"How did this end up in your hands?"
Luo Shu toyed with the invitation in his hand, his gaze probing as he looked at Maria Naruse.
"It was brought over by a business partner for consignment. They said someone would buy it for five million USD in a while."
"Of course, apart from that, they also said if it wasn't purchased, it would be given to us for free."
Maria Naruse looked at the invitation in Luo Shu's hand, equally surprised that this was supposedly the entry ticket to the True Dragon Legacy:
"Since that partner had some connections with American intelligence agencies, I agreed without much thought."
"Originally, I thought this was just some shoddily made pass, but now..."
At this point, Maria Naruse also seemed troubled.
The Dreamland Maid Cafe was their succubus faction's base in Tokyo's Akihabara district.
Since it operated within officially regulated territory, maintaining good relations with authorities was practically mandatory.
Previously, they had certain... financial arrangements with the French Union's operations teams, but now, they had secretly become subordinates of the Hidden Management Department.
Still, adhering to the principle that harmony breeds wealth, they tried to avoid offending official American institutions whenever possible.
Selling a ticket, even at the exorbitant price of five million USD, was something Maria hadn't paid much attention to.
Just another form of protection money collection by American intelligence agencies, she assumed.
This kind of high-priced purchase of useless items—like spending tens of millions on paintings or antique vases—was essentially bribery, something Maria had seen plenty of.
Many succubi in Europe even worked as auctioneers at major auctions, handling hundreds, if not thousands, of such transactions.
That's why Maria had so readily agreed to sell this ticket.
But she never imagined this thing would actually be an entry pass to the True Dragon Legacy.
"This... won't cause any problems for me, will it?"
Maria's face turned slightly green. Getting involved in the struggle over a Demigod-level inheritance was the last thing she wanted.
She was just an underage dream demon baby!! Although technically a type of succubus, juvenile succubi weren't exactly combat powerhouses!
"Whether it affects you or not is hard to say. After all, we can't guarantee they weren't targeting you specifically."
As Luo Shu said this, he glanced at Nia Honjo, his expression questioning.
At this moment, Nia flipped through Raziel and nodded:
"Nearly every major faction in Akihabara has received identical invitations."
"This aligns with America's claim of openly inviting all mystic side organisations."
"The inconsistency is that an extra thousand copies of these invitations have been circulated on the black market."
The so-called black market wasn't a physical location; it referred to anonymous trading channels.
The seller doesn't care who the buyer is, and the buyer doesn't know the seller's identity. Even the merchants won't investigate either party, ensuring maximum safety for both sides.
Generally, the negotiation part of such transactions takes place on the so-called dark web.
The deal is confirmed online, the agreed transaction method is used, and the transaction is carried out at locations connected to the black market, as arranged.
As the largest trading hub for Abyss Artefacts, Akihabara naturally has black-market shops operating there.
For instance, Maria Naruse's Dreamland Maid Cafe is essentially part of the black market, serving as a physical transaction point.
These shops act as venue providers, storage locations for goods, or sometimes even direct sellers.
Thus, it's not particularly strange that an extra invitation letter ended up in Maria Naruse's hands.
Perhaps every black market shop owner in Akihabara holds one such invitation.
"Besides the invitations given freely to designated organisations, there are another 1,000 invitations? What exactly is America playing at?"
Luo Shu frowned slightly at this thought:
"Does completing the True Dragon Sorcerer Class really require so many people as sacrifices?"
"Human sacrifice? That's certainly possible."
Nia Honjo nodded in agreement:
"Top Tier Classes don't gain their power without cost."
"If exchanging thousands of sorcerers' lives for strength is the requirement, then yes, that's entirely plausible."
Her tone carried a hint of regret as she continued:
"Pity. Information interference is too severe in such high-authority matters. Otherwise, we could investigate why the True Dragon Sorcerer Class needs so many sorcerers."
"Whatever the requirement, having too many participants will cause trouble - especially several hundred walking rocket launchers."
Luo Shu's frown deepened:
"While major factions might not send their actual personnel, and not all 1,000+ invitations may be distributed, the number competing for the True Dragon Legacy likely won't be fewer than five hundred."
"Having them compete within Akihabara is manageable, but if they take their competition to Tokyo proper, that would be disastrous."
The Akihabara Grand Barrier within Akihabara imposes significant suppression, making technique activation difficult even for Hero Rank individuals.
As long as this suppression remains, controlling several hundred sorcerers isn't particularly troublesome.
The SDS has enough automated weaponry to handle them.
The real concern is which Demigods might interfere in this True Dragon Legacy competition.
If Twin Wings or even Hao get involved, things could become extremely problematic.
After all, the Akihabara Grand Barrier can't stop Demigods.
Hearing this, Nia Honjo shrugged:
"Given the Five Great Powers' tendencies, they'll definitely restrict the competition and auctions to Akihabara."
"They might even invite us to supervise."
Luo Shu raised his hand to massage his temples:
"What a hassle."
"Forward the CIA's little scheme to Lacus and let her handle it as she sees fit."
"Hmph, let's see what tricks these hyenas are up to!"