The Final Preparations

With the few days of boredom finally comes to an end as the day of the auction arrives. Unlike the previous auctions that I had taken place in, this one is specifically meant for exceedingly rare and outlawed goods. Given the nature of the auction, the participants are mostly people who the Treasury holds in good standing, perhaps not to society but at least as far as the Treasury is concerned there isn't a problem.

According to Yue, the central government of the three major powers in Shengdi are aware that this takes place but turns a blind eye to it. The supposed reasoning is that if it isn't the Treasury holding these kinds of events, then someone else will, but thanks to the muscle behind the Treasury things don't get too out of control and are relatively organised.

From what I hear, for the most part, the central governments leave the Treasury to its own devices as per their tacit agreement, but every now and then the governments conduct raids as a display of force, usually after some kind of failure elsewhere. But they've never actually entered the Treasury proper, only ambushing buyers of illegal goods as they leave. It's very rare for agents to actually enter the Treasury's buildings, and of course, today just has to be the day when we know there are Imperial Guards wandering around the premise.

Three Vice-Generals and one logistics officer, along with their subordinates. According to Yue, the subordinates won't pose much of a problem, but the four superiors will be. As far as direct combat goes, the logistics officer won't do much, but the moment one of us gets recognised word will be sent to the Imperial Guard's HQ and we'll have even more people on our trail. It'll also be putting suspicion on Yue for the faulty report.

On top of putting pressure on Yue, getting seen will mean we'll likely get into a fight. But Yue doesn't think they'll openly attack us in broad daylight within the confines of the city. She thinks that if we're seen and recognised we will either be stalked until we've reached a certain distance away from the city or they'll attempt another surprise night raid. This is mostly to avoid collateral damage to the city, but this can work in our favour.

Aurelia and Yue think that the Imperial Guard will be taking their mission her slowly and with caution to avoid arousing any suspicion as well as preventing any aggression from our side. There were some more complicated things they mentioned, but basically, they just mean to say that the Imperial Guard will be keeping a distance in their observations. This in combination with the tendency for the people who attend this special auction to hide their face, allows for Aurelia and Wanjing to move around the Treasury, so long as their being careful.

We begin putting a concrete plan together, and by we, it's mostly Aurelia, Lia, and Yue. Neither Wanjing nor I have any intention to stick our nose into this. But honestly, the plan they came up with is something even I could think of. Due to appearing to be mostly human, Aurelia and Wanjing get to go to the auction, and with Dai Jiang's agreement, they have been allowed to hang around backstage to avoid being seen by any hidden members of the Imperial Guard. They'll still be wearing masks and thick robes to mask their identity as a precaution though. Lia and I are relegated to being left behind here in Dai Jiang's residence since it's near impossible for us to really hide due to our Dragon features. Yue does have the option of moving around the Treasury freely with her Scarlet Feather persona, but Aurelia asked her to keep me and Lia company. She still thinks I might sneak away to go see the auction so Aurelia wanted someone near me who also has the ability to hold me back. I wanted to refute her, but I kept silent after seeing her eyes light up.

As the hour of the auction approaches, Aurelia and Wanjing follow Dai Jiang out as she begins to make the final preparations. Leaving the rest of us here, I can't help but be curious as I occasionally glance towards the exit.