Galactic Exchange: The Merchant Sovereign
Chapter 80: The Vault of Ten Thousand Echoes

Chapter 80: Chapter 80: The Vault of Ten Thousand Echoes

The chamber pulsed with a rhythm not unlike a heart — slow, deliberate, eternal. Beneath the shifting lights of the floating relics, Silas and Kass stood in silence, catching their breath from the encounter with the Iron Maw construct.

Every relic suspended within the Vault of Ten Thousand Echoes radiated power. Some vibrated with frequencies beyond human hearing, others shimmered as though resisting observation altogether. Their mere presence distorted reality, bending light, sound, even time. This was no ordinary vault.

Kass cautiously approached a relic encased in a clear stasis field — a triangular shard humming softly with radiant blue energy.

"Silas, this place... it’s not a vault," she said. "It’s a marketplace. A cosmic showroom. Each of these relics has a price, doesn’t it?"

Silas nodded, transfixed. The System chimed again in his retina interface.

[Vault Interface Synchronized.]

[Tier III Sovereign Access Verified.]

Initiating Auction Sequence...

All around them, holographic panels burst into existence. Ancient glyphs translated into dozens of interstellar trade tongues. Then the whisper of unseen bidders flooded the room.

Silas stepped forward.

[Relic #00377: Breath of Myrrin, Pre-Stellar Seed.]

Description: Capable of restoring biospheres or reengineering hostile worlds into habitable zones.

Starting Bid: 1.2 million Stellar Ducats or Equivalent Assets.

A shiver ran down his spine.

The System had evolved again — this was no longer limited to planetary marketplaces or elite trading hubs. Silas now stood at the threshold of galactic commerce across time and civilization. This was the forbidden layer of trade, whispered of in merchant circles — a domain of Sovereigns who dealt in things beyond comprehension.

Kass pointed to another relic: a scroll that looked burned at the edges but shimmered like flowing ink.

[Relic #0894: Edict of Broken Kings.]

Function: Binds one empire’s ruler to a trade oath. Violating the terms enacts catastrophic system penalties.

Status: Auction Ongoing. Current Highest Bidder: Obsidian Crown Syndicate.

"Who are these bidders?" Kass asked, voice low.

Silas tapped his interface.

[Viewing Hidden Bidders... Warning: Tier IV Required for Full Transparency.]

Partial data blinked through. Syndicates, Cults, Empires — many with names redacted, some marked as Lost Civilizations.

He took a breath. "They’re not all alive. Some might just be AI remnants, ghost fleets, or automated market intelligences."

Kass narrowed her eyes. "And yet... they still trade."

They walked deeper into the chamber. The air thickened. At the center stood a monolithic spire — its surface constantly shifting, displaying timelines, transaction histories, and something that resembled... votes.

Silas examined the base.

[Core Vote Registry of Sovereign Exchange Protocol]

Topic: Should the Galactic Exchange Allow Organic Traders in Tier V Markets?

A vote was ongoing.

Silas blinked in disbelief. "The higher markets... they’re governed by council consensus. Traders, or maybe whatever’s left of them, vote on system changes."

Then, a message popped up.

[You are the First Organic Sovereign to Register a Tier III Vault in over 2,000 Standard Cycles.]

[Do you wish to register a Vote Identity?]

Silas hesitated, then selected: Yes.

[Voting Identity Registered: Merchant Sovereign // Origin: Sol Arc-102]

Suddenly, dozens of holographic windows opened before him — debates, proposals, inter-system trade conflicts, and changes to relic pricing models. He now had a seat — albeit a minor one — at the table of galactic policy.

Kass looked around, uneasy. "I feel like we’re standing in the center of a star about to go supernova."

Silas stepped back from the spire. "We can’t afford to be careless. I need time to study this vault’s layout, the relics, the traders active here."

He opened his interface.

[Personal Market Node Established.]

You may now:

— List 1 Relic per Standard Cycle.

— Trade directly with Hidden Bidders.

— Forge Contracts with Sovereign Entities.

He summoned his inventory, scrolling through his collected rare items. The Temporal Gland of the Spliced Wyrm, a highly illegal item banned in over forty systems, shimmered in his list.

He tapped it.

[Offer for Auction?]

[Warning: Potential Blacklist by Sector 8 Governments.]

Silas grinned. "Let’s shake the table."

He listed the item, and within seconds, bids began to flow.

Bidder: Fractured Sun Traders – 600,000 Ducats

Bidder: Unknown (Encrypted Node) – 1.3 Million

Bidder: [Name Redacted – Tier IV Access Required] – 3.6 Million

Even Kass looked impressed.

Suddenly, the floor beneath them shook. Not a tremor from the world above, but a pulse from the vault itself.

Then, the ancient voice returned — the one that had first greeted them.

"You trade. You awaken. But you are not yet Sovereign."

A rift opened at the far end of the vault, revealing a corridor leading even further downward — walls lined with what looked like petrified merchants frozen mid-bargain.

"What the hell..." Kass whispered.

Silas narrowed his eyes. "A test."

A new system message flashed.

[New Challenge: The Bargain of Sovereigns]

Description: Descend into the Vault Core and survive the Council’s Trial. Failure results in Relic Forfeiture and System Lockout.

Rewards:

— Tier IV Access

— Sovereign Signet Creation

— Relic Forging Rights

Silas didn’t hesitate. "We’re going in."

Kass grabbed his arm. "You sure? This is deeper than anything we’ve faced."

Silas looked at the frozen merchants ahead. "Which means the rewards will be greater."

He stepped into the passage. The walls shifted behind them, sealing off the entrance. Darkness fell — and then the chamber was illuminated by glowing runes in the floor.

The room ahead expanded into a circular coliseum with relics orbiting the center like planetary rings. At its core was a throne made of pure void.

A figure sat upon it. Shrouded in shadows, its form flickered — part man, part machine, part memory.

It spoke in layered voices.

"We are the Remembered Merchant. First Sovereign. Founder of the Exchange. You have entered a place not meant for your kind."

"But... the vote allowed it."

Silas raised his head. "Then test me."

A spectral ledger formed before the throne.

[TRIAL ONE: WAGER OF VALUE]

Rule: Present one item. The Vault will counteroffer. If you refuse, you lose everything. If you accept — and survive — you move forward.

Kass stepped back. "This is insane, Silas."

Silas tapped his inventory. He hovered over the Heart of the Forge Maw — the relic that had granted him control earlier. But offering it might be suicide.

Instead, he reached into his early stash and selected a rare but lesser relic: Golden Contract of Errant Flame — valuable, but not central to his growth.

[Offer Accepted.]

[Vault Counteroffer: Shard of the Eversight Chrono-Codex.]

Silas gasped. That was a time-based artifact. The kind of item that could predict or influence near-future events — invaluable for planning trades or predicting enemy actions.

"Accept," he said.

The relics shimmered, and the trade was done. No coin exchanged hands. No paperwork. Just value — shifting shape.

The figure on the throne leaned forward.

"One passed. Two remain."

Silas braced himself. "Bring it on."