It is truly astounding!
My previous thoughts were somewhat shaken by the sheer quality of ingredients at the Gourmet Bank.
Regardless, the high-end goods from the Gourmet Bank were absolutely not to be missed!
Thirty-four distributors frantically submitted purchase requests, most of them for repeat orders. The already fragile alliance instantly crumbled.
“The green vegetables from the fifteenth floor are very important to me. Fellow colleagues, please grant me this favor.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Vegetables have always been my main focus. How about we split it between us?”
A third person scoffed, “What nonsense are you two spewing? Who doesn’t have vegetables? Ingredients from Yun Zhi Guo are inherently rare!”
Another exclaimed, “It’s the long-extinct Crimson Beetle, and ancient dried fish! The whale in the ancient dried fish is so plump. No, I must buy it all.”
Coal Baron said solemnly, “Fellow colleagues, let us not forget why we are here. We must maintain our dignity and composure.”
For merchants, seeing their peers profit is more agonizing than their own losses.
No one paid Coal Baron any mind and directly retorted, “If you don’t participate in the purchase, then naturally we will have composure!”
Facing a flood of transaction requests, Zhang Wei’s daily replication limit of one item per day was insufficient. Some high-quality ingredients were demanded in thousands of units at once!
Fortunately, Zhang Wei’s inventory was extremely comprehensive, and each item was of excellent quality, making it easy for them to shift their focus.
It can be said that Zhang Wei’s abundant stock deeply shocked the thirty-four magnates.
Zhang Wei made a decision: “Based on the current share, we will conduct bids or auctions, with barter being the primary method. Transactions using Beli will be given lower priority.”
The thirty-four magnates were aware of the advantages of high-quality ingredients and did not carry much Beli.
From a strategic perspective, this approach was clearly unconventional.
But at this moment, who cared about rules?
If you don’t want to participate in the auction, you can leave!
Zhang Wei announced, “We will appraise the ingredients from each floor, then divide them into ten portions for auction. Transactions can be made using ingredients or Beli. The value of ingredients will be fixed at the market’s highest price.”
“If the Gourmet Bank has a strong demand for certain ingredients, and they are extremely rare in the Northern region, their value will be increased by an additional 20%!”
Ingredients in high demand naturally refer to those not yet collected by the Treasury Hall.
Zhang Wei’s ultimate goal was to enrich his inventory!
First Floor!
There were over 700 types of ingredients, estimated to be worth around 7 million Beli based on quantity and weight. After dividing them into ten portions, the value was even lower.
For these top magnates, a mere seven million Beli was nothing, even if they bought it all.
The thirty-four magnates directly bid!
At equal prices, Zhang Wei would prioritize ingredient transactions!
Second Floor, over 800 types of ingredients, with a starting bid of 1 million Beli per portion.
Third Floor, 780 types, with a starting bid of 1.5 million Beli!
Fourth Floor, 1100 types, with more abundant quantities, starting bid exceeding 3.1 million Beli!
Zhang Wei had expected these merchants to consider profits, and the bidding would not reach excessively high levels. To his surprise, these people were acting like lunatics, with prices continuously climbing.
Initially, the price increases were somewhat rational, but later they adopted a "throw money around" attitude!
The largest denomination of Beli was 1000, each weighing 120 grams and forged entirely from gold.
For the goods on the first floor alone, a large chest of gold was required for the transaction.
By the seventh floor, the starting bid for a single portion had already reached 6 million Beli, with the final transaction price tripling to an astonishing 18 million Beli!
Ten portions meant 180 million!
But this was still a drop in the bucket for them. The largest gold merchant, Boss Jin, had prepared hundreds of tons of gold for this trip, requiring two airships to transport.
While the auction was at its hottest, merchants who were not ingredient distributors did not collectively enter the venue.
“Boss Zhang, your business is too narrow!”
“Indeed. We are all consumers to some extent. How could you not invite us to such an event?”
“Do not underestimate us. Although we are not ingredient distributors, the wealth we command is not necessarily less than theirs!”
Eighth Floor!
The starting bid directly reached 8 million Beli!
A representative from a hotel chain stepped forward, “14 million!”
Ingredient distributors were furious, “What are you doing? Are you trying to disrupt the market? Do you even have the money?”
The hotel chain representative proudly declared, “The brand of our Su Ba Hotel is money! My promise is worth a billion!”
Everyone was shocked!
It turned out to be the largest Su Ba chain hotel in the human world!
It was rumored that their hotels were everywhere in the human world, numbering at least ten thousand, covering all major cities!
The Su Ba representative said, “Mr. Zhang, we have decided to invest in the construction of a gourmet city and jointly operate a top-standard Su Ba hotel with your esteemed establishment. Our projected investment is 450 million Beli, and the profits from the investment project will be split equally with the gourmet city. Will this be sufficient to offset 225 million?”
This calculation was extremely advantageous for Zhang Wei.
Income was calculated based on net profit, and operating a gourmet city would require Zhang Wei to pay taxes. Typically, when certain cities were under construction, they would attract investment by promising tax exemptions for five years.
However, Zhang Wei had received no such news. Su Ba saw the potential of the gourmet city and had not proactively contacted him for half a month, fearing they would lose their advantage!
But as more peers took notice, Su Ba had to act quickly!
This way, after paying a large sum of taxes and having half the profits taken away, the gourmet city was essentially making a killing.
But Su Ba was not losing out either. A larger cake was more delicious and satisfying!
Representatives from other hotel chains then revealed their identities.
Wanda!
Home Inn!
7 Days Inn!
Hengda!
These were all names familiar to ordinary people, and their offers were even more generous than Su Ba’s.
Wanda, the most assertive, proposed an investment project worth 1.2 billion and offered support for a large volume of goods channels, offsetting over 800 million!
The faces of the gourmet distributors were grim.
The already fierce competition had been intruded upon again!
Tenth Floor!
Starting bid per portion was 11 million Beli!
Yan Yan, the representative of the four major salt merchants, sitting in the back, couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.
“Arrogant!”
“You enjoy your arrogance!”
“Do you really think they are supporting you? Once your highest-quality ingredients are sold out, let’s see if there’s still such excitement?”
“Ultimately, merchants are driven by profit!”
Twelfth Floor!
Starting bid per portion was 16 million Beli!
The ingredients here were of even higher quality, and the competition was more intense. In a moment, the price had increased by over 10 million and continued to rise!
Fifteenth Floor!
Starting bid per portion was 30 million Beli!
Some guests with limited gold reserves began to use ingredients. Those who bid first were generally low-value or less rare ingredients, which Zhang Wei found uninteresting.
“Wait a moment, I request an appraisal!”
It was Boss Ji, an ingredient distributor!
Boss Ji said, “Present it!”
Everyone looked at Boss Ji with varied expressions and couldn’t help but whisper among themselves.
“Oh? It seems Boss Ji is going to bring out *that* item!”
“What’s the background of this Boss Ji?”
Boss Ji!
The most renowned poultry breeder in the human world, exclusively possessing 18 unique poultry species and monopolizing sales channels for hundreds of poultry types.
He profited handsomely solely from his exclusive offerings and was one of the most powerful ingredient distributors present!
At Boss Ji’s call, a large number of insulated carts were brought in.
Opening one of them, Boss Ji took out an ordinary-looking egg and prepared a basin-sized pot.
With a gentle tap, the brightly colored yolk and clear albumen gushed out explosively, completely filling the basin-sized pot!
“What a good egg!”
“A single ordinary eggshell contains enough to fill an entire basin!”
“Look, there are so many yolks… Could this be the legendary Ten-Yolk Egg?!”
[Detected Capturable Ingredient: Ten-Yolk Egg]
[Capture Level: 18+10]
[An ultra-rare, top-tier egg ingredient. A super egg with ten yolks, produced by a Ten-Feathered Great Chicken. It is only laid once in its lifetime and is a supreme ingredient even more valuable than the Ten-Feathered Great Chicken itself!]
“Don’t let its small size fool you, this egg is incredibly nutritious. The egg liquid filling this basin-sized pot can be processed into at least five portions of main egg dishes, weighing a total of 15 kilograms!”
“At market price, each kilogram of egg liquid is worth 3000 Beli, and a whole egg is priced at over 42,000 Beli!”
Boss Ji proudly stated, “This is a top-tier product that only I have the ability to breed on the continent. Although Ten-Yolk Eggs are occasionally found in the wild, their quantity is nowhere near this exaggerated amount!”
Boss Ji’s initial offering was five thousand eggs!
Market value: 210 million Beli!
Zhang Wei’s breath quickened. His first acquisition of the day was so enticing!
Zhang Wei said, “According to the classification, this is a variety missing from the Gourmet Bank, so it will be treated with a 20% premium, offsetting 260 million Beli! And at equal prices, Boss Ji will be prioritized!”
“Boss Ji, I will display your Ten-Yolk Eggs in the gourmet showcase. You don’t mind, do you?”
Boss Ji replied, “Since I’ve sold it to you, how you handle it is your business!”
Zhang Wei rejoiced.
Once this exclusive and rare egg was replicated, its future appearance would not seem too abrupt!
Missing varieties from the Gourmet Bank could fetch a 20% premium!
This point deeply stimulated everyone present.
The selling price of Ten-Yolk Eggs was very stable. A 20% premium could mean a doubling of profit!
More people began to consider how many missing varieties the Gourmet Bank had, and selling to the Gourmet Bank might even be more profitable than retail! After all, retail costs were not low!
“Someone, bring the Lone Grey Bear!”
[Detected Storable Ingredient: Lone Grey Bear]
[Capture Level: 37]
[Description: An extremely strong and ferocious creature. Its meat is too tough to be used. However, if it is in a combat state, the Lone Grey Bear’s meat quality will gradually improve. After a month of fighting, its meat quality will reach its peak!]
This ingredient distributor stated, “This is an extremely special and incredibly difficult-to-obtain top-tier bear meat! I have paid countless prices to capture them.”
“Wild Lone Grey Bears must be captured alive, then paired according to their physique and confined together to fight each other, continuously improving the meat quality! I don’t know how much I spent building their enclosures!”
“Furthermore, to reach peak meat quality, they must fight continuously for a month! I don’t know how many died midway through the fights!”
“When their meat quality reaches its peak, it must be immediately acupunctured, otherwise, it will deteriorate very quickly! Considering the difficulty, this is undoubtedly the highest quality ingredient that is the most difficult to obtain!”
A Lone Grey Bear weighs ten tons. After a month of fighting, it can yield at least 15 tons of high-quality bear meat.
The market price for a single bear is at least 7 million Beli!
One hundred of them!
A fierce beast of level 37, and they are offering one hundred at once! One can imagine the abundance of resources these top magnates of the human world possess!
Value: 700 million!
Including the premium, it's valued at 840 million!
“Boss Zhang? Can you handle it? I have many more ingredients like this. Is your current stock enough to offset the price?”
Zhang Wei chuckled, “The Gourmet Bank never refuses ingredients. Just show me how much money you have, and we’ll see if I can take it!”
Let them see the terrifying replication ability of the Treasury Hall!
Seventeenth Floor, starting bid 45 million Beli!
Zhang Wei said, “I have already instructed that the ingredients in stock are being polished with cold wind and frozen condensation. The ingredients you sell will be replenished very soon.”
However, to Zhang Wei’s surprise, everyone seemed uninterested in replenishing their stock.
Their focus was entirely on these exhibits!
Twentieth Floor, starting bid 69 million Beli!
From the twentieth floor onwards, the number of ingredient types was less than 130, but the prices were higher, and the overall value continued to rise! The final auction price exceeded 120 million!
Twenty-first Floor, nine fabric merchants made their move, offering thermal fabrics, fur coats, high-quality cotton, canvas for construction…
The few of them jointly offset 2.5 billion!
They promised over 15,000 tons of various high-quality cotton. As it was a material for insulating wall panels, the demand was extremely high.
Zhang Wei had been wondering where to obtain such materials, and they were delivered directly to his doorstep!
Twenty-third Floor.
Cooperation agreements with twenty-two restaurants were successfully negotiated. Each of these restaurants was no smaller than the Chrysanthemum Tower, with daily sales of over a million Beli.
And they had numerous branches, also following a chain model!
They could provide a large number of chefs for exchange and were willing to send personnel to support the construction of the Gourmet Treasury Academy. These high-quality chefs from all over the country were invaluable resources that could not be discarded.
Three years of work from 3800 chefs of four-star level or above offset 8.5 billion!
Furthermore, Zhang Wei would not have to bear the salaries of these chefs, as he was already preparing to poach them!
And the demand from these hotels was for exclusive agency rights!
This meant that if Zhang Wei had goods, he could only supply them to those who held exclusive agency rights!
The exclusive agency right for one type of ingredient could fetch Zhang Wei tens of millions!
Twenty-fifth Floor.
Starting bid per portion 145 million!
Nineteen wineries entered the fray. One of them said, “We nineteen, account for over 40% of the wine business in the human world, with 4500 types of exclusive wines!”
“Boss Zhang, are you interested in our exclusive agency rights?”