Chapter Ninety-Seven: The Auction
Time flowed on in unhurried measure. Under Zhou Tian’s arrangements, Vivian and the others each took charge of several tasks. As the days passed, the scale of the Capital City slowly grew as well, and in less than a month it had already begun to resemble a proper city.
If nothing else had happened, the Capital City might have continued on like this for years. Yet in truth, within a month of Zhou Tian renaming the border town the Capital City, the city’s teleportation array began receiving one distinguished guest after another.
Some of them, upon arriving and seeing the Capital City’s present state, eventually chose to leave. But on October 6, 6987 of the Continental Calendar, even those who had departed were, amid mutters of dissatisfaction, one by one returning to the Capital City...
A noble young lady covered her nose with a silk handkerchief and frowned at the construction work still underway around the city. Turning to the companion beside her, she complained, “What kind of shabby place is this? Why have we come somewhere like this? What could possibly be worth seeing in a place like this?”
“Hah, Lady Wang, you don’t know the first thing about it,” said a boy eager to make himself useful. “Don’t be fooled by how run-down the place called Capital City looks right now. The master of this city is a very important figure.”
“What kind of important figure?” The young lady swept a disdainful glance around her and declared, “The important figure you mean wouldn’t happen to be some little country noble, would he?”
“No, no, don’t say that!” After glancing anxiously around and confirming that no one was paying attention to their conversation, the boy cast her a reproachful look and lowered his voice to explain, “The city lord of this place is actually a bishop of the Church of Light. And I’ve heard he’s even good friends with Duke Li of our empire. Lady Wang, you really mustn’t say such things again. If word gets back to them and they take offense, your whole family could be ruined!”
“How could that be? How could someone that important ever come to a shabby place like this?” Though she said so, the young lady had unconsciously lowered her voice after hearing her companion’s words.
“This is absolutely true,” the boy said with great certainty. “It’s not some rumor. Just think about it: if it weren’t true, would Duke Li, with his status, have bothered sending us such invitations and asking us to come here for an auction?”
“That does make sense.” Hearing this, no one else questioned him further. The companions nodded together, and no one dared, as Lady Wang had done before, to openly denounce the Capital City.
Thus, amid the murmuring of the nobles, the first auction Zhou Tian had held to test the waters finally opened as scheduled.
The auction venue had been newly built. In order to make this auction happen in time, Zhou Tian had gone to considerable expense. After having a teardrop-shaped building designed, he took out nearly ten thousand gold coins and hired more than a dozen construction crews to rush the project to completion in just one month.
“Count, you came too!”
“Of course. How could I not come take a look at a place recommended by the Duke? Besides, isn’t this being hosted by a bishop of the Church of Light? Even if there’s nothing worth buying, it’s still worth meeting the man. I’ve heard this bishop is the youngest in the entire Church of Light. If I get the chance to know him, it can only benefit us.”
“Your words are reasonable, Count. Should I follow your example?”
“...”
As one noble after another entered the auction hall Zhou Tian had built, the auction at last officially began.
“Good day, everyone. My name is Mike, and I am the chief administrator of the Capital City. Because the treasures being auctioned this time are far too valuable, and to prevent any mishap, I will be serving temporarily as the auctioneer.”
With that, he extended a hand behind him and walked toward the first item of the auction, which Anna had escorted up to the stage.
Mike’s words immediately sharpened the attention of every noble present. Most of them had not come specifically for the auction itself, but rather to show face for Zhou Tian and for Li Jiahao, the northern overlord. They had not expected much from the event. Yet seeing the present circumstances, it seemed there truly would be some fine things on offer, and that naturally stirred the curiosity of the nobles who delighted in novelty.
They did not have long to wait. After casually placing the item Anna had brought onto the platform, Mike introduced it to the guests below.
“This is the first treasure we shall auction!”
“Truly... truly unbelievable!”
“Marvelous. No matter what it costs, I must have it.”
“How beautiful!”
“...”
Amid the exclamations from the crowd, Mike lifted the item high in his hand and said, “This is one of our bishop’s private possessions: the largest fancy diamond ever publicly revealed! Allow me to mention in advance that this diamond has never been named to this day. In other words, whoever wins it at auction will have the right to name it. Very well, that is all for the introduction. The world’s largest fancy diamond, starting price eight hundred thousand gold coins, with each bid no less than ten thousand gold coins!”
“One million gold coins. I’ll take this diamond.”
“One million and you think you can get it? Baron Huang, you’re being far too optimistic. I bid three million gold coins.”
Having tripled the price in one stroke, the bidder’s offer really did leave the auction hall silent for a moment. But the Empire of Yanhuang had no shortage of wealthy men. In less than ten seconds, a fresh round of bidding began.
“Three and a half million gold coins!”
“Five million gold coins!”
“Five million six hundred thousand gold coins!”
“...”
“Ten million gold coins!”
The moment those words were spoken, no one else raised the price further. For one thing, ten million gold coins was already more than half the nobles present could afford. For another, the bidder was Li Jiahao. Setting aside whether anyone at present dared offend him, as the local strongman, the first time he spoke up to bid, everyone still had to give him some face.
And so, after Li Jiahao’s bid, a few seconds later, Mike brought the auction to a close at ten million gold coins. Once the wooden gavel fell, the auction of the first treasure was over.
“My apologies. Her Majesty the Empress’s birthday is approaching, and I have been worrying over what gift to give her. When I saw how beautiful this diamond was, I could not help but bid on it. I hope the bishop will not take offense.”
As one of the invitation’s senders, Li Jiahao had not really been suited to taking part in the bidding. For that reason, after winning the diamond, he still offered an explanation to Zhou Tian, who was seated beside him, even though the item had not been bought at a low price.
Though Li Jiahao’s bid had indeed affected the final price of the diamond to some extent, ten million gold coins far exceeded Zhou Tian’s expectations. He had not even imagined that the diamond could sell for such a sum, so naturally he held no dissatisfaction toward Li Jiahao’s bidding.
“No matter. If you see anything you like, Duke, simply bid for it.”
“With your words, Bishop, I can rest easy. Just at the start and already such a treasure has appeared. I trust there will be many more good things to come.”
Hearing Li Jiahao’s probing remark, Zhou Tian gave no reply beyond a casual smile, and once again turned his attention to the auction.
“The second item we shall auction is an alchemical product. I have personally tried its effects, so allow me to introduce it to you all.”
With that, he immediately used a flurry of harmless spells to drain away all his magical power. Then he took a potion from the tray and drank it down. At once, he returned to peak condition.
Even if the nobles seated below possessed little strength themselves, they would certainly not be lacking in powerful guards. Thus Mike’s condition was quickly understood by the crowd. After he personally demonstrated the potion’s effect on the spot, those nobles, especially the mages among them, could not help but reveal eager expressions.
“Mana recovery potion. I won’t waste time explaining its function. A set of ninety-nine bottles. Starting price one hundred thousand gold coins, with each bid no less than one thousand gold coins!”
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