Chapter 25 p2: Ten Billion
Seeing the popularity of the live stream room rapidly decline, the host’s face darkened. He irritably fiddled with the mechanical prosthetic eye in his eye socket and asked in a cold voice, “What the hell is going on!”
Cold sweat broke out on the star pirate’s forehead. “Before we released these white shark aliens, they were indeed agitated and about to fight in another pool. We don’t know why they… as soon as they got in front of the auction item…”
The host pondered for a long time. “There’s something wrong with this auction item.”
But the situation was urgent, and this was not the time to dwell on it. The top priority was to get the popularity back. The host instructed, “Inject them with a frenzy-inducing agent.”
The star pirate: “Yes.”
The quantum cameras flying in the water, at a speed invisible to the naked eye, respectively injected the ten great white sharks with a drug that would instantly make an alien lose their reason and become doubly frenzied.
Danger!
The merman’s natural radar warned Deng Xi to get away immediately.
But the tranquilizer made it impossible for Deng Xi to move. He was still completely unprepared, watching as the great white sharks, which had been so docile just now, suddenly tensed up and let out a sharp cry that echoed throughout the entire pool. They charged recklessly, their serrated teeth wide open, and rushed straight at Deng Xi.
Deng Xi’s pupils constricted.
At that moment, the quantum cameras in the pool, according to the system settings, quickly injected the ten great white sharks with a tranquilizer.
Just now.
On the public screen of the live stream room, a bullet comment spanned the entire screen: “Eleven billion, stop the auction warm-up.”
·
This auction item was the highest-priced in the history of the skull, a full ten billion. And the host’s goal was to sell it for at least 50 billion Imperial star coins.
If he succeeded, this auction would definitely become the most glorious achievement of the skull. A hint of fanaticism appeared in the lifelike mechanical prosthetic eye.
There must be no accidents in this auction.
But the sudden stop of the auction warm-up brought the audience’s long-awaited excitement to an abrupt end. The bullet comments were all curses: “The person behind this bid is definitely the organizer. Otherwise, which buyer would dare to break the rules?”
“It’s definitely a setup.”
“I feel like we’re being played for fools.”
“Liar, liar, liar!”
…
The mechanical prosthetic eye took a deep breath and glanced at the bullet comments. As the host of the auction, his only task was to ensure that the auction proceeded smoothly. And no auction he had ever handled had ended in failure.
The host quickly operated.
He switched to an anonymous account, clicked on the bid, and offered: “12 billion, continue the auction warm-up.”
The moment this bidding bullet comment appeared, most of the curses in the bullet comments instantly disappeared, and the lost traffic immediately returned.
A glint flashed in the mechanical prosthetic eye. Maliciously raising the price was what a disguised organizer should do.
Immediately after, a dozen or so people joined the bidding, raising the price all the way to 1.9 billion. Every bid was followed by a “continue the auction warm-up” suffix.
The star pirate asked in the earpiece: “Do we need to inject these great white sharks with a frenzy-inducing agent again?”
The host silently looked at the live stream camera.
After a long time without the expected pain of being attacked, Deng Xi slowly opened his eyes, which he had closed in fear. He looked in surprise at the great white sharks in front of him, which had retracted their serrated teeth and were leisurely swaying in the pool.
One of the great white sharks, as it was turning, came to Deng Xi’s front again. While Deng Xi was nervously still, the great white shark, whose head was bigger than his entire body, nudged the arm he was using to hug his chest.
The wet, smooth touch, the great white shark exuding a peaceful and friendly aura, was not at all like the aggressive ocean overlord from before.
The gift of the sea had given mermen a natural attraction to natural creatures. It was drawn by the affinity on Deng Xi’s body. It gently nudged his arm with its pointed, round head, trying its best to release its friendly aura.
Deng Xi cautiously reached out his hand and gently touched the top of the great white shark’s head with his palm. He was still a little scared, and his fingertips were trembling.
But when he received a friendly nuzzle from the great white shark in return, Deng Xi seemed to hear the ocean, which had always been protecting him, say in a gentle tone, Don’t be afraid.
Deng Xi couldn’t help but curve his eyes.
The beautiful, golden-haired, blue-eyed merman was cautiously touching the extremely dangerous great white shark with his pale fingertips. This scene was as beautiful as a painting, but in the lower right corner of the painting, a red light was flashing. It was a small surveillance device that could inject drugs at any time.
It was silently approaching.
With the distance between Deng Xi and the great white shark, if the frenzy started, he would definitely not be able to avoid it.
The host: “No need.”
The tranquilizer had already been administered, so of course the auction warm-up could not continue. This was just a pretense to allow the auction to proceed smoothly and appease the public’s emotions.
The host glanced at the bullet comments that had made the same proposal as the bidder. Knowing that the proposal could not be realized, he unhurriedly straightened his suit, switched back to the host’s account, and sent an announcement: [We are sorry, the auction warm-up will not continue.]
The audience could see the abnormal closeness between the auction item and the great white shark with their own eyes. With this announcement, the bullet comments immediately exploded again. At a glance, it was almost a dense wall of the word “setup.”
Announcement: [Once someone makes a bid, the auction warm-up will immediately end. This is our rule.]
Announcement: [Of course, we can understand the buyer’s request to not bear a high risk. Therefore, we will make an exception and activate the auction item’s identity lock ring during the auction.]
Announcement: [Do you want to know how many seconds of electric shock an atavistic Jiaoren can withstand?]
The identity lock ring referred to the electronic lock ring on Deng Xi’s neck.
It was a second-generation electronic shackle that had been phased out of military prisons. After being modified, it was widely circulated on the black market. It was equivalent to a small electric baton, and the central hub could release an electric current at any time to electrocute the auction item. Besides preventing the auction item from going berserk, it could also provide real-time location tracking if the auction item escaped.
For a normal person, the high-voltage pulse it instantly generated could knock them out immediately, and could even cause shock. And if the electric shock was too long, it would directly cause incurable trauma to the body and lifelong after-effects.
Generally speaking, it was rare for the audience to witness the power of the identity lock ring at an auction, because the auction items had all been tranquilized, and it was extremely rare for a live broadcast accident of resistance or rampage to occur.
It had to be said that the host’s professional ability was top-notch in the industry. This decision instantly reversed the direction of the bullet comments, and the atmosphere was pushed to its peak.
The bidding also rushed to 3.4 billion, all asking “when will the electric shock start?” After waiting for a long time, all they saw was the great white shark in the pool voluntarily retreating into the black hole it had swum out of. The camera was once again left with only the bewildered auction item.
The star pirate was waiting for instructions in front of the machine that controlled the identity lock ring, but the host was rarely hesitant. He had noticed earlier that there was something wrong with this auction item. He was so timid that he and the Imperial Marshal seemed to be two opposite species.
Too incredible.
It also made the host undecided about whether to start the electric shock.
The host’s knuckles tapped lightly. He glanced at the auction item in the camera, who was tightly clutching the lock ring on his neck, his brow slightly furrowed, looking extremely weak. He glanced again at the small screen that was tallying the bidding data.
A number “50” was clearly displayed there, the unit being billion. The bidder’s bullet comment was extremely conspicuous in the live stream room. It was a response to the last announcement, concise but extremely forceful: “50 billion, I don’t want to know.”
So far in the auction, besides the first bid of eleven billion, only the current fifty billion was going against the public opinion. More accurately, it was to prevent harm to the auction item.
A glint flashed in the host’s eyes. “Go check if this anonymous user and the first bidder are the same person.”
A few minutes later, a confirmation came from the earpiece.
The host neurotically fiddled with the smooth texture of his prosthetic eye.
It could be used.
The goal of 50 billion had been achieved. He wanted to double it. If the auction was successful, it would definitely make the skull famous. But to sell it for a hundred billion was not an easy task.
But if there was a big spender, it was possible.
The host switched accounts. “51 billion, hurry up and electrocute.”
That bullet comment directly canceled its anonymity, revealing the dark web’s initial pure black avatar and a string of garbled code, followed by, “70 billion.”
The host’s breath hitched, and he was a little short of breath. If he could pull this off, he could lead the skull to retire directly. “71 billion, activate the lock ring.”
The garbled code followed suit and raised the price: “90 billion.”
It was too fast. From 34 to 90, and there were even others constantly raising the price. It had soared from ninety to ninety-six before it finally stopped.
The bullet comments couldn’t keep up, but they couldn’t help but gasp in amazement, shocked beyond belief.
·
Si Jisheng’s fingertips tapped a few times. After typing out “100 billion,” he paused on the send interface. His gaze was fixed on the blue-tail’s neck with the electronic lock ring on the light screen. His tone was cold. “Report the decryption progress.”
In the treatment room, a dozen or so members of the military’s investigation team were frantically decrypting data with their respective terminals. The adjutant checked and said in a low voice, “Ninety-eight percent.”
The bidding at the online auction had been stuck at ninety-seven billion for over a minute. No one had bid again, including the garbled code.
Actually, ninety-seven billion was also very good. It was only three billion short. The host loosened the tie at his throat. The greed in his good eye was unconcealable: “Ninety-eight billion.”
After the host’s anonymous bullet comment was sent, the adjutant immediately followed up with a report, “Ninety-nine percent.”
Si Jisheng “hmm”-ed. The light screen was still on the send interface. The bid of one hundred billion was still in the dialog box.
Beads of sweat dripped down the host’s forehead. He was sweating in the cold air, a rare occurrence. He was a little anxious. “Ninety-nine billion, activate the electric shock immediately! I’ll only bid if you activate it!”
Offline, he also said to the star pirate in his earpiece, “Get ready. If no one follows in one minute, activate the identity lock ring directly.”
He had to force out this one hundred billion bid.
At the same time.
The adjutant’s face was filled with joy. “One hundred percent! Decryption successful. The other party’s location is near the Alexandria galaxy!”
Just as he finished speaking.
Si Jisheng pressed the send button.
Three minutes later, the live stream room pushed an announcement, “Congratulations on successfully winning this auction item for one hundred billion. This auction is now over.”
Then the camera went black, and the live stream room was closed.
The matter of anti-tracking was settled. The investigation team had already marked the data when the organizer first sent the message. Every time the other party spoke, the decryption progress would be further tracked until it was completely decrypted.
The host thought he was the fisherman, Jiang Taigong, maliciously raising the price and using the auction item’s life to implicitly threaten and lure. But from beginning to end, he was the only one being fished.
The adjutant hadn’t seen such an obedient and well-behaved big fish bite the bait in a long time.
The adjutant breathed a sigh of relief. “Marshal, this one hundred billion?”
Si Jisheng raised his silver eyes and said concisely, “Consider it my personal contribution.”
The adjutant was secretly speechless and quietly waited for instructions.
Si Jisheng was exuding a cold aura, and his silver eyes were filled with ferocity. He ordered in a cold voice: “Go and say hello to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and have them contact the king of the Alexandria galaxy.”
“Have the Alexandria galaxy clear a path for the Imperial military’s warship.”
