Hal didn’t find it suspicious that Saeb had a token. He brought Bram, Clea, Neris, and Idris. Cail looked at the familiar faces and saw that Bram looked very healthy. *I guess that injury did nothing to him.*
Saeb didn’t say anything. Inside the car was quiet. Hal was the only one familiar with him. As for the others, they had no idea what to talk about with Saeb inside their car.
Typical airhead Neris was watching the scenery pass by with awe. Clea elbowed him. "You look like a bumpkin." *Why are his eyes shining like that?*
Neris looked at him, slight tears in his eyes. "This is freedom." Clearly, he had been very traumatized at the academy, and seeing that he could finally travel unimpeded made him emotional.
"Idiot." Clea had no idea why he was acting overly dramatic.
The two of them were whispering. The atmosphere seed to loosen after that banter. Idris and Bram also started making small talk. Then it reached a topic that made Cail interested.
"Sellene is not going?" Clea asked. It’s not that being Sellene’s acquaintance was sothing special. She was a very cheerful girl and loved making friends. She didn’t discriminate against unaffiliated void users and would help them when in need.
She was a goddess figure at school, not just to n but also to won. But lately, they rarely saw her roaming around the campus.
Neris, the gossipy one, had news. "I heard her physique relapsed again. This ti, it’s much worse. She won’t accept any treatnt her father gives her. I heard it’s because of the Tyrant’s engagent. She’d rather die than marry that man."
Hal frowned. He was quite confused about her rebelliousness. Even if they didn’t love each other, didn’t she understand that their union was a good thing when it ca to power?
Clea looked at Hal, and just by seeing his face, she knew what he was thinking. She sneered, "Oh, Hal’s future lover. You better be careful. This guy won’t hesitate to sell you out for benefits."
"It’s not that deep." Hal didn’t think that it was an issue. "We are very different from many people. We can’t be as willful as them." Trading love for power was a good deal.
"Heartless." Clea rolled her eyes.
Neris thought, *Sellene has many husband candidates, right?* Then his eyes darted to Saeb.
Saeb ignored him as he closed his eyes, leaning on the car window.
"The Tyrant... it would have been fine if, like Hal said, it was pretty similar to a business marriage, but the Tyrant didn’t seem to think so." Idris had another view. The Tyrant’s infatuation with Sellene was not a secret.
Admittedly, aside from those who worshipped him like crazy, a lot of people saw the issue in his character. Being the wife of soone like that ant you could no longer have freedom. To put it simply, he was a control freak.
"I’m confused. The chairman seems to love his only daughter. Why would he push her into the pit?" That was Bram’s question.
The conversation inside the car revolved around her. Cail, who was pretending to sleep, was listening. He wondered what the outco of this issue would be.
---
"Young miss, you need to drink your dicine," the maid said as she placed the bowl on the bedside table.
Sellene was silent as she buried herself underneath the blankets. The maid felt helpless and distressed. Their young miss was normally cheerful and jolly. Even when she was sick, she would try to cheer up the worried servants.
But this ti it seed like the engagent took a toll on her. She wouldn’t cooperate with the treatnt and would spend the entire day silently crying underneath her blankets.
The door opened. The maid looked at the man who ca inside in shock. "Chairman."
The chairman walked toward the sulking Sellene and yanked the blanket off her.
"You are no longer a child, Sellene. Stop throwing a tantrum and drink your dicine."
Sellene sat up. She didn’t look good. Although her beauty remained the sa, she looked like a cracked porcelain doll. That is not a taphor but literal.
Her face was filled with cracks. Her entire body was like that. Instead of blood oozing out, it was cold smoke, as if inside of her was filled with ice.
"Whatever you say, I’m not drinking. Just let die!" Sellene was fed up with that Tyrant. Her father couldn’t seem to understand. For others, it was just business, and their union was beneficial for the organization. But they never really thought... marrying him ant Sellene was betting with her future.
"You want to die?" The chairman frowned. "I guess I spoiled you too much. Do you have any idea how many void users are fighting for their lives just to live? They are not even as comfortable as you. You have no idea how blessed you are."
Sellene thought it was bullshit. "That’s their life and this is mine. If I want to end it, then so be it. None of them would be affected by my death! marrying the Tyrant is the sa as killing myself now. No future!" She cried, but the mont her tears touched her skin, they turned into ice.
Seeing that Sellene wouldn’t listen no matter what, the chairman compromised. "It’s not as hard as you think, Sellene. As long as you’re obedient when you marry him, you’ll live a good life under his protection. He won’t dare harm you. I’m still alive."
"I don’t want to." Sellene gave her final stand. He really didn’t understand that aside from the physical, there was also ntal anguish. Thinking about that man made her feel repulsed.
At first, she wasn’t really this negative about him. But when she saw him torturing those poor unaffiliated void users just because he felt like they were an eyesore, it made her vomit.
A man who didn’t value human life.
The chairman was her father; of course, he could read her. He directly said, "You feel like he’s an evil man? What about that guy who caused your injuries at the rift? He murdered multiple people for his goal. Why don’t you feel the sa hatred for him?"
Sellene’s eyes widened. "Because you are targeting him! He is forced."
"Lies," he said coldly. "You’re being hypocritical, my child."
Sellene went silent. The chairman sighed. "Okay. Let’s put the Tyrant aside. How about Saeb?"
Sellene paused hearing Saeb’s na. She wasn’t that resistant to him, but she didn’t like him. They were more like strangers than anything. Although he expressed his willingness to pursue her, Sellene didn’t feel that he really liked her.
More like a deal. A competitive one. Sellene didn’t feel much—maybe a slight hate. The two of them were vying for her like a trophy despite her being human.
But he seed easier to talk to than the Tyrant. Maybe cooperation was okay. Like faking a relationship. It wasn’t anything personal.
The chairman looked at her. It was unknown if he sensed what she was thinking, but he didn’t comnt. "That’s it. Choose between the two, and this matter is over. Drink your dicine. Don’t make the entire mansion worry about your well-being."
---
Finally, the group arrived at the Golden Pot. Unlike the shiny na, the Golden Pot looked ordinary. It wasn’t a building but an entire area. There were multiple stalls selling artifacts. But the catch was, you had no idea if it was fake or not.
You needed an appraisal to know if the artifact was real. Ordinary void users couldn’t afford that, but for Hal’s group, that wasn’t an issue.
"Wow, the vendors seem to be more than before?" Neris noticed that the entire street was almost filled with people.
Bram didn’t think much of it. "If that’s the case, then that ans plunderers are rampant." Most vendors here were probably plunderers, but they weren’t harmful. There were strict rules at the Golden Pot.
"Shall we look around?" Neris felt excited. Although most of what they were selling was fake, that wasn’t an issue for him. It was more like happily sifting through the artifacts, playing it similar to gambling.
Of course, only people like them would feel that way. Losing so money wasn’t painful for these rich kids. But for those ordinary void users, being scamd was as painful as being skinned alive. Because the currency here was different from the normal realm. It was more like a trade than anything.
Cail looked around. He had seen so open shops; there were guards stopping people from entering. Hal saw him staring at the shops and realized that he was new to the void world.
"Those shops are where artifact dealers reside. There is a limit as to how many people could get in." Hal calmly introduced it to him. Although Saeb ca from the normal realm, he was powerful enough to be hailed a genius.
In their world, as long as you were strong enough, they didn’t care about your origin. Much more so because a lot of forces planned to nurture Saeb into a powerful void user.
Hal continued. "But that is not the main event. The event is the auction. That is where hidden powers show themselves."
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