Storm Clouds Gather
(So sleepy, I almost fell asleep while writing this chapter... Sorry for being a bit late... Just one more thing, please vote for me!)
When Gu Ding returned to the old man's appraisal room, the old man wasn't particularly surprised. He simply climbed onto the table, sat cross-legged on it, crossed his arms, and said to Gu Ding, "There are usually only two types of people who come back to me: those who want to add items to the auction, and those who want to cancel a transaction. I guess you're the former."
"How do you know I didn't come here to cancel the deal?" Gu Ding didn't immediately state his purpose, but instead asked in return.
"It's simple. You have no use for any of these things from the Witch Clan, so selling them is the wisest choice. Besides, you seemed quite satisfied with the estimated price I gave you, which further proves that you won't cancel the deal," the old man said confidently.
"Alright," Gu Ding pulled out the Witch Clan Staff, "Let's register this too!"
"Are you sure you want to sell this?" The old man frowned slightly when he saw the staff. He had told Gu Ding before that it wasn't worthwhile to auction this item here.
"Yes," Gu Ding had already discussed this matter with the Sea Emperor. The staff was indeed useless to their group, and exchanging it for the axe was the most cost-effective deal.
"Then you should also know that if the auction is held here, the price may not be as high as the estimated price I gave," the old man confirmed again.
"I understand!" Gu Ding nodded. A two-star Universe Country and a five-star Universe Country are not even in the same league. Even among experts of the same level, the wealth gap between the two is enormous. In a five-star Universe Country, the starting price for that staff at the Auction House should be 10 billion Universe Coin. However, in a two-star Universe Country, whether the final bidding amount will exceed 10 billion Universe Coin is a big question mark.
"Why did you suddenly change your mind and rush to sell?" The old man thought that something must have happened to Gu Ding, which was why he made this decision.
"I suddenly realized I didn't have enough money, so I sold it as soon as possible." Gu Ding didn't plan to tell anyone about the axe. If others knew, it might make it more difficult for him to get the axe.
This reply was exactly what the old man had expected, and he didn't press further. Since the other party was unwilling to speak, there was no point in asking. He immediately registered the auction information for the staff for Gu Ding and took it from Gu Ding. Unlike other items that he casually placed, this time he carefully stored the staff in a box and then put it into his Storage Space.
After leaving the appraisal room, Gu Ding spoke with Lily for a while and learned that she and Bigge were still shopping for clothes. He then headed towards the second tower.
In less than half an hour, he had explored the Sixth Layer of all four towers and bought most of the items on Robert's list, leaving only the last three items missing.
Having made a fruitful haul, he returned to the Grey Eagle ahead of schedule, handed the materials to Robert, Gu Ding then dialed Liliath's communicator again. "Lily, I'm back on the ship."
"So fast? Did you buy everything Robert wanted? If not, Bigge and I will go buy it after we finish shopping." Liliath had clearly lost track of time while shopping.
"I've already bought them. There are three materials left that I haven't found yet, but the Sea Emperor shouldn't have missed them, so you don't need to waste time going back to look around again. Just come back after you've finished looking at the clothes and ingredients."
"Alright, I need to speed things up too. There are quite a few vendors in this tower." Liliath said, then suddenly remembered something, "Oh, right, there's something I think you should know. I just ran into Bade."
"Which Bade?" Gu Ding felt the name was somewhat familiar, but he was quite certain that he did not know him.
"It's that newcomer with the highest bounty in the Long Teng Universe Country right now," Liliath added.
"He's here too?" Gu Ding raised his eyebrows slightly.
"He told me that not only he had arrived, but six of the top ten newcomers, including you and me, had already arrived on this planet, and more people were still arriving. He also asked me to pass this message on to you."
"Six people have already arrived?" Gu Ding frowned slightly upon hearing this, a vague sense of unease creeping into his heart.
After hanging up the call with Liliath, Gu Ding immediately turned to the Sea Emperor and said, "Check if there's any news lately."
After filtering the information, Sea Emperor projected it out. "The thing most relevant to you is that the video of your battle with Siniel has been uploaded to the sky. The military has obviously seen the video as well, and they quickly doubled your bounty again, from 160 million Star Coin to 320 million Star Coin. Because of this doubling, you have risen to second place on the rookie Ranking List."
"Is there any other information?" Gu Ding wasn't particularly concerned about the message about himself.
"Siniel, whom you beat up, has passed the critical period and has been sent back to the Federal Government headquarters for follow-up treatment."
"And Nick, after you severely injured him, he's been under constant surveillance by the Federal Army to prevent him from escaping. Once he's fully recovered, he'll be arrested and easily imprisoned in Federal Prison."
"The guy named Bade that Liliath just met has recently had his bounty increased from 380 million to 450 million Star Coin due to several clashes with the military. Moreover, the new member he recruited was formerly an Interstellar Pirate with a bounty of over 800 million Star Coin."
"Besides, many people Auction House. Six of the top ten on the New Talent Board have already arrived on this planet. There are also quite a few veteran Interstellar Pirate. With so many Interstellar Pirate appearing, the Federal Government and military's reaction is a bit strange; they only sent a few peacekeeping personnel. I don't quite understand what they're trying to do." The Sea Emperor's words also struck Gu Ding as odd. The military's response did indeed seem inactive, which was completely unlike the Federal Government and military's style.
"There's another thing. The auction on Titan Star Auction House every year, but this year's is the one with the biggest publicity in over thirty years. Moreover, the official Auction House organizers haven't released any list of auction items yet. However, the list of auction items has been circulating in the heavens for a month and a half, and it's been updated every few days. In the list that was just released today, there's the Witch Clan Staff that you just submitted. The notes clearly state 'a weapon used by a Witch Clan deity.'"
"It seems someone is deliberately leaking information about this Auction House to lure people in..."
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