Chapter 443: Turning Enemies

The auctioneer laughed. “Alright, we’ll begin the auction for this gun. Before that, I must warn everyone to not attempt disassembling it. It was manufactured very strangely, and rashly disassembling it will simply destroy this gun, and it might even cause the bullets inside to explode. Aside from a Hunter, no one else can possibly survive the power of twenty three attacks, each with a power level of 80,000.”

Many faces paled, as some people had evidently been considering disassembling the gun, but they had been quickly dissuaded by the auctioneer’s frightening words.

In fact, most were not that foolish. If it were possible to obtain the technique through disassembling the gun, then the auction house would not sell it. If they dared to sell this gun, then it could only mean that they had not been able to obtain the manufacturing technique.

“The bidding will begin at five hundred star essence,” the auctioneer shouted, causing the bidding war to start.

Five hundred star essence was rather expensive, but it was less than the value of one’s life, and many were willing to spend such a sum for such insurance.

Before long, the price rose to about 1,000 star essence.

Everyone present was very wealthy, as those who dared to play in the auctions on the Sea King’s Dome were not the normal sort of wealthy. Lu Yin marvelled at their ability to spend money.

At this moment, he felt that the Treasuremaster’s price for the Money Bomb had been too kind. Those weapons had a power level of over 10,000, and he had sold three for a hundred star essence each, which was a very generous price. He felt that he had been mistaken about the Treasuremaster, as the old man was not as greedy as Lu Yin had assumed.

After the price rose above 1,000 star essence, the bidding started to slow down, as it was an enormous sum. Even the tribute that the Blackbeard Pirates received from each pirate group rarely went above 1,000 star essence.

“1,200.”

“1,300.”

“1,500.”

…

The number of bidders dwindled, until it was only those in the private rooms still competing, leaving the people below as mere spectators. It was not that they could not afford it, but rather that the price had already surpassed the value of the gun since the manufacturing technique could not even be obtained.

Finally, no one dared to compete against the booth to the left of Lu Yin, who had raised the price to 2,000 star essence.

Lu Yin acted and pressed the button, adding another fifty star essence.

The crowd did not think that anyone would continue competing, and neither had the person in the booth to the left. He directly added another two hundred star essence, as he seemed determined to obtain the gun.

Lu Yin pressed the button again.

The other party then added yet another hundred star essence.

In this repeated fashion, the price actually slowly rose to 3,000 star essence.

Many people were stunned, as this price was actually enough to directly hire a Cruiser as a bodyguard for a substantial amount of time, and the number of times that they could defend their employer was not restricted. This price greatly surpassed the value of the gun, but the price was still continuing to increase.

“4,000 star essence!” The person in the booth to the left of Lu Yin finally grew impatient and drastically raised the price in one go.

Lu Yin did not mind it at all, and he pressed the button to add another fifty. Bring it on, you’re competing against the Sea King. Not only does this gun belong to me, but the entire Sea King's Dome!

“Seventh Bro, this gun isn’t even that useful for you. Why do you want it so badly?” The Ghost Monkey was puzzled. Lu Yin had taken off the screen on his right arm after becoming a peak Limiteer, which meant that the monkey had been screened off for three months. He had refused to speak a single word out of anger so far, but at this moment, he could not hold himself back.

“For Ming Yan to protect herself.”

The monkey rolled his eyes, as he had not thought of this option. “Think about this carefully: you’ve already spent more than 10,000 star essence. Aren’t you afraid that the Sea King will take notice?”

“Afraid of what? Lulu already passed this amount yesterday, and after today, she might even hit 20,000.”

The monkey thought about it and had to agree with Lu Yin’s assessment.

The left booth did not think that Lu Yin would continue competing, and they directly raised the price by another 500 star essence. Lu Yin continued to press the button in a relaxed manner. This was the way of the wealthy, as they did not care about the price. Rather, they just directly bought whatever they wanted.

The crowd below was puzzled, as the price had climbed too high. Such a price had rarely appeared since this auction house’s establishment, and even the auctioneer had paused.

Thud thud thud!

“Come in,” Lu Yin looked down and said.

A person entered the booth from the auction house and respectfully asked Lu Yin to show proof of his assets. Lu Yin directly displayed the token, and the other party immediately left for the other booth.

The price soon rose to 5,000 star essence, and Lu Yin squinted. This was not right; how could this gun be worth so much? He had the Sea King’s reimbursement, so did this mean that the other party did as well? That would be troublesome, as they would be locked in an eternal bidding war if they continued like this.

If it wasn’t the Sea King reimbursing the other bidder, then there were only a few other plausible explanations. The other party either knew what the gun’s origins were, or they were confident in their ability to disassemble and research it, which could bring them much greater wealth.

However, what puzzled Lu Yin more was why the gun’s owner had not attempted to sell the gun at a larger auction house, where there would definitely be more people who would want to buy it for research. If he had done so, the price definitely would have reached even more absurd heights.

Thud thud thud!

Another series of knocks sounded out from the door to Lu Yin’s booth, and a youth entered. He was stunned upon seeing Lu Yin, evidently recognizing him.

Lu Yin was rather famous throughout the universe, especially among the younger generation.

“So it’s Representative Lu,” the youth greeted.

Lu Yin’s eyes flashed; if he was calling him Representative Lu, then did that mean that this person was from the Ten Arbiters Council?

“You are?”

“I am from Ascension Flowzone’s Xun family, Xun Tao,” the young man introduced.

Lu Yin quickly understood. “I was wondering who could be so wealthy. So it’s the Xun family competing against me for that gun.” After speaking, he pressed the button again to continue bidding on the gun.

Xun Tao felt awkward. “We didn’t know it was Representative Lu, either. If we did, we would have come over earlier for a visit.”

The purpose of this visit was self-evident, as they were hoping that Lu Yin would give up on the gun. Lu Yin had interacted with Xun Jiong before, and they knew that the gun was not overly important to Lu Yin, so they were hoping that he could give up on it. However, Xun Jiong’s attitude towards Lu Yin on the ship had left a bad taste in his mouth. Although he did not particularly mind it, that incident meant that the two parties were not on friendly terms, so there was no need to remain amicable. They could each pursue their own interests, and a weapon that could fire attacks with a power level of 80,000 was also very useful for Lu Yin. “Brother Xun, you’re too kind. The Xun family helped the Great Yu Empire condemn the Ross Empire before, and we can be said to be the same sort of people.”

Xun Tao’s eyes lit up, but just as he was about to speak, Lu Yin continued. “Right, Brother Xun, could you do me a favor? Give up that gun, as it’s very important to me. Since we’re already on friendly terms, I trust that Brother Xun will not refuse.”

Xun Tao was stumped, as Lu Yin had said the words that he wanted to. He thought about it for a second and then said, “Representative Lu should know that the Xun family specializes in the Gear Construction Technique. That gun is extremely useful to my Xun family, so could Representative Lu please go easy on us? If there’s anything that you may need in the future, Representative Lu can contact our Xun family.”

Lu Yin smiled inwardly. Xun Jiong’s attitude towards him had clearly revealed everything, and this Xun Tao’s status was obviously not as high as Xun Jiong’s, so Lu Yin’s words were just a ploy to deceive Xun Jiong. “This is difficult, as this gun is also very important for me.”

Even as he spoke, Lu Yin continued to press the button. The price had already surged to 6,000 star essence, which was an exorbitant sum.

Xun Tao’s face grew ugly. “Representative Lu, could you give some face to my Xun family? After all, we did indeed help the Great Yu Empire.”

“Has Brother Xun forgotten the matter at Shenwu Continent? I saved your Xun family’s heir, Xun Jiong. Could Brother Xun go easy on me as thanks for saving Xun Jiong?” Lu Yin smiled.

Xun Tao took a deep breath and his face fell. “Since that’s how things are, then we can only compete in terms of wealth.”

Lu Yin nodded and then pulled out the Sea King’s token. “Yes, we can only compete in wealth.”

Xun Tao was stunned upon seeing the token. How could they compete? Even the entire Xun family together could not beat the Sea King!

Xun Tao had accompanied Xun Jiong, so he was well aware about the matter of the token reimbursing all expenditures during the stay at the Sea King’s Dome. Xun Jiong had one as well, but he had come to earnestly participate in this selection, so he would not abuse the token. And now, it was too late even if they wanted to use it since Xun Jiong was not nearby.

“Representative Lu, the Sea King’s son-in-law selection starts tomorrow, but you’re here squandering money with the Sea King’s token? Don’t you fear his wrath?” Xun Tao could not help but threaten Lu Yin.

Lu Yin waved a hand. “You’re thinking too much. The Sea King won’t bother over just tens of thousands of star essence. It looks like the Xun family isn’t too well-off since poverty has restricted your imagination.”

Xun Tao was furious and shocked at the same time. After hearing Lu Yin’s words, he was ready to throw away tens of thousands of star essence even though their family had not brought that much money here. “Alright, since Representative Lu is not willing to give my Xun family any face, Xun Tao will report things as they are. Representative Lu, take care.” After speaking, he turned to leave.

Lu Yin sneered, as his personality had always been like that. Xun Jiong’s attitude towards Lu Yin had been poor, so Lu Yin had no intentions of remaining friendly with such a person. If Watermoon Villa had requested that he give up on bidding for this gun, he would have done so without a second thought. Xun Jiong could only blame himself for having such a vile personality. Although Lu Yin had initially forced the trialtakers to write those promissory notes and had some intention of taking advantage of their misfortune, in the end, he had still saved them all, so it had been a fair exchange.

“Seventh Bro, good job! I disapprove of that Xun Jiong, though you have offended an entire family,” the monkey commented.

Lu Yin smiled. “There are many families in the universe, and if we’re afraid of offending people, then we won’t be able to roam the universe anymore. I’ve already offended the Daynight clan, so we can forget about this Xun family.”

“That’s also true.”

In the end, that gun was sold for 6,700 star essence. Compared to the item itself, it was a sky-high price. Even if Lu Yin did not need to pay for it himself, he still felt reluctant to part with such a large sum of money.

With this gun, Lu Yin had spent a total of 15,000 star essence during his three days in the Sea King’s Dome. Fortunately, that should be less than what Lulu had spent, since she had certainly spent more than 20,000 star essence.

When he left the auction house and looked at the color of the sky, it was already dark. In just another ten hours or so, the Sea King’s son-in-law selection would begin. These three days had been truly enriching.

Still inside the auction house, Xun Tao’s face was gloomy as he stared at Lu Yin’s retreating figure. Behind him, a middle-aged man grunted, “Our head tasked us with bringing that item back. Now that it’s in that person’s hands, it will be difficult to retrieve.”

Xun Tao coldly replied, “It’s no matter. He definitely won’t become the Sea King’s son-in-law, so we’ll have a chance when we leave the Sea King's Dome.” He then suddenly thought of something that made his lips curl.

Lu Yin wanted to return to the villa that he had used the day before to rest, but a giant screen rose into the sky and covered the entire area. Everyone looked up and saw the five Skyfall Cascades displayed on the screen. There were several names below each waterfall, and Lu Yin found his own name listed beneath the southeastern Skyfall Cascade.

At the top of the Skyfall Cascade, there was a sluice gate, and behind that, a long spear was stuck in the ground.

“Make your way up the Skyfall Cascades and pull out the Sea King's Trident to gain the qualification to become the Sea King’s son-in-law.” A giant voice rumbled throughout the Sea King's Dome, causing the Starfall Sea to surge.

Everyone grew excited. Was the competition to become the Sea King’s son-in-law starting early?