The next day.
4 p.m.
Moses, Biscuit, Menchi, and Shizuku arrived outside the gates of Snow Palace.
After presenting the official invitation letter to the gatekeepers, they entered Snow Palace and boarded a sightseeing bus.
After a while.
The sightseeing bus stopped in front of a palace-like building.
Moses and his companions got off, and soon, a man in a black suit and sunglasses came to greet them.
"This way, please."
The man in suit led Moses and the others into the Snow Palace.
In the hall with white as the dominant color, many exhibition cabinets are arranged in an orderly manner.
Each display cabinet was covered with a cylindrical glass dome.
Spotlights installed on the edges of the glass domes cast a soft light on the exhibits.
Most of the auction items to be appreciated by the guests were here.
On both sides of the hall were several long dining tables covered with white tablecloths, laden with a variety of food and drinks.
Moses's eyes scanned the exhibits in the hall and he soon found the display cabinet where 'The End of the Monka Expeditionary Force' was located.
At this time, many people gathered around 'The End of the Monka Expeditionary Force' and talked about the crown in the display cabinet.
The reason why Moses was able to see the crown over the heads of the crowd is because the display case stood taller than the others in the hall.
"I'll go over there and take a look."
Biscuit said with a meaningful smile as she headed toward the crown.
Moses watched Biscuit's departing back and shook his head slightly.
'Auntie Gemstone must be going to join the excitement with a playful attitude.'
Moses withdrew his gaze from 'The End of the Monka Expeditionary Force' and began to observe the environment of the hall.
Directly ahead was a long staircase leading to the second floor.
At the middle of the stairs, the staircase split into two paths, leading to a balcony-like corridor surrounding the entire hall.
Many men in black suits and sunglasses stood guard along the balcony railings like statues.
While Moses was observing the environment, Shizuku had already rushed to the dining table, attacking the array of desserts.
She paid no attention to her appearance, soon getting her face covered in cream and chocolate crumbs.
Menchi stood beside Shizuku, also picking up various sweets to eat.
But unlike Shizuku who ate with relish, Menchi criticized each one after tasting it.
"I think it's delicious."
Listening to Menchi's comments one after another, Shizuku honestly remarked.
Menchi rolled her eyes at her and thought to herself, 'A glutton like you would be satisfied with anything decent, so how could you be picky?'
Not far away…
Moses suddenly discovered a collection of ancient weapons, which was placed not far from 'The End of the Monka Expeditionary Force'.
He approached the display cabinet and looked through the glass at a long sword with blood-colored patterns on the stand.
Full of killing intent.
This was Moses's impression of the long sword, and then he thought of his own black sword that had not yet been fully shaped.
'Hmm, it might be worth using as a reference.'
Moses carefully examined the details of the blood-patterned long sword, mentally sketching the appearance of his black sword.
Just as Moses was admiring the blood-patterned sword, Eriselle, who had been invited to the exchange meeting, inadvertently noticed Moses standing in front of the display cabinet.
"Hmm?"
Eriselle immediately perked up and showed a surprised reaction.
He casually put down his wine glass and quickly walked toward Moses.
As he approached, Moses heard hurried footsteps approaching from afar. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw the approaching Eriselle.
"Mr. Moses, I didn't expect to see you here."
Eriselle looked at Moses, who was also quite surprised, with both surprise and respect.
"Eriselle."
Moses greeted him with a smile.
Eriselle took the opportunity to come to the blood-patterned long sword and whispered, "You seem quite interested in this sword?"
"Not exactly. I just think it exudes a lot of killing intent and has a strong presence."
Moses replied, shaking his head slightly.
He already had his conjured black knife and didn't see the need to carry another one unless necessary.
Eriselle nodded thoughtfully.
Not far away.
Koko, who was entertaining distinguished guests (potential buyers), also noticed Moses attending the exchange meeting.
While feeling pleasantly surprised, she was also surprised to see Eriselle acting extremely respectful in front of Moses.
Although she hadn't interacted much with Eriselle, Koko could see that Eriselle was a person with very high self-esteem.
She didn't expect that this Nen Exorcist, who exudes superiority in his bones, would actually bow down to a person.
Moreover, this person is Moses, someone Koko was particularly interested in.
'What is going on?'
Koko wondered.
Fiona, who is responsible for bodyguard duties, remained by Koko's side.
Although she saw Moses, as a bodyguard, she could not leave her employer at will, so she naturally had no way to greet Moses.
At this moment, more and more guests were arriving in the hall.
Among them, the big star Erin, who was also a distinguished guest, finally arrived.
She was wearing a burgundy gown and attracted a lot of attention as soon as she arrived.
Behind her was a handsome young man and a man in a yellow suit with a tiger tail hairstyle.
The former is Harvey, Erin's personal bodyguard, and the latter is Kanzai, who had taken on the bodyguard mission.
"Eh?"
Upon arriving in the hall, Kanzai habitually scanned the environment quickly and soon noticed Moses. He couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, seemingly didn't expect to see Moses here.
He wanted to go and greet Moses, but like Fiona, he had his duties as a bodyguard to uphold.
With the arrival of most of the guests, the exchange meeting began.
Koko had invited an elderly appraiser who will be responsible to introduce the origin of each exhibit to the guests.
The first to be introduced was a green porcelain piece with white patterns...
Moses listened absentmindedly to the appraiser's explanation.
He had no interest in porcelain antiques or the like. Instead, he hoped that the appraiser would introduce the blood-patterned long sword filled with killing intent.
Shizuku was even less interested in these antique collectibles and continued to indulge in the endless stream of food being served.
Menchi saw this scene, shook her head in resignation, then ignored Shizuku and stayed by Moses's side.
Before the exchange meeting started, Moses naturally saw Fiona and Kanzai.
However, realizing that the other party was likely on a commission, he did not go over to disturb them.
...
Snow Palace, monitoring room.
The room was dimly lit, with numerous screens displaying various surveillance areas, covering every corner of the courtyard and all areas inside the Snow Palace.
Five men in black suits sat before the screens, closely monitoring each camera feed.
Behind these five men in suits stood a middle-aged man wearing an earpiece, expressionlessly watching the monitors.
Knock, knock…
Just then, there was a knock on the monitoring room door.
The middle-aged man turned his gaze and looked at the screen showing the area outside the door.
At this moment, a man, who is also wearing a black suit, was standing outside the door of the monitoring room, raising his hand as if to knock on the door.
Seeing that the person knocking on the door was a colleague, the middle-aged man signaled his subordinates to open the door.
One of the men who received the order immediately pressed a button.
With a click, the door of the monitoring room was opened.
The man in a suit who knocked on the door earlier walked into the monitoring room and said with a smile on his face: "There are many important guests today, even the big star Erin is here."
"It's because Miss Koko attaches great importance to this shipment."
The middle-aged man wearing a headset agreed calmly, but he didn't notice that his colleague, who had just entered the monitoring room, had a small bat wing antenna stuck on the back of his neck.
The man in the suit looked at his colleagues with a smile as usual, but killing intent was quietly brewing in his right hand.