Activated Rope

After introducing the item, the auctioneer paused, then continued:

"I should mention in advance that the Activated Rope has two drawbacks. First, it's only one hundred meters long, so it can only be used on small sailing ships."

Hearing this, Ian's excitement quickly cooled.

In his plans, Wawa would certainly be a warship propelled by a propeller powered by its own energy. But in the early stages, it would need to masquerade as a sailing ship. After all, even Steam Battleships currently relied on both steam engines and sails.

If he had a rope that could operate sails automatically, he wouldn't need to go to the trouble of recruiting a large crew.

But at only one hundred meters long, the Activated Rope wasn't much use.

Sailing ships had many kinds of rigging: foresail halyards, mainsail halyards, mainsail clewlines, mainsail control lines, reefing lines, and jib control lines, among others.

Take the foresail control lines, for example. There were usually three, each at least one and a half times the length of the ship.

Jib control lines were even longer, at more than twice the ship's length. So a hundred-meter Activated Rope was of very limited use.

The auctioneer paused after speaking. "The second drawback is that it has a compulsive urge to enforce order. That's the medical term. In simple terms, in its presence, all ropes must be neatly arranged, all knots must be tied correctly, and you can't put your right shoe on your left foot..."

"If you break these rules, it will try to correct you. If it keeps trying and fails, it will fall into a temporary 'coma' of indeterminate duration."

"And this trait will also subtly influence its owner."

Ian's lips curled. This oddity was, well, truly one of a kind.

If that was the case, using the Activated Rope as ship's rigging would be a "waste" of its talents. It ought to have more unusual uses, like—cleaning...

"The starting bid is 1,000 gold coins. Each raise must be at least 10. Please place your bids—"

"1,050 gold coins—"

"1,100 gold coins—"

Contrary to Ian's expectations, the crowd's enthusiasm hadn't waned because of the Activated Rope's drawbacks.

"2,600 gold coins!" Ian waited until the bids began to slow before calling out.

He was quite taken with this oddity!

The Whaling Group members were also surprised to see Ian bidding. He was an Alchemist with no ship, so what use would he have for this?

They could only conclude that rich people did whatever they pleased. Lia was the only one who knew Ian planned to leave, and she glanced at him thoughtfully.

"2,610 gold coins!"

"2,700 gold coins!"

"2,700 gold coins, once..."

"2,700 gold coins, three times. Sold!"

Ian let out a quiet breath of relief. He'd been lucky to win the bid. If the other bidder had gone over 3,000, he would have had to give up because his purse was empty.

"Congratulations..."

Seeing Ian's relaxed smile beside her, Lia congratulated him softly.

Ian grinned at her. It was his first time attending an auction and winning an item, and the experience felt novel.

The auction continued, and the various oddities and pieces of equipment opened Ian's eyes.

"The next lot is a premium Awakening Potion produced by the Alchemist Fellowship. Six bottles per set, with five sets to be auctioned."

Ian perked up and focused on the stage. In an exquisite leather case sat six black glass bottles, each topped with a cork and arranged in neat rows.

The black glass bottles blocked everyone's view and prevented all spiritual probing. This wasn't to preserve an air of mystery, but a necessary measure to prevent spiritual contamination.

Apart from the first few years after the Great Voyage began, when Awakening Potion prices dipped, auction prices had steadily climbed.

Eventually, they became rare even at auctions, appearing only in small quantities in private trades among the major factions.

In recent years, the Sea of Miracles had undergone more and more changes, and more Extraordinary people had become corrupted. This was mainly because most of them had awakened using inferior Awakening Potions, though a very small number had awakened spontaneously and lacked control.

There were quite a few Awakening Potion formulas, but little was produced. One of the main reasons was the scarcity of ingredients. A typical example was Blue Silver Grass.

Blue Silver Grass possessed gentle, pure spirituality and wouldn't corrupt any living thing. This was an essential trait for the main ingredient in an Awakening Potion.

But Blue Silver Grass required a harsh environment to grow, couldn't be cultivated artificially, and was extremely rare.

The second reason was that Awakening Potions differed from Sequence Potions: they couldn't be refined, only blended. Any admixture of spirituality and Mana would inevitably ruin the blend.

Beyond those two reasons, Ian couldn't help but wonder maliciously whether the major Extraordinary factions were deliberately controlling the number of Extraordinary people.

He just didn't know why someone had brought so many Awakening Potions to this auction. Had they found a substitute for the main ingredient?!

What Ian didn't know was that he'd actually guessed half of it correctly.

They hadn't found a substitute for the main ingredient, but they had discovered large quantities of high-quality Blue Silver Grass on the New Continent.

During the fighting against the natives on the Western Continent, a few bold adventurers had taken advantage of the chaos to steal a small amount of Blue Silver Grass and bring back the news.

The Empire of Divine Grace and the Silver Star Merchant Alliance from the Western Continent had already seized a landing site on the New Continent and established a foothold. They had likely gathered even more.

Even more astonishing than this news was that High Sequence Extraordinary people had appeared in the war. They had played a decisive role in the fight against the native Extraordinary people.

After all, the last time High Sequence Extraordinary people had appeared in Aiolanga was during the Fourth Era, more than two thousand six hundred years ago.

The effects of the Mana Tide had begun to show. The Mana levels and resources of the Sea of Miracles were now sufficient for High Sequence Extraordinary people to emerge!

Low Sequence Extraordinary people couldn't stand against Mana Pistols and organized troops, and Mid Sequence Extraordinary people were no match for Alchemy Cannons and battleships. But High Sequence Extraordinary people were different. They had already crossed into the realm beyond humanity.

Their powerful spiritual fields allowed them to escape the pull of gravity and fly through the air. Their mighty spirituality and Mana made it possible to cast forbidden spells capable of turning the tide of war.

The emergence of High Sequence Extraordinary people would upset the current balance of power.

Under pressure from the Western Continent, the factions of the Eastern Continent had been forced to "bury the hatchet" and form an alliance.

No matter how fragile that alliance was or how much suspicion its members harbored, they had at least agreed on the strategic goal of seizing the New Continent.

This auction was an opportunity to demonstrate goodwill and exchange resources. They had brought out goods, equipment, materials, people, food, and more that had been sitting idle, hoping to trade with one another and grow stronger.

After the auction, the major factions would enter the fray and devote themselves fully to the struggle for the New Continent.

This auction was the work of the Emerald Duke. After all the major factions had fought one another for so long, how could they possibly trust one another, trade resources, and work together in good faith?

When the Emerald Duke took the initiative to put a Level Four sailing warship up for auction, the factions had all agreed. The spoils would stay within their circle either way.

And that was exactly what happened. As the auction went on, the major lots were snapped up almost entirely by them, while the Seven Major Churches of the Righteous Gods watched from the sidelines throughout.

In the end, the five sets of Awakening Potions were all bought by kingdoms and duchies. Even the cheapest set fetched 20,000 gold coins.

Alanisse also successfully bought a set of Awakening Potions, then leaned back lazily. She wasn't interested in anything else.