Chapter 344: The Statue Of The G.o.ddess Of Misfortune
The people in the auction house had undergone a significant transformation within one hour.
The wealthy individuals had sold their female slaves. Even though the chains from the female slaves’ wrists and ankles had been removed, none dared to flee. They only cast a wary eye on Watson, who was sitting in the first row.
At that moment, besides Elena and the other two women, Watson was surrounded by many auction staff. Most of the other wealthy men had left; they knew that they could not buy anything else even though they were eager to spend some money. So, the staff could only accompany Watson.
Consequently, Watson had become the auction firm’s sole luminary. There were a large number of attractive women all around him. Those few remaining n.o.blemen seemed envious after seeing that spectacle.
They were curious about the auction items and what was missing; they would not leave until they had seen them all. Watson only had a small amount of the gold in his hands as he had bought many slaves. He was down to a few hundred thousand gold coins out of the original five million. He might not be able to afford all of the subsequent purchases. They still had a chance.
“Watson, why did you spend so much money to buy those slaves?”
Elena’s face was flushed with confusion as she watched Watson’s bank account balance decline once more. She was not a fool if she could become Alice’s guard. She could guess what was in Watson’s mind. He purchased those slaves to save them and to drive those wealthy men away.
“To save one is to save all, and to save a group is to save all. I intend to do all in my power to free all the slaves in the Crystal Palace.” When Watson finally spoke up, it was in a low, hushed voice.
It was as expected.
Elena’s expression seemed more complicated. She wanted Watson to only focus on Alice and only to save Alice. However, she knew that it was selfish, and Watson would not agree to it. She was safe because Watson was a selfless person. Otherwise, she would have been abused by the Severed Fingers Gang, and she would be living a life worse than death.
While Elena was lamenting, the auctioneer on the stage also began the auction quickly. “The original price of this item is 1,000 gold coins. Young Master Casey has given us a price of 50,000 gold coins. Is there any higher price? If there isn’t, Young Master Casey will get it.”
“And the auction item… well, forget it. I might as well bring the remaining less than ten auction items up here. You guys can look at the bids. If no one is offering more than Young Master Casey, then those items will belong to the Ptolemy family.”
Perhaps that was the fastest auction in the auctioneer’s entire life. Typically, 20 items would last for half a day, but the auction had ended in two hours. One of the hours was because Watson was buying slaves.
The wealthy men did not say anything. There was nothing worth buying in the subsequent items; those few items would simply fall into Watson’s pockets.
“Young Master Casey has accomplished a great feat this time. He bought all the items and even bought a lot of slaves. I wonder what he’s going to do? If he misappropriated the Ptolemy family’s a.s.sets, he’d definitely be miserable when he goes back.”
“I don’t think so. No matter how bold Casey is, he wouldn’t dare to do that unless he wanted to give up the right to inherit the family! I guess the Ptolemy family must have instructed him to do that. I wonder why?”
The few n.o.blemen in the venue knew that the auction was over. They stood up and discussed in low voices.
“Everyone, please wait a moment. The auction isn’t over yet. We still have one last item.”
The auctioneer’s voice attracted the gazes of the men who were about to leave. Immediately after that, the stage with the red curtain suddenly opened. Behind the curtain was a huge gla.s.s wall; it was filled with sky-blue seawater. There were corals and schools of fish in the seawater. Under the illumination of the lights, they looked gorgeous. However, those were not the most beautiful things in it.
It was the most beautiful little mermaid they had ever seen. Two bright white sh.e.l.ls covered her newly developed chest. Her sky-blue hair floated in the water as the crystal crown on her head appeared. The little mermaid’s face was perfect. Her round eyes seemed sad as she looked outside through the transparent gla.s.s.
“This mermaid is a precious species that we caught yesterday. According to the crown on her head, we guessed that she is part of the royal family of the sea folks, and her bloodline is very pure! According to ancient records, every royal family member has an ability that is different from the other sea folks. When they are in love, their tears will turn into pearls. If a mermaid princess falls in love with a man who makes her cry continuously, that person will obtain an endless amount of wealth.”
Then, he continued to say, “It’s not only that, but the body of the mermaid princess is also incomparable to that of an average sea folk. She can bring an incomparable experience to men! As the final item, the price of this mermaid princess will start at 100,000 gold coins. Each increment should not be less than 10,000 gold coins. However, Young Master Casey had offered 50 times the price of each item. Therefore, the current price of this mermaid princess is 5,000,000 gold coins. There shouldn’t be anyone competing with Young Master Casey. Of course, if Young Master Casey doesn’t have enough money, it is also possible to lower the price.”
The auctioneer glanced at the few remaining gold coins in front of Watson.
When they first caught the mermaid princess, someone from the Severed Finger Gang had wanted to keep it as a tool to make money. However, the higher-ups rejected it because the mermaid princess would only cry when she fell in love with someone. It was easier said than done to make the mermaid princess fall in love with a human trafficker. In addition, the sea folks would have their revenge. So, they still decided to sell it.
“Who said that I don’t have enough money?”
Watson smiled and twisted the ring on his finger again. The pile of gold coins in front of him immediately began to glow and multiply, from hundreds of thousands to five million gold coins. The other men’s expression darkened when they saw that. They cursed in their hearts; they had been waiting for Watson to reject that offer due to lack of money.
D*mn, Casey! How could he have so much money?
Watson had already taken out close to ten million gold coins. It was not a tiny amount, even for the Ptolemy family. Everyone thought that the family must have had an ulterior motive. Then, those n.o.bles understood that the Ptolemy family was there for the mermaid princess.
Even though ten million gold coins was a lot, they could earn them back again. However, the mermaid princess’s tears would turn into a pearl as long as she cried. That was an endless amount of wealth. Even if they knew that they would not be able to take out five million to compete with Watson.
“I think no one would be able to compete with my five million gold coins. Then that mermaid will come—”
“Wait a minute; I’ll bid 5,500,000 gold coins!”
Watson had wanted to say that the mermaid would go to him. At that moment, a hoa.r.s.e female voice came from the back row of the auction hall and interrupted him.
Frowning, Watson turned his head and found a tall figure in a black robe. A burly man, also in a black robe, was next to her. He deliberately pulled the brim of his hat to cover his face.
“Miss, our auction house has to verify if you have that much money,” the auctioneer asked.
Cras.h.!.+
As soon as his voice fell, the burly man beside the woman raised his hand. A black hole appeared in the sky, and the azure seawater washed countless pearls forward and fell to the ground—the mountain of pearls piled up higher than the mountain of gold coins in front of Watson.
“Do you still need to verify it?”
“No, no need.”
The auctioneer wiped the cold sweat on his forehead. ‘What’s going on today? Not only did the Ptolemy family’s second young master bring a mountain of gold coins, but those two mysterious people are even more terrifying. They had brought a mountain of pearls. According to the market price, a pearl can be sold for dozens or even hundreds of gold coins.’
The total value of those pearls was estimated to be over a hundred million gold coins.
“What’s going on with those two people?”
Watson observed the two people in the back row. The man glared back at him.
He could see Elena’s body tremble when those two people appeared. However, he did not pay much attention to a plan to save Alice. He turned his head to look at the pile of gold coins in front of him. He was considering whether to double the number of gold coins. He had just created ten million gold coins, but he had only used ten wishes. He still had twenty more chances to make the number of gold coins in front of him reach the trillion level.
However, he was considering whether or not he should do that. A trillion gold coins were enough to blow up the entire auction hall. Furthermore, the Ptolemy family did not have that much money, so it would be hard to explain it when the time came.
Just as he was hesitating, the woman said, “Time is a precious thing. Let’s end this quickly. The total value of our pearls is a million gold coins! That is the limit that we can afford. If Young Master Casey’s bid is not as high as ours, then the mermaid princess will belong to us.”
“Young Master Casey, what do you say?”
The auctioneer looked at Watson. Watson hesitated for a moment but did not multiply the gold coins in front of him. “I really can’t afford 100 million gold coins.”
“In that case, that mermaid princess is…”
“Even though I can’t take out 100 million gold coins, I can give you something more precious.”
Watson stood up and opened his right hand toward the 20 gold or peak gold-tier items that he had just bought. “System fusion, activate.”
[Congratulations, Master, you have fused 20 gold-tier items successfully.]
[You have obtained a peak platinum-tier item—the G.o.ddess of Misfortune Statue.]