Chapter 631: After party
Immediately after the conclusion of the final game, Barnaby announced that the dinner and after-party of the auction would commence shortly.
This happens every year after a successful auction, allowing the companies and the crowd to mingle with each other socially, celebrate wins, or even discuss business opportunities.
After all, one purpose of the games was to show competence to potential customers and investors. That was why many up and coming companies were eager to show their worth.
Almost everyone was present, from the Duchess Regina and her royal family, as well as the other important figures like the Tower Master as well as Kruger, the Heavenly Knight who trained Potbol to be the beast he was now.
But despite the important figures present in the party, there was just one person missing from attendance.
Michael Vanderbilt.
His presence was sorely missed, with a lot of companies and people disappointed that they couldn’t introduce themselves to the rising star of Metropolis.
The demand for the name Michael Vanderbilt was at an all time-high, especially after the revelation that he was the one who invented the automobiles.
It wouldn’t be hard to guess why a lot of these people wanted to make a connection with Michael.
However, Michael and the entirety of the Reborn company were completely gone from the auction.
After collapsing from exhaustion, Michael was whisked away into the best health facility that was managed by Aerith herself. Their branch of Sinclair’s Elixir was the best option available by a long shot.
Of course, all of his teammates and his family rushed to his side in worry, which explained their absence for tonight’s gathering.
But the event wasn’t entirely quiet either.
There was one presence in the after-party that gathered everyone’s attention.
Her curly orange hair, white and pale skin, as well as her striking blue eyes made for a striking combination of beauty that would have captured anyone’s attention.
But they weren’t just focused on her face. The deep blue and violet scales surrounding her face immediately painted her as someone non-human. She was a mermaid, and seemingly one with a noble background as well.
Compared to the other mermen surrounding her, this mermaid wore exotic and extravagant stringed pearls as her necklace and opalescent dark beads as her earrings.
Those that were familiar with Mermen culture, and about the deep sea in general knew that those pearls weren’t just taken from ordinary clams and oysters. Those were byproducts of ancient monster mollusks living in the deepest depths of the ocean, tens of thousands underneath sea level.
No human and no ordinary mermen could survive an encounter with those beasts, so those special pearls became a symbol of power and influence in Atlantis.
"So they’re the mermen I’ve been hearing about ! I’ve never seen them before."
"They look like ordinary humans apart from some cosmetic differences. They’re even breathing through their noses. I thought they’d only have gills."
"That’s because they’re in the surface world. Once they’re underwater, their physical bodies change slightly to accommodate life in the harsh seas. They grow gills on their necks and and grow webbing on their hands for easier movement through the water."
As much as a lot of people wanted to approach the orange-haired mermaid, the mermen surrounding her intimidated everyone into keeping their distance.
There was only one person who could approach, and that was Duchess Regina, who had met them before. She was the one who invited them to Metropolis in the first place.
"Princess Serena, I hope you enjoyed the auction for tonight," the Duchess said, greeting with a slight bow.
Serena smiled back at her and returned a bow. "I must admit, Duchess. I didn’t think my trip to the surface world would be so exciting."
Immediately, the Duchess knew what she was talking about—or rather, who.
"Yes. I think we’ve all been surprised tonight. Even I never expected that boy to be that powerful. He truly is one of a kind."
The Duchess’s praise came straight from the heart, which she saw that Serena responded positively to.
"I know right?" Serena replied, her excitement rushing.
Noticing this, the Duchess offered to mediate a meeting between the two of them. "I could introduce you, if you’d like."
"Really?!---"
She was about to continue her conversation with the Duchess about Michael when her attendants behind her coughed, signalling for her to get back on topic.
Serena pursed her lips and sighed. "It’s alright. There are other matters that I have to attend to."
"Is something the matter, princess?" the Duchess asked, noticing the impatient look on her face. "If it’s in my capacity and the entirety of Metropolis, then perhaps I can help you."
"As you know, Duchess, our mission in the surface world is to make sure that the cooperation between us Sea Dwellers and the Draconians will go smoothly.
My father wants to ensure that the connection between the continents will continue from this point onwards, and this trial run will make or break those plans."
The Duchess nodded in understanding. As the sitting royal of a capital city, she knew about the politics surrounding the agreement between the Ocean King and the Draconic Queen. Both would stand to gain a lot from this endeavor, so they had to make sure that nothing would go wrong.
"One of the things that I have to do is to find a way to integrate our culture into yours. Mermen find it hard to go into the surface world because our needs are completely different than humans, and vice versa. This makes for a very mismatched coalescence of the two different cultures.
To remedy that, I have a simple solution.
I would like to formally announce to the citizens of Metropolis that I, princess Serena, am offering a limited time deal to humans.
If you can obtain 10,000 Sand Dollars, then you can purchase one drop of the Spirit of Old."
Serena modulated her voice at the last part, letting the entirety of the party hear her words.
This revelation sent shock and awe to all companies present.
"Is she serious?! They’re letting us buy Soo drops?!"
"No way! And it’s at an extremely discounted price too! It only costs 10,000 Sand Dollars to get one single drop of Soo!"
"That means even us ordinary folk can get the chance to get lots of Soo drops!"
The Duchess was also surprised to hear this. All this time, the Ocean King regulated the selling of Soo drops very strictly. Sometimes, you couldn’t even buy them even if you had a lot of money.
But now, he was giving humans a direct line to the very source of Soo drops. This was unprecedented!
"Wait, Sand Dollars? That’s the mermen’s currency, right? How are we going to get that?"
Many people’s excitement was tempered once they realized that Soo drops would still be as hard to obtain as before.
After all, mermen had no reason to spend their Sand Dollars in the surface world. Even if you gave them 100 billion gold coins in exchange for a single Sand Dollar, they wouldnt take it. They had no need for human currency.
The Duchess finally realized what Serena was planning. "You’re trying to get humans to integrate mermen into our society."
With Soo drops available for purchase, humans would be much more willing to accommodate the needs of the mermen so that they could obtain Sand Dollars in return!
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