Chapter 80 Gotham Auction

Gotham City.

The black Rolls-Royce pulled into a path at the back of a square building and stopped, flanked by towering buildings. The towers block out almost all the sunlight filtering through from the perennial haze in Gotham's sky. It's a one-way street, so narrow that it probably shouldn't be open to traffic, and Gotham's unique yin formation is blowing from the opposite side.

However, it is in a forgotten alley like Gotham where high-end sports cars of various world-renowned brands gather as if modern aristocrats from all over the world have gracefully walked out of the heavy car doors, men in suits and leather shoes and shiny hair. The water was slippery, and the women were radiant in mink fur, their bare skin glowing with a healthy white sheen.

Rolls-Royce joined them, shutting out their engines at the gate where the luxury cars converged. The door opened, and Bruce Wayne walked out with a blond Russian beauty with a slender waist and long legs in his arms. He showed an elegant white invitation to the waiter in front of the door and then swaggered away with the Russian beauty. go in.

A huge crystal chandelier hangs in the hall of the building, and the flashy atmosphere fills the open space. The dome, which is more than 30 meters above the ground, is designed to be concave in a hemispherical shape, and various paintings of different styles are hung on the four walls.

Bruce embraced the Russian beauty and rushed inward with the distinguished guests, and met an acquaintance near the escalator.

"Mr. Wayne?"

Bruceton stopped, turned his head sideways, and saw a middle-aged man in a brown suit walking in his direction. He has simple and neat blond hair, his body is straight, and his stride is quite strong compared to other wealthy children.

Al Dee Caldwell, CEO of Gotham's local Caldwell Company, although the company is not as large as Wayne Enterprises, it is one of the local leaders in Gotham, and Wayne Enterprises also has a lot of them. business dealings.

"I didn't expect to meet you in such a place, Mr. Wayne." Caldwell smiled and stepped forward and shook hands with Bruce.

"I think I can say the same thing." Bruce put on his standard grin.

"I assume you know that in this auction here today, most of the items in circulation are things that are not allowed by law." Caldwell still had a smile on his face, but his eyes kept looking at it. Looking into Bruce's eyes, "Is there anything Mr. Wayne is interested in?"

Bruce shrugged. "Who knows, I'm not sure. Of course, I know what's up for auction here, but you gotta know, when you've got so much wealth that you can't buy anything but thought, you can't help but think about getting things that you can't buy through normal means."

"It makes sense." Caldwell nodded, but he still didn't take his eyes away from him, "However, are you sure...not for the treasure at the end of today? Just me? As far as I know, at least half of the guests today flew in from all over the United States and even from all over the world, just to take pictures of that thing. Mr. Wayne... Are you sure it wasn't for it?"

ddxs.com

Bruce and he looked at each other for a while, then the corner of his mouth curled into a chuckle.

"Of course, I'm sure almost everyone has a reason to want it," he said. "Don't you, Mr. Caldwell?"

Caldwell smiled and nodded, no longer tangled on this topic, and instead said: "Let's go, Mr. Wayne, if it's later, the auction will start."

Bruce's position was in the VIP private room on the third floor. He selected this private room, because the open stand here has an excellent viewing angle, and he can have a panoramic view of the entire hall from this position.

The auctioneer in a black tuxedo quickly came out from behind the scenes. He moistened his throat and introduced himself to all the guests fluently and fluently, and then he simply opened the prelude to the auction.

Until the auctioneer revealed today's penultimate lot, the atmosphere in the venue was tepid. Most of the auction items so far are cultural relics and antiques, and the legality of several of them is still controversial, but no one will investigate the legality of any items that appear in this special auction - at least in the case of Not before leaving the venue, this is an unspoken convention.

If you look at this private room from the outside, most people will only find that Bruce Wayne is paying attention to the Russian beauty in his arms, but his sharp eyes have been wandering around the entire venue. He attached a high-tech electronic pupil to the pupil of his left eye, projecting a display that only he could see onto his retina. He adjusted his field of vision into a high-powered telescope and looked at everyone in the meeting with great care.

"I still don't understand how participating in an unregistered auction has anything to do with our investigation, sir," Alfred mumbled through his wireless earbuds, "you can tell me what you're doing without selling it. What an abacus."

"You'll find out soon, Alfred," Bruce said lightly, completely ignoring the blonde beside him. Compared to the supermodels who usually accompany Bruce, this Russian beauty is nothing more than a second-tier ballet dancer with a mediocre reputation. The reason why Bruce chose her to hide from people today is that he is sure that this girl does not understand English at all, so he can talk freely to Alfred midway through the auction.

"Well, it's up to you, sir."

Just as the words were being said, the auctioneer's hammer just fell heavily, confirming that a painting as the penultimate lot had been sold for 14 million US dollars. Applause, even Bruce Wayne temporarily let go of the beauties around him and applauded with everyone.

"Look, Alfred," he said in a low voice, "the main event of the day is coming."

"Yes, sir, I can see very well here," said Alfred. "Through your eyes."

Not only them, but the atmosphere of the entire venue seemed to change suddenly after the painting was sold, and the air seemed to be a bit dignified. An assistant came up with a silver-white metal suitcase and handed it over to the auctioneer. At this moment, the VIPs who just sat lazily all over the venue straightened up, and countless double-edged arrow-like eyes shot at the silver metal suitcase. Everyone held their breath and waited for the auctioneer. Open that box.

"This is a very special lot. To be honest, I have never been an auctioneer for such a long time." The auctioneer placed the metal box on the table in front of him. "Because it is very special. Special, we cannot determine its value based on experience with the age, heritage, and craftsmanship of the lot, and since it is the first time anyone has auctioned such a special thing as far as we know, all of our auctioneers do not. We were quite sure what the starting price would be, so we finally decided to start at zero."

After speaking, the auctioneer took a deep breath and finally lifted the metal box cover in anticipation. The dazzling green light pierced from the gap the moment the lid was lifted, and a beautiful and delicately textured green stone lay quietly in the middle of the box, exuding crystal green light all over its body.

Alfred gasped in the headset: "God, that's..."

"Yes, you read that right." Bruce said calmly, "That's why most of the visitors today participated in this auction - a piece of kryptonite."