Scarlet kept her smile calm as she looked at the masked man.
"I'm interested in buying."
That was all he needed to hear.
His posture changed immediately, like she had passed some invisible test. He gave a small nod and gestured toward another private elevator near the back of the auction floor.
"Then you'll want the deeper room," he said. "The real buyers are upstairs."
Scarlet followed him without hesitation.
The elevator rose in silence. No music. No guests laughing. No glasses clinking together. Just the quiet hum of the lift and the faint pulse of security systems hidden behind the walls.
When the doors opened, the air felt colder.
The room ahead was darker than the last floor, lit by low gold lights and floating holographic displays. Armed guards stood along the walls, all masked, all carrying weapons Scarlet recognized immediately.
Military-grade security.
Not black-market junk.
Not civilian-modified gear.
Real equipment.
The kind that only came from Imperial supply chains, STF armories, or someone with access high enough to make problems disappear.
The masked man pointed toward a metal bin near the entrance.
"Any weapons you have, drop them there."
Scarlet's eyes flicked to the guards, then to the scanners built into the doorway.
She didn't react.
Just smiled.
"Of course."
She placed a small sidearm into the bin, keeping her movements smooth and harmless. It wasn't her only weapon. It wasn't even close. But they didn't need to know that.
Before she could step farther in, a side door opened.
Two masked men dragged someone into the room.
A man in a torn suit.
Blood on his face.
Hands bound.
One of the masked men threw him to the floor and tossed a badge beside him.
"Look what we found," the guard said with a laugh. "IBI agent. Tried to bust us."
Scarlet's expression didn't change.
Inside, her mind sharpened.
The masked man beside her sighed like this was nothing more than an inconvenience.
"Again?" he muttered.
The agent tried to lift his head. "You won't get away with—"
A shot cracked through the room.
The agent dropped.
Silence followed for half a second.
Then the masked man waved a lazy hand.
"Dump the body. Keep the clothes and badge as a trophy."
The guards dragged the body away like trash.
Scarlet stayed still.
Calm.
Controlled.
She had been trained for this. She had seen worse. But that didn't make it easy.
Her comm stayed silent, but she knew the others heard it.
Then the room changed.
Not physically.
Something deeper.
A pressure slid through the air, cold and heavy, enough to make even the masked guards shift without knowing why. Scarlet felt it immediately, that unsettling pull of power moving through the room like a shadow with a heartbeat.
The elevator doors opened again.
And in walked Kairoth, the Twelfth Great.
High-ranking Nightcrew.
One of the few people who could make a room full of criminals feel like they were the ones trapped.
He wore dark formal clothing that blended with the auction crowd, but nothing about him felt normal. His presence was too sharp. Too still. His eyes moved once across the room, and several people looked away without understanding why.
He walked straight toward Scarlet.
"You're late to the party," Kairoth said.
His voice was quiet.
Unsettling.
The masked man beside Scarlet stiffened slightly. "You two know each other?"
Kairoth didn't even look at him. "Everyone worth knowing eventually does."
Scarlet smiled faintly, playing along. "I prefer dramatic entrances."
Kairoth leaned closer, lowering his voice just enough that it carried through her comm clearly.
"I've been tagging them for weeks."
Scarlet's eyes stayed forward.
Kairoth continued, calm and cold. "This auction isn't just about money. They're selling STF information. Vanguard response windows. IBI agent identities. Guardian routes. Bounties. Tunnel maps under the capital and along the outer walls."
For the first time that night, Scarlet's face almost changed.
Almost.
Her voice stayed smooth as she lifted her glass.
"Did you guys catch that?"
On comms, Renn's silence said enough.
Scarlet continued, "That's a lot more than a criminal auction. We need to shut this down now."
Kairoth gave the smallest nod.
"Yeah," he said. "I know."
His eyes drifted toward the auction floor, where masked buyers were still calmly bidding on secrets that could cripple whole cities.
Then his voice dropped.
"Let's get to work."
Scarlet's fingers brushed against the hidden blade under her sleeve.
Across the city, Shadow and Deadshot adjusted their positions.
Nightcoil stepped back into the event, trying not to look like someone who had almost been exposed five minutes earlier.
And above Valora Downs, beneath music, masks, and money,
The Nightcrew prepared to tear the auction apart.