The Highest Bounty

Gu Ding and his crew spent the next two days wandering around and it was soon time for the auction.

Robert spent those two days locked indoors, holing himself him. No one knew what he was working on, he was even ignoring Neptune. He had been keeping himself extremely busy since getting the ingredients from Gu Ding.

In this short span of time, Neptune noticed a number of s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps touching down at the harbor. Most of them were Interstellar Pirates worth high bounties.

When Gu Ding entered the auction with the three tickets provided by the little old man, he noticed they were given front row seats. Even though it could not compare to a private suite, it was still quite a luxury. Gu Ding loved a lively scene and having a seat at the first row suited him very well.

“This is not bad of the little old man. He gave us such great seats,” Gu Ding said with a big grin on his face.

Biggie turned around as he looked behind him awkwardly. If he sat in that seat at the front row, he would be blocking the view of those behind him. He scratched his head in embarra.s.sment and chose to sit cross-legged on the ground.

“It looks like being tall may not be such a good thing after all. He can"t even sit in his chair,” Liliath covered her mouth as she laughed.

“We"re lucky to have seats in the first row. If it were any other location, there wouldn"t be a large enough s.p.a.ce on the ground,” Gu Ding added. He had a frame that was considered skinny and small. Even though he had gotten more muscular and slightly taller after cultivating the Ultimate Arts, his body was still considered standard for those of the same age.

Biggie gave a kiddish laugh and did not refute them.

An auctioneer appeared on the auction stage, which was a semi-circle. She was a woman dressed in a professional suit who looked intellectual. Her golden hair was tied up high at the back and she had exquisite features. She had on light make-up; her lips were colored in a light shade of pink. Her frameless gla.s.ses gave her a demure appearance. The auctioneer had on a white s.h.i.+rt with only the top b.u.t.ton undone, but everyone could still vaguely see down her chest.

The moment Liliath set eyes on this auctioneer, she mumbled in disapproval, “Hmph, you can"t use your breast as a pillow anyway. b.u.t.ton yourself up all the way if you have the confidence.”

The auctioneer seemed to have heard Liliath"s mumbling as she lowered her eyes to glance at her chest. She smiled slightly as she started to say something.

“h.e.l.lo everyone. I"m the auctioneer in charge of hosting this auction. We have received a total of more than 3000 certified auction items this time around. As there are many collector"s items coming up, we will conduct an 18-hour auction system.”

“I will be the host for 8 hours each day, during which we will conduct live auctioning. The collector"s items up for auction during the day have been carefully selected by us. They are all items that are valued at ten billion Star Credits and above.”

“As for the ten hours during the night, we will conduct the auction via booth display. Every booth will have a price increaser connected to it. All you need to do is to connect your smart.w.a.tches to it and name your desired price. The most recent bid will be displayed on the price increaser and we will record the buyer"s information backstage, which will not be made public. The buyer with the highest price will have the item displayed at the respective booths after the auction is over.”

“A seal has been added onto every item in the booths. No one will be able to remove them besides our chairman. Sellers need not be worried about anyone stealing any of the items up for sale.”

The female auctioneer had explained the process in a professional manner before nodding at the staff below the stage. “Let us start with the first item up for auction.”

The first collector"s item was not a huge object. It was hidden under a red cloth when the staff brought it on stage. A platform as tall as a half a person slowly ascended from the bottom of the stage and the staff placed the item on it.

“This is one of the items on auction which has the longest history. It dates back to about 146 billion years ago, during the medieval times, and was made by the strongest race within the Witch Tribe at the time,” the female auctioneer paused and reached out to pull off the red cloth. A glittering, translucent crystal ball free of any imperfections appeared in front of the audience"s eyes.

“Everyone here is aware that crystal b.a.l.l.s are known to be extremely fragile. That was why I was surprised when I first laid eyes on this perfectly preserved crystal ball. Even though it was been around for 146 billion years, time has not laid its mark on this crystal ball. And although this item can only be used by the Witch Tribe and the Holy Gospel Tribe, if you look at it from a collector"s perspective, this is definitely a top-grade keepsake worth collecting. It has retained its flawlessness for the better part of 146 billion years and in my eyes, looks to last forever.”

The female auctioneer"s moving words attracted the desire of many women in the auction. “Who would end up owning this timeless item? The floor price will begin at ten billion Star Credits. Each bid increment will be no lower than ten million Star Credits. You may start the bidding now.”

“This auctioneer sure has some tricks up her sleeves,” Liliath had to admit that she was tempted to make a bid after listening to the auctioneer"s introduction.

“There were two crystal b.a.l.l.s among the items Neptune had stolen. One is the crystal ball currently on auction, which was also the same one owned by the high priest. The other is in the treasure vault and is double the size of this one. I"m keeping it with me. If you want it, I"ll give it to you when we return to the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p.”

“Yes, I want it!” Liliath nodded without hesitation when she heard there was another one.

“Fourteen billion and eight thousand!”

“Fifteen billion!”

All it took was a few moments and the crystal ball had doubled in price. The bidders mostly consisted of men who had a female partner.

The bidding price for this item skyrocketed. It was quickly coming up to almost twenty-one billion Star Credits.

“Twenty-one billion Star Credits. Is there a higher bidder out there?” The price was within the expectations of the female auctioneer. It was an occupational disease of hers to fish for higher bids. As it would also mean a larger cut for her.

When the auction turned silent, a female voice could be heard coming from a private room upstairs. “Fifty billion Star Credits!”

“Fifty billion Star Credits, the VIP upstairs had made a bid of fifty billion Star Credits. Is there a higher bidder out there?” This was a bid that surprised the female auctioneer.

“One hundred billion Star Credits!” An elderly voice came from another private room. Even Gu Ding was shocked at the amount.

The female auctioneer on stage thought she had misheard. She said in surprise, “Was I hearing things? Another esteemed guest has just made a bid of one hundred billion Star Credits! Is there a higher bidder?”

This price had far exceeded her expectations.

A middle-aged man turned to look at the young woman by his side in the private room that had called out the bid for fifty billion. He reached out to hold her hand. “Let"s continue bidding. The item looks quite enticing.”

“It"s fine. It"s just a little toy. It"s not worth it. The people next to our room look like they are from the Holy Gospel Tribe. I"m guessing they"ll be placing huge bids to get every item belonging to the Witch Tribe,” the young woman shook her head and chose to give it up.

The crystal ball had been easily bid by the VIPs who offered up one billion Star Credits. Gu Ding could not help but share his shock with the rest of the group as they all sat with their jaws dropped.

The auction continued with the second and third items being displayed one after the other. There was nothing that caught the eye of Gu Ding and his crew.

“The next collector"s item will grab the attention of swordsman out there…” It took all the strength of two members of the staff to haul up a long sword housed within its sheath. Biggie"s eyes brightened slightly.