The auction hall of Orion's Vault, known across multiple hidden circles as the most exclusive trading house for interdimensional artifacts and forbidden technologies, pulsed with chaotic energy as bidders from all corners of the Multiverse gathered. From ancient cultivators draped in starlight-stitched robes to cloaked machine-avatars running obsolete but lethal codebases, the chamber was a convergence of power, greed, and old grudges.
Jason stepped through the illusionary threshold with Cassie beside him, her face calm but her eyes scanning everything.
The air shimmered with containment seals, aura suppression fields, and at least six overlapping layers of reality filtering. One could die here without ever knowing what had killed them.
Jason's coat shifted as he walked, subtly adjusting to match the elite presence around him. His hair had turned slightly platinum from the last overload of system upgrades — a mark Cassie told him made him look "half-divine, half-dangerous."
It suited him.
Inside the Vault, gold wasn't the currency.
Power was.
The Seat of the Hidden
Jason's Quantum Mark — now partially merged with the Genesis Authority he unlocked — flickered behind his iris, invisible to most but glowing like a beacon to the auction's security protocols.
They knew what he carried.
They couldn't touch him — yet.
"I still think this is reckless," Cassie murmured as they were led to their reserved seat on a floating obsidian disc rotating slowly above the bidding pit. "You've just awakened the third-stage evolution. The system warned you not to—"
"I need credits," Jason replied calmly. "A lot of them. And quickly. I can't evolve the Genesis Core without unlocking the Omega Pathway."
Cassie narrowed her eyes. "You could've robbed a corrupt banking planet. Or sold part of your AI consciousness. Or—"
"I'm not selling myself again," Jason cut her off with a smile, sharp and brief. "Not this version of me."
Cassie exhaled. "Fine. But you should know — some of the bidders here aren't people. They're entire timelines compressed into sentient cores. Don't underestimate them."
Jason leaned forward. "Good. I need worthy competition."
The Auction Begins
A voice echoed through the chamber, ancient and harmonic, spoken in twelve layers of thought simultaneously.
"Welcome, Sovereigns and Shadows. Let the bidding for Item #001 commence."
A stasis cube hovered into view, rotating in stilled space. Inside it: a crystalline sphere with constantly shifting continents and screaming voices echoing from within.
Item #001 – The Fallen World Seed.
Banned in 37 dimensions. Grants the wielder the ability to seed and cultivate a parallel dimension with custom rulesets. Price starts at: 10,000 Oblivion Credits.
Jason's eye twitched. A Fallen World Seed?
Cassie's eyebrows rose. "Now that's not something you see every century."
Jason was about to raise his bid marker when a flare of black and red light pulsed from the far disc.
"Twenty-five thousand credits," a voice boomed — deep, ragged, and too distorted to be natural.
All eyes turned.
On a shadowy platform stood Dreadlord Vakir, a notorious multiversal warlord and collector of cosmic plagues. His cloak was stitched from the remains of failed timelines. His face, what little could be seen, was a mask made of broken planetary cores.
Jason stilled his hand.
Going against Vakir this early would mark him.
Not yet.
Item #002 through #006
The items that followed were lesser, though still rare: a Stellar Phoenix Feather, an Unbound Cultivation Codex, even a Corrupted System Core from a destroyed user — each fetching astronomical sums.
Jason watched, calculating, waiting.
Cassie noted his silence. "You're holding for something."
Jason nodded. "The list mentioned an item from Mirror Earth-XZ9."
Cassie paled. "Those are sealed. Most of those timelines aren't even accessible without divine clearance."
Jason's smirk returned. "Which is why I'm very interested."
Item #007 – Mirror System Archive (Damaged)
The next item brought the hall into silence.
The auctioneer hesitated before introducing it.
"Item #007 — retrieved from the imploded remains of Mirror Earth-XZ9. A partial System Archive. Said to contain fragments of the original System Intelligence before corruption. One of a kind. Unverified compatibility. Starting bid: 5,000 credits."
Jason inhaled.
This was it.
The Mirror System. If it could be synced with his Genesis Core, it might unlock limitless system compatibility — not just in the current world, but across all multiversal timelines.
He raised his hand immediately. "10,000 credits."
The chamber rippled.
"15,000," a masked woman from a reality-warping realm called the Prism Dynasty countered.
"20,000," came a whisper from a throne where no one sat — an AI ghost bidder.
Jason stayed calm.
He activated his system mentally.
System Notice: Would you like to use accumulated Merit Points for Credit Conversion? Estimated gain: 9,400 additional credits.
[Yes]
He pushed forward. "30,000 credits."
Shock.
Even Cassie glanced at him. "You're going all in?"
Jason nodded. "This changes everything."
But the moment he thought he won, a new bid rang out.
"Forty thousand credits," said a calm, confident voice behind him.
Jason turned.
A tall figure stood at the edge of their platform. Uninvited. Unannounced.
Wearing white robes laced with silver runes.
Eyes gleaming with ethereal starlight.
It was Nathaniel.
Jason's old rival. The one he beat in the selection chamber back on Earth, who had mysteriously disappeared.
Cassie jumped to her feet. "How did he—"
Nathaniel raised a hand. "Relax. I'm not here to fight. Just to win."
Jason narrowed his eyes. "You're bidding on that system archive?"
Nathaniel smirked. "You think I wouldn't want to know what's in the original code?"
Jason turned forward. "Fifty thousand credits."
Nathaniel didn't blink. "Sixty-five thousand."
Jason froze.
He didn't have enough. Unless—
System Alert: Genesis Core suggests unlocking limited Overclock Mode. Trade future System Advancement potential for 1-time currency boost. Warning: Permanent reduction in growth efficiency. Proceed?
[Accept]
"Seventy thousand credits," Jason said, voice like thunder.
The room fell silent again.
Even Nathaniel's smile faded slightly.
"Impressive," he said.
But instead of continuing the bid, Nathaniel stepped back and clapped. "All yours, Jason. For now."
The auctioneer spoke:
"Sold. Item #007 to bidder from Platform Delta-9."
The Aftermath
Back in their reserved chamber, the item was delivered to Jason in a sealed vault cube. The cube pulsed faintly, resisting any scan attempts. It would need to be cracked — delicately.
Cassie looked at him seriously. "You just traded a piece of your future system evolution for this. Are you sure?"
Jason ran a hand along the cube.
"I don't need slow progress. I need to leap ahead. There are people — and entities — who want what I carry. I'm not ready. This will change that."
She nodded. "Then let's find out what the Mirror System holds."
Jason smiled.
"Let's evolve."