Lin Li glanced at the layout of the private room, and indeed had some understanding of the Gilded Kingdom's intentions. Hence, he nodded, and said, "Thank you, this is a good place. Let's stay here. Prince Monterey, if you have anything to do, just go ahead and do it. "
It was really depressing to chase him away as soon as he entered! Although Prince Monterey did intend to leave for a while, he didn't expect the other party to start chasing him away.
Alright, I won't bother with them anymore. As long as there can be a perfect outcome, I won't bother about the other details! Prince Monterey comforted himself in his heart, and at the same time, bade farewell to Lin Li so that he could report everything to King Bradlor.
After Prince Monterey left, Lin Li and Connoris sat in the private room facing the auction site, and tasted the fine wine on the table while looking at the various humanoid creatures below.
The Sea Clan was a very large race, and the opposite of the Sea Clan was actually not the human race, but the land race which was a combination of all the intelligent races on land. However, in Anril today, the human race was very powerful, and almost surpassed the other races. Hence, the human race had also become the representative of the land races.
Apart from the seven overlords of the Endless Ocean, there were also other marine races of various sizes among the Sea Clan. For example, the Giant Claw Clan, which had a pair of large pincers, was not too weak in combat, but it was far inferior to the seven overlords. Its status in the Endless Ocean was probably equivalent to that of a top force in the Breezy Plains. There were also the Walrus Clan, the Cancer Clan, the Swordfish Clan, and so on, which were all powerful forces in the Endless Ocean.
There were also some more peculiar races, such as the Sea Ghoul Clan, which had almost no fixed form. In fact, they had nothing to do with Undead creatures, and were more like water elemental creatures. There was also the Seabed Treant Clan. It was said that there was once a team of elves who escaped to the Endless Ocean, and in order to survive in the ocean environment, they used a secret technique to turn themselves into Seabed Treants.
In the Endless Sea, there were many Sea Clans like this. However, only these Sea Clans were qualified to come here. Most of the weaker Sea Tribes would either attach themselves to an overlord of the Sea Tribes, or struggle silently in the sea for survival. How could they have the opportunity to participate in such a grand auction?
Just as Lin Li was waiting for the auction to begin, the sounds of an argument could be heard coming from a room at the backstage of the auction house. Everyone who passed by the door couldn't help but quicken their footsteps as if there was some kind of terrifying existence behind the door.
The door to the room was tightly shut, and there were two people arguing. One was an old man with white hair and beard, and the other was Prince Monterey. With Prince Monterey's identity and status, the white-haired old man was naturally not a simple person since he could argue with him in such a lively manner.
"Grand Duke Weidi, His Majesty has personally instructed us to do this. No matter what that President Felic brings over, we have to use it as the finale." Prince Monteri was there this time because he was instructed by Bradlor to find out more about the auction of Lin Li's scroll.
Grand Duke Weidi was also a member of the royal family of the Gilded Kingdom. His father used to be Bradlor's grandfather's younger brother, Prince Rensant. However, according to the rules of the Gilded Kingdom's succession of titles, Weidi had to automatically lower his title by one level after inheriting his father's title. Hence, he became a duke.
That was also a law that the Gilded Kingdom had formulated at the beginning of its establishment in order to maintain the vitality of the nobles. According to that law, if the descendants of a noble had always been mediocre, their title would be lowered by one level, and they might eventually become a commoner. However, if anyone made great contributions to the Gilded Kingdom, they might be promoted, and it would not be impossible for those with royal blood to become a prince again.
Compared to Monterey, who was a political genius, Grand Duke Weidi could be said to be a business genius of the royal family of the Gilded Kingdom. Under Grand Duke Weidi's management, the royal treasury of the kingdom had been growing steadily and rapidly. The Royal Chamber of Commerce managed by Grand Duke Weidi was one of the largest in the Gilded Kingdom, and would earn a huge amount of wealth for the royal family every year. At this rate of development, Grand Duke Weidi would probably be promoted to a prince in a few years.
The white-haired old man who was addressed as Grand Duke Weidi glared angrily, and without showing any sign of weakness, he said, "Monterey, don't you know that your actions are ruining the reputation of our auction!? This is not something that can be done behind the backs of others. When the finale item is brought out, everyone will be able to tell that there's something wrong with it! "
For an auction, credibility was very important. The reason people were willing to bid at the auction was because they believed that they could buy genuine items there, and it didn't matter even if they had to spend more money. However, if an item that was obviously of poor quality was placed at the finale, what would the people who participated in the auction think?
Even if they had already bid for the items at the beginning, the appearance of the inferior product at the end would make them extremely distrustful of the auction. They would think that the items they had bid for might be defective, and they would no longer trust the auction in the future.
More importantly, the auction was organized by the officials of the Gilded Kingdom. If the reputation of the auction was damaged, it would be equivalent to the reputation of the Gilded Kingdom being damaged as well. How would the forces who participated in the auction view the Gilded Kingdom? By then, the reputation of the Gilded Kingdom in the entire Endless Ocean, or even in the entire Anril, would probably be ruined.
Prince Monterey definitely wouldn't have thought of that, but he still waved his hand nonchalantly, and said, "Grand Duke Weidi, I understand what you're worried about. However, don't worry, as long as you put the item that Felic brought at the finale, it doesn't matter if it's worth the price or not. As long as the price matches its position, what can others say!? "
Prince Monterey's meaning was very clear. Even if the item was worthless trash, as long as he could offer an absolutely shocking price for it, no one would know whether it was trash or not.
"Say no more, I have the final say in this auction! It's the same even if His Majesty Bradlor is here. I will never allow such a thing to happen at my auction. I don't understand your politics, and I won't let you tarnish my reputation. If you're unhappy with me, you can just replace me! " Faced with Prince Monterey's persuasion, Grand Duke Weidi rejected him decisively again without leaving any room for negotiation.
Grand Duke Weidi was a business genius, but he was not sensitive to politics at all. In fact, he could even be said to hate politics. In his opinion, if the Gilded Kingdom wanted to improve their relationship with the Tower of Dusk, they could do it through other channels, or just give some benefits to the Tower of Dusk. Why should he risk losing all his reputation!?
"Don't be angry, Grand Duke Weidi. We're discussing this with you. If you disagree, we naturally have to respect your opinion. Who else is more suitable to host this auction than you? "Monterey hurriedly comforted Grand Duke Weidi when he saw that he was getting anxious. If they replaced Grand Duke Weidi at the last minute, it would definitely cause a lot of speculation, and things would be even more troublesome.
Seeing that Monterey had given in, Grand Duke Weidi's expression softened a little, and he said, "Monterey, it's not that I'm not flexible, but business is different from politics. Once my reputation is damaged, I'll have to pay a price that's 10 times or 100 times more to recover. In fact, I might not even be able to recover. If you want to curry favor with President Felic, you can go and make a deal with him privately. Anyway, it's not the first time you've done that. However, my auction has to be conducted according to my rules, and I will never allow such a thing to happen at my auction. That would be an insult to me and to everyone participating in the auction. You can't afford to pay such a price. "
Although Monterey's title was higher than Grand Duke Weidi's, and he had a high status in the Gilded Kingdom, he was still considered Grand Duke Weidi's junior. Hence, he couldn't put on airs like a prince. Hence, faced with Grand Duke Weidi's reprimand, Monterey had no choice but to nod continuously. He said, "Yes, yes, you're right. However, we still have to deal with the Illuminati, after all. Even if we can't put them on the finale, we should at least arrange a better order of appearance."
The first of the few most important positions in an auction was the opening. The opening was not the first auction item, but the first auction item that was of value that matched the grade of the auction after several items were auctioned. The previous auctions were more for the sake of warming up for the official auction. In fact, it was to wait for those who were late.
Then, it would be the middle of the auction, where there would be another big climax. From the opening to the middle of the auction, there would be a few small climaxes according to the scheduled time of the auction. The auction items that would be auctioned during the middle of the auction should be in the top 10 in terms of value in the entire auction. Hence, they would be able to cause a lot of bidding. Towards the end of the auction, there would be a few auction items that would be used as the finale, and the atmosphere of the auction would be pushed to the climax.
What Monterey meant was that even if the item that Lin Li was going to auction could not be put on the finale, he should at least give it a few better spots at the front so that everyone would be able to look good. The most frightening thing would be to place it at the front as a cushion. That would not attract much attention at all, and it would often end up being unauctioned. Monterey did not have to worry about the issue of unauctioned items, but it would definitely not look good on his reputation.
However, Grand Duke Weidi did not buy it at all. Instead, he straightened his face, and said, "In my place, everything has its place, and it's based on its true value. Worthless trash can't even be used as a cushion, let alone be placed elsewhere. Okay, you don't have to say anymore. The auction is about to begin, please! "
Grand Duke Weidi did not give Monterey a chance to speak at all, and simply pushed the door open to chase him away. At this point, Prince Monterey was also very helpless. He had no choice but to shake his head and walk out while thinking about how he could show Lin Li enough respect without making others think that the Gilded Kingdom was too lowly.
However, after Prince Monterey left, Grand Duke Weidi still did not look relaxed at all. Instead, he paced back and forth in the room anxiously and nervously, looking at the door from time to time as if he was waiting for something.
All of a sudden, there was the sound of hurried footsteps coming from outside the door. Before the person could reach the door, Grand Duke Weidi hurriedly walked over to open the door. However, when the door opened, Grand Duke Weidi had a look of disappointment on his face. He looked at the person, and said, "Why are you in such a hurry? What are you doing!?"
The person who came was a supervisor of the auction. After being reprimanded by Grand Duke Weidi, he could not help but shrink his neck in fear. He said, "Grand Duke, it's time. Do you think we should start?"
"What!? Damn it, why haven't those guys come up with an answer yet? It's just a scroll, and they still haven't figured it out after so long. How dare they ask for a higher reward!? "Grand Duke Weidi did not know who he was scolding, but he turned around and entered the room angrily.
The supervisor of the auction followed him in with a smile, and said, "Grand Duke, I reckon they should have an answer soon. Do you want to wait for a while or start the auction first? Maybe after we auction off a few items, they will have an answer too. "
"What if there's no answer in the end? What if the final result is that the scroll is of no value at all? Damn it, they can't even figure out the items to be auctioned. What's the use of raising a bunch of good-for-nothings like them!? " Although Grand Duke Weidi was cursing in dissatisfaction, his voice was obviously much lower. Clearly, the bunch of good-for-nothings that he was referring to made him feel rather apprehensive.
"Look, if it really doesn't work, why don't we just have an auction with no reserve price? Although we can't figure out the scroll, that power can't be faked. When it's time for the auction, we won't introduce too much. We just need to show the scroll to the bidders and let them decide for themselves. "The supervisor of the auction was also a smart person, and he immediately thought of such a bad idea.
After hearing this idea, Grand Duke Weidi's eyes lit up. He reached out and patted the supervisor's shoulder, saying, "Hmm, your idea is not bad. If it really doesn't work, we'll do it this way. Now, follow me to the front."
After hearing Grand Duke Weidi's praise, the supervisor's face was instantly filled with smiles. He was almost certain that after this auction ended, he would definitely get more than just a simple compliment from Grand Duke Weidi. Even if he didn't have a meteoric rise, he would at least have a bright future.
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