Chapter 529: Bidding war
Discussion erupted around the auction. The crowd and the companies were starting to wonder about the Reborn company.
For such an unknown name, they were bold and rich enough to try and compete with the Pyramidic Cuisine! The price of the land had gone up to 10 million coins!
Many of the people were conflicted on Reborn’s decision. They didn’t know if they were seeing something that other companies couldn’t see in the land, or they were just wasting their money.
"Who is the Reborn company? I haven’t heard of them, so they’re probably new to this sort of thing. Maybe they just got caught up in the atmosphere."
That was the prevailing sentiment for most of the companies and the crowd watching the auction.
Even the people who knew Michael personally were also surprised with their decision.
In one of the Major Factions’ private suites, Bobby and the rest of his officers in the Quench Company were discussing amongst themselves about the nature of Michael’s bid. Was it smart or was it wasteful?
Bobby turned to Dicky, who was acquainted with Michael and knew some of his true capabilities.
"Did you know that Michael had this kind of money?" Bobby asked.
Dicky shook his head. "I knew he was strong, but I didn’t know that he had ten million gold coins to spare.
Truth be told, I never really thought much about his company’s history outside of Metropolis. I heard that they came from the Kings region, so I assumed that their business wasn’t that good.
But if they could afford 10 million on a worthless piece of land, then it must mean that they’re incredibly successful there."
Bobby then asked him another question. "Do you think that the Reborn company has a chance of winning this bid?"
Of course, some of his officers immediately knew the answer. The Pyramidic Cuisine would win. No question. However, the fact that Dicky was hesitating on picking the winner of the bid was very telling of how much he valued Michael’s strength.
"Michael has shown himself to be a very capable fighter. You should ask Chucky how he got beat overwhelmingly. So, I think that the Reborn company has a chance to win in this auction if Michael were to act himself," Dicky said genuinely.
His evaluation of Michael surprised a lot of the officers in the Quench company.
"I see...but here’s the thing," Bobby said, peering down the auction. "It may very well be possible that Michael himself is not the only one who’s going to fight in the auction. The Pyramidic Cuisine would definitely want more than one fighter in the game."
Dicky knew what he was getting at. After all, this auction wasn’t just all about the leader of the company. Most of the time, it was about the commanding officers that worked alongside the leader.
They were sure that Michael was strong. It was possible that he could defeat every single officer from the Pyramidic Cuisine, apart from Beau. However, they weren’t sure if Michael’s commanding officers were up to the task.
"Have you seen his officers, Dicky?"
Dicky shook his head. "I’ve only met Michael. I don’t even know if he has officers in his company."
"Do you think that Michael can hold his own against four, or maybe even two Pyramidic Cuisine officers by himself?" Bobby asked again.
This time, Dicky wasn’t sure. Even if Michael could do it, it wasn’t ideal because he would be wasting his strength.
Because of this, Dicky now had a question.
Why are they so confident? Michael may be strong, but he can’t win alone against the Pyramidic Cuisine.
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Meanwhile, in the private suites of the Spice Vise company, Reena was shocked to learn that the Reborn company was this wealthy.
"Can they really afford that? Or are they just biting off more than they could chew?" Reena asked her father.
And to her question, Vishna just chuckled to himself. "Oh yes. He can definitely afford that. He was already rich before, and he’ll be even richer in the future."
He was one of the few people who knew that Michael owned the automobiles. And judging from the excitement and eagerness from everyone at this auction, he had a feeling that the bidding for the trucks would go up to astronomical heights.
Vishna saw that his daughter’s eyes were starting to change as she realized more and more that the Reborn company wasn’t just some random backwoods organization.
"Come on, daughter. Be with him."
Reena immediately shook her head. "Father, I don’t decide my love for someone because of what they’re worth!
And besides, I don’t think that they can fight with the Pyramidic Cuisine on this one. I can accept that Michael is strong, but he’s alone. He can’t defeat Beau’s strong officers all by himself."
Vishna pursed his lips. She made a good point. After all, even he didn’t know if the Reborn company had good foundations or not. It was very possible that it was only Michael who had the power to fight against the other companies.
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On the other side of the room, Beau Rigaud sat in her chair, twirling her curly blond hair with a smile on her face.
"They’re challenging me," she realized. "If the Reborn company just wanted the land for themselves, then they could have just agreed to the game at a much lower price. But instead, they increased the bid even higher as a challenge against me."
She knew that the owner of Reborn figured out her true intentions. She was just bidding on the land without purpose. She just did it because she had the money to spare.
And it looked like the Reborn company was doing that as well. They didn’t have to raise it up to 10 million. They did it because they could.
Meanwhile, on the bottom of the stage, Barnaby began his countdown.
"The Reborn company offers 10 million gold coins! Does anyone want to bid any higher than that?!" Barnaby asked, specifically looking up at the Pyramidic Cuisine’s private suite.
"Can we spare 10 million?" she asked her treasurer.
"It will be very tight, madam. We have a budget of around 15 million for this bid. Any more than that and we’ll risk dipping into our savings for the Soo bid."
Beau nodded. "I’m going to offer 12 million as a bid. If they fight that, then they’re going to bid 15 million. After that, I’ll accept defeat and battle with them in the Pocket Dimension game."
She looked down at Barnaby and did exactly as she said she would. She knocked on the tinted glass and offered 12 million coins.
"A new offer—"
KNOCK
"The Reborn company offers 15 million!"
Beau smiled as she saw this unfold. It was just like she predicted. The owner of the Reborn company simply wanted to assert their dominance through their wealth.
"That’s fine. You win the bid. We’ll win the auction."
She was going to put her very best officers in the Pocket Dimension game.
"Are there any other offers?" Barnaby asked the room. "Going once...going twice...dec—"
KNOCK
Barnaby was speechless.
"The...the Reborn company offers 20 million. They just...they just...they just outbid their own bid..."