Depressed! Extremely depressed!
This seemed to have been an intricately planned outcome. No matter what item Independent College put out, no one would care to bat an eye, while no matter how common an item Fig Star Academy put up for auction, it would always end up being aggressively bidded on by the employees!
In the blink of an eye, twenty items had been auctioned off, with Fig Star Academy having earned 260 million points against Independent College’s zero!
This was practically an unbelievable gap!
The faces of the Elderly Eleven from Independent College had turned as pale as ghosts. It was very apparent that Fig Star Academy was using its influence, practically pooling everyone’s points, to deal a fatal blow on them!
“It’s over! Completely over!” A professor from Independent College, who had lost his spirit, was bemoaning his fate, overwhelmed by disappointment.
Everyone knew that the next to appear would be the Antimatter Ray; the moment this equipment appeared, which was largely regarded across the Law Realm as a super first-class killer weapon, it would most definitely cause an even crazier flurry of bids to pour in. As such, given how the average items so far could be auctioned off for a total of 260 million points, there was no doubt that the Antimatter Ray would at least go for 500 million points!
There was only one final item left on the side of Independent College, which was Xia Fei’s AI warbot—a powerful weapon capable of replicating law power. However, would this one robot alone be enough to bridge this over 700 million points difference?
Crucially, the entire company was standing on the star academy’s side right now, and no matter how outstanding Xia Fei’s prized work was, the fear that no one would care to even place a bid on it still stood.
Gritting his teeth, Old Flynn clenched his fists and got up, looking like a wild, old wolf that was about to charge over and kamikaze those who were ridiculing him.
Xia Fei reached out and held him back, saying gravely, “Don’t give up till the very last second! We haven’t lost just yet.”
Flynn let out a bitter laugh. He looked at his comrades from Independent College, who were all hanging their heads down in defeat, and painfully said, “Do you still believe that we have hope of turning the tables on them? Look around you; the three giants of the star academy have exerted their influence and are fully in control of this auction! We’ll only be debasing ourselves further by continuing to wait!”
Xia Fei flashed him a slight smile but remained firm. “Just think about it. This is a situation already within our expectations. Are the board of directors fools? How come they don’t know just how powerful the star academy is?”
Flynn was startled and asked in a low voice, “Do you mean that the board of directors still have some considerations?”
Xia Fei did not give an answer. He turned on the screen and pointed at a few of the selected names on the list displayed and said, “Look here. These are people who have never once appeared in the company’s files, yet they could participate in this auction. This means that, aside from the influence of the star academy and Independent College, there’s still a third party! It’s the lynchpin that decides the outcome.”
Flynn quickly stared at the screen and carefully examined the list. He had not expected that, while he and his colleagues were being upset and frustrated, Xia Fei had very calmly analyzed the list of every participant of the auction, and he had even used the system search function to pick out a group of strangers who were not on the company files!
His face was a little red, most likely from realizing the gap between him and Xia Fei. They were both stuck in the same predicament, and while Flynn and the others let their frustration get the better of them, it was Xia Fei who spent every second of the time analyzing the situation; he had even found the time to implement his own line of thinking!
This was what it meant never to give up! Even if it was just a sliver of chance, Xia Fei was the sort who would find it by all means and subsequently utilize it as best as he could!
By comparison, these professors from Independent College had led much longer lives than Xia Fei, yet they were nowhere near him in terms of tenacity.
“Could these anonymous people be part of the board of directors?” Flynn returned to his seat and asked in a hurry.
Xia Fei shook his head. “There’s no need for the board of directors to use anonymous accounts. It is my belief that they are perhaps the most mysterious group in the entire company: Pinnacle.”
“PINNACLE?!” Flynn nearly blurted the word out loud. The Pinnacle Research Team was not just mysterious, it was practically a legend in the company!
A group of heaven-defying scientists who made up the strongest research team in the known universe. No one had any idea what topics the Pinnacle Research Team dabbled in, nor did anyone even have proof of their existence!
If Research Division 1 was considered a scientist’s heaven, then the Pinnacle Research Team would be considered the god in that heaven! This was by no means an exaggeration!
“Pinnacle. The Pinnacle team has their eye on this auction, so what should we do?” Flynn was rather advanced in his years, but hearing the word ‘Pinnacle’ had gotten him trembling with excitement, which was enough to see just how mighty that superteam of scientists was.
With a firm gaze, Xia Fei solemnly replied, “We’ll deal with the changes as they come! Trust m; Pinnacle will be no more than floating clouds when in front of the AI warbot!”
Color drained from Flynn’s face. Xia Fei was being rather tyrannical to claim the legendary Pinnacle team as just clouds!
…
“Next shall be the penultimate item for today’s auction, and due to the fact that this auction item is very important, we’ve invited the president of Fig Star Academy, Laika, to give everyone a demonstration personally,” the auctioneer announced as he made an inviting gesture.
Laika got up from his seat to the thunderous applause of the entire auction hall. It was clear that, aside from the people from Independent College, everyone else present was a supporter of the star academy.
Laika beamed radiantly. He waved his hands, indicating for everyone to settle down before he made his way over to the auction stage.
Presently, a very large weapon was already placed on the stage. It looked vaguely like a half-barrel cannon with two handles; it was none other than the Antimatter Ray that Laika was so proud of.
The Antimatter Ray was very difficult to control. The moment it lost control, it would form the initial state of a blackhole, which would gradually increase in size. This demonstration could very well turn into a disaster if left unchecked, which was why scientists would ensure that the control of the antimatter was their main goal.
It was difficult for such a weapon to be effective in actual combat. This enlarged Antimatter Ray weapon in Laika’s hands would be very effective against a single object, but if it was a large object like a warship, it would no doubt be useless.
Very quickly, a single armor plate was placed on the auction stage. It was an old-fashioned and extremely thick armor plating. It had been taken from a scrapped warship. Given how the Law Realm had decommissioned warships from ages past, it was not rare to find ancient relics like this.
Everyone watched as Laika’s eyes squinted, aiming that Antimatter Ray in his hand toward the armor plating. Everyone shut their mouths, stopping their breathing as they silently waited.
*Beng*
A mass of black shot out and struck that armor plating, dead center!
The Antimatter Ray then began to operate. It did not even take ten thousandth of a second before the several dozen tons of heavy armor plate got reduced into nothing! It had completely disappeared!
There was a mass of black suspended in mid-air, almost as if a shadow cast at night.
It had already passed the most crucial stage; the Antimatter Ray had indubitably reduced an object into nothingness, but the hardest portion was what would happen next!
If that fatal mass of antimatter grew unstable and began expanding, then this would mean that Laika’s Antimatter Ray device was nothing short of a failed product!
The scene that the people from Independent College were hoping to see did not happen, and everyone watched as the black mass became weaker over time until it finally disappeared!
“Hurrah!”
The entire crowd erupted into a cacophony of applause and cheers. Those employees who were already supporting the Fig Star Academy became even more frenzied, giving Laika a standing ovation. Each of their faces looked pleased, and they did not forget to shoot pointed, mocking stares at where the people from Independent College were seated, their attitude extremely smug.
“Complete control! This is a weapon with perfect control! Its capabilities are simply too astounding! All of us know just how difficult it is for antimatter to retract, and it’s especially true for retraction, which has stumped people from several generations before!
“Now that Fig Corporation has actually constructed its very own donut with perfect control, it can be considered nothing short of a miracle!” the auctioneer shouted without exaggeration. Xia Fei did not even need to look for him to know that he had already collaborated with Laika.
“Now, let’s invite everyone to begin bidding! This Antimatter Ray weapon with perfect control is definitely worth buying!”
Before this auctioneer even stopped speaking, Xia Fei could already see a rather exaggerated sum appear on the screen, which was showing the amount.
Xia Fei slightly frowned. There were no obvious signs, but beside him, Flynn and fellow colleagues from Independent College had a very ugly look on their faces.
One billion!
That was right! Someone had actually bid the astronomical sum of one billion points for the weapon!
It must be known that there were one hundred questions with heaven-defying difficulty in Fig Corporation.
Meanwhile, for someone to have a billion points also meant that they had the permission to view the tier 5 inventory list and exchange the points for anything they desired. This was the tier 5 inventory list! Every single top-grade product in the entire Fig Corporation would be listed here! Exchanging any one item showed that there would definitely be an unparalleled treasure!
Such a price very well pushed this auction to its climax! The crowd was ebullient, the entire Fig Corporation reeling!
It was at that moment when a figure appeared on the auction stage out of nowhere. Everyone carefully looked and saw that it was actually the famous Yin Fei.
“Best to go back to your seat. You don’t have the qualifications to come up to this auction stage!” The auctioneer very mercilessly flicked his wrist toward Xia Fei.
“Hahahaha~”
The entire auction hall burst into laughter as the president of the star academy Laika raised his eyebrow pridefully.
However, Xia Fei did not leave. Under the disdainful eyes of the crowd, Xia Fei pitifully swept a cold gaze around his surroundings. The corners of his mouth curled up into that signature smirk of his, causing everyone to feel nonplussed, uncertain as to where Xia Fei had found his confidence.
Turning around, Xia Fei offered a fisted salute to President Laika and solemnly said, “Senior, I have something of mine that I would like to give everyone a demonstration. You’re an expert, so may I invite you to critique it from the sidelines?”
Laika was a little puzzled. It was clear that there was an unshakable enmity between Xia Fei and him, so for the young man to express such respect toward him in front of so many people, he could not make sense just what sort of snake oil Xia Fei was selling.
There were plenty of people present, and just as how it was difficult to strike someone admitting their fault, Laika had trouble commenting anything more now that Xia Fei had humbled himself. After all, he was the president of Fig Star Academy, so he could not possibly appear to be too petty in front of the entire company.
As such, Laika smiled and nodded. “Sure. This old one is interested in finding out just what exactly it is that you brought here today?!”
Xia Fei smiled back and softly answered, “Trust me. This thing won’t disappoint you at all. I’ve made sure that everyone present will remember this very moment today!”
A large metal crate raised up from the auction stage. Everyone saw as Xia Fei walked over without another word and pulled open the lock on the crate!
*Bang*
It was the latest generation of mechanical war God, the birth of an enhanced version of the war leader, Warstar, of the Mech Race!
Yes, Xia Fei had indeed acted very unusually and appeared to be very respectful to his enemy.
However, what Laika had no clue about was that every enemy that Xia Fei had shown respect to all ended up suffering an utterly tragic demise!
