Chapter 274 : Chapter 274
Chapter 274. The Operation Begins
In the central district of the Emerald Market, at the heart of the emerald artificial mountain, the sound of a bell spread outward and rang through the entire Emerald Market.
It was the signal that the auction was beginning, a reminder to everyone interested in the auction that they could come to the central district now.
Of course, it was only meant to remind those who could afford a pass permit to the central district. The others, who had neither the money nor the interest, paid no attention to the bell at all.
What they did not know, as they kept their heads down and went about their own business, was that this bell would become unforgettable for the rest of their lives.
The instant the bell rang, Fulan entered the auction hall together with Nora.
In truth, she had not originally wanted to go in, because the Emerald Market’s storerooms were inside the emerald artificial mountain, and if she wanted to head there, she would have to take a different route.
But the notice she had received from the Lord of Radiance was this: there was still an hour and a half before the operation began.
With that much time left, she had no choice but to find some way to pass the time. Otherwise, simply standing there waiting would have been unbearably boring.
So she came in after all. She only needed to leave early and prepare when the time came. People could freely enter and leave the auction here.
The moment Fulan walked into the auction hall, she silently prayed that her short sword would survive the next hour and a half and not actually get bought by someone.
Even though she might no longer have much use for that short sword now, losing a weapon she had forged herself would still irritate her.
“As long as the buyer doesn’t redeem it in time, even if someone buys my short sword, I can still take it back from the storeroom,” Fulan thought.
The auction hall had no private boxes or anything of the sort, and the venue itself was not particularly large, with seating for roughly a hundred people.
But that made sense. Not everyone had the time to come to the central district and slowly pick out what they wanted to buy.
Most professionals searched through the outer districts for the things they needed, narrowing their options step by step.
That way, they would always be able to find what they wanted, and even if they failed, there were still plenty of lower-tier substitutes.
Those who came to the central district were probably professionals who had both money and time.
Fulan chose a seat toward the back. It would make it easier for her to run later. That, however, left Nora rather puzzled.
“Aren’t there still seats in the front?”
“I’m used to sitting farther back. If I don’t sit in the back, I feel uncomfortable.”
Nora raised an eyebrow, then sat down as well.
“By the way, are you trying to buy something? Is that why you came here?”
Fulan looked at the seated crowd and the curtain on the stage that had not yet been drawn. Feeling a little bored, she finally asked.
She was also somewhat curious why Nora had come here. Could it be that there was something she wanted to buy?
“It’s not like that. It’s just that the things outside are too mixed and messy. I can’t be bothered to sort through them, so I came here to see whether there’s anything worth buying.”
“Oh... I see.”
Although the areas outside the central district sold almost everything, and might even contain things better than what was being sold here, not everyone had the patience to sift through them slowly. Nora was clearly one of those people.
She had a little money and a bit of free time, and she simply wanted to see whether there was anything here worth buying.
But she felt that the goods outside were too chaotic, and that she would not be able to pick out anything good any time soon.
So she came to the central district. Every item sold here had already been appraised and was basically above the acceptable line, so Nora did not have to worry that the things she chose would be too poor in quality.
While waiting, Fulan also saw the two people in the priestly robes of the Church of the Goddess of the Currents take seats in the first row.
After a while, the curtain on the stage was drawn open. That was the signal that the auction had begun.
“Welcome, everyone, to the Emerald Market Auction. I guarantee that this auction will not disappoint you.”
When the curtain opened, the figure who appeared on the stage was an old man dressed in splendid clothing.
His face bore only a few wrinkles, while the skin visible beneath his cuffs and gloves was stark white and showed almost none at all.
The old man looked sharp and energetic, with bright, shining eyes.
“Without further ado, let us look at today’s first auction lot.”
Several attendants pushed up a square display stand with glass panels. Through the glass, Fulan could see the projected image of a bottle inside.
The bottle’s unreal appearance made Fulan curious. She felt that the bottle was not actually here at all, and that some sort of projection method was being used to make it appear there.
In other words, the bottle itself was still in the storeroom, and what appeared here now was only its projection. Fulan looked at the bottle thoughtfully.
“This is the one hundred milliliters of Life-Replenishing Potion that appears at every auction. The starting price is 200 grams of Spirit Crystals... Quite a practical item, is it not?”
When Fulan saw that it was Life-Replenishing Potion, she felt a little surprised, and Nora said from beside her,
“It’s made by an alchemist organization connected to the Emerald Market. They send a batch over at the start of every auction...”
“Two hundred seventy grams of Spirit Crystals.”
The moment the Life-Replenishing Potion appeared on the stage, someone immediately raised a placard. Fulan blinked.
Two hundred seventy grams of Spirit Crystals was roughly equivalent to nine gold coins, but here, there was no way it would sell for only that price.
According to the information Fulan had gathered, one hundred milliliters of Life-Replenishing Potion cost nine gold coins, but that was only the market price.
Normally, items sold through an auction house would go for a bit more, and since potions bought through the auction house’s channels were safer, a premium was entirely normal.
After all, no one wanted the potion they were about to drink to have been poisoned. The alchemist who refined it might have had no such intentions, but the person selling it was another matter.
So it was only natural for auctions, as a relatively safe sales channel, to carry some premium.
And Fulan guessed that even if she took out the Life-Replenishing Potion she had refined herself right now, the auction house still would not allow her to put it up for auction.
This opening Life-Replenishing Potion was most likely one of the auction house’s signature attractions, specifically used to draw people in. There was no way they would ruin their reputation for safety and reliability for the sake of a few gold coins.
“Sold for 360 grams of Spirit Crystals!!!”
In the end, this Life-Replenishing Potion from the auction house’s own channel was sold for the equivalent of twelve gold coins. The old man presiding over the auction was glowing with excitement, clearly reveling in such scenes.
Meanwhile, Nora beside Fulan seemed already accustomed to this sort of thing. When the final price was announced, she showed no reaction at all and simply leaned back in her chair in a relaxed manner.
“Now let us look at the next auction lot: a page taken from some unknown place in the Spirit Realm, with a starting price of 100 grams of Spirit Crystals.”
Fulan looked toward the illusory display case and saw a page inside, its edges glowing with a cyan light. It clearly did not look like an ordinary page.
“I suggest you don’t buy it. Things like that are all scavenged by Spirit Realm professionals from who-knows-where in the Spirit Realm. If they find genuinely good things, they keep them for themselves. As for the things they don’t understand, but which look very impressive on the surface, they throw them in here to sell.”
“Although there are times when those Spirit Realm professionals really do misjudge something, most of the time all you get is a useless scrap of paper.”
Seeing Fulan’s gaze fall on that glowing page, Nora hurriedly spoke up, afraid that it might once again arouse this curious girl’s interest.
“Don’t worry. I still need to spend my Spirit Crystals on monster materials. I don’t have that many Spirit Crystals...”
Even the audience below showed little interest in this auction lot, which was purely a matter of gambling on luck. After all, no one’s money came blowing in on the wind.
In the end, the two people in the priestly robes of the Church of the Goddess of the Currents seated in the first row bought the page for 130 grams of Spirit Crystals.
That made Fulan glance at the two of them again. She felt they were truly wealthy, to actually spend money on something whose use was completely unknown.
“Now let us look at the next lot...”
The auction lots that followed did not interest Fulan. They were mostly certain monster materials and finished weapons.
But those things were of no use to her, because what she needed more were living monsters. And as for weapons, if she had the materials, she could forge a better one herself. There was no need to spend a great price here to buy such things.
Even Nora, sitting beside Fulan, looked uninterested, because nothing related to mages had appeared so far. Nora had come here precisely to see whether there was anything like that.
Although outside the Alliance there were hardly any large-scale mage organizations, and the Alliance also looked down on Spirit Realm mages, believing that they could not truly be called mages,
there were still plenty of people who had become Spirit Realm Mages through the Spirit Realm. They occupied a substantial share among the professions of the Spirit Realm, and Nora had seen related items here in the past.
But clearly, this auction did not contain any such mage-related items, and disappointment was hard to conceal on Nora’s face.
Fulan calculated the time and felt it was about right, so she said,
“I’m leaving first. There probably won’t be anything good after this anyway.”
“You’re not going to stay and see how much your short sword sells for?”
“No. I’m too lazy to watch. If I go out now, I can collect the Spirit Crystals at the reception desk outside.”
“All right. See you.”
So Fulan quietly slipped out of the auction hall. Once outside, she did not head toward the central district immediately. Instead, she turned a corner and walked straight toward the emerald artificial mountain.
At that moment, inside the auction hall, the two members of the Church of the Goddess of the Currents in the first row were engaged in a heated discussion.
“Your Highness, you’ve bought a little too much. This...”
“What does that matter? We’re going to buy that short sword later. That alone will cost at least over a hundred kilograms of Spirit Crystals. What’s wrong with buying a few other things?”
“Uh... it just doesn’t look the same.”
If Heather had only bought that unusual short sword, it could be explained as simple interest in a special weapon. But if she also bought a pile of things that were completely useless, then when the elders saw it, they would think that Heather had spent all those Spirit Crystals only to buy a short sword with a little value.
Under such circumstances, there would be no way for Heather to avoid punishment.
BOOM!!!
Just as she was about to persuade Heather a bit more, the entire auction hall suddenly plunged into darkness, accompanied by a tremendous explosion from outside.