"The ship doesn't play around," someone muttered.
Others recalled the cyanide capsule extracted from Caleb Thorne's mouth.
A standard ship medic didn't carry suicide pills. This wasn't a crime of passion or a sudden theft.
Planting a deep-cover operative inside the medical team, abusing top-tier clearances to smuggle an apocalyptic biological weapon past security...
The faction behind Specimen Fourteen was insanely arrogant.
This was Project Zero-Transit!
Did they seriously believe they could hijack the ship's infrastructure and just walk away clean?
When the buyers looked back at Specimen Fourteen, their gazes burned with an entirely new level of dangerous curiosity.
Creating a weapon like this was terrifying enough. But having the reach to infiltrate this ship?
The syndicate behind these assets was far more formidable than anyone had anticipated.
"We completely understand the ship needs to clean house," a representative from The Deep-Web Medical Syndicate urged impatiently. "But what we need to know right now is: what happens to Specimen Fourteen? Can we bid on it or not?"
"We've been sitting here for three hours! Some of us are falling asleep!"
"Give us a straight answer! Is it on the market?!"
Sure, they wanted to know who built it. But they wanted the prize itself infinitely
more.
A near-perfect biological weapon, vastly superior to Specimen Seven. A masterpiece. If they let this slip through their fingers, who knew if they would ever see its equal again?
"Exactly! If it's verified, we need a transaction plan!"
"You caught the mole, the asset is stable, you can't just tease us with this and pull it back now!"
Kaelen pressed a finger to his earpiece, listening intently for a moment before his expression locked into utter seriousness. "Regarding the subsequent handling of Specimen Fourteen, the ship has reached a final verdict."
"Due to the malicious concealment of its extreme risk attributes, the presence of unauthorized external control modules, and the blatant abuse of our internal clearance systems, the original consignment contract and partnership, qualifications tied to this asset are immediately frozen."
Frozen?
The ship actually froze the original owner's rights?
Project Zero-Transit was out for blood.
Kaelen projected his voice. "According to our contraband regulations, if a consignor conceals critical hazards that endanger the lives of our VIPs, or utilizes internal clearances to bypass our security, Project Zero Transit reserves the absolute right to terminate the
SA
agreement and freeze all ownership
rights."
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"Furthermore, we reserve the right to seize the contraband and dictate its subsequent disposal."
Kaelen paused, letting his gaze sweep over the hungry crowd. "In other words, from this exact second forward, the fate of Specimen Fourteen belongs exclusively to Project Zero-Transit."
The chaotic shouts in the hall instantly died.
The implication was earth-shattering. It didn't matter who built Specimen Fourteen. They could no longer claim it. The ship had seized the asset.
Someone couldn't hold back anymore. "If the ship owns it now, does that mean the auction continues?!"
"Since you've confiscated it, and it's already on the stage, are you opening the floor for public bidding?!"