[System prompt: One of your monsters have conquered 'Tinyland'. Half of the DP owned by the defeated dungeon master has been transferred to you. Please bring the defeated dungeon core to the Core of Madness for further rewards.]

[System prompt: 584029 DP has been added to your balance]

Five internally smiled as he read the system prompts. 'Two down. Just in time... If they were late by just a few minutes, the dungeon master might have had time to return to their dungeon. Although we did not get all three dungeons, clearing two is an excellent result.'

He briefly looked at his DP which now totaled 701059 DP but at that moment, a commotion broke out in another part of the auction hall.

"What happened to Bryan? Why did he suddenly disappear?"

"His name also vanished from the chat group! How is that possible? Is it a bug?"

"Even his dwarf disappeared! Did something happen to his dungeon?"

Several players were freaking out as they stared at the now empty seat. Many witnessed the sudden disappearance of the dungeon master. The latter only briefly stood up with a shocked expression before disappearing out of nowhere.

Nobody understood what happened exactly. The Winged Devils were already flying above the empty seat, analyzing the situation.

"Silence! What is happening here?" exclaimed one of the Winged Devils. Even after having held several auctions, it was the first time they were witnessing the disappearance of a dungeon master. The Winged Devils were intrigued and anxious as it could represent a weakness in their security but before they could come to a conclusion, Gaia's voice sounded once again.

"Stop wasting time and focus on the bids. Your friend's dungeon core was just captured. Losing a dungeon core means that his journey in New Earth has come to an end. Take this as a warning and don't leave your dungeon defenseless for the next events."

Five was the only one not affected by the events. It was not hard to guess that 'Tinyland' belonged to that particular dungeon master. Everyone was panicking as their dungeons were currently without supervision. Since one dungeon master had already perished, it was possible that their own dungeon was under attack right now!

The Winged Devils quickly calmed down the crowd and the auction resumed but everyone was now hoping to end it quickly. They wanted to go back home to check on their core!

"450000 DP!" Five directly placed a bid now that he had more than enough DP but to his surprise, the other dungeon masters continued to bid.

Very quickly, the bid rose up to 800000 DP. Five clenched his fists. 'Just how expensive can those answers get? I did not think people would be so intent on buying them.' The bid already exceeded all the DP he had. The system prompt brought him hope as his DP soared but unfortunately, it was not enough.

'Anyway... Those answers are not too important. As long as I continue playing the game, I should not have any trouble...'

However, to his surprise, a voice suddenly rose from the crowd.

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"I have a proposition to make! I only want to ask one question. Is anybody willing to partner with me? I am willing to go up to 500000 DP."

The eyes of the crowd turned toward the speaker. It was unexpectedly the same dungeon master who purchased Karyn, the elf. From her voice, it was easy to determine that she was a woman.

‘Why did I not think of this?’

Five's eyes lit up. Her proposition was indeed very attractive. To be able to split the cost would be beneficial to him. While Five was pondering over her proposition, all the other dungeon masters were sizing up the woman. She had already purchased Karyn for 1.6 million and was able to take out another 500000 DP. To top it off, she did not even belong to any alliance. They were all curious about her; to be able to bring that much DP as a single player, her dungeon was definitely not simple.

"I will allow you to split the questions!" Gaia's voice sounded.

Before Five could answer, another player shouted in response. "I will join you, miss. I am also only interested in having one question and will match your offer."

Afraid of missing the opportunity, Five hurriedly called out, "I shall join as well!"

"Excellent! In that case, we shall push our combined bid to 1 million DP." The woman spoke as the bid displayed by the hologram changed.

The rest of the crowd stared at the trio. Five especially stood out after his conflict with the Cyclone Alliance yesterday. The dungeon masters did not necessarily recognize him but they all remembered Angela who was sitting next to him.

The dungeon masters murmured among themselves. One million DP was already a lot for three answers. To many, it would be a waste to invest so much DP into just answers. As they were bound to the alliances, they would be forced to go down a certain path.

Amour looked at the crowd expectantly. "No one else is interested in forming an alliance? The current bid is one million DP! Going once. Going twice?"

At that moment, another player intervened, "1.1 million DP!"

"1.2 million DP!" immediately answered the woman. She did not even give the hologram time to display the previous bid. She showed her determination in obtaining those answers.

Five looked at the crowd in silence. There was not much he could do; he could only hope that no one else would outbid the woman. Although it was expensive, Five did not find those answers to be too expensive. He was different from the others who were bound by contracts, he could make appropriate changes in preparation for the future.

"Sold!"

Eventually, the three answers went to the trio. Amour smiled and bowed. The auction had come to an end for real this time.

[System prompt: The auction has officially ended. A teleportation crystal has been added to your inventory. Use it to return to your dungeon. Dungeon masters are free to stay at the hotel but remember that once your dungeon core is destroyed, you will lose consciousness.]

[System prompt: Due to having purchased a special item at the auction, you will be teleported to a different area.]

As he received the system prompt, Five was momentarily blinded. He saw a bright light shine in front of him, forcing him to close his eyes.

When he was once again able to see, Five found himself standing in the middle of a large library. He was facing a glass window, having a direct view on the beach.

"What was that?" A voice sounded next to him.

When Five looked at the speaker, he found five people standing to his right. Two were players and the rest were monsters. Five identified them as the dungeon masters who agreed to partner up to obtain the answers. He could see Karyn and the succubus standing next to their mistress.

The other dungeon master was a tall man whose features were hidden by the cloak and clown mask. His monster was actually a Cyclops. They were usually giant creatures, but the Cyclops' size was reduced significantly to allow him to fit into the building.

Angela hid behind Five while hesitantly looking at the other monsters. Out of the lot, she was clearly the weakest one.

"Your proposition was great! My name is Ali, arrested for assisting terrorists in their escape. Nice to meet you." He presented his hand to the woman, but the latter did not react. He could feel the questioning stares and quickly added.

"Sorry, you guys are not from any alliances. This is just how we introduce ourselves there. Your IGN and the reason for your arrest... Naturally, don't give any other detail about yourselves."

After looking at the awkward hand being presented to her, the woman finally shook it. "Iris, arrested for murder. I killed the entire household of the man who married me."

Ali felt a shiver run down his spine, especially when he saw the succubus lustfully look at him while licking her lips as if she was looking at her next meal. He quickly turned his attention to Five and Angela who looked much more approachable.

"Five. Arrested for mass murder and assassination, trespassing on military ground and leaking national secrets."

Ali froze. 'D*mn, what kind of madmen are those two. I thought I would look impressive if I said that I was involved in terrorist acts but these two are the real deal.'

"I joined the Storm Alliance. Would any of you be interested in joining us? We offer..."

"No!" As one, both Five and Iris interrupted him.

Five and the woman's eyes briefly met but at the same time, a door opened behind them.

Gaia stood at the entrance, widely smiling. "Welcome to you three. What do you think of this place? It is not bad, right? I thought it would be nice if the other players could come here to rest and enjoy themselves. Sooner or later, they would get bored of constantly having to hunt monsters but naturally, they would have to pay to come here."

She invited the three to the adjacent room, sounding more excited and happier than usual. Five could tell that something was different in Gaia's behavior, it was the first time he was seeing her behave like this.

"Let's not waste time. I am sure you are eager to go and enjoy the resort or maybe you want to go back to your dungeon. Who would like to ask the first question?" asked Gaia as she brought the trio to a circular table at the center of the library.