After that short talk, we called a waiter over and made our order. The service wasn't nearly as quick as Mrs. Fang's niece's restaurant, but it was good enough. The food was also not as good, and I knew because the girls each offered to let me try some of theirs. Qing Yue started it, and everyone else soon followed, not letting anyone else get the jump on them.
So, in the end, I pretty much did eat another lunch. I was full as hell now, and probably won't be eating dinner tonight. Moreover, being overly full wasn't a good thing, considering where we were - the Fortress. Action calls at all times, and you never know when someone may just try to assassinate you, especially with the upcoming preliminaries.
In addition, I have no shortage of enemies out there, that's for sure. The Midnight Syndicate alone is more than enough for anyone to deal with. I mean, c'mon - they're literally the biggest, most infamous, and strongest underground criminal organization there is. I doubted I was too high up on their evil priority list for people to eliminate, but I was slowly climbing higher.
And it would be wise of them to place me higher too...because when they finally do, it may just be too late.
I was getting stronger at a fairly quick pace - and now, with the discovery of the Library of Infinite Beginnings, that rate would only get faster. One step of a time, I was getting closer to eradicating the Midnight Syndicate, and achieving my goal of revenge.
So far, in Shanghai, I haven't seen any traces of the dark organization. But I was 99% sure there were syndicate members lurking about, hiding undercover. If they could casually plant themselves within Shenzhen - which was quite a large and powerful city compared to others - so easily, then even the Magic Capital was not safe from their tactics. And that, was also exactly why I was constantly on guard.
The Midnight Syndicate was watching. They're always watching.
It was a race. A race between them and I. A race about whether I could get strong enough to destroy them first, or whether they could catch me first.
In any case, the girls and I finished our lunch fairly quickly, and decided to return to Old Man Leng's shop afterwards. Originally, we were planning on just heading back to the Library of Infinite Beginnings to explore some more, perhaps beat another floor, but now we have something far more urgent to worry about. The Library could wait. But someone's life, could not.
After a long while of walking, we finally got to Old Man Leng's gun shop. The man himself was inside, and we entered the door.
"Oh, yer back," he said upon spotting us. "The day ain't over yet though, what ya doin' here?"
"Things have changed. There's something we need to do - as soon as possible," I explained. "And...we need your help for it."
"My help?" Old Man Leng raised an eyebrow. "Ight, fine. As long as it's within my abilities."
I nodded. "Thanks in advance. What we need from you isn't anything too difficult - just some information."
"Go on," he said, adjusting his sitting position.
I took a deep breath, and lowered my voice. "Then I'll get straight to it - do you have any idea where we could acquire some Basilisk Dust?"
He furrowed his brows. "Basilisk Dust...what the hell do ya need that for?"
"Do you have to know?" I asked.
He chuckled. "Yer askin' for information from me, free of cost. I think I deserve to at least know what ya need this info for."
I sighed. "Hard to argue there..."
"It's to treat my mother's curse," Lan Xiao Su stepped forward and spoke up. "I don't know if you've heard of it before, but...it's called the 1 Year Curse."
Old Man Leng frowned. "Hm...can't say I have. But as for the Basilisk Dust...I heard recently that there's an auction goin' on soon, and one of the items bein' sold is what yer lookin' for."
"An auction...but even with my family's money, that won't be enough..." Yu An Yan appeared troubled. "No doubt, other buyers will have their eyes on the Basilisk Dust. It's not something you come across everyday, after all."
"Ah, but ya don't necessarily have to buy it, per se..." Old Man Leng chuckled, winking suggestively.
I snickered, understanding his meaning. The other girls, however, merely frowned in confusion.
"I got it," I muttered. "Thanks, Old Man Leng."
He grinned. "No problem, kid. What's yer phone number? I'll text ya the address and time of the auction."
I told him my number, under the puzzled gazes of the girls, still struggling to figure out what was going on. After that, we left the shop, now with a new destination in mind.
*****
"Hey, Xuan Kai? What did he mean back there when he said you didn't have to buy it?" Feng Mian asked, tilting her head cutely as she tapped on my shoulder.
I sighed. "Yes, it's an auction. The way it works is that you spend money to purchase things. That's the conventional method, anyway...but here's the thing - we don't have to be conventional."
"Um...I still don't think I quite get it," Lan Xiao Su spoke up this time, frowning slightly.
I facepalmed. "Okay. Put really bluntly, we're going to...steal it."
"Wha-steal?!" the girls' eyes widened in surprise.
I raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so surprised? C'mon now, think about the things I've done up until now. Slaughter one of the Four Great Families of Shenzhen, kill a bunch of gangsters, raid a scientist's secret underground lab...not one has been remotely legal. And you all travelling with me automatically makes you an accomplice of mine. We're already on this path. There's no turning back now."
"You're...right," Yu An Yan sighed. "Also...so it was you behind the annihilation of the Xuan family after all."
I blinked. "Oh yeah, I tried hiding that from you all, didn't I? My bad."
"Yeah, but...we kinda figured," Feng Mian giggled. "No one else has a motive to randomly slaughter the entire Xuan family in one night...except for you."
I shrugged. "True."
"But, if we're really going to steal it, then we need some kind of plan, right?" Qing Yue asked innocently.
"Of course," I replied, nodding, pulling out my phone and showing the girls the text Old Man Leng sent. "That's what we'll be doing right now. The auction is in three days, Tuesday, February 1st, 2023 - as you can see - so from now until then, our goal will be to scout the place out, and hopefully get a good map of the area. Information is the first step to a good plan, as they say."
"Sooo, where exactly is this auction going to be held?" Xiang Peng asked.
Using the Maps app, I entered the address Old Man Leng sent me, and ran a quick directions search.
"Not far from the Library of Infinite Beginnings, actually," I said, after the results came up. "In a building called the Ross Estate."
*****
- Later, The Ross Estate -
"This is the place," I said, looking up at the tall skyscraper before me. It wasn't as tall as the Library of Infinite Beginnings, but it was up there. Under the bright moonlight of 1 AM, the building stood, with a bright yellow logo on the side that read 'The Ross Estate'. Lights were on everywhere within the building.
"Hm...isn't the design of this place a bit...weird?" Feng Mian asked. "Why would an auction house need so many floors?"
"I agree. Most auction houses only have two floors, but instead cover a large area on the ground," Obsidia added. "How this building is designed, however...it makes it seem more like a company than an auction house."
"Perhaps...it's constructed this way in order to hide the fact that it's an auction house?" Yu An Yan suggested. "There are plenty of black market only auctions out there. This may be one of the sites where they are held."
"That doesn't matter to us," I cut in. "Legal or not, this upcoming auction is our target. Our goal is to scout this place out."
"All those floors?" Qing Yue asked dejectedly. "This is going to take forever..."
I shook my head. "Think about it. If you were holding an auction, would you want to make your guests have to go up fifty floors before arriving at the show?"
"In other words...the auction should be held on the lower floors," Xiang Peng concluded. "Not a bad conjecture."
"The problem is...how will we get inside in the first place?" Lan Xiao Su inquired hesitantly. "Just strolling through the front door definitely won't work..."
I narrowed my gaze, and focused on the front entrance of the Ross Estate. We were relatively close to it now, so I could get a good look. And once I did, I spoke.
"Actually...it might."
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