ushernet Chapter 962: Thought She Was Untouchable
Chapter 962: Thought She Was Untouchable
Ethan’s voice cut cleanly through the room, sharp enough to halt every whisper and every shifting glance. All eyes turned toward him again. Featherfall Angel looked at him, her brows drawing together in open irritation. This man showed absolutely no respect, and worse, he did not seem the least bit intimidated by her authority."What do you want?" she asked, her tone already edged with impatience.
Ethan let out a quiet breath. "Me? When you were ’handling’ this just now, did you bother asking me anything? Maybe I walked into the wrong room, sure. But they were the ones who started running their mouths first, throwing accusations everywhere. Did you ask what happened? No. You were ready to leave me hanging. So tell me, is that really how you handle things here?"
The faint smile he had worn earlier disappeared completely. His gaze locked onto her, steady and unyielding, each question landing like a hammer strike.
Featherfall Angel’s expression tightened. No one had ever spoken to her this way, not inside this auction house. She drew in a slow breath, forcing her anger down. As the floor manager, she knew her earlier decision had not been flawless. If this situation escalated and word spread, it could damage the auction house’s reputation, and more importantly, she would be the one held responsible. Upper management would not hesitate to punish her, and the rival shift manager waiting for her to slip would finally get the opening he wanted.
Yet instead of panic, her eyes drifted toward the far end of the hallway.
A figure appeared there, walking briskly toward her. The newcomer gave a small nod before leaning close and whispering into her ear. As she listened, the tension in her face melted away, replaced by a slow, confident smile.
She turned away from Ethan as if he no longer mattered.
"Young sirs, I’ll take care of the rest. Please proceed to the Black Card VIP room. The auction is about to begin."
The two men exchanged satisfied looks. They had already gained enough from the situation and had no interest in lingering once the auction started. Before leaving, one of them pointed at Ethan.
"You. Stay right there. We’re not done with you."
Ethan watched them without emotion. Their threats meant nothing to him, as insignificant as wind passing through an empty field. He did not even bother responding. His eyelids lowered slightly, his thoughts unreadable.
His indifference only made their anger burn hotter, but at that moment the auctioneer’s gavel echoed twice from the main hall below. The signal announcing the auction’s start.
Reluctantly, they threw him one last glare and followed the arriving attendant toward the inner Black Card VIP suites.
Featherfall Angel waited until they were gone. Then she turned back to Ethan and gave a small wave.
The door slid shut behind them.
She walked past him slowly, her shoulder brushing his as if testing his reaction, then lowered herself onto the couch with deliberate elegance. Crossing her legs, she tilted her chin up to look at him.
"Alright. Enough pretending. How much did that bitch pay you?"
Ethan turned fully toward her, curiosity flickering in his eyes. He wanted to see just how far this woman believed her authority extended. She behaved as if the entire auction house were her personal territory.
He had founded this place himself, though never with the intention of overseeing its daily operations. At some point it had grown far beyond his expectations. Most likely the Mad Engineer had expanded it as a side project, building the auction house inside the fortress and letting hired managers run it autonomously.
Still, Ethan disliked what he was seeing.
Status-based favoritism. Customers treated differently depending on titles and wealth. It was the exact system he had always despised. An auction house, as host, should remain neutral and fair.
The tiered VIP system on the third floor had irritated him even in his previous life. Back then, he had stood at the top of that hierarchy, receiving the same preferential treatment those two men enjoyed today. Now that he stood on the opposite side, the ugliness of it felt even clearer.
The situation reminded him of an old rival he had once clashed with repeatedly in the wilderness. At the time, he had hunted the man down again and again, killing him without mercy.
Looking back now, he admitted to himself that he had gone too far.
If he were truly just an ordinary player today, without status or backing, this woman would already have thrown him out and possibly arranged for worse afterward.
His mindset had changed since those days.
He had been about to end this conversation cleanly when her accusation caught him completely off guard.
Ethan blinked. "What?"
"Don’t play dumb," she said impatiently. "You know exactly who I mean. How much did she give you? I’ll double it."
Seeing his confusion, she assumed he was pretending. But hearing her repeat herself allowed Ethan to piece together her misunderstanding. She thought he had been sent by someone else, some rival trying to sabotage her position.
He had no interest in her petty internal struggles. He had already reviewed the auction list earlier, and there was something far more important to him tonight.
A dragon scale.
A rare material capable of upgrading equipment to Artifact tier.
The auction had only just begun, meaning the dragon scale, likely the finale item, had not yet appeared. He had no intention of wasting time on office politics. Still, this situation presented an opportunity to correct a deeper problem within the auction house.
"I don’t know who you’re talking about," Ethan said calmly, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly. "But today, you picked the wrong person."
Her eyebrows shot upward. She slammed her palm onto the coffee table, the sharp crack echoing through the sealed room.
"How dare you speak to me like that? In this auction house, I am the law. You think cameras protect you? You think you can report me to corporate?"
She leaned forward, confidence swelling with every word.
"The person you saw earlier? I sent her to erase the system logs and shut down every camera in this room. Right now, I can do whatever I want to you. There will be no evidence."
Her crossed legs shifted beneath the slit of her dress, her posture relaxed and smug.
"So you’d better start talking. Otherwise..." Her smile turned cold. "I’ll find out where you live in the real world and send some people over for a little tea."
The threat hung heavy in the air. Both of them understood that "tea" meant violence.
Ethan had initially intended to dismiss her quietly and make an example through official channels. Now, hearing her openly discuss doxxing and real-world retaliation, he realized the situation was worse than he had imagined.
His eyes brightened slightly.
"Oh? So that’s how you want to play." He nodded once. "Fine. I’ll give you exactly what you want."
As he spoke, his figure began to fade.
For a brief moment, Featherfall Angel did not understand what was happening. Then realization struck.
He was logging out.
Ethan opened his VR capsule and stepped into the quiet of the real world. Without hesitation, he grabbed his phone and dialed a number.
"Head to the auction house in Aethelgard. I need a dragon scale."
A pause followed.
"Yes. Whatever it costs."
He ended the call.
---
Back inside Ethereal, in the capital of Harmony City, someone burst out of the All-You-Need Engineering shop in a cloud of smoke. His hair stood wildly in every direction, face smeared black with soot from a freshly exploded experiment.
The Mad Engineer barely slowed down. Ethan’s call had reached him at the exact moment his latest invention detonated. He sprinted straight for the teleportation array and activated the destination without hesitation.
Aethelgard.
---
Meanwhile, in the real world, Ethan stood atop a rooftop, the night air cool against his face. Before logging out, he had pulled up an employee file from the auction house system. He recalled the address now, fixed his gaze in a specific direction, and jumped.
His figure vanished into the darkness below.
---
Inside Ethereal, Featherfall Angel stormed out of the VIP room, fury written across her face.
"You," she snapped at several staff members. "Watch that room. The moment he logs back in, don’t let him leave. Notify me immediately."
She returned to her office, anger simmering hotter with every passing second. The man had simply logged out, slipping away before she could deal with him.
She clenched her teeth.
"You think sending some idiot to provoke me is enough to take me down?"
Pulling out her communicator, she sent a message. Moments later, a video call connected.
A busy-looking man appeared on screen, half-hidden behind stacks of documents. He was chubby, pale, and wore thick black-rimmed glasses, clearly overwhelmed with work.
"Angel? What’s going on?"
"Seven," she said sweetly, her voice instantly turning soft and syrupy. "Someone bullied me. Can you help me look someone up?"
The man’s face brightened immediately. "Who would dare bully my Angel? Send me his picture. I’ll find him."
This man was none other than Trusty007, currently running himself ragged handling Ethan’s massive gold acquisitions.
"Okay," she replied cheerfully. "I’m sending the video file now. Tell me what you find."
"Once I finish this batch, I’ll check it," he promised, smiling. "If he’s in the Northern Frontier Region, I’ll track him down."
"Thank you, ah!"
Her words cut off abruptly as her expression twisted in sudden shock.
Then the call disconnected.
Trusty007 froze, staring at the blank screen. The scream he had heard just before the connection dropped did not sound staged. Worse, her logout indicator lingered for a moment before disappearing unnaturally.
His thoughts raced.
That kind of delayed logout only happened when someone’s VR headset was forcibly removed in real life.
And Featherfall Angel was wealthy. There was no chance she used a cheap device. She definitely owned a high-end VR capsule equipped with backup batteries. A simple power outage could not explain it.
He stood up immediately and dialed another number, this time calling her real-world phone.
Two rings followed with silence. He tried again, but the phone was already powered off.
A cold feeling crept into his chest. Suddenly remembering something, he opened his email and downloaded the video file she had sent moments earlier.
The instant he saw the man captured in the recording, his hand began to tremble.
"Oh no... not him."