Heavy iron chains rattled across the dome ceiling as VIP Mock-Auction Box #1 slammed down onto the left side of the stage, directly opposite VIP Box #2.
In the third row, Sophomore Boss Long Batian—a hulking nineteen-year-old Rank 7 Peak chosen one wearing a sleeveless tiger-skin vest and three gaudy gold chains. Leaped over the railing and landed inside VIP Box #2 with a loud thud.
Long Batian cracked his knuckles and flashed a gap-toothed, malicious grin toward Professor Ao Man on the podium.
Behind the scenes, Long Batian and Professor Ao Man had spent three weeks rigging this exact live-fire auction box. Beneath the velvet tablecloth of the auction pedestal sat a Rank 8 Soul-Mortgage Contract Array linked directly to the Sector 7 Central Bank. Unlike classroom drills that used wooden practice tokens, every bid shouted into the microphones of VIP Box #1.
Moreover, VIP Box #2 was a legally binding, irreversible financial transaction backed by the bidder’s family blood-seal and registered star-vessels!
“Don’t go up there, Little Brother Gu!” freshman Lin Wan cried out anxiously from the front row, grabbing the edge of Gu Nian’s sleeve as the twelve-year-old stood up. “Those two VIP boxes are a live-bankruptcy trap!
