Ray certainly enjoyed the auction process; with a wide smile on his lips, he said, "8."
"9."
His silence followed like the previous times.
"9 million sold to #14."
Claire clenched her fists; it was the sixth time that Ray had increased the price of something by near double and she hadn't bought it. At first, everyone thought at some point he would make a mistake.
All of them were proven wrong as Ray made another increase for the seventh time, and he succeeded again.
The whispers among the crowd said he is working with the auction house, but the employees of the auction house were in fear of what would follow.
"Item 21, 5 kilograms of natural diamond. Base price is 30 million."
Ray said with confidence, "This was one of the things he needed to upgrade his monoliths, '30.1.'"
The whole crowd went silent; no one needed that amount of diamond except for some special designs, and no one wanted to pay double the amount for it.
After a minute, no one else said anything.
"Item 21, 30.1 million sold to #1."
Yelena laughed at the face of the man on the stage. "At first, I thought you had gone crazy."
"Item 22, a sword made with lightning magic. Base price is 3 million."
Ray once more said, "3.1."
"I'm not falling for that again, 4."
"5"
Someone else increased the price to bait Ray.
The only word that came out of Ray's mouth was "That's too much."
"Item 22, 6 million sold to #9."
Some more items passed; none of them were anything special until they showed a silver crystal.
Before he could explain it, Marian whispered to Ray, "I don't need that."
"Item 31, a moonlight crystal, has a base price of 80 million."
Ray ignored Marian, "100."
Everyone knew about Marian's magic type, and rumors about their relationship were some of the favorite gossip on the internet.
"120." The private room in front of them started to increase the price.
"150"
Silence devoured the whole hall; that price was behind most of their card charges.
"Item 31, 150 million sold to #1."
Marian stood up from her seat: "Why the fuck did you do that?"
"Consider it as a gift." His wink told her that he had other plans.
"I'm jealous..."
"Why don't you buy me any gifts?"
Behind the stage, a man in charge of the whole auction smirked at the sudden price that Ray had paid for a single crystal.
With his phone he messaged one of the other contenders that had close ties with him: "Next item is something that Kurosawa will pay anything in his power to gain. I would appreciate your help."
Seconds after a thumbs-up sticker was sent to him.
He yelled at the person in charge of transporting items to the stage, "Put item 173 in front." If he dried up Ray as soon as possible, his loss could be minimal.
On the stage, the showrunner was surprised by the sudden change, yet his expressions showed nothing; years of experience told him the intention of his boss.
"Item 32, three blood crystals, the price begins at 240 million."
Any person in the hall was aware that the rarity of the items was only one person with such a price tag, but most of them didn't have that much money to increase the price.
Ray said with no hesitation, "250."
"300." All eyes moved toward the new voice. In the room, on the highest place, a man in his 20s with curly hair and surrounded by five women sat on a chair that looked more like a throne.
His name was James Dragonlord, the smallest son of the wealthiest family on the entire earth. Ray's ranking in the top five was third, and their family took the top of the list.
"400." Ray said with confidence that there was no chance that he could miss those crystals.
"500."
His expression became gloomy; that amount of money on three crystals was way more than their worth. "Yes, you succeeded. 600."
James took a side glance at Ray and announced a new price: "700."
After 30 seconds of silence, his heart began to shake. Ray just stood there, smiling at the blood crystals.
"Are you scared?" His hands started to shake from the stress; his provoking had no effect.
"I will buy all three of them from you for 100 million." A pair of blue eyes as deep as the sea stared at him.
James yelled, "Are you crazy? Why would I do that?"
"Item 32, sold for 700 million to #2."
Ray explained with a calm tone, "The only person that can use them and have the money to afford them is me; you just spent 700 million dollars on three crystals that you can't even do anything with. And before you think about returning them, I know about your family's close relationship with the owner of this auction. If you try to return them to him, your troubles will only grow."
"I will crush them to ashes then." James tried to stay calm, but cracks were appearing in his act.
Ray took his hand to his chin. "Aren't you in a competition with your brothers? I wonder how wasting 700 million can affect your reputation, but here the kind Ray is offering you to return some of your loss."
He screamed out, "Fuck you, it was all part of your plan all along. How should I know you are not working with Rafael?"
"I'm a vice general; if you want, I can call a few people to check the state of this auction. Anyway, you have 100 seconds; each second that passes, my offer will grow shorter by 1 million."
"Fuck you and your Gen..."
A killing intent so intense rose from Ray's soul that breathing was hard for the normal people in the hall; a threat as clear as day came from his mouth: "Your next words can decide the fate of your life."
"Fine, fine. I agree to your terms." James cursed inwardly and burst out of the room. Leaving the frustrated women behind.
The showrunner didn't know what to do; everyone was staring at Ray with an awkward silence. A new figure joined him on the stage: "Ladies and gentlemen, sorry for the interruption in the auction. You can take a rest for twenty minutes; we will start again after twenty minutes."
Rafael teleported himself into Ray's room from the stage. His attention was on the woman next to him, checking some of their needs.
"Excuse me, Mr. Kurosawa, I brought you your crystals personally. You can have them as a gift from our auction house. We will return your 150 million and the payment for Mr. Dragonlord." If the military got involved, his losses could grow many times. Money could return, but if his reputation got destroyed, nothing could remain from his business.
Ray raised his face to look at him. "You have my gratitude. I guarantee that no words from this meeting will get out."
A small chest with four crystals was handed to him: three blood ones and a moonlight. "I really enjoyed your auction; I might become a permanent member."
Rafael had a faint smile: "It will be my pleasure. If you forgive me, I have my own business."
He teleported himself back to his own office; his fists broke his entire desk and all the objects on it: "That fucking kid. Like I would let you step in this building."
Meanwhile, Ray enjoyed his gains with Yelena on his lap and Marian to his side talking about her work.
His mind was still focused on getting more benefits. "The blood crystals were their main bait for me, and now I can change the prices as much as I want. Let's see how much more I get from this auction."