The Mech Touch

5800 The Flooded Theater

The grand auction organized by Estaban Leeds on Ector V received much more attention than anyone originally thought!

Due to the participation of the mech designer who had detonated human civilization in the Red Ocean only a few days ago, countless players wanted to get into contact with him through any means!

Unfortunately, many of their attempts became stymied due to the restrictive entry requirements imposed by Estaban Leeds for its highest class of auctions.

The company endured an enormous amount of pressure to ease up on the most stringent condition for participation.

For as long as the prestigious company organized its most prestigious grand auctions, it had always insisted on live participation.

Combined with the fact that only tier 6 galactic citizens and higher could get in, this had turned its grand auctions into highly exclusive gatherings where only the most powerful regional players got together in order to exchange their goods and services with each other!

The grand auctions did not only serve as a place for these wealthy magnates and powerful politicians to earn big scores or acquire valuable treasures.

It gave regional players an excuse to converge in a single physical location and expand their networks. Friends and allies deepened their ties with each other while relative strangers explored new business opportunities.

In short, the exclusive venue provided an intimate stage for different groups to forge deals with each other that was far superior to any remote communication method.

The high entry requirements did not seem to deter participation. It instead became a powerful draw as every regular participant knew that those bothered to come were both worthwhile to talk to and anchored to the regional economy.

Estaban Leeds therefore functioned far more than a mere auction house. It served as one of the economic lubricants that performed a vital role in accelerating the development of the prosperous Zelmar Upper Zone.

However, recent events had completely changed the character of the grand auction. Many of the regional players who used to receive the highest treatment had been relegated side characters!

In the past two days, over 360 participants signed up for the grand auction on short notice!

What was remarkable was that the vast majority of them were way more important than mere tier 6 galactic citizens.

Many tier 4, tier 3 and even tier 2 galactic citizens had signed up right away. After that, they hopped onto their fastest superdrive-equipped starships and urged their blazingly fast vessel to travel to the Ector System as quickly as possible!

It helped a lot that the Ector System was a port system, but even then a lot of Terrans and Rubarthans lamented the distance from their own territories.

If Estaban Leeds wanted to give all of these other high-tiered galactic citizens a chance to attend the auction of their lifetimes, the company could have delayed the big event by a week.

The number of attendees could easily become an order of magnitude greater than the current prognosis!

Ultimately, the company resisted the temptation to do so. The company had operated since the Age of Conquest, so its management was anything but short-sighted. People trusted the auction house because it had built up an unflinching reputation for being fair, honest, transparent and reliable.

Its determination to hold the grand auction on the scheduled date was admirable, but it certainly hadn't been easy given that it had made a lot of powerful groups angry.

When Ves got ready to attend the much-hyped grand auction, he became somewhat amazed at how extensively his involvement had warped the entire event.

"I have enough stuff on my plate at the moment." He said as a bot neatly adjusted his bow tie. "I know that a lot of power players have come to talk to me, but I am not in the mood to wine and dine with them at the moment."

"You will disappoint many potential business partners, sir." Kelsey Ampatoch said as he filled in for the role as his personal assistant at this time. "Back in Rubarthan space, there are many mech designers who would kill to be in your position. Whether it is your ability to design unique living mechs, or your outsized voice in the Interim Leadership Council, there is great demand for your attention. You do not need to meet with too many people. You can allow us to select a handful of VIPs and meet with them in private to hear their offers. This may be a good opportunity for you to acquire territories, first-class planets, rare resources and sizable ownership stakes in major companies."

The mention of all of these potential gains briefly aroused Ves' greed, but he quickly controlled himself.

While he and his clan could definitely use the help, Ves was still cognizant that his overall strength and means were still too limited.

So much had happened already that changed his reality. Ves felt the need to restrain himself before he lost all perspective.

"I am fine with our current trajectory." He said as he continued to admire the mirror projection's custom tuxedo-

clad form. "If people truly want to cooperate with me, then they can bid on the shares that I am putting up for auction. I think that making myself scarce will increase the demand for my company's shares. After all, I can't ignore the demands of shareholders."

"That may work. It will limit the amount of partners you cooperate with, but the relationships will become more enduring." Kelsey concluded.

"Besides, I can always hold my services in reserve in case I want to bid on something really special. I have heard that all kinds of remarkable stuff show up in these grand auctions."

Ves looked forward to that. One of the benefits of all of the increased attention was that many of the participants consigned a lot of valuables to Estaban Leeds.

Naturally, the auction house maintained strict standards on what kind of goods they added to the list. None of the high-

tier galactic citizens wanted to waste their time on ordinary commodities.

"Meow meow!"

A dark archemetal cat floated up to Ves and made his demands clear. The gem cat looked especially cute after a bot had tied a miniature bow tie to his collar.

"I know, Lucky. I will keep an eye for interesting exotics for you. Just make sure you don't use up all of it to strengthen your body. Leave some for your primary function."

"Meow."

After Ves became satisfied with his appearance, Ves and the rest of his immediate circle got teleported to one of the VIP teleportation chambers of the auction house.

Just like all of the other structures in the aquatic-themed city of Charvey, the auction venue had been decorated in an interesting manner.

Estaban Leeds had turned the entire auction house into an ancient theater that had been flooded with water. Everything was submerged with water, causing the environment to look more enchanting.

Plenty of alien aquatic life forms filled up the halls and corridors. Glowing purple weeds, strange six-eyed fish and transparent invertebrates leisurely floated in the water or rooted themselves into tastefully looking cracks.

Everyone who entered the Flooded Theater wore the same special energy shields that kept the water at bay, allowing their bodies and their clothes to remain dry.

Even Lucky wore a miniature version of the same device. Ves was pretty sure that his gem cat could swim through water without any problems, but it was best not to test his patience.

"Meow…"

Lucky certainly did not look comfortable in this environment. He flew closer to Ves and perched on his shoulder as if he was afraid his miniature water repelling shield could fail at any second.

"Okay, so what now?"

"There is still plenty of time before the grand auction begins." Kelsey Ampatoch said. "It is advisable for you to speak with the manager of the auction house. If you do not want to speak with anyone else, I can lead you straight to the upper hall where the big event is scheduled to take place. It is divided into a common seating space and private boxes."

"I take it that we have already reserved one of those private boxes, right?"

"Yes, but it usually isn't necessary. You see, the exclusive clientele that attends these grand auctions usually like it when they can sit in the same space. Many attendees actually prefer to sit in the large common space where they can easily approach and chat with other peers."

That actually sounded nice, but Ves had become so high-

profile that he would definitely become the center of attention if he appeared in a crowd.

"Can I gain a preview of the listings if I speak to the manager?"

"No. That is expressly forbidden by the rules set by Estaban Leeds. Either everyone or no one gets access to this information. Since surprise is part of what makes these exclusive auctions more dynamic and exciting, the auction house does not have a habit of sharing this information in advance."

"I see. That's fair. I guess I will just have to wait for the grand auction to get going. Let's move."

Ves, Lucky and Kelsey moved straight to their private box and settled in for a comfortable wait.

In the meantime, more and more distinguished guests arrived and met each other in the reception hall and other spaces.

The absence of Ves in these public gatherings did not dampen the excitement among the participants.

Not only did they talk about routine business affairs, they also showed a lot of enthusiasm as they exchanged their opinions on explosive subjects such as cultivation, the Red Collective and what it all meant to their respective states or organizations.

Nobody remained unaffected by the changes sparked by the historic public inquiry!

Many people stood to suffer a lot of losses, but there were others who saw brand new opportunities advance their interests.

None of these powerful people wanted to remain stagnant and fall behind the latest development. Regardless of whether they supported or opposed the recent changes, they all sought to capitalize on the latest trend if only to ensure they kept up with their rivals.

This was why even the likes of Lieutenant-Commander Astrid Jameson attended in order to represent the interests of the Fifth Enforcement Fleet.

Of course, her galactic citizen tier was not high, but she came in the company of a more senior RF officer.

The same applied to Jovy Armalon and Vector Loban. They arrived with their respective buddies from the same faction and eagerly helped to identify new opportunities for cooperation.

The eagerness to forge new partnerships was a clear indication that the latest turning point had shook a lot of parties.

It became impossible to maintain the old status quo because Ves single-handedly shook the very foundation of human society and the Red Two!

Cultivation should have been an open secret for at least a few more years. That would have given all of the major players a comfortable head-start.

Since Ves had spoiled their plans, they all scrambled to adapt in order to strengthen their positions in more immediate ways!

Ves smirked when he thought about what he had done. Those elites sought to deprive the common folk of essential benefits in order to satisfy their selfish interests. They had what was coming to them as far as he was concerned.

Only by serving the common folk would humanity be able to realize its greater potential.

Many powerful folk rightfully feared that giving ordinary people access to cultivation would lead to a lot of instability, but that was precisely why the Red Collective became necessary.

Time slowly passed by. Ves spent much of his time petting Lucky while allocating much of his attention to catching up on his advanced studies in his mind.

Soon, hundreds of high-tier galactic citizens and many more followers steadily began to fill up the upper hall.

The lighting of the cozy venue gradually began to dim. The only sources of light came from the fluorescent fish and aquatic plants that occupied the submerged space. Their inconsistency added a lot of novelty and created a special atmosphere in the upper hall.

Jovy and Vector both entered Ves' private booth after a while. Their energetic expressions showed that they had likely participated in a few successful ventures.

Before the two mechers could share their experiences, the highly anticipated event commenced.

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