At that thought, Julian let out a low chuckle.
He carelessly tossed the terminal aside, leaning back into the sofa with an air of aristocratic grace, effortlessly resuming his relaxed, untouchable demeanor.
He pressed the suite's public comms button.
The man's smooth, amused voice drifted through the auction's sound system, echoing in everyone's ears. "Since The Sterling Sovereign is so thoroughly committed, I won't stand in the way of true love."
"I yield."
With just a few words, Joker officially bowed out of the bloodbath.
The crowd erupted into an uproar all over again.
No one could believe that Mr. Joker had actually backed down just like that.
Hearing Julian's voice, a deeply satisfied smile bloomed in Serena's eyes.
The partner she had chosen wasn't completely brainless after all.
She really didn't want to hand the ship's crew any more free money than necessary.
Seeing the smug, calculating look on the woman in his arms, Nicholas arched a brow and ducked his head to bite her earlobe.
As Serena stiffened and reached back to ruthlessly pinch his waist, he hummed in a low, raspy voice, "A secret code, hmm?"
Serena: "..."
Was this man seriously jealous again?
She dug her fingers hard into his waist before shoving him away. "Take notes. That's what you call bidding strategy."
With that, she tossed the terminal back into Nicholas's hand.
After Joker's exit, only a handful of desperate factions remained.
But after a few more brutal rounds.
The last stragglers surrendered, one by one.
No one had the capital, nor the nerve, to keep pushing the envelope.
After all, no matter how priceless The A.W.S-0 was, they had to realistically assess if
they were qualified to wage a financial war against The Sterling Sovereign.
In the end, only Malachi Vance and The Sterling Sovereign were left in a vicious bidding war.
The price shattered record after record.
Finally, completely out of patience, Nicholas bypassed the increments entirely and slammed a twenty billion dollar bid on the board.
The Black Sun agent, still shrouded in his cloak, stared dead at the terminal.
The fists hidden beneath his sleeves clenched in pure rage.
Twenty billion was already the absolute maximum he was authorized to spend.
But The A.W.S-0 Neural Stability Serum was far too critical to Black Sun's survival.
Gritting his teeth, Malachi punched in one final, desperate number. "Twenty-one billion dollars."
The auctioneer's voice practically
the
recstasmet
fractured frodo have
ty one billion dollars do have
Twenty one
a higher bid?!"
Nicholas's expression remained utterly bored. Without a second's hesitation, he made his final move.
[The Sterling Sovereign: Twenty-six billion dollars.]
A straight five-billion-dollar jump, completely annihilating any chance of a counter- attack.
And instantly crushing the Black Sun agent's last shred of hope.
The auction hall was dead silent.
Malachi stared fixedly at the twenty-six billion, his face twisted into an ugly sneer beneath his hood.
But he didn't bid again.
He couldn't afford to.
The auctioneer checked for counters three times.
Finally, he raised his gavel high and brought it down with a deafening crack.
"Sold!"
"The A.W.S-0 Neural Stability Serum goes to The Sterling Sovereign!"
The war was over.
Unstoppable whispers tore through the room.
"The Sterling Sovereign truly lives up to his name."
"Only a man like him could afford a prize of that magnitude."
"Once Joker yielded, there was no way that serum was going to anyone else."
"Who the hell was that cloaked
anyway? He actually went to
with The Sovereign for a minu there."
"I couldn't tell which faction he from, sitting
was
while the general haller t'dropping cash like that et
kill to know who's backing him"
I'd