Rebirth: The Time-locked Girl
Chapter 430: VIP Box No. 430 001! Exorbitantly Priced Antique [2 More Updates]

Chapter 430: VIP Box No. 430 001! Exorbitantly Priced Antique [2 More Updates]

The black gold card shone brightly in the sunlight, bearing the unique emblem of the World Bank—

a towering tree with lush branches and leaves.

This tree was modeled after the colossal tree in the Global Center, standing dozens of feet tall in the very heart of the continent, also known as the "World Tree."

Like the Heaven-reaching Tower, it’s a name derived from ancient mythology.

At the Global Center, many landmarks are named in a similar fashion.

Faluk, though engrossed in forging and barely interacting with others, wasn’t completely ignorant of the outside world.

Naturally, he recognized the classic emblem of the World Bank.

"Miss Ye, this card of yours..." Faluk hesitated for a moment, then pulled out a black card from his wallet.

But aside from the size, there was nothing similar between the two cards.

The World Bank had disclosed its different levels of bank cards, and he had never seen the card Miss Ye held.

Could it be that it wasn’t issued by the World Bank?

But who else in the world would dare use the World Bank’s emblem?

"Miss, we don’t accept bank cards at the entrance," the attendant said politely, "Bank cards are only used after the auction has ended."

Laughter arose around them, with guests turning their heads, their mocking gazes circling the girl, tinged with a measure of disdain and scorn.

Faluk lowered his voice, "Miss Ye, even though the World Bank has branches all over the world, a bank card is still just a bank card. It can’t upgrade our room to a VIP suite, which is not something that can be bought with money."

To enter the VIP suite, one needed to either be a powerful and influential figure or make a one-time purchase of ten billion at the auction to qualify.

"What’s going on?" The manager walked over, frowning at the crowd gathered by the door.

After the attendant recounted the situation: "This lady here wants a VIP suite with her bank card."

The manager’s frown deepened, about to speak when suddenly his cell phone rang, jarringly loud.

He immediately turned and answered, "Hello?"

Whatever was said on the other end, the manager’s expression abruptly changed.

"Understood! I’ll arrange it now!" After hanging up, the manager took a deep breath, stepped forward, and respectfully said to Miss Ye Wanlan, "Miss, please, VIP Suite 001 has been opened for you. You and your friends may enter directly."

Miss Ye Wanlan reclaimed her black gold card, nodded slightly to Faluk, "Let’s go."

Faluk, puzzled, followed dumbly behind her.

Could it be that bank cards really had such a function?

"Boss, they..." the attendant asked, baffled, "How can they go to Suite 001?"

"Fool, what do you know?" the manager berated, "A friend of Miss Kristin can’t enter Suite 1?"

The World Bank is a sponsor of the Global Auction, and Kristin Constans, the President of the World Bank herself, is the largest spender.

No matter where the Global Auction is held, Suite 001 is always reserved for Kristin, even if she herself does not attend.

The manager wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, relieved that the call came just in time. Otherwise, if a friend of Miss Kristin were turned away, he could kiss his job goodbye.

With Miss Ye Wanlan by his side, Faluk experienced firsthand what is called top-tier VIP service.

Even he hadn’t imagined that he could directly enter VIP Suite 001.

Two very distinct emblems were on the suite’s door, representing the World Bank and the Wanguo Group.

These two top powers of the Global Center were also sponsors of this auction event.

It was Faluk’s first time attending an auction inside a VIP suite.

"Miss Ye..." Faluk had been holding back all this way but finally couldn’t help but ask, "Miss Estelle said you are all members of the same group. Who else is in your group?"

Anyone in the same group as Wanguo Group’s CTO, Estelle Rubinstein, must be someone extraordinary.

Hearing this, Miss Ye Wanlan’s eyebrows quirked, "Curious, don’t you know there’s an old saying in Shenzhou, ’Curiosity killed the cat’?"

Faluk immediately shut his mouth.

His nearly two-meter-tall frame shrank into the chair, trying his best to minimize his presence.

[Ye Wanlan]: I’m in. Thanks to a friend, I’m in Suite 1.

[Yan Tingfeng]: I’m in the one opposite you, Xiao Wan.

Ye Wanlan lifted the curtain. Suite 1 was facing Suite 7.

Yan Tingfeng wore a mask and stood behind the curtain. Seeing her look over, he winked at her, a smile evident in his eyes.

Their gazes met, and Ye Wanlan was startled, for Yan Tingfeng’s attire now... looked exactly like the Master of Highest Heaven Tower she had seen in her historical retrospection.

It wasn’t the similarity of their appearance, but the aura.

This overly similar aura made Yan Tingfeng, even with his mask, stand before her and she couldn’t help but think of the Master of Highest Heaven Tower, this mysterious Supreme Martial Arts Master.

But... even if the Master of Highest Heaven Tower was unparalleled in martial arts, he couldn’t possibly have lived so long; three hundred years had passed, far exceeding the physical limits of humans.

Moreover, it was impossible for him to be so young.

Ye Wanlan withdrew her gaze and returned to her seat, falling into deep thought.

After all, what had she overlooked?

Faluk was nervously watching the auction during the first half, numerous rare items fetched extremely high prices.

But it was clear that the guests in the VIP boxes hadn’t bid much, still waiting for the items to come later.

After the intermission, the individual customers in the lobby and guests in the regular boxes were all asked to leave.

The heavy doors closed, and the atmosphere of the auction became suddenly more solemn.

The first item of the second half was a cultural relic from Shenzhou—

Phoenix Pattern Glazed Brick.

Ye Wanlan raised her head to look at the displayed Phoenix Pattern Glazed Brick.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please take a look, this is an antique from Shenzhou, a Phoenix Pattern Glazed Brick unearthed around the year 1420," the auctioneer introduced, "This brick is eighteen meters long and six meters wide, with a total of ninety-nine phoenixes, each one lifelike, a truly divine craftsmanship."

Exclamations arose from the audience.

Ye Wanlan listened quietly.

She, of course, knew this Phoenix Pattern Glazed Brick; she had even touched it with her own hands.

But the Phoenix Pattern Glazed Brick before her now was broken, and its ninety-nine phoenixes seemed to have lost their vitality, barely breathing.

"However, because of its size, it was difficult to transport it back then, so it was divided into eight pieces during the removal," the auctioneer said regretfully, "With today’s technology, it is still not possible to fully restore this Phoenix Pattern Glazed Brick, we can only temporarily piece it together."

"Crack!"

The armrest of the chair was crushed into pieces, and the broken wood fell to the ground.

Seeing this, a few beads of cold sweat appeared on Faluk’s forehead. He hurriedly said, "Miss Ye, please calm down, calm down for a moment."

Ye Wanlan blew the dust from her hands, her voice was flat, and her tone had no fluctuations, "I am very calm."

Faluk: "...!"

He had a new understanding of the term "calm madman."

It all seemed very calm, but he felt like a killing spree was about to start.

"These robbers really deserve to die!" Xie Linyuan’s eyes brimmed with murderous intent, "If I were still there, I definitely wouldn’t have let them touch a hair!"

Ye Wanlan closed her eyes slightly and said softly, "Senior Brother, during the time I was just born in this life, I couldn’t walk, no different from a normal baby."

This was the first time she mentioned her birth, and Xie Linyuan listened quietly.

"At that time, I only knew that it was no longer the Ning Dynasty Period, but what exactly happened to the Ning Dynasty, I had no way of knowing," continued Ye Wanlan, "Until I could finally pick up the history books and look through them by myself."

Before opening the history books, she had never imagined such a tragic era.

And since then, she had to reread that page every day, just to remember.

Because she truly dared not forget for a moment.

For a while, every time she closed her eyes, all she saw was vivid blood, and in her ears were endless cries.

She heard many people saying—

It hurts so much.

As someone who had personally experienced that great war, Xie Linyuan knew this pain all too well, and he sighed lightly, "Little Junior Sister..."

The auctioneer’s voice came through: "The starting bid for the Phoenix Pattern Glazed Brick is twenty-five billion, with each increase not less than ten million, start!"

Soon someone made a bid: "Twenty-five billion and fifty million!"

"Twenty-six billion!"

"I bid twenty-eight billion!"

...

In less than a few minutes, the price of the Phoenix Pattern Glazed Brick had soared to forty billion.

"Guest number 12 bids forty billion!" exclaimed the auctioneer enthusiastically, "Forty billion, is there any higher bid?!"

After all, the Phoenix Pattern Glazed Brick wasn’t in one complete piece, and it was unlikely to fetch any higher price.

"Forty billion for the second time!" the auctioneer called out again, hammering down.