The banquet hall was now deathly silent, and everyone was listening intently to what that person had to say.
The microchip had put everyone on edge. Almost everyone was filled with fear and trepidation. They were afraid of killing each other over this microchip, and they were also afraid of having their identities exposed if they failed to obtain it.
So no one dared to make a move rashly. They were all waiting for someone to break the silence.
"Our microchips will be obtained in the most classic way. I believe you all know what that is by now."
People glanced at each other. Shen Jianyi accidentally noticed that Lan Xi had been staring at her. The look in her eyes beneath the mask was incredibly intense, which made Shen Jianyi a bit puzzled.
"Auction—"
Sure enough, it was an auction. Could it be that Xu Wenji had invited everyone here just to make money? This was really strange, and Shen Jianyi couldn't understand his actions.
If he just wanted money, then what was the purpose of all the previous chaos? His actions seemed rather odd.
Shen Jianyi took two steps back and whispered to the person beside her, "Gun, how are the two of us going to compete against each other?"
This was indeed a good question. Both of them wanted the microchip, which meant that they could potentially get it effortlessly, as long as they had the money.
Gun snorted. "Do you think this microchip is real?"
As soon as he said this, Shen Jianyi realized that he had a point. A cunning person like Xu Wenji would surely use a fake microchip to deceive others.
The real microchip contained so many secrets. How could he easily hand it over to others, especially these highly ambitious people in the business world?
The microchip had a huge impact. No matter who got it, the entire business circle would undergo a drastic transformation, which was why everyone wanted it.
Where there was joy, there was also sorrow. Some companies were upright. The information in these microchips couldn't blackmail them at all. They just needed to do their jobs well and be down - to - earth.
But some companies were different. They had climbed to the top through improper means, things that couldn't be exposed. If they were discovered, not only would their companies be shut down, but they might even end up in jail. This was a matter of the fate of their entire families.
It had to be said that Xu Wenji's way of making money was really good. He was just taking advantage of people's fear to encourage them to spend more money to buy the microchip.
Just then, the masked man standing in the center spoke again, "There's one more thing I need to remind you all of. The auction will be held here at 8 p.m. sharp tomorrow. Until then, we won't be responsible for anything you do."
As soon as these words were spoken, human nature was completely exposed.
This meant that even if someone was killed before the auction, it had nothing to do with them, and they wouldn't interfere.
It seemed that the waters in the business circle were incredibly deep. For them, a few lives really didn't count for much.
Shen Jianyi stood there, expressionless, and said coldly, "It seems we won't be able to get a good night's sleep until the auction."
Who would dare to sleep? It would be really unlucky if they just disappeared in their sleep.
These words also startled Lan Xi. She instinctively moved closer to Lu Yuan, and Shen Jianyi happened to notice this action. She found it rather strange.
Lan Xi had always bullied Lu Yuan at school. So why was she getting closer to her now? With them standing so close, they should be able to recognize each other from the features of their masks.
This made Shen Jianyi suspicious, but she didn't show it. She felt it wasn't necessary.
While they were talking, the man finally shouted, "You can play and make a ruckus as you like at tonight's banquet. For any problems that arise, we, Mandohai, will take responsibility!"
This wasn't a banquet at all. It was clearly a hell of human nature, where all of people's vices would be exposed.
Everyone wanted to survive and avoid bankruptcy, so they had to fight against each other and resist those who were desperate to get the microchip.
Not long after that man left, chaos broke out at the banquet.
"Smash—"
The clear sound of shattering glass reached everyone's ears. Shen Jianyi looked in that direction and saw a man wearing a tiger - head mask smash a red - wine bottle on a woman's head.
It seemed that in this kind of place, these men had already revealed their true nature. They didn't care whether the other person was male or female. As long as they were a threat, they would be mercilessly hurt.
They didn't want to cause a death. They just needed to beat the other person into the hospital so that they couldn't participate in tomorrow's auction.
Once someone took the lead, no one was afraid anymore. They each grabbed the nearest object, whether it was a chair or a wine bottle, and used it as a weapon to hurt others.
In the midst of this chaos, Lan Xi tightly grabbed Lu Yuan's arm. She was extremely scared and her voice trembled. "Lu Yuan, let's quickly escape to a safe place."
A flash of hostility passed through Lu Yuan's eyes. She stared straight ahead expressionlessly, then removed the hand on her arm and said coldly, "You go first."
She now wanted to see what the woman wearing the red fox mask would do. She had seen her at the side door yesterday, and it was really strange that she had appeared at the banquet today.
However, before she could watch for long, Lu Yuan was suddenly pulled away by Xia Liang.
"Are you crazy?" Xia Liang said impatiently. "Aren't you afraid at all?"
Lu Yuan immediately pretended to be very scared. She took a deep breath and tried to make her voice tremble. "I was... I was really scared just now, but my feet seemed to be glued to the ground and I couldn't move at all... Thank you."
Hearing these words, Xia Liang didn't think much of it. After all, this was the young lady who had been pampered by the Lu family. How could she have ever seen such a scene?
Xia Liang wasn't afraid at all. She had seen even more spectacular scenes, so for her, this was nothing.
If one had to say who was the calmest person at the entire banquet, it might be Shen Jianyi, who was standing in front of the cake table.
She was staring at the large red - velvet cake on the table. It looked really delicious, and there was a cool aura around it. Shen Jianyi coughed and reached out to pick it up.
It was as if the fighting behind her meant nothing to her, and she didn't even pay attention to it.
Xia Liang twitched the corner of her mouth when she saw this. Just then, Lu Yuan turned her head in confusion and asked, "How is your friend so brave? What's her identity?"