40: Chapter 40 The Fire Bearer

When the dark green firelight sealed the doors of the auction hall, the underground exhibition hall felt as if it were being squeezed tight by an invisible hand.

The ordinary wealthy tycoons finally stopped bidding. Some wanted to flee, some wanted to snatch the lamp, and others stared at their newly flushed backs of their hands, greed deeper than fear surfacing in their eyes. The secondhand dealers tried to leave with their auction items, only to find that the remnants of old objects on the edges of the display cases were biting back. The official observers wanted to maintain order, but they had absolutely no idea how to face a lamp that could drain a person's lifespan.

Zhao Ye held his ground at the entrance of the inner passage, the dark patterns on the lining of his uniform jacket fully lit. His basic evil-breaking short staff repeatedly dispersed the approaching dark green lines, but the pollution from the longevity lamp was endless, and the shattered lines quickly crawled back from the floor and corners.

Shen Qinghe stood slightly behind him, her Spirit Vision pushed to its absolute limit. She saw everyone's life state stretched into thin lines; the more terrified, greedy, or closer to the longevity lamp they were, the brighter their lines became.

"The wick is the core," her voice was somewhat hoarse. "But it is using everyone's desires to hide itself."

Bai Ya knelt on one knee beneath the second-floor stairs, the lines of the Grey Net flickering in and out before his eyes. The Lamp Watcher's old leather book was like a nail, pinning down the path he could track. He tried to bypass it, but the backlash left his fingertips cold.

Tang Zhiwei could no longer care about her status as a wealthy socialite. Supporting a female waitress who could barely stand with one hand, she forced the bodyguards who could still move to clear the obstacles in front of the exit. When someone demanded to know what she knew, she only replied coldly, "If you want to live, shut up and do as you're told."

Inside the Safe House, Xu Minglan treated the wounded one after another, her forehead drenched in sweat. Low-tier purification patches were consumed one by one, yet the pollution still slithered slowly beneath their skin. For the first time, she clearly felt how limiting it was to lack a formal medical Ability Seed. She could delay it, but she could not reverse it.

Lin Zhao was at the outer perimeter receiving the evacuees, the mark on the inside of his wrist burning like fire. He knew he couldn't rush into the inner venue to show off, so he could only guard the exit and send everyone who escaped to Xu Minglan.

Deep within the Xinhuo Hall, the Grey Net gathered all the real-time information in front of Lu Chen.

Too many ordinary people. The longevity lamp's core is activating. The Old Object Chain observation line is recording the reactions of the Torch members. Official personnel have witnessed the greyish-white firelight. The Longevity Society's Lamp Watcher is still applying pressure.

Lu Chen did not wait any longer.

He raised his hand and pressed it against the Core of the Torch.

"Activate the Fire Keeper contingency plan."

Zero responded, "Grey Net projection channel established. Member mark resonance established. On-site Xinhuo beacon locked."

In the next instant, all the lights in the auction hall went out at the same time.

It wasn't a tripped breaker, but rather suppressed by some higher firelight.

The dark green flame of the longevity lamp suddenly dipped, as if pressed down by an invisible palm. The Mark of the Torchs on the inside of the wrists of Shen Qinghe, Zhao Ye, Bai Ya, Lin Zhao, Xu Minglan, and Tang Zhiwei lit up simultaneously. Greyish-white firelight spread outward along their marks, condensing into a blurry, high-standing figure above the auction stage.

The figure had no clear facial features, yet it instinctively quieted everyone who saw it.

The Lamp Watcher's smile froze on his face.

Everyone present heard a single sentence.

"Stealing life by borrowing anomalies, yet you dare call it longevity?"

The voice wasn't loud, but it drowned out the crying, the footsteps, and the soft crackling of the burning longevity lamp.

The Fire Keeper raised his hand.

The greyish-white Purifying Flame spread from the edge of the auction stage. It did not burn the carpet, the wooden stands, or anyone's clothing; it only burned those dark green life lines. The lines wrapped around the ordinary people snapped one by one. Those whose life states had been drained stopped aging further; though still weak, they could finally catch their breath.

The longevity lamp trembled like a living creature, its wick bending as it tried to burrow back into the patterns on the lamp's body.

The Fire Keeper pressed his palm down from a distance.

The Core of the Torch locked onto the essence of the wick, and the Torch Purifying Flame pulled that withered, blood-vessel-like thing out inch by inch from the bronze lamp's body. The wick writhed and convulsed, letting out a shriek that sounded like a mixture of an old man and a baby.

"From this day forth, this lamp shall no longer illuminate the mortal world."

A Xinhuo containment cell unfolded in midair.

The wick was dragged directly into it, and the dark green flames instantly lost their Foundation, dying out in large swathes.

In the second-floor private box, the Lamp Watcher slammed the old leather book shut and turned to leave. However, the Purifying Flame had already burned its way to his feet along the Old Object Chain marks. It was not a fire meant to hunt down a normal Physical Body, but one that burned the borrowed pollution permissions on him.

His white gloves split open first, and then half of the old leather book turned to ash.

For the first time, the Lamp Watcher showed genuine terror.

He realized that it wasn't that the opponent was better at using anomalies than he was.

The opponent was containing the anomalies.

"Retreat!" he rasped.

Several of his subordinates dragged him away through a hidden passage. Lu Chen did not have the projection pursue them. There were still ordinary people here, as well as the authorities, and a large number of uncontained old objects. The Fire Keeper's purpose in dominating the scene was not to vent anger, but to define the rules.

The Purifying Flame continued to spread.

The mourning silver bell, the porcelain bowl from an old well, the severed-finger Buddha hand, the faceless puppet... grey marks surfaced on each of the auction items. They were not all reclaimed on the spot, but they were locked by the Grey Net, becoming coordinates for subsequent cleanup missions.

The Fire Keeper's voice rang out once more.

"Anomalous old objects shall henceforth be archived."

"Disaster peddlers shall leave a mark."

"Should anyone light a lamp with human lives again, Torch shall surely arrive."

When these words fell, it wasn't just the people of the Longevity Society who heard them.

The black market secondhand dealers heard them, the wealthy collectors heard them, and Gu Xingzhou heard them too.

Gu Xingzhou stood at the entrance of the outer passage, staring at the Fire Keeper projection on the auction stage, the recorder in his hand having gone black long ago. He did not attempt to raise his gun, nor did he order an arrest. Because he knew very well that the power before him was not something that could be replicated, seized, or interrogated out of someone by current means.

This was not a civilian team.

This was an organization with a stable anomaly containment system.

The Purifying Flame gradually receded.

Only an empty shell remained of the longevity lamp, its wick already sealed inside the Xinhuo Hall. The ordinary people in the auction hall collapsed to the ground, some crying, some vomiting, and some staring blankly at the backs of their hands, which had returned to normal.

Standing in the crowd, Tang Zhiwei thoroughly understood for the first time that in the face of anomalies, money could only buy an admission ticket, not safety.

Shen Qinghe looked up at the Fire Keeper projection, fatigue in her eyes, but also a deeper sense of certainty.

Zhao Ye gripped his evil-breaking short staff tightly and cursed under his breath, "This fucking lamp doesn't deserve to be called longevity."

Bai Ya did not smile. He simply stared at the old objects marked by Torch, knowing that starting tonight, the black market would remember the name of the Xinhuo Council.

Inside the Xinhuo Hall, the containment cell slowly closed.

Zero's prompt surfaced.

[High-risk Old Object Chain node has been heavily damaged.]

[Longevity Society local branch activity intensity has decreased.]

[Official observation Rank has risen.]

[Xinhuo Council's real-world influence has risen.]

Lu Chen looked at the dark green wick inside the containment cell, showing no expression of victory.

Deep within the Grey Net, even further Old Object Chains stretched out into the darkness.

This was only the first time the Xinhuo Council had stepped into the black market.

But starting from this night, anomalies would no longer be priced solely by the black market.

Its ownership would be defined by Torch.