Weapon seller in the world of magic

In his past life, Mark was also overprotective of his younger brother as he's the only living relative. Ouyang Zen was also in a similar situation, although the different surnames clearly indicated that this Zan Rong person is neither a member of the royal family nor she is a biological sibling to Ouyang Zen.

Either way, she has nothing to do with the auction. Hence, her existence doesn't matter to Mark. He put away his thoughts and waved his hand with a smile on his face, "no worries. Please come this way…"

As he escorted the both of them to their table, Mark felt a sharp gaze toward him. There was no killing intent. So, he wasn't alerted and just glanced in the direction from the corner of his eyes.

He saw the young man with an eye patch staring at him while continuously tossing a gold coin and catching it. Or maybe, he was staring at the ladies beside him? Mark didn't know but he won't accept it nicely if it is the latter.

Since everyone except for Shang Fu, Shen Niu, and Ouyang Zen are irrelevant, Mark didn't go his way to meet him and concentrated on the kid.

"Okay, uh, Mr. Lan, King Ouyang, the auction will start in 90 minutes. For the sake of fairness for every competitor, we will not engage further with anyone else. In the meantime, Alina will be here. And we have amazing delicacies prepared for you. I hope you didn't forget to leave a comment after finishing your lunch.

I'll be leaving now… See you later…"

After ordering Allen to make rounds to see if everything is alright and Alina to take care of the welcoming, Mark was about to lead Song Yue to the waiting room which is a part of the tent that covered the auction hall but has a separate entrance.

And just he was walking away with his fiancée, Zan Rong and Yuan Meili returned to the auction hall, walking toward table number 12, where the representatives of the Eastern Sun kingdom were sitting.

Mark suddenly halted his footsteps and so was the ladies. His eyes fell on the 19-year-old girl who was a head shorter than him. Just for that moment, he felt like the whole world turned upside down.

His eyes widely opened and wandered all over her face, the fair skin, long neck, striking emerald eyes, full and natural-looking eyebrows, upturned nose, full but down-turned lips, and heart-shaped face.

Everything about her was too familiar to Mark. Perhaps, the only different thing is that she's older than the person he remembers. And his heartbeat rose rapidly when he went through his memories from his past life.

In a momentary shock, he couldn't control his voice and spoke loudly, "Mari?"

"Eh?" Zan Rong was startled for a moment and so were the other two ladies. The girl then replied, "Mister, my name is Zan Rong."

Mark's face was crestfallen all of a sudden and he apologized right away, "I'm sorry. I mistook you for the wrong person. I'll be on my way…"

Without waiting for her reply, he left the place to go to the waiting room, hurrying his footsteps. Song Yue bowed to them and followed her fiancé with a bit of doubt in her head. She doesn't know why but when he heard his voice quivering while speaking of the name, Mari, she felt like there was a story to it and she was anxious to know the truth.

As a result, as soon as she entered the waiting room and saw Mark was sitting there with his head hung down, she asked right away, "Are you alright?"

Mark raised his head and nodded as he controlled his expression, "of course, why not?"

"Is this Mari your friend?" Song Yue was hoping not to hear an answer like she is a former lover or something similar as she asked him. And Mark didn't disappoint her either.

"Not exactly," He replied while forcing out a smile before adding, "Marina was friends with Allen actually. I mean, not the one you know. It's my younger brother, I mean, someone who was like my younger brother. I was just shocked to see her when there's no way she can be here."

After hearing Mark's words, Song Yue somehow got a strong feeling that the original Allen Spencer might not be alive. Probably, something happened in the past and he died. That's why Mark named a high-quality puppet after his younger brother-like person.

As for the smile on Mark's face, she was confident that it was a fake one. After staying with him for several weeks, she could easily see through his fake expressions that appear real at one glance.

That means Mark must not be in a good mood while remembering his loved ones who passed away.

Forming her own theory in her mind, Song Yue felt a little bit guilty and apologized, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

Mark waved his hands, "No, I should be the one to apologize. You must have been really surprised."

"Well, not really…" Song Yue looked away, not intending to admit that she was damn anxious a while ago. She then quickly changed away the topic. "Anyway, I have been wondering about something for a while. It's regarding the exhibition."

"What is it?" asked Mark.

Song Yue then said, "Firearms might have been acknowledged as official weaponry but the bidders won't know how they work practically. We have neither allotted a separate space for the demonstration. Can they really spend thousands of gold coins on the things they can't trust? Moreover, your reputation among the leaders of the major clans isn't that great, to be honest. I'm not sure whether they will bid at all."

"That's a good question." Mark nodded with a smile and then explained his strategy, "You see, Song Yue, I never have any intention of selling them to those clan leaders from the start. My target is selling the vehicles to those independent kings and Emperor Shang. The advanced weapons are for the wealthy merchants to sell them elsewhere. That's why I purposely put away the demonstrations."

"Then, why did you go to such lengths to even invite them in the first place?" Song Yue didn't understand his thoughts on this move. To invite them, he had to write a letter to the Emperor and request him to bring them to the venue.

It can't be that he just brought them for his own amusement, right? Song Yue wondered as Mark didn't answer and just smiled in response.

Meanwhile, inside the auction hall, Ouyang Zen was in deep thoughts while staring at Zan Rong, who was listening to her new friend, Yuan Meili.

To connect with the 19-year-old girl, Yuan Meili was displaying all of her knowledge regarding marine life. As a result, Zan Rong was completely hooked on the conversation and couldn't even feel Ouyang Zen's gaze on her.

"Lu Zhen called her Mari, earlier. Is this really a coincidence? I remember grandpa telling me that her real name is Marina Zan and her people have surnames at the end. Perhaps, if her memories were intact, she wouldn't have been Zan Rong.

Either way, I should confirm with him after this auction is over and find her family."