CH 50.2

The two soon arrived at the star harbor in their suspended vehicle. Wang Xun and more than a dozen branch members had already gathered there. Among them Lin Luo saw many familiar faces. The companions who went to the Seven-Stars Gambling Gathering last time had also come out to go to the Vermi Open Auction. To see them all gathered here wasn’t really surprising. After all, in the prosperous world of stone gambling it’s a great loss to miss an event like the Vermi Open Auction.

“Xiao Luo!” He Kun, Zhang XiaoLei and the others all walked over excitedly after seeing Lin Luo. Several young people gathered together and chatted with each other which made the scene become very lively.

“Okay, okay, if you have something to talk about you can say it when we get on the shuttle. We should set off.” Wang Xun had to come over to interrupt their reminiscence, and led everyone on the shuttle.

When boarding the ship Lin Luo saw a dense crowd, and realized that tickets for this shuttle had been all sold out.

“How come there are so many people? Fortunately, our president was wise and bought tickets early, otherwise we would be miserable.” He Kun said with lingering fears.

“It’s the Vermi Open Auction, how would it not have so many people? Let’s go!” Xu Jian pushed He Kun and walked forward.

The annual Vermi Open Auction was about to begin, and the entire empire was excited about it. No one who likes gambling on stones would miss this public event.

Vermi is located in the relatively far 21st galaxy. Even with high-speed advancements and multiple space transitions, it would still take more than ten days for the whole journey. Despite spending much of the journey in the dormant cabin, the extensive travel would still make them feel tired.

Fortunately, Wang Xun was very experienced and scheduled them to set out several days earlier so that they could have time to rest once they arrived.

After everyone got off the shuttle, they immediately rushed to the hotel. They were all eager to rest and wait for their spirits to be refreshed before going out to walk around.

Although there were still a few days to go before the opening of the public auction, there were already many people who had come to participate. After all, Vermi is the largest gambling mineral producer and the largest jadeite distribution center in the empire, and the place with the most energy shops and energy divisions.

There are many jadeite merchants in the outer streets of the public auction area, and some of them carry some good-looking jadeite. Some of them are jadeite merchants local to Vermi, and some come from other planets.

They have so many jadeite that they can’t put them all up in the public auction, so they use the remaining jadeite to set up stalls.

Many people who come to participate in the public auction will try their luck at these stalls, and sometimes will win bets on high-quality jades. This is also a drawing point of the Vermi Open Auction.

Walking on the street, you can see dense crowds of people everywhere. Even in the capital it’s rare to see such a dense crowd.

The sounds of stone machines running, people bargaining, crowds cheering, bursts of applause, and all kinds of voices are endless. He Kun, who is very extroverted, craned his neck and kept looking around, itching to pick a piece of jadeite for a bet.

The rock gambling atmosphere here is really strong, and Lin Luo was also infected by it and had an urge to gamble.

Seeing He Kun and the others eager to try, Wang Xun couldn’t help but laugh, “Go shopping later, you guys go to register with me first.”

Members of the Stone Gambling Association were not required to pay a deposit to participate in the Vermi Open Auction, but they still needed to register in advance.

Everyone soon came outside the Vermi Open Auction. This was a huge enclosed site covering thousands of hectares [1].. There was a registration office attached to the entrance section of the main gate, and there was a long queue outside.

“Huh? Isn’t that Han XinYu and his brother?” He Kun saw the two brothers of the Han family at a glance. Their temperament is really too prominent, and even while standing in line they seem separated from the crowd.

Han Xinyu also noticed Lin Luo and the others, and he nodded slightly towards Lin Luo. Lin Luo also hurriedly returned the nod, and both sides greeted each other.

Since the Vermi Open Auction adopts two forms of auction known as open bid and hidden bid auctions, participants need to receive a bracelet-shaped remote client and a thick electronic bid sheet after registration. The bracelet is used when participating in the open bids, and the bid sheet is used when participating in the hidden bids.

After the start of the public auction, there is a five-day bidding time. Bidders need to record the number of the jadeite they like, and participate in the auction after the open and hidden bids start.

Open bidding is actually similar to a live auction, but because there are too many people participating in the auction, it is necessary to log in to the virtual client through the bracelet to participate in the bidding.

Hidden bidding takes the form of a blind auction. When participating in the bidding you only need to put the bid sheet filled in with your offer into the bidding box, and the data will be automatically uploaded to the central system of the Vermi Open Auction

After the hidden bid auction time is over, the winning will be announced within five minutes, and the result will be sent to the winning bidder’s light brain which greatly reduces people’s waiting time and is very efficient.

The bid sheets are made of special nano materials which can not only be recycled, but also can upload data automatically, which is very easy to use.

The group lined up for about two hours before completing the information registration. They carefully put away the bracelets and bid sheet they received, and then rushed to the busy street like birds in flight.

===========Translator’s Corner===========

[1] Central Park in New York is about 1,000 hectares.