The auction was held on the seventh floor of the Blue Lake Other Shore Academy's High Tower.
Inside the venue, Guardians periodically walked past, carrying powerful ultraviolet lamps.
Over the past twenty years, humanity's understanding of the Shadow Wall Demons had evolved from the terror of the unknown to a gradual adaptation. After more than two decades of tireless research by the various academies, scholars still hadn't found these bizarre creatures' weaknesses, but they had learned how to use certain methods to limit their range of activity.
For example, they could use ultraviolet lamps to locate "black dust" contamination, then disperse it with a high-intensity Energy Magnetic Field.
Black dust was the mysterious phenomenon that had once caused the black ice beneath the Death Abyss.
It wasn't matter, but a mysterious natural phenomenon. The relationship between black dust and the Shadow Wall Demons was the key scholars most wanted to unravel.
But one thing was certain.
Where there was no black dust, Shadow Wall Demons were rarely seen, as if those places were Death Storm regions to humans.
More and more people arrived at the venue.
People were already accustomed to the Guardians' patrols and thought nothing of them.
Wearing an X Mask and a plain black-and-gray academic robe, Reilo casually took an empty seat toward the back of the venue.
He looked around.
Scholars made up only a small portion of the auction attendees. The vast majority were soldiers and noncommissioned officers from inside the mountain.
It was easy to see.
Most of the people there were men. The few women were mostly seated in the front rows.
A middle-aged man in armor sat down beside Reilo. His sturdy frame made the chair creak beneath him. He glanced at Reilo with a hint of surprise, then quickly offered an