Chapter 35

Chapter 35. The Auction House Beneath the Crescent Moon (4)

The mechanical arms kept rushing toward Yukgap without pause, trying to seize him.

Yukgap gritted his teeth.

Then his body became a single streak, shredding the mechanical arms into pieces.

[You’re annoyingly fast!]

Doctor Mozg shouted as Yukgap dodged her attacks and countered at the same time.

Yukgap slipped between the mechanical arms charging at him and shot back,

“You made a mistake the moment you thought those slow arms could catch me!”

[Fine. Let’s see who wins.]

Doctor Mozg clearly had no intention of giving up.

At that moment, the entire tent suddenly began shaking.

Heavy impacts pounded through the space again and again.

“W-What is that?”

Sensing something serious, Yukgap quickly looked toward the source of the vibrations.

Then Doctor Mozg suddenly groaned.

[Ugh!]

Leon hurriedly checked on her.

“Master, are you all right?”

[Someone is smashing their way into the tent. The brains connected to me are being destroyed!]

Doctor Mozg’s voice was urgent.

At the same time, the violent shaking drew closer.

Before long, the cause of all the destruction burst through the far side of the tent.

“Hyaaah!”

It was Victoria, riding on top of an enormous golem.

The golem beneath her looked like a giant battering ram with limbs, and it was swinging its massive arms around without mercy, smashing everything in its path.

“Victoria?”

Yukgap stared at her in disbelief.

“Yukgap! You weren’t coming out no matter how long I waited, so I came to rescue you!”

Victoria waved cheerfully from atop the golem.

Then she looked around at the wrecked interior.

“I thought something might have happened. Looks like this Doctor Mosk or Mosquito or whatever really was bullying you!”

Mechanical arms that had tried to capture Yukgap were scattered everywhere among broken parts.

More importantly, Yukgap was holding monomolecular cutters while transformed into his beast form.

That alone made it obvious what had happened.

“By the way, what is that thing you’re riding?”

Yukgap stared at the huge golem Victoria had brought with her.

Victoria puffed herself up proudly.

“A golem I made on the spot from materials I bought at the Crescent Moon Auction. Robert MK-2! Cool, right?”

Apparently, she had been unable to sit still for even the short time she spent waiting for Yukgap.

So she had gathered materials from nearby stalls and built a golem.

Whether that should even have been possible was one thing.

The fact that Victoria had done it without hesitation left Yukgap speechless.

[Eliminate! Eliminate! Eliminate!]

The golem beneath her repeated only that one word in a heavy mechanical voice.

Doctor Mozg protested furiously.

[What do you think you’re doing?! Are you not afraid of the Crescent Moon Auction’s rules?!]

Victoria did not even blink.

“Why should I care?! Anyone who refuses to give back my restaurant’s chef can just die!”

Victoria slapped the giant golem beneath her.

Its eyes lit up.

Then it immediately started smashing the area again.

[Eliminate. Eliminate. Eliminate!]

[No! My precious information!]

Doctor Mozg screamed.

Victoria cheered excitedly.

“Haha! Smash it! Smash everything!”

[Eliminate. Eliminate. Eliminate!]

Victoria’s manic laughter and the golem’s mechanical voice echoed through the tent.

Realizing how serious the situation had become, Doctor Mozg hurriedly shouted at Yukgap.

[Stop that woman! I store different information in each brain! Once that data is destroyed, it can never be recovered!]

Yukgap immediately turned toward Victoria.

“Victoria, calm down! You might destroy the information about me too!”

“Oh. Right.”

Only then did Victoria hurriedly stop the golem.

Unfortunately, quite a few brains had already been reduced to pulp.

[I will not let this pass! You broke the Crescent Moon Auction’s rules and attacked another merchant without permission!]

Doctor Mozg shouted furiously.

A sharp voice cut in from the other side.

“You’re the one who broke the rules, Doctor Mozg.”

It was Seryun.

Doctor Mozg recognized him immediately and answered irritably.

[You again, Lee Seryun?]

Apparently, the two already knew each other.

Seryun raised the ring he had received earlier.

“Anyone carrying proof of merchant status is protected by the Crescent Moon Auction. Yet you ignored that protection and attacked first.”

Doctor Mozg immediately protested.

[I merely acted as an information broker seeking information! Do you have any idea how valuable an Abraxas Archon is as a source?!]

“Tch. So you still haven’t fixed that old habit of doing anything and everything when there’s something you want to know.”

Seryun clicked his tongue.

As if they had been waiting for this moment, members of the Gatekeeper Clan in black cloaks poured into the tent.

They immediately surrounded Doctor Mozg.

[What are you planning to do?]

One of the Gatekeepers spoke sternly.

“Doctor Mozg. We came after receiving a report. You violated the rules of the Crescent Moon Auction and attempted to attack a merchant.”

“For that reason, our clan has intervened.”

“If you take any further action, our clan will move against you.”

Their voices were calm.

That only made the warning more chilling.

“I reported her.”

Seryun spoke from the side.

“I expected you to act like this the moment you saw an Abraxas Archon. As usual, I was right.”

Apparently, while Yukgap and Doctor Mozg had been fighting, Seryun had gone to summon the Gatekeeper Clan.

Now completely surrounded, Doctor Mozg answered weakly.

[Fine. I’ll give up this time.]

The wires connected to her tank flashed several times.

The mechanical arms protruding from the walls, floor, and ceiling slowly withdrew.

“Hmph. You should’ve done that from the start!”

Victoria snorted.

Then one of the Gatekeepers turned toward her.

“Victoria Frankenstein, you will also receive a warning. Controlling a golem and destroying another merchant’s tent is also a violation of the rules.”

Victoria exploded in anger.

“What?! That floating brain started it by targeting our precious restaurant chef! This was clearly self-defense!”

“That is why this ends with a warning.”

The Gatekeeper’s answer was short and firm.

Perhaps because of that, it carried even more weight.

Not wanting to create another conflict, Yukgap calmed Victoria down.

“Victoria, I’m fine. Just back off for now.”

“Tch. Fine.”

Victoria pouted but nodded.

Once the situation finally settled, the Gatekeeper Clan addressed everyone in a stern voice.

“Then our clan will withdraw. But remember this. If another conflict occurs, neither side will get away with only a warning.”

With those words, the Gatekeepers quickly backed away and disappeared beyond the tent.

Only then did Doctor Mozg speak in a defeated tone.

[You heard them. I’ll pretend tonight’s incident never happened. Now leave.]

“What about our deal?”

Yukgap asked again.

But the answer remained unchanged.

[My terms have not changed. If you want information, pay a fair price.]

So there really was no other way.

The clue to his past was right in front of him, yet he could do nothing.

As Yukgap stood there helplessly, Victoria suddenly stepped forward.

“Wait. About the payment. Can information itself be used as payment?”

[What do you mean?]

“You’re an information broker, right? Then shouldn’t information of equal value be enough to pay for information?”

Doctor Mozg agreed.

[Of course. But I doubt you possess anything valuable enough.]

Then Victoria said something unexpected.

“Information about the Philosopher’s Stone. Interested?”

Doctor Mozg immediately reacted.

[The Philosopher’s Stone?]

“Yeah. That should catch your attention, right?”

Victoria asked almost teasingly.

Doctor Mozg sounded doubtful.

[There is far too much false information surrounding the Philosopher’s Stone. I already possess more than three hundred separate pieces of information about it. Do you really think yours can surpass them?]

Victoria answered immediately, as though she had been waiting for that question.

“What I’m talking about is the location of a Philosopher’s Stone that has already been completed.”

[There is already a completed Philosopher’s Stone?]

Doctor Mozg sounded genuinely shocked.

Victoria nodded.

“Yes. And I’m the only one who knows where it is.”

[...That would be extraordinary information. Almost too extraordinary to believe.]

Distrust entered Doctor Mozg’s voice.

That was only natural.

The Philosopher’s Stone was practically a legendary object.

And now Victoria was claiming not only that one truly existed, but that she knew exactly where it was.

Anyone would be suspicious.

“Then I’ll vouch for her.”

For some reason, Seryun stepped forward to support Victoria.

Doctor Mozg sounded incredulous.

[You, Lee Seryun?]

“The Doctor Frankenstein I know is not someone who would lie about the Philosopher’s Stone.”

[What are you plotting?]

“Plotting? Nothing. It’s simply a favor.”

Seryun answered with a blank expression.

Doctor Mozg seemed to think for a moment before finally accepting.

[Fine. I accept the offer. But if the information is false, Lee Seryun will bear all responsibility.]

Yukgap immediately turned toward Victoria in alarm.

“What are you thinking? You said you didn’t have the Philosopher’s Stone! Doctor Mozg clearly isn’t someone you can fool with a cheap lie!”

Doctor Mozg was one of the Crescent Moon Auction’s greatest information brokers.

If Victoria tried to bluff her, she would almost certainly see through it.

“Yukgap, don’t ask anything right now. Please.”

Victoria did not waver.

Instead, she calmly asked Yukgap to trust her.

It was a serious expression he had never seen from her before.

Perhaps because of that, Yukgap suddenly felt an inexplicable certainty.

Whatever Victoria was about to say...

It was probably true.