The unfortunate planet was finally sold, bringing a successful start to the bidding. However, Ou Zhanpeng never found out how much gold the planet was sold for.
It was definitely worth a lot of money.
The subsequent bidding also proceeded smoothly. The pirates sold everything. First, there were several batches of technological creations, including some spaceships from unknown civilizations. One of them was particularly luxurious and looked very unusual.
There was also the location of a heavy element planet, a group of bizarrely shaped slaves, and various rumors, true or false.
All goods were displayed holographically. Perhaps because the starting price for each item was not high, not a single item went unsold from beginning to end.
Ou Zhanpeng and the others finally understood. This was not an auction at all; it was a fencing operation for pirates. So, the coordinates given by the brain-fish were actually a pirate fencing point?
Damn it, hundreds of starships gathered casually. Were the pirates so rampant?
"What does that fish mean? Luring us here to be ganged up on by a bunch of pirates?" Ling Xiao voiced a highly probable guess. "It harms others without benefiting itself. What's its motive?"
Unless the Starship returned to the solar system and never came back, that brain-fish would pay the price!
"It's a pity we weren't prepared," Ou Zhanpeng sighed.
Ling Xiao was extremely curious. "What do you want to buy?"
He reviewed the previous items but didn't feel particularly drawn to any of them.
"I want all of them," Ou Zhanpeng said dejectedly. "Those technological products can be bought back for research. Perhaps one of them could elevate our technology to the next level. And those slaves, they must know some useful information. If we could find their homeworlds, we might even gain some benefits!"
Hearing him say that, Ling Xiao's eyes immediately turned red. "Why don't we do a bit of 'black eat black' and take them down?"
"What 'black eat black'? We aren't pirates!" Li Keke retorted dissatisfiedly.
Ling Xiao glared at her with equal dissatisfaction. "Is it interesting to quibble over words? Our identities cannot be revealed. What's the difference between us and pirates?"
Li Keke pouted her lips for a long time. "We are different!"
"I can't be bothered with you!" Ling Xiao rolled his eyes in anger and turned to continue persuading. "The primitive accumulation of capital is always bloody. We are penniless now. Who are we robbing if not them?"
Ou Zhanpeng suddenly recalled the abhorrent Age of Discovery. "I don't have any psychological burden. The problem is, which spaceship is the seller, and which is the buyer?"
His question stumped everyone.
The bidding was not a public auction. The rules here were that neither the seller nor the buyer was disclosed. After the bidding ended, only low-value goods without other complications would be exchanged on the spot. For higher-value or more complicated items, the delivery time and location would be arranged separately.
Don't ask Ou Zhanpeng how he knew. If you ask, he'll say it was through careful observation and reasonable deduction.
Even if you haven't eaten pork, you've seen pigs run. In movies, organizations selling illegal goods would find a dilapidated factory or a broken dock, bring their thugs with knives and guns, gather a bunch of troublemakers, create an intimidating atmosphere, and then negotiate with the other party. If the money and goods were fine, everyone would be happy. Otherwise, a bloody battle would ensue.
From a certain perspective, pirates could be considered active organizations on the interstellar stage. Although their backgrounds had changed and the stage was now the vast universe, their essence was still the same: scheming and underhanded rats.
Therefore, it was not difficult to deduce the behavior patterns of pirates.
"There's nothing we can do about the previous ones," Ou Zhanpeng said with great regret. "There will be opportunities later!"
Everyone was eager to try, suddenly feeling a thrill as they approached the boundaries of morality.
Another bidding announcement appeared, and the familiar image of a planet materialized in the center of the cabin. Everyone was stunned.
"Why is it Earth?" Ling Xiao couldn't believe his eyes.
Then, the auction information was announced: "This is a first-class habitable planet located on the edge of the star domain, with a moderate location and pleasant climate..."
"Who the hell is this?" Ling Xiao gritted his teeth, wishing he could tear the person apart.
Ou Zhanpeng didn't hear a single word. His gaze swept through the void like radar, fixing firmly on the two black ships.
It must be them!
He quickly focused on the two white ships. The 4-meter beings also had sufficient motive!
Ou Zhanpeng intended to locate the communication signal to find their position but discovered that this damned place had jamming interference, making it impossible to determine the signal's source.
The bidding had already begun. Although not as heated as before, the bids steadily increased, quickly breaking the 2000x mark.
Ling Xiao grew anxious. "Five thousand. Bid five thousand directly. Let's see who dares to bid further!"
"No," Ou Zhanpeng refused without hesitation. "The bid cannot be too high. We don't want to scare away the fat sheep!"
Li Keke's heart fluttered. "What if the pirates demand to see the money first before agreeing to the transaction?"
Ou Zhanpeng's expression flickered. Suddenly, he hardened his resolve. "Notify everyone, prepare for battle!"
Ling Xiao immediately nodded. "Alright!"
Before he finished speaking, Ou Zhanpeng had already activated the broadcast mode and let out a furious roar: "Who the hell gave you the courage to sell my planet!"
Simultaneously with the roar, the Starship opened its shields, like an enraged bull about to charge at its provocative target.
The previously intense bidding instantly ceased, and the communication channel fell silent.
Ling Xiao felt uneasy and asked quietly, "Can we intimidate the pirates?"
"I don't know!" Ou Zhanpeng's voice was equally suppressed, all his nerves taut, ready to adapt to any changes.
Perhaps because pirates inherently lacked a sense of security, despite the many pirate ships present, hardly any were clustered together. All participating guests were hiding in their own ships and had maintained a safe distance from the beginning.
Therefore, the Starship's situation was relatively safe.
It made sense. The composition of the pirate group was extremely complex. As long as one had a spaceship, they could target and attack it, becoming a member of the interstellar pirates. The entry barrier was astonishingly low.
As long as there were sufficient profits, it was easy to gather a group of pirates, but it was difficult to bring them together in the same environment.
Everyone's home planet environments were different. Some needed oxygen, while others considered oxygen poisonous. Some liked radiation, while others preferred strong light.
Different environments and different habits. Forcing them together, environmental adaptation alone was a major problem.
If not for this prerequisite, Ou Zhanpeng would have had to consider it further before deciding whether to shout.
However, the subsequent developments surprised everyone again. Those unfamiliar starships successively declared their withdrawal from the bidding. Some even egged them on, implying they should hurry up and fight instead of wasting time with this bickering.
Some pirates even shouted the resounding slogan "The winner takes all." The atmosphere was even more explosive than a group of perverts watching an inappropriate dance.
Ling Xiao's mouth hung open. So, these pirates not only had no intention of intervening but were also happily watching from the sidelines.
Ou Zhanpeng didn't know what to do. He kept muttering to himself, with so many pirates undermining and cheering, wouldn't the auction platform step in to maintain basic order?
Little did they know, pirates, as a loose collective bound by profit, had no such thing as a fencing platform. This auction was originally unsupervised; it was just pirates taking turns.
Although they were all acquaintances in the underworld, they never showed any loyalty or righteousness to each other. Without profit, they were nothing.
Scheming, backstabbing, and all sorts of petty tricks were endless. The loot on any given ship might have been snatched from other pirates.
Robbers, a cruel and black heart is a basic quality, narrow-mindedness is a necessary condition, revenge is a way to exercise.
Generosity was something only displayed towards their own kind. Why be generous to outsiders?
Without exaggeration, every auction had pirates who felt wronged and were filled with rage, seeking revenge. There were cases of great revenge repaid by slaughtering enemies, and also cases where revenge failed and they were brutally killed.
Pirates were inherently chaotic individuals. Based on the bandit logic of "might makes right," they were happy to see a revenge drama unfold.
In the past, there were even instances where there was no grievance, but they deliberately provoked trouble to challenge and disrupt the situation.
This was much more interesting than a simple transaction.
In just a short while, some pirates had openly set up a bookmaking operation and announced the odds for both sides.
The pirates were also very cooperative. Their enthusiasm for betting far exceeded their eagerness to bid. Cheering, shouting, cursing, and exultation mixed into an indistinguishable cacophony, filling the entire communication channel, as lively as a market during a festival.
Originally, Ou Zhanpeng couldn't figure out the other party's location. However, with this commotion, a black ship emerged from the crowd and openly declared that it accepted the Starship's challenge.
Ou Zhanpeng and the others exchanged glances, stunned by the outcome.
"They actually provoked someone!" Ling Xiao looked at the black ship as if it were a fool who had escaped from a mental hospital.
"It's not strange. In this line of work, face is more important than life," Ou Zhanpeng said with a smile.
He had prepared for a desperate battle, even if the Starship sank, he would bite the pirates' teeth out. But he never expected this outcome. He was secretly pleased.
"Do aliens also value face?" Li Keke asked, extremely surprised.
"Wherever there are people, there is a Jianghu. How can one be in the Jianghu without valuing face?" Ou Zhanpeng said, making it up as he went, but then quickly added, "Even if they don't care about face, they must care about profit, right? If they want to sell Earth, they have to get rid of us first!"
At this point, both sides were ready to fight, but they couldn't start yet because the bookmaker was still accepting bets, and the pirates present all requested to wait a bit longer.
Ou Zhanpeng felt a mixture of crying and laughing. He thought, what kind of situation was this? No one maintained order during the bidding, but when it came to fighting to the death, everyone put on a show and acted like important figures.
He couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "There are all sorts of people in life, nothing more so than this."
The bookmaker didn't keep them waiting too long. After a few minutes, the last bet was confirmed, and the bookmaker immediately announced the start.
Although Ou Zhanpeng was prepared, he didn't expect the start to be so sudden. He was caught off guard when the black ship fired a shot at the shields.
Although the shields repelled the shot, their strength plummeted like a stock market crash. Ou Zhanpeng quickly maneuvered the warship to dodge. By the time he escaped the enemy's firepower, only one-fifth of the shields remained.
Captain Ou was furious and cursed.
"Courtesy demands reciprocity." The cutting cannon, which had been prepared long ago, also fired.
The black ship rapidly maneuvered to dodge the attack, but their warship was truly pathetic. The seemingly sturdy shields flashed and then exploded violently, without even a chance to flicker.
The bookmaker immediately lowered the odds for the Starship.
The black ship appeared unharmed but went silent.
Ou Zhanpeng wasn't worried about the outcome at all.
There were two ways to use the cutting cannon: one was a flat cut, like a cleaver, that would break through all critical compartments. An enemy ship hit by this would have no chance of survival but would also lose the opportunity to obtain loot.
The second was to avoid vital points and cut vertically or diagonally, preserving the enemy ship as much as possible, like the severed ship earlier.
In the eyes of pirates, for the sake of profit, they would not use the flat cut. If the Starship did so, it meant they were not after profit but an irreconcilable feud!
After a full seven or eight seconds, the black ship quietly split into two pieces. Various debris floated out from the断面, suspending around the broken hull.
The pirates were immediately in an uproar.
Only one exchange of fire to decide the winner? They had seen decisive battles, but never one so swift and efficient.
As the bookmaker was about to announce the Starship's victory, the Starship fired another shot, destroying another black ship.
Since they had come together, they must have known Earth's coordinates. Ou Zhanpeng decided to go all the way and eliminate them completely in front of all the pirates.
If he didn't do this, what if the other party withdrew from the bidding and directly revealed Earth's location?
With two quick kills, Ou Zhanpeng then turned his gaze to the two white ships, constantly pondering whether the 4-meter beings also knew Earth's location and if they would reveal the information.
The pirates were intimidated by Ou Zhanpeng's ruthlessness, but after a brief silence, there was another uproar.
They all knew that the two black ships were a group. Since they hadn't affected anyone else, the pirates saw no reason to seek justice for the black ships.
The bookmaker promptly paid out the winnings. The odds for both sides were not high, so the bookmaker would profit regardless of who won or lost. They even sent a small spacecraft to specifically give a share to the Starship.
This was also a rule among pirates.
Based on the principle that the winner is right, no one mentioned the bidding for Earth again. After the payout, they continued with the bidding as if nothing had happened.
Only the wreckage of the two black ships served as a constant reminder to the pirates of how ruthless and formidable the Starship was.
Some pirate ships that were originally not far from the Starship quietly moved further away, fearing they might accidentally provoke these individuals who could destroy their lives and property at any moment.
Everyone was out there, risking their lives every day, seeking wealth and fortune. There was no need to provoke such formidable individuals.