I Prefer Corpses

The auction was held in the dining car of the head carriage.

When Rein arrived at the agreed-upon time according to the invitation, the dining car, temporarily converted into an auction venue, was already quite crowded.

He then realized that the head carriage, which he had thought had few people, actually had so many travelers.

Rein scanned the guests in their seats. Besides those in opulent attire who were clearly nobles, there were more people dressed as scavengers, the hunters of the wasteland.

The scavengers' attire was full of character, with long and short firearms carried with them, and many wore masks and external mechanical skeletons. Rein's own getup, with a crow mask and a mechanical arm, didn't seem as conspicuous.

Rein was led to his seat number on the invitation by his exclusive maid attendant.

As he walked, glances of appraisal swept over him from time to time.

Rein's expression remained unchanged, but he muttered inwardly, "It seems there are quite a few powerful scavengers."

Veteran scavengers carried an aura of ferocity. Accustomed to walking the wilds, their gazes were always sharp like wolves, appraising everyone as if they were prey, making them easy to identify.

And at this auction, there were clearly many such individuals.

"Strange. These guys don't look like ordinary scavengers; they look more like stewards from some famous large guilds."

Rein also noticed that many of them wore scavenger guild emblems.

These items, similar to identification tags, were usually a way for large scavenger guilds to flaunt their status and strength.

Rein didn't recognize these people, but he did recognize a few of the emblems.

"Iron Boots Scavenger Group," "White Eagle Scavenger Group," "Three Musketeers Scavenger Group."

These were all quite famous large scavenger guilds in the three southern provinces of Oma.

Clearly, their presence together on this train was a bit unusual.

"Perhaps they boarded during the stop for repairs earlier?"

Rein remained composed and sat down once he found his seat.

These people were clearly here for the auction.

The dining car exclusively for VIP passengers was decorated luxuriously. The dining table had a small bar where a bartender mixed various brightly colored cocktails. Meanwhile, scantily clad bunny girls were responsible for carrying trays and delivering fine wines to the guests.

Rein ordered a "Margarita" and took a sip, the taste on his tongue being sour and sweet.

After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, most of the seats were filled.

At this moment, a woman with a graceful figure in a qipao arrived fashionably late.

Her arrival instantly captured the attention of nearly all the men present.

This was a mature beauty, whose figure was perfectly developed. Her exquisite cherry blossom qipao perfectly outlined her graceful form, her curves full and upright, making her indescribably alluring.

Even Rein couldn't help but glance at her a second time.

Her long legs were simply too alluring. The high slit of the qipao revealed those beautiful legs completely, and with every movement, she exuded a mature woman's charming allure.

This was a woman whose legs alone, even without seeing her face, could make a man's imagination run wild.

Unfortunately, she wore a black veil, and a pink wide-brimmed hat matching her qipao, covering most of her face, obscuring her true appearance.

It was this veil, like looking at flowers through mist, that made one even more curious to see her.

The passengers in the VIP dining car clearly had high status. No one made any strange noises because of this beautiful woman; even desirous glances were quietly hidden.

Perhaps Rein had grown accustomed to Ymir's almost perfect figure these past few days, and his immunity to beautiful women had increased considerably.

He only glanced at her before retracting his gaze, but unexpectedly, the qipao-clad woman gracefully walked towards him.

The beautiful woman held her invitation, checked the seat number, and then compared it with the table number, confirming it seemed to be her seat.

She looked at Rein, pointed to her invitation, and with a gentle smile, asked, "Hello, sir. I'm in seat sixteen. May I sit here?"

Rein replied without any change in his tone, "Of course."

The way the beautiful woman in the qipao veiled herself was the opposite of his. He revealed his eyes and covered the lower half of his face, while she perfectly covered her eyes with a semi-transparent black veil, revealing her alluring, ruby-red lips.

For some reason, Rein felt a very strange sensation. When she spoke, his gaze was always involuntarily drawn to those red lips, as if they possessed a magical charm that captivated the heart and made one's lower abdomen feel warm.

At this moment, the "Smart Brain's" system prompt sounded in his mind.

[Ding! Abnormal mental energy fluctuation detected. Host, please remain vigilant.]

"Huh?"

This prompt was not a danger warning, nor was it a magical attack like charm spells. It was a general mental energy fluctuation notification.

It was roughly the kind of prompt the system would give after one "gets aroused by sight."

Rein immediately became alert.

Just seeing those red lips part could make one's imagination run wild?

His intuition told him that this beautiful woman was more mysterious than she appeared.

A compartment had two seats. Out of hundreds of seats, it was such a coincidence that she sat opposite him?

Rein didn't consider this a stroke of luck or a romantic encounter; it might be a disaster.

His eyes didn't deceive him, yet she had covered them up.

As she walked over from the gazes of men who seemed ready to strip her bare, and sat down composedly, Rein guessed this woman was definitely not simple.

After the qipao woman was seated, she didn't seem to intend to speak first. She sat on the sofa opposite Rein, elegantly raised her hand to take a glass of wine, took a sip, and then fell silent.

It was probably something no one expected, but this beautiful woman was actually the vice president of the "Black Gold Merchant Guild," Canossa J. Clofiler.

This important figure, standing at the pinnacle of the financial empire, naturally learned immediately of the news that Princess Oma Ymir Spurglin was not dead.

And by tracing the princess's movements, it wasn't difficult for her to guess that the person who happened to be sending telegrams in the carriage a few nights ago was that very princess.

Tsk tsk, the princess, known as the Empire's Royal Frost Princess, who had never had a scandal with any man, was actually in the same room as a stranger?

This gossip was far more interesting than any palace coup.

"Good evening, esteemed guests. I am Romon, the auctioneer from the 'Thornbird Merchant Guild'."

As the auction began, a middle-aged man in a black tuxedo hosted the entire event.

"Next up for auction is a gene source cultivation method, the hereditary secret technique of Viscount Leicester, the complete [Holy Shield Knight Breathing Method]. The starting bid is thirty million Risos."

"Next is a second-tier silver potion from the Elementalist sequence, [Elementalist]. The starting bid is three million Risos."

"..."

It was no different from the auctions in Rein's previous life: display the item, call out the bid, hammer down, transaction.

Item after item on the auction catalog was sold at high prices, including some that piqued Rein's interest.

For example, gene source cultivation methods.

After advancing to extraordinary, he would indeed need a more advanced breathing method to cultivate.

But he didn't intend to bleed money on this journey.

As a mere apprentice doctor, buying things that were too expensive would definitely attract the attention of certain people.

It would be safest to wait until he reached his destination and purchased from a fixed merchant, even if it was a bit more expensive.

The auction had been going on for more than half its duration. Rein kept his eyes straight ahead, not glancing at the qipao woman opposite him.

Even though they were sitting opposite each other, her beautiful legs were fully visible. From certain angles, one could even catch a glimpse of lace trim from her alluringly high-slit qipao, yet he seemed completely uninterested.

This made Canossa, who was already curious about him, even more so.

Her bait hadn't been taken, so she had to make the first move.

After thinking for a moment, Canossa feigned boredom and initiated the conversation: "Sir, are you a doctor?"

Being directly asked, it was difficult not to answer.

Rein, however, didn't want to engage with her and simply replied, "Yes."

Canossa blinked and then uttered the words she had already prepared, "Oh, if I hadn't seen your physician's robe, I would have thought you were a mechanical combatant."

"..."

Rein shrugged noncommittally, as if acknowledging her statement.

Seeing his indifferent attitude, a flicker of surprise crossed Canossa's eyes.

It was then that she realized this man seemed genuinely uninterested in her, rather than employing the "playing hard to get" tactic of some seasoned romancers.

Who exactly was this guy to the princess?

A dedicated doctor? Oh, he looked more like a doctor's apprentice. How could the esteemed princess have such a young doctor by her side?

Canossa's interest grew even stronger!

Since she had decided to probe, she had no intention of giving up now.

At this moment, her eyes shifted, and she feigned a pained expression, holding her forehead as she said coquettishly, "Oh dear, after sitting on the train for several days, I'm feeling a bit dizzy. I don't know if I'm sick..."

Her voice was soft and sweet, making one's bones tingle.

Under normal circumstances, any man hearing a beautiful woman say this would, out of politeness, inquire about her well-being.

Especially a doctor?

Her words weren't explicit, but they carried a strong, ambiguous implication: you're a doctor, you can legitimately examine me.

As soon as she said this, a system prompt indeed appeared again.

[Ding! Mental power fluctuation detected. Host, please remain vigilant.]

Rein glanced at her. He did feel a strong urge to follow up on her words, and a restless sensation stirred within him.

But the system's prompt was a real buzzkill, immediately making him wary: Is this woman targeting me?

Clearly, he didn't think that with his masked appearance, he could make a beautiful woman covet his body.

In an instant, that restless feeling was extinguished.

He thought about it and decided to completely shut down the conversation.

"Oh, that's truly regrettable, Madam. I wish I could resolve your troubles for you. But as you can see, I'm actually a veterinarian."

Rein pointed to his mechanical arm and said with a straight face, "You know, veterinarians sometimes treat large magical beasts, which is why they equip themselves with a mechanical arm when going out."

A veterinarian?

The woman clearly froze upon hearing that.

"Believe you, my foot!"

Her heterochromatic eyes flashed and disappeared. Even with Canossa's steady state of mind, she couldn't help but feel a little wronged. She said softly, "You're truly humorous."

Previously, she had been testing him playfully, but now, being repeatedly blocked, she began to doubt herself: Was she really that unattractive?

Huh?

Suddenly, she remembered, wasn't someone close to the Princess a kind of ancient court profession?

No, that's not right!

She sniffed lightly with her delicate nose. The strong scent of healthy hormones indicated this was a normal man.

With this thought, Canossa's smiling eyes became foxy. She proactively initiated the conversation again, her voice sweet and soft as she teased, "Mr. Veterinarian, you're the most amusing man I've met recently."

She paused, then proactively extended her delicate hand and introduced herself, "You can call me Madam Vanessa. I'm from 'Sand Ridge Fortress' in Anglos Province. It's a pleasure to meet such a humorous doctor."

Since the lady had taken the initiative to give her name, out of courtesy, anyone should reciprocate with their information.

Rein finally turned his head to glance at her. As expected, this woman has ulterior motives. I need to pull out the big guns!

Canossa's heart leaped as she looked into his eyes, which were now focused on her.

I'm not afraid of you taking a little advantage; I'm afraid you won't even look!

But just then, before she could even display her charm, she heard Rein's annoyingly smug tone.

"Esteemed Madam, it is also my honor to meet you. My name is Nicholas Jesbon, from an insignificant remote village..."

Rein looked Canossa up and down with a chilling gaze, as if appraising a corpse on an dissection table.

Then, in an extremely deep voice, he said, "But as you can see, I'm not good with words. I prefer corpses to living people..."

Requesting recommendation votes on Monday~