Chapter 961: Shouldn’t Have Been There
After grabbing what he needed from the Guild Vault, Ethan sent everything directly to his avatar and closed the interface with a satisfied breath. With that handled, he turned and made his way back toward the auction house. He had already transferred one point five million gold to the Mad Engineer earlier, yet his inventory still felt heavy with wealth. It was time to sweep through the market properly.
With this much gold on hand, buying out half the listings would not even be difficult. The auction house had been running for over a year and a half now, and just imagining the accumulated transaction fees made him curious. He had not bothered checking before, but earlier he had reviewed the shop’s financial records.
The numbers were impressive.
Current fixed capital sat at one point two three million gold, pure profit after accounting for daily cash flow and operational expenses. Combined with the one point five million he had already handed over to the Mad Engineer, the total came to two point seven three million gold in assets. Even by high level player standards, that was an enormous amount of money.
Ethan estimated that if the Mad Engineer truly went all out acquiring materials, that fund alone should be enough to produce several pieces of Artifact tier equipment. The thought alone made him eager to see what would come out of it.
Once again he streaked through the city streets, cloak fluttering behind him, though this time his destination was not Harmony City. His fortress already possessed its own auction house. Fortress auction houses operated outside the main system’s regulation, but construction required approval from the Renegade Alliance, meaning very few players ever gained access to one.
In Aethelgard, however, the auction house belonged entirely to his All-You-Need chain.
When Ethan arrived at the fortress center, the scene reminded him strongly of Harmony City. Players crowded every street, voices overlapping in constant motion and trade. The difference was immediately obvious though. Nearly everyone here wore dazzling high end equipment, glowing effects layered over armor that screamed wealth and power.
He did not linger to admire it. Ethan walked straight into the auction house and headed for the upper floors.
Fortress auction houses differed slightly from the standard system versions. The first floor functioned as a listing market where players placed items up for sale at fixed prices. The second floor housed the real attraction, a live auction hall complete with professional auctioneer and seating tiers for bidders. Players with rare treasures preferred live auctions because competitive bidding could push prices far beyond market value.
The system auction house mostly relied on preset prices and instant purchases. The auction hall thrived on impulse, rivalry, and the occasional wealthy fool willing to overspend.
As Ethan stepped onto the second floor, an auction was already underway. The auctioneer stood confidently on stage, and on his chest shone the familiar All-You-Need insignia.
Ethan smiled faintly. The Mad Engineer really had done excellent work. The auction business was already operating smoothly.
Satisfied, he continued upstairs to the third floor and entered the VIP area. The atmosphere here was quiet and refined, insulated from the noise below. He found an empty private room, opened the door, and stepped inside without hesitation. As the owner, the auction house’s restrictions meant little to him anyway.
He had barely settled onto the couch when footsteps and voices approached from outside.
Before he could react, a card reader chimed.
[Ding... Identification successful. Diamond VIP private room access granted.]
The door slid open automatically.
Ethan froze, and the two men standing outside froze as well. For a brief second they simply stared at each other.
"Well," Ethan muttered, standing up awkwardly, "what are the odds. Random room, already booked."
He raised a hand apologetically. "Sorry. Wrong room."
Customer came first, owner or not. He turned to leave without argument. He had only taken one step when one of the men spoke, his tone icy.
"Wrong room? I thought the All-You-Need Auction House had standards. Making mistakes like this, do you want the business to shut down?"
The other man beside him smiled warmly, almost pleasantly, yet his words carried even sharper contempt.
"Relax, Trent. Let the manager deal with it. No need for us to lower ourselves by arguing with nobodies."
The insult landed casually, delivered with a gentle smile that somehow made it worse.
Ethan stopped mid-step.
He exhaled slowly and curled his lip in mild amusement. "Unbelievable. Can’t go anywhere without running into arrogant posers."
At first he had actually felt a little guilty for occupying someone else’s room. That feeling vanished instantly. People like this deserved a reality check.
They clearly had some status in real life, the kind of wealth or influence that encouraged inflated egos. Yet truly powerful people rarely behaved like spoiled tyrants. These two from their demeanor felt more like some rich kids riding on someone else’s success .
"Poser?" the smiling man repeated, his expression tightening. "What’s that supposed to mean?"
He might not know the slang, but he understood it was not praise. The warmth vanished from his face, replaced by a colder, darker look.
Ethan smiled easily. "Means I’m complimenting you. You switch expressions faster than someone changing moods. Thought you might appreciate it."
The man’s composure shattered. Anger flashed across his features before he forced it back down, though the venom in his eyes only deepened.
"You’re asking for trouble."
"Smiling tiger," Ethan said calmly, studying him. "All teeth hidden behind manners. Who do you think you’re fooling?"
He noticed something strange about himself then. His mind felt unusually clear, almost tranquil. Insulting people did not raise his blood pressure the way it used to. Before, he would have skipped the words and gone straight to violence. Looking back, that had been immature, almost crude.
Now he found himself enjoying the verbal sparring. A few calm sentences were enough to push people off balance.
"Pierce..." the other man muttered, surprised by his companion’s visible anger. Apparently even he had not seen this side before.
"Sir Pierce? Sir Trent? What’s happening here?"
A soft female voice interrupted from the hallway as someone squeezed past them into view.
The newcomer was a woman in her thirties dressed in elaborate cosmetic gear that sparkled with premium Ethereal fashion effects. Every piece she wore screamed expense. Above her head floated an unmistakable title:
[All-You-Need Auction House · Aethelgard Branch · Manager]
Below it was her character name.
[Featherfall Angel]
Ethan immediately understood who she was.
"You’re the manager?" Trent asked.
Ethan chuckled before she could answer. "Her title’s floating right above her head. What do you think?"
Featherfall Angel paused, words dying in her throat. A faint frown appeared as she looked toward Ethan. Disgust flickered across her eyes before she quickly suppressed it.
Still, the fact that Ethan had reached the third floor meant he was not an ordinary player. Access required at least Diamond VIP status, which meant spending over ten thousand gold at this auction house alone. Anyone capable of that had significant resources outside the game as well.
Before arriving, she had already received notice of a dispute involving this VIP room. Records showed it had indeed been reserved by Trent. Yet Ethan’s entry left no access log whatsoever, something that should have been impossible.
She assumed the previous shift manager had made a mistake, or worse, deliberately set her up. The two of them competed fiercely over performance metrics, and this incident conveniently landed during her shift.
In her mind, Ethan was likely planted here to cause trouble.
So she chose her priorities carefully.
"Sir Trent," she said smoothly, bowing her head slightly, "my apologies. This appears to be an oversight on our end. As compensation, we currently have a Black Card VIP room available. Would you be willing to use that room today as a gesture of goodwill?"
A Black Card VIP room stood an entire tier above Diamond status. She understood exactly how to calm wealthy customers: offer upgrades first, resolve complaints later. Ethan, whom she considered the troublemaker, could be handled afterward.
Privately, she was already planning further moves. If Ethan had accepted payment from her rival manager, then he could just as easily accept a better offer from her. Turn him into a witness, reverse the accusation, remove her competitor from the Aethelgard branch entirely, and install her own loyal subordinate. Control of the auction house would then fall completely into her hands.
The two young men visibly relaxed.
Black Card privileges included a thirty five percent transaction fee discount, compared to Diamond’s twelve percent. Since they intended to bid on an expensive item, the savings alone were significant.
They exchanged glances, silently agreeing. Their eyes drifted back to Ethan as they memorized his face. After leaving the auction house, they fully intended to deal with him personally and send him back to the starter zone.
They were just about to accept the offer when Ethan spoke again.
"Oh?" he said quietly. His voice had changed, with all humor gone.
"So that’s how you solve problems here?"
