The time came for the auction day.

Louis donned a clown mask and arrived at the auction site.

This time, the auction was nothing short of a sea of people.

Wealthy individuals from all around the world gathered here, making the entire City of Art much livelier than usual.

Louis watched all of this with a cold eye.

Just during the carriage ride here, the spiritual power he had let out picked up quite a bit of information from the surroundings.

Most of it was about the grand occasion of today's auction.

The City of Art had already disclosed a significant number of the powerful figures participating in this auction.

Among them were quite a few top-tier wealthy individuals that even made Louis rub his temples upon hearing.

"The scale is much bigger than in the previous investigation."

Louis thought to himself.

Fortunately, he had gathered funds in advance.

Seeing this scene, Louis could basically be sure that the Am Empire had played a minor trick.

——For example, contacting large commerce associations closely working with them, hinting about "Snow Country Border".

Judging by his knowledge of those top-tier wealthy individuals, they would definitely not mind spending a bit of time to join the excitement in the City of Art.

If "Snow Country Border" truly had the value rumored, then they might really take a big gamble.

These people who live comfortably like to gamble the fate of a nation?

Such all-in gambles are commonplace among this group of merchants.

What's the saying: small bets are entertaining, big bets hurt the body?

For merchants, they are the least short of all-in gamblers.

——The premise is that the news from "Snow Country Border" is true.

So today, he came to the scene.

This auction invited quite a number of people, and there were no shortages of top industry elites, so it naturally wouldn't start directly like an ordinary auction.

The auction director in the City of Art chose a high-end banquet as the warm-up before the actual start of the auction.

Interestingly, this time the warm-up banquet was a masquerade ball.

When Louis came here disguised as Mayer, he didn't even need to do much in terms of costumes.

After all, the most well-known trait of Mr. Mayer was that clown mask.

Louis chose to arrive at the midpoint of the banquet's entry timeline.

Upon his entrance, someone instinctively directed their gaze towards Louis.

If it were a lower-tier masquerade ball, one might see a clown mask, which is relatively comical.

But this time, as the masquerade ball was of a higher tier, although these people might indulge extravagantly in private, they still pursued elegance and beauty when wearing masks.

This group that values face highly would not likely choose a clown mask.

And among those daring enough to attend the ball in such a guise...

Before Louis even stepped into the venue, someone approached him:

"Could it be Mr. Mayer?"

Louis glanced at the person and nodded:

"Lord Loda of the Adia Commerce Association?"

The person stopping Louis had long ears standing up and golden hair, along with a pair of dark green eyes.

Clearly, this was a Half-Beastman.

The number of Half-Beastman elites attending this banquet was few, and dark green eyes were extremely rare among Half-Beastmen.

In many countries where Half-Beastmen prevailed, a combination of golden hair and dark green eyes generally pointed to the same family.

The Half-Beastman family owning twelve large mines—the Loda Family.

A masquerade ball typically conceals the identities of its attendees.

With a mask on, it's hard to know who is human and who is a ghost behind it.

If Louis were only Mayer, identifying someone wouldn't have been so easy.

But Louis had a status higher than Mayer's.

Not knowing the exact guest list of the masquerade ball, does it mean not knowing the guest list of the auction?

The Ense Empire wasn't just sitting around.

The fact is... before entering, Louis had already memorized the characteristics of everyone attending the ball.

Social maneuvering relies not mainly on rhetoric, but on the superiority of intelligence.

Sure enough, upon hearing Mayer verbally reveal his identity, the Half-Beastman Loda showed a cautious yet satisfied smile:

"Indeed, Anxi Loda, at the service of the Fox of the Empire."

Muffled murmurs arose around them.

Louis smiled as he took a red wine glass from a tray extended by a servant and said:

"A toast to Lady Xilin, there's nothing more joyful than witnessing a sealed divine marvel seeing the light of day again."

Loda was taken aback for a moment:

"Rumor has it that your target at this auction is 'Snow Country Border', is that true?"

Louis chuckled softly:

"Of course, the Eldest Princess and His Highness Louis are enamored with Lady Xilin's works, and I'm here to acquire 'Snow Country Border'."

Clink.

His wine glass clinked against Anxi Loda's, as he gave a self-satisfied smile.

Anxi was utterly astounded inside.

The Anxi Loda family possesses the bloodline of a certain mythical beast, with every few generations giving birth to a descendant endowed with the gift of "insight into the human heart."

The current generation's member possessing this ability is Anxi.

This ability enabled him to stand out among his siblings, becoming the ruler of the Loda Family of his generation, despite his otherwise modest business talents.

Of course, for the mighty, insight into the human heart isn't so useful.

Take Mr. Mayer, rumored to be a Gem Dragon, for instance; he could only perceive subtle emotions.

The power to see into hearts could tell that Mr. Mayer was speaking the truth.

This made Anxi feel incredulous.

Sure enough, after Louis uttered those words, many in the masquerade ball turned their gazes sharply.

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