"This is……" Vargas reached out to grab one of the silk apples in the basket. Michael had a total of thirty apples but he chose to auction only five because according to the system, it could extract the seeds from the other apples and help him grow silk apple trees after it reached version 4.0. The probability of getting healthy seeds out of a silk apple was 40% according to the system, therefore, Michael decided to keep most of the apples instead of auctioning them.

  However, before she could touch an apple, he pulled the basket away from her.

  "Congratulations Master Ghost we have checked your VIP status and are honored to offer you a permanent VIP status of your own as you don't need to carry the VIP card of the Bradley family anymore"

  It was really surprising how Vargas's expression changed in a blink of an eye. Unlike before she was now grinning ear to ear. After all, she was a businesswoman who knows what's good for business. Her change of character wasn't a big shock to him because after his time spending with the merchants in this world, he knew these merchants are cunning, shameless, and do almost anything if it brings profit to them at the end of the day. It also revealed Michael two things; she wasn't under a strict order of Julius not to let him anywhere near his Phoenix auction manor houses and she wasn't as good as she's thinking. Otherwise, she would have behaved like this from the beginning and not like the bitch she was before.

  "My assistant here will give you your VIP access card after the auction"

  "Make it black"

  "As you wish" Vargas's grin grew wider as she sighed a sigh of relief. Michael nodded approvingly before handing over the basket of silk apples to Vargas. She grabbed the basket as her life depended on it and held it against her ample chest tightly.

  "Remember we are not selling the apples, we're auctioning them" Gaya said with a cold tone. Just like in any other auction house, the Phoenix auction manor too had two options for the sellers to choose from. They could either sell the items to the Phoenix auction manor or auction the items in events like this. By choosing the latter, the sellers had to pay a small fee before the auction and a small cut in the gold coins after successfully auctioning the item.

  Those who want to make gold coins quick and hate to pay a cut could choose the option to sell. There was no downside for this option as the Phoenix auction manor was trusted by people to give them the right price. They wouldn't sully this reputation by swindling their customers, downplaying the value of the item like in pawn shops.

  However if one decided to auction the item instead of selling, the starting bid price would be always somewhat less than its actual value. If bidders chose not to go for high bids and the item ended up being sold way cheaper than its actual value, there was nothing the seller could do except take the bid money. This risk would be greater when superpowers compete for the item as they would often intimidate others not to place bids more than them if they took a liking to the said item.

  Plus, selling the items instantly was always a great way to remain anonymous as the deal would happen between the auction house and the seller, no third parties included. In the method of auction, however, the bidder, the representative of the auction house, and the seller would meet in the same room for the exchange of money and item. If the bidder chose to pursue the seller or the seller chose to get the item later on from the bidder's corpse, there would be a problem. End of the day, it boils down to the rarity of the item, the number of gold coins, and the greediness of either party included in the deal.

  "But……"

  "Auctioning it is" Michael interrupted Vargas when she was about to speak.

  "And put these in the auction too" The next moment, he made Vargas's heart almost jump out in shock by taking out a few three thousand years old herbs such as Storm Leaf, Bitter Barberry, River Chicory, and Ash Bloom. He plucked these from the Treacherous ocean. Her body became rigid.

  "Whoa!" Vargas gasped. Either of these herbs could go for 300,000 gold coins minimum. Yet she also knew that Alchemists like them rarely auction rare herbs such as these. She couldn't help but wonder why he's auctioning these herbs that most alchemists consider priceless.

  For other alchemists, they were indeed priceless but for him, these were just overrated junk because he could get the same medicinal qualities these herbs provide from common plants which weren't even acknowledged as herbs by the alchemists in this world.

  "That's all. I'll see you after the auction" Michael said before leaving her to get to his VIP room.

  When they disappeared from Vargas's sight, he grabbed Gaya's hands, halting her steps.

  "Go sit with the crowd"

  "Why?" Nightmare asked cluelessly yer the little dragon saw an evil grin slowly emerge on their faces.

  "I'll contact you through the earbuds and keep you updated"

  Gaya nodded as he placed his hand on her face.

  "System change her face"

  Gaya felt the familiar tingling sensation underneath her skin as she could feel her face changing.

  "Change your face again before meeting me after the auction"

  Even without Michael explaining what he was thinking, she knew exactly what he wanted her to do. In fact, she always did that for fun when she was a rogue cultivator but now, she could have fun as well as get rich.

  After Gaya went to sit with the commoners and lesser nobles, he and Nightmare walked up to the stairs reaching the second floor. The second floor of the auction hall, was where all the private rooms were located. Those who had the privileges of staying in one of those rooms were all wealthy people with great influence.

  "This time, we have to get something nice"

  "My family gave me quite a chunk to get a weapon for the upcoming tournaments"

  "Nice. I heard they sell some great ass weapons in the auction" Michael was the first to enter the second floor but soon many youngsters and elders reached the floor from other entrances. Michael quickly grabbed Nightmare, putting him inside his coat pocket.

  Only a few of them were able to take a glance at Nightmare before he disappeared into Michael's pockets. They stared at Michael murmuring among themselves before entering their VIP rooms.

  Michael just slowly walked past each room as he soon came in front of a door that had the symbol of the Bradley family etched on it. However, he didn't enter the room as the others did but waited for the corridors to become empty. Considering the VIPs were far less than the lesser nobles and commoners participating in the auction, after waiting for fifteen minutes, one couldn't see a soul except Michael.

  "Spy my little spiders" he retrieved the spying little spiders from his system storage and let them crawl through every VIP room in the area. Only after every single spider reached their respective room to spy, he entered the room allocated for him.

  The decoration within the private room was simple. There was a long solid wood table right in the center, and in front of the table, there were a few big fancy sofas. In front of these sofas, there was crystal clear glass. He could see the entire auction hall as well as the stands on the center stage of the auction hall while sitting on the sofa. On the center stage, a bunch of youngsters, the majority of them were girls, still bringing more and more stands covered in red cloth to the stage. A few of them contained the herbs Michael gave to Vargas.

  At the moment, there was a huge piece of cloth covering the majority of the stands, making everyone unable to see what was hidden underneath. After some time, the auction hall had been completely filled up, with every last empty spot being crowded with people standing close together.

  Just as the final seats were taken and everyone had settled down, a golden eruption of fireworks exploded overhead, instantly calming down the noise. After that, an old man in a gray robe slowly descended from above and landed right onto the stage. The old man was in his fifties, and his sleeves fluttered with every soft breeze passing by. His oily face carried a friendly smile, leaving a good impression on all those who watched him

  The clothes covering the items also slowly started to ascend into the air, revealing the items to the crowd.

  The elder's eyes swept the audience as he cleared his throat and loudly announced, "Honored guests, I thank you all for participating in our Phoenix Auction Manor's annual auction. I, Goron Lanyon, will be the host for this year's auction, and so I hope everyone today will be able to see an item they will want to buy!"

  The elder paused for a moment to clear his throat once more before continuing to speak, "This year the Phoenix Auction Manor has seen its busiest year. That is because this year, we shall be auctioning off many precious items that our Phoenix Auction Manor has already announced and many more that we just acquired. Trust me, even this old man has only heard about some of these items only in legends. I hope you've brought your pay cubes with you" The old man joked as a small tremor of laughter reverberated through the hall.

  "What these items are, I am sure many people here are already aware of. So I will not waste any more time describing them but I will give you a detailed explanation about the new items to the best of my knowledge" When the elder was speaking, he had used his Arch Force to magnify his voice so that everyone in the auction hall would be able to hear it. The old man continued to explain the rules without stopping.

  "What a talker, hurry up and start the auction!"

  "Yeah, I'm going to fall asleep!"

  Many people couldn't take it anymore as they began to shout at the old man. But the old man did not give a shit until he preached every single rule about the auction.

  "Alright, I think everyone should have a clear understanding of the rules now. Let the auction begin"

  At the sound of the elder's words, ten men suddenly walked toward the stand, encircling it. Their eyes stared coldly at the audience as if showing off their positions as bodyguards.

  Finally, Michael stopped playing with Nightmare to take part in the auction that's going to give him something interesting……

  *********************************

  Keep guessing my dear readers……keep guessing……I can give you a clue……Abyssal……