Chapter 102: The Fierce Bidding War

At this moment, Xu Fan’s expression turned particularly grim. He truly couldn’t understand where Fang Nian had the capital to outbid him. Overwhelmed by frustration, he raised his hand, ready to bid again.

But just then, his secretary grabbed his arm.

“Mr. Xu, don’t act on impulse. Our real target is the Xiao family’s mechanism. If we can secure the next auction item, our core hunting ground will directly be upgraded to a D-minus rating. You know it’s been a long time since the 16th District has seen a D-level hunting ground. The business opportunities would be worth millions. Don’t let a small matter like this jeopardize the bigger picture.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Fan slowly lowered his hand, then turned to look at Fang Nian, giving him a look that said, “If the mountain doesn’t move, the water will.”

Liu Yunduo was sweating coldly in surprise. She hadn’t expected that an item that could have been won for 300,000 just moments ago had suddenly soared to one million. She had never seen so much money before; her eyes were almost glazed over.

“Yunduo…”

Only when someone backstage called her through her earpiece did Liu Yunduo snap back to reality. She glanced at Xu Fan, saw that he no longer intended to raise the bid, and then struck the gavel.

“Buddhist relic bead, one million, sold.”

The moment Liu Yunduo’s gavel struck, the entire venue erupted. This was the highest bid of the day.

“That’s what it means to be extravagant—that’s extravagance: spending a million on a worthless bead. Truly burning money.”

“A million? I might spend my whole life as a waiter and never earn that much, yet someone just spent that on a worthless bead? Unbelievable.”

“The world of the wealthy isn’t for us to understand. Just watch—there’s more excitement to come. Tonight’s main event is about to appear.”

“You mean the Xiao family’s mechanism and trap?”

“Yes. It’s said that owning this can directly upgrade the hunting ground’s rank. Multiple families who operate hunting grounds are likely to compete fiercely, and some merchants who deal in reselling items might also get involved. After all, a D-level hunting ground is already stepping into the mid-tier category.”

...

About ten minutes later, the frenzy over the million-dollar relic bead gradually subsided. Everyone’s attention shifted to the center of the stage for the main event: the E+ grade mechanism component presented by the Xiao family.

In the hunting grounds, mechanisms are core items. The quality of a mechanism directly affects the entire hunting ground’s rating. This is why the Xiao family can run hunting grounds as a subsidiary business and have amassed such wealth.

Liu Yunduo stepped onto the auction stage and projected a three-dimensional hologram onto the platform.

“Everyone, this is the mechanism component specially prepared by the Xiao family for this auction, registered as E+.”

Upon hearing Liu Yunduo’s words, the audience was momentarily stunned, then their eyes widened in disbelief.

“What? Wasn’t it supposed to be E grade? How did it become E+?”

Xu Fan’s gaze was sharp as he examined the complex schematic diagrams of several mechanisms in the hologram. It was clear this was no ordinary item.

“This really is something valuable. I thought the Xiao family would just bring out an E-grade item to make a show of it, but it turned out to be E+. That’s quite unexpected.”

Within the Jin family faction, Jin Jinhui and Jin Jindao were equally incredulous.

“Is the Xiao family crazy? They’re actually putting an E+ mechanism component up for sale? You know, if such a mechanism is installed in a good hunting ground, it can directly upgrade the ground by a major rank. If we can get this component here, the new hunting ground’s rating will definitely improve significantly.”

Hearing this, Jin Jindao nodded.

“Yes, I didn’t expect the Xiao family to auction this off. Even they probably don’t have many E+ mechanism components. This is quite surprising.”

Jin Jinhui’s expression suddenly turned serious.

“Brother, with this item released, the Xu and Xia families will definitely be interested. Some wealthy old bastards might also jump in. The price won’t be low. Should we compete for it?”

Jin Jindao, who had recently made progress in building a new hunting ground, urgently needed such a set to boost the rating. He wouldn’t miss this chance and raised eight fingers.

“If it’s within this price range, we can compete.”

Jin Jinhui nodded. Indeed, this was the highest price the Jin family could accept.

Once the component display was complete, Liu Yunduo took a deep breath and smiled.

“Alright, I believe everyone is ready. We’ll begin bidding. Starting price: one million Hope Coins. Each subsequent bid must increase by at least one hundred thousand. Please place your bids.”

Everyone was surprised by Liu Yunduo’s words. A starting price of one million was already high, and a minimum increment of one hundred thousand limited some bidders. Truly, this was a worthy grand finale.

But many knew that aside from this mechanical component, Fang Nian’s item had not yet been auctioned. This fellow claimed his item was the best of the night, which only heightened anticipation.

“One point two million.”

“One point eight million.”

“Three million.”

“Five million.”

...

The early bidding escalated rapidly. Everyone knew this wouldn’t sell for under five million; only bids beyond that would stand a chance, so in just a few calls, the price had reached five million.

“Five point five million.”

Xu Fan coldly eyed the item on stage and raised the bid by fifty thousand again, signaling the real competition had begun.

“Six million.”

The Jin family also made a move.

“Seven million.”

A portly, pig-like merchant directly raised the bid by one hundred thousand.

“Seven point one million.”

Xu Fan called out again, but only increased by ten thousand, lowering the pace.

Sweat beads began to form on the merchant’s face. He didn’t operate hunting grounds; he only wanted to resell the item. Because he couldn’t maximize the item’s value himself, continuing to compete didn’t make sense. He shrugged.

“Forget it, I’m out.”

The merchant withdrew, and a trace of relief appeared on Xu Fan’s face. In terms of financial power, the Xia family had just regained some strength, but bank loans were already putting them under pressure. They theoretically couldn’t compete with the Xu family.

Besides, the key player here was Fang Nian, the son-in-law who had married into the family; their pressure was even less. This explained why the Xia family hadn’t joined the bidding.

Thus, the Xu family’s only current rival was the Jin family. Though both families were aligned in their strategy against the Xia family and could be considered allies, Xu Fan didn’t believe the Jin family was uninterested in this item. They would surely fight for it to surpass the Xu family.

“Eight million.”

Just as Xu Fan predicted, Jin Jindao announced eight million.