Chapter 110: The Price of Gold

“The four pieces of High Golden equipment are now up for auction. First up is the Level 20 War Bear Armor, with a starting bid of 200,000 gold coins, and a minimum increase of 10,000 gold coins per bid.”

Old Vine swept his gaze across the room, clearly seeing the greedy spark igniting in the players’ eyes. There was no point dragging things out. Without hesitation, he announced the price and officially opened the auction.

The starting bid for the War Bear Armor was set at 200,000 gold coins. During the first phase of the auction, the highest price any piece of Medium Golden equipment had reached was only 220,000 gold coins. If such a starting price had been announced back then, the crowd would have erupted, shouting accusations of greed and price gouging at both the seller and Old Vine himself.

But after witnessing the insane bidding war over the Guild Creation Token, the players now understood one thing very clearly, when it came to truly valuable items, logic no longer applied, and wealthy players were never in short supply. Even so, this opening price instantly eliminated anyone outside the VIP Section, leaving only the richest contenders in the game.

“810,000 gold coins, ThreeleafAxe69.”

“820,000 gold coins, SoulfireBlade.”

“1,000,000 gold coins, Blaze Phoenix.”

Once again, it was Blaze Phoenix.

At the beginning, ThreeleafAxe69 and SoulfireBlade had been cautiously testing each other, increasing the price by the minimum amount each time, carefully feeling out their opponent. Before the bidding had even reached 300,000 gold coins, the mysterious Blaze Phoenix suddenly stepped in.

He only bid three times.

The first time, he jumped straight to 500,000 gold coins. The second time, he pushed it to 800,000. The third time, he casually announced 1,000,000 gold coins, instantly shattering the atmosphere and forcing the price of the Level 20 War Bear Armor past the million mark.

“War Bear Armor, 1,000,000 gold coins! Going once! Is there any further bid?”

“War Bear Armor, 1,000,000 gold coins! Going twice! Any further bid?”

Everyone knew that Blaze Phoenix possessed over eighty million gold coins. Spending a million on a single piece of Level 20 armor was not something he could not afford, but it was still an outrageous amount by any standard.

“1,010,000 gold coins, SoulfireBlade.”

SoulfireBlade was practically grinding his teeth in rage, hating Blaze Phoenix with every fiber of his being. If not for him barging in so aggressively, the bidding between him and ThreeleafAxe69 would have remained controlled, and the final price would have topped out at around 800,000 gold coins at most.

But his current armor was miserable, and he desperately needed the War Bear Armor. With stronger defense, he would finally be qualified to follow SoulSync into higher-level hunting zones. Compared to that, gold was secondary.

Still, Blaze Phoenix’s blatant show of wealth made his blood boil.

“War Bear Armor, 1,010,000 gold coins! Going three times! Sold!”

To everyone’s surprise, Blaze Phoenix did not raise the bid again.

ThreeleafAxe69’s existing armor was still passable, not bad enough to justify pouring in that much money, and in the end, the War Bear Armor fell into SoulfireBlade’s hands.

“Friends, next up for auction is the Level 20 Stormstrike Staff, with a starting bid of 500,000 gold coins, and a minimum increase of 10,000 gold coins per bid.”

Seeing that the War Bear Armor had broken the million mark, Old Vine naturally adjusted his expectations. As a high-grade weapon, the Stormstrike Staff deserved an even steeper starting price.

“Bro, isn’t that your Stormstrike Staff?”

The speaker was Shadowfall_Four, the player Marcus had previously PKed. His eyes were fixed on the glowing image of the staff on the screen as he turned toward Shadowfall_Three, his so-called Third Brother.

“I think it is,” Shadowfall_Three replied after a moment. “It has to be.”

Shadowfall_Two, seated beside them, nodded in agreement. That Stormstrike Staff had come from a Unique Quest, not a monster drop. There should not have been a second one like it in the entire game.

That damn Fighter, Shadowfall_Four cursed inwardly. Selling our Stormstrike Staff for money.

“Bro, message the Boss right now,” he said anxiously. “Tell him to buy the Stormstrike Staff back.”

Without both of their Golden weapons, the Skeleton Bow and the Stormstrike Staff, their leveling speed had slowed to a crawl. At this pace, completing the upgrade mission assigned by their boss was becoming increasingly unrealistic.

Their hatred toward the Knight wearing the rabbit mask had only grown stronger, but beneath that resentment was a bitter sense of regret. They had thought they were picking on an easy target that day. Instead, they had kicked an iron plate and paid a heavy price for it.

“I’ll try,” Shadowfall_Three said quietly, already pulling up the messaging interface.

Shadowfall_Three also desperately wanted his Stormstrike Staff back. After hesitating for several seconds, he finally swallowed his pride and sent a message to their boss, Shadowfall_One, who was seated in the VIP Section, asking him to buy the staff back if possible.

But deep down, he already knew the answer.

The Stormstrike Staff they had lost was no longer theirs. Like water spilled onto the ground, it could never be gathered again.

“2,000,000 gold coins, Blaze Phoenix.”

“2,500,000 gold coins, Hexium.”

Interest in the Stormstrike Staff far exceeded that of the armor. Weapons were always more valuable than defensive gear, and for a Mage, a powerful staff directly determined their damage output. The bidding immediately became fierce, especially once Hexium, the leader of the Violet Thunder Guild, openly joined the competition.

Once again, the name Blaze Phoenix echoed through the auction hall, as if he were impossible to escape. With just two bids, he forced the price of the Stormstrike Staff past two million gold coins, instantly eliminating a large number of hopeful bidders and completely crushing the remaining hope of the three Shadowfall members.

Their boss would never spend that much gold to reclaim the staff for them.

It was not because the Stormstrike Staff was not worth the price, nor because their boss lacked the money, but because the loss was entirely their fault. In their guild, mistakes were punished, not compensated.

In the blink of an eye, the competition narrowed to just two people, Blaze Phoenix and Hexium.

“2,800,000 gold coins, Blaze Phoenix.”

“3,800,000 gold coins, Hexium.”

This time, Hexium did not hesitate in the slightest. The moment Blaze Phoenix raised the price, he responded with an even more ruthless jump, clearly signaling his determination.

Hexium stared coldly at the bidding interface. If Blaze Phoenix dared to bid again, no matter the increase, he was fully prepared to drive the price up to eight million gold coins. He wanted to see whether Blaze Phoenix truly had the courage to fight over a Level 20 Stormstrike Staff at such a ridiculous price.

Although Hexium was already using a Golden staff, it was only Medium Golden equipment, far inferior to the Stormstrike Staff. More importantly, the weapon perfectly matched his Lightning Element class, making it almost tailor-made for him.

When Hexium decided on something, he never backed down. If he had not been short on funds during the Guild Creation Token auction, he would not have blinked even at ninety million gold coins.

“Stormstrike Staff, 3,800,000 gold coins! Going three times! Sold!”

Blaze Phoenix did not raise the bid again.

Old Vine brought the hammer down with a sharp bang, officially sealing the deal. The Stormstrike Staff now belonged to Hexium.

The three Shadowfall members felt even more miserable. That staff had once been theirs. Even the 3.8 million gold coins should have been theirs. Instead, they were left with nothing but regret.

Meanwhile, Blaze Phoenix leaned back slightly, a faint but arrogant smile appearing on his face. His interference had thoroughly reshaped the auction, especially the prices of the top-tier items, which had been driven to absurd heights.

The one who sold the Guild Creation Token really struck gold, he thought calmly, the smile on his lips deepening. Not only had that player made an unimaginable profit, but he had also offended every major Guild in the US in one move.

’I should look him up later.’

Anyone capable of obtaining a Guild Creation Token was certainly not weak.

He had no fear of offending these guilds. In his eyes, none of them were worthy of respect, not even their leaders. If necessary, he had far more effective ways to make them suffer.

In politics, there were no eternal allies, and in war, no permanent enemies. His performance tonight had already carved his name into the minds of every major Guild, showcasing his wealth and his influence. With his financial strength alone, if he ever chose to cooperate with any of them, there was no guild that could afford to refuse.

The next item appeared on the screen, the Level 30 Cabaro’s Greataxe.

Blaze Phoenix glanced toward the leaders of the major Guilds, his eyes gleaming slightly. It seemed his work was not finished yet. If he was already here, he might as well continue stirring the waters, pushing prices higher, and keeping the entire auction hall on edge.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep