Chapter 283 – Arrival of the Secret Treasure
Perhaps such “high grade items” may appear extremely f.u.c.king awesome in an ordinary auction, however, in a situation like this where the appearance of truly precious items were brought out by Teslan, these seemed extremely ordinary. Regardless of the degree of rarity or c.u.mulative prices of the items, Teslan’s were on a completely different level compared to Ma Dong’s.
The starting price of 4 million was finally settled at 8.6 million.
Three items had been auctioned off and it was time for Ma Dong to pull out his nuclear warhead. Up until now, the selling prices of his items had yet to even reach 10 million, making him appear incredibly weak against the fiery prices of Teslan’s items. At that moment, the expression present on the latter’s face gradually regained normalcy. Truthfully speaking, the presence of Darwin and Musk had brought immense pressure on him, however, he could finally calm and steady himself. That d.a.m.nable fellow has given me so much trouble! Once I ascend in position, I’ll definitely have good fun playing with Milami! I’ll make sure to play with her right in front of him!
At this moment, the atmosphere had become slightly serious. This continued all the way until the fourth item was auctioned, the Darna.s.sus Demon Sword starting at 25 million credits.
This was Ma Dong’s crème de la crème, a treasure that he had come across by accident five years ago during his many years of doing business. He was relying on it to flip the tables to his side, however, the current situation made this extremely rare weapon lose its attractiveness.
Even if the bids continued to rise, causing some slight uproar, the ridicule coming from the fervent discussions in the surroundings quickly extinguished any of it.
“The problem is still strength. As the person that Darwin and Musk are supporting, such a performance is truly lackl.u.s.ter.”
“He has invited very able people over, however, he has yet to bring out items that would be fitting their status. All in all, it’s such a farce.”
“Victory and defeat has already been determined. A waste will always be a waste.
“Don’t speak like that. Truthfully, Ma Dong has already done considerably well. He has the ability to control a large scale auction. It’s just that his opponent is too strong.”
“Ha ha. There’s still one item left. Maybe he has a chance of flipping this around.”
“Look at the first four items. Seeing those, what kind of fanciful play can his last item do? Furthermore, if we compare their last items, can anything be more valuable than a piece of land? Even if they could be, stuff like that isn’t on a level that Ma Dong could access. In any case, I can’t think of any.”
Having invited people over to an auction, one had to bring out some items that would garner their interest. If the guests were made to attend for nothing or to be presented with items that did not conform to their status, it would be a slap in the face at those relations.h.i.+ps forged. If one didn’t handle this well, the backlash landing on the faces of the guests would possibly lead to them taking revenge on you.
In the end, strength was still strength. It was something that required duration of acc.u.mulation and background. Even if one was a lucky b.a.s.t.a.r.d and managed to become acquainted with some great figure, wanting to stride towards the heavens in a single step would require one to possess sufficient hardware for it to work. If not, it would end up hollow in the very end.
As the hammer landed, the Darna.s.sus Demon Sword was sold at the final price of 40 million credits. When the fifth auction item was hoisted up by a slender legged beauty, everyone gawked slightly before some people started to find the time to admire her legs. Her figure was exquisitely selected.
Presented on the tray was unexpectedly a mere hologram and a strip of information.
Raising the slip to take a look, Tony also gawked slightly before a wrinkle appeared on his forehead. Seemingly waiting for a pretext to start the bid, he finally spoke out after quite a while. “Nameless stone slab. The seller will provide a holographic image for the buyer to inspect. If the buyer agrees, the method for transfer will be arranged…starting price, 1 billion credits…”
A wave of clamor instantly rang out from the crowd as everyone thought, is that person crazy?! 1 billion for a mere stone slab?! As if people will bid for it!
However, Darwin’s and Musk’s bored expressions immediately became exuberant.
The reason as to why they had brought their elite guards was to protect the stone slab after getting it in their hands!
Quickly, the slender legged beauty opened up the holographic image on the tray. As blue rays of light surfaced, a cubical stone slab half a metre in diameter appeared in the air. Instantly, the stone slab sparkling with rays of golden light attracted everyone’s attention!
Golden Stone Slab!
Some people had blank expressions, however, there were others who had suspicions as to what they were seeing as they had heard of rumors before.
Teslan had almost burst out in laughter. He had a.s.sumed that Ma Dong really had something that could catch the eyes of Darwin and Musk, but this was just a stone slab! Let alone being made of gold, even if it was made of dimensional crystals, it would not be worth a billion credits. Was Ma Dong insulting his intelligence?
Was Ma Dong that eager to lose? He had pulled out an unknown item to hype himself before preparing to foot the bill himself just to get someone to buy it? If that was truly the case, this Ma guy’s seriously too cute. How could such crude methods be able to mask the eyes of the higher ups of the family?
“This is d.a.m.n funny! What is that? He actually dares to sell it at a starting price of 1 billion?”
“An antique? Or are there heavenly texts carved on it?”
“Ha ha! Having heavenly texts that cannot the understood are of no use.”
“He’s taking it too much for granted! To the point of it becoming a joke!”
No one called the starting price of 1 billion credits, not a 100 thousand or a million. Even the collective groups of businessmen that have came to support Ma Dong weren’t able to stomach such a price. For them, supporting Ma Dong was only a form of investment. A billion credits far exceeded their limit. Furthermore, their credits would be spent on such a meaningless thing. The mockery and ridicule, however, started to quieten automatically.
Even if you could not appreciate it, it did not mean that others would not! If you did not understand the item, that did not mean others would not!
The first person to react in everyone’s eyes was Tony.
Being a veteran auctioneer with a wide and keen scope of knowledge, Tony was someone who was definitely above the required standard for an auctioneer. From the very beginning, upon seeing such a outlandish rule for auction of only the holographic image and not the actual object not being brought out, he knew that something was amiss. This was something that was totally disregarded the usual process of an auction. Being extremely clear of the rules, it was impossible for Ma Dong to make such a simple mistake. Furthermore, he had asked for a starting price of 1 billion!
At this moment, the thoughts of Tony were in fact more or less the same as the majority of the audience, which was that Ma Dong was purposefully making a joke. There’s a possibility that he found a prop that will buy it at a price even higher than a billion. In any case, the more ordinary an item was that one wasn’t able to see its value of, the easier it was to hype its mysteriousness up.
However, as the holographic image of that stone slab appeared, Tony’s gaze could not move away.
He was unable to see the use and history of the stone slab, however, there were ancient and extremely natural patterns on its surface. This allowed any knowledgeable person to see how extraordinary it was with a single look.
There weren’t any ordinary traces of artificial engravement and the pathways and designs of the patterns were complete and delicate.Truthfully speaking, this was the first time Tony had seen something like this in his many years as an auctioneer! As though it contained a magical aspect, there was an unspeakable charm and grace that seemed to be the work of G.o.d. Even if one did not know exactly what use this stone slab had, just its aesthetic appeal was already enough to let those admiring it feel intoxicated and unable to extract themselves from its sight.
If it was only him, it would be nothing much. However, the five figures from the ten great families at the front and those who were of a slightly lower grade like Gaia were all completely captivated by that hologram of the stone slab.
Taking a deep breath, Tony said, “Although it is just a hologram, if I am guessing this correctly, this should be a dimensional treasure – the golden stone slab!”