The train pulled up in Sydney a little under three hours and fifteen minutes. The ride wasn"t that bad, and Australia wasn"t as barren as he had thought of they had been led to believe. In some. Places he could see endless stretches of green patches, a sign of life as farmers and farm animals alike agent about taking care of crops. The simple people, it was deduced that at least 10% of the world"s population were incapable of any sort of cultivation, either mana or Qi, the remaining 90 percent made up all of the pract.i.tioners, but not all of them were talented enough to achieve high levels of cultivation. And so they would have simpler lives, they were stronger, smarter, and faster than most and even lived longer, but in the end all they"ll ever have was a simple and mundane life.
Devonte And Khan remained hidden in the mantle hall, Alex wanted to keep most if not all of his cards hidden, and those two were some of his most important. So he, Louis and Cross went through the crowded streets of Sydney, heading to a hotel called the Nyx Arena. It was a rather known hotel in Sydney as it only offered services for cultivators, but never the less it was still able to reach a level of excellence not normally seen.
While they were quite tempted to go sightseeing, Alex didn"t want to get distracted by anything, he was on the clock and every day wasted was a day he could use to get stronger. They arrived at the hotel after a 45 minute taxi ride and quickly checked into a three bedroom suite. Even if they weren"t well known yet, they still had a lot of money and that still counts for something.
"So what do we do about the Airship master, are we going to confront them before the auction or after? Of we do it after we"re going to lose the Airship, and after they"ve sold it, short of killing them there"s not much we can do." Devonte said as he quickly reappeared the moment they were left alone.
"Fairy boy is right you know, if we confront those liars after the auction is over, then we would have lost any chance of getting that airship. After all they would have sold it to the highest bidder by then, I think it"s better if we corner them this morning, they might have a few guards, but at this point short of an enemy being in the heaven"s gate, I don"t think there"s odds we can"t beat." Louis said to Alex as he looked his head into Alex"s room.
Alex shook his head at that as it seems like Louis has adopted Khan"s nickname for Devonte, and based on the very upset look on his face, Devonte didn"t like it. Sometimes with everything they"ve had to go through, every life lost and taken, every deal, every lie, every scheme and plot, they forget;...that in the end they"re still just kids.
"We"re confronting them after the Auction, by then we wouldn"t have to do much of prepare for a fight as they would come to us themselves." Alex said to them as he took off his jacket and went to look out the window at the beautiful and brightly lit city of Sydney.
"Are you sure Tower Master? Because at that point we won"t be dealing with just the company and individuals that lied to us, but also the person who wins the bid for the airship, and frankly speaking someone with enough money to win the bid can"t be anyone small." Cross said as she walked into the room, and for the first time she was without her tower shield, Louis could not take his eyes off her.
"Well of course my dear Cross, the reason they"ll be coming to us is because we would be the one winning the bid for the Airship. They wouldn"t have much of a choice but to show and meet with me, the elusive and very wealthy buyer of an airship that"s the only one of it"s kind in the entire world." Alex answered with a smile, tilting his body so only half of it could be seen, he looked really sinister.
"But Master! If we do that then we wouldn"t win, we"re rich now, but not that rich! We wouldn"t be able to win the bid. More than half our funds from the sale of the sky steel are now in a.s.sets spread across the Academy, not to mention we also have a fixed deposit account with money we"re not planning on using any time soon.
We don"t have enough funds on hand to pay for that airship, it"s because it"s the only one of it"s kind that it"s going to cost a fortune, even for cultivators. Not to forget that said ship is said to be the most powerful ship ever built, I"m not surprised they scammed you of your sky steel and dual Qi and Mana Attributes ores and parts they had you forged.
Right from time I knew the agreement of you getting to keep the prototype in return for a future collaboration was just bulls.h.i.t, this is their life"s work. But then again such a d.i.c.k move against someone everyone is now pretty much calling the Devil, would be nothing short of suicidal. But still...…your way doesn"t seem to be wise, we don"t have the money to pay for it." Louis explained as he kept his gaze on Alex who now had his hands folded.
"Louis I said we would win the bid, whenever did I tell you that we were going to be paying for an Airship that belongs to us on paper and with verbal agreement. I know things aren"t as simple as they might seem, but right now all I need you to do is move around the hotel and tell me why the people from Aenz decided to pull out of our deal. It would give me a bigger picture and put more cards in my hand once I win the bid tomorrow and have to face them for payment.
We"re not here to bid for an airship, we"re here to claim what we"re owed, I didn"t just forge parts for this airship, I modified it with the arrays that I"ve learnt along with a few spirit rituals, that"s not just made that ship the only one of it"s kind, but the only one that might be able to develop a spirit and come alive. I"m not generous that I would leave such a tool in the hands of liars. So go get me something I can work with, tomorrow we make a statement."
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THE NEXT DAY
The auction was taking place on a floating platform that was a part of the hotel, in fact there were quite a few of those Platforms, with walkways connecting each other and elevators connecting them to the main hotel five hundred plus meters below them. This was one of the greatest sights of the hotel and the reason why it was so respected, you could live amongst the clouds if you wanted to.
The Platform that the auction was being carried out on was a little bit lower at 500 meters than the others, but it was quite large and had a domed arena on it that could sit upwards to 2000 thousand people, and it was built solely for auctions.
At the side of the Arena there was a ma.s.sive mist formation obscuring a giant form, it was had to estimate how wide and long it was due to the formation that kept it hidden, but everyone knew that this was the crowning jewel of Aenz automobile. This Airship was going to Change the game and there were rumors than even dignitaries from higher planes were here to bid on it.
That spoke volumes of just how powerful a creation it was, and in this era it was very possible for tools to develop consciousness if they"re well made, well taken care of, and have lasted for quite a while. This Airship already had a 95% chance to develop a basic consciousness Within the next 8 years, and once that happens, it would be a very powerful battleship, one capable of turning the tires of any war. And the longer the ship lives, the stronger it will become.
A trio of masked individuals walked into the auction Arena, they had gold cards that placed them right at the front of the entire auction, drawing attention to themselves. These people were short, they weren"t stocky enough to be dwarves, so they"re either kids or Halflings. But the thing is, Halflings were not exactly well liked in the planes where they from, so none will have enough power and money to come be a part of this auction, which left one other option....kids, or at least young people.
Honestly they weren"t that short, height was not a determining factor, it was the way they acted, besides the people here have lived for a very long time And had more experience than they knew what to do with, they could smell youth even in their sleep. But in the end all that didn"t matter, if you had the money, and the power to protect what your money buys you, then you"re very welcome to this auction. And so with that said, the Auction began.