Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Lin Li glanced at the decorations in the private room, and somewhat understood the intentions of the Gilded Kingdom. Hence, he nodded, and said, “Thank you very much, this is a nice place, I’ll stay here. Prince Monterey, if you have some matters to handle, please go ahead.”
You’re chasing me away as soon as we enter, how depressing! Although Prince Monterey did intend to leave for a while, he did not expect Lin Li to chase him away so quickly.
Fine, I won’t dwell on the details as long as the outcome is perfect! Prince Monterey comforted himself while bidding goodbye to Lin Li. He could now go to King Bradlor, and report everything to him.
After Prince Monterey left, Lin Li and Connoris sat facing the auction site while tasting the wine that was on the table, and looking at the various humanoid creatures who had bizarre appearances.
The Sea Clan was a massive clan, and the opposite of the Sea Clan should not be the human race, but all intelligent races on the mainland. However, the human race was very strong and powerful in Anril, almost overshadowing the other races. Hence, the human race had become the representative of the races on land.
Apart from the previously mentioned seven overlords of the Endless Ocean, there were many other clans of various sizes among the Sea Clan. For example, the Giant Lobster Clan that had a large pair of pincers was actually quite strong at combat, and not at all inferior compared to the seven overlords. Their status in the Endless Ocean was probably equivalent to that of a top force of the Breezy Plains. There were also clans such as the Walrus Clan, the Giant Crab Clan, the Swordfish Clan, and many others, and they were all major forces in the Endless Ocean.
There were also some peculiar clans such as the Sea Ghoul Clan that almost had no fixed form. They were actually not related to Undead creatures, and were instead closer to water elemental creatures. There was also the Underwater Tree Men Clan that was said to have formed from a team of elves that fled to the Endless Ocean, and used some secret technique to turn themselves into that form in order to be able to survive in the sea.
There were many such sea clans in the Endless Ocean, but only those who were present now were qualified to come here. The weaker and smaller Sea Clans would either become affiliated with a certain overlord or quietly struggle to survive in the sea. They obviously wouldn’t have the chance to participate in such a grand auction.
While Lin Li was waiting for the auction to begin, the vague sounds of an argument could be heard coming from a certain room behind the auction stage, even though the doors were tightly shut. All the people who passed by the door couldn’t help but quickly speed up and leave as if there was a terrifying existence in the room.
In the room whose doors were tightly shut, the two parties who were engaged in an argument were a white-haired elderly man and Prince Monterey. The fact that the white-haired elder would have such a heated argument with Prince Monterey, who had a high status, meant that the elderly man naturally wasn’t an ordinary person.
“Grand Duke Vidi, His Majesty has personally instructed that regardless of what item President Felic brings, it must be put up as the final item of the auction.” Prince Monterey came over this time because he was instructed by Bradlor to find out about the auctioning of Lin Li’s magic scroll.
Grand Duke Vidi was also a member of the royal family of the Gilded Kingdom, and his father was Prince Ronsent, the younger brother of Bradlor’s grandfather. However, according to the rules of the succession of titles in the Gilded Kingdom, Vidi had to automatically lower his title by one level after inheriting his father Prince Ronsent’s title, thus becoming a duke.
The system had been implemented with a decree in order to maintain the vitality of the nobility of the Gilded Kingdom. According to the decree, the underachieving descendants of a noble would have their title lowered by one level, and if it continued across the succeeding generations, their descendants might eventually become commoners. However, if someone made a great contribution to the Gilded Kingdom, their title might be promoted to a duke, and it wasn’t impossible for them to become princes again as long as they were of the royal bloodline.
As opposed to the political genius Monterey, Grand Duke Vidi could be considered a business prodigy of the royal family of the Gilded Kingdom. Under the management of Grand Duke Vidi, the royal treasury of the kingdom had been enjoying a steady and rapid growth. The Royal Trade Union that Grand Duke Vidi managed was one of the largest trade unions in the Gilded Kingdom, and generated a massive amount of wealth for the royals each year. At this rate, Grand Duke Vidi would probably be rightfully promoted to the title of ‘prince’ in a few years.
The white-haired Grand Duke Vidi was overwhelmed with fury as he glowered at Monterey without showing any weakness. “Monterey, don’t you know that you’re tarnishing the reputation of our auction by doing this?! This is not something that we can lie about. Once the final item is displayed, everyone will be able to tell that there’s something wrong with it!”
The reputation of an auction was very important, and the people were willing to attend the auction and bid for the items available because they believed that they could buy authentic goods there, regardless of how much they might cost. However, if an item that was obviously of inferior quality was put up for auction as the final item, what would the people who attended the auction think?
Even if they had already auctioned off the previous items, the appearance of an inferior item would make them lose trust in the auctioneer, and even doubt the quality of the items that they had bought.
More importantly, the auction was officially held by the Gilded Kingdom. If the credibility of the auction was tarnished, it would be akin to the reputation and credibility of the Gilded Kingdom being damaged. When the time came, the Gilded Kingdom’s reputation in the Endless Ocean, or perhaps even in the entire Anril, would be greatly damaged.
Prince Monterey had, of course, thought about that issue; nevertheless, he waved his hand unconcernedly, and said, “Grand Duke Vidi, I understand what your concerns are, but don’t worry, as long as you put up Felic’s item for auction as a final item, it won’t matter if it has a corresponding value or not. As long as the price that it fetches is compatible to its position, no one can say anything!”
It was clear what Prince Monterey meant一even if the item was a useless piece of garbage, no one would suspect that it was useless as long as he offered a staggering price and won the bid for it.
“You don’t have to continue. I call the shots at this auction! Even if His Majesty Bradlor comes, my decision will remain the same. I won’t allow this to happen at my auction. I don’t understand your political tricks and strategies, and I won’t let you tarnish my reputation. If you are dissatisfied with me, feel free to let someone else take over!” Grand Duke Vidi resolutely refuted again adamantly when faced with Prince Monterey’s persuasion, leaving no room for negotiation.
Grand Duke Vidi was a business genius, but he didn’t know much about politics. In fact, it could be said that he absolutely loathed politics. In his opinion, the Gilded Kingdom could resort to other means to improve relations with the Tower of Dusk, or even directly offer them some benefits. There was no reason for them to make him risk losing his entire reputation for this!
“Grand Duke Vidi, please simmer down, we’re discussing this with you now, aren’t we? If you don’t agree, we will naturally have to respect your opinion. No one else is more suitable to be in charge of this auction than you.” Seeing how agitated Grand Duke Vidi was, Prince Monterey hurriedly tried to comfort him. They had already promoted the auction and done lots of publicity for it. If they were to replace Grand Duke Vidi with someone else at the last minute, it would definitely lead to lots of speculation, and it would then be more difficult to settle the matter.
Seeing that Monterey had relented, Grand Duke Vidi finally looked slightly less hostile, and he said, “Monterey, it’s not that I’m being too stubborn and rigid, but rather that business is different from politics. Once a business’s reputation is damaged, it won’t be that easy to rebuild it even if you try to make up for it by paying 10 times or even 100 times the price for your actions. If you want to curry favor with President Felic, you may do so with him in private. Well, it’s not your first time doing that anyway. However, this is my auction, so my rules apply. I will never allow such a thing to happen during my auction. That would be an insult to me, and to all the people involved in the auction. You will never be able to pay that price.”
Although Monterey’s title and status were higher than those of Grand Duke Vidi in the Gilded Kingdom, he was still Grand Duke Vidi’s junior, so he couldn’t put on airs as the prince. Hence, he had no choice but to nod while Grand Duke Vidi lectured him. He then said, “You’re right, but the Illuminati’s relationship with us is concerned too. Even if you can’t put it up as a final item, you can at least arrange for it to appear at a good time.”
One of the most important positions for items during an auction was the opening item. It did not refer to the first item to be auctioned, but rather the first item that had a value that corresponded to the status of the auction after several mediocre items had been auctioned off as a warm-up for the auction. In fact, the auctions of those mediocre items were meant to buy some time for the latecomers.
Next, it would be the item that was showcased during the climax halfway through the auction. Throughout the auctions, there would be a few small climaxes according to schedule. The items that were put up for auction in the middle of the auction would usually encounter a huge bidding frenzy. Towards the end of the auction, there would also be several consecutive final items that would be up for bidding, pushing the auction to its ultimate climax.
Monterey meant that Grand Duke Vidi should at least let Lin Li’s item be up for bidding at a good moment even if it couldn’t be put up as the final item. That would at least make things less awkward. The last thing he wanted was for Lin Li’s item to be auctioned as a mediocre item that was meant to patronize the guests because that wouldn’t attract much attention. Worse still, no one might bid for it. Monterey was not too worried about the latter possibility, but he knew that it would still make Lin Li look bad.
However, Grand Duke Vidi refused to concede, and simply said with a sullen expression, “The timing that the item is displayed during my auction depends on its true value. A worthless piece of garbage won’t even qualify to be one of the first several items to be auctioned, let alone take other positions. Okay, that’s enough, the auction is about to begin soon. Please go!”
Grand Duke Vidi didn’t give Monterey a chance to speak at all as he simply pushed the door open, and asked Monterey to leave. Prince Monterey had no choice but to shake his head, and walk out while thinking about how he could make Lin Li seem as glorious as possible without making others feel that the Gilded Kingdom was holding themselves cheap.
However, when Prince Monterey left, Grand Duke Vidi’s expression was still as sullen as he paced around the room anxiously and somewhat nervously. He would look at the door from time to time, seemingly waiting for something.
All of a sudden, footsteps began to shuffle outside the door, and before the person reached the door, Grand Duke Vidi hurried over to pull open the door. As soon as the door was opened, Grand Duke Vidi had a look of disappointment on his face. He looked at the person at the door, and chided, “Why are you being so panicky!? Look how disgracefully you’re behaving!”
The person who came was a supervisor of the auction. Upon being reprimanded by Grand Duke Vidi, he was so shocked that he flinched, and said, “Grand Duke Vidi, it’s time to begin. Do you think we should start?”
“What?! Damn it, why hasn’t there been any result from those guys? It’s just a paper scroll, why are they taking so long to figure it out? How dare they have the cheek to ask for a higher remuneration?!” Grand Duke Vidi cursed as he turned around in a huff and entered the room again.
The supervisor of the auction followed him inside with a sheepish grin, and said, “Grand Duke Vidi, I guess they should be able to reach a conclusion soon. Do you think we should wait for a while? Or should we begin the auction right away? Maybe they’ll come to a conclusion after we auction off a few items.”
“What if there is no outcome at the end? What if the final verdict is that the scroll is of zero value? Damn it, we’re holding an auction, but they can’t even get a clear idea of the auction item. What am I raising this bunch of good-for-nothings for?!” Although Grand Duke Vidi cursed with dissatisfaction, he had obviously lowered his volume greatly because the good-for-nothings that he was referring to were clearly some people he didn’t quite dare to offend.
“If all else fails, how about we do a no-reserve bid for that item? Although we can’t figure out what that scroll is, that power is absolutely genuine. When it’s time to auction it, we will not give an introduction, and just put it on display. It’ll be up to the bidders’ discretion, and they can decide on their own.” The supervisor of the auction was a smart person too, and he immediately came up with an idea that maybe wasn’t quite feasible, but they had no choice except to adopt it as a last resort.
Hearing this solution, Grand Duke Vidi couldn’t help his eyes lighting up as he reached out to pat the man on the shoulder. He said, “Okay, that’s a great idea. If nothing else works, we’ll go ahead with it. Now, follow me to the front.”
After being praised by Grand Duke Vidi, the supervisor of the auction suddenly grinned joyously. He was almost certain that he would definitely receive more than just a simple compliment from Grand Duke Vidi. Although he might not be promoted to a high post, he would have a bright future.