Illumi gazed at the phone, but ultimately couldn't access the information inside, so…
"Crack~!"
With five fingers of his right hand, he crushed the phone, which was enveloped in Nen, into pieces that scattered across the floor.
Simultaneously, the black threads binding Bosedora's corpse suddenly became chaotic, twisting and intertwining, gradually forming a black-scaled giant python with a diameter of 50 centimeters and a length of 10 meters.
"Gulp…"
Staring at the black-scaled giant python that suddenly appeared in the room, almost filling the entire space, Sheldon on the chair was terrified, his limbs growing cold, swallowing hard.
The four bodyguards also had trembling lips, feeling a sense of dread.
"Hiss~!"
The black-scaled giant python hissed, its enormous mouth opening at a 130-degree angle. With a swish, it swallowed Bosedora's corpse, gripping his shoulder and slowly engulfing him.
After fully devouring the corpse, the black-scaled giant python dissipated into black smoke in the air.
"Memory—Recall, Memory—Storage, Memory—Transmission… So that's how it works."
Illumi closed his eyes tightly, sensing his newly acquired abilities.
"Too bad, Bosedora's corpse has already been devoured."
"But it's also a good thing; I gained a particularly useful ability."
Illumi opened his eyes, feeling satisfied.
The immense utility of this ability could be seen in many aspects. At the very least, any information he wanted to obtain in the future would no longer require interrogation or forced confession.
He could directly use his ability to infiltrate a person's cerebral cortex and thus learn everything in their memories.
"Take care of everything in the room."
"Yes, boss."
Illumi instructed, then turned and walked towards the door. The auction was about to begin.
3:25 PM, South Piece Auction House.
Inside the auction house, wealthy individuals from around the world gathered, their expressions expectant as they gazed at the auctioneer lady on the stage.
No, they were looking at the mysterious item shrouded in black cloth behind the beautiful auctioneer.
The auction had already been going on for twenty-five minutes. All previous items had been auctioned off, leaving only the final item, which was presented as the grand finale.
At this moment, the auctioneer lady, dressed in a purple bodycon skirt, saw that the atmosphere had reached its peak. A smile bloomed on her face, and she raised the microphone.
"The next item up for auction is a dream game privately produced by a mysterious individual."
"[Greed Island]!"
As the auctioneer's words fell, with a "bang" in the hall, lights converged on the auction table, which was covered by a mysterious black cloth.
As the black cloth slowly unveiled, it revealed its true form.
A white game console with game software inserted.
"Oh~!"
Many people in the auction hall let out a cooperative gasp of surprise.
But more people remained expressionless, waiting to see just how special this mysterious game truly was.
"Hmm, it's finally making an appearance."
Illumi thought to himself. He was seated in the first row, in seat number eighteen.
This location was in the very center of the first row of the auction house, also the closest to the auction stage.
"[Greed Island], suddenly appeared on the market half a year ago."
"No promotion, no announcements, no warning whatsoever!"
"This game, dubbed a hunting game exclusively for Hunters, from its initial sale until now, only 100 sets exist worldwide!"
"Even more astonishing, the initial selling price of this game reached a staggering 5.8 billion Jenny!"
"However, what's even, even, even more surprising is that the moment this game went on sale, it sold out in just one hour, shocking the world!"
The auctioneer lady gave a brief introduction of the game in an enthusiastic yet sweet voice, her passionate yet sweet voice echoing through the spacious auction hall.
Many people who had come specifically for this news were excited. Those who didn't understand or believe in this fantasy game found their expressions wavering at the news.
"Now, please, everyone, witness the mysterious power of this game set!"
The auctioneer lady held the microphone in her left hand, winked playfully, and slightly tilted her slender, graceful body to the right, spreading her right hand's five fingers to guide everyone's gaze to the auction table.
A game console with the Greed Island game card inserted was placed there.
"Thump… thump…"
At this moment, a bald, muscular man, shirtless and carrying a huge wooden hammer, appeared on the auction stage. He walked with heavy steps to the game console.
Raising his giant hammer, he suddenly brought it down.
"Boom!"
Accompanied by a loud bang, the auction table shattered, turning into fragments that splashed outwards, and a large amount of dust rose, engulfing the scene.
Time passed minute by minute. The dust cleared, revealing the situation inside.
The auction table was shattered, and the game console was embedded in the floor tiles. But even so, the game console remained completely unharmed.
"Oh~!!!"
The crowd in the auction hall immediately gasped in unison, looking at the game console on the big screen, which didn't have a single scratch, their expressions excited.
"As everyone can see, no matter how great the impact, the mysterious power of the game software will protect this game console."
"As long as there is anyone still playing the game."
Next, the auctioneer lady gave an introduction of the game's contents to the guests participating in the auction, and warned them of the game's danger level.
"Now, bidding starts at 600 million Jenny!"
Immediately, the auction began.
"Number 24 bids 700 million Jenny!"
"Number 335 bids 1 billion Jenny!"
"Number 334, 1.5 billion Jenny!"
Soon, the already excited wealthy individuals began bidding. The auction price continuously rose and doubled, quickly reaching tens of billions of Jenny.
"Number 18, 15 billion Jenny!"
Suddenly, the auctioneer lady's voice caused the shouting bids in the auction hall to halt.
"15 billion Jenny? For just a game, are they crazy?"
Many people looked at the bidder in the first row, discussing amongst themselves.
In their view, even for a fantasy game with an initial selling price of 5.8 billion, a hundred billion would be the absolute limit.
Spending so much money for that game far exceeded the scope of game consumption.
Illumi's expression was calm. Greed Island had only appeared for half a year. Many aspects of this game, even players currently playing it, were unclear about.
Not to mention these ordinary people who had never encountered the game.
Their reason for spending money on this game was at most for collection, collecting the most expensive game in game history.
The South Piece Auction House had a total of six floors, two underground and four above ground. The two underground floors naturally served as an underground parking lot.
The four floors above ground served as seating for the auction house, but due to the number of people, only the first to third floors were currently open, with the fourth floor remaining closed and thus empty.
"Hey, are games really that profitable these days?"
However, on the fourth floor of the auction house, two mysterious figures stood.
"Headquarters sent word that a bounty hunter from the Association encountered a suspect in a murder case and needs our support."
"A mission?"
"No, just a request."
"Tch, then forget it."
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