Chapter 282 Expo 1783 (Part-6)
It is around half past twelve and almost every guest who arrived at the venue was sitting in the auction hall at their respective tables.
The VIPs were given separate tables for themselves at the front while wealthy individuals or uninvited guests had to share them with others at the back.
Some were finished with lunch, some were chatting while drinking wine, and some were still in the middle of eating. Dozens of robots were catering to their needs and almost everyone appeared to be impressed with the hospitality. Of course, some people were envious and nothing can be done about them.
At table number 3, which is quite near to the podium, the representatives of Western Moon Kingdom were sitting together with the uninvited representatives of Kun Empire.
From Western Moon, King Shen Niu arrived with Prime Minister Zhu Jianhong, Princess Shen Ling, and a General. And from Kun Empire, envoy Hu Tian and Crown Prince Qin Yu tagged along with them.
Originally, Hu Tian requested the fourth prince, Qin Zhi to tag along with him in order to cement a relationship with the Western Moon kingdom but at the last minute, the crown prince volunteered for the job and replaced his brother.
Despite being the crown prince of the Kun Empire, Qin Yu has considerably less support from either the officials or the masses when compared with his younger brother.
Of course, the reasons aren't that illogical either.
Qin Yu is 49 years old and Qin Zhi is 27.
Qin Yu is only a 4-circle Spirit Warrior, clearly not a talented one. On the other hand, Qin Zhi is considered a genius with a cultivation realm at the peak stage of the 6-circle realm.
Qin Yu married six times but failed to produce a single child so far. Some citizens are under an impression that he is impotent while others believed that he is cursed by the heavens.
Qin Yu's mother, the first Empress already passed away due to a heart stroke and at present, Qin Zhi's mother is the Empress.
There are other reasons as well but those four are enough for him to lag behind the fourth prince. As the Emperor of Kun is also getting too old, Qin Yu was desperately looking for opportunities.
So, when he heard about the firearms from his loyal spies, he decided to form his own separate army. He doesn't have an interest in those panzers or howitzers. He was more interested in the weapons that can easily be carried with them and yet has enough destructive power. Some of the products caught his eye and he was intending to acquire the weapons and their rights no matter the price.
"Creating a state-controlled common adventurer guild for all professions is indeed better than letting several private guilds emerge one after another. However, it wasn't enough just to convince the guild branches existing in the empire. If you don't provide enough incentives, you will only witness the migration of the adventurers. And of course, there's the problem with rising corruption by state officials."
Shen Ling was expressing her views to Qin Yu, who asked her opinion about the reform, which the crown prince was trying to make but not getting support for to make it a reality.
While they were in the middle of a discussion to pass the time, Mark and Song Yue entered the auction hall together alongside the Black Knight, earning the attention of everyone who was waiting.
Upon stepping on the podium, Mark stood silently beside Song Yue as the latter addressed everyone with a smile on her face, "Welcome to Expo 1783. My name is Song Yue and I'm your host for the auction. Nice to meet you."
Upon taking a sound augmentation pill, which is available in every alchemy store, Song Yue's voice output became high enough to every corner of the auction hall.
*clap* clap* clap*
A few leaders of the major clans started clapping in support. The other followed with light claps.
Song Yue then continued, "Before we begin, let me start with the rules.
As it was described in the details you found in the weapons hall, every item that will be auctioned is going to be sold in mass numbers along with the rights for one year.
Once a bidder bought the rights, during the next year, only that relevant party will be qualified to buy those special weapons from our store or any branches we will open in the future.
Adding on top of that, there's a minimum assured order for each item. That means whether there is a delay in the order or not, the store will guarantee to provide the minimum number during the time period that the contract will hold on.
Now, coming to the bidding process, each of you was given a token. The bidder will only have to raise that wooden paddle to raise the bid.
Each item has a buyout price, which is basically ten times the price of the starting bid.
One can directly go for a buyout and win the bid. However, if there are multiple bidders interested in the buyout, then, the bidding will start from that buyout price, although only for the ones who expressed their interest at the very start. If missed an opportunity at the start for whatever reason, then, it is your loss.
And everyone should understand that the auction was only for the rights. The bidder should still pay additionally for the items after winning the bid.
Lastly, the auction is divided into two phases.
The first phase is the auction of the exclusive items that have a 1-year protection period. We talked about that earlier.
And the second phase is auctioning the vehicles displayed outside. Each one has a different protection period.
Without further ado, let's begin the auction for the firearms."
Looking at Song Yue finished her introductory speech without stuttering or making any mistake, Mark nodded with a smile and then took out the first item from his inventory.
Meanwhile, at the weapons hall, a few people were still roaming around to check out the weapons and Allen was standing there, waiting for the order.
Upon receiving the message from Mark, he touched a weapon that looked like a pistol and it disappeared.
He then loudly announced to the remaining people.
"Attention everyone, the auction was started. Please proceed to the auction hall if you don't want to miss it."
Some people ignored him while others rushed out. Allen didn't care either way. His only job is to remove the items from the display as soon as the bidding starts and remind the potential bidders about the auction.
Back at the auction hall, Mark placed the item on the desk placed before them and Song Yue proceeded with the explanation.
"The first item to be auctioned is the machine pistol named Tigon-1. Everyone must have already seen the details at the weapons hall. Hence, sparing the details, we will go to the auction directly.
The item's price is 35 gold coins per piece. The number to be sold on the spot is 50 and the minimum assured order is about 10000 in 1 year. The starting bid is 1000 gold coins and the buyout price for 1-year rights is 10,000 gold coins.
Those who are interested in the buyout, please raise the respective token paddles in the next 30 seconds, thank you."