Goblins didn't like beautiful human women. If they had any other interest in human females, it was probably that they tasted good, so events hosted by goblins never featured beautiful women!
This Treasure Bay auction was much grander and more lavish than the one in Ironforge. For starters, there were already thirty-one large ships anchored in the harbor, and too many small ones to count.
"My dear friends, welcome to Treasure Bay! I'm your auctioneer for this event. My name is Rank, and I'm delighted to have been chosen to host this auction. I'll do my utmost to serve you all."
"First, let's give a round of applause to the organizer of this auction, the sponsor of the auction venue, and the ruler of Treasure Bay, the great tycoon Lord Rivegaz!"
Rank pointed to the right, and everyone followed his gesture to see the great tycoon dressed in a luxurious evening suit. After a thunderous round of applause, Rivegaz picked up a loudspeaker and began his address.
"Welcome to my Treasure Bay! I'm deeply honored and delighted by your presence. Since you've all shown me such support, I've decided that Treasure Bay will charge only a five-percent commission at this auction! What's more, all food and drink will be provided free of charge, with no limits. I hope you all have a wonderful time over the next three days! Thank you!"
The crowd below roared with excitement at the announcement. Their voices nearly lifted the roof off.
More people than ever had come to this year's auction. Auctions everywhere normally followed the same fee schedule, but this time the Treasure Bay auction happened to coincide with the Stranglethorn Vale Arena Tournament, so the great tycoon Rivegaz had decided to cut the auction commission in half.
Goblins weren't exactly a generous people, though. Even as the commission was cut in half, lodging fees and ship-docking charges had quietly gone up. There were far more items for sale this time, and several times the usual number of visitors. The great tycoon Rivegaz would make twice as much as he had at the last auction!
Sun Busong had already handed over all the items he planned to auction to Finn, the goblin he had rescued from the Reaper. In just six months, Finn had demonstrated extraordinary talent for management and business.
When Sun Busong dumped the hundreds of items from his bag onto the floor yesterday, Finn was so stunned he couldn't find the words.
"Master! These are the things you want me to auction this time? Th-this is incredible! Did you make all of these yourself, Master?!"
Finn had already entered into a master-servant contract with Sun Busong. The contract made him absolutely loyal; even if someone tortured him to death, he wouldn't reveal a single thing about Sun Busong. So Sun Busong had stopped hiding things from him.
He had just happened to catch the biggest auction in a decade, so he'd made everything he could from the materials he had on hand across his six professions. The items had cost him all his assets, including his share of the two Gold Mines in Stranglethorn Vale.
"What's there to be surprised about? You need to keep your composure. This sort of thing will happen often from now on. As the future head of logistics for the Imperial Guard, you need to stay calm. Don't let anyone laugh at you!"
Sun Busong smiled kindly at Finn.
Finn was far too capable, so Sun Busong had decided to let him take charge and manage everything himself from now on.
Over the past six months, Night Town had slowly gotten on track under Usop's diligent management. Usop was very good at talking people around—er, at ideological work—but he wasn't suited to being an administrator in the long run. Sun Busong needed him to hand the administrative work over to Finn bit by bit.
Once Sun Busong had taken care of Heavy Fist's situation, Usop would step away from administration and logistics. Causing trouble was what Usop was meant to do—and he had to do it big, turn everything upside down.
"But I've never even heard of these things! Hahaha, Master! We're going to turn their whole understanding upside down this time. We'll get a great price for them, just you wait!"
The auction.
"This auction will run for three days. On the first day, we'll auction off materials of Excellent quality or higher. On the second day, we'll sell potions, equipment, and weapons. Then, on the final day, we'll bring out the grand finale. Make sure you bring plenty of Gold Coins! Of course, if you're short on Gold Coins, you can borrow against your assets from the great tycoon Rivegaz—but those loans aren't free, hahaha!"
"And now, the auction begins! First up is a lot of ten stacks of Blackrock Ore excavated from Blackrock Depths. I'm sure you all know that Blackrock Depths is a dangerous realm populated by Elite Level monsters above level fifty. It has become the nightmare and graveyard of level-fifty professionals. No team has managed to conquer it."
"These ten stacks of ore were excavated from Blackrock Depths by five Rogue professionals over the course of three days. The bidding starts at 200 Gold Coins per stack!"
The auction was officially underway. Sun Busong sat in a second-floor box, sipping wine and eating delicious fruit.
Today was the first day, the day for auctioning materials. Sun Busong wasn't interested in weapons or equipment, but he had to stay for the materials.
Before long, he had bought several lots with his usual audacious bids.
He bought 200 stacks of Magecloth and another 100 stacks of Runecloth. He planned to use the fabric to make cloth armor for magic professionals, and it was also used to make spatial equipment.
Next came ores and gems: Mithril, Truesilver, rubies, sapphires, Soul Gems, Mountain Blood, and all sorts of other materials. Whatever caught his eye, he bid on aggressively.
He also bought a good number of hides from beasts above level fifty. They might seem expensive now, but from another perspective, he could sell them for several times the price at the next auction.
Sun Busong was a Grandmaster Level craftsman. He had no failure rate when making these items.
By evening, the auction had reached the Epic-quality materials.
Earth Essence—bid! Life Essence—bid! Azeroth Diamonds, Giant Emeralds, Large Cat's Eye Gems, Guardian Stones, Ogin Ingots!
The moment any of these materials used to forge level-fifty-to-sixty equipment appeared, Sun Busong went all out to get them. But he couldn't overdo it. Plenty of people were already hostile toward him.
After getting a few more Ogin Ingots, Sun Busong stopped. If he didn't, he might end up in danger! He wasn't afraid, and he wasn't a coward, but he didn't need the hassle!
Next came the materials related to tailoring. Few people usually competed with Sun Busong for those. Tailoring masters were rare, which had a lot to do with how few magic professionals there were. Making cloth armor also required tremendous control; one slip with those soft fabrics, and they'd be ruined.
In the end, Sun Busong easily bought more than half of the tailoring materials at rock-bottom prices!
He got more than 600 pieces of Demon Cloth. That would have been impossible at any other time, but the Burning Legion had four Dark Portal outposts in Kalimdor, and demons poured through them nonstop, giving these professionals a way to make their fortunes.
Mooncloth was much rarer. Sun Busong only managed to get around sixty pieces, but that was enough. He had all the materials he needed for the Blue Fine-quality backpack he'd promised Heavy Fist.
At nine that evening, it was the leather materials' turn. Sun Busong didn't compete with anyone for those. Heavy Fist had skinned tens of thousands of beasts over the past six months!
Still, Sun Busong picked up a few rare dragon scales: Red Dragon Scale, Black Dragon Scale, Green Dragon Scale, Blue Dragon Scale, and Shattered Dragon Scale.
In the end, Sun Busong won one stack of Epic-quality Shiny Colorful Dragon Scale and one stack of Epic-quality Dreamlike Dragon Scale at 300 Gold Coins per scale.
His generosity earned him the favor of the customers selling the dragon scales. Sun Busong invited them to his box, where they drank wine and ate meat.
After getting them drunk, Sun Busong casually asked where the scales had come from. To his surprise, he managed to get the information he wanted.
The Dragon Eater Ring was now on his left hand, and hunting dragon leaders had become part of Sun Busong's plans!
The last category was herbs. Competition for these materials was fierce, so Sun Busong went with the market and didn't dare bid too high. Besides, he still had plenty of herbs in stock.
The first day of the auction ended perfectly. Sun Busong didn't have enough Gold Coins to pay for all the materials he'd bought, so he made a deal with the great tycoon and put up his five-story wooden building as collateral.
Early the next morning, Sun Busong took Heavy Fist to the Stranglethorn Vale Arena, located at the very center of the region.
He left the auction in Finn's hands. After all, it was other people who were spending the money on purchases. It made no difference whether he was there or not.
The Stranglethorn Vale Arena was also officially opening today. The event would last three days.
The arena was enormous, much bigger than Treasure Bay. It had thirty separate battlegrounds, so matches could take place simultaneously.
The competitions were divided into three level brackets: 21–30, 31–40, and 41–50. Each bracket had a limit of 3,000 participants.
The entry fee for the arena competition was 500 Gold Coins per person, while the deathmatch cost 10 Gold Coins. The top ten in each level bracket would receive prizes.
Sun Busong and Heavy Fist arrived at the entrance to the competition grounds early. Registration was in Treasure Bay, and all the spots had filled up two days ago. They had both signed up for the level 21–30 bracket.
"Everyone, please be quiet! I'm John, the manager of the Gurubashi Arena. Welcome to this arena tournament. There are two kinds of events: the arena competition and the deathmatch. Anyone who signs up for the deathmatch and wins a match while surviving will receive an additional reward."
"Competitors in the arena event will fight in grounds we've rebuilt at enormous expense. Even if you're killed, you'll come back to life very soon, so don't worry about your lives."
"Of course, what our spectators most want to see is you tearing one another apart in the arena. The mingling of blood and flesh, the clash of bone and steel—that gives our spectators a different kind of thrill and an exquisite spectacle!"
"Today's first event is a free-for-all in the level 21–30 bracket. You'll be divided into groups of one hundred, and the ten who survive will qualify to compete again tomorrow. If you signed up for the arena event and die, we'll resurrect you. But those who signed up for the deathmatch will have their bodies buried in this arena, where their spirits can keep on fighting!"
"And now! All competitors in the level 21–30 bracket, enter the arena!"
Once John had explained the rules, the arena tournament officially began.
"Heavy Fist, which arena did you draw?" The entrance to the arena was wide, but Sun Busong was still being jostled around by the crowd.
"Boss, I'm in Group 11. What about you?" Heavy Fist wasn't especially tall compared to the others, but there were only a few Tauren in the crowd, so he was easy to spot.
"I'm in Group 14. Don't be scared once you go in. I signed you up for the arena competition. It won't matter if you get killed."
"Don't worry, Boss, hahaha! No one who can take down this old bull has even been born yet! Uh, well...except you, Boss. You're the exception, hahaha!"
Heavy Fist still had the energy to joke around, which proved he wasn't worried at all.
Sun Busong gave him an encouraging gesture—a raised middle finger!
Soon, he reached Arena 14.
One hundred people filed in. Competitors of every race had come to take part, and most were fully armed. Some had even strapped blades to their tails. Sun Busong quickly counted at least seventeen races, including himself!
There were Fishmen, Kobolds, Pigmen, Naga, Mossy People, Dragonkin, Werewolves, Ratmen, Trolls, Crowmen, Owlcuds, Snowmen, Gnolls, and more!
The entry fees made it clear that those without much money could only sign up for the deathmatch. They were here to take a gamble. If they were lucky enough to make the top ten, they'd win tens of thousands of Gold Coins in prizes. Those willing to pay 500 Gold Coins were obviously wealthy thrill-seekers. They might value their lives, but they were definitely powerful.
Sun Busong wasn't sure which kind he was. He was just here to coast.
Heavy Fist was different. He wanted to prove his strength. He was an ordinary soldier at level 29; if anyone else had been in his place, they would have died in there!
Sun Busong wore a helmet. He hadn't brought his axe this time. Instead, he held a hammer in his right hand and a shield in his left.
He was just here to have fun and get a thrill. Even if all ninety-nine other people teamed up to beat him, it would take at least half an hour to drain his enormous health bar.
The starting pistol hadn't sounded yet, but the atmosphere in Arena 14 was already unbearably tense. The competitors eyed the people around them as if sizing up prey. Bloodshot veins spread through their eyes, and their breathing had grown rapid.
Just then, Sun Busong suddenly felt someone watching him. He paid it no mind. Everyone in the arena was watching everyone else, so it was nothing unusual. But a few seconds later, the person who'd been watching him began moving toward him!
Oh! What the hell!
Sun Busong felt a little put out. What a pair of sharp eyes! This person had picked out the strongest, toughest, handsomest, richest man in the arena at a glance—him!
Was this person trying to make him their first target? What was wrong with their eyes?
Sun Busong didn't move or assume a defensive stance. He'd never used that stance since learning it. The little nobodies here would be lucky if he even had to draw his axe.
Suddenly, a voice sounded.
"Um, excuse me. Could you protect me?"
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