841: Chapter 836 One shouldn't be too greedy.

"Two thousand."

Someone raised a paddle.

"Three thousand."

The price began to climb slowly.

The Middle Eastern tycoon seemed uninterested in the junk, looking down and playing with the ring on his finger.

The burly Eastern European man also showed disdain.

Only the old man named Miller sat up straight.

"One hundred thousand."

Miller raised his paddle, directly multiplying the price several times over.

The scene buzzed with commotion.

One hundred thousand Euros for a box of electronic waste?

Had this old man gone mad?

Or did he know what was inside?

Several recycling merchants who had intended to follow the bidding hesitated and lowered the paddles in their hands.

Playing against these capital behemoths meant easily losing everything, even their underwear.

"One hundred thousand once."

Pierre shouted excitedly.

"One hundred thousand twice."

Miller adjusted his glasses, a smug smile playing on his lips.

His team had already infiltrated the customs system using hacking techniques to analyze the weight and origin of that box.

All clues pointed toward that deceased genius.

Although he didn't know what it was specifically, it was definitely worth more than one hundred thousand.

"Two hundred thousand."

A languid voice drifted from a corner.

Miller's smile froze on his face; he whipped his head around.

He saw a young Asian face casually fiddling with the number paddle in his hand.

Shen Yan.

Miller didn't recognize this person.

But he smelled the scent of a fellow predator.

"Three hundred thousand."

Miller grit his teeth and raised his paddle.

"Five hundred thousand."

Shen Yan's voice remained calm, as if he wasn't shouting a price, but merely a number.

The entire audience gasped.

Even the Middle Eastern tycoon lifted his head, looking toward this side with interest.

Five hundred thousand Euros for a pile of scrap circuit boards?

Even extracting gold from them would result in a massive loss.

Miller's hand began to tremble.

His authorized limit was only one million.

This was a strict order from the company.

After all, this was a gamble; no one was certain that Turing's manuscript was actually inside.

"Six hundred thousand!"

Miller's voice was somewhat sharp.

"One million."

Shen Yan directly hit the ceiling.

His tone was casual, even carrying a hint of impatience.

It was like shopping at a wet market, throwing down a large bill because haggling was too troublesome.

Chen Guangke, standing beside him, watched with a pounding heart.

Although the company had money now, this one million Euros was tangible cash flow!

"Brother Yan, this..."

"Shh."

Shen Yan raised a finger.

He was observing Miller.

The old man's face had turned ashen, and sweat beads rolled down his forehead like beans.

He was on the phone.

Clearly, he was requesting an increase in his limit from headquarters.

But in a situation where every second counted, the decision-making process for an overseas call was too slow.

"One million once!"

Pierre's voice was trembling.

This was the highest bid so far tonight.

"One million twice!"

Miller was still shouting into the phone, but the other end was clearly hesitating.

"One million..."

Just as the wooden gavel in Pierre's hand was about to fall,

"Wait."

A hoarse voice interrupted the proceedings.

A man in a dark gray suit walked out from backstage.

He was about fifty years old, with graying hair and sinister eyes.

The moment he appeared, the previously noisy venue instantly fell silent.

Even the burly Eastern European man curbed his arrogance.

Léon, the leader of the Corsican Mutual Aid Society.

The actual controller of this port.

Léon walked onto the stage and whispered a few words into Pierre's ear.

Pierre's expression changed slightly, and he looked toward Shen Yan with some embarrassment.

"I apologize, sir."

"Due to technical reasons, we must temporarily withdraw this lot."

The entire audience booed.

This was an obvious attempt to renege; Léon must have sensed something, felt that one million was too cheap, or intended to swallow this box himself.

Miller breathed a sigh of relief and hung up the phone.

Since the auction failed, he still had a chance to operate privately.

Shen Yan stood up.

He smoothed the hem of his suit and walked step by step toward the high platform.

Chen Guangke was so frightened his soul nearly flew out; he tried to grab him but missed.

The six bodyguards hadn't entered yet; was Brother Yan going in alone?

"Technical reasons?"

Shen Yan walked to the front of the stage, looking up at Léon.

Although he was at a lower position, his aura was in no way suppressed.

"Mr. Léon, this isn't according to the rules, is it?"

Léon looked down at this reckless Asian man.

"Here, I am the rule."

"Young man, take your deposit and scram. Don't bring trouble upon yourself."

Several nearby black-clad bodyguards surrounded him, their hands resting on their waists where bulges indicated weapons.

The atmosphere instantly became extremely tense.

Miller watched gleefully from the side, waiting to see this young Asian fool get his legs broken and thrown out.

Shen Yan smiled.

He didn't retreat.

Instead, he took a step forward, moving closer to Léon.

"The winters in Corsica are cold."

Shen Yan said in a voice only the two of them could hear.

"Especially when you secretly withheld half of the 'gift' that was originally meant for the Marseille Police Chief."

Léon's pupils contracted sharply.

For the first time, the sinister expression on his face showed a trace of fear.

This was a secret only the dead should know.

It was the 'Random Intel' the system had just refreshed.

Léon's hand trembled slightly.

If this got out, his superiors would chop him up and feed him to the fish long before the police even got involved.

"Who are you?"

Léon's voice seemed to squeeze out from between his teeth.

"Who I am isn't important."

Shen Yan took half a step back, returning to a normal volume.

"What's important is that I am very rule-abiding."

"One million. I bought it."

"This sum is enough for Mr. Léon to buy a villa in Nice and retire."

"Of course, that's provided this transaction can be completed smoothly."

This was both a threat and an off-ramp.

Léon stared intently at Shen Yan, his eyes shifting unpredictably.

After a long moment,

He waved his hand, signaling the bodyguards to step back.

"Deal."

These two words sounded as if they popped out of a stone crack. Pierre felt pardoned and brought the wooden gavel down heavily.

"Congratulations to bidder number 88!"

"For the price of one million Euros, you have won Container CN-779!"

The dust settled.

Miller looked at the scene in disbelief.

He couldn't understand how Léon, who had been so arrogant just moments ago, was scared off by this kid with a single sentence?

Shen Yan ignored the varied gazes around him.

He turned and snapped his fingers at the already dumbfounded Chen Guangke.

"Pay up."

"Collect the goods."

It wasn't until the container was hoisted onto the heavy truck already prepared and speeding out of the port that Chen Guangke felt his heart settle back into his chest.

The truck sped through the night, followed by two Land Rovers full of bodyguards.

"Brother Yan, what exactly did you say to that old rogue just now?"

Chen Guangke couldn't help but ask.

"Did you cast a spell on him?"

Shen Yan looked at the streetlights flashing past the window, fiddling with a small black metal box he had taken from a hidden compartment in the container.

The box wasn't large, only about the size of a palm.

A line of blurred letters was engraved on it: Blue.

"Nothing much,"

Shen Yan said lightly.

"I just told him that a person cannot be too greedy."