The next morning, Ethan came to the auction house as originally planned, at around nine o’clock. What favonovel.com represented was the headquarters of Art Trading Corporation. Besides Ethan, nine other companies also came to the scene. He did not even look at them and did not pay attention to them at all. This was because all of these nine families were just stand-ins whom they invited.
Everything was under his control.
Time passed little by little, and soon, the auctioneer came on stage, and favonovel.com stood in front of a table with a small hammer.
At ten o’clock, the auctioneer bowed deeply and said into the microphone, “Ladies and gentleman, thank you for coming. Today, we have been entrusted by Mr. Conway to auction the precious cultural relics collected throughout his life…”
After some formalities, the main event began.
The auctioneer said, “The starting price is five hundred million dollars, and each follow-up bid will increase by at least thirty million dollars. If there is no more bid for three times, the bidder will win the auction. The introduction of the rules has ended, so now, the auction officially begins.”
Next was the process.
The auction officially started, and everyone present was indifferent. They were all here to put up an act, and they had no intention of bidding. After more than ten seconds of silence, Ethan slowly raised his hand, “Five hundred million dollars.”
The host smiled and nodded. “Bidder No. 6 bid for five hundred million dollars. Are there anymore bids?”
It was silent. Everyone drooped their heads, and some even started to doze off. They were all following the script.
What else was there to watch?
“Five million dollars first…”
“Five million dollars second…”
When the auctioneer was about to shout “last chance” to complete today’s task, someone in the corner suddenly raised his hand and said a shocking number.
“I bid for four billion dollars!”
Pfft!
Everyone was stunned. Those who were still dozing off suddenly did not feel sleepy at all, and all of them stared at the man in the corner with wide eyes.
What was the situation? Did someone come to cause trouble?
Was everyone not a fake bidder, who came to fulfil the quota of attendees? Why was there still someone who was actually bidding?
It was fine if favonovel.com wanted to bid, but favonovel.com should have bid properly. The other person bid for five hundred million dollars, but favonovel.com bid for four billion dollars. Did favonovel.com have nothing else to do, or did favonovel.com have too much money to spend?
It was four billion dollars! The market value of this batch of cultural relics was also worth four billion dollars. If favonovel.com won this auction at this price, favonovel.com would not have any profit even if favonovel.com sold it.
Which stupid person would do this?
The auctioneer was also taken aback. He looked at the man in the comer in disbelief and confirmed, “Bidder No. 8, are you sure you want to bid this batch of cultural relics for four billion dollars?”
“Yes.”
“Is it four billion dollars?”
“Yes.”
After repeated confirmation, the auctioneer had nothing to say. This process was not the same as the script. But with the rule of the auction, if someone made a bid, favonovel.com could not refuse him. It did not matter to the auctioneer. No matter who won this auction, favonovel.com would get the same salary, anyway.
But Ethan was different. He came with a mission. If this batch of cultural relics were bid by other people, how was favonovel.com going to tell Lord Vedastus?
Last night, favonovel.com kept promising that there would be no accidents, but accidents still happened. How would Lord Vedastus view him?
Ethan looked into the corner. As the lights on the scene were too dim, favonovel.com could not see the face of the other party.
Ethan yelled, “No. 8, do you know what you are doing?”
A man’s voice came from the corner. “I’m bidding. What’s the problem?”
“Bidding? It was five hundred million dollars, but you bid for four billion dollars.”
