Chapter 131

Chapter 131

Bryce knew Damien was good, but he never expected him to be this terrifying. He had carefully handpicked the best fighters he could find, and they couldn't even last ten minutes against Damien.

"You really want to go to war with Dragon Society?" Bryce stared at Damien, whose killing intent was almost tangible. He fought to keep his legs from shaking and threw out a threat to save face: "Dragon Society will not let this go!"

With that, he turned and fled with his remaining men.

Damien watched them scramble away like beaten dogs. If anything, it made him even more curious about the painting. Dragon Society had clearly come for it specifically — something was definitely off.

"Find an expert to take a look at this." Damien took the scroll from Ironclaw.

"Deal with Dragon Society too. Those mad dogs won't let this drop." He turned and walked away with the painting.

Ironclaw quietly gave a few instructions to the others, then followed after him.

Back in the room, Damien unrolled the scroll again and studied every detail carefully.

"That painting has caused nothing but trouble. Just throw it away," Mona said, walking in and voicing her frustration.

Damien saw it differently.

"The more people fight over it, the more valuable it is. Tossing it just because it's inconvenient would be doing those bastards a favor." He flicked his wrist and rolled the scroll back up.

An hour later, Ironclaw returned, battered and bruised.

"Dragon Society sent an assassin, just as expected. He was a tough one, but I handled it." Ironclaw reported with a grim expression.

"What kind of fighter could do that to you? Were you careless, or have you been slipping lately?" Damien tossed him a bottle of healing medicine.

In Damien's eyes, Dragon Society was nothing but a bunch of clowns. Who could they possibly send on such short notice? With Ironclaw's skill level, most people had no business leaving a scratch on him.

"The guy had some real ability, but his weapon was the bigger problem." Ironclaw's eyes flickered. "He used throwing knives that could curve back and lock onto targets. I got careless and walked right into it."

Damien found himself genuinely intrigued by those weapons.

"Do a full investigation on Dragon Society." Damien absently turned the ring on his left index finger. "The auction is at the end of the month. I don't want any problems."

"Understood." Ironclaw bowed and left.

Meanwhile, the lord of Crescent City was relaxing on the deck of a luxury yacht, fishing without a care in the world.

"The auction should be fun. You should come check it out," Domingo said, trying to convince Judy to attend the end-of-month event.

"Not interested. I'd rather stay out here." Judy held her own fishing rod, completely hooked on this easy, carefree life at sea.

Domingo laughed and shook his head, his eyes full of warmth.

"I was going to have some toad-skin weapons custom-made for you. The auction will also have rare items from all over — not just Crescent City specialties, but treasures consigned by skilled craftsmen from everywhere." He laid out the appeal carefully.

That actually got Judy's attention.

"You could just go and take a look. Who knows, you might find something you love. Think of it as a change of scenery." Domingo pressed his advantage.

"I'll think about it," Judy said, her resistance clearly softening.

In New York, inside a highly classified lab, Ghosthand was completely absorbed in studying the mysterious ore Damien had sent back.

Since teaming up with Jason, he had gained access to cutting-edge technology and made major breakthroughs in new weapon development.

When the strange ore arrived, Ghosthand was thrilled — he had been struggling to find the right new material.

The problem was that the ore couldn't be processed using any standard methods. To turn it into something usable, he needed a top-level specialist.

"Boss, the ore you sent is incredible stuff, but nobody here can figure out how to refine it." Ghosthand called Damien directly.

"Isn't this from Crescent City? Can you find a refining expert? I'm completely stuck on this end." He made no attempt to hide that this was beyond him.

"Got it. I'll find someone." Damien said.

He hadn't expected even Ghosthand to hit a wall, but he was still new to Crescent City, and the top specialists in this field were all based there.

He suddenly remembered Harold mentioning a reclusive master — someone who lived off the grid, loved forging, and had deep knowledge of ore refinement.

Damien planned to pay this person a visit once he wrapped things up in Crescent City.

He also thought back to the boomerang-style throwing knives Ironclaw had described — the ones that could lock onto targets. He was curious about them and figured it might be worth getting one to study. It could give Ghosthand some new ideas.

A few days later, Tobias arrived at the gates of Crescent City with a large merchant convoy.

He hadn't arrived late, but there was already a long line at the gate. A sign out front read: "Daily limit: 100 people."

"What's going on? They're capping numbers this year?"

"No idea, just get in line fast or you might not make it in!"

The crowd buzzed with chatter.

Tobias heard the news, reported it to Damien right away, then hurried to get in line.

Despite the crowd, everyone followed Crescent City's strict rules and queued up in order, each person taking the required medicine before being allowed through.

Tobias moved forward with the line and ended up being the very last person to make the cut.

He stepped in front of the scanning camera. A red light swept over him, his information appeared on the screen, and then a green light confirmed he was cleared.

A guard handed him a pill.

Just as Tobias was about to swallow it, a rough hand shot out from behind him and grabbed his arm.

"That's the last one. How about you let me have it?" The man had a thick beard and a voice that carried a clear threat.

"No." Tobias refused without hesitation.

"What's your problem? Do you know who I'm connected to?" The bearded man exploded in anger.

Tobias ignored the outburst, swallowed the pill, passed the guard's check, and walked into Crescent City.

The bearded man watched him go, his chest heaving with rage.

"You'll regret this. Just wait till you come back out!" He glared at the gate and stormed off.

Once Tobias was inside, Damien could see everything through his eyes from back at the hotel.

It was the latest ultra-miniature camera Damien had commissioned from Jared — completely undetectable by any current scanning technology.

The one downside was the battery life. Because of its tiny size, it only lasted a day. That was a result of the tight deadline Jared had been given. With more time, the improvements could have made it far more powerful.

Since the auction banned all accessories and electronic devices, the camera had been cleverly hidden inside one of the buttons on Tobias's jacket.

After entering the city, a guide was assigned to each visitor, so Tobias was quickly escorted to the auction venue.