The pair walked into the elevator, which traveled back and forth between eight floors.
The receptionist pressed the button for the second floor, and a few seconds later, another line of numbers lit up in a fluorescent backlight appeared beneath it.
They were numbers three to five.
He pressed on the number five, and the elevator doors began to close.
The man glanced sideways at Yao Tangand was about to say something when she took out the USB drive again. She stuck it into the port that was nestled inconspicuously in one corner.
This linked the device to the interface.
The elevator slowed its pace.
The website that Yao Tanghad logged into when she was searching for the parchment had numerous basses all over the world. This establishment was just one of them.
They provided a safe and private location for the website’s members to trade their items in secret.
This arrangement worked well for their patrons, mainly because the organization enforced a perfect privacy protection system, and the risk of any sort of information leakage was close to none.
The traders themselves had no way of knowing the identity of the other parties involved in the transaction.
Yao Tang came to this particular base for this very purpose.
She was going to meet up with the person who claimed to possess the artifact and hopefully make a satisfactory trade.
The other person had not specified what he wanted out of the bargain.
His only request was to sit down with Yao Tangand seal their agreement in person.
The elevator moved two floors up. Then, there seemed to be a shift in the gears, and it started to descend five floors down. Soon, the doors opened again.
A small, empty lobby greeted them, its ceiling dotted with glaring white lights.
Along the concave wall were several doors, each without a sign or a number.
The receptionist stepped forward and led Yao Tangto the innermost door, the one in the middle.
He pressed a button, and a security device emerged from the wall, which he used to verify his fingerprints and scan his retina.
When he was done, he gestured for Yao Tangto stick the USB device into its port, and the verification process was finally done.
The door opened with a soft “ding”.
The man bowed and waved for Yao Tangto enter, but not before uttering a final reminder: “For the safety of our customers, you will be randomly sent to one of our many exits upon your departure. We wish you a pleasant and fruitful transaction.”
Yao Tang nodded and grabbed the USB drive before stepping into the room.
The door automatically closed behind her.
Yao Tang looked around the room and realized that there was nobody inside.
Instead, it looked like another lobby similar to the one they had just left. This time, however, there were five decorative arches above the doors, with intricate carvings of some long-forgotten language.
A lone table stood in the middle of the room, with a monitor sitting on top of it. All of a sudden, the screen lit up, flashing a message.
“Welcome, Honored Guest. I am happy to serve you today!”
This was accompanied by a mechanical, female voice that spoke the very same words.
“Distinguished Guest, you hold the highest level of security privilege that we offer. I will be planning a specific route for you now. Please wait for a while.”
A series of beeps echoed around the room, and then— “Confirmed. Commencing automatic deletion of user data.”
“You may enter.”
With that, one of the five doors opened, revealing a long corridor up ahead.
Yao Tang could barely see the end of it, but she could tell by the slight curve in its walls that it was a winding path.
She walked through the arch and made her way. Moments later, she arrived in front of a glowing stone door. It opened on its own and granted her access.
Inside was a narrow space, and a small hatch with a single seat installed in it, along with a fluffy pillow and protective headgear.
Its interior was made of soft leather, and Yao Tangcould tell at a glance that it was genuine.
She plopped on the seat and put on the helmet just as the hatch snapped shut.
Yao Tang couldn’t see anything past its opaque glass, but she could feel it moving as it traversed through what she assumed were underground tunnels.
It traveled at a speed that was too swift for comfort, but surprisingly enough, she didn’t feel any bumps along the way.
Around five minutes later, a notification sounded in the small space, saying that she had arrived at her intended destination, followed by the hatch clicking open.
Yao Tang removed her helmet and walked outside. There was only one door on the other end of the room.
She walked past it, then through another long corridor, and finally stopped in front of a private lounge.
The place had an ancient motif, and was decorated to fit the concept. The sofa looked inviting, and a tea set was already waiting at the table.
Also waiting for her was a masked man.