The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1467

The auction finally commenced. The occupants of the private box paused their negotiations, knowing that it would likely be moot as long as Ves did not bid beyond his budget.

As befitting the secretive occasion, the auction began without any fanfare. The lights remained dark and everyone turned off their suit lights. While many sensors would still be able to capture everything regardless of the light level, the shadowy interior helped set the appropriate mood.

This would not be a boisterous auction where personalities dominated the occasion. The Circle of Mota’s only concern was to organize an uneventful auction where money, goods and services flowed as smoothly as possible.

An old man in dark robes shuffled onto the large auction stage.

"Welcome, honored guests, to our latest auction. Let me quickly reiterate the rules before we commence. First, to bid on an item, you must input your bid on the device that will appear before you. No other form of bidding, whether verbal, non-verbal or other means will be permitted."

A gap opened up from the ceiling of the private box. Bidding tools hovered down in the hands of every occupant, including Nitaa and the bodyguards.

"Second, secrecy is paramount. Unless both the prior owner and the bidder agree to reveal their identities to each other in a private chamber, no attempts must be made to pry each other’s names. Anyone who reveals their identities here for any reasons will immediately be removed from this site. To facilitate everyone’s privacy, bidders will be referred to by the numbers corresponding to your bidding tools."

The Circle of Mota sounded quite serious about this, which Ves appreciated. Auctions where lots of firthals and controversial goods shifted back and forth could be quite dangerous if someone’s identity got exposed.

"Third, no one will speak unless prompted or allowed to by us. There are no exceptions to this rule. Any disturbance will immediately be dealt with. The auction will only proceed smoothly if order is maintained. This is not your kingdom or fief, so do not cross our boundaries."

The exasperating tone adopted by the old man made Ves suspect that there had been plenty of people who broke this rule in the past. That it needed to be reiterated like this meant that there were probably some very impulsive people among the crowd.

"Fourth, the goods and services that are put on auction have been verified to the best of our abilities. Nonetheless, we do not guarantee their soundness. Caveat emptor applies. The most we can do if the item has been genuinely misrepresented is to take everyone involved into custody and resolve the dispute through arbitration. By taking part in this auction, you implicitly consent to these terms."

Why did this sound like one of those scummy terms of use agreements used by some of the shadier services?

"Fifth, some items put up for auction can only be paid through the exchange of certain goods and services rather than firthals. Any bids we receive will be announced in the open to give other bidders the chance to adjust their own bids. However, the winning bid will solely be decided by the prior owners. We will facilitate the exchange after this auction ends. The other rules apply as well. If you have issued a bid that you cannot fulfill, you will regret it very dearly."

Something like this probably happened a lot as well. How stupid could people be? Plenty, it seemed.

"Now that we have that out of the way, let us begin with the first item."

Ves became curious at what kind of items the Circle put on auction at these kinds of events. They had to be rare and precious to be worth the time for all of the distinguished guests to attend.

The first item hovered to the stage from a floating platform appearing from a gap in the floor. The object was as small as a fingertip, forcing all of the auction goers to study the giant projection that appeared above.

"Our first item is an ultracompact battery." The old man spoke calmly, completely unlike what a regular auctioneer should speak like. "Its standard dimensions are capable of fitting into any standard devices such as shield generators, stealth detectors, jammer busters and other gadgets that require a large amount of power. Its charge, though non-replenishable, is good for resisting the full firepower of a rifleman mech for up to twenty seconds depending on the model of your shield generator."

A lot of people perked up at the offering of an ultracompact battery! A portion of the audience possessed shield generators, but they only lasted for so long until their batteries expended their charges.

Bringing a spare battery along might save them from a sticky situation by giving them double the protection!

Of course, Ves did not feel excited about the ultracompact battery at all, as he had the knowledge and the materials to cobble one up himself. In fact, he already planned to do so on the journey to the Hertog Dominion!

Nonetheless, Ves acted appropriately and straightened his back. He wanted to show Finlay and the Circle of Mota that he was impressed by the appearance of the batteries. It would have been weird if he did not do so considering their utility!

"Do you require an ultracompact battery?" Finlay offered, having bought Ves’ act.

"They are useful." Ves carefully replied. "But I did not come here to procure one."

"The auctioneer highlighted some of the ultracompact battery’s specifications before announcing the start of the bidding.

"Ten ultracompact batteries are made available here. Let us begin with the first of ten batteries. The starting price is 10 million firthals and the bids must come in increments of at least 1 million firthals."

A light and a small bell sound rang throughout the entire main hall as the first bid immediately arrived.

"10 million firthals." The old auctioneer calmly announced.

"11 million firthals."

"23 million firthals."

"25 million firthals."

"34 million firthals."

The bids frankly arrived faster than the auctioneer could keep up. Despite the initial rush of bids pouring in, the auctioneer did not panic and merely skipped over the intermediate bids to announce the highest one at the time he opened his mouth.

The second item of the auction hovered in place of the demonstration battery. This object was much larger. _{ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com}