281 Chapter 281 – This is just the start! 2 in 1

John couldn't help but exchange glances with Campbell.

How could the measly Assassin Family attract such great figures?!

The two of them were here due to owing a favor to Tumo Assassin while they were in Saint Mongols. Regardless of the Assassin Family's status, they could not be completely unassuming in front of this duo, right? Furthermore, even if the Assassin Family wanted to establish themselves in Tianjing City and obtain some territory here, there simply wasn't any need to alarm figures of such status!

Even Old Potter, who was usually calm, was also somewhat moved. What are those two doing here?

The entire auction grounds became abnormally quiet upon the entrance of the two. Even if the two men were not recognizable, their family insignias pinned on their chests were certainly well known. The Stuart Family and the Musk Family were terrifying existences that could shake the Federation when they stamped their feet.

"May I know which one of you is Mr Ma Dong?" The voice of the middle aged military male sounded incomparably clear, resounding across the entire grounds. The most important point, however, was the title "Mr", which had stunned everyone.

Exactly how was a person like Ma Dong able to have such a great figure to show so much respect to him???

"I am!" Ma Dong exclaimed in reply after choking on his saliva. He hastily walked over, trying his best to prevent his heart from beating so ferociously.

"I heard that this auction of yours requires and invitation to enter?" The other male spoke with a smile. "Is it possible for you to give out two more invitations? We came from a far away place just to attend your auction."

"Naturally! That is no problem at all! May I know how I should address the two of you?" Ma Dong's usual carefree and even crazy attitude was replaced by slight confusion. Wang Zhong had told him that there was a possibility for great figures to attend this auction, however, that was something he could not confirm. Truthfully speaking, Ma Dong did not have high hopes. Even the arrival of Old Potter was a massive surprise to him and it had already exceeded his boundaries of happiness. Now, he was truly frightened, in a good way.

"Darwin Stuart," replied the middle aged general with a faint smile.

The casually dressed, slightly older man also smiled faintly as he said "Disse Musk."

Upon hearing the names, Ma Dong was instantly dazed, along with everyone in the auction grounds.

Unexpectedly, they were truly from the Musk and Stuart Families!

Furthermore, the two that came were actually Darwin Stuart and Disse Musk!

Although they were also part of the ten great families of the Federation like the Bella Dean, Potter and Torresto Families, there was a clear distinction of status between each family!

The Stuart Family was known as the strongest family within the Federation. Although there were a few hidden families in the underground that possessed strengths that could contend against them, they were indeed the strongest on the surface. They were the most extensive within the territories that the Federation had set foot on. Regardless of work, agriculture, military, business and various other aspects, they were universally recognized as the uncrowned kings.

As for the Musk Family, they were known as the monarchs of money. The Federation banks were set up by the Musk Family, with their eyes and hands reaching far and wide, possessing exceedingly high statuses. The members of the Musk Family never made friends with the prerequisite of having money, since they had no need for it and were a family that had played with money to the very extreme.

The combined statuses of these two great families absolutely eclipsed that of the Bella Dean and the newly instated Torresto Family. Besides, look at who had come to represent them!

Darwin Stuart. This was a name that 99.9% of everyone present had heard of before. This was a name that appeared the most frequently on the posters of the Federation military in the Skylink. Previously one of the top ten military geniuses of the Federation, he was also the youngest and most outstanding major general! He wielded authority in the military and was a cornerstone of strength in his family. Compared to him, John or Campbell were undoubtedly much more inferior, as they only held middle level positions in their respective families and were arranged to contend for a small region.

On the other hand, Disse Musk… he was one of the permanent members of council for the Musk Family's council, and one of the ten most famous presiding judges of the hyperdimensional adventurer bases!

Upon noticing the two entering, even John and Campbell felt their scalps turning numb, let alone Teslan and the other small characters.

What had the most importance in the Federation? That would definitely be the hyperdimension resources!

One only needed to see a gigantic family like the Assassin Family and what they had accomplished for the sake of a baseless spatial fissure to understand the importance of the hyperdimension in the higher ups of the Federation. Furthermore, of the two who had shown up, one was a major general that who controlled the might of the Federation's military in the hyperdimension, while the other was a presiding judge in an adventurer base… it was not an exaggeration to say that the fates of many families were laid in the hands of these two.

Every single person that knew about the identity of Darwin or Musk was involuntarily dumbfounded. In face, even Tumo Assassin who was "hiding" on the second floor could not help but stand up.

"What is Ma Dong auctioning today?" Tumo Assassin could keenly sense something was going on immediately.

The steward beside him instantly understood his master's thoughts. "From the itinerary he had submitted, there's a trio of sealed earth, a piece of ancient Rheims crystal bone, a seventh grade mutated gem and a Darnassus demon sword…"

Usually, these could all be considered pretty good auction items, however, none of these could possibly catch Darwin's interest. From Ma Dong's first reaction when he saw Darwin, anyone with a bit of judgement could tell that the former didn't recognize the latter at all.

The steward hesitated. "Could it be that they were invited by Headmaster Scoffer?"

If one was talking about face, Scoffer Potter definitely had the capability of doing so as he was the vice headmaster of the Federation's Institute of Sciences, the brother of the family leader of the Potter Family and the only great elder of the Potter Family. However, Scoffer Potter truly did not care about family business. If one was to rank the people currently present on seniority, he would be one of the ten venerated people in the ten great families of the Federation.

Even if that was the case, this was an impossible matter as it involved the sensitive business of mutual benefits after all. Inviting Darwin to such an auction was not as simple as inviting him to a meal. Furthermore, Scoffer was clearly directing his conversation with his granddaughter and those beside her, with Ma Dong being just an accompaniment. It was obvious that Ma Dong did not hold much importance to Scoffer. For the headmaster to come down personally was already an extremely monumental task for him, yet to also invite Darwin over? Tumo Assassin was not that old to have turned senile.

"Could it be that the little fellow has some other great figure helping him in secret?" This time, Tumo Assassin was unable to make the slightest sense of this. There were many times that he had wanted to personally walk down to accompany Darwin and Musk, however, he resisted his urges in the end. After all, he was observing the auction in secret and suddenly appearing would clearly be deliberate.

In the midst of the venue, Ma Dong seemed to have also recognized the capabilities of the two and hastily invited the two to their seats. Indeed, there was no connection between the two and Old Potter, with them only recognizing each other. After exchanging nods in greeting, the two automatically took their seats at a small table allocated to them without speaking to anyone else. In the adventurer base, when the mysterious "Fate Master" had previously asked them to come and find Ma Dong, Darwin had only needed to quickly check the understand the situation. The little actions of the Assassin Family could not escape Darwin's faze, it was merely that he had chosen to ignore them. Indeed, their goal was the golden stone slab. Even if it was a joke by the Fate Master, they needed to treat his words seriously. Although this Ma Dong may not have any relationship with the Fate Master, they would still give him for the sake of giving face to the Fate Master.

The two gazed at the platform in the front, clearly showing great anticipation for this auction.

A few of the elders who were secretly helping out in the action began to whisper to each other. As the time for the auction to begin drew near, they exchanged a few Skylink messages with Tumo Assassin on the second floor. Quickly, an old man hobbled over as he rushed up the back of the stage and replaced the slightly nervous auctioneer who was already there.

This old man was also an auctioneer. Walking up the platform, he gently shook his bell, causing the clear sound to ring across the platform.

"First of all, the Assassin Family welcomes all the distinguished guests. This old man is Tony, and I will be your main host for the Giant Axe auction." The old man faintly smiled, before cupping his hands to pay respect towards Darwin and the others sitting in the front rows.

"It's actually Tony Assassin who is hosting…"

Quite a few people recognized this old man. He was the chief representative auctioneer for the Assassin Family, and had considerable fame and prestige within that circle. Usually, he would be in charge of quite a few auctions over in the Saint Mongol City. It was already exceptionally rare for him to personally hold down the fort. The only reason he had rushed over was due to the predetermined auctioneer being unable to cope with the aura radiating from Darwin and Musk. Indeed, his appearance became the cornerstone that weighed down the entire auction grounds. This was certainly a trait possessed by only specialized auctioneers who have seen it all. Although the Assassin Family could not be compared with the ten great families, they were not so weak to the point of having stage fright in front of them. Being a family of assassins, they had a certain connection with the underground world, experiencing various kinds of events, some in broad daylight and others that could not see the break of day.

After a few opening sentences to ease the atmosphere, he immediately started on the main event.

The entire flow of the auction was rather clear and all of the auction items were provided by Teslan and Ma Dong. The first part of the event was filled with miscellaneous objects that were auctioned together. The main reason for this was to spice up the atmosphere. Naturally, these items were not ordinary, however, the special performances from Teslan and Ma Dong would show up at the end. Only then would it be the grand finale that both sides have spent their hearts and souls to prepare.

The first item was a sixth grade fire nucleus.

"The very first item is a 'Fire Energy Nucleus' supplied by Mr Ma Dong. It comes from a scarlet scaled earthfire beast." As Tony introduced the item, a beauty dressed in a uniform carried over a tray on which a transparent box sat. A small ball of fire that contained a nucleus seemed to float inside. It had the attribute to continuously emit the fire element, causing it to be incomparably scorching to one's eyes. From a single look, one would assume that it was a little miniature sun.

"This is a sixth grade Fire Energy Nucleus certified by Saint Mongol City's energy association. The purity of its energy is judged to be grade 2A, with the density being grade A. The degree of completion is 99.69%. The final evaluation is set as a grade 2A fire attribute energy nucleus." During his introduction of the item, Tony displayed the certifications pertaining to its specifications. Raising the tray into the air, the elegantly dressed lady walked back on forth on the platform, doing her best to allow everyone a clear view of the item. "The starting bid is 3 million credits, with the lowest increment being a hundred thousand."

The very first item was already a high grade. An Energy Nucleus was a completely different thing from an Energy Crystal on the forehead of every mutated beast which represented the energy aggregate of their grade. Unlike this, an Energy Nucleus would only appear on extremely unique mutated life forms, and was formed from distinctly characteristic elemental attributes. They have considerable value and were in rather huge demand for research of special domains and absolutely could not be replaced by Energy Crystals.

Other than that, it was extremely difficult to obtain an Energy Nucleus as once a mutated beast died, it took an extremely short amount of time before its Energy Nucleus would dissipate away. Therefore, it was generally extracted when the beast is alive. Furthermore, the method of preservation was also extremely special. At this moment, the transparent box that held the Fire Energy Nucleus was an extraordinary construct. An Energy Nucleus that was able to obtain grade 2A was even rarer. The starting price of 3 million was a great bargain and although it was definitely not the final price, it had already caused quite a few people to salivate.

In addition to the few great figures in the front, there were already people striving to outdo one another.

"3.2 million credits!"

"3.3 million!"

"3.8 million!"

The bidding voices continued to rise in succession.

The guests that were invited over weren't just merely observers and showpieces. Aside from especially great figures like Darwin, there was no difference from them to any other people who had casually walked to take a look. The motive to invite these guests over was for them to spend money. This involved the competition between Ma Dong and Teslan, as their earlier contest of human connections was only the first phase. The ultimate factor was whether one side was more willing to spend to spend for the side they rooted for, and how much money each side spent. That was truly the test of human connections. As for the auction items, that was just another contest factor.

This Fire Energy Nucleus was one of the main harvests of the adventure squads that the Ma Family had sent out, showing that they still possess quite good luck.

The price rapidly rose to around 6 million, already reaching the black market price range. The bids didn't stop there, however, as they continued to rise and rise. The faces of the people that Ma Dong had invited were big, they truly had loads of money and every single one of them were local rich men. Although their faces were not on par with those great figures, they did not have any pressure in spending money. Although there was some slight dread towards the human connections that Teslan possessed, the appearance of powerful alliance members like Darwin made their courage and confidence grow by ten fold, such that the government officials on Teslan's side could not help but start to sweat.

The atmosphere in the grounds was blazing, and slowly transitioned into a comfortable stage.

The great figures sitting at the front clearly did not care about this prelude. John and the others continued to observe Darwin and Musk, although the two simply watched the show leisurely. From time to time, they would exchange a few words, before shooting glances at the side towards Old Potter and Ma Dong.

This auction had shown Wang Zhong a whole new world. From the beginning, the Fire Energy Nucleus was already an extremely high grade item in his eyes. This kind of special capability was extremely important for special ability users. The energy contained in it was alive, and had an extremely powerful strengthening effect towards one's special ability. Since he already possessed a fire attribute special ability, Wang Zhong could already feel the intimacy towards the Fire Energy Nucleus.

At the final price of 5 million, our student Wang could only salivate at the thought of it.