The Spendthrift's Bonus Chapter

On the third day after Gu Ding and his companions arrived on Mandela Star, the Auction House finally began.

The day before the Auction House began, Gu Ding received a list of auction items from Bonnie, which included several items that Gu Ding wanted to acquire.

It must be said that the Fei Nan Si Conglomerate was indeed very efficient; within two days, the news was everywhere that Mandela's True Blood was being sold at the Auction House. This topic also sparked a lot of discussion.

After all, True Blood is the blood of a true god, and the last time True Blood was auctioned in the Universe Sea was hundreds of years ago. When many ordinary people heard this news, their first thought was naturally to see what the so-called blood of a true god actually looked like.

But those most concerned about this news were the Half-Step True God powerhouses, especially those who had already reached the Nine-and-a-Half Star Half-Step True God and were awaiting the True God Tribulation. For them, True Blood was priceless. Therefore, many Half-Step True God rushed towards Mandela Star.

Before the Auction House began, Gu Ding and his crew, carrying the Gates Family crest, went directly to the VIP room on the second floor. The reason for choosing the VIP room was that, after the new Bounty Order had been circulating for the past few days, news of the Gu Ding Pirate Crew was known to everyone in the Universe Sea.

Their exposure is simply too high. First, the bounty on their Bounty Order is terrifyingly high. Second, they're recognized as the Federal Government's Annual Rookie and Annual Rookie. Finally, there are three Ranking List Gu Ding. Their names and images can be seen almost everywhere in the Universe Sea.

Their Bounty Order were projected onto screens in every tavern across the entire Universe Sea, creating a brainwashing visual impact. In the taverns, the topic of Interstellar Pirate inevitably came up with the Gu Ding Pirate Crew. Anyone who didn't know who the Gu Ding Pirate Crew were was met with unanimous contempt.

Mandela Star was no exception. The first day Bounty Order issued went well; almost no one recognized them. But from the second day onwards, they were recognized more and more frequently. Helpless, Gu Ding had to abandon their usual habit of sitting in the first row of the Auction House and enter the VIP room.

Fortunately, the VIP room at the Mandela Auction House was spacious and had a long sectional leather sofa, so it didn't feel crowded when Gu Ding and his group sat around it.

The coffee table in front of the sofa was piled high with various fruits and snacks. These weren't provided by the venue; the venue provided drinks and tea. These snacks were brought by Gu Ding and his group themselves, and the table was overflowing with them.

The Auction House begin soon.

When Gu Ding saw the auctioneer come on stage, they were somewhat surprised, because the auctioneer was none other than Bonnie had previously received them.

"This woman is really capable. She's both an auctioneer and a receptionist." Liliath also admired this kind of strong woman.

Tagore perched on Gu Ding's shoulder, idly wagging his tail.

Meanwhile, Blue, that glutton, was standing on the coffee table, busy stuffing nuts into his mouth with his two little paws until his cheeks were bulging before he stopped.

Elsa, also a foodie, was holding a bag of jerky and quickly munching on it one piece at a time, looking rather disheveled.

The others behaved much more normally, all turning their attention to the high platform in the Auction House.

Bonnie was wearing a professional blue suit. She had light makeup on, and her dark chestnut hair, unlike before when it was down, was tied up high, making her look much more capable.

Bonnie glanced at the time on her Smart Watch and, deciding it was about time, began, "Hello everyone, I'm Bonnie, the senior auctioneer hosting this Auction House. Welcome! I know you're all here for the auction items. So without further ado, let's get straight to the point. Now, let's begin with the first set of items."

Two men in black uniforms carried up an object covered with a red cloth.

"The reason it's called a set is because this collection doesn't consist of just one piece, but twenty-three," Bonnie explained, not immediately pulling back the red cloth. "These twenty-three items aren't sold as a set, but individually..."

Bonnie then lifted the red cloth, revealing a transparent display stand. Inside the stand were twenty-three small Golden Skeleton.

"Are you selling toys?" a man in the center of the venue couldn't help but shout, which caused a burst of laughter from the audience.

Bonnie wasn't annoyed. She seemed to have experienced something similar before. She simply smiled slightly and spoke again, "These twenty-three Golden Skeleton figures were created by our Auction House's master appraiser using a special technique. In reality, these twenty-three figures are all Ancient Era Gold Level skeletons, containing a large amount of residual blood and qi."

"The Ancient Era Gold Level powerhouses possessed cultivation comparable to our current Peak-rank God, but with even greater strength. Moreover, their life force was more than a hundred times stronger than that of humans of the same cultivation level today. These skeletons are worth the equivalent of Four-Star Divine Object. Now, let's start with the first skeleton in the lower left corner. This skeleton was a one-star Gold Level powerhouse in life. The starting bid is 10 million source stones, and each bid must be at least 1 million source stones higher."

"15 million!" As soon as Bonnie finished speaking, someone in the hall immediately shouted out a bid, raising the price by 5 million source stones in one go, clearly determined to win.

In the VIP room, Gu Ding was also somewhat tempted by the skeletons. These weren't on the list Bonnie had given him the day before; they must have been sent over after the list was released. Of the skeletons Gu Ding had obtained from the ruins, except for the two Platinum Skeleton, the rest had already been completely refined. The Platinum Skeleton hadn't been refined because his strength wasn't yet sufficient. But Gu Ding could use these Golden Skeleton to cultivate his Myriad Manifestations Emperor Body.

"These skeletons must have been taken from that site we visited, right?" Liliath quickly realized.

"That should be right, otherwise where would dozens of Golden Skeleton have come from out of nowhere?" Dokter nodded in agreement.

"The seller must be quite powerful to be able to acquire so many Golden Skeleton." Gu Ding nodded in agreement. The bones of the Golden Skeleton are as hard as those of Half-Step True God. Although their consciousness is a bit weaker, without a soul attack at the level of High-rank God, it is impossible to kill these skeletons.

In the blink of an eye, several people placed bids, and the auction price rose to 19 million.

"30 million!" Gu Ding immediately raised the price by a notch.

Upon hearing the price, everyone in the Auction House was stunned, but then fell silent. One reason was the incredibly aggressive bidding; the second was that anyone who could enter the VIP room here was undoubtedly a powerful figure with considerable wealth.

Bonnie was also taken aback; she hadn't expected Gu Ding to be interested in the skeleton. However, she quickly recovered. "The guest in VIP room number one has offered 30 million source stones. Is there anyone willing to offer a higher price? If not..."

He drawled out his words, waiting for a reaction from the crowd below. But there was no response. "Since there isn't one, then 30 million for the first time, 30 million for the second time, 30 million for the third time! Sold!"

The mallet fell, and the first skeleton was successfully captured by Gu Ding.

"The auction for the first Golden Skeleton has ended. There are still twenty-two remaining, and it's uncertain who will win them. Now, we will begin the auction for the second skull in the lower left corner. This skull's cultivation Gold Level... The starting bid is 20 million source stones!"

"30 million!" Gu Ding was the first to shout out, immediately adding 10 million.

His shout almost made some people who were preparing to shout 2100 or 2200 choke.

"32 million!" After a moment of silence, someone in the room shouted out a bid.

"40 million!" Gu Ding once again suppressed the other party's price with an absolute advantage.

The Auction House fell silent again.

"VIP Room Number One has offered 40 million Origin Stones. Is there a higher bid? If not..."

Gu Ding quickly obtained the second Golden Skeleton as he wished.

Immediately afterwards, Gu Ding bid after bid, acquiring the Golden Skeleton one by Gu Ding. Each bid was aggressively placed, overwhelming anyone who tried to compete with him. Ultimately, he secured all twenty-three Golden Skeleton.

After the first item was sold, the crowd immediately began to murmur among themselves.

Some of those who had argued with Gu Ding over the price were even more indignant, saying, "What kind of person is he? Twenty-three skeletons, you should at least give everyone some face and let one or two go. This guy, on the contrary, just bought them all. Is he trying to show off his money or what?"

"Exactly, losing one or two skeletons doesn't mean losing much of your life force. If you really want to replenish your life force, buying life force potions is the most cost-effective way. Who knows how much life force has been lost from these Ancient Era skeletons?"

Of course, not everyone was saying bad things about Gu Ding and his friends.

"The people in this VIP room are really rich; they spent over 800 million source stones just to buy these twenty-three skeletons..."

Gu Ding naturally didn't care what others thought. The blood and energy contained within these Golden Skeleton was equivalent to that contained within a dozen or so demon beast corpses of the same cultivation level. Moreover, unlike others who lost a lot of blood and energy during refining, he could extract 100% of the blood and energy using his Devouring Fire, which was actually much more cost-effective than blood and energy potions.

The Auction House quickly resumed, and Gu Ding won the first set of items, causing many to worry that Gu Ding would compete for other items. However, Gu Ding did not bid on the following items.

Until the end of the first day of the Auction House, not a single bid was placed in the VIP room where Gu Ding was located, as if the room had been emptied out. Of course, the scene inside the VIP room could not be seen from outside, and the soul probing was also blocked by an array, which led to various speculations among the crowd.

"That guy in VIP room number one bought so many Golden Skeleton, probably just to show off. If he really needed blood energy, why didn't he bid for Superior Quality blood energy potions later? What a spendthrift!"

The truth is, Gu Ding didn't even consider the Superior Quality medicines...

~~

[Bonus chapter delivered, much faster than I expected.] (To be continued...)