The entire event of auctioning was put on Chang Bo's shoulders, and Xie Mei was just there accompanying him as a 17-year-old beauty who just had the job of announcing the item name and bidding amount.
Even though she had mastered and even created a new fighting style using firearms, she wasn't as knowledgeable about firearms as Chang Bo. Well, at the very least, Mark thinks so. Hence, she was just there to please the audience with her presence, that's all. After all, the nobles and wealthy individuals who came from far away wouldn't want a male to be the host.
Chang Bo was doing it for the money as he would get 1000 gold coins as his remuneration and Xie Mei was doing it as Mark promised her this thing called a 'date', where both of them spent their time alone and he would accompany her anywhere she wanted to go.
The motivation was there but there was also this nervousness as neither of them ever handled an auction before.
The bidders are influential people and of great status, and if either of them messed it up, not just Mark's reputation but even the entire Western Moon's reputation also could take a hit. It goes without saying Mark would be disappointed. Such thoughts only increased the mental pressure on both of them even more.
As for Mark, he was accompanying his wife and son, sitting in one of the VIP rooms as a spectator; Sylvandria was also in the same room as the Godmother of the child. However, Princess Shen Ling, Mark's official fiancée was with her father in another room as she had to represent the kingdom.
The auction started after the servants passed a brochure to each guest sitting in the VIP room, surprising them. It listed all the items available in the auction with their abilities.
Unlike in the previous auction conducted by Mark, this one doesn't have any reserved prices or new weapons. They were entirely comprised of platinum-grade sets and semi-divine weapons/artifacts (half of them belonged to Mark and the remaining were from the palace treasury), and Mark's ether weapons lying in inventory but were too weak for him to use.
As the VIP guests, who mostly were the ones to become winners, knew of the items, Chang Bo's job became easier and his mental stress had been lessened greatly. Seeing her co-host becoming calmer, Xie Mei's mood also improved.
As time passed by, both of them became more confident in doing their roles and they were quite pleased with their jobs. But, Mark, on the other hand, doesn't look pleased at all.
The reason?
All the items sold only amounted to 212 million gold coins, which was far less than he anticipated. Even the rank-8 robot was only sold for 70 million. His favorite attack helicopter was only sold for 34 million.
Well, it is not like the bidders purposely bid it for low. It's just that, unlike the Void Temple's grand auction, Mark's auction doesn't have this reserved price. Hence, whatever items were bid, had to be exchanged with the entire amount right away.
He pointed at the Rank-9 robot with a wooden box placed on a table; beside the box, there were slips of white paper.
The clear difference in the treatment of the two sections enraged many bidders on the ground floor.
As they were already informed prior to the auction that shouting or using foul language is prohibited in the house and they could just go at any time, some of them got up and started leaving already in fury. Their money, unfortunately, didn't get refunded.
A portion of them didn't get up, not just because of the pride but it is also because of the fact that they didn't think they would be able to win any of those items. Some of them are also here to watch the fun. Of course, a few adventurers are also there to mentally note down the names of the winners so that they can rob them afterward.
Fun fact, only three people on the ground floor managed to win an item so far. Most of the items were bagged by those rich elites sitting on the first floor.
As a result, less than ten people swallowed up their pride and walked to the robot to take the slip and pen, writing their bid, and dropping into the box.
Within 1 hour, many proposals came to Mark, and he engaged in discussion with Sylvandria on choosing the correct bid.
And within 15 minutes, the discussion was over and Mark sent back his decision to Chang Bo.
Chang Bo looked at the result and his eyes widened in surprise. Xie Mei, who was standing beside him silently, couldn't help but lean her head to the side and look at the scroll.
She let out a gasp, "seriously? These were the best bids?"
"Well, at least, the last one is worth it. Don't you think?" Chang Bo replied, to which the 17-year-old shook her head, "You don't understand how powerful a heaven-grade divine item is, don't you?"
Chang Bo shrugged his shoulders in response, "Well, it doesn't matter anyway. Let's do our job."
Xie Mei nodded and took the scroll. She then took a deep breath, raising her head and announcing it with a smile, enhancing her beauty, "For item no. 3, the augmented pill of strength, the winning bid is..."