He neither looked rich, nor seemed to be aware of the rules of the auction house. Which had caused some others around the guard to become attentive, looking around for any powerful outliers that might be using this fool as bait.
But the main guard dealing with Lev showed none of it in his emotion. He was not a fool nor did he wish to sully the reputation of the auction by acting haughty or disrespectful to a guest. Even if that guest turned out to be someone holding bad intentions.
"If you came here out of accident, please move aside. There are others waiting for an entry."
These words were a suggestion for Lev, to stop doing what he wanted to do here and move along.
But the guard soon stopped his words the moment he saw a golden ticket with personal writing by someone very high in the Wulfer family.
And a seal which can't be faked no matter where you go.
"Please, scan this."
It was a platinum card which is only issued to very special guests in the auction and is stamped personally by the organizer of the Wulfer Auction. Hence carrying the direct acknowledgement of the owner and giving the holder some special rights that one can't even imagine.
Which confused the guard a bit.
This was the entrance for normal attendees, there was a specific entrance for the platinum card holders in a different place already.
But he didn't point out the mistake of this guest. After scanning it and seeing that the man held a genuine card. He leads him personally to a specialized area after informing the guards of the identity of this man.
Though, the guard gave the job leading Lev to a hostess who seemed to be aware of Lev's arrival and greeted him with a bright smile.
'A railway system inside?'
Lev was surprised looking at the small luxurious capsule in front of him. The woman got on along with Lev, filling the glass with some champagne as the capsule moved toward some unknown location.
'It's disorienting.'
Due to his habit, Lev had tried to keep a sense of the direction and escape route. Even in the capsule, he was able to sense where he was moving until a certain point. But soon, he lost the sense of direction.
"Old mining tracks?"
Lev asked, curious about this small underground railway network.
To which, the woman agreed.
"Not just that… It was used during the war as well. The soviet soldiers would use these tunnels to transport men and supplies, while also hiding in it when it was needed."
"Though, rarely did the latter option work, as due to air circulation in these tunnels, most that chose to hide here, died of suffocation."
Working here for so long, the woman knew of this place's history and was also adept at entertaining the guests with some small talk. Which Lev didn't mind.
The more information he has, the better.
Not to mention, her words also confirmed one thing.
'Those that get out of this capsule, might not survive for long.'
He didn't know if it was some kind of warning or small talk by the woman. But he chose to treat it as a warning and kept wondering.
'When will they attack?'
Currently, he can't contact FIX. Which means he is defenseless according to those that wish to harm him.
Even the woman in front might be involved in this kidnapping attempt.
Which was why Lev didn't choose to either drink or eat anything in the capsule.
His breathing was even slower and active. The moment he notices anything bad or smells any weird smell, he will shut down his nose and focus on conserving oxygen till he reaches the destination.
One shouldn't forget that is a platinum card holder. His security was important to the Wulfer's and any delay on his arrival to the main venue would be noticed. So if these men choose to act, they need to do it fast.
But all kinds of preparation of Lev had no influence on the following, as no one came to kidnap him and he soon reached the venue.
"Sir, before you go out. Wear this." The woman handed him a mask.
A gray husky mask, with star patterns closer to the mask's ears.
Which made Lev smirk. He understood that this was a prank by FIX, or a sort of suggestion to take it easy.
"Please lead away." Wearing his mask, he ordered and soon reached his private viewing area.
And the moment he entered the area, a voice echoed in his ears through the earpiece.
"The Serum would be auctioned at the very last. Which means, for the next four hours. You should enjoy yourself in the cabin."
"Also, order and eat whatever you want, no need to fear, no one would dare harm you when you are in that cabin."
Lev didn't know where he was, but one thing he was sure about was that he was underground with no way out.
Making this place completely protected as well as completely isolated from the rest of the world.
Of course, no matter how good these people are, they were still forced to follow the whims of the so called FIX and who knows, how many other FIX's had forced the Wulfers to make a Platinum card for them.
It would remain a mystery.
On the other hand, Lev looked at the attendees that were slowly filling up the venue.
He even saw a few people from the same entrance through which he entered, but they seem to come way later than him. Which showed that the transport services for both of them might not be the same. And if not for his inhuman memory to remember the details, like their clothes and such. It would have been harder for him to remember them in this sea of people.
"Those you see below, don't look down on them just due to their standing. They might not look like someone important. But they are backed by someone really important and have just come to do their bidding"
There was a rule in auctions of this scale.
Don't look down on an individual due to their personal strength and seating area. Because more than half the time, that person is usually a puppet here to buy something for their master.
A spokesperson just because their master is either too busy or too bored to come here themselves.
It was why, usually the private seating areas are usually empty most of the time.
But from what Lev understood. All of them were filled this time.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I Bella Wulfer, would be your companion through today's auction." A gorgeous woman in a classical gown appeared in front of the crowd and introduced herself.
A woman well known among the Auction circle due to her job as the manager here.
"For the first in our list. This is a Purple rank titans heart from Fervi dungeon in africa."
"It was stored in just 30 mins of the Titan's death, hence making it one of the freshest Titan's hearts in the last two years."
"The bidding would start at 200k dollars."
A titans heart was not something easily found outside of Africa. The titans were common to the dungeons of that continent and those countries with major titan dungeons have almost monopolized to be used as leverage.
Countries like South Africa or Nigeria had often used the Titan's heart to pay foreign hunters to do their job, instead of hiring the hunters of their own country.
And the 200k dollars that was the starting price was the real price of the material if it was sold in the market.
But that is only an if. As it never appears on the market unless one looks deep enough.
Though one can only ever hope to buy this material at an upsell.
"... trice, the Titans heart goes to the Gentleman in elephant mask for 960k dollars."
A cost that was almost five times the price.
"So much money… I would have bought my life back with that much money." Of course Lev was thinking about his past life, before he had killed.
Now, he can't even think of going back to normality.
But what was normality?
What was peace?
Lev has experienced nothing like that ever. So he shut up and witnessed the rest of the auctions going unimpeded.
Though, he didn't witness as many fights over an item as he had expected.
"Of course they won't… Majority are here for one thing only." That one thing, Lev was aware of it.
Majority of the guests in the venue were only here for the awakening serum, it was why they didn't plan to waste too much money on early items which might make them appear weaker at the very end.
Not to mention, the Auction hasn't even told anyone the amount of serums they held. And in case there was only one, then the bidding war might be a lot more expensive than one might assume.
Causing many to hold back on their purchase. And only those that were not too interested in the awakening potion to become the highlight in early hours.
Though, this did change as time went on and some special materials, weapons and armors appeared that won't be found easily in the wild.
Which caused few people to finally start bidding for real, making the auction a lot more energetic as time went on.
Which was something the auctioneers were ready for.
Which is why, the more time stretched longer, the better and more extreme items start appearing.
They understood that many of their guests had emptied their bank account for the awakening serum.
And it was their moment to milk it from them.
"Sir Lev, It's time." A woman requested Lev, asking him to follow her.