Appraising True Blood

The Ikes Star Region is one of the five major commercial centers in the Deep Sea Zone the Universe Sea, and also the largest trading area located on the outer edge of the Deep Sea Zone. *For this reason, it has become a necessary stop for newcomers entering the Deep Sea Zone.

The planet that Gu Ding and his group chose to land was Mandela Star in the Ikes Star Region. This was because the Fei Nan Si Conglomerate's headquarters were located on this planet, and members of the Gates Family were stationed there.

Although Fa Te and his father had a pact stipulating that after becoming Interstellar Pirate, they could not use the family's resources, trade between them was still permitted. After all, such a win-win situation could, to some extent, be considered keeping the profits within the family.

On Mandela Star, the Auction House of the Fei Nan Si Conglomerate is called the Mandela Auction House. After disembarking from the spaceship, Fa Te led everyone towards the Auction House.

Upon arriving at the Auction House, Fa Te did not reveal his identity. In fact, only people at the family headquarters knew his identity; the branch offices had never even heard of him, and they only recognized his identity badge.

There were nearly twenty receptionists at the Auction House, all of them beautiful women, and all around sixteen or seventeen years old. The head receptionist was also a tall young woman who looked to be in her early twenties. She was very experienced in serving guests, clearly having been in this job for many years.

"Are you here to consign items or to purchase items, gentlemen?" A young girl greeted Gu Ding and his companions with a professional smile as they entered the Auction House.

"Do you have any four-star or five-star Mechanical Heart here?" Gu Ding asked directly. He wasn't in a hurry to consign them, but instead inquired about what Robert needed to advance.

The girl's eyes lit up. A five-star level divine item could fetch hundreds of millions of source stones in a single transaction, but she had never heard of the Mechanical Heart before. She immediately said to Gu Ding and the others, "Please wait a moment. Transactions involving five-star level items require our manager's approval. I'll go and call her over."

As the girl spoke, she jogged towards the tall woman. She whispered a few words in the woman's ear. The tall woman glanced at Gu Ding and his group, her gaze lingering briefly on Bigge, then sweeping over Liliath and the others before finally settling on Gu Ding. She then turned and said something to the person she had been talking to before turning and walking towards Gu Ding and his group.

"Hello, my name is Bonnie, and I'm the assistant manager here. Is there anything I can help you with?" The tall woman was very polite. She had actually just seen the Wanted Order for Gu Ding not long ago and recognized Gu Ding at a glance, but she maintained her professionalism and didn't say it.

"We need four-star and five-star Mechanical Heart," Gu Ding stated his requirements directly.

"Mechanical Heart?" Bonnie frowned slightly. "This kind of advanced mechanical energy is really rare. It's usually only needed for extremely complex machines, and the demand is very low. We don't have any in stock, but if you need it, we can help you list it on the demand center. We'll charge a 5% handling fee."

"Then I'll help you hang it up." Gu Ding nodded readily.

"As for the Mechanical Heart, we had a transaction here a few years ago, also a five-star one, which sold for 200 million Originium. Of course, this price is just for reference; it mainly depends on what price you're willing to pay," Bonnie said, looking at Gu Ding.

"A five-star Mechanical Heart. There will definitely be people scrambling to sell it for 500 million Originium. As for a four-star one, 50 million Originium is the absolute maximum price." Fa Te finally spoke up, revealing the market prices he knew.

"Then let's go with these two prices," Gu Ding nodded.

"Okay, one four-star and one five-star Mechanical Heart. The bid is 550 million Originium, plus a 5% handling fee..." Bonnie was interrupted by Liliath before she could finish speaking.

"Wait a minute!" Liliath said, pulling out a badge—the very same one Fa Te had given her earlier, representing the Gates Family's friendship. "Would the transaction fee be cheaper if I used this?"

Bonnie paused for a moment, then took the badge and examined it carefully. "This is the Gates Family crest. With this badge, the transaction fee can be reduced to two percent."

Liliath took the badge back and winked at Fa Te, "It's really useful, it saved me over 15 million gold stones in one go."

Fa Te was speechless. As the heir of the Gates Family, he couldn't even enjoy discounts when trading with the Fei Nan Si Conglomerate, while Liliath was able to get discounts with the badge he had given her before.

Gu Ding quickly signed a purchase contract with Bonnie and then transferred the money.

"Is there anything else you need? With that badge, you can get a 50% discount on your purchases here." Bonnie also wanted to take the opportunity to boost sales, and she knew that Gu Ding and his group had the financial resources.

"We don't need to make any purchases for now, but there are some things we want to consign." Gu Ding was planning to sell the remaining drops of True Blood along with other unused loot.

"We happen to have an Auction House on in a couple of days. I wonder what you'd like to consign?" Bonnie had already guessed that the things Gu Ding were consigning must be quite valuable.

"A few Pseudo Spiritual Object, and some other things," Gu Ding said casually.

"Please come with me to the appraisal room." Bonnie was overjoyed. Items of this level, like Pseudo Spiritual Object, generally have a market price of at least 800 million source stones. Even with a 2% handling fee, that's still over 16 million. Moreover, this is just the handling fee for one item; if there are multiple items, the handling fee will only be higher.

"We have five appraisers here, with Mr. Bonn House as our chief appraiser. He is one of the top ten appraisers in the entire Universe Sea, and he can even identify some Primordial Era artifacts." As Bonnie spoke, she led Gu Ding and the others into an appraisal room.

A Middle-Aged Man with a full black beard was sitting at the appraisal table, examining a stone while wearing a monocle.

Seeing that he was busy, Bonnie gestured for Gu Ding others to be quiet, then stood aside without saying a word and waited patiently.

After about five or six minutes, the Middle-Aged Man raised his eyelids and asked somewhat casually, but still did not put down the stone in his hand, "What are you here to appraise?"

"Bonn Mr., these guests are friends of the Gates Family. They are here to appraise Pseudo Spiritual Object." Bonnie first introduced the identities of Gu Ding and his group before revealing that they were there to appraise Pseudo Spiritual Object.

"Aren't Pseudo Spiritual Object appraised by others? Why are you asking me?" Bonn House clearly didn't care about Gu Ding and the others' identities, and didn't seem to have any interest in Pseudo Spiritual Object.

Bonnie's expression immediately turned somewhat awkward. Although she was the deputy manager here, even the head manager treated Bonn House, a figure of immense power, with utmost respect and dared not show the slightest disrespect. A top-ten appraiser in the Universe Sea, he was treated with utmost deference at any Auction House. If he displeased him in the slightest, he might storm off, leaving Bonnie utterly devastated.

But Bonnie knew who Gu Ding were: the number one Annual Rookie Pirate Crew Pirate Crew in the Universe Sea, with a combined bounty of over five billion Originium, and every member possessing astonishing combat power. Not to mention, they were friends of the Gates Family. She suddenly felt conflicted.

Gu Ding naturally noticed Bonnie's predicament, but he estimated that True Blood, if placed before an ordinary appraiser, might not be recognized. He figured this appraiser, who looked like Interstellar Pirate, would be interested, and immediately said, "Sir, actually, besides the Pseudo Spiritual Object, we have several other items that also need appraised. These include several spiritual objects, the True Blood remnants of a true god, and..."

Bonn House suddenly raised his head, a glint of light flashing in his eyes. The appraiser, who had seemed to have little Combat Strength, inadvertently revealed a terrifying aura. Although it was only for a moment, it was clearly captured by Gu Ding.

"This appraiser is actually Nine-and-a-Half Star Half-Step True God! The power of his aura is even stronger than Everett's..." Gu Ding was also somewhat shocked. Before, Bonn House used a special technique to hide his aura at the level of Mid-rank God, and he did not notice it for a while.

"Do you really have True Blood?!" Bonn House stared intently at Gu Ding and asked in a deep voice.

"Of course it's true, would I lie to you?" Gu Ding felt hopeful, thinking the other party would probably agree to the authentication.

"Take it out!" Bonn House's expression showed some excitement.

Gu Ding then took out a drop of True Blood. The drop of True Blood was more than two meters in diameter and automatically floated in the void, shooting out dazzling red light in all directions, just like a miniature sun.

Staring at the blinding sphere of blood, Bonn House's expression froze for a moment before he finally came to his senses. "This... this really is True Blood! Can I test it?"

"Of course." Gu Ding nodded.

Bonn House straightened up and stepped out from behind the workbench. Standing before the drop of True Blood, his expression was somewhat uneasy. He looked down and suddenly noticed his dirty robe, quickly taking it off to reveal a t-shirt underneath. Gu Ding then noticed that this appraiser was not only nearly two meters tall, but also had bulging muscles on his arms, the physique of a powerful Body Cultivation. Gu Ding became even more certain that this appraiser must have been Interstellar Pirate in the past.

Tossing his white robe aside and wiping his hands with a towel, Bonn House took a few deep breaths before placing a finger on the drop of True Blood. Ripples immediately spread across the True Blood.

Bonn House closed his eyes, and only opened them again after a long while. "It's actually the perfected First Sequence True Blood..." He turned to look at Gu Ding, his eyes filled with longing. "Can you sell me this drop of True Blood?"

~~~

[I'm writing a bit slowly today. At this rate, I estimate the third update won't be until midnight. I'm going to grab some food and then come back to write the second chapter.] (To be continued...)