A Duel

The young man continued, “Funny thing is, the woman he searched high and low for—what was her name again? Oh, right, Orion, the top surgeon—seems to have changed tactics lately. He’s still sending people to look for her, but...”

The masked figure interrupted, “The search effort is definitely less intense. There are only two possibilities.”

The young man smiled. “What possibilities?”

The masked person said, “First, he found Orion. Second, he found someone who can replace Orion, so there’s no need for a big search anymore.”

The young man snapped his fingers, expression unchanged. “It’s strange, too. The Vexley family’s second young master has been active and lively for a while now. Rumor has it he even ran a few races these days. So the old rumor was just that—a rumor. His legs weren’t crippled after all. Then...”

His tone and expression suddenly shifted. “Why is Leif so determined to find Orion? Don’t you find that interesting?”

Leif had appeared on camera looking perfectly healthy. Since the story about his legs being disabled was a misunderstanding, why the hell was he so desperate to find Orion?

The masked person was silent for a moment, then said, “Maybe he has some other motive?”

The young man raised an eyebrow, poured himself another glass of wine, and took a light sip. “Maybe. Who knows? Heh heh.”

Then, in a completely casual manner, he propped one leg up onto the masked figure’s chair.

The masked figure shot him a glance, clearly displeased by his lack of manners, and said in a calm voice, “Callum, put your leg down.”

Callum grinned and withdrew his leg, snorting, “You’ve been like this since you were a kid—always so stiff and proper. Nobody likes that. No girl will ever like you. You’re destined to be single for life.”

The masked figure didn’t reply, clearly wanting to ignore him.

Callum, clearly not expecting a response, drank his wine contentedly while listening to the bidding amounts downstairs, expression unreadable.

Meanwhile, the bids had already surpassed 200 million.

Suddenly, from below, a calm voice announced, “Third floor, Room 2, raise to... 500 million!”

The scene fell silent for a moment, then everyone instinctively looked up toward the private room on the left side of the third floor.

“What the hell… is he really out of his mind?!”

“Bidding on his own item? I just don’t get this flashy move…”

“This young master must really be crazy…”

“Must be nice to be rich…”

On the third floor, the private room in the center.

The moment Raina heard that Rocky raised the bid, she immediately wanted to rush next door and beat him up again like she did back then.

But Leif remained calm and unbothered, saying, “Don’t get impatient, be careful with your hand. You just got some medicine, don’t move it around.”

Raina barely paid attention to the slight burn, clenching her fist and lamenting, “The Eclipse Vine was originally his family’s own. If he raises the price so high, how can anyone else bid? Listen! Now no one downstairs dares to bid.”

However, as if to slap her in the face, someone downstairs chuckled and said, “Room 18 on the second floor, bid — 600 million.”

Raina: “…”

But room 18 on the second floor—the very last room—who on earth was sitting there to boldly bid a whole 600 million?

At that moment, Leif quietly said, “Good.”

Raina’s mouth twitched. Why does Leif say words she recognizes but not understand at all?

Good?

The bidding is skyrocketing—what’s so good about that?!

After Leif finished speaking, he suddenly pressed a red button on the table. Raina barely had time to stop him, shouting loudly, “What are you doing? You can’t just press that button!”

Every private room had a red button on the table—but it was not to be pressed casually. Pressing this red button was equivalent to lighting the “Skyward Flame” at the auction.

The so-called Skyward Flame meant one step to the top. In simple terms, whoever lit this flame was immediately bidding a sky-high price and was determined to win the auctioned item. No matter how much others bid, he would match or exceed it.

So far, only three people in the entire auction history had lit an Skyward Flame.

Sure enough, as soon as Leif pressed the button, the whole venue erupted.

“Holy shit, did I see that right?! That’s an Skyward Flame! Someone lit the Skyward Flame!”

“It’s the middle room on the third floor—this is crazy!”

“Wait... wait! The second one—you guys see that?! Someone lit a second Skyward Flame!! Holy crap!”

“It’s really the second one! Look! It’s rising, it’s rising!”

“No way? Am I seeing things? Room 18 on the second floor lit an Skyward Flame?! Madness!”

Above the auction hall, two bright red Skyward Flames rose steadily into the air.

On the massive screen at the front of the auction platform, the display showed which two private rooms had ignited the Skyward Flames. The one on the third floor came as no surprise—but the one from the second floor left many stunned.

“Is this a duel?” someone shouted excitedly.

Only a few people had ever lit an Skyward Flame at this auction, but this was the first time two people had lit two lanterns simultaneously—meaning both were dead set on winning the Eclipse Vine.

Once the Skyward Flame is lit, no one else can bid except those two. They bid against each other, and though the highest bidder wins, each raise must be at least 100 million with no upper limit. This is called a “lantern duel.”

Briar hadn’t expected two people to light lanterns tonight either. Hearing the news, he immediately rushed over, waved to signal the auctioneer to step down, and said he’d handle the rest.

Just as Briar stepped up, a cheerful voice came from room 18 on the second floor: “Room 18 bids—800 million.”

“What?!”

“Who the hell is this room 18 person? So fierce!”

“I think this is just the beginning. The one on the third floor only lit the lantern but hasn’t bid yet!”

Everyone was buzzing, waiting for the third floor to raise the bid.

Then, a pleasant female voice slowly came from the third floor. “Room 1 on the top floor bids... 1 billion!”

As soon as the words fell, the scene fell into a grave-like, eerie silence.

For a moment, no one knew whether to be more shocked that the opening bid was one billion or that it was a woman speaking from the third floor.

“How... how can it be a woman’s voice? Could it be that the person on the third floor isn’t who we thought?!”

“1 billion right off the bat! Damn, I really am poor!!”

“Not Mr. Vexley?! Then who on the third floor is it?”

“I wonder what kind of beauty she is…”

***