Chapter 223: Crazy
Translator: BeetleBarker Editor: Tennesh
Everyone on the internet could see the bidding situation online. After the item had been put up, in less than a minute, it had broken the 80 million mark.
This was significantly higher than the previous valuation, but from the viewpoint of those auction-appraising masters, if the final figure stayed at 80 million, it was still within a reasonable range. He was a celebrity, after all; there would always be fans with lots of money to spare, or perhaps a team was behind this and was jacking up the price.
But in this circumstance, the bids were still rising upward.
Great-Grandmother and Great-Grandfather Fang had intended to help drive up the bids, but they had never expected that, when the auction started, they would not even get a chance to do anything and would have to watch from the side.
Silver Wing virtual projects department.
At this time, the gaming team had not entered the game, and they were all gathered in the lounge to watch the "battle situation."
Jinro rubbed his chin as the figure displayed on the screen kept increasing. Laughing, he said, "We don’t have a chance to show off."
Regardless, the bids had already exceeded the initial valuation. That was more than enough, and everyone’s mood while watching the auction became lighter.
The figure on screen was still changing. Eighty million, 85 million, 88 million, 90 million...
——
Ming Cang’s finger was constantly tapping his screen.
He was currently in an overly excited state of mind and had lost a little of his rationality. So much so that he simply did not check the highest bid. As long as someone was vying for it, he would increase his bid.
Increase bid!
Increase bid!
There are still people bidding? Increase once more!
Then he realized... bid failed. He had insufficient savings.
Only now did Ming Cang calm down. Thinking back over the years, he and his wife had practically spent the majority of their savings seeking medical treatment for their son. Now that they’d had a treatment direction for the last two years and expenses were being covered by all sorts of medical research collaboratives, he had been able to bring together some money. Still, it was a far cry from the past, and even if he wished to place the winning bid for the tooth, now he could only watch on.
In distant Mazhou, Ma Xier, who was currently participating in a competition, stopped increasing his bids. He viewed the auction from an investment angle. He thought highly of Fang Zhao and felt that if the valuation was in the 30 million to 50 million range, he would bid for it. But now, it had already exceeded his budget, so he rationally stopped.
Online, people who had been watching the auction attentively started to get excited at this moment.
"It’s 90 million already!"
"This is double the estimated value given by those appraising masters! Can anyone explain what’s going on?"
"Ninety million for just a tooth? Are they crazy?"
"Perhaps it’s the company that manages Fang Zhao promoting!"
"Spending so much to promote it? This is hard-earned capital!"
"It’s probably going to settle at this range. 90 million is sky high! Fang Zhao is going to be even more popular, his status will increase by a few times!"
"Oh shoot! There’s a new update! One hundred million!"
When people in the discussion section heard the news, they rushed to check the web page. Indeed, the current bid had changed. In bright red, the figure was 100,000,000. One hundred million, without a doubt!
In the outpost, everyone in the outpost roared as they started to discuss.
"It... it... it... it just crossed 100 million?"
It was unknown who said this, but every single word seemed to float, as if it the words were being blown by a hurricane as they left his mouth.
Bie Liao’s palms were clammy, and beads of sweat continuously appeared on his forehead.
Was this a dream?
Was it real?
One hundred million. The base had approved them keeping one-tenth for the outpost. This sort of planetary military construction and immigration plan auction was not taxed. That was to say that the outpost would receive a full 10 million!
Beside him, Riode was muttering something incomprehensible. His entire body was soaked with sweat, perhaps from nervousness or excitement, but he was no calmer than Bie Liao.
Bie Liao turned and asked Kevin Lin, "Wasn’t it said that this tooth would not exceed 50 million?"
"That was just a valuation. Ultimately, the bidding decides the final price." Kevin Lin’s face was flushed with happiness. Crossing the 100 million mark, that was worth bragging about. How should I write this news?
Leizhou.
Zaro watched the screen proudly. "Wanna challenge me?!"
Indeed, the 100 million bid was his. He totally disregarded the unsightly expression of his agent and the depressing atmosphere in the room. Right now, he even wished to break out in song.
His assistant trembled uncontrollably at the side.
However, Zaro was pleased for less than three seconds, as the figure shown changed once more—
One hundred ten million!
Zaro glanced at the figure on the screen and sneered. "Trash, you only have this much ability!"
As he spoke, his finger reached out to the tap the increase bid option so quickly his agent was could not stop him in time.
One hundred fifty million!
Zaro had directly increased the bid by 40 million!
When this bid appeared, the internet once more started buzzing.
Although it was a public online auction, at the moment, the identities of the bidders were still unknown. Even so, watching a straight increase of 40 million, for a bid of 150 million, also crushed the hopes of quite a number of people.
Yanzhou Qi’an city, Silver Wing tower.
Duan Qianji frowned as she stared at the screen. The 110 million bid had been hers, but she had not expected that some other party would directly raise the bid to 150 million. Who could it be that had made such a big move?
Whoever it was, this move told everyone still in the bidding not to compete; this person was determined to win this tooth.
The current bid was already so high; should she continue bidding?
Duan Qianji hesitated.
As there were currently no new bids, the webpage displayed a 30-second countdown.
At the moment, the office was deathly silent except for the "di, di, di" sound of the timer countdown.
When the countdown timer was at 15 seconds, Duan Qianji set her resolve. Opening her eyes wide, she reached out and prepared to increase the bid by 10 million and sound out the other party’s intentions.
Just that before Duan Qianji could increase her bid, the countdown timer suddenly disappeared. The highest bid had jumped from 150 million to 200 million.
Two hundred million!
Duan Qianji stared blankly and unknowingly sat straighter and pulled herself closer to the screen, as if she wished to see who was behind this figure.
There was still another person?
Besides the person who had raised it to 150 million, there was actually another who would increase the bid by 50 million to 200 million.
The assistant standing behind Duan Qianji covered her gaping mouth in shock. As a staffer in an entertainment company, she knew that every celebrity with their status and position would have a valuation. As for Fang Zhao’s current status within the circles, in theory, it shouldn’t have been so high. Two hundred million, this transaction would be making a loss.
At this moment, online audiences were also stunned.
"Two... Two hundred million!"
"Crazy! This bunch of people are mad!"
"Who said that he would eat a hot pepper live on stream if the figure crossed 100 million? Come out now!"
The appraising masters were at a loss. Below 100 million was within a rational range, but anything above 100 million was not worth it.
Could it be that the people participating in the auction had not seen the appraising masters’ analysis article?
That was not likely. Even if they had not seen it, people who could put forward such high bids would have advisors beside them, right?
Baffling, totally unfathomable.
Meanwhile, Zaro stood up abruptly when he saw this, his chair creating an ear-splitting screech as it scratched against the ground.
What the f*ck, there was actually someone even more pretentious than him!
This made him... unable to restrain himself!
Zaro was triggered.
Noticing Zaro’s manner, his agent quickly went forward to block him. "Senior Master, calm down!!" his agent exclaimed, and his agent held on to the hand that Zaro had raised toward the screen. However, it was a pity, but he could only hold on to one hand. He unable to stop Zaro’s other hand.
The sound of an increase bid rang out. Zaro’s agent glanced over at the screen, and at that moment, everything he saw lost its color.
Wastrel!
On the screen, the highest bid had changed to 250 million. Zaro had just increased the bid by another 50 million.
Zaro even grinned evilly at the screen. "Let’s see how you compete now! Bring it on!"
Zaro’s agent felt the urge to hit someone when he heard those words.
A few assistants had distanced themselves when they had noticed the situation going south.
The agent’s face was contorted beyond recognition. His cheeks were twitching nonstop, his chest was heaving, and his nostrils were flared.
He had raised funds all over the place, and for what?!
He had painstakingly amassed several hundred million to bid on something useable and get a plot of land on planet Baiji. But now, Zaro had actually wasted 250 million on a tooth?
What would happen if they could not win the later auction items?!
Who did I go through so much trouble to raise funds and prepare data for? Ah? Who was it f*cking for! Zaro’s agent bellowed in his heart.
But his rage turned to joy and relief in a flash when he saw the figures on the screen change once more.
Zaro’s bid of 250 million had only been up long enough to take a screenshot when it quickly became 300 million.
Zaro: "!!!"
Realizing Zaro’s provoked stance, Zaro’s agent did not let him make a move this time round. He shouted to the assistants that had all backed away, "Every one of you better come over right now!"
Combining their strength, they stopped Zaro from making a stepping forward and making a stupid decision.
With no new bids, the figure showed 300 million and the countdown timer began.
Many people watching the countdown had mix feelings as they watched the seconds tick by, and they collectively exhaled when it concluded.
At last, there were no more increasing bids!
Finally, the first item of the auction, the creature’s tooth with a song score engraved on it that had been put forward by Fang Zhao, had been won with a bid of 300 million.
Kevin Lin once again threw his head back and brayed with laughter.
Fang Zhao also felt that this was inconceivable. This price had vastly exceeded his expectations. Who was it that had won the bid?
According to Interplanetary Fund guidelines, after all the items had been auctioned off, only then would the identities of the winning bidders be revealed. There was still no way of knowing who had bid, and the internet was abuzz with discussions and guesses, but they had no useful information yet.
Looking at the priced that had been reached, Bie Liao gulped a few mouthfuls of air and choked on his own saliva. Hurriedly, he grabbed a glass and downed some tea.
What the f*ck!
What the f*ckity f*ck!
Three hundred million!
One-tenth of that was 30 million!
How much equipment could they buy!?
At this moment, Bie Liao clearly understood. Their outpost was rich!
He wondered whether the senior officer that had handled the application request was regretting now.
Who cared anyway. Bie Liao rubbed his palms together in glee. After all, this money—30 million and not a single cent less—every bit would be transferred to the outpost’s military expenditure!
People in the outpost were all very happy, but there were some people whose faces turned green as they saw the price that had been reached.
Certain merchants and businessmen were prepared to cling onto generals on planet Baiji, but when they saw the price reached for the first item, they knew that they would have to cough up a lot of hard-earned capital this time around.
Their objectives were the few generals later on, and they did not think highly of a little celebrity’s item.
But! The first item had achieved such a high price. How much would they have to bid to obtain the later items?
Surely it couldn’t be any less than this little celebrity’s price. If they wished to get into those generals’ good books, would they dare show their faces to the generals if the bids were not at least 10 times greater? Generals had their own temperaments too.