Spending a whole billion to win the Lunar Frost Crystal Flower, Bexia had basically achieved the main goal of this trip. But he didn’t leave. There might still be something he needed coming up, and even if not, sticking around to broaden his horizons wasn’t a bad deal.
From that point on, the quality of the auction items shot up fast. Maybe it was because they were getting close to the climax of the whole event, but almost nothing came up that was worth less than a billion. And there were hundreds of such treasures. Bexia couldn’t help sighing that these big and small chambers of commerce really lived up to their reputation across the Dimensional Cosmos.
“Next item, due to some special reasons, isn’t suitable to place directly on stage, so we can only show everyone a projection!” The auctioneer waved his hand. A virtual screen appeared over the platform, displaying a colossal black warship, more than twenty thousand meters long—though this warship was in a miserable, mangled state.
Even though it looked like a pile of scrap metal, nobody questioned it. The Dayan Chamber of Commerce wasn’t about to crack jokes, and they wouldn’t take out trash just to fool people. They weren’t stupid enough to smash their own brand. So everyone just stared at the auctioneer with puzzled eyes, waiting for his explanation.
“I wonder if any of you have heard of the ‘Machina Spirit Empire’?” The auctioneer smiled, deliberately keeping them in suspense.
“The Machina Spirit Empire? Don’t tell me it’s that empire that tried to use technology to challenge a Creator‑level world?”
“That’s right. The very same Machina Spirit Empire that claimed their tech power stood at the very peak of the Dimensional Cosmos, on par with Great Void level.”
“Fifty million years ago, the Machina Spirit Empire created their strongest technological weapon, ‘Damocles’, and used it to challenge the Creator Plane ‘Ethereal World’. They lost, but they still blasted the Ethereal World into severe trauma. Back then it ranked mid‑upper among Creator Worlds, and even after so many years of recovery, it’s still nowhere near its former glory.”
The amount of information in the auctioneer’s explanation was a bit much. Bexia had never heard of the Machina Spirit Empire, so he opened the virtual network and searched, quickly finding some related data.
It was a mighty empire built purely on technological power. You could say the reason tech‑based weapons were so widely used across the Dimensional Cosmos nowadays was all thanks to them. They had pushed the path of technology to the point where it could rival the power of gods.
“This is a light‑class battleship from the Machina Spirit Empire, the ‘Conesy’. Originally, it was a super warship on par with a Saint at their limit. Later, it was destroyed in battle, recovered by the empire, and upgraded—turning into a super warship comparable to half‑Immortal level…”
“It’s just that right now, over eighty percent of the Conesy’s outer hull is basically scrap. Only the core is still intact. It contains all the original warship’s data. As long as you’re willing to spend enough materials, you can repair this ship. When that time comes, a half‑Immortal‑class warship will be enough to let you roam the dimensions untouchable!”
The auctioneer’s voice carried a certain tempting lilt. But nobody present was an idiot. No matter how prettily he dressed it up, only a few people would really be taken in—and that handful weren’t exactly rich to begin with.
“An antique from fifty million years ago… The cost to fix that thing is probably about the same as just buying a new warship.” A voice floated down from the second floor.
“You’re not wrong, honored guest. But the most precious part is the core. It stores quite a bit of Machina Spirit tech—that’s where the real value lies!” The auctioneer said with a smile.
“You didn’t check it?”
“This core has special protection. We can’t access it. Otherwise, do you really think a half‑Immortal‑class warship core would be showing up in this auction? And even if it did, could any of you actually afford the price?”
The auctioneer’s smile was confident. He gestured, and a waiter carried out a tray. Floating above it was a dim black crystal about the size of a fist, shaped like a cube, with faint glimmers of light flowing around it.
“Mmm—” The moment the crystal appeared, Bexia’s brows creased. In his soul space, the Chaos Divinity gave a slight shudder. There was something wrong with this crystal.
Only the other thirteen subordinate Divinities could stir a reaction from the Chaos Divinity. It didn’t look like one on the outside, but Bexia was sure: inside that crystal, there was one of the thirteen subordinate Divinities.
“You felt it?” Lady Cloud grabbed a strand of Bexia’s hair between her fingers and asked.
“Yeah.” Bexia nodded slightly.
Lady Cloud didn’t say anything more. Bexia already knew most of what he needed to about the subordinate Divinities. This was directly tied to his own future. He absolutely had to get it.
“You Dayan folks couldn’t crack it yourselves, and you’re giving it to us to…” The voice from upstairs trailed off halfway. The meaning was clear: if even the Dayan Chamber of Commerce couldn’t handle it, were they seriously expecting the buyers to solve it?
“It’s not that the Dayan Chamber of Commerce can’t break it,” the auctioneer said, “it’s that there’s no point. You all should understand—it might not just contain half‑Immortal‑level tech. There could very well be Immortal‑level tech in there too…”
“You think Immortal‑level tech grows on trees? Even if there is Immortal‑level tech, it’s probably some average support‑type stuff. It’s not nearly as valuable as you’re making it sound.”
“We don’t know what’s in there either. But remember, this core came from a warship that was refitted in the Machina Spirit Empire’s final war. There could easily be hidden weapons inside.” The auctioneer chuckled as he spoke. What he said made sense. Back during that war, the Machina Spirit Empire had modified a lot of their ships. It was completely normal for them to house tech beyond their original class. That kind of thing could very well have happened.
Seeing a few people frown and sink into thought, the auctioneer knew his words had landed. The warship itself wasn’t worth much anymore. But once you added a few “what ifs” on top, its value changed. This world was never short on gamblers who believed in their own luck.
“The starting bid is one billion. Each raise no less than one million.” The auctioneer gave the opening price.
“One billion? Why don’t you just rob us?”
“A wrecked ship going for a billion? Someone’s gone insane for money!”
The crowd below grumbled over each other. Bexia frowned, staring at that warship core, when a voice rang out from the second floor.
“One billion and one million!” The voice sounded hesitant. Betting a whole billion was no small gamble.
“One billion and five million!”
A second voice followed quickly. Then more and more bids rose and fell, mostly from the second floor. The increments were small, but layered together they still pushed the price up to one and a half billion.
Immortal‑level tech was indeed tempting. Even half‑Immortal‑level tech couldn’t really be priced in just “a few billion” dimensional coins. If it was offensive Immortal‑level tech, then even tens of billions wouldn’t necessarily buy you a single piece—much less the method to make it.
But if it was just gambling on luck, a few billion in chips wasn’t something your average person could stomach. So the number of high‑rollers willing to keep betting shrank fast. Not everyone liked to stake everything on their luck, especially with the truly grand finale items still waiting backstage.
