Weekend, New York, Manhattan.
“Although the roads are well-connected in all directions, there are key nodes all around, all under the control of the CIA.” Lin Wan commented.
Lu Zheng nodded. “Really too clever!”
By this time, Lu Zheng and Lin Wan had already become invisible and reached the venue of the underground auction. There were less than twenty minutes until the auction began.
“Is this an underground auction?” Lu Zheng felt completely speechless.
Luxury cars of every kind were parked in the car park. Wealthy individuals from all walks of life and professional agents were all impeccably dressed. They even needed invitation letters to enter the venue.
“Of course.” Lin Wan smiled. “The security and requirements for underground auctions are sometimes stricter than those for regular auction houses.”
“I’ve learned something new, truly learned something new.” Lu Zheng clicked his tongue in wonder. “But it is an underground auction after all. Aren’t these people afraid of being robbed by the organisers?”
“In the world of capital, capital is king. What do these people have to fear?” Lin Wan said. “To put it bluntly, the biggest difference between this underground auction and a regular one is simply that ordinary people do not know about it.”
Lu Zheng raised an eyebrow and could not help asking, “An internal game for capitalists?”
“Exactly.” Lin Wan nodded. “That is why the good items that appear at these underground auctions are sometimes more numerous than at regular ones, though they have nothing to do with ordinary people.”
Lu Zheng blinked. “The organisers of these underground auctions would not happen to be the same as those of the regular auction houses, would they?”
Lin Wan turned back, winked at Lu Zheng, and curled the corner of her mouth. “Guess?”
“Fuck!”
“How else could they pull the wool over everyone’s eyes?” Lin Wan said calmly. “How is it so professional?”
Lu Zheng, “…”
“It is just that their shares in the two types of venues are different.”
“What about this time?”
“The capitalists provide the money, the CIA provides the manpower, and they provide the venue.” Lin Wan looked around. “It does not look any different from the auction house next door.”
“Really showing off to the extreme!”
Remaining invisible, Lu Zheng and Lin Wan entered the venue along with the guests of this underground auction.
“What next?”
Lu Zheng snapped his fingers. “When do we start creating chaos?”
“Of course after it begins.” Lin Wan narrowed her eyes. “Once it starts, the vault doors will open, and the items will be brought out continuously from inside. With the venue full of people, that is when mistakes are most likely to happen.”
Lin Wan smiled. “This is a trap set by the CIA, but most of the guests do not know, so the auction can only follow the normal process.”
“Understood.” Lu Zheng nodded.
…
Meanwhile, many CIA action teams were on standby around the perimeter of the venue, and the command centre was set up inside the building itself.
Two sets of equipment, over a thousand cameras divided into dozens of groups, cycling on displays in the command centre.
“All guests who have entered the venue are in our internal records. No unfamiliar faces.” Someone reported.
“All ventilation openings are normal. Infrared detectors show normal. No suspicious individuals in the surrounding area.” Another reported.
“Internal surveillance shows normal. Movements of the security team and service personnel are completely normal, no anomalies.”
“Ten minutes until the auction begins.”
A grey-haired middle-aged man stood in the centre of the command centre, his brows deeply furrowed.
“Could it be they do not dare to come?” his assistant asked quietly.
The artifact thieves were elusive, showing no trace until now. The CIA had lost face in Los Angeles, but investigations up to this point had yielded no suspects, not even a single clue.
So the only option now was to lure the snake out of its hole.
They had set several traps before, but the other side seemed to see through them and did not appear. This time, taking advantage of a major underground seller preparing to offload goods, the CIA personally approached, contacted several other sellers, put together an event, and laid this trap.
According to the CIA, even without this trap, the artifact thieves might not let this batch go. Even if they did not show this time, they would remain a hidden threat, a time bomb.
So it was better to let the CIA handle it. If they could catch the targets, there would be no further worries.
Everyone agreed at once and used genuine items to set the trap.
Logically, the items about to be auctioned were all of unclear provenance, priceless artifacts whose historical and cultural value exceeded even the Eden Sect collection.
They had struck against the Eden Sect. There was no reason they would not act this time.
“Continue preparations!” the commander said sternly. “The opponent is very cunning and possesses advanced technological equipment. The auction process itself is the most dangerous period. Everyone, stay sharp!”
“Yes, sir!”
…
Lu Zheng and Lin Wan followed the flow of guests to tour the auction hall first, then slipped through the back door to the vault and the restaurant kitchen.
Yes, after the auction ended, those interested could dine and chat in the restaurant. This was standard in the capitalist world, a networking reception designed specifically for interpersonal connections.
Lu Zheng shook his head, patted his gourd, took out a barrel of fuel, and placed it in the rubbish bin by the door.
He had done the same thing dozens of times along the way. What could create more chaos than setting fires?
On each barrel he had imprinted a spark curse. One snap of his fingers could ignite them all at once, complete with explosions, guaranteed to plunge the venue into chaos in an instant.
Lu Zheng blinked and could not help saying, “So nervous. It feels so thrilling, like we are filming a movie.”
Not just him. Even Lin Wan’s breathing had quickened a little, her face flushed, not from fear, but pure excitement.
After all, just a few years ago they had been ordinary people. Who would have imagined one day they would come to toy with the CIA?
“Done?”
“Done.” Lu Zheng nodded. “The main exits definitely cannot be used. Only a few safety passages remain, scattered in different directions, enough to disperse everyone.”
Lin Wan nodded and glanced at the waiters. “No innocents will get hurt, right?”
“As long as they are not stupid, they will not die. Of course, if crowding and trampling occur, that is another matter.”
Lu Zheng smiled. “You are quite kind-hearted. I did not see you hold back last time in northern Myanmar.”
Lin Wan shook her head. “It is different. Those people had blood on their hands.”
Lu Zheng shrugged. “Is there any difference with these people? The Lighthouse Country reaps the whole world. All its citizens, even those on benefits, are beneficiaries. It is just that the methods of reaping and benefiting differ. They are not necessarily nobler than bloody ones.”
Lin Wan, “…”
“As long as it is state action, all citizens are participants. Since they enjoy the dividends, of course they must pay the price.”
Lu Zheng said calmly. “The citizens of Japan were the same back then. The citizens of the Lighthouse Country are no different now. No one escapes.”
