"No doubt about it, I couldn't even stop a single spiritual energy card."

"I should be able to block one mid-tier card."

"Impressive, no wonder you're a big shot."

【Nighttime Activity Start】

【Tonight's Activity: Personal Special Random Event Activity】

【Join?】

"Join."

【09:59】

"Great, it's a trash-picking event!"

"I'm a Station Mission, the system's events are all different now."

"The system must be assigning activities based on survivors' strength."

"Sigh, I'm just another personal random."

"Is this the treatment big shots get?"

……

Lin Ye closed the group chat and the Music Box, organized his gear, and sat on the bed waiting for the Nighttime Activity to begin.

【00:01】

【00:00】

…………………………………

【Drawing personal special random event...】

【Personal special random event drawn: Auction】

【Identity card detected—blank, import random identity?】

"Yes."

【Random identity obtained: Merchant】

【Identity skill acquired: Trade】

【Trade】

【Whenever you complete a transaction with someone, you gain a certain amount of trade points】

【Note: The essence of trade is assuming risk】

Lin Ye opened his eyes. He was in a luxury guest room of a hotel; his body was his original body, and his belongings on him could be used freely.

The hotel faced the street; outside the window was a bustling avenue with all kinds of vehicles, and shops of various functions lined both sides of the road.

Lin Ye swept the whole room with mental energy and discovered that the hotel's walls could block a certain intensity of mental energy. On the tea table lay an invitation to the auction.

'So this task is either to help the system purchase some item at auction, or simply to have me attend this auction.'

Lin Ye wasn't sure of the system's purpose. If the system wanted him to buy a specific item, that item would likely be obvious. If the system only wanted him to attend, then something would definitely happen at the auction.

'Whatever, no need to overthink it. One look will tell me.'

Lin Ye picked up the invitation and left the hotel room. The room fee had already been paid at check-in.

This area seemed to be the city's central district, and the auction house was at the end of this street.

There was still an hour before the auction began. Lin Ye didn't enter the auction house directly; he wandered through the shops on the street.

First, Lin Ye acquired some of the plane's currency by selling spiritual energy items. Then he used that currency to buy some materials, fused those materials into spiritual energy cards, and finally sold the cards in a shop.

Time was limited, so he couldn't find the cheapest materials this time, but he still made a large sum of local currency.

With the money sorted, Lin Ye arrived at the entrance of the auction house and handed the invitation to the staff nearby.

"Please follow me."

The staff member set down their work and led Lin Ye to a VIP room on the third floor. The VIP room was about one hundred square meters and decorated extremely luxuriously.

"If you need anything, you can call the service staff outside the door. I won't disturb you further."

The staff bowed respectfully, left the room, and closed the door.

'Looks like this random identity isn't simple.'

Lin Ye suspected it was related to the system; otherwise, with his luck, he wouldn't randomly get such an identity.

After all, he had just used the Lucky Coin.

A large one-way viewing window covered a wall of the VIP room, allowing guests to observe the auction hall.

At this moment the hall was already filled with guests; the auction was about to begin.

Knock knock.

Someone knocked on the VIP room door. The auction house's isolation against mental energy was even more thorough, so Lin Ye could only sense a vague silhouette outside the door.

"Come in."

Lin Ye thought a high-end auction house wouldn't disturb VIP guests at this moment, but he still let the person enter.

"Sorry to bother you, honored guest. These are snacks and drinks prepared for you."

An attendant pushed a handcart into the VIP room. He discreetly sized up Lin Ye's attire and placed the food and beverages on the tea table.

"I don't drink alcohol. Could you bring me some soft drinks?"

Lin Ye watched the guests outside through the window. They seemed to have completely failed to notice the attendant approaching him.

"Alright, I'll go get some now!"

The attendant suddenly grabbed for Lin Ye's head. Lin Ye sat as if he hadn't noticed, but the attendant realized his right hand was a short distance away from Lin Ye's head.

And that distance kept increasing. Lin Ye's figure grew enormously tall in the attendant's eyes.

Not only Lin Ye — the whole VIP room seemed to expand in the attendant's perception.

"You have ten seconds to defend yourself. If you can convince me, maybe I'll spare you."

A victim puppet crawled to Lin Ye's side and jumped onto the sofa next to him.

"What did you do to me?! I'm just an ordinary attendant. If you lay a hand on me, the auction house won't let you off!"

The attendant shouted loudly.

"Do you know? Sound is a wave. So if you stop that wave from spreading outward, you can maintain a completely silent state. This was taught to me by an ambush master... Ten seconds are up. You wasted your only chance to survive."

Lin Ye paid no attention to the attendant turned into a puppet; he kept observing the guests outside the window. From them, Lin Ye could analyze a lot of useful information.

"Don't kill me! I'm an assassin! I was sent to deal with VIP hall guests! I don't know who issued the order, but I can give you my handler's contact!"

The attendant truly panicked now. He could see no emotional fluctuation from Lin Ye, and coupled with the earlier sound-nullifying trick, he suspected Lin Ye might be one of his own kind — or worse.

"An assassin? Then that's no problem."

Lin Ye reached toward the puppet attendant pierced by a spiritual energy blade. He hadn't known what exactly the so-called victim meant before, so he wanted to test this ritual object's effect.

A victim state is one where the aggressor may dispose of the body at will. In this state, Lin Ye could perform some simple but precise operations on the other's body.

"Mutation organ is mediocre, and professional knowledge is poor. Is that how you work as an assassin? No wonder you died here."

Lin Ye removed a still-beating heart and a brain mass riddled with grooves from the puppet. These were the only two things on the assassin that still held any real value.

After removing these two items, the assassin did not immediately die. He just stared around in a daze, seemingly losing his capacity to think.