Tokyo, Japan, on the night of July 20th, 11:30 PM, inside the Mirror Auction of the Mirror World.
There are only thirty minutes left until the official start of this underground auction. Underneath the luxurious crystal chandelier, rows of seats are filled with people.
There are about a hundred guests in total, all of whom are already seated.
Each guest is a well-known figure in the underworld, representing their families to participate in the auction, but the real power holders will not appear at this banquet.
Black Cocoon controlled the Restraint Incarnation, resting the elbows of his hands on the seat, silently observing his surroundings with his eyes.
Soon his gaze locked onto a young man wearing a Zhongshan suit with slicked-back hair.
The young man wore sunglasses, leaning his head on a fist against his cheek, taking a nap. Since just now, he has been sleeping for a full hour. Compared to the other guests present, the performance of this young man in the Zhongshan suit is really out of place.
Black Cocoon vaguely remembered this young man in the Zhongshan suit entered an hour and a half ago - which means, for more than half the time at the auction, the young man in Zhongshan suit has been asleep.
And there is still no sign that he will wake, as if he has died asleep in the seat.
"Could this be the ’person who can take on half a brigade alone’ that Ke Qirui mentioned?"
Black Cocoon scratched his chin, contemplating.
He controlled the Restraint Incarnation to stand up, walking towards the young man in the Zhongshan suit, passing through the eyes of other guests.
Then he pretended to stumble, hurriedly raising his hand to support the young man’s shoulder. The Pitch Black Restraint flew out from his sleeve, darting towards the neck of the young man like a snake.
But suddenly, a faint golden light spread across the surface of the young man’s neck, bouncing the restraint back.
Black Cocoon raised an eyebrow, controlling the Restraint Incarnation to steady itself, looked at the restraint retracted into the sleeve, then raised his head to reassess the young man in the Zhongshan suit.
The young man’s expression remained peaceful, sleeping soundly, showing no sign of reaction.
Watching this scene, Black Cocoon pondered to himself: "Then it can be basically confirmed, this is the person Ke Qirui mentioned."
"But this is too exaggerated, sleeping yet able to defend against my restraint. Is he with Lake Hunting, or the Salvation Society? Should I sacrifice the Restraint Incarnation here to see if I can break through his defenses?"
"Forget it, let’s observe the changes for now."
Thinking of this, he controlled the Restraint Incarnation to walk towards the woman in a qipao, taking a bottle of coconut water from the tray she was holding, and then returned to his seat.
Just as he sat down, a man in a floral shirt approached and sat down beside him.
The floral shirt man smiled broadly and whispered to the Restraint Incarnation: "Mr. Fujimoto, it’s been quite lively these days... some big shots we usually don’t see have all come out."
The Restraint Incarnation adjusted his throat details, coughed twice: "Indeed..."
The floral shirt man tapped the armrest with his fingers, speaking animatedly:
"The last underground auction was held three years ago, just year, it was on July 21st. At that time, the eight major underworld families also heard that the White Crow Travel Brigade would strike the auction, so they were fully armed, yet in the end, nothing happened, making the elders ridicule this so-called bandit group."
Saying this, the man snorted twice, "This time it’s so grand, they even invited Blue Arc, the higher-ups all think the White Crow Travel Brigade will be cowed like last time."
The Restraint Incarnation scratched his chin, thinking: "Do you think... the White Crow Travel Brigade might have set their eyes on something else from the last auction?"
The floral shirt man chuckled, dismissively saying:
"Impossible, that group of bandits only sees money, with many invaluable items on stage, they didn’t touch a single one, let alone anything else that could tempt them."
The Restraint Incarnation nodded: "That’s true, those greedy and foolish bandits only have that much capacity."
He glanced up at the auction house’s clock, its hand had moved another quarter turn, leaving only fifteen minutes until the auction officially starts.
In Black Cocoon’s mind, he outlined the defense force of the two auction venues:
Reality Auction: 50 superpowered bodyguards, 50 armed bodyguards, masquerading as important members of underworld families, seated inside the auction house, awaiting the appearance of the White Crow Travel Brigade.
Aside from this, the core bodyguard team of six people is inside the Reality Auction: Sakurabu, Ke Qirui, Su Zimai, Xu Sanyan, Lin Zhengquan, Fuyuyama Nobunaga.
Mirror Auction: 100 high-ranking members of underworld families, the napping young man in a Zhongshan suit (suspected to be with Lake Hunting or the Salvation Society), Red Dragon Li Qingping.
Then there are three from the core bodyguard team: Blue Arc, Mirror Guardian, Haibara Ritsu.
What intrigued Black Cocoon the most was: where is Old Ghost Clock hiding at this moment?
Old Ghost Clock couldn’t possibly be mixed in with the guests, when the fight breaks out he wouldn’t have a battle suit to wear.
Also, entering the auction house requires a thorough body check and iris intelligent identification, unless the underworld gave him an entry ticket, otherwise, he would certainly be intercepted outside.
Meanwhile, in the reality auction venue, Ke Qirui, dressed in a trench coat, had a cigarette holder in her mouth, leaning against the wall by the entrance, Su Zimai stood next to her.
Seeing Sakurabu slowly approaching, Ke Qirui took the cigarette holder from her mouth and spoke to her: