[Is it...truly necessary...for us...to be...in our...mortal disguises here?] Frosttusk asked his senior. [Seems... unnecessary...for us.]

[It probably is unnecessary for us to make such a garish display of ourselves.] Nepherage readily admitted. [But it's not often we get to play this particular role, so we might as well give it our all.]

[I…suppose…]

Frosttusk and Nepherage had expected to accompany Zhen Liu in their accessory forms for the purpose of maintaining the element of surprise if a fight were to break out.

Instead, moments before they entered the auction house, Jinju Ren insisted on having the two of them manifest in their "servant forms."

She had been told about how the last time they had to infiltrate a high society space, Nepherage and Frosttusk had taken on forms that were akin to the finest butlers any noble would be jealous of not having in their employ.

A part of Zhen Liu thought that Jinju Ren just wanted to subtly show off a bit for his sake, or for her own amusement at least, but he did see the practical benefit to openly displaying viciously powerful warriors for others to gawk at.

A feeling that was reinforced once he got a good measure of the people attending this particular auction.

The moment they arrived at the auction dedicated to selling completed works as opposed to raw materials, the Carved Dream Auction House, Zhen Liu couldn't help but think that everyone attending was, for lack of a better word here that wasn't egregiously offensive, snobby.

As th name of the auction house subtly aluded, this place was where the best of the best artisans sought to sell their wares to the highest of bidders from across the world.

A mere glance at the fine silk, the openly displayed aether treasures, and the obvious age gaps between some of the couples, from only the lobby no less, Zhen Liu could tell that these foreign movers and shakers were probably the main income for the city o Rainbowden.

And that whomever was lucky enough to have their stuff sold in this auction house would probably make enough money to live a dream-like life.

Granted, the person who bought their work were also probably going to able make whatever dream they had come true as well. Assuming that the person in question managed to beat others at the auction.

Either way, the Carved Dream Auction House was the perfect place for Zhen Liu to get his hands on some interesting treasures that could either beef up his personal arsenal or could be used to make into Kaijin.

Of course, all of this also hinged in whether or not the Carved Dream Auction was able to find a buyer for the goods that Zhen Liu provided Jinju Ren to act as their ticket in.

Goods in this case being, copied version of some potent aether arts and crafting manuals that were found in the Library of Nowhere, alongside some excessive aether treasures he picked up from his journey across the Dozing Salamander continent.

Of course, none of these items were going to be sold under his name nor Jinju Ren's name.

All of them were going to be sold under the pseudo-identity of Ren Jia the Fallen Princess.

An unexpected perk of having a Roaring Tide name: pseudonyms were as simple as switching the position of the first and last name.

Replacing one character with an entirely similar was also a good way to make a pseudonym, and doing both basically guaranteed an identity no one could piece together even if they tried.

Then again, it also probably helped that Jinju Ren made use of a certain mask aether treasure she once used to pretend to be a man with not too long ago.

This time around, she was using it to hide her horns and make her skin tone significantly paler.

"Miss Ren Jia, we at the Carved Dream Auction House, thank you for your patronage and for using our services to sell these priceless tomes of knowledge."

"Think nothing of it," Jinju Ren replied in a tone that helped to convey a humble yet royal lineage. "Under more idealistic circumstances, I wouldn't be selling them in the first place."

"We understand," the auction house attendant nodded. "Regardless, we would like to provide you and your entourage access to a private booth during the proceedings. As well, we promise to place your items at the front end of the auction so that you may secure funding that can be used later on if anything out artisans make catches your eye."

"That would be most appreciated."

Off to the side; Rianna, Lythero, and Zhong Wei, Zhen Liu, Nepherage, and Frosttusk were doing their best impression of loyal attendants.

However, they couldn't help but to be bored by all of this yammering.

"Is...is all of this talking normal for auction houses?" Rianna asked her more urban compatriots.

"Only if you're rich and powerful," Hermit Zhong Wei answered. "Hence why I'm not a big fan of these places."

"That's why you're known as the Hermit?" Lythero asked.

"That and a few other reasons."

"That tracks."

After exchanging several more pleasantries with the staff, "Ren Jia" and her entourage were allowed to finally leave the lobby and join the other high-roller guests in the second floor lounge.

Once they had arrived, Zhen Liu could immediately tell that these guests were of a much different caliber than the ones downstairs.

Up here, none of the guests were wearing garish displays of wealth and power, because they didn't need to.

Their auras alone made it clear that everyone present was at least at the peak of the Aether Grandmaster stage, or perhaps even higher.

Thankfully, due to a combination of Jinju Ren's general aura of regality and Zhen Liu's recent breakthrough and raising the power of his kaijin to match, the group was able to hold their own amongst these old powerhouses.

They had just enough power to be respected, but not enough power to warrant wariness. In other words, the perfect environment to send in spies.

"Xiao Liu, what do you think?" Jinju Ren whispered in his ear with an aether-laced voice. "Do you think you can find an opportunity to drop off some of your fun little zakos?"

"I think I can," Zhen Liu agreed. "I just need to...oh shit."

Zhen Liu's face was initially confidentially neutral, but the moment he turned his gaze to scan the room, he went visibly grim.

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"Remember when I mentioned a worse case scenario was going to be running into some old enemies of mine?"

"Yes, and I said I looked forward to facing them."

"Well...it appears there are three of them here."

"Say what?"

Zhen Liu was all set to play the role of the lost attending warrior and find an opportunity to sneak around the auction house, dropping off zako marbles in key locations, but was stopped in his tracks when he noticed not just one familiar face, but three.

"Well don't keep me waiting, who did you see?"

"Well..."

Off in a far corner, Zhen Liu could see a lady of refined manners gossiping with some of the other women present in the lounge, alongside those women's personal escorts. Zhen Liu immediately recognized them as being Madam Venus, aka, the crazy mask lady who he kicked in the face.

If Alice was present, he was fairly certain that there would be blood spilled all over the ground.

Next, in a corner opposite of Madam Venus, Zhen Liu recognized the smug aura of Duke Diamoro himself alongside Abbot Longhorn.

The last he saw either of them was at the City of Mirrors, and if their asses were here, than that meant there was a high chance Lord Smoking Mirror was in town and that was a less than ideal situation.

Lastly, and most importantly in Zhen Liu's perspective, there was another young man in the room that had this strange aura to them.

This aura was magnetic to some, repellent to most, but made it clear that he was someone that shouldn't be fucked with on any level.

To most people, this aura could be chalked up to royal bearing.

To others, it could be attributed to the fact that the man in question had the purest form of Luxarii aura that any of them had ever felt.

To Zhen Liu, though, he immediately clocked it as [Chaos].

Especially since he knew this young man as being one of the last few Grafted warriors who was present at the Battle of Undertow.

From a mere ten feet away, Zhen Liu could see the perfectly symmetrical face of Alain the Lightwing, the lost prince turned Grafted Warrior.

Although, this time he looked... significantly more proper.

The last time he saw the man, he looked a ragged, fallen angel that was working with the Fallen as a guest warrior.

Now, the man was dressed in the nines and looked like a proper royal.

'Oh, I really hope things don't get...wait...'

As that exact thought crossed his mind, he heard the Kaijin pop into his head.