Chapter 241: Penglai Immortal Ship

How could an auction have only five buyers? Based on what they knew about the owner of The Card Tavern, that was clearly impossible.

So, that begged the question: if there were more buyers than just the five of them, then who were the others?

Just then, Seth Larkin suddenly said, "Do you guys remember our planet’s number?"

"68656, of course I remember that..." Aidan Sinclair trailed off, then her face filled with disbelief. "Are you saying the other buyers are from other planets?"

"That can’t be possible, right? Based on our estimates, the owner of The Card Tavern has been a player for less time than any of us. In all this time, we’ve never met players from other planets. How could she..."

"Why not? Some things can’t be measured by the length of time. You said it yourself—she’s been a player for less time than us, yet now she’s the owner of The Card Tavern. It’s no exaggeration to say she has a monopoly on all the cards on Cerulea. If she wanted to, she could be the most powerful force on the entire planet, with countless players willing to work for her."

At his words, everyone present fell silent, because they knew Seth Larkin was right.

They ought to be thankful that the owner of The Card Tavern wasn’t ambitious. Otherwise, with her ability to create Advanced Cards and her endless supply of Special Cards, the entirety of Cerulea would probably be kneeling at her feet.

"So what do we do now?" Aidan Sinclair asked. "Since we’re sure the other buyers are from other planets, shouldn’t we do something? We can’t just sit here and wait to be crushed."

"If you want to piss off the owner, feel free to try and stop it. Instead of worrying about hypotheticals, we should focus on collecting more cards the next time we enter the game."

"Collecting cards isn’t that easy. That stuff is completely dependent on luck, you know."

"I heard a new batch of recruits joined the bureau. One of them has an A-rank Luck Boost Talent that can temporarily increase a person’s luck. Maybe we could try it out before the next game."

"For real? I’m going to find them right now." Aidan Sinclair shot up from her seat and vanished like the wind. She had to hurry—after all, her next game entry was only a few hours away.

According to the system’s notification, the next round was extremely important for her.

「Meanwhile」

Perry Yates held a card in her hand, a hesitant look on her face.

"Master, what are you looking at?"

The butler walked over, placed a cup of hot cocoa next to Perry Yates, and asked in a gentle voice.

Hearing his voice, Perry Yates picked up the hot cocoa. Holding the cup in one hand, she waved the card in her other and said, "This is something I just finished Ascending."

"The Avalire Spirit Boat?" The butler looked at the card’s name and asked curiously, "Is there a problem with this card?"

"There’s nothing wrong with the card itself, but I’m hesitating on whether I should continue its Ascension."

’What Perry Yates was really concerned about was the card’s name. Avalire... that’s the name of an Aethelgard.’

’This card has both "Avalire" and "Spirit Boat" in its name. Continuing its Ascension might yield some unexpected results.’

As if sensing Perry Yates’s hesitation, the butler said, "Why don’t you follow your heart’s truest desire? You don’t need to consider other things."

Hearing this, Perry Yates nodded thoughtfully. "You’re right."

’Thinking too much can make you go bald.’

In the end, Perry Yates decided to continue the Ascension.

The card was already three-star. The next Ascension would make it four-star.

Four-star: Avalire Immortal Ship.

Looking at the Avalire Immortal Ship’s abilities—Absolute Defense, a self-contained Domain—this one four-star card was nearly on par with Noah’s Ark.

Seeing this, Perry Yates decisively continued to pour energy into the card.

「Two days later」

The four-star card became a five-star.

[Avalire Immortal Ship — Auction

Level: Five-Star

Ability: Once aboard the ship, all individuals—except for the owner of the Avalire Immortal Ship—will lose all combat capabilities.

The Avalire Immortal Ship possesses Absolute Defense, rendering all attacks against it ineffective. Its self-contained Domain can form a world of its own.

Auction: Held once a month. The Avalire Immortal Ship will automatically invite guests to attend auctions.]

"Isn’t this exactly what I needed."

After reading the Avalire Immortal Ship’s abilities, Perry Yates decisively moved the auction’s venue to the ship itself.

As for that once-a-month auction...

"Don’t tell me I have to provide the items for auction myself."

’Although it’s a great way to make money, I don’t want to boost the combat power of ordinary players. People from my own planet are one thing, but people from other planets are a firm no.’

"This ability should only trigger when the card is active, right?"

With that in mind, Perry Yates decided to turn the Avalire Immortal Ship back into a card as soon as the auction was over.

Thinking this, she directly bound the card in her hand to herself and then activated it.

The next second, a spirit vessel glowing with golden light appeared in the sky, but it vanished in the blink of an eye, so fast that anyone who saw it would have thought their eyes were playing tricks on them.

Meanwhile, Perry Yates and her butler entered the Immortal Ship’s interior.

Perry Yates gawked at her surroundings in amazement, like a visitor to a wondrous new world.

Every plant, every tree, seemed to have been meticulously designed. The entire ship seemed to glow.

As the owner of the Avalire Immortal Ship, all the relevant information about the place flooded into Perry Yates’s mind the moment she arrived. After processing it all, she was once again thankful for the decision she had made.

The so-called Avalire Immortal Ship would be more accurately named the "Myriad Realms Auction Ship," because that’s what it was: an Immortal Ship designed specifically for auctions.

As for Perry Yates’s earlier concern about having to provide items for the monthly auction, that was completely unnecessary. The Immortal Ship could connect to myriad realms and acquire treasures from other worlds to be auctioned off.

"Is this really something the survival system could create?" Perry Yates couldn’t help but feel a little suspicious.

After all, compared to other five-star cards, the Avalire Immortal Ship’s abilities were a bit too overpowered.

"This is so OP it could be a protagonist’s cheat in its own novel."

"Master, what were you just saying? What ’cheat’?"

"It’s nothing. Let’s go see what the Avalire Immortal Ship just captured from another world."

From what Perry Yates understood, the Avalire Immortal Ship could only capture three items from other worlds each month. What they were and what their quality would be was completely random.

Her luck was good this time. The moment she boarded, the Avalire Immortal Ship had already captured an item.