The Abyssal Garden: No Room for the Idle

"...."

Good grief, that cautious?

Su Qi didn't mind. He wrapped his arm around the other's shoulder and said gently,

"You're thinking about how to end this auction normally without trouble, right?"

Nancy paused for a moment, then nodded.

Su Qi continued to urge persuasively, "But those three don't seem to mix well, like water and fire. There are bound to be frictions and contention during the auction. As the host, you'll find it difficult to keep an eye on everything in the midst of this mayhem, fearing you might offend one of them, right?"

".....Yes."

Nancy felt that what Su Qi just said was indeed correct. This guy really was the one who understood his situation the best now. Although the auction hadn't officially started, these were exactly the kind of troublesome events that were bound to happen. When the time came, it would be a deadly balancing act... to maintain that balance would be practically impossible.

"Can I only tell you that this line of thinking is wrong?"

"Huh?" Nancy was slightly startled.

"As they say, the bigger the chaos, the more opportunities," Su Qi said softly. "Instead of sitting around waiting to be killed, why not just go for broke..."

Nancy's eyelids twitched, "Wait a minute."

"I haven't finished speaking."

"You don't need to," Nancy felt his scalp tingle.

"Oh, it seems you've gotten the point without me having to spell it out."

"Understand my ass!"

From what Su Qi had said, Nancy could already sense a danger that was beyond the ordinary. He took a deep breath, "Don't you see, from everything that's happened so far, how high the status of those three young masters is, and how dangerous it would be to anger them!"

"I just want peace, but you seem to thrive on causing chaos!"

"And I can't believe I'm seriously listening to you here!" Nancy pressed his brow. "I'm so stupid, really."

"Fine, I won't persuade you any further."

Su Qi looked leisurely towards the outside, "The auction will start after this show ends. Go get ready for now. During the intermission, you can consider what we discussed."

Nancy's expression paused for a moment.

How did this guy know the sequence of the program so well?

But Nancy also glanced at the time; the show was almost over, and the main event, the auction, was next. He gave Su Qi a deep look.

"Don't worry, I'll be on stage during the intermission, and I won't consider it. I will uphold a professional emcee's poise, steadily maintain balance, and host everything perfectly."

"Good, that's the spirit, but..." Su Qi smiled, "I suspect things won't go so smoothly. You can come to me for help if it gets tough."

Nancy's face darkened, "How could I possibly come to you for help... you wish."

But Su Qi just smiled and didn't say more.

Nancy felt an inexplicable unease. He was a smart man, but he didn't understand where Su Qi's confidence came from. He tucked his anxiety away in his heart, adjusted his clothes, took another deep breath, and headed towards the waiting area - he had lost count of how many deep breaths he'd taken.

Su Qi watched him go. He was naturally very familiar with the program schedule, including all kinds of auction items.

The auction was divided into the first half, an intermission, and the second half.

The first half wasn't highly valuable. The items auctioned from different worlds were mainly for entertainment, aesthetic enjoyment, and specialty goods, while the second half contained the most important items, including Pollutants, Abnormality Slaves, Totems, Fragments, and so on.

However.

He had given Simon the responsibility for these matters, including what to auction and how to auction them. If it came to bidding against other power players, just drive up the price. If the Spirit Prince's Heir got involved, then back off.

The money would be deducted from his account, so even though it was Simon doing the bidding, it would still increase his Points.

Su Qi looked at the main quest panel.

There were three main quests in total.

[1. Enter the Stars Hall]

[2. Obtain one auction item (must be from an official seat, and the item must be able to be taken out of the instance)]

[3. Achieve a reputation with the Hundred Alliances (at least one hundred of the VIPs must be left with a deep impression of you)]

The first main quest is already completed, offering the option for the player to teleport away, but without a countdown.

Completing each main quest awarded different levels of Points.

"Increasing Points through spending is very inefficient. A single ticket only added 3,000 Points, and completing the first main quest awarded 5,000 Points."

"The second offers 10,000, and the third, 100,000."

It's important to note that there's a huge difficulty gap between the three main quests, but the Points awarded are quite conservative.

It seems that these Points not only affect the ranking but will undoubtedly play a very important role in the subsequent ranking battles!

"Nevertheless, the total of the three main quests I have now is still less than my loose change."

Su Qi looked at his Points pool and Cyber Coins, the former had broken past a million, while the latter had already surpassed tens of billions.

He, as the president of The Hustlers Chamber of Commerce, the ultimate beneficiary of the errand system operations, along with the support from Life Group and the injection of funds for capital operations.

His Points... seemed to be a little bit too much, and they were still increasing.

"However, that's quite normal, There appears to be no problem for now."

Su Qi closed the panel.

He walked towards the lower backstage, which was where the auction items were stored.

He was there to catch up with the Mixed Fish Piano.

All the auction items were in the underground warehouse transport area; as long as an instruction was sent, they would be carried to the stage by conveyor belts.

But the Mixed Fish Piano was special.

It wasn't an auction item, but it was brought in by An Xinghe for a blockbuster performance during the intermission.

Although.

The term "blockbuster" seemed quite far from "mixed fish."

Nevertheless.

According to the information Su Qi had gathered, those responsible for getting close to it in Night City were several representatives of the strongest EMTs.

Was it getting pampered under Young Master Sunset, with the luxury of savory food and strong drinks, hence becoming more powerful?

"...."

With the access chip granted by Life Group, one of the event's organizers, Su Qi quickly reached the warehouse transport area.

In the area, workers were transporting the auction items for the first half, and many people were directing robots to adjust and operate the machines.

There was a large amount of Pollutants... filling the air with a weird aura; the items in this area were quite special, and many staff members were looking with a headache at a piano splattered with bloodstains.

It emitted an astonishing aura of Pollution, and even without making a sound, the blood on it was enough to unsettle people.

"All the other items are manageable."

"But if we get within five meters of this piano, we'll pass out."

"It seems we'll have to call the EMTs."

Su Qi walked over, "What happened?"

"Who are you...?" One of the workers stared blankly at Su Qi.

He showed his pass, "I'm the person in charge from the organizer's side, I came to check how the work is progressing."

Now all the elite factions were sitting upright above, and indeed this was the highest level access chip from Life Group. Although he was marginalized and had many permissions banned, the lower-level personnel were not aware of this.

The logistics transport manager immediately frowned deeply, "The situation is like this. Due to the reduced program schedule, we've had to prepare many tasks in advance. We're hastily placing many items in their rightful places, but this piano... it seems to have thrown a tantrum after we hurried the transportation and caused quite a commotion. It's giving off terrifying Pollution, and we can't get close to it now."

My goodness.

Throwing a tantrum and being a diva on the spot?

"No need to call the EMTs, let me take a look."

"You..." The manager was startled, but he saw Su Qi had already walked over.

He quickly warned, "Be careful, don't get too close."

The Bloodstained Piano was stored in an isolated area, and the aura it exuded permeated around ten meters; the thick smell of blood even created a mist.

It definitely wasn't pleased.

Being moved to this area and causing some noisy disturbances, it all affected its mood for later when it would go on stage.

What was its status now? A treasured possession cherished by Young Master Spirit King!

And their status?

Hmm?

Was someone else approaching?

The aura of Pollution thickened momentarily, as if intending to repel this person.

But the person's steps didn't halt!

What's going on?

It looked over in that direction.

A face... familiar and smiling, was looking at it.

The musical scores seemed to tremble violently; as if reflecting its inner turmoil, warping and twisting with letters continuously emerging.

"Sect... Sect... Sect... Sect Hierarch!"