GLOBAL AWAKENING: My 10,000x Exp Multiplier-Chapter 62: []The Twin Coin, The Phantom Thief
The Golden Scale Auction House had been fully restored to its former and opulent glory.
Operating entirely within the pristine and climate-controlled safety of the hexagonal dome of the White City, the establishment had become the undisputed economic epicenter of the surviving world.
The heavy mahogany doors were guarded by elite mercenaries, and the interior smelled of expensive incense and polished quartz.
Vahn Ryker did not wait in the crowded and chaotic lobby. Accompanied by his Vanguard and his Priestess, he was escorted directly to a heavily warded VIP booth suspended above the primary auction floor.
Below them, the grand hall was packed with the desperate remnants of the corporate elites.
Men and women who had once ruled Sovereign City now sat in tense and nervous clusters. They had lost their levels, their armies, and their physical headquarters to the Convergence.
Now, they were trying to buy back their power using the only currency they had left. Hoarded artifacts and hidden real-world wealth!
"They look like cornered rats." Sia Vance observed.
She was standing rigidly by the reinforced glass window of the booth. Her massive obsidian kite shield was strapped securely to her arm.
She glared down at the Syndicate representatives seated in the front row. "Commander, tactical assessment indicates severe desperation. Their posture is rigid. They are heavily armed, despite the safe-zone regulations."
"Desperation breeds inefficiency, Sia." Vahn replied casually.
He was sitting on a plush velvet sofa with his long legs crossed. He was entirely unbothered by the tension radiating from the floor below.
"They are here for one item. They believe acquiring it will turn the tide of their failing empire. We are simply here to make sure they leave with nothing."
Aria sat beside him. Her Crimson-Lotus Vestments shimmered beautifully in the dim light of the booth.
She was nervously fidgeting with the polished wood of her staff. Her emerald eyes darted between Vahn and the stage. The sweet scent of cherry blossoms radiated from her, which was a physiological response to her elevated stress levels.
"Vahn, the Twin Coin alters the base probability engine." Aria whispered while leaning in slightly.
"If they get their hands on it, they can force successful upgrades on their remaining gear. They could synthesize the Origin Crystals without the risk of their avatars deleting themselves. We cannot let them win this bid."
"I have no intention of letting them win." Vahn smiled softly.
He did not pull away from her proximity. He found the warmth of her localized healing aura to be a highly optimal buffer against the lingering chill of the Origin Crystal he had absorbed earlier.
"Your concern is noted, Priestess. But the economy is a game of leverage, and I currently own the bank."
Down on the stage, the dazzling lights shifted and focused entirely on a central pedestal made of reinforced runic glass.
Lunara, the chief auctioneer, stepped out from the shadows.
She wore a sleek silver gown that perfectly accented her sharp and calculating features. She commanded the room with the effortless grace of a true merchant lord.
"Ladies and gentlemen." Lunara’s voice echoed through the hall, clear and resonant.
"We arrive at the pinnacle of tonight’s event. An artifact pulled directly from the deepest geometric folds of the Chronos Spire. A relic that dictates fate itself."
With a dramatic wave of her hand, the runic glass lowered.
Hovering above a velvet cushion was a small and ancient-looking coin. One side was forged from pristine white gold, and the other from abyssal black iron.
It pulsed with a heavy and warping energy that made the physical air around it ripple!
[System Identification: The Twin Coin]
↳ Grade: Mythic
↳ Effect: Forces the probability of any single system interaction to 100% success.
↳ Type: Single-use consumable. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎
The entire auction hall collectively held its breath.
"The bidding will commence at fifty million credits." Lunara announced.
"One hundred million!" A Syndicate Lord in the front row roared instantly and jumped to his feet.
He glared around the room, daring any independent guild to challenge him. "The Syndicate claims this artifact! Anyone who bids against us will be marked for execution the moment you step outside the White City!"
The room fell dead silent.
A hundred million credits was a staggering fortune. Combined with the lethal threat of the remaining assassins of the Syndicate, no one dared to raise their hand.
The independent players looked away and were thoroughly cowed.
Lunara’s professional smile did not waver at all. "One hundred million credits to the Syndicate. Going once. Going twi..."
"System." Vahn commanded softly from the VIP booth.
He did not press a button on the bidding console. He bypassed the console entirely and interfaced directly with the localized network of the auction house.
"Inject counter-offer. Asset transfer: One Origin Crystal."
A massive golden holographic notification erupted above the stage, completely drowning out the bid of the Syndicate Lord![New Bid Registered from VIP Booth 1]
↳ Asset: One Mythic Origin Crystal.
↳ Estimated Market Value: Unquantifiable.
Instantly, the auction hall erupted into absolute chaos!
Players jumped from their seats and shouted in disbelief. An Origin Crystal was a myth to most, a legendary key that bypassed the leveling locks of the Spire.
To offer it as a bid was a flex of wealth so incomprehensible that it completely shattered the intimidation tactic of the Syndicate!
"That is illegal!" The Syndicate Lord shrieked, his face turning a violent shade of purple.
He pointed a trembling finger at the booth Vahn was in. "No one has that kind of capital! He is hacking the terminal! I demand an investigation!"
"The bid is verified and secured by the central engine." Lunara replied smoothly. Her blue eyes flashed with deep amusement as she looked up at Vahn.
"The Twin Coin goes to the Architect."
Vahn let out a soft and satisfied breath as he stood up from the sofa. "Transaction complete. Sia, prepare for extraction. We have what we came for."
But before Vahn could reach the door, the localized physics engine of the auction house violently glitched!
It was not an Abyssal monster. It was not a Syndicate attack.
The ambient light in the massive hall suddenly inverted, casting long and unnatural shadows across the walls. The air pressure dropped drastically and popped their ears.
Down on the stage, a localized tear in reality ripped open directly behind the pedestal!
A figure detached itself from the tear. He was draped in an absolute and light-absorbing stealth suit that rendered his physical form a blur of dark motion.
He possessed no aggro radius, no health bar, and no system tag. He was a ghost in the machine!
[Threat Detected: Imperial Thief]
↳ Class: Phantom Rogue (Legendary)
↳ Level: 55
"Mine." The thief whispered. His voice echoed from every corner of the room simultaneously.
He did not run toward the pedestal. He bypassed the physical space entirely, and his hand snapped out to snatch the Twin Coin right from its velvet cushion.
"Target acquired! Hostile intercept!" Sia roared.
Her military instincts overrode her shock. She did not hesitate.
She threw herself out of the VIP booth and plummeted toward the stage like a meteor. She angled her massive obsidian kite shield and aimed a devastating kinetic-enhanced shield bash directly at the skull of the thief!
"Holy Chains!" Aria shouted from the window.
Her staff flared with blinding pink-gold light as she sent a barrage of magical bindings hurtling toward the stage to lock the rogue in place.
The shield bash connected. The magical chains wrapped tightly around the torso of the thief.
But the attacks dealt zero damage!
Sia’s massive shield phased completely through the body of the thief as if he were made of smoke. Her momentum carried her forward, and she crashed heavily into the stage.
Aria’s golden chains slipped harmlessly off his form and dissolved into useless sparks.
The Phantom Rogue possessed absolute kinetic and magical evasion. He existed entirely outside their physical rendering plane!
The thief let out a sharp and mocking laugh. He tossed the Twin Coin into the air and caught it. He looked up at Vahn in the VIP booth and offered a sarcastic two-finger salute.
"Thanks for footing the bill, Architect."
He stepped backward and dissolved into the spatial tear. The rift snapped shut with a sound like breaking glass.
The thief was gone. The coin was gone.
The Syndicate Lords in the front row burst into hysterical and mocking laughter.
"The God-King just got robbed!" One of them cheered loudly. "Your precious artifact is gone, Ryker!"
Sia scrambled to her feet. Her silver-grey eyes blazed with absolute and unadulterated fury. She ripped her short-sword from its sheath.
"Commander! I have failed to secure the asset. Requesting permission to tear down the physical walls of this building until I locate his spatial exit point!"
"Stand down, Sia." Vahn’s voice projected effortlessly through the chaotic hall.
It carried a cold and terrifying finality that instantly silenced the laughing Syndicate members.
Vahn did not look angry. He did not look panicked.
He casually stepped up to the shattered window of the VIP booth. His deep purple eyes flared with the intense and blinding azure light of his Verdant Chronos-Sight.
He did not view the theft as a loss. He viewed it as a data transfer.
"A Phantom Rogue relies on dimensional phasing to bypass physical collision." Vahn explained smoothly. His eyes mapped the invisible and lingering geometric wireframes left behind on the stage.
"It is a highly efficient escape mechanic. But a spatial tear is just an open door in the code. "He left a trail. He just assumed no one could see it."
Vahn raised his hand and pointed directly at the empty space where the thief had vanished.
A glowing and corrupted red thread of data hung in the air. It was completely invisible to anyone without Administrator privileges.
Vahn smiled, revealing a deeply predatory expression. "Let us go find our thief."
