Chapter 145

The tavern went silent again. Players with quicker reactions and better memories now realized that when Han Jia Gongzi had initially mentioned "giving the staff to someone," that "someone" was truly "someone" – an indefinite rather than a definite reference.

In the end, everyone had wished Han Jia Gongzi's idea was to entrust the staff to Gu Fei, whom Jian Nan You feared, for safekeeping. Gu Fei himself had also presumptuously assumed this was the intention. Now, Han Jia Gongzi made it clear: the staff could be traded to anyone except Gu Fei and Xi Yao Wu, because they knew Jian Nan You and Mang Mang de Mang Mang. How could Jian Nan You not suspect anything if they ran to the auction house for Mang Mang de Mang Mang's staff? So, it was better for a new face to handle this.

Just moments ago, those who knew Jian Nan You were considered talented; in the blink of an eye, acquaintances were useless, while unfamiliar faces became valuable. Truly, everyone has their own use!

For a while, everyone was silent, pondering the feasibility of this plan. Finally, Mang Mang de Mang Mang, the staff's owner, spoke first: "We can try."

Han Jia Gongzi nodded: "After that, just find someone you trust, and have everyone pool a large sum of money for them to buy back the staff."

Mang Mang de Mang Mang nodded. Finding a trustworthy person wouldn't be difficult. Many of Lan Yi's group were former partners from their glory days in Moonlit Night City. Although they had scattered later, their relationships hadn't faded. Picking a priest from among them would be perfect for this task.

"The choice of person isn't urgent. Let's go list the staff first! Then, everyone else can casually spread the news in taverns and the like. News of top-tier equipment always spreads particularly fast," Han Jia Gongzi said.

"Mm-hmm!" Many nodded, ready to get to work. Lan Yi watched, utterly frustrated, thinking, *This grandson really doesn't treat himself like an outsider, ordering my brothers around without any restraint!* What was even more infuriating was that his brothers seemed to lack any backbone. He had never seen them so obedient.

"Then I'll go list the staff now," Mang Mang de Mang Mang said, rising.

She was still afraid of being attacked by Jian Nan You if she went alone, so she went to the auction house surrounded by a crowd. Mang Mang de Mang Mang herself found it somewhat amusing. Even during her most glorious days in Moonlit Night City, she had never strolled around with such a large group!

At the auction house, Mang Mang de Mang Mang listed her "Ideal Staff," priced at 1800 gold. This was 200 gold lower than the market price of 2000 gold assessed by veterans like You Ge, claiming it was to reflect a sense of urgency. But the problem was, if you were in a hurry to sell, you should set a buyout price, like directly listing it at 1800 gold for a quick sale. But this operation was obviously too risky, fearing someone might actually buy it. Setting it too high was also a risk, because the world was full of idiots.

So, in the end, everyone saw it as a conflicted state of wanting to sell quickly, yet being unwilling to let go.

"Okay," Mang Mang de Mang Mang said to the crowd behind her after completing the operation.

"24 hours?" Han Jia Gongzi asked.

"Mm-hmm!"

"It's seven thirty-seven now. Let's meet at six thirty tomorrow to make some necessary arrangements," Han Jia Gongzi announced.

"Mm-hmm-hmm!" Everyone nodded repeatedly.

"Now, hurry up and spread the news! Don't be too obvious," Han Jia Gongzi waved his hand.

Half the people scattered at once. Lan Yi was frustrated again, planning to give these guys a good ideological education after this was over, to make them deeply aware of who their boss really was.

These quick-tempered brothers were very efficient. The news that a top-tier priest staff was being auctioned at the auction house slowly spread in White Stone City. Spreading gossip always starts with a spark, and then professional gossip enthusiasts spread the details everywhere. Soon, priests who caught wind of it rushed to the auction house to take a look.

The Ideal Staff wasn't famous for nothing. Its basic stats were already better than the staffs used by most priests, not to mention the "Mana Sacrifice" skill, which was essentially mana regeneration. Now, priests only knew how to heal, but with this staff, they could heal and regenerate mana. How cool would that be? In critical moments, running out of mana was just as fatal as running out of health.

The price of 1800 gold stopped many ordinary players, but those in the know knew this price was already low, and buying it would be a steal. However, seeing so many priests gathered at the auction house, everyone guessed why they were there. So, those without money could only drool at the staff, while those with money saw too many competitors and didn't rush to bid. The staff didn't have a buyout price, so bidding now was meaningless. The last ten minutes, even the last minute of the 24 hours would be the most intense. After understanding the timing, those in the know turned around and left. Instead of wasting time here, they'd rather raise more money, because judging by the crowd, this staff would probably go for at least three thousand gold.

"No, maybe even four thousand... five thousand..." Priests leaving the auction house, seeing more priests pouring in from all directions, became increasingly pessimistic.

This was the true value of top-tier equipment. The so-called market price was a value assessment based on stat comparisons, but the biggest characteristic of true top-tier equipment was its scarcity. The resulting scramble could drive the final price to an unpredictable level.

The same Ideal Staff might sell for three thousand gold this time, but five thousand gold next time. Because its quantity was too small, not enough to form a stable supply and demand market. Each appearance was a new market, so how could there be a market price? The market price in players' mouths was just a placeholder. It had different meanings at different times. For ordinary equipment, the market price could be understood as the highest price; for this kind of true top-tier equipment, the market price should be understood as the lowest price.

At this time, a large group of priests went to the auction house to see the equipment. Some lingered after seeing it, while others rushed to raise money. The resulting chain reaction was that players who were used to leveling in random groups discovered that there were surprisingly few priests tonight. In the main city gate, the usual area for forming random groups, groups of players were staring blankly at each other, all because they couldn't leave to level without a priest.

"What's going on?" These leveling armies asked around and naturally started a new round of news spreading.

"There's a top-tier priest staff called the Ideal Staff being auctioned, it has a regeneration skill," this message spread quickly in White Stone City.

"Ideal Staff?" Ye Xiao Wu heard this news with Duan Shui Jian at the tavern.

"What is it?" Duan Shui Jian didn't know that Ye Xiao Wu had been encouraged by Yin Yue to acquire such a staff.

"This staff has a skill called 'Mana Sacrifice,' which is one of the few mana regeneration skills available," Ye Xiao Wu said.

"Sounds useful," Duan Shui Jian said.

"Very useful," Ye Xiao Wu said.

"Go take a look?"

"Let's go!"

The two of them went to the auction house together. It had been three hours since Gu Fei logged off, and it was late at night, but there were still many priests in the auction house. A main city had tens of thousands of priests. People kept hearing the news, and people kept arriving. Such a lively scene in the auction house had never happened in White Stone City before.

The auction house had a large number of auction operation consoles, and there weren't any available right now. Each console was surrounded by a group of priests. Ye Xiao Wu and Duan Shui Jian looked at each other, picked a console with fewer people, and squeezed in.

On the auction panel, the "Ideal Staff" was prominently listed first. Although most players who wanted it calmly waited until the last moment tomorrow to bid, some casually opened bids now. The price had already jumped to 2217 gold 58 silver 40 copper. There were rules for raising prices on auction items. The minimum increase was 10 copper coins, with no maximum limit. But when someone raised the price by more than 10 copper coins at once, the lower limit would be refreshed. Ye Xiao Wu looked at the current limit, which had been raised to 1 gold coin. And in the blink of an eye, the price jumped again, to 2218 gold 58 silver 40 copper.

"This looks like it won't be easy to get," Duan Shui Jian said, wiping his sweat as he looked at the surging priests around him.

"Yeah, looking at this, buying it is not just a matter of money anymore, you need some luck," Ye Xiao Wu said.

"Hehe, not necessarily. If you directly bid ten thousand now, I don't think anyone will bid higher than ten thousand," Duan Shui Jian smiled.

"No need for that," Ye Xiao Wu also smiled, "I've already arranged to get one for four thousand gold."

"Oh? Where?" Duan Shui Jian asked.

"Through Yin Yue's connections," Ye Xiao Wu said.

"That kid, is he trustworthy?" Duan Shui Jian said.

"What? Do you think he'll give me a fake to cheat me?" Ye Xiao Wu laughed, "At most, he'll make a few hundred gold in the middle. But look, even if he gets a little something, four thousand gold is still cheap. The way this is going now, it'll definitely exceed four thousand, right?"

"Definitely," Duan Shui Jian agreed, but then his gaze swept to the name of the staff's seller and he immediately froze: "Mang Mang de Mang Mang... this, is Yin Yue's ex-wife!"

"Oh?" Ye Xiao Wu immediately noticed as well, then muttered: "Could it be that the one he's arranging for me is this one?"

"No way? I heard they had a very bad breakup. That girl would sell to anyone but him!" Duan Shui Jian said.

"I'll ask him," Ye Xiao Wu said.

"How many of these staffs are there in the game?" Duan Shui Jian asked from the side.

"How would I know that so clearly?" Ye Xiao Wu said as he sent a message to Yin Yue: "Is the Ideal Staff you're arranging for me, is it the one from Mang Mang de Mang Mang?"

At this time, Yin Yue was leveling alone in the wilderness, his face covered. Every minute he spent in White Stone City made him nervous, let alone going to crowded places like taverns? So, as soon as he had nothing to do, he ran to the wilderness, specifically looking for deserted leveling areas, leveling hard alone. He didn't know anything about the staff that had been spreading in the city.

Suddenly receiving this message from Ye Xiao Wu, Yin Yue was shocked. His first thought was that Jian Nan You had completely sold him out, and had already said everything he had promised not to say. But that was just a thought, just that one sentence, and Yin Yue wasn't so alarmed that he would confess without being prompted, and immediately replied: "Huh?"

One word, one question mark, but extremely mysterious. It neither directly admitted to what Ye Xiao Wu asked, nor immediately denied it. The word and question revealed a hint of doubt, prompting the other party to continue.

"There's an Ideal Staff for sale in the auction house, sold by Mang Mang de Mang Mang," Ye Xiao Wu immediately explained the situation. His dark suspicions of Yin Yue only guessed that Yin Yue was encouraging him to buy the staff to earn a few hundred gold in commission, but he didn't expect that Yin Yue was actually hiring robbers to attack the person he was once closest to.

"Ah! It's this one, why is this woman going back on her word, she promised to sell it to me!" Yin Yue pretended to be indignant, once again throwing mud at Mang Mang de Mang Mang. In that instant, he had another vicious idea. In his eyes, Ye Xiao Wu was undoubtedly an extremely rich man. After learning that the staff was this one, he would probably take it down from the auction house.

And on Jian Nan You's side, although he had already deleted Yin Yue's friend, fortunately, Jiao Shui and the four of them had added each other as friends when they were together yesterday. Yin Yue later contacted Jiao Shui and learned that although Jian Nan You had deleted him, in the spirit of professionalism, he would still complete the task he had accepted, otherwise he would have to pay a penalty according to the rules.

Yin Yue knew the rules of Jian Nan You and his group. As long as they received a deposit, they had accepted the task. If the buyer wanted to cancel the task at this time, the deposit would not be refunded; but if they canceled the task, they would refund double the deposit.

Now that the staff was being auctioned, it wouldn't be difficult to find out the buyer. Jian Nan You and his group would have to investigate the buyer to continue the task, and then find out that the buyer was this Hong Chen Yi Xiao, and then...

Hehe, if he canceled the task, I would earn 2000 gold for nothing; if he continued the task, he would even chop Ye Xiao Wu, which had nothing to do with me. Yin Yue had this idea, so he directly admitted that the staff was the same one.

"I see..." Ye Xiao Wu responded, and then said nothing more.

Yin Yue felt that he didn't need to say any more encouraging words. He was afraid that Jian Nan You and his group didn't know that the staff had been auctioned, so he quickly contacted Jiao Shui again.

"Mang Mang de Mang Mang's staff is being auctioned in the auction house, do you know?" Yin Yue said.

"Is that so? I didn't know!" Jiao Shui said.

"Quickly pay attention to it! Otherwise, it'll be bad if someone buys it," Yin Yue said.

"Damn!!!" Just as this message was sent, Yin Yue suddenly realized and slapped himself hard on the mouth. How good would it have been if Jian Nan You and his group didn't know the whereabouts of the staff! If they couldn't find it, they wouldn't be able to complete the task, wouldn't they have to pay a penalty? Wouldn't his goal be achieved? Why was he so nosy to remind them?

Damn damn damn!!! Yin Yue slapped himself hard twice in a row.

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The double monthly pass event is over... but monthly passes are still needed, classmates with monthly passes, please~