The Raven breathed heavily, mumbling under his breath, desperately willing the auctioneer to drop the hammer.
He was terrified. If The Sterling Sovereign threw down one more bid, he would be instantly disqualified from the fight!
It was a deeply, bitterly ironic display of submission.
"Drop it..."
The Raven ground his teeth, the blood vessels in his eyes glaring red.
Finally, The Lead Auctioneer slowly raised his arm.
He maintained that agonizingly slow drawl. "One hundred and thirty billion dollars, going for the third..."
The gavel descended in agonizing slow motion.
The Raven's eyes tracked the wooden hammer like a hawk.
His fist clenched so tightly he nearly shattered the plastic casing of his terminal.
"...time!"
Bang!
This time, there were no interruptions.
The gavel struck the block with a resounding crack.
"Sold!"
The auctioneer's ecstatic voice boomed through the hall.
On the massive screen, the auction interface locked into place.
[Final Price: $130 Billion.]
[Winning Buyer: Anonymous Bidder 01.]
The unidentified profile that had fought to the bitter end remained plastered across the screen for all to see.
The entire hall erupted into absolute bedlam.
"It actually sold!"
"A hundred and thirty billion. Who the hell is this guy?"
"To go toe-to-toe with The Sterling Sovereign until the very end and actually drop a hundred and thirty billion to take Specimen Fourteen... the faction backing that kind of capital must be terrifying."
Some buyers wore grave expressions, while others looked profoundly disturbed.
The shockwaves of tonight's auction went far beyond the staggering price of a single item.
They had already witnessed the
existence of an enigmatic
organization capable e an augment like peen."
Now, they had just witnessed an
unident buyer who could
casually drop a hundred and thirty billion on a living asset
Where were these titans hiding? And what other world-altering secrets did they possess?
Many of the elites present had believed themselves to be at the apex of global power.
It was only in this moment that they realized they were merely playing in the shallow end of the pool.
The shadows held monsters far larger than they had ever imagined.
Some discreetly calculated if they could use the ship's management to broker a meeting with the mystery winner.
Others began recalibrating the global power shift that Specimen Fourteen might trigger in its new master's hands.
Little did they know...
The two terrifying factions they were currently speculating about.
Were, from beginning to end, the exact same organization.
An organization that had just been played for absolute fools—Obsidian Sun.
On the other side of the ship, the moment the gavel struck, the paralyzing tension draining from The Raven's body.
The breath that had been trapped in his lungs finally shuddered its way out at the word "Sold."
The Sterling Sovereign hadn't taken it. It hadn't fallen to The Panacea.
He had successfully retrieved Specimen Fourteen.
He stared at the Anonymous Bidder 01 tag on the screen, realizing his palms were slick with a cold sweat.
However, that fleeting sense of relief lasted barely a few seconds.
It was instantly replaced by a crushing wave of indignation and volcanic fury that surged through his veins.
He had won the bid.
But there was no joy in this victory.
He could hear the crowd outside marveling at his financial dominance, spinning wild theories about his backing.
Yet, he couldn't even force a smile.
Only he knew how brutally that hundred and thirty billion had been extorted from him!
That was the bloody fortune
Obsidian Sun had painstakingly stockpiled in the shadows of Project Zero Transit practically wiped out in a single night content
And all he bought back was an asset that rightfully belonged to Obsidian Sun in the first place!
The Raven clutched his chest, a sharp, suffocating ache radiating through his ribs.