Within twenty-four hours, criminal networks ignited. Tracking systems overloaded. Every gang, mercenary syndicate, bounty hunter, and rogue intelligence operative began searching.
Not just for Lina Chen—but for whoever placed the bounty. And then, buried deep in a hidden forum of the dark web, one of Kai Ren's operatives sent an urgent message:
"She's in an auction. Slave bidding. Codename: Lot 738. Location unknown. Starting soon."
Kai Ren's blood turned to ice. He connected to the stream. There were no faces, just encrypted codes.
No names, only numbers. No location. Just a black screen and a distorted voice reading the bids.
"Lot 738 — female, early twenties, healthy, unknown origin. Rumors of high-profile bounty.
Opening bid: 2 million USD." Kai didn't hesitate.
"5 million." Others joined. "6." "10." "20." "50." "70." The numbers climbed. Not just for her body. For her mystery.
For the fear she represented. Jin Chen joined the trace. His laptop ran four decryption programs at once.
"I don't care what it costs," he growled. "Find where the stream is coming from." Kai kept bidding. Calm face.
Burning eyes. "85 million." "90." "95." "99…" And then— "120 million."
A pause. Silence. Kai's fingers hovered above the keys. He typed: "150."
But the system replied: Auction closed. Final bid: 200 million. Buyer confirmed.
Delivery in 48 hours. (To be continued...)