Chapter 38 Auction (Part 2)

**Chapter 38: The Auction (Part 2)**

Whether it was the Capital Base or any other base, all had Beast Tamers. It could be said that Beast Tamers were common, but mutant beasts were rare—especially Tier 4 mutant beasts, which were even harder to come by.

Yet the T Base brought a great white shark for auction. The problem was, this creature couldn’t survive outside of water.

Cong Xun was from the Northern Base and known for his straightforwardness. He bluntly remarked, “This creature’s tier isn’t low, and it’s definitely valuable—but how do you carry it around? Now that we have spatial storage units, we could keep the shark inside, but what about during combat?

Do you release the great white shark from the unit, let it take one chomp at someone, then leave it stranded?”

“Pfft…” Several people couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Mutant beasts didn’t have cores in their brains, but their flesh contained immense energy. Consuming large amounts of mutant beast meat greatly helped Supers enhance their abilities.

“I guess this thing’s only good for eating now,” Cong Xun said. “If you want mutant beasts, look no further than our Northeast.”

Still, the T Base insisted on setting a high price. Paying that much just to eat a Tier 4 mutant beast? That wasn’t just foolish—it was outright insane. In the end, no one bid, and the item went unsold.

The T Base delegation’s expressions turned sour, and the Americans sitting with them looked equally displeased.

Among them was Cruise, who had hitched a ride on the T Base’s credentials. After being detained by the Capital Base, the Americans paid a hefty sum in supplies to bail him out, and he stayed behind to continue mooching off the T Base’s quota for the auction.

In a way, they were bound together—glory or ruin shared alike.

The fifth auction item was also a mutant beast—a Tier 4 peak golden tiger provided by the Northern Base.

The golden tiger’s body was entirely gold, adorned with black stripes and dark spots, and bore a prominent ‘king’ mark on its forehead, radiating majesty.

Even confined in a cage specially reinforced by a Super’s powers, its imposing aura remained undiminished.

Though trapped, the golden tiger showed no sign of defeat. It roared skyward, its voice shaking the surroundings, its dominant aura undeniable.

Now *that* was a real battle companion.

Unlike the great white shark, this golden tiger set off a bidding frenzy and eventually went for a premium.

The sixth item was a dual-element Level 6 Zombie Core—one lightning-attribute and one wind-attribute—provided by Luo City Base.

The cores weren’t sold separately; the starting bid for the pair was nearly double the combined price of two individual cores.

Luo City Base had clearly come prepared. Everyone knew the Capital Base’s Commander-in-Chief, Gu Jinsheng, was a dual-element Super with lightning and wind abilities, currently capped at Tier 5 peak and on the verge of breaking into Tier 6.

Of course, Tier 6 Zombie Cores were incredibly valuable, and many vied for them. Gu Jinsheng straight-up used spatial storage units as part of his bid.

He ultimately secured the two cores with five spatial storage units, each holding 200–300 cubic meters.

The result was a mutually beneficial outcome: Luo City Base was satisfied, and the Capital Base was even more pleased.

Though spatial storage units fetched high prices, as the producers, their cost was practically negligible. To them, those two Zombie Cores were basically freebies.

The seventh item was a Tier 5 peak wood-attribute Zombie Core, the eighth was…

It wasn’t until the second-to-last item appeared that the host finally showed genuine excitement again. “This product is quite special. Its bidding price is low—just one pound of food. However, what we’re auctioning today isn’t the item itself, but the first dibs on purchasing it.”

“What does that mean?” Cong Xun whispered to his companion. “So this thing can be mass-produced and there’s plenty of it, but they won’t sell it freely. You’ve got to pay for VIP status before you can buy it.”

Jiang Fuzhong from Luo City Base gave Du Ruanlan a thumbs-up. “Boss, you’re truly psychic. Just as the auction was wrapping up, I was thinking the Capital Base had no more surprises in store.”

Du Ruanlan was very interested in this showstopper. “This should be today’s main event—something that will have every base foaming at the mouth.”

Owen's fiery red lips parted slightly, "It might even determine the survival or demise of a base."

A Korean superpowered sneered and rolled his eyes, "You Chinese are so provincial—you make a spectacle out of every little novelty. Back in H country, we’ve seen all kinds of treasures."

He had completely forgotten his earlier fanatical obsession when first touching the spatial storage device, or his spitting-mad tantrum afterward when he failed to bid due to lack of resources.

The Third Base was a small one, led by a Tier-3 superpowered commander who had never seen many high-end items. Their eyes were glued to the stage like starved men at a banquet. Unfortunately, given their base’s financial status, they couldn’t even afford the cheapest item—the leftover great white lot.

Shen Mo silently touched the spatial storage pendant beneath his shirt, relieved that Chen Chen had returned it. Otherwise, if it had been brought to the auction, their entire base’s stockpile wouldn’t have covered the opening bid.

Ding Yong was equally dazzled, fantasizing about the day he could become one of those bidders.

"Beijing Base is truly prosperous—premium goods back-to-back. Spatial storage devices alone were mind-blowing, yet they tossed them out like some opening act. Now this finale must be the real deal," Ding Yong marveled.

Tang Tang bit her lip, her gut twisting with want. She longed to be one of those in the VIP boxes upstairs, but here she was, stuck on the first floor, too chicken to even lift her bidder’s placard.

"I wonder what treasure Beijing Base has prepared this time?"

The hostess pulled away the red cloth covering the tray, revealing a small mountain of nutri-packs stacked on it. "The grand finale of today’s auction is—nutri-packs!"

"Straight out of a space opera, a single dose can keep you full while providing the body’s basic daily nutritional needs."

The hostess preened at the crowd’s eruption, pleased with the reaction she had provoked.

"Each nutri-pack is only ten milliliters, available in civilian and superpowered formulations. They come in one-day, three-day, five-day, seven-day, half-month, and full-month doses."

No further explanation was needed—the superpowered understood perfectly, which was precisely why they were even more stunned.

"No fucking way, Zhang! Smack me stupid—am I hallucinating? Nutri-packs? One dose and you don’t need to eat for days? Am I hearing this right?" Cong Xun exclaimed.

Old Zhang promptly grabbed Cong Xun’s arm and squeezed hard. Cong Xun yelped in pain, and Old Zhang nodded in satisfaction. "That hurt, so I’m not dreaming. Goddamn nutri-packs!"

Though Du Ruanlan had mentally prepared herself for something shocking, she never expected it to be nutri-packs—something that held survival by the throat.

Her expression turned complicated. "Spatial storage devices, nutri-packs… both appeared right after the Third Base expelled a traitor."

"Darling, are you saying both these things are connected to that framed person from the Third Base?" Owen gasped. "Damn it, Chen Chen booted a golden goose! His skull’s stuffed with rot, not Crystal Cores—it’s zombie virus!"

Jiang Fuzhong said earnestly, "Is it possible his head is just full of idiots?"

Owen giggled. "Could be."

Du Ruanlan gazed at the nutri-packs on the stage. "The game’s changed."

Shen Mo was so shocked he stood up from his seat, straining for a glimpse of the nutri-packs.

He wasn’t the only one—many others had risen to their feet, making his action far from unusual.

Even Tang Tang couldn’t resist leaning forward for a better view.

The auction hammered home how backward she’d been. The Third Base was too small, too isolated—she had no idea the outside world had advanced to this extent!

At the same time, a fierce ambition ignited in her heart: she would stay in Beijing Base, no matter what.

She refused to let the world progress into a sci-fi era while she remained trapped, groveling to some coffin-dodging lech for a scrap of food.

Tang Tang swore to herself—by any means necessary, one day, she would make Beijing Base her home.

Meanwhile, the T Base delegation lost their damn minds, several Americans yammering in panicked English.

"Does the Nutri-Pack really work as they claim?"

"Could it be some kind of Chinese propaganda stunt? You know how they oversell everything. If only we could experience it firsthand, like with that spatial storage device."

Han Zhiwei from the South Base had a sharp gleam in his eyes. "Our region has low grain yields and has always been dependent on northern grain shipments. If these Nutri-Packs are real, our annual mortality rate could drop by at least two-thirds."

Everyone was eager to see and feel it for themselves.

As host and producer, the Beijing Base fulfilled every base representative’s wish, wheeling out carts to distribute one Nutri-Pack per person—no more, no less.

Almost everyone chugged theirs on the spot, except the Americans. Distrustful of the Chinese, they feared the packs might be dangerous. None of them drank, but they forced the T Base's Chinese rep to take a swig instead.

"How do you feel?" The American supers stared wide-eyed, waiting for his answer.

The T Base representative rubbed his stomach. "I feel full now. I was starving earlier, but that hunger’s gone."

The Americans were stunned. "This puny thing’s smaller than a damn cracker!"

One of them decided to test it himself. "I'll try it."

And then he experienced the Nutri-Pack’s magic—the feeling of fullness hit almost instantly after drinking it.

The effect was immediate. Driven by curiosity, the American supers threw caution to the wind and tried it too, then let out amazed exclamations like hicks seeing a spaceship for the first time.

Cruise said gravely, "We need to get this intel home ASAP. This is huge for our country."

The U.S. has barren land with poor crop yields, far below what’s needed. For centuries, they’ve followed a raiding culture—when push comes to shove, they invade and plunder.

Dewitt, the American rep sent to negotiate Cruise’s release, narrowed his eyes with cold calculation. "Tell that Chinese guy to contact Han Yaokun immediately. No matter what, we have to bring him over."

The Americans, who mostly lived in the T Base, had little knowledge of events happening deeper inland.

For example, while they’d seen the video about the spatial storage device, they didn’t understand the tangled relationships between Chen Chen, Tang Tang, and the third hidden figure. They simply dismissed the two as treasure-seekers trying to hoard their find. Deeper layers either went unexplored or were deemed irrelevant.

In the end, it all came down to delayed information.

Their focus was mainly on Han Yaokun. Coincidentally, just after he was brought back to the Beijing Base, both the spatial storage device and the Nutri-Packs appeared. Even if someone claimed these had nothing to do with Han Yaokun, would the Americans believe it?

Killing intent flashed in Cruise’s eyes as he drew a finger across his throat. "If we can’t recruit him, we eliminate him. Such talent must never fall into Chinese hands. The U.S. is the world’s top dog—the future global superpower!"

Korea also suffers from poor soil. There, watermelons and other fruits are sold by the slice, strawberries by the piece, showing just how scarce resources are. Despite their loud talk, this tiny nation of barely 2.5 million people can’t even grow enough cabbage and has to import from our billion-strong population. One day without trade, and they wouldn’t even afford their national dish—kimchi.

Those two hicks, laughed out of the grocery store that day, still made sure to carry off food and cabbages when they left—proof of how desperate they are. Now, seeing the Nutri-Packs, their eyes turned downright predatory.

After tasting them, the kimchi supers declared in unison, "We’re bagging this deal."

Nearly everyone present felt the same. When bidding began, the auction exploded into a feeding frenzy. Though the item itself wasn’t worth a pound of grain, its first-access rights were driven to insane levels. The top three bidders practically emptied their ten-year stockpiles.

The U.S., caught off guard, lost out. Korea dropped out after just a couple of rounds, unable to match further bids.

In the end, the top three first-purchase rights went to Luo City Base, North Base, and South Base.

The final auction item was a Hail-Mary addition by the Americans—a level-six Mind-class zombie core.

Had this core come up at any other time, it would’ve fetched an astronomical price. But after the Nutri-Packs, everyone’s attention had shifted. Even this rare level-six core couldn’t compete, and Gu Jinsheng swapped it without a fight for a spatial storage device.

As the auction ended, the crowd kept buzzing—not about the storage device anymore, but about the Nutri-Packs.

Tang Tang was caught in the crowd as she walked out, her mind in a daze. For a moment, she felt as if she were dreaming—when had the world outside the Third Base developed so rapidly? It seemed as though it had already diverged into a different dimension from their Third Base.

Her eyes wandered aimlessly until suddenly, she spotted an unexpected yet strikingly familiar figure—Ji An!

Her legs moved on their own, carrying her toward the second floor. When she was still some distance away from Ji An, Tang Tang hid behind a pillar.

Gu Jinsheng held out his palm, revealing a zombie core that shimmered with a translucent, rainbow-like glow.

"This zombie core was privately acquired by me—it's for you." Gu Jinsheng never forgot Ji An’s wish to see the high-level psychic-type zombie core that the M Country had used to ransom their citizens. Unfortunately, that one was Base property and had been allocated to Han Yaokun, who needed it the most. With that core, Han Yaokun could advance.

Later, when the M Country delegation arrived and offered another psychic-type zombie core, Gu Jinsheng immediately thought of acquiring it for Ji An.

Originally, Gu Jinsheng had wanted to arrange a private transaction, but the M Country delegation refused, insisting on auctioning it to promote the fact that they still had high-level psychic-type zombie cores for sale.

Gu Jinsheng had already made up his mind—no matter what it took, he would secure it.

The three people following Ji An, who had gone completely unnoticed by Gu Jinsheng, stared wide-eyed.

Tang Ning and Zheng Yan were relatively unaffected—to them, the zombie core was merely valuable.

But Wu Youyang was different. He was also a psychic superpowered individual and needed psychic-type zombie cores. Though this Level six core was too advanced for him at the moment, it was still a psychic-type core—something he’d only dreamed of someone giving him so freely.

Ji An gazed at the zombie core with conflicted feelings. "I was bidding for it too. I raised the price several times to secure it. If I’d known you were bidding, I wouldn’t have competed."

"I told you before—whatever you like, just tell me, and I’ll get it for you."

Ji An suddenly remembered that Gu Jinsheng had indeed said those words. But Ji An was fiercely independent, accustomed to obtaining what he wanted through his own means. Even when he was with Chen Chen, it was mostly Chen Chen who relied on him—Ji An had always remained self-reliant.

After all that had happened, over the long years, Ji An shut everyone out. No matter how close others got, there was always a pane of glass separating them—no one could truly reach him.

So, the moment he saw the zombie core, he was too excited and forgot.

Gu Jinsheng seemed to read Ji An’s thoughts. He let out a barely audible sigh. "It's yours."

Ji An said, "What did it cost you? I’ll find a way to repay you as soon as possible."

Gu Jinsheng had privately negotiated with the M Country delegation, so the price wasn’t public. Ji An didn’t know that Gu Jinsheng had traded a spatial storage device for it.

Gu Jinsheng’s gaze darkened, but he remained silent, simply staring straight at Ji An. His eyes seemed to convey everything—more eloquently than his sparse words ever could.

That look made Ji An understand everything, making his heart race—as if the two of them had already reached a level of unspoken understanding.

Ji An instinctively averted his eyes from Gu Jinsheng’s piercing, heated gaze. "I’ll accept it. Thank you. If there’s anything you need help with in the future, I’ll do my best."

Gu Jinsheng didn’t look away. His eyes lingered on Ji An’s head, then drifted to his slightly lowered profile before finally settling on his pale neck.

A feral hunger in Gu Jinsheng’s eyes seemed on the verge of breaking free—a beast ready to devour the person before him in one bite.

He had to close his eyes, reining in that dangerous urge.

"The nutrient solution—you’ve helped me greatly."

Ji An had handed over the authority to distribute the nutrient solution to Gu Jinsheng, which indeed helped strengthen his standing.

Put that way, accepting this zombie core seemed justified.

But the moment his fingers touched the core, the Space Necklace around his neck suddenly seared unbearably hot—as if branding his skin.