"So," Ethan said, his voice cold and steady, snapping them out of their trance. "Since the quality is verified, I believe the price just went up. What do you have that is worth a Grade 4 life, Madam?"

The old woman looked at Ethan, no longer seeing a young man, but a titan holding the power of life and death in his palm. She reached into a hidden pocket in her robes and pulled out a small, velvet pouch, her hands shaking.

"I have something," she whispered. "Something the Union has been hunting for decades."

The old woman's fingers fumbled with the drawstring of the velvet pouch. She looked at Zwager, then at Ethan, her eyes darting toward the door as if expecting the elite guards to burst in at any moment.

"I am the last of the Blackmoon lineage," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "My family were the keepers of the Great Seal of Avalon. Most believe it was destroyed during the Great Purge, but my grandfather bled to keep a fragment of it safe."

She reached into the pouch and pulled out a jagged piece of translucent white stone. It didn't glow, but the moment it was exposed to the air, the temperature in the room seemed to stabilize. The chaotic energy of the mansion, the heavy aura of the "Taboo" items outside—everything felt suddenly distant and muted.

Zwager gasped, nearly dropping his testing tools. "A Sanctuary Fragment? This... this is a Level 4 passive defensive artifact."

"It does more than defend," the woman said, looking at Ethan with pleading eyes. "If planted in the ground, it creates a 'Blind Spot' for the Union's tracking spells. It hides an entire estate from supernatural detection and provides a constant, low-level healing aura to anyone within its boundaries. It is the ultimate foundation for a stronghold."

Ethan's heart skipped a beat. This was exactly what Royal needed. He was currently building a headquarters in the middle of a city, vulnerable to the Union's eyes and any high-level mage who decided to scout them. With this fragment, his safe house would truly become a fortress that even the Union couldn't see.

[Buy it,] the System whispered in his mind, its voice unusually serious. [That fragment is worth ten of those potions. She's desperate because she's dying, but that stone is a piece of the world's original foundation.]

Ethan kept his face like stone, showing no emotion. "A fragment of a seal for a guaranteed second life. It seems like a fair trade," Ethan said, his voice smooth. "But I have one condition."

The woman gripped the stone tighter. "What condition?"

Ethan gestured to the broken man at his feet, Axhel, who was shivering on the floor. "I need information. You've been in this world longer than I have. I want to know about the 'Taboo' list of the Union. I want to know what they are truly afraid of."

The woman let out a dry, rattling laugh. "You want to know why we are all hiding in the shadows? Fine. If I live to see tomorrow, I will tell you everything I know. But give me the potion first. My heart... it won't last another hour."

Zwager stepped forward, his fingers weaving a complex pattern in the air that shimmered with a dark, violet light. "Before we finalize the transfer, I shall enact the Vow of the Silent Chamber," said the evaluator.

He pressed his glowing palm against the center of the table, sending a pulse of energy through the room that made the very air feel heavy and sealed. "With this, the details of this transaction are bound by a high-level spiritual contract. Neither I, nor either of you, shall be capable of divulging the nature of this exchange to any soul outside this room, ensuring absolute privacy and protection from the prying eyes of the Union or the House of Celestial."

With the secrecy of the deal guaranteed by a force that would tear the soul of any informant, Ethan finally placed the vial on the table and reached for the shimmering stone.

As the exchange concluded, Ethan tucked the Sanctuary Fragment into his inner pocket, feeling its stabilizing warmth against his chest. He looked at the old woman, whose breathing was becoming shallower by the second.

"If everything goes well and you recover," Ethan said, his voice regaining its calm, professional edge, "feel free to seek me out at Royal. I don't have a business card to give you—my apologies—but I expect to see you again."

The woman nodded weakly, her eyes fixed on the crimson vial as if it were a holy relic.

Ethan turned and walked toward the door, followed by Zwager. However, the old woman did not move to follow. She remained seated, her trembling fingers already unscrewing the cap of the potion. Her body was far too frail to endure the journey back to her own safe house without treatment; she needed the elixir now. In this soundproof, high-security room, with the Evaluator's seal still active, she was in the safest place on earth.

As Ethan and Zwager stepped back out into the main "Taboo" hall, the remaining bidders turned their heads in unison. Their eyes darted behind the two men, searching for the old woman, but the door clicked shut behind them, leaving her inside.

Confusion rippled through the elite guests. They had expected a negotiation, perhaps an argument, but the sight of Ethan walking out with a composed, almost bored expression unsettled them.

Zwager stepped back onto the podium, his face a mask of professional neutrality. "The guest shall remain inside for a moment," the evaluator announced, his voice booming with authority. "I personally guarantee her safety during her stay in the chamber. The exchange was successful and has been officially recorded."

He looked around the room, signaling the end of the night's proceedings. "With this final trade, the auction is officially concluded. You are all free to remain for a while to converse or network, but the business of the House for this evening is at an end."

The silence that followed was heavy with unanswered questions. The bidders looked at Ethan—the young man who had arrived as a scandal-maker and was now leaving as a shadow player capable of satisfying a Grade 4 demand. They watched him as he stood there with the former commander of the facility still at his heels, realizing that the hierarchy of the city's underworld had just been violently reshuffled.

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