Just as the group was at their wits' end, Sui Yun happened to push the door open and bring them a piece of good news.
“Oh~ Little brother, you’re back! Just in time to look at the news I just got.” As Sui Yun spoke, he tossed a stack of documents onto the table in front of them.
Starlight and the others quickly looked over and found that the top page of the documents was an invitation, signed by the House of Red.
“Look, this is an auction invitation sent out by the House of Red a while ago, dated about a month back. Our War God Merchant Group was naturally one of the invited parties, but I’ve been busy with other things and hadn’t had the chance to study it carefully until now.”
Sui Yun didn’t put on any airs. He casually pulled over a chair, sat down at the table, and tapped his finger on the ornate, bright red invitation as he continued:
“Originally, I didn’t plan on going myself. Although the House of Red holds one or two auctions every year dubbed with titles like ‘the biggest,’ ‘the most luxurious,’ or ‘the most influential,’ the items they actually auction are usually more of the same~”
“However, when I combined the timing of this invitation with the information you provided earlier, I figured some special items might appear in this auction. So, I went to look into it more deeply this afternoon, and it was exactly as I expected!”
As Sui Yun explained, he spread out the materials beneath the invitation one by one. Pointing to one of the entries, he said, “For example, this one. Although the auction records list it as a batch of jewelry from some ancient ruins, from the illustration, the piece itself has a very strong Dragon Race style.”
“Also, this one is an amendment sent over by Crimson Smoke a few days ago, stating that they’ve reset the grand finale auction item. Generally speaking, a reputable auction won't change its finale item like this unless there was a last-minute problem or some extraordinary treasure appeared!”
Looking at the date marked on the paper, Starlight and the others exchanged glances. All four of them realized that this date seemed to be the exact day they had encountered Little Goldie.
“Could Little Goldie’s necklace really be a stolen treasure of the Dragon Race?”
This thought quickly surfaced in their minds, but they all tacitly refrained from saying it out loud, continuing to listen to Sui Yun’s explanation instead.
“Additionally, I used some connections to investigate the House of Red’s affairs. They have indeed been purchasing a large number of magic crystal cannons under various pretexts recently. The known quantity alone is over a hundred...”
“How many? Over a hundred?” Po Kong cried out in surprise.
Although these were only small-scale magic crystal cannons, their power was obvious to all.
Under normal circumstances, that quantity was enough to arm an army of several thousand. Even in the independent formations of many city-state defense forces, one wouldn't necessarily find that many magic crystal cannons at once.
“Yes, so for a moment, I couldn’t figure out what the House of Red is planning. If they were just sneakily getting ten or twenty to bolster their defenses, I could understand. But this number is just wrong, and that’s only the known amount.”
Sui Yun frowned and tapped the documents before him, speaking slowly.
“What are those guys up to? They don’t actually plan on starting a war, do they...” Hearing his brother’s words, Po Kong also began to mutter in a low voice.
While Starlight and the others were lost in thought, Xia Duo also recounted to Sui Yun what they had discovered that afternoon—the scent of a fellow elf near the Crimson Smoke Merchant Group.
“Then that really isn’t good news! I find it hard to imagine that the xenophobic Crimson City-State would have so many of the outsiders they hate most. Heh... if a few beastkin were to sneak in too, it would be quite a show!” Sui Yun let out a cold laugh and shook his head slightly.
After analyzing all the intelligence they had gathered, Sui Yun stood up. He glanced at the sky outside the window and said to Po Kong, “In any case, I’ll continue the necessary information gathering. I have an appointment tonight, so I won’t be joining you for dinner~ Little brother, as the host, you take over and look after our guests for me!”
Having said his piece, Sui Yun was about to turn and leave when Po Kong called out to stop him.
“Big brother, I’m curious. Can you tell us where exactly you got all that intelligence?”
Sui Yun’s figure paused slightly. He arched an eyebrow and replied, “What? Are you questioning the authenticity of my intel? Don’t worry, this information is definitely the real deal! You only need to know that I have my own special channels.”
“I’m not questioning it, but based on my conversation with Sima earlier, it seems the House of Red doesn’t think much of our House of Mars. How could you get insider information so easily?”
Starlight looked at Po Kong, only to find that he had a slight smirk on his face as he asked the question.
“Ahem! Why else would I call it a special channel? Alright, I have to go, or I’ll be late.” Sui Yun cleared his throat, seemingly unwilling to say more on the matter.
“Alright, alright~ I get it. I won’t tell everyone that my dear big brother is heading to the House of Pride for a banquet. Also, say hi to Sister Bella for me!” Po Kong laughed and shouted at Sui Yun’s retreating back.
Sui Yun’s figure, just reaching the doorway, visibly stiffened. He didn’t answer, but simply slammed the door shut with a bang and walked away quickly.
“What’s going on with Big Brother Sui Yun? Po Kong, what did you mean by that?” Starlight looked at the strange exchange between the two brothers with a face full of confusion and asked curiously.
“Isn’t it simple? If you think about it for a second, the ‘reliable channel’ Big Brother mentioned is definitely Sister Bella~” Po Kong explained with a nonchalant smile.
“Even though the actual controller of the Crimson Smoke Merchant Group is the House of Red, there are still many other shareholders, and the House of Pride is one of them. As one of the top experts here in the Crimson City-State, Sister Bella naturally has high-level authority~ Getting a copy of the auction materials shouldn’t be hard for her!”
Starlight realized the truth, but just as he was about to say something, he heard a cold snort from Xia Duo sitting opposite him.
“You certainly seem to know her well! Calling her ‘Sister’ this and that~ Aren’t you worried about your fiancée running off with your big brother?”
Hearing this question, which was clearly laced with jealousy, Po Kong thought to himself that things were going south. He quickly changed his expression and said seriously, “Hey~ Little Shadow, don’t talk nonsense! I only have respect for Isabella! Think about it, she’s so much older than me, and she’s Big Brother’s childhood friend. How could I possibly...”
“Oh? So you mean you think I’m old!?” Unexpectedly, Xia Duo interrupted Po Kong again. “Tsk tsk, the books were right! A man’s mouth is a lying ghost!”
With that, Xia Duo didn’t give Po Kong any chance to argue. She let out a cold snort and left the drawing room.
Now it was Po Kong’s turn to be speechless. By the time he reacted, Xia Duo was already long gone.
“Little Shadow! Sigh~ what is going on today!?” Po Kong let out a helpless sigh, but he had no choice but to bite the bullet and chase after her. Before leaving, he tossed back a sentence.
“Little Star, Little Crescent, I’m going after her! You two handle dinner yourselves!”
“Eh? Moen... is your sister angry? Should we go after them too?” Starlight pointed at the door and asked hesitantly.
“It’s fine, just let Po Kong go alone! Sister just needs to vent a little.” Moen shook her head and continued flipping through the documents left on the table. “Besides, if Sister really wanted to lose us, we wouldn’t be able to catch up anyway!”
“Alright then~”
Starlight shrugged helplessly. He had no idea how to handle such situations, so he could only let Po Kong play it by ear.
In the end, they waited until midnight before they saw Po Kong and Xia Duo return to the manor.
After seeing that the two of them had returned to normal, Starlight finally felt relieved enough to return to his room.
Rate on N.U.
