This was a top-tier auction dealing in the tens of billions!
Every previous increment had been in the hundreds of millions.
Even when someone was just testing the waters, they raised it by at least ten million.
But now, The Sterling Sovereign had only bumped Mr. Joker's bid by a measly six hundred thousand dollars?
Even the absolute cheapest junk auctioned tonight started higher than six hundred thousand!
Tacked onto the end of twelve point four billion, that number looked like a pathetic decimal point.
"What is The Sterling Sovereign playing at?"
"Is he deliberately mocking Mr. Joker?"
"Only raising by six hundred thousand in a war like this... that's a blatant insult, isn't it?"
Whispers erupted across the floor.
Even the ship's crew assumed The Sterling Sovereign and Joker had bad blood,
and that this was a deliberate tactic to humiliate a rival.
Inside his suite, Julian frowned ever so slightly when he saw the number.
Six hundred thousand?
He stared at the screen for two seconds.
Then, he raised his hand and pressed his terminal again.
[Mr. Joker, twelve point five billion dollars.]
The very second his bid registered.
A fresh counter-offer from The Sterling Sovereign popped up on the board.
[The Sterling Sovereign, $12,500,600,000.]
Another six hundred thousand.
Always six hundred thousand.
Julian stared at the quote originating from The Sterling Sovereign's suite, a subtle crease forming between his brows.
The Sterling Sovereign's bidding style had always been brutally decisive.
Every single raise was designed to crush morale and force out the competition with overwhelming numbers.
He would absolutely never use such a petty, agonizingly slow method to grind down a price.
The person hitting that button right now... wasn't The Sterling Sovereign.
Julian's gaze darkened.
There was someone else in The Sterling Sovereign's suite right now-The Panacea. The moment he thought of that woman.
Julian's mind instantly flashed back to what had just happened... during the chaos backstage.
Black Sun had initiated Specimen Fourteen's remote neural self-destruct protocol. The countdown had been exactly sixty seconds.
That woman had stood calmly in front of the life-support pod, using a mere sixty seconds to reverse-hack Black Sun's supreme mainframe and hijack full control over specimen Fourteen
Then, she had tossed out an incredibly flippant remark. "Sixty seconds is more than enough time to steal an asset."
Sixty.
A flicker of realization crossed Julian's eyes as he looked back at that glaring "60"
on the screen.
It suddenly all made sense.
This was a warning from The Panacea.
Bet
The Panacea wanted the Neural Stability Serum, and she was using a code only the two of them would. Understand to tell him to back off."
Julian's hand hovered over his bidding terminal for a few beats.
In those few seconds of hesitation, he made his choice.
Since The Panacea wanted the serum, The Sterling Sovereign wouldn't rest until he got it for her.
If he kept bidding, he would only be lining Project Zero-Transit's pockets for nothing.
Furthermore, offending a woman like The Panacea over an auction was incredibly unwise.
Given her notoriously vengeful nature, if he continually crossed her and ended up on her bad side...
Even he might not walk away completely unscathed.
But most importantly, The Panacea... belonged to Serena's camp.
If she was this desperate for The A.W.S-0, she was highly likely securing it for Serena anyway.
To make a terrifying enemy over
something that would evenemet
end
upun anyway-hed have to
Serena's hands
be insane