Chapter 60: Four hundred million

"A body refining potion," Lady Ember announced. "This potion is an A-ranked potion that was made to help refine a hunter’s body and allow the hunter to get stronger and increase their potential."

The moment she finished speaking about it, everyone was already hyped because they knew what this meant for a hunter.

Leon saw it and stared at it, the red liquid in a glass bottle that was placed on the table next to her.

’I’ve not gathered enough points to purchase the low-grade rebirth pill from the system yet, so I can’t give it to Lily yet, but I can get this for her in the meantime.’

He glanced over at her. She was still eating. He let out a soft smile and then turned to look at the auction.

Lady Ember had barely called out the price, which was starting at a staggering fifty thousand, and people were already rushing to get it.

"This will not be an easy bid, but I’ll make sure that I get it no matter what." Leon clenched his fist. He walked to the table and picked up the phone. Then he walked over to the window. The three of them looked at him with raised brows, seeing that he wanted to buy something else, but they did not say anything. They kept enjoying their food.

The price of the potion rose rapidly to two hundred thousand and was still eagerly rising. Leon did not place a bid yet. He waited and waited. He had no fear about the price unless it began to enter the realms of tens of millions, and then he would be shaken.

Soon, it crossed five hundred thousand, and at this point, the bid began to lose momentum. It was at this point that the big shots began to place their bids.

Five hundred and fifty thousand from room F.

Six hundred thousand from room E.

The numbers simply kept going higher and higher every few seconds until they finally hit one million, and everywhere went still. Fewer calls came in, and fewer people wanted to bid for it.

Leon waited, and when it finally hit one million and fifty thousand credits, the bidding stopped. He picked up the phone and then called, "One million, one hundred and fifty thousand credits."

Xander, Sophia, and Lily all froze when they heard Leon make the call. They were sure that they had not heard him well. There was no way that he had just thrown that much into any product now, was there?

The bid was read on stage, and no one contested it. Instead, everyone was wondering who wanted it that much to pay that amount. Just when it was about to be sold, someone called and bid an extra fifty thousand.

The hall exploded, and everyone was stunned.

Leon frowned where he stood and immediately added another fifty thousand. The person added fifty thousand.

The back and forth continued until it hit one million, five hundred thousand, with Leon placing the final bid. This was far, far above what the price of that potion would be.

Finally, the person gave up, and Leon finally got the win. As they struck the gavel, the item was taken out, and another was brought on.

"Jeez, dude, you spent a lot on that potion." Xander walked up and said.

"It’s for Lily," Leon replied. "I noticed that she’ll have a hard time getting stronger, so I got it for her." He said that and gave no more explanation for it. He simply watched the auction continue.

More items came and went after that.

A set of armor went for just under a million. A bottle of dark violet liquid that Lady Ember called "a rare mana tonic" sold for two hundred thousand. A ring, a staff, and a pair of boots that were said to leave no footprints each had their turn on the velvet cart, and the crowd cheered every time the gavel fell.

But the mood in the hall kept building.

Everyone knew what was coming. Every few minutes, someone glanced at the empty stand at the center of the stage, and the murmurs grew louder. Even Xander had put his plate down and moved to the window.

Finally, the lights dimmed.

Lady Ember stepped up to the podium and waited until the room fell completely quiet.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she said. "We now come to the main event of the evening."

A hush spread across the hall.

"For safety reasons, the item itself will not be brought to the stage. We did not want to move it around recklessly. Instead, we will show you a projection of it."

She lifted her hand.

A pale light rose from the stand, and a glowing image formed above it. It was a core, round and large, with a golden light pulsing in slow waves at its center. Even as a projection, the energy it gave off made the people in the front rows lean back in their seats.

"This is a golem core, taken from an S-ranked gate," Lady Ember said. "The bidding will begin at ten million credits."

Ten million was far too low for something like that. Leon knew it, and so did everyone else in the building. It did not stay at ten for even a second.

"Twenty million, from room B!"

"Thirty million, from room H!"

The calls came in one after another, from the private rooms along the upper walls. Barely anyone on the main floor even raised a hand. This was not their game. They sat in their seats and watched, with their mouths hanging open, as Lady Ember read out the numbers.

Forty million. Forty-five. Fifty.

It kept climbing, fast and hot, and within a few seconds, it hit a hundred million.

The pace slowed a little there, but it was still moving at a speed that made the room hum. Nobody was giving up. Bid after bid came in: a hundred and twenty million, a hundred and fifty, a hundred and eighty. The air felt heavy with tension.

At two hundred million, even the big shots began to fall away. It was an insane price. Several of the private rooms went quiet, and the remaining few bids came in slowly, one at a time, from only the people who truly wanted it.

In room F, a man sat at a table with a phone to his ear.

He was Kate’s father. He had come prepared. He wanted this core for a certain weapon he planned to produce, and when his daughter told him it was available, he had made up his mind. He did not hesitate or wait.

"Three hundred million," he said.

The hall exploded.

Voices rose from every row. People stood up to see which room it had come from. Some laughed in disbelief, and others shook their heads. It was the highest bid of the night by a wide margin.

But one more room had the guts to answer.

"Three hundred and fifty million, from room A," Lady Ember announced, and her voice rose a little.

The air in the hall was intense. The clamor was deafening, a roaring storm of conversation that rolled from wall to wall. Everyone wanted to know who it was and what they were willing to pay.

In room F, the man did not even blink.

"Four hundred million."

The words reached the stage a moment later.

Lady Ember read them out loud. The hall went silent.

Nobody dared to bid. No hand rose, and no phone rang. She raised her gavel, and in the stillness, the whole room seemed to hold its breath.

"Going once. Going twice."

The gavel came down.