Chapter 1790 - Ore Vein of Astronomical Value
Upon hearing Shi Feng's proposal, Aqua Rose and Gentle Snow could not help but stare at him in disbelief.
They could not understand why he would actually abandon such a good opportunity to make money and, instead, settle for just borrowing manpower from Unyielding Soul.
Meanwhile, during the time Shi Feng and Mu Lingsha were discussing this point, Yuan Tiexin had slammed his gavel for the second time.
"Six hundred and thirty thousand, going twice! Is there nobody present willing to offer a higher price?" Yuan Tiexin asked as he glanced at the audience before him.
Although 630,000 Gold already exceeded the Secret Pavilion's original estimates, earning a few more Coins would not do the Pavilion any harm.
"Greedy bastard!" Lu Xingluo frowned at Yuan Tiexin's deliberate prolongation of the auction.
Six hundred thirty thousand Gold was already far outside of his expectations. He had never thought that Unyielding Soul would be capable of taking out so much money.
With such an expenditure, even if he could eventually recover the cost from the profits generated by the Magic Crystal vein, it would take a very long time before he could recoup his entire investment. Not to mention, he would also have to station an army of 100,000 players at the vein over the long run, which would further increase the time needed to recover his cost.
The only fortunate matter was that the Magic Crystal vein produced Magic Crystals and rare ores that were very difficult to acquire on the market. For the foreseeable future, the Starline Corporation would no longer have to worry about its Guild's daily Magic Crystal expenditure.
Meanwhile, inside Shi Feng's room...
"Alright, I agree with your conditions." Mu Lingsha nodded to Shi Feng.
Although she was neither Unyielding Soul's Guild Leader nor Vice Guild Leader, she was the heiress of Unyielding Soul's biggest shareholder. Moreover, Unyielding Soul had already granted her full authority over the auction this time. If it was only getting some of Unyielding Soul's members to help Zero Wing with a task, she could easily approve this matter with her authority.
"Alright, I'll write up a contract You should place a bid first." Shi Feng smiled when he heard Mu Lingsha's reply.
With the help of a super-first-rate Guild like Unyielding Soul, he could proceed smoothly with the next step of his plans. Compared to what he stood to gain through this help, making a few thousand Coins of profit was not worth mentioning whatsoever.
Since both sides had come to an agreement, Mu Lingsha hurriedly placed a new bid.
"Six hundred thirty-two thousand Gold!" Mu Lingsha shouted.
The Secret Pavilion's internal auction was different from the auctions held in God's Domain, where players had to have enough currency in their pockets to place their bids. The Secret Pavilion did not bother verifying how much the bidders had. It would be fine so long as the buyer could pay for their purchase afterward.
The silent auction venue immediately livened once again with Mu Lingsha's bid.
"How does Unyielding Soul still have money?" Lu Xingluo's gaze turned chilling as he glared at Mu Lingsha's room. He had thought that the auction for the Magic Crystal vein was already over, never imagining that Mu Lingsha still hadn't given up hope. He immediately placed a new bid to thoroughly suppress her. "Six hundred forty thousand Gold!"
"Six hundred forty-two thousand Gold!"
"Six hundred fifty thousand Gold!"
"Six hundred fifty-two thousand Gold!"
A heated struggle between Lu Xingluo and Mu Lingsha broke out, the price reaching 672,000 Gold in short order. This situation shocked the various superpowers present
These superpowers were fully aware of the financial strength of their rivals. Even if some of them were superior to others, the disparity was not that much. However, the wealth the Starline Corporation and Unyielding Soul were displaying had already exceeded the liquid assets a superpower should wield. This was no longer a competition of liquidity. This was basically an all-out struggle between two superpowers.
"This is impossible! Unyielding Soul can't possibly have this much money!" Lu Xingluo said as he looked at Mu Lingsha's room. Just then, he happened to catch sight of Mu Lingsha signing some kind of contract with Shi Feng. "Damn it! That little bug dares to lend money to Unyielding Soul!"
At this moment, even a fool could tell that Zero Wing had lent Unyielding Soul a lot of Coins; hence, super-first-rate Guild was able to persist in this auction.
"Mu Lingsha, do you think you can win against the Starline Corporation just because you borrowed some money from a little bug?!" Lu Xingluo placed another bid. "Seven hundred thousand Gold!"
Although Zero Wing had lent Coins to Unyielding Soul, how much could an up-and-coming Guild that could rival first-rate Guilds possibly have? It would already be plenty amazing if Zero Wing had even 70,000 or 80,000 Gold. If Lu Xingluo included the amount of money Zero Wing spent earlier, he estimated that the Guild would be able to lend around 50,000 Gold, at most, to Mu Lingsha. Previously, she had also stopped placing bids after the price reached 630,000 Gold, which meant that her personal limit was 630,000 Gold. Including the 50,000 Gold from Zero Wing, she would have only around
680,000 Gold in total.
With his bid of 700,000 Gold, he would definitely triumph over Mu Lingsha.
The people inside the auction venue gasped upon hearing Lu Xingluo's bid. If he were to spend so much money to acquire the Magic Crystal vein, he would have to wait for three months or so just to recoup his costs. However, 700,000 Gold at this stage of the game was definitely more valuable than 700,000 Gold three months later. After all, Coins and Magic Crystals were constantly depreciating in value in God's Domain.
Of course, the purchase also wasn't without benefits. With the Magic Crystal vein, Lu Xingluo would convert 700,000 Gold into Magic Crystals and various rare ores. In the long term, it was still more beneficial to have the Magic Crystal vein than not to have it.
However, before Yuan Tiexin could even hammer his gavel once, Mu Lingsha made another bid.
"Seven hundred ten thousand Gold!"
"Are you kidding me? How does Unyielding Soul have so much money?"
The people present were dumbfounded at Mu Lingsha's bid. Logically, the increment in price should taper off as the auction approached its end. Yet, now, Mu Lingsha had actually raised the size of her increment to 10,000 Gold.
"Impossible!" Lu Xingluo could not help but turn to look at Shi Feng, confusion written on his face. "How can a new Guild like his possibly have so much money?"
"Guild Leader, what should we do? We only have a little over 703,000 Gold left. We don't have any more money to continue bidding," Zhong Langcheng said anxiously.
"Good! Very good!" Lu Xingluo's gaze turned deathly chilling. "Contact the Secret Pavilion and tell them I have some business with them!"
"Understood!" Zhong Langcheng immediately contacted a representative from the Secret Pavilion.
Meanwhile, when Mu Lingsha saw that Lu Xingluo had stopped bidding, she could not help but breathe out a sigh of relief.
Had Shi Feng lent her only 60,000 Gold, she definitely wouldn't have been able to compete with Lu Xingluo. However, with
100,000 Gold, she was able to thoroughly suppress him. Moreover, during the time she was competing with Lu Xingluo, as she worried that she wouldn't have enough funds, she had someone in her Guild mortgage several plots of golden Land in Dark Night City and gained another 60,000 Gold. The Coins would be transferred later to her God's Domain account
Seeing that nobody was bidding, Yuan Tiexin very quickly slammed his gavel once, saying, "Seven hundred and ten thousand, going once!
"Is there anyone willing to place a higher bid? You should know that this is very likely to be your only chance to see a Magic Crystal vein! You might not get another chance like this in the future!" At this moment, Yuan Tiexin was ecstatic. After all, in just under a minute, he had earned nearly 100,000 Gold more for the vein.
However, despite Yuan Tiexin's words, the auction venue remained silent. Nobody was willing to place any more bids. "Seven hundred and ten thousand, going twice!"
Seeing that nobody was responding even after some time, Yuan Tiexin understood that this was the highest price he could sell the vein for. He then readied himself to slam his gavel for the third time and confirm the final owner of the Magic Crystal vein. When Mu Lingsha saw this, she was thrilled.
"Seven hundred twenty thousand Gold!"
At this time, however, Lu Xingluo suddenly broke the silence.
"How is this possible?" Mu Lingsha was astounded as she looked at Lu Xingluo's solemn expression. Nevertheless, she very quickly placed another bid, saying, "Seven hundred thirty thousand Gold!"
"Seven hundred fifty thousand Gold!" Lu Xingluo said, sending a chilling glare at Mu Lingsha and Shi Feng.
Despite Lu Xingluo's glare, Mu Lingsha showed no intentions of giving up whatsoever.
"Seven hundred sixty thousand Gold!"
"Seven hundred seventy thousand Gold!"
"Seven hundred eighty thousand Gold!"
"Eight hundred thousand Gold!"
In the end, Lu Xingluo directly raised the price by an additional 20,000 Gold, causing Mu Lingsha's complexion to darken considerably. That price exceeded the limits of what she could afford.
In the end, after Yuan Tiexin slammed his gavel three times, Lu Xingluo was announced the winner of the Magic Crystal vein's management rights. This outcome sent the entire auction venue into an uproar.
Eight hundred thousand Gold!
This was already double the liquid funds a superpower possessed at this stage of the game.
Although Lu Xingluo had acquired the Magic Crystal vein, throughout the remaining part of the auction, he glared hatefully at Mu Lingsha and Shi Feng.
In order to emerge as the final victor, he had been forced to sell a large amount of High-level Energy to the Secret Pavilion— far more than what the corporation had authorized.
Although he eventually won the auction, he had to spend nearly 200,000 Gold more. How could he possibly be in a mood for celebration?
"Langcheng, once we return, gather all the information you can find on Zero Wing and pass it to Dark Soul. Have Dark Soul mobilize right away. If Dark Soul is lacking in strength, have a portion of our main force support it. I want Zero Wing to disappear from God's Domain immediately!" Lu Xingluo said. "A mere bug dares cause me to lose 200,000 Gold!"
"Understood!" Zhong Langcheng replied eagerly. The thing he loved doing the most was none other than annihilating small Guilds.