The woman in the red dress suddenly felt that things had become somewhat dull.

It wasn’t entirely because she had been completely outplayed by Lin Han, though that was certainly part of it.

It was more because, after seeing what true youthfulness looked like, she realized the “youth” she possessed was, in the end, nothing more than a counterfeit brought about by illegal drugs.

At this thought, the woman in the red dress felt an unprecedented longing for “The Masterpiece.”

—Perhaps only a secret drug of that level could grant her true youth, unfettered by time…

Thinking of this, she felt a bit more balanced.

No matter how exceptional the boy was or how beautiful the girl, they were ultimately just children from humble families. They couldn’t compare to someone like her, who stood at the center of power in X City.

Family background was something they could never make up for, no matter what they did later in life.

However, there was no need to say such hurtful things aloud. Maintaining a warm smile, the woman intended to politely ask where Lin Han and his companion were sitting, then use the opportunity to casually show off her own core seat in the front row.

It wasn’t for any particular reason; she was simply getting older and enjoyed putting on airs in front of young people.

But before the woman could act out the script she had envisioned, she saw a waiter walk up to the two of them and respectfully take the Black Invitation that the young girl had produced—

“You two, please follow me to the private box.”

The two followed the waiter away.

Furthermore, the direction they went was completely different from the rest of the crowd; it seemed they had been specially assigned the best seats.

Many people nearby looked curiously at the pair heading in a different direction. Then, catching sight of the Black Invitation in the waiter’s hand, they all wore expressions of shock—

“It’s those two from the square earlier…”

“What on earth is their background…”

The whispers reached the ears of the woman in the red dress. While she couldn’t quite understand some parts, she grasped the core meaning.

—These two were likely the ones with the most unfathomable backgrounds at today’s auction.

“…”

The woman in the red dress didn’t know what kind of expression to make. Her previous self-important delusions now only served to make her look like a clown.

But in the end, she actually breathed a sigh of relief with a sense of lingering fear—

“Thank goodness I ended up losing half the money back…”

“How did you do it?”

“What?”

“Winning back that much money, how did you do it?”

Seeing Shen Qingshu asking the question with such earnestness, Lin Han was momentarily speechless.

Of course, Lin Han couldn’t say that out loud, but even so, he still received a glare from Shen Qingshu.

Lin Han said vaguely, “As long as you figure out what everyone’s micro-expressions and small habits represent, it’s not hard to win. At least, it’s very effective in a short-term game like that.”

“However…”

Lin Han frowned as he spoke.

“If that woman in the trench coat hadn’t wanted me to win, I probably wouldn’t have.”

Shen Qingshu raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t know if it was just my imagination, but I felt like she could see through every single card…” Lin Han speculated. “She couldn’t have memorized the Formula patterns on every card, could she?”

As he said this, Lin Han himself felt the guess was somewhat absurd.

The Formula patterns on those cards weren’t static; they were constantly shifting. How could anyone possibly see through the cards based on that?

But for a moment, Lin Han couldn’t think of any other possibility.

—Forget it, it’s just something trivial.

With those thoughts in mind, the waiter had already led the two of them to the private box, then gave a respectful bow and exited the room.

The door of the box closed softly behind them as Lin Han observed the room.

The floor was covered with a thick, dark plush carpet that looked expensive at a glance; footsteps were almost silent upon it. In the center of the box stood a small round table, already set with champagne, a fruit platter, and several beautifully bound auction catalogs.

Directly ahead was a massive wall of one-way observation glass. Through it, one could overlook the theater’s entire main hall.

The spectator seating below spread out in semi-circular tiers, the deep red seats unfolding like a crimson sea. The stage was hidden by a heavy, dark red curtain embroidered with silver thread depicting a massive tree, its branches extending in all directions.

“The environment is quite nice,” Lin Han said.

“But this position is difficult to exit. If an accident occurs, it might be a bit tricky to handle.”

“…You were considering that the moment you walked in?”

“Did you not think of it?” Shen Qingshu countered.

“…”

Well, actually, that had been Lin Han’s first reaction as well.

It couldn’t be helped, occupational habits, occupational habits…

The two fell silent for a moment, quietly studying the structure of the box and the theater below.

Right then, the miniature earpiece Lin Han was wearing suddenly emitted a faint sound of static.

Zzz—

Then, came Gu Xinglan’s deliberately lowered voice—

“Hello? Can you hear me?”

Lin Han walked to the round table and picked up a glass of champagne. Using the movement as cover, he whispered, “I hear you. How’s the situation on your end?”

“I’ve successfully snuck in. I’m currently filling in for one of the cleaning ladies at the venue.”

At those words, an image immediately flashed through Lin Han’s mind: Gu Xinglan, dressed in a janitor’s uniform and pushing a cleaning cart, trudging through the backstage corridors with a dark expression.

How should he put it… it was inexplicably a bit funny…

But Lin Han knew that Gu Xinglan had likely spent a long time outside to secure such an identity; the process couldn’t have been easy. Thus, he ultimately decided to respect the fruits of her labor and didn’t laugh out loud.

“Good work.”

“Hmph, as long as you know.”

“Any findings?”

“Nothing yet…” Gu Xinglan’s voice sounded a bit frustrated. “The backstage here is much larger than I expected. All sorts of strange rooms are all tangled together. Xiaoman and Xu Weian are outside doing their best to help me organize the structural diagrams, but I’m still having trouble finding my way.”

Lin Han looked down at the auditorium, which was gradually filling up. “Don’t rush, we’re only just getting started on this end.”

No sooner had he spoken than a sharp, prolonged string note suddenly rang out, sounding as if someone had sliced through the theater’s stagnant air with a knife.

The entire hall fell silent in an instant.

On the stage, the heavy curtains slowly parted.

A full symphony orchestra was revealed beneath the lights.

Violinists raised their bows, the brass glinted with golden light, and the percussionist by the timpani straightened his back. In the next second, a storm of music erupted from the stage with a thunderous roar!

Low strings surged and brass blared, like a giant opening its eyes from a deep slumber.

The entire theater vibrated with the music, and the audience seemed to be pinned to their seats simultaneously by that overwhelming power.

“This is a thunderstorm pressing down from the horizon, a sovereign’s wrath carried within its roar.”

At the same moment, in a monitoring room within the Silvertree Grand Theater, a massive screen wall reflected the scene in the main hall in real-time.

In the center of the room, a young girl with long, curly pink hair was staring intently at the large screen.

She wore a white lab coat that was clearly ill-fitting; the sleeves were too long, covering her hands and hanging down a fair distance past them.

Besides the pink-haired girl, there were two other people in the room.

One was the President of the Radiant Foundation, nearly 60 years old, with his hair combed meticulously and a gemstone-encrusted cane in his hand; the other was the Director of the X City SAVE Branch, his expression grim and a deep wariness hidden in his eyes.

Compared to these two, the pink-haired girl looked somewhat out of place, like a high school student who had wandered into an office by mistake.

Yet, as it happened, those two high-ranking and powerful figures of X City both had their gazes firmly fixed on the pink-haired girl.

On the screen, an orchestra was performing; the pink-haired girl had her eyes closed, completely immersed in the music.

“How wonderful,” she said softly.

“The fourth movement, Stürmisch bewegt, stormily agitated. From the very start, the strings are a storm, the brass is like the breathing of a colossal beast, and the drumbeats are like a heart beginning to beat again. A so-called ‘Titan’ does not wake up to flowers and applause. He must first undergo chaos, collapse, and death before he is worthy of standing up.”

Seeing this, the Director of the X City SAVE Branch wanted to say something—

“Doctor…”

“Shh—”

The girl addressed as Doctor placed her index finger against her lips. Her brilliant eyes were like molten gold, and her tone carried an unquestionable authority.

“Listen until the end.”