Riberhaw: Gambit Mission

3. Histocrat Auction

Arriving home, I was so tired that I went straight to my bedroom. I slept soundly until late afternoon. Preparing to take part in the auction made me quite nervous, meeting Toxion Lab.

Toxion Lab is my toughest competitor. Several times I participated in the auction and tried to avoid them and not make them my rivals. But this time I really needed the meteorite mineral, Stellarite. A very rare mineral, so it was so expensive with an open bid of 60,000 USD for about 800 grams. I needed it for my research.

My research was not approved by some lecturers, so I had to take advantage of the opportunity given by my supervisor, Professor Lily Marie. I suspected that the stellarite I needed was targeted by Toxion Lab because they wanted to make a bomb.

Toxion Lab is well-known as a multinational company engaged in the production of weapons and chemicals. Operating under the radar of international authorities, they are known for their expertise in creating highly dangerous weapons and deadly high-tech bombs. Their headquarters is located in a remote, heavily guarded location, where few people know of its existence.

Only certain people also know that they sell illegal weapons and chemicals. This time I had to tighten my guard. The money wasn't much, because it wasn't my own money, but rather research funds from the university. But it was the safety of my life that I was worried about. Even though I knew they couldn't possibly hurt me, because if that happened, it would threaten their position in the eyes of the world.

After I woke up from my sleep, I prepared to take a shower and change clothes to go to the Tranquil Hotel. Standing in front of my dressing table mirror, I looked at the picture of my parents on the corner of the table. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine my long-gone childhood and I sighed. I remembered my mom and dad always encouraging me to research about wormhole gravity.

"I must succeed in getting it today," I said in front of the mirror and then closed my eyes for a moment. My heart was beating faster, I was so nervous. Although I had a lot of aides and maids keeping watch around me, I didn't have any other relatives. Sometimes the money I had couldn't calm me down when I was alone and scared. I wanted to find gege but my parents wouldn't tell me his name and picture. They didn't like it and were very sad when I talked about gege.

I played music very loudly to raise my spirits. Absorbing the positive energy around me. I stood up from my seat and took a breath. My favorite Crayon Shinchan song always accompanied me.

"Meimei, eat before you go," Aunt Fen greeted me as I got off the elevator. Aunt Fen was my assistant at home, the equivalent of Ma's aide at the club and Deng's driver on the road. But it's Deng's driver who leads them.

"Aunty we'll be at defcon for the next week, maybe longer but hopefully not. I've already told Deng's driver and Ma's aide," I said. Defcon is Defense Condition, my family language with the highest state of preparedness, indicating the need for tight security. The opposite of Homcon, Home Condition with normal security conditions as usual.

"Yes, meimei, I found out from Mr. Deng," he replied.

"I'll leave first, Auntie," I walked out of my house wearing a white shirt and black skirt.

As I sat in my car, I was getting nervous. I tried to call Xie Bin but he didn't respond to me. Maybe he was in a mood because he lost last night.

Entering the hotel, my aides followed me but they split up, I didn't like them being next to me. I don't want people to recognize me. With my glasses on and hair down I walked quietly towards the hotel hall.
I scanned the room for Professor Lily. "Don't worry, Rui. We've prepared everything well," Professor Lily's voice suddenly appeared next to me startling me.

I nodded, trying to hide my nervousness. "Thank you, Professor. I just have to focus and follow the plan."

Dozens of people gathered in the room, but I didn't see any sign of Toxion Lab. Ten minutes to go and the auction would start but my toughest rivals hadn't arrived yet. I wondered what their strategy was to win this auction.

Five minutes before the auction started, I saw the two male troublemakers at my club last night, Zayn and Jian Lin. I immediately checked the list of people or institutions that would participate in the auction. But there were no names of the two of them. As I observed them from a distance, they also looked surprised and opened the list of names they were carrying. My name wasn't there, because I used the name of my college, Jardim University.

When the auction started, I was somewhat relieved that Toxion Lab was not present. The auction opened with a fairly high bid, as the meteor contained a new element that could revolutionize the technology industry.

"73,000 USD," offered a professor from another campus in a calm but determined voice.

"93,000 USD," I replied without hesitation, even as my heart beat faster.

"113,000 USD," Zayn bid without hesitation, I knew the money brought by them was less than 180,000 USD.

The bidding continued, the price getting higher and higher. Every time Zayn raised his bid, I didn't want to lose. Until finally, when the price reached 153,000 USD, there were only two of us left in the fight.

"156,000 USD," Zayn said in a cocky tone, as if confident that the amount would make me give up. I paused for a moment, staring at the haughty faces of the two of them. But my hands and mouth felt heavy, unable to move at all. It was a very strange yet inexplicable occurrence.

"How is Jardim University?" said the auctioneer. My gaze was blank and I was so panicked, all the years of hard work and research flashed through my mind. Suddenly I could move my hands and mouth. In a loud and determined voice, I said, "190,000 USD," and the room fell silent.

All eyes were on Zayn, as well as on his next-door friend, Jian Lin, who seemed to have fallen out of his chair. "How is Mr. Rix?" the auctioneer asked him. Zayn was silent for a few seconds, then gave a small nod and raised his hands in surrender. I had just learned that his name was Zayn Rix. "190,000 USD from Jardim University," the auctioneer said with a big smile. "Highest bid, sold!"

Applause accompanied my victory. I felt an overwhelming sense of relief and could hardly believe that I had actually won the auction of this stellarite. "Congratulations, Rui. May our research go smoothly after this," Professor Lily said proudly, patting my shoulder.