About fifteen minutes later, a middle-aged woman in a dark blue uniform stepped onto the platform.
Her uniform resembled Victor Ryan's, but the golden bars on her collar numbered four—one more than Victor's.
Her hair was combed without a strand out of place. She wore no makeup, and her expression was stern but not harsh.
"Everyone." Her voice was not loud, yet it carried clearly through the entire hall. "Welcome to this internal exchange meeting. I am Elena Walker, the person in charge of auction affairs for the Mist City branch of the Association."
She paused, her gaze sweeping across the hall.
"The auction is about to begin. The rules are the same as always: highest bidder wins, cash transactions only, and no returns or exchanges once an item leaves the venue. Please keep your number plaques safe. Raise them when placing a bid."
Benjamin lowered his head and glanced at the wooden number plaque the attendant had pressed into his hand when he entered.
A number had been written on it in ink: thirty-seven.
"Now, the auction begins." Elena Walker clapped her hands. The side door opened, and two attendants carried up a tray covered in red cloth.
Benjamin looked at the tray, anticipation glinting in his eyes.
This was the main reason he had come to the internal exchange meeting.
Information about this auction had been among the intelligence he had gathered during the day by spreading his mental power across the entire city.
Every so often, the Psychic Association held a small internal auction after its lectures. The participants were mainly Association members, well-connected merchants, and "insiders" like him who had learned of it through various channels.
The auctioned items were mainly various Gene Serums, as well as information, materials, and even finished products related to anomalies.