Chapter 86: Auction

A vast underground hall.

After a moment of silence, a dense murmur of discussion suddenly emerged.

"Tsk tsk... Life Spring Water, such a fine thing."

"Looks like that guy is definitely a Blood-Ear Elf alien."

"No need to say that."

"Probably the one who threatened him earlier is also from the Elf clan."

"Meeting a traitor from one's own clan at the black market, no wonder that Elf's tone was so cold."

"I heard the Blood-Ear Elves have always strictly controlled the flow of Life Spring Water into the human world."

"Hehe... I'm afraid this time, the scramble for such a large bottle of Life Spring Water will be exceptionally exciting!"

"Indeed."

The discussions rose and fell.

And Gune had already sensed the intense killing intent from the "Blood-Ear Elf" and the few people around him.

These Blood-Ear Elves most likely took him for a traitor to their clan.

Seeing him auction off their clan's sacred water, at this moment they wished they could kill Gune.

Unfortunately, the Life Spring Water in Gune's hand was not from their clan.

As if sensing the killing intent, the man in the blood lion mask stood up again.

"Everyone... a Transcendent Master is stationed here. If anyone breaks the rules, I need not elaborate on the consequences."

Though the blood lion mask man's voice was not loud, it was full of deterrence.

A Transcendent Master powerhouse was no ordinary strength.

That was a powerful existence nearly detached from the form of flesh-and-blood life.

At this moment, Gune was also on alert.

No one knew if these Blood-Ear Elves would go mad and charge over.

While secretly on guard, Gune spoke softly.

"500 milliliters of Life Spring Water, 2000 gold pounds, each bid increment no less than 100 gold pounds."

"3000 gold pounds."

As soon as Gune finished speaking, someone had already made a bid, and added a full 1000 gold pounds at once.

"Huh?" Gune couldn't help but look over. "Is this... an aristocratic capitalist?"

Aristocrats, in the imperial history of the Aoya Continent, were often those with power, influence, and territories.

The wealth of aristocrats relied on territorial taxes.

Essentially, the scope of an aristocrat's wealth extraction was not too vast, and the depth of their wealth was not as deep as imagined.

But big capitalists were completely different.

As the roar of Transcendent steam industry sounded.

Some far-sighted individuals among the aristocrats saw the powerful characteristics of the Transcendent steam engine and began vigorously promoting these roaring beasts.

In the following decades.

Roaring steam trains traveled deep into the Transcendent wastelands, bringing back large amounts of black iron, magic copper, and even mithril and magic gold ore.

Giant steam excavators dug up numerous ancient ruins. Humanity gained an unprecedented large-scale acquisition of ancient Transcendent information.

Steampunk steel giant ships broke through waves and mist, sailing the deep seas, opening sea routes. They hunted deep-sea fish, developed Transcendent sequence resources, and established trade lines with many foreign groups.

This brought astronomical wealth to those big capitalists.

While those aristocrats were still clinging to their territories.

Those big aristocrats and big capitalists had already reorganized the parliament, occupying important seats within it.

At the same time, using the parliament, they directly monopolized resources and channels in many areas.

For example, state-owned banks, iron and steel minerals, steam trains, steam ships, large steel mills, and so on.

It was said that the four grand dukes in the current parliament were both the helmsmen of their respective duchies and the real power holders in the Yulan Empire's parliament.

At the same time, they were also the top tier of big aristocrats and big capitalists of this era.

Bound by shared interests with these big capitalists were the various marquises and counts, large and small.

These entities could all be called aristocratic capitalists.

These aristocratic capitalists were far more powerful and wealthy than those aristocrats who clung to their territories.

When aristocrats bought things, they might have to think twice.

But those aristocratic capitalists didn't care about a change in one of the middle digits in the long string of numbers on their bank accounts.

So Gune felt that this mysterious person, who casually added 1000 gold pounds, might be an aristocratic capitalist.

"3100 gold pounds." Facing the mysterious person's bid, the strong Blood-Ear Elf was obviously unwilling to see their clan's "Life Spring Water" fall into the hands of outsiders.

He would rather spend a large sum to buy back the Life Spring Water.

But this strong Blood-Ear Elf clearly underestimated what a capitalist was.

"4000 gold pounds." The mysterious person, completely shrouded in a black robe with several similarly dressed people around him, bid again.

From the trend of the bids, one could see how domineering he was.

"4100 gold pounds." The strong Blood-Ear Elf glanced at the black-robed mysterious person not far away and said in a low voice.

"5000 gold pounds."

With this price, many people's gazes converged.

For 500 milliliters of Life Spring Water, some Transcendents with inside channels probably knew the price.

It should be between 3000 and 4000 gold pounds.

But the problem was, you might not be able to buy it, and the quantity wasn't very large.

This easily soared to 5000 gold pounds. Clearly, this mysterious person was not only financially strong but also determined to get the Life Spring Water.

"5100 gold pounds." The strong Blood-Ear Elf said through gritted teeth.

"6000 gold pounds." The mysterious person's tone was flat without any fluctuation.

"6100 gold pounds." The strong Blood-Ear Elf's breathing began to quicken.

Even he couldn't bear this price anymore.

"7000 gold pounds." The mysterious person bid again, not caring at all.

The strong Blood-Ear Elf originally wanted to bid again, but someone beside him gently tugged at him.

Their identities had already been exposed.

If they stubbornly competed and the other party deliberately raised the price to trick them, they would suffer a huge loss.

And in this black market, one dared not engage in tactics like fake bids.

Fake bids might only invite verbal criticism outside, but in this black market, it could cost you your life.

Though furious, the strong Blood-Ear Elf suppressed his anger. He also knew that dealing with such a traitor required not acting on impulse.

Seven thousand gold pounds. This high price was something Gune had not expected.

Gune had estimated that four or five thousand gold pounds would be the ceiling.

"This Blood-Ear Elf alien really knows how to drive up the price," Gune thought to himself.

"If you pushed it higher, I'd be even happier."

After waiting a moment and seeing no further bids, Gune was succinct.

"Sold for seven thousand gold pounds."

Soon, the 500 milliliters of Life Spring Water, packed in five wide-mouthed bottles, was delivered to the mysterious person.

After a brief inspection, the mysterious person paid a full 7000 gold pounds in banknotes.

Having sold the item, Gune did not linger on the platform. He went down to one side and began to count his earnings from this sale.

A total of 9200 gold pounds, mostly banknotes with a few gold pound coins.

"A bountiful harvest!"

Pocketing the 9200 gold pounds, Gune sighed lightly to himself.

He had already bought what he needed and sold what he wanted to sell.

And with the Blood-Ear Elves watching covetously, there was no need for Gune to stay in the black market any longer.

Turning around, Gune walked toward the exit.

Just as Gune reached the hidden entrance, he glanced lightly at those Blood-Ear Elves.

Those Blood-Ear Elves did not dare to follow.

The black market had its rules: when leaving, each person took a different hidden passage at staggered times.

They had already been warned once before; if they dared to follow and break the rules now, it would likely cost them their lives.