007 First Light The Past Never DiesMission Guide

Buying a seat at Bawma's auction costs a $100,000 stake, which is why the mission has you raising money across Aleph. You do not win by out-bidding the room — cash is not what the seller wants — so the bidding itself is a trap you beat by sabotage, not by spending.

1. 1Raise the $100,000 stake first (the Jewel of Jahari below is one of the quickest sources) and take your seat.
2. 2Your opening bid does not change anything — pick whichever option you like when the auctioneer opens the floor.
3. 3An identity check runs as a polygraph on every bidder. Wait for the third bidder, Mr Leung, to place his bid.
4. 4As Leung bids, raise your Q-Watch and hack his polygraph — the readout flips from green to red and he is thrown out, clearing your main rival.
5. 5On your final turn, choose the 'Improvise' prompt to bid influence and resources instead of money. Bond wins the lot regardless of the earlier choices.

★ Winning the auction unlocks the 'Win, Lose or Die' achievement and pushes the mission to its next beat.

Honest note — Achievement name comes from a single round-up and the exact auction lot is a story spoiler, so we keep the item itself off the page. The polygraph-hack-then-Improvise method is consistent across Game Rant, Power Up Gaming and other walkthroughs.

The Jewel of Jahari is a rigged three-cup game run by a market vendor named Aadan, hiding a red ruby. Watching the cups never works — the shuffle is cheating — so this is a Q-Lens puzzle, not a reflex one. Winning it is the 'Cupped' challenge and one of the quickest ways to fund the auction.

1. 1Pay Aadan's buy-in to start the game (one guide lists this as $3,500 — raise it from the Fight Pit or by pickpocketing soldiers if you are short).
2. 2The instant Aadan finishes shuffling, trigger the Q-Lens X-ray view (L1 / LB / Alt) and keep it up.
3. 3With the cups now see-through, pick the one the ruby is actually under — ignore where the sleight of hand made it look.
4. 4Take the Jewel of Jahari to Nirmala, the pawn-shop merchant in the black market, and hand it over.
5. 5Nirmala pays $30,000 on the spot — close to a third of the $100,000 auction stake.

★ Clears the 'Cupped' challenge and banks $30,000 toward the auction.

Honest note — The $3,500 buy-in is single-source (GAMES.GG); the Q-Lens method and the $30,000 payout are confirmed across GAMES.GG, blast.tv and space4games.

You cannot take a seat at Bawma's auction without a $100,000 stake, so most of The Past Never Dies is really a money hunt. Two scripted jobs cover the bulk of it and the rest comes from looting Aleph — you do not need to grind random sales if you do these.

1. 1Run the Scorpius art deal first — it pays $52,000, the single biggest chunk (full steps in the Scorpius Deal card below).
2. 2Win the Jewel of Jahari cup game and sell the ruby to Nirmala for $30,000 (steps above). With the Scorpius deal that already puts you past $82,000.
3. 3Pickpocket the soldiers and grab the cash bundles scattered around the market and the Fight Pit to top off the remainder.
4. 4For extra cash, hack Moneypenny's crypto hardware wallet — light a barrel with the nearby lighter to pull her attention, then pickpocket it (this is the 'Secure Transaction' challenge).

★ $52,000 + $30,000 clears 82% of the fee on their own — a few pickpockets seal it and you can take your auction seat.

Honest note — The two big payouts ($52,000 Scorpius, $30,000 Jewel) are multi-source (Game Rant, GamesRadar, gamingpromax). Loose pickpocket and crypto-wallet totals vary per run, so we don't put a fixed number on them.

Scorpius are the mercenary crew holding part of Aleph — the ones who set the $100,000 fee. A disguise sits in their hideout, and putting it on clears the 'Soldier Boy' challenge and lets you move through the compound unchallenged.

1. 1After you descend the ramp into the Aleph black market, take an immediate right toward the chain-linked door.
2. 2Eavesdrop on the two guards there — they talk about a deal and a burner phone inside.
3. 3Distract the entrance guard: trip the electrical box behind the container, or use a Phone Dart / Laser Strap.
4. 4Slip in and silently take down the guard standing just inside before anything escalates.
5. 5Climb the containers on the left to the upper platform overlooking the room where the disguise sits on a table; clear the guards, then interact with it to put it on.
6. 6The moment you wear the Scorpius disguise, the 'Soldier Boy' challenge completes.

★ Clears the 'Soldier Boy' challenge and lets you walk the Scorpius hideout in disguise.

Honest note — The right-turn route, the electrical-box distraction and the disguise location are consistent across Game Rant, xboxplay and gamingpromax.

Bond learns the Scorpius crew has a secret art sale lined up and steps in as the seller to pocket the payment himself — $52,000 toward the auction fee and the 'Art Lover' challenge in one job. It is the single most rewarding sub-objective in the mission.

1. 1Eavesdrop on the three soldiers by the containers along the left wall after you descend into the market — this starts the deal.
2. 2Tail the marked guard to the off-limits compound, distract the entrance guard and slip inside.
3. 3Get to the top floor of the warehouse, hack the radio to pull the guards off, and grab the burner phone.
4. 4Head northeast to the shipping yard and interact with container 76 to reach the art.
5. 5Survive the ambush — this is a License-to-Kill beat, so you can go loud and clear every enemy.
6. 6Collect the $52,000 payment from the buyer; the 'Art Lover' challenge completes with it.

★ $52,000 toward the $100,000 auction fee — the single biggest source — plus the 'Art Lover' challenge.

Honest note — The seller-swap, the $52,000 payout and container 76 are consistent across Game Rant, GamesRadar and gamingpromax.