Chapter 420: Amused to Death

Chen Ling slowly stopped in front of the auction house.

"Envoy, we will have dedicated personnel to count and store the items you wish to consign. However, because the quantity is too large, the assessment will take about two or three days... The room for you to rest has been prepared, please follow me." Gu Kaixian's warm voice sounded.

This person in charge of the auction house didn't seem to be receiving a Golden Society envoy for the first time; both his communication with Chen Ling and the preparatory work were perfect.

Chen Ling scanned the crowd behind him, slowly loosened his grip, and walked into the auction house with his hands in his pockets.

Only then did the staff behind Gu Kaixian dare to step forward, cover the golden mountain with a black cloth, and carefully push it inside... They found that the height of the auction house entrance was less than half of the golden mountain, so they were forced to start dismantling it and sending it in piece by piece.

By the time Chen Ling and the golden mountain had both disappeared into the auction house entrance, the surrounding crowd gradually dispersed. Zong Wen waved in the direction Chen Ling had left and called out sincerely:

"Envoy, please have dinner with me tomorrow night~"

Lu Yuanzheng snorted coldly.

"The person is already gone, what's the point of shouting?"

"What? Do you think the Envoy is you? That he can't hear you once you've walked far away?"

"Even if he heard, he wouldn't go."

"Whether he goes or not is his business; whether I invite him is my business." Zong Wen walked slowly to Lu Yuanzheng, patted his suit shoulder, and said in a tone used for a junior, "Young man, in business, you can't be too concerned about face."

"Indeed, the Huadu Consortium's face has been thrown away enough." Lu Yuanzheng sneered. "The Liuzhen incident has been exposed, and the situation at your Huadu seems not so good, right?"

The smile on Zong Wen's face stiffened slightly, then slowly faded. Only a snake-like coldness remained in his aged eyes.

"Young man, don't be too arrogant... Do you think your Dinglu doesn't have any dirt on it?"

Lu Yuanzheng narrowed his eyes, staring at Zong Wen. The bodyguards behind them both became alert, and a murderous aura spread rapidly at the entrance of the auction house!

……

Auction House, 9th Floor.

Spherical ice cubes clinked gently in a glass, and the malt aroma of whiskey permeated the air, intoxicating the senses.

In the reflection of the huge glass window, an ancient golden mask was reflected in mid-air, calmly overlooking the two groups of people at daggers drawn downstairs, as if there was not a hint of emotion in its eyes.

"Envoy, your goods have all been settled and are in the VIP storage room upstairs... Is there anything else you need?" Gu Kaixian bowed slightly behind him, like an elegant and humble butler.

"Make me a list of all the small and medium-sized gold items inside."

Hearing this, Gu Kaixian was slightly stunned. After all, the previous envoys hadn't had such a requirement, so he was a bit bewildered for a moment, but he still nodded.

"Yes, please wait a moment."

"Wait." Chen Ling paused and spoke again. "Bring me newspapers. I want all the newspapers from the Red Dust main city from the last two years."

"...Yes."

Gu Kaixian turned and left.

As the door closed, the dim room fell into dead silence. Chen Ling stood alone by the window, his eyes still watching the two groups of people below, an intrigued expression appearing on his face behind the golden mask.

However, no fight broke out between them. After a stalemate, they each dispersed, which made Chen Ling feel a bit disappointed.

"It would have been better if they fought..."

For Chen Ling, the worse the relationship between these top consortiums, the better it was for him. It would be best if they were at each other's throats. Only then would his existence be more important to them. Only when the major consortiums were frantically trying to win him over could he grasp absolute dominance in the trade.

Chen Ling withdrew his gaze and paced slowly in the luxurious and spacious room, as if thinking about something seriously.

I don't know how much time passed before Gu Kaixian knocked on Chen Ling's door again.

The first thing handed to Chen Ling was a twelve-page product list, densely packed with over a hundred items, from gold necklaces and gold wine glasses to a half-person-tall golden holy grail, almost everything imaginable. Each item was marked with its gold weight, purity, and craftsmanship rating, and finally stamped with the special seal of the Red Dust Auction House to show authority.

At the same time, there was a cart full of newspapers. The newspaper industry in the Red Dust main city was quite well-developed, with dozens of large and small newspaper offices. Stacking all the newspapers from the last two years together looked quite spectacular.

After Gu Kaixian left, Chen Ling sat back on the leather sofa and picked up a newspaper to read:

《Up-and-coming female singer Tian Jie embroiled in a "nude photo" scandal! The male lead is actually...》

Chen Ling: ...

Chen Ling had seen plenty of news with headlines like this; after all, there were some such eye-catching entertainment tabloids in Aurora City too. But trying to get any useful information from here was as difficult as ascending to heaven... He tossed this newspaper aside and took another one from the pile of another major newspaper office. Just seeing the headline, his mouth twitched violently:

《Famous male star exposed for sleeping with fans, actually relying on drugs to maintain function?》

《New generation of trainees officially debut, national voting heat begins!》

《Female star dates paparazzi, the purpose is actually to delete black material, related trial opens today!》

Chen Ling couldn't help but stand up and flip through more than half of these newspapers. Everywhere he looked, there were all kinds of gossip news or paparazzi sneak shots. He didn't see a single piece of news related to people's livelihoods or the situation... And these were from some of the largest newspaper offices in the Red Dust main city.

"That shouldn't be... how could it be like this?" Chen Ling couldn't understand.

He had been a reporter, after all. Although the Aurora Daily also reported gossip, that was ultimately just a tiny section, a topic of conversation for Aurora City residents to amuse themselves in their spare time. If you really talked about it, from the human situation to exposing evil, to analyzing power... all of that was there, and there were reporters like Wen Shilin who had a strong sense of justice.

But the media in the Red Dust Territory gave him a light and soft feeling, as if someone had draped a veil over the sharp blade of public opinion that should have been there. It not only covered everyone's eyes but could also turn the blade around silently and play with it in the palm of their hands.

Chen Ling refused to believe it. He continued to flip through the newspapers, starting from the most popular publications down to the obscure, niche tabloids. Finally, among a small pile of ignored papers, he found a few headlines that stood out:

"Aurora Domain Destroyed, Twilight Society Public Enemy Number One"

"Data Census: Average Savings of Young People in the Main City are Actually Negative?"

"Entertainment Inducement and Advance Consumption: What Have They Brought to This Generation of Youth?"

Chen Ling picked up these newspapers and read through them carefully. He discovered that the latest issue had ceased publication a month ago. At the end of the layout was an apology letter, claiming the paper was closing due to poor management. The articles regarding the Twilight Society and the potential crisis facing the Red Dust Domain were the final prints from this publisher.

Scattered tabloid pages lay across the marble floor. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the eternal lights looked like stars dotting the human world, dazzling and mesmerizing.

Chen Ling stood amidst the sea of newspapers, holding the rough-textured, blurry-inked paper in his hand, silent for a long time.

He suddenly chuckled, his face behind the golden mask filled with mockery.

"Truly, amusing ourselves to death..."