As a slight ache throbbed through his head, Karl saw a flood of unfamiliar scenes—

[Freya wearing that golden ring, commanding an army.]

[Freya borrowing the ring’s power and slaughtering her way through everything.]

[His and Freya’s severed heads hitting the ground together with the ring.]

Karl’s pupils suddenly widened!!

There was something wrong with this ring!!! It was the key item that would fuel Freya’s rebellion!!!

The moment he realized that, Karl felt like the heavens were messing with him.

It was just an auction. Did it really have to crank the difficulty up this much??

Still, complaining was one thing. Karl knew he had to act now and stop Freya from getting the ring.

The problem was, Freya had already won the bid. Even if he told her not to take it and dragged her away now, the auction house would still forcefully deliver it tomorrow.

Karl didn’t think Count Watt would listen to him.

At that thought, Karl frowned slightly, and a solution formed in his mind.

Steal the ring, keep it on himself, and never let Freya touch it again!!!

As the saying went, the most dangerous place was often the safest. Karl wouldn’t feel at ease leaving the ring anywhere else. He was afraid fate would somehow send it right back into Freya’s hands.

So the safest option was to keep it with himself and guard it personally!

With that in mind, Karl secretly glanced at the ring that had been taken down from the display stage, then said to Freya,

“Freya, my stomach hurts a little. I’m gonna use the bathroom. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Freya’s cold face, which had been fixed on the stage, slowly softened. Full of concern, she asked,

“Why does your stomach hurt? Want me to go with you??”

Karl quickly shook his head.

“What would that even look like if you came with me? I can go by myself. Anyway, I’m heading off first.”

After saying that, Karl hurried out of the private room. Then he followed the route toward the backstage area.

Karl wasn’t familiar with the place, so he walked in stops and starts, staying very careful.

Still, something felt off.

The whole way there, he didn’t see a single person.

“Where did everyone go?? There should be a ton of guards backstage.”

The moment he said that, his foot stepped on something soft.

He looked down carefully and found an unconscious guard.

“??????”

A string of question marks practically popped over Karl’s head.

Someone had already taken out the guards before he got here??

A thief! There was a thief in the auction house!!! Don’t tell him the thief was after the ring too!?

If the ring got stolen, then somehow ended up back in Freya’s hands by some cursed twist of fate, that would be a disaster!!

After all, he had seen the point of death the instant Freya won the bid. That meant if he didn’t interfere, the ring would end up in Freya’s hands no matter what.

Thinking of that, Karl immediately sped up and ran toward the backstage area.

Along the way, he saw quite a few guard “bodies” lying on the floor.

Though calling them bodies wasn’t quite right. Karl had checked. They were still breathing. They had only been knocked out, not killed.

After passing through the corridor, Karl went straight through the backstage door.

The backstage area, which should have been heavily guarded, now didn’t have a single conscious person.

Karl pushed open the door and carefully observed the situation inside.

In the spacious room, one precious exhibit after another had been placed neatly together, waiting for their buyers to come claim them.

Karl kept a careful eye on his surroundings as he quickly moved to the exhibits and searched for the Lost Ring.

Luckily, it hadn’t been stolen. It was still sitting safely inside its glass case.

Karl let out a sigh of relief. Without hesitation, he opened the glass cover and prepared to take the ring.

But just as he reached out, a black shadow dropped from above and struck fiercely at his neck.

However, even before opening the glass case, Karl had already seen the figure above him through the reflection.

The instant the figure came down, Karl grabbed the ring with one hand, twisted his body to the side, and rolled away.

But before Karl could steady himself, the shadow charged at him at incredible speed.

The shadow held a dagger, but didn’t use it on Karl. The moment it rushed in front of him, it simply drove a fist toward Karl’s forehead.

Even so, Karl could still sense the magic wrapped around that punch.

If that hit landed, he’d be bedridden for at least three or four days.

The moment that thought flashed through his mind, Karl immediately raised both arms in front of his head to block. To strengthen his defense, he even gathered magic into his arms.

And at the exact instant Karl poured magic into them, a golden light suddenly burst from his hand.

That light was coming from the ring Karl was holding.

The black shadow saw the light flare up and abruptly pulled back its fist. It stopped in place, then stared at Karl in utter disbelief.

Seeing the other side freeze for a moment, Karl immediately pulled out a spherical object from his pocket and smashed it hard onto the ground.

In an instant, thick smoke poured out of the ball and filled the entire room.

This smoke bomb was one of Karl’s homemade emergency tools. To deal with whatever crisis might come at any time in this other world, he always kept a few life-saving gadgets on him.

And right now, that smoke bomb became the perfect cover for his escape.

Within the smoke, the black figure stood there silently, simply watching Karl vanish into the haze.

A moment later, the figure flashed and disappeared as well.

When Karl left the backstage area, he casually pulled the fire alarm on the wall.

At once, the alarm rang out, and people all across the venue shot to their feet and rushed frantically toward the exits.

Karl, hiding by the wall, slowly blended into the crowd and left the hotel with the chaotic stream of people. Only this way could he avoid being stopped and searched.

Not long after he got outside, he saw his wife Freya coming out with the maids. The moment Karl saw her, he quickly stepped forward and said,

“Freya, I don’t know what happened here, but it looks dangerous. Let’s head back first.”

“But I still haven’t gotten the ring.”

Freya frowned.

“The auction’s in complete chaos right now. There’s no way they have time to deliver it. The ring’s still there. It’s not going anywhere. We can come get it tomorrow.”

“Alright, I’ll listen to you.”

Freya still looked a little unwilling, but after thinking it over, Karl did make sense.

The ring couldn’t possibly get stolen, right?

That night, at the Count Sovani estate, a black shadow swiftly landed in a dark corner of the garden.

The next second, Count Watt, his round belly jutting out, sat down on the bench nearby. He looked at the apparently empty space in front of him and said softly,

“Did you get the ring?”

At that, the shadow slowly stepped out of the darkness and revealed a cute round face.

The shadow was actually Ling, the maid who took care of Freya.

The thief who had attacked Karl that night was none other than Ling, sent by Count Watt.

The reason Count Watt had Freya bid on the ring while secretly sending Ling to steal it was to make outsiders think the ring had never fallen into the hands of the Sovani family.

“Reporting to the chairman, just as I was about to succeed, the young master came into the backstage area and snatched the ring away.”

Count Watt froze slightly when he heard that.

“Karl? How could he possibly take the ring from you?”

Ling might not have been among the absolute best, but her skills were definitely nothing to scoff at. Dealing with Karl should have been more than easy enough.

“I originally planned to knock the young master unconscious and then take the ring. But unexpectedly, just as I was about to hit him, the ring suddenly released a golden light.”

When Count Watt heard that, his pupils shrank slightly, and disbelief instantly appeared on his face.

“That ring... acknowledged him as its master!?”