Chapter 303: Bidding War
Even a major force would suffer from using such a large amount of money. Besides those so-called Millennial Families, no one could intervene in this competition.
At this time, almost everyone stopped breathing. Although the bids came less frequently, they knew that this was the most intense part of the auction.
This was the climax.
Whoever gave up first would lose the priceless Star Gem.
Everyone was focused on the auction, stretching their necks to gaze at the two private rooms, waiting for the final bid to appear.
"8,500,000 gods." After a minute of pondering, the voice from the central private room spat out a price.
Then, everyone watched as Hanson Charlotte came out of the northeastern private room with a calm expression. He put one finger up as he said, "Ten million golds. I bid ten million on behalf of the Charlotte Family."
The whole auction erupted with surprised voices.
An unprecedentedly high price had finally appeared in the Black Horn Auction. This was a brand new record, the highest price ever bid in the quarterly auction!
For a moment, everyone looked at Hanson Charlotte with complicated expressions.
All the people present were influential figures in Okland. Even the lowest were rich merchants. Everyone here knew that three hundred years ago, Santon Merlin appeared and dealt with the rare genius of the Charlotte Family before making the Merlin Family abruptly rise. From that point on, the Charlotte Family kept slowly declining.
At their worst, the Charlotte Family even fell to the level of being a 3rd-rate force. During that time, even small bandit groups would dare to rob the Charlotte Family's caravans. It could be seen how badly they had ended up from that event.
This trend continued up until the last century, when the Charlotte Family started re-emerging with the arrival of the Planar Colonization Era. They relied on their millennial foundation to leave their rivals behind and branded the name of the Charlotte Family in numerous planes. They even fought over Okland's Raging Plane Flame. They entered the struggle and successfully occupied five forts. It was then that people suddenly discovered that the Charlotte Family had already somehow returned to being one of the top forces of Okland.
Among the numerous families and clans of Okland, the current Charlotte Family was established as part of the top three, right after the Merlin Family and the Watson Family.
Many people speculated that the original power struggle between the Merlin Family and the Watson Family had already become a three-way conflict because of the abrupt rise of the Charlotte Family. Some were already predicting what an impact it would have on the current balance of power in Okland and felt that the three Families would sooner or later have to battle each other to death. At that time, there would be many lesser forces ready to divide up the loot from the remains.
However...
No one had expected the rise of the Charlotte Family to be so fierce.
Under countless eyes in the Black Horn chamber of commerce, Hanson Charlotte bid a massive sum of 10,000,000 golds...
Everyone knew that this bid not only represented the Star Gem's value, but it was also a demonstration of the Charlotte Family's power and foundation. They were using these 10,000,000 golds to tell everyone that the Charlotte Family was rising once again, that they were a force on par with the Merlin Family and Watson Family.
Their status would definitely rise in Okland after the auction, and they would be compared to the Merlin Family and Watson Family in the future.
Anyone who wanted to question the Charlotte Family would have to think of the pressure put forward by these 10,000,000 golds.
At this moment, Hanson was standing in front of the private room, raising his finger for a very long time with a tranquil expression as he overlooked all the guests from above.
Hanson Charlotte was born during the worst era of the Charlotte Family, when they had degenerated to a 3rd-rate force that was often bullied around. He had always been reminded as a kid that the Charlotte Family had once been one of the major forces of Okland and had once raised a genius on par with Santon Merlin.
Unfortunately, it was all in the past.
It could be said that Hanson Charlotte spent over half of his life basking in the story of the glorious days. All his energy was put into the great undertaking of reviving the Charlotte Family. He would pay any price to bring about the Family's revival.
Finally, the time Hanson Charlotte had been waiting for arrived.
With the start of the Planar Colonization Era, the Charlotte Family suddenly emerged once more, becoming stronger every day. Now, the whole Charlotte Family was looking forward to their future, they were all waiting for the Family to reach Okland's peak once again. Hanson Charlotte knew that this day was fast approaching.
He had been waiting for a hundred years for an opportunity like this one, to be able to bid 10,000,000 golds in the Black Horn Auction, to declare the return of the Charlotte Family.
After announcing his bid, Hanson suddenly felt that this century of waiting had been worth it. As of today, everyone would know that the Charlotte Family's financial resources weren't inferior to anyone else's. Only Hanson could understand this feeling, having desired and striven for it for so long.
"10,000,000 golds from High Mage Hanson Charlotte on behalf of the Charlotte Family. The price has reached 10,000,000 golds, is there any higher bid?"
The Black Horn chamber of commerce's auctioneer was undoubtedly very professional. Although Hanson Charlotte bid 10,000,000 golds and broke the record for the quarterly auctions, he didn't take long to recover and continue his job. He used a goading tone to inquire if anyone would bid higher.
In fact, the auctioneer himself knew that this was futile.
Ten million wasn't just a problem of being expensive, but rather, the amount was so high that even the Merlin Family and the Watson Family wouldn't be able to transfer it in a short time.
Everyone was amazed. The Charlotte Family had stayed inconspicuous for a few centuries before creating a stir overnight, using a shocking bid to announce themselves once more.
Many people looked at the 5th row, or more precisely, at the young man who had gotten seven items in such an unreasonable manner. Some were sneering at him, while others were sympathizing with him.
"Kid, I told you. Okland isn't Thousand Sails City. Well, I already said everything that had to be said..." Hanson's voice was still calm as he continued, "See, 10,000,000 golds, this is an unreachable amount. Can you still compete with me now?"
"High Mage Hanson, you are a bit too much." Lin Yun didn't say anything, but Ross couldn't stand it. "You used three hundred years of your Charlotte Family's savings to compete with my younger cousin over the Star Gem, do you think this is very honorable?"
"Haha..." For the first time, a smile appeared on Hanson's face. "Indeed, I have to admit, I used an exorbitant amount. But so what? You think this is unfair? Kid, this world isn't always fair. When Santon Merlin used his power as a Heaven Mage to sweep through the Charlotte Family, didn't people complain that it was unfair?"
"You..." Ross was speechless. Although he knew that Hanson was twisting the truth, he didn't know how to refute him. He could only stand there in a daze, looking at the proud smile Hanson was exposing.
In the end, Ross could only coldly snort and sit down unwilling.
"I'm sorry, Mafa Merlin, the auction is over." Hanson smiled at Lin Yun, his smile hiding some indescribable glee.
"Who told you that the auction was over?" Lin Yun slowly put down the Crystal Page that he had been examining and glanced at Hanson. He didn't even raise his hand as he announced, "20,000,000 golds."
"How much?!" The auctioneer had already been counting down slowly and the hammer had already been raised... But when he heard Lin Yun's bid, he almost let the hammer fall from his hand.
"Twenty... Twenty million?"
No one thought that the several-century-old record that had just been broken would be broken again by so much just a few minutes later...
Everyone was doubting their ears, wondering if they had misheard. How could it be so excessive? How could a Star Gem reach such a crazy price?
Hanson stood stock still in front of his private room. The smile on his face didn't have time to disappear as it merged with shock. His expression was a weird mix of a crying face and a smiling face.
It took no less than a minute for Hanson to recover and burst out with a shriek, "This is impossible!"
Hanson had completely forgotten himself.
He had just been bathing in the feeling of success as he was teaching a lesson, but he hadn't expected that the other side would be able to respond by bidding such an outrageous amount. That feeling of joy as he stood proudly over everyone in the room was suddenly erased by a slap in the face.
This was a shocking humiliation.