Chapter 1271 – Frantic Struggle

“Pavilion Master, Candlelight is clearly trying to extort us.” Martial Dragon’s expression darkened when he heard Melancholic Smile’s reply.

They would have to pay 3,000 Gold if they wanted to delay the auction of the Thunder Passes for ten minutes. Such a sum was enough to purchase a considerably good plot of Land in an ordinary NPC city.

Although 3,000 Gold was nothing to the Heavenly Dragon Pavilion, they would be fools to accept this offer.

At this moment, Nine Dragons Emperor also had an ugly expression on his face.

“This damnable Zero Wing!” Nine Dragons Emperor pounded his fist on the armrest of his chair. In a chilling tone, he said, “Let them have it! Isn’t it just 3,000 Gold? I’ll have Phoenix Rain and Zero Wing pay it back a hundredfold in the future!”

If he did not stop Phoenix Rain from obtaining the remaining three Thunder Passes, the struggle on Thunder Island would undoubtedly become more troublesome.

Meanwhile, the other four superpowers also paid the 3,000 Gold without hesitation.

After all, acquiring the three Thunder Passes would greatly bolster the forces they could send to Thunder Island.

In just a brief moment, Shi Feng earned 15,000 Gold—enough money for him to buy a golden Land in a major NPC city.

While the bidding for the Thunder Passes was on hold, Melancholic Smile continued auctioning one item after another. Meanwhile, every one of these items was highly contested by the players in the first-floor hall.

Some of these items were on commission from other players, while some were Dark-Gold Weapons and Equipment from Zero Wing’s Warehouse.

The Fine-Gold rank Magic Light Set Equipment that was auctioned managed to garner the attention of those on the second floor.

The various major powers knew full well how difficult it was to obtain such high-level set equipment. Despite all their efforts in challenging Level 50-plus monsters, they had yet to get even a piece of Level 50 Fine-Gold Equipment, much less Fine-Gold Set Equipment.

In the end, the Secret Pavilion bought the Magic Light Set Equipment for 4,000 Gold.

Meanwhile, each one of the 100 Advanced Mana Armor Kits offered sold for roughly 150 Gold.

After the auction of the Advanced Mana Armor Kits came to an end, the sale of the Bronze Engineering Locomotives began.

Nowadays, the various major powers in God’s Domain were frantically collecting high-ranking Mounts as well as equipping their elite members with Common Mounts. They all understood that the era of Mounts had already arrived. If they did not quickly equip their Guild members with Mounts, they would end up trailing the other Guilds before long.

After all, once players had Mounts, they could save up on plenty of travel time. High-ranking Mounts even possessed combat capabilities.

Now that the Candlelight Trading Firm was selling Bronze Mounts, the various major powers naturally wouldn’t let this opportunity get away.

“I believe everyone has seen the Bronze Engineering Locomotive’s Attributes already. The starting price will be 150 Gold, and each increment must not be lower than 10 Gold! Begin!”

The moment Melancholic Smile announced the start of the auction, whether it was the various large Guilds or adventurer teams, they all began placing bids fervently.

“One hundred and sixty Gold!”

“One hundred and seventy Gold!”

“One hundred and eighty Gold!”

...

In the blink of an eye, the price of the Bronze Engineering Locomotive reached 350 Gold.

Just as everyone believed that the price of the Mount would stop at 400 Gold, a new bid came from one of the second-floor rooms.

“Six hundred Gold!” Yuan Tiexin declared.

“It’s just a Bronze Mount, yet the guy in that room is actually offering 600 Gold? He might as well use the money to buy a top-tier Dark-Gold Weapon.” Everyone was astonished by Yuan Tiexin’s bid.

While they understood that Bronze Mounts were extremely rare, they were definitely unwilling to spend 600 Gold to obtain one.

“Uncle Yuan, we could’ve gotten the Mount for just 500 Gold. Why did you offer 600?” Purple Jade asked curiously.

After the price reached 400 Gold, the representatives of first-rate Guilds no longer showed much interest. It would have even been possible to obtain the Engineering Locomotive for just 460 or 470 Gold, yet Yuan Tiexin had offered 600 Gold. Even if the Secret Pavilion was rich, they should not be wasting their money in such a way.

“This is an order from the Guild Leader. He has tasked us with purchasing every Engineering Locomotive that comes up. If I only bid 500 Gold this time, other people will still harbor some hope of purchasing it later on. If I offer 600 Gold at once, they will give up on trying for the Mounts that come up later on in the auction,” Yuan Tiexin explained, chuckling.

“What? Didn’t we already obtain plenty of Engineering Locomotives from Zero Wing before? Moreover, many of our experts frequently raid ancient ruins to collect high-ranking Mounts. We shouldn’t be lacking in Bronze Mounts, right?” Purple Jade asked, confused.

“It is precisely because we have obtained so many Engineering Locomotives from Zero Wing that we have even more reason to purchase every one of them that appears today,” Yuan Tiexin replied, smiling. “Originally, I also thought that there was nothing special about the Bronze Engineering Locomotives. Their base Attributes are even weaker than those of other Bronze Mounts. However, when 50 Engineering Locomotives are gathered within a certain range, they will gain a buff called Mechanical Heart. The buff increases the Mount’s Movement Speed by 15% and both the rider’s and Mount’s Defense by 20%. This buff will greatly assist teams in both travel and battle.”

“They actually have such an effect?” Purple Jade was shocked. She immediately understood why the Guild Leader wanted to purchase all of the Bronze Engineering Locomotives.

Large Guilds often conducted team operations. If they could fully equip a 50-man team with Bronze Engineering Locomotives, the team’s efficiency would increase considerably.

Following which, the Secret Pavilion instantly purchased every Bronze Engineering Locomotive that went up on auction.

Although some first-rate Guilds tried to compete for the Mount, the Secret Pavilion shut them down with a significantly higher bid. None of them got any chance whatsoever. In the end, the Secret Pavilion purchased all ten Mounts that were offered.

Consequently, people also started recognizing the standard of the Candlelight Auction. At the same time, the atmosphere in the auction venue grew increasingly heated. When Melancholic Smile revealed the three Thunder Passes before everyone once again, the entire hall went into an uproar.

The reason for such a reaction was everyone’s desire to see the various superpowers going all-out in bidding for the passes.

“Let us begin bidding for the next auction item! The starting price for these three Thunder Passes will be 10,000 Magic Crystals! Each increment may not be lower than 1,000 crystals! Begin!”

As soon as Melancholic Smile finished speaking, the struggle between the various superpowers present began.

Only, before the crowd on the first floor could enjoy the pleasure of watching this auction, they heard a bid that made even the various first-rate Guilds present shudder involuntarily.

“Fifty thousand crystals!” Nine Dragons Emperor shouted.

With the bid rising to 50,000 crystals right off the bat, the first-rate Guilds present that were entertaining thoughts of competing for the Thunder Passes were immediately disqualified. Meanwhile, everyone present was also shocked by Nine Dragons Emperor’s wealth.

Just to obtain three entry passes, Nine Dragons Emperor had bid the equivalent of a first-rate Guild’s entire stockpile of Magic Crystals.

“Fifty-three thousand crystals!”

“Fifty-five thousand crystals!”

“Sixty thousand crystals!”

Phoenix Rain called out a new price. Now, just one Thunder Pass cost 20,000 Magic Crystals.

“Have these superpowers lost their minds?” The players on the first-floor hall were stupefied.

Melancholic Smile was also shocked. She could not comprehend why the various superpowers were going so crazy over a few entry passes.

However, Melancholic Smile and the others did not realize Shi Feng’s intent in selling three Thunder Passes at once.

The difference in the number of Thunder Island slots each superpower currently possessed was not particularly large. At this point, the number of slots each superpower wielded also wouldn’t undergo any massive changes. The addition of these 30 slots might very well become the straw that broke the camel’s back. Hence, the various superpowers naturally wouldn’t give up on competing for them so close to the contest for Thunder Island’s authority. Otherwise, wouldn’t all their previous efforts in obtaining Thunder Passes go to waste?