When the price broke the threshold of one dun, Xia Fei finally felt relief. Spending more than one dun on a weapon that he really did not need was not worth it. Even though this Flame Carillion had the ability to boost the fire element by twenty percent, it was still something meant for fire ability users. As a speed ability user, Xia Fei would not benefit in any way.
“Next is the final auction item for The Brotherhood’s trade carnival.” The middle-aged auctioneer deliberately paused, sweeping his eyes across the tens of thousands of people in the audience as if to send them some special information.
The crowd became unimaginably quiet, so quiet that it became possible to hear one’s own heartbeat.
In past auctions, this would be the moment to shine the spotlight on the auctioneer and magnify his voice. This was common sense for a stage director. The light and sound would all be ready, ready to maximize the desires of the audience within the shortest amount of time so that they would excitedly raise their placards and bid as high as they could, increasing the price immensely.
This was true for all the auctions of the Alliance, not just those of The Brotherhood. After all, the auction house received ten percent of the final price as a commission. The higher the value of the final bid, the greater the auction house’s commission.
Xia Fei roughly estimated that the commission from the auction alone would be enough to pay for the entirety of this fifteen-day event, perhaps even provide a little extra. To bring together all the various fighter organizations in the alliance, generate sufficient prestige, and even make a massive profit, the minds running The Brotherhood were truly intelligent.
When the last auction item was about to emerge, the place became abnormally silent. The numerous spotlights on the ceiling seemed to fall asleep, and the massive speakers ceased to clamor. It was as if this item did not require technological methods to raise the crowd’s enthusiasm, for it already possessed an inestimable rallying power.
Xia Fei frowned. This unusual atmosphere left him feeling both weirded out and expectant.
After an entire three minutes, the middle-aged auctioneer used his magnetic voice to declare, “Please bring up our final auction item.”
Two beautiful women wearing classic gowns pushed out a small hovercart. While all the other auction ladies wore festive attires, either dazzling red or flashing gold, these two women wore simple white gowns without any adornments, and their expressions were extremely grave and dignified.
The auctioneer’s actions left feeling Xia Fei baffled. He very solemnly tidied up his clothes. His excitement from presiding over the previous auctions had caused him to sweat, so he had earlier unbuttoned the top-most button of his shirt to get some air. At this moment, however, he very gravely buttoned it back, even using a handkerchief to wipe his shoes.
Xia Fei did not get it. What sort of item deserved such solemnity?
Rather than presiding over an auction, it seemed more like he was about to hold a ceremony for some hallowed existence!
Xia Fei glanced at Thuram, hoping to glean some information from him; alas, Thuram was just as confused.
As the entire audience was in a state of confusion, the auctioneer slowly lifted the black cloth, revealing a dark black machine. This machine was about one meter tall and square. The outside was covered in a matte-black shell, and nothing was exposed except ten-some golden connectors, so it was impossible to see its internal structure.
“This is a cloaking device,” said the auctioneer as he turned to the audience.
Xia Fei was startled. “A cloaking device? Hold on. This can’t be an ordinary cloaking device, or else it wouldn’t be treated with such solemnity and be made the final item of The Brotherhood’s trade carnival auction. That alone is enough to know that there’s something special about it.”
There was little reaction from the crowd. Cloaking devices, while rare, were not that difficult to obtain for the upper echelon of the alliance, so this item failed to cause much of a reaction.
“Moreover, it is the product from the ancient civilization,” the auctioneer added.
This time, several people gasped in surprise. Everyone knew that the technology level of ancient civilizations was far higher than it was now, so their cloaking devices would be much better than the products on the market. This cloaking device seemed to be new. Such a well-preserved ancient cloaking device was a truly rare and valuable item!
“It is the product of the ancients called Guristas.”
Shock!
Extreme shock!
When the auctioneer divulged the origin of the cloaking device, the audience grew even quieter. It became possible to hear heavy breathing and the heavy thumping of hearts in chests.
Xia Fei was also dumbfounded, for this was a Guristas cloaking device!
What did the name Guristas mean, which could make everyone so excited?
Anyone who had heard of them knew that the Guristas were actually a pirate group—an infamous band of pirates who had lived in that ancient era.
However, it was precisely this group of pirates, whom human governments wanted nothing more than to root out, that dared to stand up when the robot army rebelled, using their lives to preserve a tiny ember of humanity.
It was something that had happened a very long time ago. The robot army had stirred up a massive wave, sweeping across the universe in just a few days and exterminating all life in their wake.
The surviving humans advanced into the strange sea of stars in consternation and unease, hoping that they would be able to find new homes far away from the slaughter of the robots.
However, to everyone’s surprise, when all the government armies had been wiped out, the Guristas pirates living in the far regions of space gathered up their ships into one final fleet and set up humanity’s final defensive line on the frontier, helping those humans who were fleeing from the chaos.
Even well-equipped government armies had failed to do anything to the robots, so how could a group of pirates match up? An enormous robot fleet pursuing the fleeing ships arrived at the frontier, separated from the defending Guristas pirates by a single asteroid belt.
Behind the Guristas was a fleet of fleeing civilian ships, a motley bunch of ships powerless to resist. Meanwhile, the government fleet, which had protected them, had long ago been wiped out by the robot army.
The only possibility of escape was entering a chaotic wormhole. This wormhole did not have a fixed destination, and no one knew where it would send them. Perhaps it would be one lightyear away, or perhaps it would be one million lightyears away; it could even send them right into a blackhole.
With their deaths imminent, humans had no other choice. There was only one path, and attempting to escape through any ordinary method would be a futile gesture that would never be able to throw off the pursuit of the robot army.
So that the surviving humans could continue their flight, the Guristas pirates needed to delay the robot army for at least two hours, allowing as many humans to get through the wormhole as possible. Otherwise, humanity would vanish from the universe for the rest of time.
Life was a big joke, and the survival of humanity rested on whether or not these contemptible pirates could delay the robot army.
Suddenly, the Guristas pirates made a decision that no one expected. They sent all their ships charging into the robot army and then detonated their reactors, bringing the enemies down with them.
This insane act bought humanity precious time to escape through the chaotic wormhole.
Many years later, humans discovered that the robot army had vanished without a trace, allowing them to return to their homes and build the Pan-human Alliance upon the ruins.
In the Venal capital ring was a giant statue which depicted a female general furiously staring ahead as she led her fleet into battle.
Her name was Estamel, and she was the leader of the Guristas. She was a rare talent, excelling in both science and command—known to be the greatest pirate in history.
This was the only time in history that a statue of a pirate was erected in the capital.
“As expected, a cloaking system of the Guristas pirates appeared in this trade carnival!” Thuram excitedly said.
Xia Fei nodded. “The Guristas were pirates who brought research, production, and pillaging all under the same roof. Even the best research corporations of ancient humanity could not match them. It’s such a pity that so many top-class scientists chose to be pirates.”
Thuram chuckled. “Indeed. I don’t know what’s going on with the ancient humans, but all four leaders of the Guristas pirates were top-class scientists, particularly Estamel. This young female scientist apparently had an unprecedented IQ of 1600, more than ten times that of an ordinary human. As for why scientists became pirates, that’s probably a mystery that will never be solved.”
Xia Fei asked, “What price do you think the Guristas’ cloaking system will go for?”
Thuram silently raised a single finger.
“One dun?”
“Around there. I recall that there are only three cloaking devices produced by the Guristas across the entire Alliance. The last time one was auctioned, it sold for seven hundred billion. Even if this one doesn’t hit a dun, it shouldn’t be much less. What? You want it?”
Xia Fei nodded. The territory of the insectoids was incredibly dangerous. If he had this cloaking device, he would be able to boost his chances of survival. Moreover, the Guristas had developed one of the best stealth systems in the history of mankind.
Just when Xia Fei was considering this, the auctioneer spoke once more.
“Everyone perchance thinks that this is a Guristas cloaking device, but it is not. While the Guristas cloaking devices possess top-notch abilities, they still don’t meet the grade to be the ultimate auction item for The Brotherhood’s trade carnival.”
Everyone was astonished and began to speculate on how this cloaking device was different.
“To be more precise, this cloaking device is called an Estamel-type cloaking device. It was personally developed by Estamel, the leader of the Guristas, and it carries her name.
“Innumerable cloaking devices were built throughout human history, but this is undoubtedly the best! No other cloaking device can compare, not in the past and perhaps not even in the future!”
