After a week of leisure.
The auction house sent a message, stating that the appraisal agency had issued a certificate of authenticity for the Holy Spirit Sword and would include it in the next auction.
Along with the message came an invitation, a description of the item, and a list of attendees.
“Lu Hao, can you tell me your plan now!?”
With the Holy Spirit Sword about to be auctioned, Jack immediately asked Lu Hao's intentions.
Lu Hao spread his hands and said, “Simple, I’ll go to the auction and act as a shill to drive up the price, until we reach a satisfactory price.”
“……”
Jack had a black line on his forehead, “That’s your plan!?”
Acting as a shill at an auction could indeed inflate the price, but it relied on someone else joining in. Otherwise, the shill would have to pay for the item themselves.
It was a high risk.
“Don’t worry, there are plenty of people who want this Holy Spirit Sword.”
Lu Hao was confident, smiling, “If they don’t want it, I will.” He wasn’t afraid of the Holy Spirit Sword ending up in his hands, because subsequent events would lead to someone willing to pay a hefty price for it.
“Since you’re so confident, I’ll take a gamble with you. If we mess up, we’ll share the loss.”
Seeing Lu Hao’s unwavering confidence, Jack gritted his teeth and decided to take a chance.
No pain, no gain!
This time, he was all in.
Lu Hao chuckled and comforted him, “Don’t worry, when have I ever wronged you!?”
“You have.”
Jack replied coolly, Lu Hao coughed, “Never mind that, let’s go!”
After their discussion, the two drove to the auction house in their respective cars.
Not long after, a bright orange Mustang and a silver Mitsubishi Lancer stylishly pulled up to the entrance of the auction house.
Lu Hao and Jack entered the auction house with their invitations.
Jack went directly to the VIP room on the second floor, while Lu Hao casually strolled around the first floor and picked a seat to sit down.
The Holy Spirit Sword that Lu Hao and Jack were selling was the final item in the auction, the most valuable treasure among all the items.
As time passed, many invited wealthy collectors and their agents entered the auction house.
Lu Hao glanced around the room, quickly spotting a woman wearing a business suit, long flowing hair, and a beautiful face that was hard to forget. She was seated near the back.
He chuckled in his heart, the big sheep had arrived, time to slaughter!
“Welcome, everyone, to this auction…”
Once everyone had arrived, the auctioneer on the stage officially announced the start of the auction.
As the items on the list were presented one by one.
“This item is titled “Moria’s Estate,” a work by the renowned modern painter, Dos. The starting price is ten thousand pounds, each bid should be at least three thousand pounds…”
One by one, items were sold, until finally, it was time for the Holy Spirit Sword to take center stage.
The auctioneer had the Holy Spirit Sword presented and placed on the display platform for everyone to admire.
“Dear guests, now for the main attraction of this auction, this sword is called the Holy Spirit Sword, one of the five pieces of God’s Armament.”
“Legend has it that thousands of years ago, when people were simple and honest, an evil religion arose, deceiving the people and making them suffer. So, God used the eternal “Truth” as a belt; the peaceful “Gospel” as a breastplate; and “Justice” as a shield; and the “Salvation” as a helmet. He gave these armor and weapons to his believers, to represent justice and fight against those evil religions.”
“After a hard fight, God’s believers ultimately won this holy war. To celebrate their victory, people worshipped the weapons and armor God bestowed upon them as holy relics.”
“This is the origin of God’s Armament.”
He pointed at the Holy Spirit Sword and introduced it, “The sword before you is the Holy Spirit Sword that God used to drive away evil for mankind.”
After hearing the entire introduction, the wealthy patrons were slightly shocked. They hadn’t expected that this sword had such a grand background.
Jack was even more dumbfounded, was the history of the Holy Spirit Sword really this impressive!?
He looked at Lu Hao below, who looked innocent, he had merely added a little artistic flair to the original story.
The beautiful woman in the back row frowned slightly. She had heard about the origin of God’s Armament from her father.
It was indeed similar to the auctioneer’s introduction, but he had added too many exaggerated words like Truth, Salvation, Justice, and so on.
After all this introduction, God’s Armament had been elevated to an extraordinary level.
“Dear guests, the starting price for the Holy Spirit Sword is fifty thousand pounds, and each bid must be at least ten thousand pounds.”
“Now, I announce the auction begins!”
As soon as the auctioneer finished speaking, someone in the audience immediately raised their sign to bid.
“This gentleman bids sixty thousand!”
“Seventy thousand!”
“Alright, this lady bids one hundred thousand! Does anyone else want to bid higher!?”
Under the auctioneer’s rhythmic calls, the price of the Holy Spirit Sword steadily increased until it reached one hundred and fifty thousand pounds.
This price had already met Jack’s original expectations.
Seeing this price, the woman at the back immediately raised her sign to bid:
“Two hundred thousand!!”
Jack was delighted, this price was good enough.
“Are there any other bids!?”
“Two hundred thousand, first time!”
“Two hundred thousand, second time!”
With the price reaching two hundred thousand pounds, everyone backed down.
Even though the Holy Spirit Sword had a great name, everyone present was not stupid. They knew that this sword could not be the real relic of God, so after exceeding their mental threshold, they directly abandoned their bids.
Lu Hao saw that the time was right and raised his sign:
“Three hundred thousand!”
Jack was apprehensive at Lu Hao’s bid, afraid that no one would follow and the sword would be stuck in their hands.
The entire room was silent for a moment. The woman in the back row furrowed her brow slightly, hesitated, and then slowly raised her sign:
“Four hundred thousand!”
“The price is now four hundred thousand, what do other guests say!?”
The auctioneer’s voice rang out through the auction house.
Jack stood up and gestured to Lu Hao, asking him to stop, letting him know that it was time to cash in.
The Holy Spirit Sword selling for four hundred thousand pounds was enough to make him laugh his head off.
He didn’t dare hope for a higher price.
But Lu Hao just smiled and raised his sign again:
“Four hundred and fifty thousand!”
“……”
Jack twitched his mouth, his whole body collapsed on the chair, this kid was really daring to bid!!
It’s over, it’s all over!
The woman at the back row watched this scene unfold and her brows furrowed. She had already noticed the trick that Jack and Lu Hao were playing, the two of them were working together as shills to drive up the price and make her the sucker.
If she stopped now, she could break the scheme.
However, she looked at Lu Hao and Jack deeply and then raised her sign:
“Five hundred thousand!”
…
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