At this moment, the auctioneer on stage quickly began her introduction.
"Gaia's Fine Steel, said to be naturally formed deep within the earth, miles beneath the surface. I won't elaborate further on its uses."
"The starting bid for this item is 5 million geos, with minimum increments of 30,000."
Meanwhile, Viktor and Gwen's quiet conversation caught King Augustus's attention.
He noticed Viktor's gaze fixed on the Gaia's Fine Steel.
Then, Augustus raised his bidding paddle.
In that instant, the entire council hall fell silent.
Everyone knew that King Augustus was sitting in the VIP box above on the second floor.
They had also heard that the king was accompanying two distinguished guests from the Carenthia Empire.
One of them was apparently some madman named Viktor Kravina who had a fondness for explosive destruction.
So at this moment, not a single noble dared to raise their paddle to bid.
It wasn't out of respect for the king - they simply didn't want to find their mansion blown into a crater the next day.
In the end, with no competition, Augustus easily won the Gaia's Fine Steel.
The auctioneer seemed somewhat surprised, but her professional demeanor prevented her from dwelling on it as she quickly moved on to present the next item.
"The tail spike of a Mahazak."
"This spike was taken from the ghost-like Mahazak that dwells in the mountain ranges. It's a dream material for mages crafting their staves."
"Starting bid is 3 million geos, with minimum increments of 200,000!"
The crowd showed little interest in this item.
After all, most of those present were warriors - this was clearly meant for mages. What use would they have for it?
So as soon as she finished speaking, Augustus once again raised his paddle.
Viktor turned his head, his gaze falling on Augustus.
Augustus turned to face Viktor as well, saying with a smile:
"Since Lord Viktor showed interest in the Gaia's Fine Steel, I thought this Mahazak spike might be of use to you as well."
"If you have no use for it yourself, I can always gift it to Princess Aurelianne."
"I believe, as a mage, she should have a staff of her own."
Viktor said nothing, only silently glancing at Aurelianne.
As if understanding something, he let out a soft snort and didn't speak another word.
After this, none of the remaining auction items caught his attention.
Those antiques full of collector's value seemed rather ordinary to him.
But the meaningful collectors and nobles remained enthusiastic about these antiques, calmly and patiently waiting for the right moment to bid.
Viktor even spotted some antiques that had been exported from Duke Levi's house among the treasures.
No wonder Duke Levi's household was rolling in wealth.
Their antique business had even expanded to foreign markets.
But Viktor didn't believe no one was smuggling his magic potions into the empire - they just hadn't appeared at auction yet.
The moment these demi-humans appeared, Vanilla, standing behind Aurelianne, bristled all over, her pupils contracting.
Even Aurelianne was stunned.
She had never heard that the final items at this auction would be demi-humans!
And among this group of rare demi-humans, there was an especially large iron cage placed in the center.
"Of course, our most precious treasure today - the half-beasts!"
The auctioneer called out loudly, personally lifting the black curtain from that iron cage.
At this moment, the tribal lords' faces were filled with wild excitement, and applause thundered.
Inside that iron cage were two sturdy tiger-men.
Aurelianne felt particularly surprised.
Half-beasts - this was her first time seeing such a race.
They were an extremely special branch among demi-humans.
Perhaps due to their bodies not yet fully evolved, apart from being able to stand and walk, their body structure was almost identical to humans.
They retained all the animal characteristics they should have.
Like the two tiger-men on stage.
Their fur hadn't receded, with tiger heads atop their bodies, like two tigers standing upright.
"Seeing the demi-human guard you brought, I thought you might be interested in these demi-human slaves."
Augustus smiled as he watched the moved Aurelianne, saying:
"As luck would have it, the association has many demi-human slaves this time. What do you think?"
At this point, the auctioneer's hand gently pressed downward, signaling the nobles to quiet down.
Then, she began announcing the auction rules:
"For the other rare demi-humans, starting bid is 1 million geos each."
"As for this pair of male and female half-beasts, starting bid is 10 million! Minimum increment of 1 million!"
As her words fell, the auction hall erupted with voices.
The nobles, faces filled with wild excitement, rushed to raise their paddles, afraid these half-beasts would fall into someone else's hands.
Those nobles who could afford to bid on demi-humans were all wealthy with deep foundations.
Perhaps these demi-humans might occasionally show defiance, but the nobles didn't care about that at all.
For them, these demi-human slaves were powerful tools to display their authority and control the populace.
But before their voices could fade, a calm voice rang out from the VIP box:
"100 million. I'll take them all."
The voice wasn't loud, but it carried throughout the entire auction hall.
Hearing this, the noble lords frowned, their expressions changing slightly.
They found someone disrupting their entertainment, and couldn't help feeling a bit displeased.
"Who is that? Thinking they can take all these precious demi-humans for just 100 million?"
"Brother, you're going too far. We should compete fairly, how can you just..."
Suddenly, their voices grew much quieter.
Because these people looked toward the source of the voice.
In that box, at some point, a man wearing a black coat had stood up.
His expression was calm and peaceful, as if he didn't take anything seriously.
At that moment, all these noble lords fell silent.
This person seemed... somewhat familiar?
BOOM—!!!
Almost instantly, terrifying magical arrays and rings erupted behind Viktor.
With mysterious ringing sounds, the surrounding magical power suddenly surged violently.
The elements in the air began to chaos, and the magical power became sharp as well.
Under the dual pressure of that vast magical power and elements, the surrounding space began to become somewhat stagnant, bending almost to the point of breaking.
"What I mean is, 100 million geos isn't just for two half-beasts."
Viktor's voice was low and powerful.
"It's for all the demi-humans."
His gaze was cold as he swept it across the auction hall, making all the nobles present feel an intangible pressure.
Like a bitter winter wind, bone-chilling and piercing.
As if countless invisible blades hung over those nobles' heads, quite horrifying.
"Today, if I can't take them away..."
"Then I'll take you away instead."
"""
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