Bombing It

Grey turned to face the men in the box, each wearing suits and murderous smiles. "I said that you're fools for insulting Ridgemont Heights."

"It seems you have a death wish." A man in a black suit and bow tie, sporting a slightly balding head of blonde hair, smiled, "This is known as [provocation], upstart."

He panned the people in the chairs in the row he was in. "And these are called witnesses. You should've known our laws. Guards, kill this brat!"

"M-Mr. Maslo." A guard in a red power suit stuttered from behind him.

"What is it!" Mr. Maslo snapped, "I said to kill him, so why isn't it done!?"

"S-Sir, please turn around." The guard said.

Mr. Maslo and the people in the middle row turned their heads with the fluidity of rusty cogs, seeing the situation. Each had two elite guards, the maximum number accounting for ten guards between them.

However, there were five mercenaries, ten of Sankey's guards, and ten from Ridgemont Heights, making for twenty-five guards pointing their weapons at the guards and the wealthy antagonizers.

"W-What's going on!?" Mr. Maslo's haughty blonde wife yelled, seeing a rifle pointed at her head, "We're elites; you can't threaten us like this!"

"You attempted to baselessly murder a silver-class guest of the Elite Federation." One of the Ridgemont elite guards said coldly, "That's an illegal offense against Markov and Elite Federation law."

All the elites in the room turned to Grey with wide eyes, joining Emma, whose heart was pounding out of control. The people in question shook violently.

"Y-You understand he provoked us, right?" One of the men stuttered, "You saw him verbally assault us, did you not? We have strong reputations, which this—"

Another person entered the room at that moment, and the atmosphere froze.

Grey looked to the side and found a familiar face. It was Michael, the gentle, grey-haired man who had raised his bet for the head-cutting event.

The teen had sensed the respect people gave him at the event and was now confirming it as the man looked around.

"Oh, there you are, Greed." Michael chuckled, walking into the room. Everyone's heart stopped when they learned the teen was holding the auction and an acquaintance of Michael Raven!

The gentleman turned to the guards holding guns against the elites and their bodyguards.

"It seems you've already made things lively." He mused, "Care to tell me about this disturbance?"

"Oh, not this isn't [necessarily] a disturbance." Greed smiled, gazing at the people, "We were just negotiating whether there was a disturbance and the terms of there not being one. Weren't we?"

The five people quivered under the teen's demonic green eyes, feeling worse dread than from getting a known severe penalty.

"Y-Yes…." Mr. Maslo said, "We were just resolving a misunderstanding."

"Is that so?" Michael smiled mysteriously, "Well, be careful. This one's blood pacts are liable to bleed you dry if you don't think carefully."

The five shook with primal fear at the multi-level meaning behind the man's statement. However, they eased up when the guards' weapons lowered.

-

"Welcome, everyone!" A beautiful blonde announcer said, walking onto the stage in a crimson dress, "My name is Lina Mion, Marksmith's Auction House owner.

I will be the auctioneer tonight, as this is a historic auction that none have ever attended!"

-

"Well, it looks like it's time." Michael chuckled, hearing gasps in the audience, "I'll be in the Celestial Box watching this farce unfold.

I hope to see you later to congratulate you on another exploit well done."

"I hope this spectacle meets your expectations." Greed replied mysteriously.

-

"What would bring me out?" Lina mused rhetorically, "Tonight, you're attending the first Earthian transmigrator auction in history!"

The players exploded in applause and nationalistic fervor, confusing the Rykerian elites.

-

"This spectacle has already met my expectations." Michael chuckled, walking away with an amused smile. "Everything from here on out is interest."

-

"Not a single item here has been sold on Ryker in eighty light years." Lina announced, "Marksmith's extensive network has confirmed that!"

Silence.

Disbelief.

An eruption of applause followed her words, shattering the soundwaves and rebounding on the theater's natural dome acoustics.

-

Michael stopped in disbelief, hearing the words the woman spoke before chuckling once, more of a hiccup, and leaving the room with a strange smile.

-

"You are the first with the opportunity to buy Earthian-modified weapons." Lina announced, "We have verified footage of each weapon from the Markovian Military to help you decide whether to buy."

Excited whispers spread like wildfire. The Rykerians didn't know what they were getting into before the event, so they were especially thrilled.

"Before starting the auction, we have a message from our sponsor, who goes by Greed." She chuckled, looking at the note, "It reads as follows:

Please forgive my people's peculiar language and customs, and do not misinterpret reactions.

Since the Rykerians do not understand Earthian customs, I will provide limited commentary and allow limited discussion. It will help everyone gain context.

Now please, enjoy this first-of-a-kind auction and unique cultural experience!"

-

Rykerians looked at each other skeptically. They didn't like qualifiers before spending their money. However, the next moment, the warning became hyper-relevant.

-

"The first item on sale tonight I called the Cyberpunk." Lina said, reading a cue card, "Greed says we should give it a shot at redemption."

The Earthians chuckled, looking at each other with crazed eyes as the woman pulled out a case and removed something similar to a grenade launcher.

-

─┈━═[Weapon Information]═━┈─

Name: Cyberpunk (Illegally Modified)

Type: Grenade Launcher | Incendiary Type

Requirements: STR 15

Ammo Type: Custom Canisters (One Shot Per/Canister)

Level: ???

Damage: ???

Condition: Hazardous

Description: AoE weapon containing a special flammable substance that burns hotter than thermite. Shoots three dozen miniature incendiary grenades in a 50-foot radius, creating a fire that dedicated teams can't put out.

For when you want to bomb something so hard after launch that even your supporters don't trust you again.

-

Warning: This weapon has modifications that may change performance or cause it to explode.

─┈━═━┈━═━┈━═━┈─

-

Exactly 50% of the audience was Earthian, per Greed's requirements, and all belonged to gaming legacy families, who profited heavily off video games.

While legacy families were wealthy elites, having the air of corporate titans, they were video game nerds to an aristocratic degree.

So after reading the description, they roared with uncontrollable laughter.

It was contagious, eating away the souls of all the Rykerians present, making them look at the people with bewildered, smiling faces.

However, the laughter left the Rykerians perplexed. Was their laughter a good sign? Or was it bad? Should they buy it or not!?

Their only clue was Greed's enigmatic warning: Please forgive my people's peculiar language and customs, and do not misinterpret reactions.

What should they interpret it as? They didn't know!

-

"Here's a video of it in action." Lina said, playing a halo recording that Grey took with conventional equipment.

The video of the hellish weapon stunned the Rykerians, but the Earthians couldn't watch it. Seeing the fire liquify buildings and everything that got near it made them laugh harder and harder, getting a visual representation of how hard Cyberpunk bombed.

Once the video finished, she looked at the cue card hesitantly.

"As per Greed's request, bidding starts at one zecta." Lina said with a slightly wry smile. However, madness swirled in her eyes when she saw the fine print at the bottom, making her grin ominously.

"But before you bid, remember!" The blonde announced boldly, "This is the first sale of the first Earthian transmigrator auction in Cyclo history! You may begin!"