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“Number Eighty-Eight!”
The moment this voice rang out, the entire auction hall fell silent once again.
Even though he had only made one purchase of that utterly useless gemstone, the impressive and authoritative demeanor he displayed during his debut left a deep impression on many.
So, when he quoted another price, the audience couldn’t help but speculate whether he would again surprise them with an astonishing bid.
Fairy Miss’s beautiful eyes sparkled with anticipation, wondering aloud if distributing flyers could indeed attract such a big fish.
Thus, she also began to look forward…
“Number Eighty-Eight bids…”
The voice was unhurried, full of the casual ease of one in a high position, but when his words fell, there seemed to be thunder accompanying them!
“Ten million…one thousand!”
“Number Eighty-Eight, bid ten million…and…wait? One thousand?”
The Fairy Miss, who was prepared to heat up the atmosphere with a mighty bid from Number Eighty-Eight, suddenly paused. She began to doubt whether she was too tired from hosting the auction and started hallucinating.
Could it be that Number Eighty-Eight, in such a domineering tone, had actually placed a bid that was laughably small?
“One thousand?”
“It seems indeed to be one thousand.”
“Number Eighty-Eight only added one thousand?”
“Incredible! Is this some kind of wholesale market today?”
The audience sobered up, realizing that the much-anticipated Number Eighty-Eight had only timidly added a thousand, resulting in waves of booing.
Meanwhile, in the first private booth, Lorenzo was laughing so hard he couldn’t straighten his waist.
“One thousand? Hahahahaha, he only added one thousand?”
“Hell, I thought he would be something spectacular, but he’s just another unsophisticated bumpkin.”
“Indeed, no wonder he spent a fortune on a useless piece of rock!”
“Hurry, quick, bid, and humiliate him thoroughly!”
“First booth bids eleven million!!”
“Wow!”
When the new bid from the first booth appeared, the entire auction crowd couldn’t help but let out gasps of astonishment.
What is impressive.
This is impressive!
Adding a million at once is not something a wimp who only adds a thousand can compare to!
But before the crowds could recover from this shock, Eighty-Eight calmly quoted the new price:
“Eleven million…one thousand.”
“Really? Again?”
Lorenzo sneered in disdain and directed his henchmen:
“Add, continue adding in increments of a million, I want to see how long this bumpkin can endure such humiliation.”
“Twelve million!”
“Twelve million…one thousand.”
“Thirteen million!”
“Thirteen million…one thousand.”
“…”
“Twenty million!”
“Twenty million…one thousand.”
“…”
“Damn!”
As the auction price kept climbing, the audience finally began to feel something was off.
Why, despite the rising bids, did the voice of Number Eighty-Eight stay so composed, while the first booth began to look increasingly flustered?
Who was humiliating whom?
“Number Eighty-Eight is deliberately inflating the price!”
Someone snapped back to reality!
And in the private booth, Lorenzo also realized what was happening and, enraged, slapped the coffee table in front of him to pieces, shouting at Fairy Miss:
“Such deliberate price manipulation, isn’t your auction going to do anything about it?”
“Esteemed guest, please calm down. The guest from Number Eighty-Eight has not violated any rules.”
Fairy Miss explained respectfully.
Though the deliberate price manipulation of adding only a thousand each time was indeed quite unethical, no auction would be foolish enough to ban deliberate price manipulation, and, furthermore, no minimum increase had been set before the auction. So, whether it’s adding a thousand or even just a dollar, it’s still in compliance with the rules.
“Are you not afraid that he will actually outbid and doesn’t have the money?” Lorenzo said with a mocking smile.
If one really had enough money, would they do this?
Clearly, it’s a nouveau riche bumpkin with not much money who’s here just to frustrate him!
Spending a million buying a broken stone, they think they’re someone special?
“This…”
Fairy Miss hesitated, indeed, the auction house feared meeting such people most – those who just deliberately inflated prices and, if accidentally auctioned off, didn’t have the money to pay. Regular auction houses generally verify qualifications, so there wouldn’t be this problem.
But after all, this is the black market…
“Please guests wait a moment, the auction will be paused for three minutes.”
After thinking it over, the Fairy Miss paused the auction and gave a subtle signal below the stage.
Shortly, a knock was heard on Mu’en’s door.
“Come in.”
“Esteemed guest.”
The attendant entered the room and respectfully said:
“Please present proof that shows you have sufficient assets for the auction.”
“Ah? Isn’t your auction supposed to be secret? Now you intend to intrude on the privacy of guests?”
Mu’en didn’t even glance up, casually swirling the red wine in his glass.
“Extremely sorry, but given the large funds involved this time, we must conduct the necessary risk control.”
The attendant deeply bowed:
“There is no need to reveal your identity, just proof that you have sufficient wealth.”
“Wealth? The cash I have on me seems to only amount to a million.”
“In that case, please leave until further notice.” A flash of coldness passed through the attendant’s eyes. Thinking to come here as a big shot with only a million, was he really someone to mess with…
“Is this enough then?”
Mu’en casually tossed over a crystal card with two fingers.
The attendant caught it steadily.
But when he clearly saw the crystal card, his hand involuntarily trembled.
It was a black crystal card, engraved with a golden chrysanthemum, looking understated yet luxurious.
As an attendant who has received professional training, he immediately recognized the origin of this card.
This is…a Black Crystal Card issued by the Empire Bank!
This card is targeted at the top elites throughout the Empire and, through the Empire Bank’s unregistered accounts, allows almost unrestricted overdrafts!
So far, such cards have been issued by the Empire Bank in only one hundred units!
This means anyone holding this card is absolutely among the tiny elite group at the pinnacle of the entire Empire, the kind of person whose every footstep shakes the whole Empire.
Additionally, the Black Crystal Card has the most rigorous confidentiality measures, making the tracing of the cardholder almost impossible. Not only the auction venue here, but even the boss behind them…
Holding this card means one can easily buy the entire auction, let alone mere millions-worth of Dragon’s Blood!
At that point, not only would he not have to eat vegetarian, but eating feces might even come into question…
“Am I qualified now?” Mu’en lightly asked, every word like a hammer striking the attendant’s heart.
“Yes, certainly qualified!”
The attendant’s back was instantly soaked in cold sweat, the calmness he had cultivated from long-term training already cast out miles away. Trembling all over, he held the Black Crystal Card in front of Mu’en and forced a professional smile:
“Sorry for the disturbance, as an apology, all items purchased by the esteemed guest here will be discounted by twenty percent.”
A twenty percent discount in a place like an auction house wasn’t a small favor. For instance, if Mu’en spent one hundred million bidding on some rare item, he’d only need to pay eighty million, saving a full twenty million.
This was already the maximum discount that the attendant could offer.
“Wow, quite sincere, aren’t you?”
Mu’en took back the crystal card, “But this, I’m not really concerned about. I just want to resume the auction as soon as possible.”
“The auction will resume immediately, immediately!”
The attendant, wiping his sweat, prepared to escape quickly.
He had to leave immediately to inform others that there was a top-tier customer here, or else if anywhere he neglected them, he’d be entirely ruined.
“By the way.”
Just as that moment, Mu’en suddenly looked back.
He raised a finger to his lip beneath the mask, a friendly smile curving his mouth and said,
“I don’t want a fourth person to know about this.”
Mu’en pointed to himself, then to the attendant, and finally behind the attendant.
“So confidentiality is essential, understood?”
