Chapter 77 -77-The Dungeon Creation Scroll Begins the Bidding War
Just as everyone was preparing to bid,
a cold voice rang out from Suite No. 1.
"1 million gold coins."
1 million!
The eyes of all the players in the hall widened instantly in disbelief.
Damn, just who the hell was in Suite No. 1?
He opened with 1 million right from the start?
Compared to the shock of the players below,
the players inside the nine other suites were thrilled.
A crafty glint appeared in Lucy’s eyes.
"Interesting. He opened with 1 million right away.
Looks like this Luckstone really is tempting to John.
In that case..."
Lucy immediately called out,
"1.5 million gold coins."
No matter what, John would definitely become their enemy sooner or later.
The Luckstone absolutely could not be allowed to fall into his hands!
1.5 million gold coins was nothing.
1.5 million!
The spectators below instantly grew excited.
It looked like the players in those suites above were about to clash head-on.
Their bids were jumping by the millions as if it were nothing.
Such overwhelming wealth was truly astonishing.
Just as everyone thought 1.5 million was already the limit,
that same cold voice sounded again from Suite No. 1.
"2.5 million!"
Hiss!
A wave of sharp inhalations instantly swept through the hall.
Suite No. 1 was simply terrifying.
Every time it spoke, the bid jumped by another 1 million.
At 2.5 million gold coins, that amount was probably enough to buy a plot of prime land dozens of acres wide in the central main city, right?
The audience below was having the time of their lives.
Watching the ten tycoon-level players above flaunt their wealth like this—
one side raising by five hundred thousand,
the other side directly adding a million—
in just a few short exchanges, the price had already climbed to 2.5 million.
This was way too thrilling.
Mystic Merchant Harun was grinning so hard his mouth was practically crooked.
For him, the higher the final auction price, the better.
"Suite No. 1 bids 2.5 million. Any higher?"
Just as Harun was about to finish the countdown,
Ace from Suite No. 4 suddenly spoke.
"2.51 million."
That tiny increase actually left the players below rather disappointed.
Everyone else had been bidding in jumps of five hundred thousand or even a million, and you only added ten thousand?
But very soon,
John’s voice rang out once more from Suite No. 1.
"3 million!"
It had actually reached 3 million now?
Regardless of how the players below reacted, the people in the nine suites all sensed that something was off.
They immediately started talking in their private chat channel.
[Lucy]: "Does John really want it, or is he just bluffing?"
[Grey]: "He already tricked me once. He’s definitely bluffing."
[Natsu]: "But the Luckstone’s effect really is excellent, especially for someone as strong as John. With his abilities, if he gets an extra 20% drop chance, he’ll definitely earn it back in no time."
[Ace]: "Then what do you all think we should do?"
[Lucy]: "We absolutely cannot let John get this thing. Otherwise, the gap between us and him will only grow larger."
After a few short exchanges,
the players in the nine suites came to an agreement.
They decided to bid in turns and make absolutely sure the Luckstone would not fall into John’s hands.
Very soon, Edward from Suite No. 3 placed the next bid.
"3.5 million!"
This time, Suite No. 1 did not bid again.
The Luckstone was ultimately won by Edward of Suite No. 3 for 3.5 million.
After that, several more S-rank auction items appeared one after another.
For example, an S-rank Pet Egg was taken by Lucy in Suite No. 2 for 3.4 million.
An S-rank priest equipment piece was won by Natsu in Suite No. 6 for 2.9 million.
An S-rank shift skill was won by Ace in Suite No. 4 for 3 million.
...
These auction items all had one thing in common:
their prices were absurdly inflated.
Because John of Suite No. 1 had opened each round by immediately setting the price above one million.
Then he deliberately added a few more rounds of aggressive bidding.
And since the others did not want John to become stronger and widen the gap even further,
they had no choice but to grit their teeth and keep following the bids.
By the end of one round of auctions,
the players in the nine suites had all lost more than half their funds.
But in their eyes, as long as John had not gotten those items, it was all worth it.
...
Inside Suite No. 1,
John tapped lightly on the armrest, the corner of his mouth curling upward.
"What a bunch of idiots."
Every time he deliberately called out a high price, it had actually been purely to drive the price up.
These auction items held no appeal for him at all.
Take the Luckstone, for example.
John possessed a 100% plunder ability.
He had absolutely no need for some so-called 20% drop-rate increase.
And as for the skill books and equipment that followed, he already had higher-tier alternatives to all of them.
Unfortunately, the players in the other nine suites were far too shortsighted to see through the game John was playing.
...
"The next auction item is an extremely special one. It has no rank."
At that moment, Harun on the stage took out a special item.
"Please examine it for yourselves."
All eyes instantly fell upon the object in his hand.
It was a scroll, radiating a faint, mysterious glow.
[Special Dungeon Creation Scroll]
[Effect]: A one-time consumable. After use, it will generate a random dungeon on the spot.
After the dungeon is cleared, it will disappear from that location.
The Dungeon Boss has a chance to drop S-rank equipment, Codex of Assassin, S-rank skill books, and other items.
[Description]: This item is best used together with items such as the Luckstone that increase drop rates!
...
The very instant he saw the scroll,
John’s pupils contracted sharply.
"Codex of Assassin?
This dungeon can actually drop a Codex of Assassin?"
John took a deep breath.
Good thing he had come.
It was like receiving a pillow just as sleepiness struck.
No matter what price it took, he was definitely going to win this dungeon.
...
Inside the nine suites below,
Lucy and the others were also greatly stirred when they saw that the boss in this dungeon scroll could drop a Codex of Assassin.
[Lucy]: "How much do you all know about the Codex of Assassin?"
[Ace]: "I heard that all classes evolved from the Codices of Classes. This thing should be some kind of ancient item. If we have a chance to make it drop, we could definitely cultivate a top-tier assassin!"
[Lucy]: "Heh, so it seems everyone knows something about it. But from what I’ve heard, John also seems to be an assassin. He should care a great deal about this item, right?"
[Grey]: "Not necessarily. His assassin class is already strong enough. One more codex wouldn’t make much difference to him. What I’m really worried about is that he’ll keep using it the same way he did before—to deliberately drive up the price."
Among everyone present, only Grey had noticed that something was wrong with the earlier rounds.
But none of the others took his concern seriously.
[Lucy]: "Relax. In the previous rounds, we already tested the limits of John’s wealth. I’d estimate he has at most around 5 million. At worst, we can just have our people below gather a bit more from each zone. No matter what, we cannot let the Codex of Assassin fall into his hands."
At this point, the players in the nine suites had all forgotten the auction plans they had made before entering.
Now, only one thought remained in their minds:
They had to prevent John from gaining any chance to grow stronger!