Those 'Big Shots'

“Oh? What brilliant insights does Your Eminence the High Priestess have?”

Chu Yuan, who had been mocked, didn't get angry. Instead, he looked at her with a highly provocative expression. He had even changed how he addressed her.

“...”

Silencing herself for a brief moment, Vivian decided not to lower herself to his level.

“The person using number 18000 in Booth 66 is someone named Victoria Salek. I don't know which organization she's from, but I know she's an alchemist who does business in potions.”

“Number 11896 in Booth 51 is Lester Giovanni. I actually know this guy; he's the Clan Leader of the Soul-eating Vampires.”

“Number 10086 in Booth 13 is from your Supreme Council. He has a weird accent; I think his name is Shigeki Morikawa.”

“Finally, number 11111 in Booth 83 is Lanstot, one of the Four Great Knight Commanders from the Knights' Guild.”

Vivian laid bare the identities of the four bidders as if counting her family treasures.

Listening to her, everyone around was utterly dazed.

Although they all knew Vivian wasn't actually as noisy and chaotic as she let on, her showing off like this still couldn't help but surprise them.

“Wow! You actually know all of them?” Chu Yuan raised an eyebrow.

Vivian proudly tilted her chin up and pointed to her ear. “I've got sharp ears. I memorized all their voices and names during the reception earlier.”

“As expected of a bat. So sensitive to sound,” Olf remarked from the side.

This immediately drew a wave of mockery from the group.

“Insolent! She is a vampire, Your Eminence!”

“Exactly, show some respect!”

Well, although they were mocking him, these remarks were clearly not actually aimed at Olf, that bearded Nordic guy.

Instead, it was Vivian's turn to fall silent.

Currently, the two in Tarot Villa with the most exaggerated titles were her and Lan Qingyou, so they were the only ones who could be teased with such honorifics.

“Speaking of which, who are those guys you just mentioned? How come I've never heard of any of them?” Chu Yuan cut in to stop the group's teasing and asked Vivian.

In response, Vivian pouted and turned her face away, looking completely unwilling to pay him any attention.

“I'm actually quite interested in those Soul-eating Vampires. Does that mean you vampires have more than just the Phantom Mist lineage?” Seeing Chu Yuan in a deadlock, Jiang Lan stepped in to help.

Though she was helping, this farming expert who usually only cared about her own little plot of land was actually quite curious about these matters.

Not to mention her, many of the others had never even heard of these things. Even Lan Qingyou turned her gaze toward Vivian.

All of a sudden, surrounded by their expectant gazes, Vivian's vanity was immensely satisfied.

“Ahem! Well, it's actually nothing much. It's just like the witches under The Tower. Although they are all vampires, their abilities have different focuses.” After a tactical cough, Vivian finally spoke to satisfy their curiosity, though she still didn't turn her face back.

“Oh?” Hearing that this actually involved her, Lan Qingyou's interest was piqued.

“Soul-eating Vampires focus on necromancy, while we Phantom Mist Vampires mainly focus on illusions. To put it simply, it's likely caused by differences in the ancient blood used during the initial development.”

“Of course, besides the difference in materials, my research suggests there might also be a difference in Heart's Image. After all, when they were created, different things were on their minds, and what they yearned to obtain was also different.”

Well, well. She had actually researched this. No wonder she was so tsundere when asked earlier; she really did have some knowledge up her sleeve.

But if that was the case, then this possibility existed for any race. After all, their creation was heavily inclined toward the system of Heart's Image.

As the creator of the Heart's Image theory, Lan Qingyou increasingly felt that this concept was something of extreme importance.

“I see. Then what about that alchemist named Victoria? I'm quite interested in her.” Having gotten a general idea, Lan Qingyou asked about another person of interest.

Since they were both alchemists, and this person had managed to catch Vivian's attention while going toe-to-toe financially with the Supreme Council at the auction, she must be a highly capable alchemist.

However, when Lan Qingyou asked about her, Vivian turned to give her a subtle, knowing look. She then blocked one nostril with her index finger and sniffed hard through the other.

...

Okay. With just this single gesture, everyone present immediately understood what was going on.

Addictive drugs. That was indeed a highly lucrative business.

Seeing this gesture, Lan Qingyou, the master alchemist, curled her lips.

Sure enough, someone had taken that path.

Back when she brewed her very first batch of potion and became an alchemist, she had already guessed that someone would eventually do this.

She just hadn't expected to encounter it for the first time at her own auction.

How should she put it? It just felt incredibly unlucky.

“Though... the other party is a devil.”

“Duh. Anyone who does something like that is bound to be a demon.” Gu Xiaobei rolled her eyes and retorted.

“I told you, if you're uneducated, don't butt in. The devil I'm talking about isn't the kind of demon you're thinking of, but that group of people who were called devils back on Blue Star.” Vivian immediately snapped back, taking the opportunity to educate Gu Xiaobei.

“Oh, oh, you mean those Devilmen. I thought you were just using a metaphor.”

If one actually looked into it, Gu Xiaobei's level of education was actually higher than Vivian's, who was a shut-in. So she still knew what those Devilmen were.

The phrase “loves to eat children” might be used to scare kids elsewhere, but when applied to those Devilmen, it was a very literal description.

Because they actually ate children...

“Justice, your Supreme Council's intelligence system is really lacking. How has someone like this not been executed yet? When you said you wanted to maximize the survival rate of Transmigrators, you weren't just joking around, were you?” Utterly disgusted, Lan Qingyou looked at Chu Yuan with an exceptionally serious expression and asked a soul-piercing question.

“I've heard other council members mention this person. Although it's an addictive drug, because everyone now has mana in their bodies, it doesn't actually cause any damage to the physical body. That's why no one has bothered to look into it.”

“Pfft!”

The moment Chu Yuan finished speaking, Lan Qingyou burst out laughing.

“Are you serious?” Waving her hand to compose herself slightly, Lan Qingyou looked at Chu Yuan in astonishment and asked.

“What's wrong?”

“Do you honestly think there's such a thing as an addictive drug that doesn't harm the body? In reality, even the mana potions and life potions you regularly drink have side effects. Do you really think a substance like that wouldn't have any?”