Two weeks after Thirteen returned to Pangea...

"You're finally here, Zion," Erica said with a smile as she gave the teenage boy a hug.

"My mother forced me to come," Thirteen replied stiffly.

Erica smirked before pulling the teenage boy to the VIP Room especially reserved for them.

"Your mother is worried because you've been working non-stop since you arrived, so she asked me to come with you to this place," Erica commented.

For some reason, Rianna had added Zion's mother, Alessia, to their Group Chat, which was a girl-exclusive group.

There, Alessia complained that Zion was overworking himself and mentioned how she was worried that he might collapse from exhaustion.

As a solution, Erica proposed that she take Thirteen to the auction house where the Serpent Scales were about to be auctioned.

There were many other good items, including rare Avatars, that would be put up for auction, so Erica thought that this was a good opportunity for the teenage boy to relax and unwind.

Since the auction was going to be held in the Aldebaran Continent, the ruling Factions were given VIP Seats, including Zion's Family.

As the Supreme Commander of the Alliance, his prestige was something that no one could ignore.

Arthur and Michael, who had also been invited to the auction, glanced at the young man who was being pulled by the Sorceress toward the staircase leading to the VIP Rooms.

"It seems that Zion has a good relationship with her," Arthur said. "Make sure to give gifts to her family later."

"Understood, Father," Michael replied.

Arthur was having a headache as of late because many families were inquiring if it was possible to have an arranged marriage with Zion.

Of course, he prioritized selecting the candidates born from the Monarch Clans, as well as the Prestigious Families.

However, his no-good grandson flatly told him that he wasn't interested in romance and that he should just decline all of them.

In the end, Arthur was forced to tell those who planned to form an alliance with their family through marriage that his grandson was still too young and was not interested in having a romantic relationship with anyone.

But Zion's response only made the Patriarch of the Leventis believe that his grandson was just picky. So, Arthur approached this issue from another angle and started paying close attention to the girls who hung around with his grandson, like Erica and the other members of the Hero Party.

Just like everyone else who was in the Auction House, they had come to bid for the Serpent Scales that belonged to a Majin King.

He already knew that Gerald had dozens of serpent scales in his possession.

But he still needed to bid so that his rivals wouldn't think that the Leventis Family already had some of these Serpent Scales in their possession.

Of course, the other families had their suspicions, but since they had no proof, they could only make assumptions.

This was also Erica's first time being inside an Auction House, so she was looking forward to

it.

Her family wasn't really rich, and she was the only one supporting them. Because of this, she never had access to these places, which required large amounts of money.

But since Zion was given an invitation, Alessia asked Erica to drag Zion to the auction house so that he could have a day off from his work.

As the teenage boy sat on the couch of the spacious VIP Room, he found himself relaxing completely.

He hadn't had much sleep as of late. What he had been doing was quite complicated, and the calculations required to ensure that everything would work perfectly took a lot of his mental power.

Erica, who sat by his side, noticed that the teenage boy was breathing softly, which signified that he had fallen asleep.

Since the auction would start in half an hour, she decided to let him sleep for a while and focused her attention on the snacks provided in their private room.

Each VIP Room was complete with a mini buffet, which the VIPs could enjoy to their heart's content.

If they wished for it, they could even call for a female staff to serve them, but Thirteen and Erica didn't want others disturbing their privacy.

While all this was happening, the members of the Monarch Clans and Prestigious Families had arrived and entered their own VIP Rooms, each with their own agenda.

Aaron Ashford didn't come, but he ordered his son, Claude Ashford, to bid for the Serpent Scales.

Their goal was to get both of them, but he knew that this was going to be an uphill battle.

The Prestigious Families were hell-bent on securing at least one of these Snake Scales because if their blacksmith managed to craft a Mythical Equipment, their status would rise, and maybe they would join the ranks of the Monarch Clans.

Influential Families and other Powerful Factions also wished to acquire the Serpent Scales as well, wanting their families to become part of the Prestigious Families.

For them, that would be an honor that couldn't be measured in gold.

Finally, after waiting for half an hour, a beautiful lady wearing a red dress climbed the stage and scanned the surroundings with a sweet smile on her face.

"Everyone, the Grand Auction is about to start," the beautiful lady said. "My name is Dorothy, and I hope that everyone follows the rules of the Auction House. Threats, ultimatums, violence, and the like are strictly prohibited inside the Auction House.

"Anyone who breaks any of the rules will either be forced to leave or sentenced with a criminal offense. This auction is supervised by the Central Government, so I hope that everyone will give the Grand Marshal some face and not cause trouble for everyone here in the Auction House."

After the introductions, Dorothy then clapped her hands once and one of the staff brought out the first item for auction.

"The First Item to be auctioned is an Adamantine-Grade Sword," Dorothy said with a smile. "This Adamantine Grade is equipped with four Abilities-Auto-Sharpen, Auto-Repair, Enhanced Penetration, and Flame Sword Ability.

"The starting bid will be a hundred thousand gold coins. Each bid will have an increment of a

thousand. Bidding starts now!"

"One hundred and twenty thousand!"

"One hundred and fifty!"

"Two hundred!"

The less powerful families joined the bidding because an Adamantine-Grade Item with four abilities was considered very rare.

Most Weapons and Armor only had one or two abilities, so almost everyone wished to possess

such an item.

Although it was only of the Adamantine-Grade, it was the closest to a Mythical-Grade

weapon, so everyone wished to take it home.

Thirteen, who were sleeping peacefully, slid on the couch.

His head landed on Erica's lap, who was busy eating a macaron.

The Sorceress glanced down at the teenage boy and pondered whether she should wake him

up or not.

After careful consideration, she decided that there was no harm in letting Zion sleep a little longer, especially since only the first half of the Auction had started.

The main representatives of the Monarch Clans and the Prestigious Families didn't join the bidding and simply chatted among themselves while waiting for the good items to come. Everyone looked friendly on the surface, but deep down, they were sizing each other up, wanting to get as much information as possible about their rivals while hiding their own secrets deep inside their greedy hearts.