SWNOVELS Chapter 39: Windfall
"This's the seventh item for today's auction."
"To be honest, it was also my first time to see such a rare thing. Through authentication, we find that it's the hardest material in the earth. Nevertheless, by now, we still fail to identify what kind of material it is and therefore we cannot estimate its value. Plus that this item is found for the first time in the world, we named it a threshold price of five million and regulated that every increment shall be not less than five hundred thousand!"
The speech caused a commotion among the people present.
The bidders all discussed it with their acquaintances in whispers.
Such an item with undefined value actually had a reserve price of five million!
Readers, let's make it clear, that a reserve price of five million is way too high.
But this happened in Divine Land Auction House, a high-end auction house. They might find this item worthless after the auction.
Or they might find it invaluable later!
This was indeed a gambling!
"Five million!"
A sound suddenly rumbled among the bidders.
"Five million and five hundred thousand!"
"Six million!"
There was a fast bidding among them.
All bidders present were either rich or noble.
Most of them were willing to join this gambling.
Soon, the stone with inexplicable nature, oh exactly, maybe it was not a stone, had a bidding price of twelve million.
With such a high bidding price, only a few bidders insisted on it.
The old man who was presiding over the auction smiled knowingly after seeing that the bidding price had reached twelve million.
This was the power of Divine Land Auction House!
If this item was auctioned in other auction houses, there might not be any bidders. But in Divine Land's action, it had made such a high bidding price.
"Twelve million, going once."
"Twelve million, going twice."
"Are there any other bidders?"
The auctioneer glanced around and asked.
But just as he was about to set the price with the hammer, a sound suddenly rumbled from a corner.
"Twelve million and five hundred thousand!"
The words caused a heated discussion among the bidders.
Twelve million was already a high price, but they hadn't expected that someone would cry a higher price.
What was more ridiculous was that the price was cried by a person sitting at a corner, which showed that he was obviously not a rich or powerful man. What was his gut to gamble on such a valuable thing?
Would his family members spit out blood due to anger if he suffered a lost?
Nevertheless, they were just taunting at Jacob secretly in their hearts and still maintained the nobility and demeanor of the upper class.
"Thirteen million!"
Right at this moment, the one who had cried the price of twelve million shouted again.
"Thirteen million and five hundred thousand!"
Jacob bid for it again without hesitation.
This thing could cause the reaction of the Chaos Pearl and therefore its value could not be simply measured with money.
Even if he would have to cost a lot to win the bidding, Jacob was still determined to get it.
It was as if Jacob's competitor had sensed his determination and he didn't bid for it any longer.
Thirteen million and five hundred thousand was just the limit of Jacob's acceptance.
"All right. Thirteen million and five hundred thousand, going once."
"Thirteen million and five hundred thousand, going twice."
Although the auctioneer managed to maintain a professional smile on his face, his heart was dancing with delight.
The bidding price of this thing was far beyond his expectation.
"Thirteen million and five hundred thousand, sold!!"
"Congratulations, Mr. Please come to the backstage when the auction is over and exchange for the auctioned item."
Seeing that the item was successfully auctioned, some of the bidders turned around and shifted their gazes onto Jacob. They were curious about which childe would be so generous as if money was nothing to him. Maybe he would become their laughing stock afterwards.
It the item was worthless, this guy would definitely receive severe punishment from the seniors of his clan.
Thirteen million and five hundred thousand was a big amount which would harm the foundation of a family that could only get a corner seat in this auction.
Jacob couldn't help but sneer when seeing their expressions.
Alas, these people didn't know the value of that item, yet they were looking forward to laugh at him. This item could cause the reactions of Chaos Pearl, so its value might be beyond everyone's expectation. When thinking of this, Jacob smiled even more brightly.
Afterwards, several items were sold consecutively, among which the highest closing price was twenty million.
But none of them had triggered Jacob's interest.
Half an hour later...
There finally came Jacob's targeted item.
"I guess everyone comes for the last item today. Well, the last item of today's auction is a human-shape ginseng which has been living for about one thousand and one hundred years and therefore has its soul and thoughts. It can pursue auspicious things, avoid troubles and automatically submerge into the land. And the quality of this item is of the highest grade! It comes from the most mysterious place in China - Shennongjia. The threshold price is ten million and every increment shall be not less than one million!"
"Now I announce, the auction begins!"
Just as the words were finished, someone cried, "Twenty million."
Oh my, this bid doubled the reserve price.
Nevertheless, all the bidders present didn't feel shocked, as everyone had expected that this ginseng with its own soul would definitely be sold at a higher price than this. Ginseng was everywhere. Ginseng that has been living for one hundred years was also ordinary, yet ginseng that has been living for one thousand was definitely rare.
Not to mention that the Divine Land Auction House had identified and announced documentary certification to prove that this item has its soul and can automatically submerge into the land. Therefore, this ginseng was obviously a rare treasure.
What's more, it had a function of prolonging life.
What these nobilities feared the most was undoubtedly death.
Therefore, they would definitely bid fiercely for this ginseng!
Now that this was the case, it would help save time with a great increment of the price.
"Twenty-two million!"
"Twenty-five million!"
"Twenty-eight million!"
"Thirty million!"
"Thirty-two million!"
The cries of the bidders rumbled in the hall.
And the price was higher and higher.
Right at this moment, a young, who was sitting among the front rows in the middle, sneered when hearing the bidding.
He was hell-bent on wining this ginseng that had been living for one thousand years.
He intended to win the patriarch's favor with this item.
"Forty million!"
When the fierce bidding quieted down, the young man cried.
This raised the price to a higher level.
The hall was overwhelmed by silence for a moment.
Although it was a valuable ginseng that had been living for a thousand years and every bidder here was eager to win it, to think of the gap between the reserve price and the forty million, even if all of them were either the most rich or powerful people in the whole South Rive Province, they felt their heart missed one beat.
Few of them could afford such a high price.
After all, most of them bid on behalf of themselves, not their clans, therefore, they didn't have too much money to allocate.
"Forty-one million!"
"Forty-two million!"
Of course, some of them continue to bid for it.
Nevertheless, the increment was not several millions as it was before.
Every bidder cried the new bidding price in accordance with the minimum increment regulated before.
Right at this moment, a disdainful smile appeared around the young man's mouth corners.
He cried out a new price again, "Fifty million!"
Hiss...
The bidders gasped and simultaneously shifted their gazes onto the young man.
The smile on the young man's face became bigger.
He was quite confident!
The nobilities felt shocked when seeing the face of the young man.
It was him!
He was Driscoll Donald, the young master of the underground world of South River Province.
The nobilities couldn't help but shivered when thinking of his background.
This time, few people joined the bidding.
There were just a few bidders now.
Obviously, they were the few who were not afraid of Driscoll's identity as the young master of the underground world of South River Province.
A trace of fierceness flashed across Driscoll's face when he found he still had some competitors.
Nevertheless, his competitors were all seated in the same area in the hall, which was the best area for this auction and showed that their identities and backgrounds were not inferior to his.
Humph!
Driscoll snorted and bid again, "Sixty million!"
As the words were spitted out, the hall was overwhelmed by silence again.
Even if this ginseng was valuable and had its own soul, the price of sixty million was an extremely high one.
Driscoll was not in short of money after all.
Everyone knew that Driscoll was the most favored grandson of the patriarch of the underground world of the South River Province.
Driscoll may not be the one of the highest identity among the young masters in the South Riverside Province even if he was the eldest son of the Black Dragon Gang. Nevertheless, in terms of money, few of
his peers could be richer than him.
After sensing Driscoll's determination, the few bidders whose identities were not inferior to Driscoll's, also quieted down.
"Sixty million, going once!"
"Sixty million, going twice!"
"Sixty million..." The auctioneer was clear that no one would make an increment again.
Nevertheless, he was quite satisfied with such a closing price.
However, just as he was about to chant the word 'sold' and set the price with one beat of the hammer to mark the end of this auction...
A sound suddenly came from the corner, "Sixty-one million!"☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐