As a villain, I really don't want to be pursued by the heroine.

"...Okay." Roy sighed slightly.

She secretly glanced at the boy beside her, but couldn't see his expression at the moment, which made Lyanna wonder whether he would regret it.

Lyanna always liked to tease young boys. Seeing that he was helpless, she habitually raised the corners of her mouth and wanted to make a joke.

What's wrong? Can't bear to leave me?

But she finally resisted the urge and looked away.

That's fine.

Since you can't get him, don't use him anymore.

I have already gotten enough from him, and their fate should end here.

You’ll have to walk the rest of the way on your own.

Thinking of this, Lyanna closed her eyes somewhat dejectedly, suppressing all her complicated thoughts in her heart.

However, she didn't know that the boy's eyes hidden in the black fog saw all of this.

"Dear gentlemen and ladies! I declare that the 45th auction has officially begun!"

With the host's passionate shouts, the underground auction finally kicked off.

I saw beautiful maids one after another pushing the movable glass counter onto the stage.

Before the host even started introducing the products, the buyers in the audience couldn't help but start talking.

"Salamander? That's a living Salamander?!"

"Diewolf fur! Possessing direwolves is a serious crime punishable by death in the Winter Empire, even for nobles. How dare they do it?!"

"You ignorant fool, what are those? The Blood Burning Potion is the most precious thing! It was refined at the beginning of the Fourth Era. Today's magicians only have the recipe, but they can't even recreate it!"

The host seemed very pleased with the crowd's excitement and said with a smile, "Let's start with auction item number one!"

"A living Salamander, starting price: 500 gold coins!"

"A reminder to first-time auction attendees: if you don't have enough cash, you can barter your collection!"

Not everyone has storage tools, and carrying too much cash is inconvenient and unsafe. Even nobles have limited cash to invest. On the other hand, extraordinary items are easy to carry and have a guaranteed price.

Soon, after some competition, someone bought Salamander with a five-colored poisonous grass worth 1700 gold coins, and the atmosphere of the auction became more and more intense.

However, looking at the enthusiastic and crazy reactions of the people around him, Roy couldn't help scratching his head.

He knew very well that these things were treasures that were rarely seen in normal times.

The Salamander is an endangered magical beast, but if properly cultivated, it could rival the might of the Gale Griffin. The Five-Colored Poisonous Herb is also a treasure found only deep within the Elven Forest, useful in making poisons and medicines.

However, on the one hand, he was used to seeing the lost treasures passed down from ancient times in the panel mall, and on the other hand, he usually interacted with the princess and nightingale of noble status, and had seen their private collections many times. Now, these things that made ordinary extraordinary people excited were difficult to arouse his interest.

Frankly, if I just exchanged something from the mall, wouldn't these people be so excited that they'd explode? Roy couldn't help but complain inwardly.

On the other side, in the corner, the Prince of the South Sea, wearing a hooded robe, had a gleam in his eyes, but did not participate.

Hex scratched his head and asked curiously, "Sir, the things here are all good, but is there nothing that catches your eye?"

"Not bad," Jason replied. "Personally, there are a few things I'm interested in."

"But what I want is a treasure that can be on par with the [Howling Ocean Iron Guards], enough to make those nobles forget the disrespect of my factional disputes! These things are far from enough." When he said this, Jason's tone was also helpless.

Hex seemed to understand what he heard, but he could only sigh that the prince's troubles were not something that a mere adventurer like him could understand.

As time goes by, the auction items are sold one after another, and the later the items are, the more precious they are.

It is said that there are 48 auction items in total, so Roy is not in a hurry.

"Now, please allow me the honor of introducing the 20th auction item! The Southern Gemstone known as the Mermaid's Tears!"

On the exhibition stand, a crystal gem was placed quietly on the counter, shining vividly under the dim light, exuding a dreamy beauty.

The shape of the gem seemed simple, but it had a natural and artistic feel that did not seem to be created by humans. It attracted the attention of countless women, and even Lyanna took a few more glances at it.

But after the initial surprise, discussions began to arise in private.

"Gemstones? What's there to buy?"

"[Mermaid's Tears] is a nice piece of jewelry, but it's just good."

There were many powerful people present, and they had long since tired of seeing the so-called gold, silver and jewelry.

A gem without any additional abilities seems too plain compared to other extraordinary objects that can save lives, kill enemies, or contain magical effects.

Even the host's introduction consisted of a simple and somewhat mysterious phrase: "can receive the protection of the waves."

As soon as the old buyer heard it, he knew that the subtext of this sentence was that the auction house didn’t understand what special effects this thing had.

The price of 300 gold coins is not even as high as the starting price of the original Salamander.

Obviously, this thing is just to make up the numbers.

After realizing this, everyone lost interest, with only a few ladies raising the price slightly.

In order to avoid a dull moment, the host, with a somewhat stiff smile, also planned to sell it as soon as possible so as to move on to the next auction item.

However, in the corner, Roy's eyelids twitched slightly.

It wasn't just because of the [Warning! King's Certificate Detected!] message on the panel.

Moreover, Rowling mentioned that thing in her notes!

Chapter 74: Entertainment before Victory

×month×day:

I have begun to understand the true nature of the [False King's] power.

Through the relics of the ancient demigods, some kind of mystical connection is established, and then their divine power is borrowed for one's own use. Although it is powerful, it also has limitations and disadvantages.

There should be a limit on the number of demigods that the [False King] can borrow, and once contact is made, it cannot be disconnected on its own.

The reason why the Blood of the Pseudo-King died in the past was that many of them failed to choose a sufficiently powerful demigod, or failed to make a reasonable combination of abilities, and failed to maximize the ability of the [Pseudo-King].

And I can't make the same mistake again.

I heard that the hidden national treasure of the South Sea Kingdom originated from the Sea Emperor, the former overlord of the five seas. If this is true...

Roy also didn't know whether the national treasure of the South China Sea Country was the relic of the [Sea Emperor].

Because when Rowling arrived in the South Sea Kingdom, a cultist named "Abyss Diver" had already succeeded and stole it.

But there is no doubt that the [Mermaid Tears] in front of us are the relics of the Sea Emperor!

On the one hand, there is the prompt on the panel, and on the other hand, there is the instinctive desire of the [Pseudo King]!

Roy's intuition told him that the hidden divine power of that thing was no less than that of the [Dragon King] and the [True Ancestor], and it must be the [Sea Emperor]!

But at this moment, someone in the corner raised his hand and made a bid.

"This thing looks good. I'll give you 400."

Amidst the bids of just over 300, a charming chuckle slowly rang out, silencing the room.

1000 gold coins were equivalent to the annual tax revenue of an average minor noble. It would be a waste to spend hundreds of gold coins on a gem whose use was unknown.

Only women who have no resistance to gems would invest so much money on this, and only [Arcix] Heras at the scene was willing to raise the price to 400.

The host naturally nodded in satisfaction and began to follow the process: "400 gold coins per time..."

Seeing that the King's Certificate was about to be treated as an ordinary gem, Roy was so anxious that he almost jumped up.

However, there was someone in the crowd who was even more anxious than him.

"Hurry! Make a bid to stop her!" Jason glared at the booth, grabbed Hex's arm, and shouted.

"Are you sure, my lord? It's just a gem."

"Nonsense! You don't even understand what that is!"

At Jason's urging, Hex had no choice but to raise his hand and bid.

"500 gold coins!"

The scene was frozen.

[Archipelago] recognized Hex's voice and couldn't help but frown, but continued to raise his hand: "550!"

"600!"

"650!"

"750!"

"800!"

"850..." Heras' voice began to hesitate.

"1000!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the audience couldn't help but look at Hex, and even the host's personality became weird.

A minor noble spends a whole year's worth of taxes on a gem he has no idea what it's for? Even if he's rich, he can't do that, right?!

And [Jihu] finally couldn't hold back any longer and stood up.

"[Fighter]! Why are you, a man, staring at this gem? Or are you deliberately looking for trouble?"

"I'm sorry, I have to accept the request. I have to buy this gem today." Hex grinned, very generous.

In fact, he himself didn't understand why the prince of the South was chasing after the gem. But it was not his own money that was being spent, and he could pretend to be rich for a while. Isn't that great?

The crowd was talking about it, suspecting that the "Mermaid's Tears" contained a mysterious secret, which was why some people would spend a fortune on it. However, no one had the spare money to bet on its authenticity.

After spitting a few times, [Jichu] stopped moving.

Jason wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and secretly rejoiced.

As someone with royal blood of the South China Sea Kingdom, he could sense the wondrous aura of the [Mermaid's Tears], so he knew very well that it was not a gem, but a relic of the [Sea Emperor], the national treasure of the South China Sea Kingdom, possessing terrifying power that could change the entire kingdom's celestial phenomena!

The theft of [Mermaid's Tears] was a shame for the King of the South Sea at that time, but if he could find it back, it would be a supreme honor that would make everyone forget the factional disputes!

Even if we put aside its symbolic significance to the South Sea Kingdom, the relics of the ancient demigod are equivalent to at least a Sequence 4 extraordinary item, which cannot be measured by money.

Compared to this, [Roaring Ocean Iron Guards] are just a bunch of garbage!

1000 gold coins? Even if it increased tenfold, he wouldn't hesitate at all!

However, considering the knowledge of these guys, they probably can't even see one tenth of the value of [Mermaid's Tears].

"1000 gold coins per time!"

Hearing the host's call on the stage, Jason couldn't help but laugh out loud, and began to rejoice in recovering the national treasure and welcoming a bright future that would be celebrated by the whole country.

Until a deep voice broke his sweet dream.

"2000 gold coins per time."

If there's anything more unbelievable than paying 1000 gold coins for a gem, it's raising the price to 2000 without hesitation!

Everyone looked at the Sword Ghost in the corner, wondering what was wrong with his head.

"Is that what you want?" Lyanna was the only one who understood.

Roy nodded slightly and began to calculate his assets.

The little money the Marquis' son had was enough to outshine most of the people present. But anyone who set their sights on this item was no ordinary person.

Fortunately, he had limited cash on hand, but a lot of valuables.

"Sir, shall we add more?"

"Add!" Jason blurted out decisively.

I never thought that at a small auction, someone could actually recognize the value of their South China Sea national treasures.

But so what?

Do you have the ability to snatch things from the prince of my country?

Jason is not blindly confident.

The South China Sea Kingdom owns the Blue Moon Chamber of Commerce and has abundant assets, so naturally the prince of his country is not bad.

Not to mention a bunch of adventurers, wanted criminals, and obscure nobles and magicians. In terms of available assets, even royals from other countries are far inferior to him. Only Prince Douglas of the Sands, who has a family in the mines, can compete with him in terms of financial resources.