353 Von Lazaro

And after her simple elucidation, the bidding war was initiated. But oddly enough, only a few people (clearly Blacksmiths) participated in the bidding war of those beads, and in the end, all four of them together were sold at the price of $217.5 million.

…

Subsequently, a shining silver-sword was brought on stage before the auctioneer began her introduction, "As for the last item of this auction, do you see this captivating piece of work? Can you guess who made it? Yes, that's right, this was made by the world-class smith, old man Anvil! According to his personal description, he made this sword utilizing a special type of metal and a single bead extracted from a monster of the rift."

"This silver-sword is said to be harder than all of the swords created before the appearance of the rifts and it can be effectively used against those creatures!" Concluded Wang Fang.

Seeing the sword, a shimmer went through Virus' eyes before wondering to himself, 'So they've discovered one of the uses for the beads… though they're not utilizing it efficiently yet.'

…

By now, the eyes of a lot of people, especially Guardians, was shining in pure anticipation. To them, this silver-sword was a very helpful companion when fighting against those creatures of the rift, so, many of them were resolved to get their hands on this particular sword.

"The starting price shall be a mere… $11 million-" The instant this sentence was phrased, someone said, "$20 million!"

However, before anyone could bid again, a feminine declaration was made, "$120 million."

"It's Atish!" Someone whispered.

It was indeed Atish. She was making this bid because she already had more than enough money she could probably spend for many years to come. Thus, thinking having a sword might prove to be useful in dangerous situations, she was determined on purchasing it.

After that, since the price was already around $20 million above the actual price of the sword which could still be bought through specific connections, and since others wanted to give some face to the guardian celebrity, nobody bid again as she successfully won the sword.

"Alright, that was our final item for the day… oh, since it's already dark outside, we can say 'the night'. Anyhow, congratulations to all of the winners of this event. Someone will soon guide you to receive your items. Thank you all and goodbye until our next auction." Just as she had brought the auction to an end, someone walked before Virus and his companions, "Hello, Chairman Vee, we meet again, when I saw you a few hours ago, I had no idea that you were 'the' president of the Virus Corporation. Please let me guide you and your friends to backstage where we'll go through some quick processes before handing over your items."

"Sure." Standing up, Virus, the golden beauty, Amara, and the old Chairman followed the guide, aka the security guard who had defended them against Fan Tong by displaying his Trait.

"What's your name?" On their way to their destination, Virus asked out of curiosity.

"My name is Von Lazaro, sir. I'm a Guardian." Replied the guardian respectfully.

"I see," offering his own dark luxury business card in return, Virus introduced himself, "Aizen Vee, the president of the Virus Corporate." And with that, Virus no longer opened his mouth again.

Soon, they were led to a luxurious room where the auctioneer Wang Fang was already waiting.

"Oh, hello, President Vee, it's a great pleasure meeting you in person… please sit down." Pointing at the couch, Wang Fang requested respectfully.

"The pleasure is mine." Nodding in return, Virus and the trio sat in their own respective seats.

"I have to say… President Vee, you were our biggest customer in this round of auctioning and you've brought astronomical profits and fame to our Christie's Auction House. Thank you."

"I just got my hands on the things I wanted, as simple as that." Was Virus' response in return which resulted in Wang Fang's admiration of this man even further.

"Alright, I won't waste your precious time, so, let me briefly explain the cost and the processes to you." Voicing this, she continued rather relaxedly, "So… the list of your items includes Leonardo da Vinci's 'Salvator Mundi' which you won by bidding $2 billion, Pink Star Diamond amounting to $300 million, Marie Antoinette's Pearl Pendant costing $700 million, the two Red-Crystals sold at $2 billion, and the meat of the two-meters squirrel won at the price of $10 million."

"All of them totals to $5,010,000,000… consider the meat our auction house's special discount and treat for you, which results in the round number of $5 billion entirely. Now, with all due respect, sir, how would you like to pay that amount? In case you have any problems with your payment or that you're unwilling to part with your liquid assets, our auction house is willing to exchange that amount with you for 5% of your company's shares." Wang Fang stated with some hints of expectancy toward Virus' response. Actually, this had been ordered by her greedy higher-ups since the shares of the globally known Virus Corporation was one of the most sought shares in the world.

Unfortunately, no one was able to buy any shares of this particular company as the entire 100% of it solely belonged to Virus himself as he wasn't willing to free any of his shares since there was no need to in the first place.

Gazing upon the [Virus Card], Wang Fang was somewhat shocked that he had at least $5 billion cash inside that card. She was anticipating a heated negotiation where she would in the end even be willing to change all of the $5 billion for only a single percentage of the shares of his company, but it seems the negotiations weren't even going to begin.

All of a sudden, the door of the room was pushed open by a guide who led someone inside while reporting, "Miss Wang, I've brought guardian Atish over."