa. "You’re a big fellow."

"Yes."

"What do you do for a living?"

"Everything."

"What an eloquent answer." The unknown figure replied dryly. "But interesting nonetheless."

Ves was pretty sure now that he faced a noble. Whether the figure underneath the pitch-black robes and hardsuit was a man or a woman, he couldn’t tell.

He did sense he faced someone of the same age or younger as him. He could discern at least this much from the unknown noble’s speech and movement patterns, though someone like Calabast could probably figure out more.

"You’re kind of stiff." The noble spoke. "You really don’t give me much to work with, stranger."

"That’s the intention." Ves replied flatly.

"The Circle of Mota can be a dangerous place if you get caught, but we are all on the same boat here. You won’t be able to make any deals if you keep up your stiff act."

"That’s not a problem."

"This must be your first time here."

"Yes." Ves admitted.

He didn’t mind exposing this bit of information, as it was hard to pretend he knew what was going on. He got the sense that plenty of rituals took place in the Circle of Mota.

"What do you do for a living?" The figure asked again, this time to Ves.

"You don’t need to know the answer."

"You’d be surprised how much I can be of use if you tell me something about yourself." _{fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓}

"What is in it for you?" Ves probed.

"I’m curious about the two of you. I know more about the Circle of Mota than a first-timer like you. I can introduce you to the auction if you tell me what you are or what you do. Don’t be shy."

Though Ves felt tempted to push this annoying fly away, he reconsidered. He needed a source of information, and the fellow who approached him seemed sincere.

In fact, that was pretty much what most people were doing in the waiting hall. They approached random disguised people and carefully probed each other. If they liked what they heard, they befriended each other or engaged in impromptu transactions.

"Alright. I’m a mech designer."

"Oh." The disguised noble did not sound excited. Cinach VIII hosted a lot of mech designers, in part due to the presence of institutions such as Rawlings University. "What rank?"

"Journeyman."

The instant Ves spoke those words, the noble immediately perked up. His body language made it clear that he became a lot more attentive!

"Truly?"