Chapter 1002: Alternate Timeline: The Nexus Exposition (3)

The young man simply adjusted the patch covering his eye before replying calmly.

"For now... I am merely a guest. That should be enough for a princess to know."

Serestia stared at him silently.

Inside her chest, frustration boiled violently.

She wanted to attack.

She truly did want to teach him some manners.

But reason restrained her.

A 7-star rank expert was not someone she could suppress casually.

And more importantly...

He was correct.

If a large-scale fight erupted here... today’s exposition would descend into disaster.

Kiara had spent weeks preparing for this event.

Thus, after several seconds of silence, Serestia slowly dismissed the icy transformation covering her arm.

The frost around her gradually melted.

"Hmph, then you can explain yourself later to the one who truly owns this place. We shall see whether you still sound so arrogant afterward."

Meanwhile, Alucard hurriedly stepped between both sides despite the lingering pain still pulsing faintly through his hand.

"Princess Serestia... There is truly no need to escalate this matter."

His voice carried genuine nervousness.

Then he turned politely toward the guests.

"Please proceed inside."

Morvain Wolf simply nodded calmly as though nothing unusual had occurred.

Meanwhile, beside him, Syllia secretly rejoiced inwardly. She gave a secret thumbs up to this cousin of hers, in her head.

How dare a commoner be all friendly with an Imperial Princess... I guess this is all Arceus’ fault. As a noble heir, he has no shame at all, marrying into a commoner’s household. Now, he was influencing the Princess as well...

As her future sister-in-law, it is my duty to protect her reputation.

Thus, with her own thoughts in her head, she followed Morvain Wolf deeper into the venue.

Soon afterward, the pair entered the weapons exhibition hall.

Rows of firearms gleamed beneath bright lights.

Sales-assistant robots explained weapon functions calmly while guests moved between displays silently.

For nearly twenty minutes, the cousins toured the entire hall.

Morvain Wolf remained largely indifferent throughout.

Weapons meant little to him personally.

As for the massive war machines displayed outside...

Even House Wolf would bleed heavily trying to secure ownership over one.

However, Syllia viewed matters differently.

She had been tasked with procuring suitable weapons for lower-ranking House members in order to strengthen the House overall.

Thus, she inspected many displays carefully.

And among them all...

The Panzer-I completely captured her attention.

A war machine costing merely five hundred gold coins per unit while possessing such decently high firepower... It instantly rose to the top of her priority list.

Eventually, both entered the auction hall and took their seats.

Syllia quietly calculated potential bidding prices inside her mind while occasionally glancing toward the entrance anxiously.

Meanwhile, beside her, Morvain Wolf leaned lazily into his chair while casually tossing a coin repeatedly into the air.

Clink.

Catch.

Clink.

Catch.

No one could tell what he was thinking.

The hall itself remained eerily silent.

Only the faint mechanical hum of nearby robots occasionally disturbed the stillness.

However...

Roughly fifteen minutes later, another group finally entered the hall.

Representatives of Solaria.

Ares Frost walked at the front alongside King Phaethon Solaris, Princess Zoa, and a general possessing a peak 6-star rank cultivation.

Syllia recognized none of them initially.

Yet the moment her gaze landed upon the royal attire worn by the child king, realization struck her immediately.

The sun symbol crafted into the robes revealed his identity unmistakably. As a noble with education, she naturally had an idea of other kingdoms on the Continent. And only the King of Solaria has the red sun engraved on his royal attire.

"So, it is Solaria, huh..." Her lips curved up. "I didn’t expect them to arrive. It looks like Kiara’s connections reach farther than I thought. No wonder the Imperial family wanted to be on good terms with her."

Meanwhile, throughout the hall, Morvain Wolf continued tossing his coin absentmindedly without even bothering to acknowledge the newcomers.

Phaethon Solaris glanced toward him briefly.

Ares Frost’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"Who is that?"

Only then did Morvain Wolf lazily lift his gaze toward them.

Syllia immediately stepped forward gracefully and then introduced her cousin.

Naturally, surprise appeared across their expressions after learning that House Wolf’s current House Lord was actually such a young man.

Ares Frost quietly attempted to sense Morvain Wolf’s cultivation.

Moments later, understanding flashed across his eyes.

"I see... A 7-star rank in the advanced stage. No wonder arrogance is oozing out of every part of his body."

Since provoking conflict over a perceived lack of respect would serve no purpose, Ares Frost calmly led his companions toward table number twelve, where they sat according to their assigned token.

Meanwhile, sensing an opportunity, Syllia immediately abandoned her cousin’s side and approached their table with a polite smile.

If she could learn what the Kingdom of Solaria intended to bid upon beforehand...

Then perhaps House Wolf could prepare accordingly.

1st-floor residence, Nexus Weapon Store;

Kiara was currently seated alone in the living room, although "seated peacefully" would have been a terrible lie because every few seconds her gaze kept drifting toward the wall clock hanging nearby, whose ticking sound now felt strangely louder than usual inside the quiet residence.

"It is almost eleven already..."

She leaned back against the sofa while muttering under her breath with visible irritation.

"How much longer are they planning to take? The guests should have already started arriving by now."

A faint crease formed between her brows as she tapped her finger lightly against the armrest.

"I can understand Arceus taking his time since he has to host the auction, smile at nobles, memorize scripts, and pretend not to panic inside..."

"But Noah, too?"

Her lips twitched slightly.

"Ugh..."

"For God’s sake, they are men. Why were taking so much time?"

For a few silent moments, she considered simply leaving them behind and heading toward the venue alone.

After all, the important guests had probably already begun arriving.

Still...

She stopped herself.

"Ares Frost and Caleb Crescent are the important ones. They are the only people capable of forcing Alexander Phoenix to spend absurd amounts of money."

"And if the Emperor starts bleeding coins, everyone else will follow like fish swimming after fresh blood."

Solaria and Celestra have different roles in this auction. First, Solaris is wealthy, which would force the bidding prices to rise. Second, Celestra is a neighbor. If a neighboring power gets powerful weapons, how wouldn’t the Phoenix Empire get anxious...

So, in the end, her main target is still draining the money from the Imperial Family.

A faint smile appeared on her face.

"Anyway... Let us see whether they have arrived or not."

The moment she contacted Zion through the system, the android’s response arrived almost immediately.

[Ding! Zion reports that only representatives of Solaria have arrived.]

Kiara silently exhaled in relief.

The first step of her plan had succeeded.

Good.

Very good.

That meant Alexander Phoenix still had not entered the venue, which meant the pressure inside the auction hall had not yet exploded.

After sending another instruction to Zion, Kiara finally rose from her seat and headed downstairs.

The soft sound of her footsteps echoed faintly through the quiet store.

There, seated calmly near the entrance, Wester Silver was reading a newspaper while keeping his entire appearance concealed beneath the black armor and helmet of the Black Knight as usual.

The image looked strangely amusing.

A terrifying, mysterious expert was quietly flipping newspaper pages like an old, retired grandfather.

"Ahem."

Kiara deliberately cleared her throat to gain attention.

"The guests from afar should arrive within a minute or two."

Wester Silver lowered the newspaper slightly before responding through glowing ether letters formed directly in the air.

"Alright."

Kiara blinked once.

Then she stared at him strangely.

"Only the two of us are here. You can speak normally."